Dear family, friends and fellow furry creatures,
Mom and Dad are currently busy, so I’ve been put in charge of writing their Christmas letter. Sigh. They think I just lay around and sleep all day, but I’m really quite busy protecting the house and playing with my toys!
It’s almost the end of 2009, and we had a busy year. Mom finished her 1st year of teaching in May, and started her 2nd year of teaching 5th grade at Keeling Elementary School in August. Her classroom has been full of tough boys, but she still talks about how much she loves all of her students. She is excited to be working with the gifted students and has been working on getting her gifted endorsement. She worked as the Director of day camp for the Girl Scouts again this summer, and I got to visit camp a few times. Dad is still working at Cirrus Logic., and is learning a lot. He enjoys working with good friends, and got to travel to Austin for business this year as well.
Mom and Dad celebrated their first anniversary of marriage on January 5th. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost two years since their wedding! We also celebrated one year of being in our house in Oro Valley. I like it up here, especially now that Dad and Grandpaw Wittrock have started putting together my backyard. That dirt pile will soon become grass and a seating area! We are all enjoying the extra room we have and the great views of the mountains! We have a guest room, and if you come visit, I’ll let you sleep in my favorite spot on the guest bed! Don’t worry, I chewed up all of the extra pillows Mom left on the bed, so they won’t get in your way.
I spent quite a bit of time with my Grand”paw”rents this year while Mom and Dad traveled around. They attended 3 weddings in March, including Mom’s friends Katy and Nik, Dad’s friends Ben and Leigh, and Uncle Ryan and Aunt Veronica! They went to Las Vegas in June for Charlotte and Jayson’s wedding and had a wonderful weekend. I hear Dad has a great story to tell about a girl named Christmas… They spent some time camping and fishing with Mom’s grandpa and grandma in Northern Arizona in July. In August, they went to Disneyland with Grandpaw and Grandma Walsh and Paul. They had a great time showing Paul all of their favorite parts of the park, and he wore them out! Later that month, they traveled to Prescott for Mom’s first hockey tournament in a long time. She misses being able to play in Tucson! In October, they finally went on their honeymoon, and took a Disney cruise to the Caribbean. They came home tanned (well Dad was more red than tan) and relaxed. The weather was perfect for their trips to St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Castaway Cay. They can’t wait to go on another cruise soon, and promised to stuff me into the luggage next time!
As the year winds down, we are getting ready to spend some quality time with the families up in the Phoenix area. Mom is excited about finishing her first half marathon and beating her goal time in the process! I ran the last quarter mile of the race with her and Dad, so I’m pretty proud of myself, too. Dad will be working on phase two of the backyard, during his time off, and they are both excited to spend New Year’s Eve in – shh, Dad doesn’t know where yet!
We hope 2010 brings you as much health and happiness as 2009 has for us. Happy Holidays!
Love, Tonks, Tim and Lisa Wittrock
