Our Semi-official Christmas Letter - 2009

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Greetings to you, our dear friends and family!

If you have a few minutes, settle into your favorite chair and catch up on our latest news.

As always, God has been good and our year has been full!  Most of you know that we have been empty-nesters now for a few years.  The photo of the whole family was taken at Disneyland for our one weekend all together so far this year.  We’re excited that we’ll be together again for the weekend after Christmas.  Now let’s see what the family has been doing…

Kevin recently spent about 6 months in Afghanistan conducting some top secret missions with the Air Force.  He’s not allowed to tell us what he was doing for at least 50 years.  (Safe bet that we won’t even be around by then, right?)  He was honorably discharged from the Air Force in August and is now working for a strategy and technology consulting firm.   His job is located in Meridian, Mississippi, a somewhat smallish town a few hours from the gulf. Quite different from anywhere he’s lived before.  All we know is that he’s doing curriculum development and training for the military, relating to the equipment that he worked on in Afghanistan.  He’s been there since early October and is still getting acclimated to the job and the terrain.

Amy and her husband, Andrew are living back in Southern California, just a half hour or so from where they grew up (in Santa Clarita).  She was able to transfer with her job from a similar position in Scottsdale.  She’s an editor for press releases, so gets in on the breaking news before any of us hear it, but isn’t allowed to say anything.  She’s also pursuing her dream of being a wedding and portrait photographer and had the privilege of shooting a wedding in Italy, as well as several others this year.  Her hope is to eventually do photography full time, so if you know of anyone who’s looking, please pass her name along.  She’s willing to travel.  Visit www.TeeganPhotography.com to see her work.  

Andrew has pretty much landed his dream job!  A few years ago he attended The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences here in Arizona, and then was offered an internship at a recording studio in So Cal.  Since then he has moved to a new studio and has the privilege of working with and learning from a well-known mixing engineer.  He’s worked on albums by Green Day, Dave Matthews band, Hanna Montana and many others.  He also has a chance to do his own free-lance engineering work in his spare time.  He LOVES what he’s doing and is learning so much!

Terry is thankful to have survived a round of layoffs at American Funds and has been enjoying some special assignments in his job that keep him from getting bored.  He also loves the 10 minute commute!  During his free time he has been playing music a lot!  Just this month, in addition to the time he plays at church on Sundays, he played in a band for a Christmas concert for 2 nights, then with a different band at a CD release party at a coffeehouse the next weekend, and this weekend he played with a friend at the local Borders Bookstore.  He already has a few gigs scheduled in January as well. I'm so glad that he has the time and opportunities to express his gifts and talents in this way.  It's what he loves to do more than most anything.

As for me, I’m working 4 days a week for Uhlmann Family Offices http://www.familyoffices.org/ .  I enjoy a lot of variety in my position.  Parts of my days are spent assisting the non-profit organizations that share office space with us.  I have the chance to do a little bit of everything…event coordination, basic graphic design, photography, help with mailings, blog posts, website updates, and even a bit of bookkeeping.   I really love my job and my schedule!  My Fridays are precious to me because I have a chance to spend time with my mom and take her shopping, to doctor appts, lunch, the movies or whatever we decide to do together.  My sisters come along sometimes as well.  It gives me the chance to make up for some of the time that we lived in So Cal.  I love having that extra day to get things done either with family, friends or at home.   Speaking of extra time, I now have the time and energy to pursue hobbies like photography, blogging, crafting and hopefully sewing soon (when I get my machine).

Terry and I also were blessed with some fun travel this year.  We went to Steamboat Springs, CO for a week in the summer.  Kevin and two of our dear friends were able to join us too.  We had gorgeous weather and spent a lot of time outdoors.  In September we spent a long weekend enjoying Antelope Canyon and the north rim of the Grand Canyon with a couple of other great friends. The next weekend we drove to L.A. to go to Disneyland with Amy, Andrew and Kevin.  We had a blast!

In early November we spent a week with Terry’s dad and wife, Ginny in North Carolina.  We were treated to some amazing Fall colors and other gorgeous scenery there.  It was wonderful to have the chance to spend some extended time with them.

So what’s on the horizon for 2010?  You’ll have to ask the kids about their plans, but I’m hoping to travel to Fort Myers, Florida with my mom and sisters in February.  At 86, my mom still loves to travel, as long as one of us comes along with her.  We’re looking forward to visiting her half sister, Alice there.

In May, Terry and I are hoping to travel to Bosnia with a few people from our church.  Open Door Fellowship has had ongoing relationships assisting several churches there since their war and unrest in the 90’s.  Terry and two other guys are planning to go and play music at several churches and coffeehouses.  The men who lead worship at these churches are often the pastors who end up doing everything on Sundays.  The guys will be able to give these pastors some rest from that portion of the morning and will give the congregation a treat by having some different music and musicians.  They’ll also play at local coffeehouses to begin to make connections between the churches and the community they serve.  I will be going along to help with whatever I can and document as much as possible with photos.  They haven’t had anyone go with them to Bosnia for the purpose of capturing the images of the people and places and I hope to be able to bring home visuals that will help them spread the word about the work they do there and the needs that are evident.  We will be raising money for the trip in the coming months, which will be a first for us.

We'd love to keep in touch thru-out the year and hear updates from you anytime. We’re all on Facebook  (except Terry), so look us up there. 

We trust that you have a blessed new year, filled with the love of family and friends.  We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in the coming year!

I'll leave you with a photo that we took of the family just this week.  Amy made the beards and mustaches as stocking stuffers for all of us.  Fun stuff, huh?

Love from all,

Nancy (and Terry)

Disneyland with the Family

When Terry and I arrived at Disneyland with Amy, Andrew and Kevin on Sep 20th, they had already begun decorating the park for Halloween.  In fact, Space Mountain and the Haunted Mansion were both closed for decorating.  We were a little disappointed since Space Mtn had been closed for a total re-do when Terry and I were there the last time (which was about 5 years ago) and we've heard so many great reports on it since then.  Oh well, I guess it just gives us a good reason to go back again soon.

Here are a few highlights of the first part of the day.  You can also see more details on Amy's blog here.

Here are the guys doing Splash Mountain just before they plunged into the water.  They didn't get too wet though, which was probably good.  Amy and I decided not to go on it because it was in the afternoon and we didn't want to be wet when the sun went down.

I think part of the reason that the kids get tired before the end of the day, is because they wear shoes with no support, so their legs and backs hurt by the end of the day.   As I've gotten older, I've become much more picky about my shoes, especially when I'm going to be wearing them all day.  It's amazing the difference it makes!

Don't you just love the detail at the Disney parks?  These squirrels are at the tops of the pillars on one of the rides in FantasyLand.  I think it was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  Look for them next time you're there.

I was very impressed with how well frozen my Mickey ice cream bar was on a warm afternoon.  I'm not sure how they keep them so cold in those little freezers.  It was creamy and delicious!

And isn't it great how they made Captain Jack look like Johnny Depp on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride?

Can you tell that Amy was a bit warm that day?  It was actually warmer than I thought it would be, but definitely much better than a visit in the summer would be and the lines were great - especially for a weekend day!

Don't Amy & Andrew look so cute?

Terry and Kevin look pretty interested in something on the ground, but I'm not sure what it is.

Next we visit California Adventure, where Kevin has never been before.

Quick stop at Amy & Andrew's place

After visiting the studio where Andrew works, we made a quick stop at Amy & Andrew's apartment which is very close by in Tarzana.  Since they haven't been in there long, we had just seen pictures on their blog so it was nice to actually be able to visit and see it in person.

It's very cute, and they make the best of the small space.  Since there's only one chair, and I was sitting on it, Amy & Kevin staked out the bed so they could chat and Terry hung out where he could find space, but mostly perused the bookshelves to see if there was anything of interest there.

Afterward we headed up to Santa Clarita to check into our hotel, pick up some dinner, then head to Terry's brother's house for the evening.

Andrew's Place of Employment, Magic and Fun!

On Saturday morning after our big Dbacks night we left town for Los Angeles. You see, we had decided just a couple of days before that we were going to meet our kids there. Amy and Andrew already live there (well, in the San Fernando Valley) and Kevin had just a week or two before he was going to leave Omaha, Nebraska and move to Meridian, Mississippi for his first job since leaving the Air Force. And because it had been over a year since we'd seen him, we talked him into flying to L.A. to spend the weekend with us. He also agreed to take us all to Disneyland as a sort of late birthday/Christmas present. (Isn't that sweet of him?). More on that in another post.

Anyway, Terry and I drove about 6 hours from Phoenix straight to LAX to pick up Kevin from the airport. Unfortunately, Terry missed an exit for I-10, which is so easy to do in L.A. so we ended up taking surface streets through part of the city. It was fine. We still got to Kevin within just a few minutes of when he landed. If you've never been to L.A. you can see by this photo of the freeway at midday Saturday, that it's a bit intimidating, especially for a newcomer.

Did you know that they have massive billboards on the sides of buildings for TV shows there? I don't think I've noticed that anywhere else in the country (or am I just missing it?).

After picking Kevin up we found out that Andrew had gone into work and would be able to give us a tour of the recording/mixing studio that he works at. Now I'm not allowed to say the name of the studio or the name of his boss in this post and you're not allowed to guess who it is online. Because if you guess it correctly then I'd have to kill you. If you want to know the next time I see you or via email, I can do that. Just not online. It's kept very hush hush.

I will tell you that we drove to a very nondescript smallish light industrial type building in a very average looking part of the San Fernando Valley and that's where Andrew's workplace is. (Hope that doesn't give anything away.)

Once we started touring the place, to our surprise, the building was actually quite roomy and very eclectic inside. It still had kind of an 80's feel with the wood paneling and dark colors, but also had some fun surprises and so much to look at and enjoy.

This yellow lucite chair was one of the first things I noticed.

Then we rounded a corner and I saw this huge aqua banquette. I took the picture just so Linda could see it's magnificence.

The restroom that I visited was filled with Rolling Stones paraphernalia and this amazing mirrored dresser. I saw some similar pieces this weekend at Pier 1 Imports. I love that look!

It was really like a mini museum with all sorts of autographed memorabilia from the bands that had come thru the doors to work on their records, as well as dozens of other items that Andrew's boss had probably just picked up here or there. Do you remember the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghost Busters?

The walls were filled with framed albums, cds, awards and more tokens of appreciation and accomplishments for the work that had been done there.

The actual working rooms were pretty impressive too, even for someone like me who has no idea what any of it is. Look at these control boards below. They were probably 10 feet across! Wow! What does someone do with all those buttons and knobs.

The coolest thing is that Andrew is working with the team of this well known engineer and learning the ins and outs of the record business...and he LOVES it! From what I hear, his team is extremely happy with his work as well. Go Andrew! His name is even on the latest Green Day album. Did I say too much? You can see him here working his magic.

Oh, by the way, those boring looking amplifiers in the picture at the bottom... Those are Marshall stacks! From what I remember, those are pretty awesome for an electric guitar player. Just thought I'd impress you with my musical knowledge. Ha Ha! I have a feeling they may be a little outdated, but I'm not sure.

And here's our daughter (his wife) Amy, looking all proud of her husband for the awesome job that he has. We're proud of him too!

Thanks for the tour, Andrew! We loved it!

The Happiest Place on Earth with my favorite people on earth!

O.k. this may sound ridiculous, but sometimes I think that I posted news on my blog only to find out that I just posted it on Facebook. So those few who aren't on FB, but check my blog are missing out on the news. Sorry about that. I'll try to do better in the future.

First off, for those who don't know; Terry and I drove to Los Angeles on Saturday to spend a couple of days with Amy, Andrew and Kevin! Yes, Kevin flew in from Omaha to spend a little time with us before he moves to Meridian, Mississippi for his new job at the end of the month.

We arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon and...

• Drove to LAX to pick Kevin up from the airport
• Stopped to see the studio where Andrew works
• Stopped to see Amy & Andrew's apartment
  
• Went to visit Terry's brother, Ted, his wife Kristi and 2 of their kids, Spencer and Lucas
• Sunday we went to Disneyland and California Adventure with the 3 "kids" all day
• Monday morning we had breakfast together at CiCi's Cafe on Ventura Blvd in Tarzana
  
• then drove back to Phoenix with Kevin.
  
• On Tuesday morning I'll take Kev to the airport to head back to Omaha, then on to Mississippi very soon.
  

It's been so much fun to be with all the kids together. Not sure when we'll all be together again, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for sometime around Christmas. We'll see how things go with travel and time off work and all...

So as you can imagine, there's a lot of fun to post about, but I won't get there tonight. Here are a few fun ones to give you a glimpse of our time together.

I also have a confession to make. Do you remember the gorgeous blue Mickey scarf that Amy was wearing when she was in London (same scarf pictured here - this photo wasn't taken by me). Well I liked it so much that I bought the same one for myself and can't wait to wear it. I actually checked to see if they had a green one so I wouldn't copy her EXACTLY, but they didn't and I didn't like any of the other colors nearly as much, so I got the same color as hers. I figure since we're in different states, it won't be a big deal, right? Of course you may look at both of our blogs and see pictures of us wearing them, but oh well. I'll live with that, and hopefully Amy won't mind too much.

So much more to come, so stay tuned. The easiest way to keep up on my posts is to click the "Follow" button on the right side of the page and you'll be notified each time there's a new post. See you soon!

The Many Faces of Andrew Schubert - Happy Birthday Andrew !!

Today is Andrew's birthday. This first photo is from when Amy & Andrew first started dating. Doesn't Andrew look so, so young?

This weekend they came over to Phoenix from their home in So Cal. We were excited to see them! We haven't been together since Christmas.

The picture with his cousin, Lucas was taken at Christmas in 2003. He's a great cousin!

They arrived around mid-day on Friday and we just relaxed a bit, Andrew went swimming and we got ready to go out for his birthday dinner at Richardson's. Andrew loves spicy food, so we thought that Richardson's New Mexico cuisine would be unique and perfect for his birthday celebration. Andrew got chorizo-stuffed pork chops. I didn't bring my camera (because Amy brought hers), so hopefully she'll post some pics from dinner (although it was pretty dark, so not sure how well they turned out). I think Andrew liked the food.

Saturday we had a BBQ - Pool party in honor of the 4th of July and Andrew's birthday. We feel privileged that he chose to spend his birthday weekend here when he could have been anywhere. We had lots of family and friends over. I'll post more about that later. This post is for Andrew.

The pic of Amy & Andrew in red and blue was taken exactly 1 year before they got married when Amy was in Kim & Jed's wedding in November 2004. This was one of Andrew's short hair phases.
Then a year later, on their wedding day he was looking a bit shaggier, but still handsome. Shoot, he looks cute no matter how his hair is cut.

I think most of you know that a few months ago Andrew got his first engineering credit on the latest Green Day album. You can see his name on this black page with white print. Awesome huh!

This special edition album set was our birthday present to him. He told Amy that he wanted it and she kindly passed the tip on to us. Those hints really help for someone like Andrew. He always has a long list of music that he's hoping to get, but because his tastes are so eclectic, we would never be able to guess what he wants, so we're happy to get the inside info.

This last pic is from yesterday when Andrew was going thru the box of albums that my sister, Diane and her boyfriend, JD gave him. If you haven't heard, he collects vinyl and loves it! I think he'll enjoy going thru all of these oldies. There were Beatles and Eagles and I don't know what else in that box.
We're just so thankful to have Andrew in our family! He's so sweet and considerate and loves our daughter like no one else can. He's got a great sense of humor (although a bit bizarre) and loves to laugh. He is a great cousin to the rest of the kids in our extended family and will someday be an amazing dad and uncle, I'm sure.

We're excited to see how well he is doing in following his dream of being a recording engineer. He's a hard worker, conscientious, smart, creative and responsible. He knows how to keep information confidential for their high profile clients and is learning so much in his job. We know that he's going to go far in reaching his goals.

What a gift and a blessing he is to our whole family! We're so thankful that God sent him our way.

Happy birthday Andrew. We love you!

Christmas Sunday
As mentioned before, we waited to do our Christmas until Amy & Andrew were there on the weekend.
Notice Shredder in one of her favorite sunny spots. Her tail kept knocking down the trees on the window sill. She's so funny and oblivious.

Terry and I opened our Christmas Eve PJs and ornaments on Weds, but stockings and the rest of the gifts waited until Sunday. This is me in my new soft flannel pajamas, not too heavy so I can wear them longer in the year.
Amy & Andrew opened their Christmas Eve gifts on Saturday afternoon. This is Andrew's pirate ship ornament. He really likes pirates! Amy posted a pic of the camera ornament that we gave her on her Teegan Photography blog here.

Here's also a photo of Amy's new pj's and some new socks that Andrew's mom gave her. Doesn't she look cute and comfy? Then she's modeling her green cardigan from Julie, her mother-in-law and her red slippers. Classic Christmas colors!

Kevin called on Sunday and we gave Amy most of the time to talk to him, since she hadn't spoken with him in quite a while. She was excited to get to spend some time with her brother. We had time to talk to him on Christmas day, so we were happy to share. It was sad not to have him here, but at least we got to hear his voice and catch up a little with him. More to come about him in another post. We did find out that he's in Afghanistan now, and not Iraq. We miss him!

I thought I'd show you an example of one of the tags that Terry wrote. He started the tradition of the creative gift tags and Kevin and the others have carried on the tradition. There are some standards that I always get, from Terry like: To Lady, From the Tramp, or he'll write the name of the artist on a CD like: To Nancy, from James (on a James Taylor CD). So it's always fun to try to guess what's inside based on the tag. Kevin's tags are much more random and unpredictable, but lots of fun too.

Terry was fortunate to find out that he gets a $400 reimbursement from his employer each year for any money he spends on fitness related expenses. Could be things like gym membership, exercise classes, even Wii Fit. This year he chose to buy himself 2 new golf clubs, so they were like Christmas presents, but we got reimbursed for them. Cool huh? Now he just needs to get out there and actually golf. Note how close his club is to the overhead light. Fortunately he didn't break anything.

We all got great gifts! Way too many to list here. I especially like my digital picture frame and can't wait to get pictures loaded and take it to work. I also like the book on how to use exposure in photography. I've started reading it and have signed up for an official Nikon 1-day photography class that's coming to town. I also got permission to attend a class on Adobe Photoshop Elements during work time, since I can use that for some of my projects at work. I'm very excited about learning and using my photography more for gifts, projects, etc. this year!

Later in the afternoon I tried a new recipe for a seafood chowder that turned out pretty well. We served it in bread bowls with a green salad on the side. Mmmmm I'll post pictures on this later.