| In stark contrast, at the end of June, we had a very pleasant trip to Vancouver, British Columbia – to join in the 60th Birthday celebration of our ex-Richland friend Carrell Johnson. Our Rich, Debbie, and their 2-y-old Haley joined in Carrell’s celebration too! |
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Carrell & Tony, Vancouver, BC |
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Then, on our way home, we picked up Antonia at SEA-TAC airport (in from London to ‘summer’ with us in Richland). Next weekend, we were back in Seattle (with Antonia) to attend the wedding of Richard’s high school and University of Washington friend Jerry Han (a Chinese American) to Britt (a Swedish American). Jerry is also our family Dentist (DDS from Ohio State University). Britt and Jerry’s wedding was some party!
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Gerry & Britt Han, Bellvue, WA |
Rich & Haley - at the Wedding |
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On July 1st, Tony got promoted to Director of the U.S. Transuranium and Uranium Registries (USTUR), at Washington State University’s College of Pharmacy – and located just up the road (on WSU’s Tri-Cities Campus). His 5-y grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy was successful – so the USTUR continued into its 37th year! |
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In early August, Gareth & Joyce proudly purchased their first house (in Fort Collins, CO). It is on the western edge of town, looking out on Horsetooth Mountain; a landmark of the Rockies’ foothills.
Antonia and I drove down to visit them; via Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming. It was great to spend time with our 3 Colorado grand-kids! We drove back through Wyoming and Montana, stopping off at Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons, WY and Yellowstone National Park.
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Mia - Rocky Mountain Girl |
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Grand Tetons, Wyoming |
Yellowstone National Park Buffalo |
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In September, Antonia returned to London for her second year at Kings/Guys/St. Thomas’ Medical School. In October, I had my annual trip to England; to visit with family and check out our Oxford property. We were having serious problems with tenants who hadn’t paid rent for 6 months. It took a Court Order to get them evicted. So, I had some house ‘clean up’ chores to do, but managed to get a very nice couple in to ‘house sit’ over the winter.
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Impoverished Medical Students (Kate, Ant, Kathy - Canary Wharf, London)
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I was in London on November 5th, to enjoy the ‘Guy Fawkes’ celebration; an astounding fireworks display on the Thames. I also got to meet Antonia’s new boyfriend – Chris Francis – an extremely talented musician and guitar teacher. Chris is lead guitarist for the melodic rock group Ten (http://www.tenofthebest.com) – and was Guitar Magazine’s “Guitarist of the Year – 2000”! He had also produced his own solo album see (http://www.chrisfrancis.net/biog.php). Antonia was clearly ‘star-struck’!
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Meanwhile, Rich & Debbie had decided it was time to ‘upgrade’ their home (already), especially as they were expecting Baby-James #2! They found an exclusive new development in Mukillteo (on Puget Sound just north of Seattle) – and watched over their new house being built.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with our dear friends Bill & Joanna Easterday (& family), who put on a real ‘farmhouse feast.’ At Christmas, we flew to Seattle – to celebrate with Rich, Debbie, Haley – and the ‘bump.’ We also celebrated the latest news from Colorado – that Gareth & Joyce also had a new Baby-James (#4) on the way! So, everyone was excited about 2006!
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Haley Celebrates Christmas |
Haley's 3rd Birthday |
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2006 |
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I must say that 2006 has been a tremendous year – when we were barely able to catch our breath. Many amazing and wonderful things happened! On January 24th, Richard’s Debbie gave birth to Trevor Isaac James (6 lb 5 oz). Trevor had more hair than any baby I’ve seen, including Richard (who had quite a thick black mane) – and also Richard’s sweetest nature! |
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Trevor Isaac James |
Proud Dad Does His Stuff! |
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| In May, we were visited by my sister, Pat, and husband Gerry, who were doing a ‘family tour’ – including relatives in Vancouver, BC. Our fun days included a jet-boat trip up the Columbia Reach. In June, Antonia arrived for her last long summer vacation. She worked for Tony – designing a new website for his company. |
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Pat & Gerry on Hanford Reach (White Bluffs) |
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| On July 22nd, Gareth’s Joyce produced Tristan Morgan James, 6 lb 11 oz, very blonde and blue-eyed. Antonia and I flew down to Denver to admire the new arrival – and Tony joined us (on his way back from a business trip to Texas). Gareth now has four children, two biological and two by marriage – bringing our grandkid tally up to six! |
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New Baby Tristan |
Auntie Ant Admiring Tristan (and Proud Dad)! |
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Joyce & Tristan |
Gaz & Tristan |
Tristan Morgan James Jedi |
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Other Fort Collins Delights! |
Mia by Candlelight |
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Also in July, Rich, Debbie, Haley & Trevor moved into their spiffing new house in Mukilteo. |
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Trevor - at 6 Months |
Haley & Trevor |
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| On August 22nd, Antonia’s boyfriend Chris arrived (from the UK) for a three-week vacation. Antonia had arranged a vigorous ‘program’ for him. After a weekend in Seattle, he was thrown in rapid succession into a rodeo, whitewater rafting (Oregon), wakeboarding (Columbia river, Tri-Cities), horse riding (Leavenworth, WA), a Def Leopard and Journey concert (Tacoma, WA), and the Seattle ‘Bumbershoot’ (music festival). At the beginning of September, they drove through Oregon to San Francisco. Chris had an ulterior motive for this trip. In San Francisco he bought Antonia a big ‘sparkly’ and proposed – and she accepted! So, they returned to Richland betrothed! |
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Chris, Ant & Bill - Cool Bevies at the Rodeo |
Chris & Ant 'Bumbershooting' |
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| Antonia and Chris returned to London on September 13th. Two weeks later, Tony and I followed them – for a weekend in London – on our way to a Conference in Montpellier (South of France). We also stopped off in the UK on our way back – to visit Oxfordshire friends and complete the sale of our house in Oxford city. Our ‘house-minding’ tenants liked it so much they decided to buy – and everything went very smoothly! |
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Henry VIII's Favorite Watering Hole - London |
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Main Square, Montpellier |
Medical School & Cathedral |
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Camargue Bull |
Camargue Horses |
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We returned to the US on October 9th – and on 20th, flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the wedding of Shelece Easterday and Arun Rodriguez. Shelece is the eldest daughter of Bill and Joanna. Both being graduates of Notre Dame (Arun a Ph.D.), they wrote their own marriage vows – and were married by another Notre Dame graduate (friend)! The wedding and reception were in a beautiful old adobe hacienda just north of Albuquerque. We all had a wonderful time – and thoroughly enjoyed the long weekend. |
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Shelece & Arun's Wedding, Hacienda Vegas, New Mexico
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Bride, Easterday Girls & Jan, Albuquerque Old Town |
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| On November 1st, Tony returned to Albuquerque ( for a work meeting) – and then flew on to Japan (for a Workshop and other meetings). However, this ‘to-ing and fro-ing’ must have weakened his system. He succumbed to a seriously infected leg (celulitis) shortly after returning from Tokyo. This required multiple infusions of antibiotics (at the ER) – and caused him to miss Bill & Joanna’a family Thanksgiving Dinner (for Tony, the mark of severe illness)! It took him a couple of weeks to ‘bounce back’ – but he was noisy as ever by Christmas! |
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Muramatsu Kokuzo Temple Scenes - Tokai-mura, Japan |
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U.S. Nerd Representatives & Hosts - Atomic Museum, Tokai-mura |
3 Jolly Profs - Anticipating the Sake, Friday Night, Tokyo |
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So, 2006 was indeed a really exciting and eventful year for us – two new babies, Rich’s new house, Antonia & Chris’ engagement, our Oxford house sale, all the ‘fun’ trips, and the company of great friends! In 2007, we look forward to Antonia & Chris’ wedding – planned for September 22nd in Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge – and who knows what else! We hope that many of you can join in the fun. We have already booked Chris’ melodic rock group (Ten)!
Wishing all a loving, joyous and healthy 2007,
Jan & Tony
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