2015

To our family and friends:

Another year has flown by and we continue to be as busy as ever, but cannot complain about all of the blessings we have in our lives. We both stay busy with our respective jobs and try to squeeze in as much fun and traveling as possible on weekends and days off.

Phillip and I took several trips together this year including a long weekend at a cabin near Mt. Rainier where we went on one of the most incredible hikes we’ve ever been on. We also had several other weekend getaways including our usual Memorial Day camping trip to Galiano Island, a wedding just south of Portland, and a trip to Victoria for our two-year anniversary. In Victoria, Phillip had what he says was the ‘best breakfast he’d ever eaten’ at a restaurant called Jam Café (a strong recommendation for anybody who visits the city). For Phillip’s dad’s birthday we visited Westport where Phillip went on his first salmon fishing charter but came back having caught only one salmon (among several other nibbles). Caleb, our nephew, definitely had the lucky pole, reeling in a total of six salmon himself. We concluded this year’s travels with a trip to Leavenworth for the tree lighting with Briana’s family.

I am coming up on my year milestone at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Within this first year I sat for and passed my pediatric echocardiography boards, trained for and started working one day per week in the OR and Cath Lab, and started working a couple of days per week at the Bellevue outreach clinic. I also went on three trips to Anchorage and Bethel, Alaska, to help in outreach clinics. My most recent trip to Alaska in the beginning of December was accompanied with only a couple hours of sunlight and wind chills of -15oF.

Phillip started the year off with a diving inspection job in the Dominican Republic. Although it sounds glamourous, he has to admit, the dives had limited visibility with high swells making the trip far less than ideal. A flight delay home resulted in an immediate transition into a planned ski vacation with his cousin Tyler. He came home from the airport, packed his ski gear, and drove that same day to Bend, OR, where the two spent a week skiing at Mt. Bachelor. The lack of snow put somewhat of a damper on the trip, but they made the best of what they had. Phillip took three more work diving trips the remainder of the year to Houston, Cozumel, and Oxnard, CA. In regard to his “work” trip to Cozumel, he typically shrugs his shoulders and says “somebody has to do it.”

A fantastic nine-day trip to the Arenal Volcano region of Costa Rica at the beginning of October was a major highlight of our year and nears the top of our list of favorite vacation spots. We stayed on a private horse ranch and enjoyed many adventures including zip lining, canyoning and waterfall repelling, beautiful hikes and waterfalls (picture on front of our card), and ATVing. We also explored local hot springs, took a private chocolate tour, and found monkeys, toucans, and sloths along the way.

We completed the home projects we wanted to by summer and put our home on the market in the fall. After a long contingency, we are extremely excited to finally move into our new house in North Bend just in time for Christmas! The move will shorten my commute and unfortunately lengthen Phillip’s, but we couldn’t be happier with the neighborhood, views, and outdoor activities that North Bend has to offer.

We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy 2016!

Love,

Phillip & Briana