2008 in Review

It's December, and another year is nearly gone. Thanks to a number of weddings, we got to spend quite a bit of time out of state and connect with many friends and family over the course of the last year. Looking back, we are very thankful for all of you, and we thought that we would wish you a Merry Christmas and share a few of our favorite memories from the year past.

In writing this up, we realized that we're not terribly exciting or are extremely forgetful, because we don't have anything to report from the first five months of this year. Our first notable adventure took us out to Joseph, a small town set at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains in northeast Oregon, where we celebrated our 2nd anniversary in May. While in Joseph, we took in some fantastic scenery while hiking, stayed in a cozy bed and breakfast, went bowling (Erica won a free game with her tremendous skill), and of course, dodged the raindrops.
Over the summer, we took a ten day trip bookended by two weddings. The Kriegler wedding in Los Angeles was the first stop. Fred was a groomsman in the wedding and got to introduce Erica to many of his friends from college. This was also Erica's first trip to the Los Angeles area, so some sight-seeing was in order. We were able to go to the beach in Malibu, spend some time with our friends Christopher and Amy and Fred's Aunty Jane, and check out the Harvey Mudd College campus where Fred went to school.
From Los Angeles, we flew out to Missouri for Erica's brother Ryan's wedding. Ryan and Sarah were married in the small town of Altenburg, where Fred got to experience many southeast Missouri traditions. After the wedding reception on the top floor of the Knights of Columbus reception hall, we strolled down to the bottom floor to crash Erica's 10 year high school reunion.

In August, Erica participated in the Portland to Coast walking relay with several of her co-workers, which is the version of the better known Hood to Coast Relay for people who don't like to run. Despite a serious lack of training and a late-night leg fueled by a blue cheese and bacon burger for dinner, Erica had an enjoyable time and came through relatively unscathed.

In November, Fred donned a tuxedo one last time for friends Josh and Yi's wedding in El Segundo, California. Erica got her second taste of California sunshine and got to meet another batch of friends from Fred's college days. Josh choreographed a heartwarming song and dance routine to cap the wedding ceremony. Fred and the other groomsmen played a supporting role in the act, which actually landed on YouTube.
Just recently, we've had some additional excitement thanks to some unusual weather. Portland is known for it's rain, but not necessarily for its snow. In fact, we are woefully unprepared for snow, which makes the several inches of snow that we got last weekend such a big deal. Then, this weekend's snow left us snowbound with plenty of time to pull this update together.
We hope that this letter finds you all well. Have a Merry Christmas, and may 2009 be a blessed year for all of you.

Love,
Fred and Erica