Holiday Letter, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this letter finds you well. What a year this has been! Early this summer, we took a trip to Colorado for a weekend of adventure. Charlie showed off his super survival skills by filtering mountain water for us to drink. Jené learned that she has no future as a triathlete after a disastrous attempt at downhill mountain biking. Thankfully, the blood loss was minimal and the bruises healed after a few months. This past July, we joined the world in celebration as Lord Voldemort was finally defeated after a seven-year long battle. In other exciting news, we learned that the maximum number of Lego blocks that can be stacked in a single vertical tower is 380. Perhaps most importantly, they recently re-paved the road to the local Dunkin Donuts. We’re enjoying the new smooth surface.

Charlie has been traveling the country to sell his great inventions. So far he’s seen hand-fishing in Mississippi, ate a mean open-faced roast beef sandwich out of the back of some lady’s trailer in Tennessee, gave a presentation in a smoker’s shack in South Carolina, and managed to make it out of Alabama with the F5 hot on his heels. Work is going well for him, though – one of his seals is actually being used to help with the Fukushima Plant clean-up. God help us all. In an effort to prepare for the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse, he has taken up shooting as a hobby.

Jené turned the big 3-0 this year and decided it was finally time to toss the fake ID. No danger of being mistaken for an underage drinker at this point. During a well-intentioned effort to look more like an adult, she learned the hard way that getting highlights at a discount salon probably isn’t the best idea. She continues to travel to DC on a regular basis. She says that it’s “for work,” but we all know that it’s because there’s a Ben & Jerry’s on the ground floor of the office building. She’s been cleaning up in competitions, winning the office NCAA pool, a euchre tournament, and the age-group award in a local 5K. Sadly, she’s in no danger of ever actually winning a race, and missed her sub-four-hour marathon by ten (bleeping) seconds. It’s been three months, and we still haven’t heard the end of it.

Charlie recently graduated from booger-eating to peeing standing up (as long as the toilet isn’t self-flushing). That’s Charlie, Jr., not the older one. He has also taken up running as a hobby. He has participated in three races thus far, but his favorite place to run is away from the bathtub. He is a singing and dancing fool, and attended his first live concert in September when Yo Gabba Gabba! came to town. He brought down the house in the preschool holiday concert with his improvised dance routing during “Frosty the Snowman.” He is an absolute geek in training, and we’re cultivating his love for all things Star Wars. We had our proudest parenting moment yet when he mentioned that he was thankful for “numbers” during our thanksgiving dinner. We just hope they aren’t prime.

All the best from our family to yours,
Charlie, Jené, and Charlie