2016
To our family and friends:
Another year has gone by and we are anxiously awaiting the changes coming our way next year with the arrival of our baby girl due next April. We couldn’t be more excited, nervous, and overwhelmed with how our lives are about to change!
We quickly settled into our house after we moved in almost a year ago now. It felt like home almost immediately. Our next big project is to get the nursery ready after the holidays are over.
We went on a few trips again this year, starting with Japan in April. We arrived just in time for the end of cherry blossom season. We began our trip in southern Japan by visiting Phillip’s aunt and uncle and their kids at their home in Beppu. They graciously showed us many local sights including the hot springs which Beppu is known for (photo on card) and invited us to a Hanami, a traditional picnic in a park under the cherry blossom trees. We took the bullet train up to Hiroshima for our next stop with the highlights being the Peace Memorial Museum and a hike on Miyajima. Our third stop was to Kyoto where we visited a number of museums, temples, and outdoor markets. Here we also discovered that Japan has the most delicious bakeries. Our final stop was in Tokyo where we walked the Tsukiji fish market, crossed the famous Shibuya Crossing, and watched the Robot show amongst visiting many other shrines and temples. It was a fantastic trip that we can finally cross off of our bucket list.
In May, we surprised Briana’s mom with a week in Kauai with the whole family to celebrate her retirement. We enjoyed exploring the island by Jeep, went on a few hikes and a day of scuba diving. We cooked most meals at the condo, but enjoyed a couple of nice meals out, including dining at a local food truck amongst the roaming roosters.
We took a few other weekend trips to Spokane where we both enjoyed wake surfing behind Phillip’s cousin’s boat, and to Yakima to visit Phillip’s sister and her family.
2016 was the year of the milestone birthdays: Phillip’s dad turned 60, Grandma Lobeda turned 90, and Phillip and I both celebrated our 30th. For Phillip’s, we spent the weekend with friends at a rented house near Lake Chelan and for mine we spent the night in La Conner wine tasting with friends. Another milestone this year included welcoming our new niece, Sloane, into the family, born in September.
Phillip is going on his 7th year at BergerABAM where he received a promotion in July. For the first time in a while he did not have any big work trips occur during the year, but he didn’t let that stop him from escaping the office for some local underwater dive inspections. He continues to enjoy working around the house, playing soccer, snow skiing this winter, and water sports in the summer and he is getting more excited every day with the thought of sharing these activities that he loves with our daughter.
I continue to enjoy working for Seattle Children’s Hospital. I made two trips to Anchorage again this year to cover our outreach clinic. I also have been spending one day a week at our Bellevue clinic and one day in the OR. I plan on taking a few months off once the baby is born and will return in the fall.
We have been so unbelievably blessed this year, but it has not come without some heartache. We unfortunately had to say goodbye to Grandma Olson, Jim Guyton, and Aunt June Pauley. They will be dearly missed by us, but we know they are both well taken care of with our heavenly father. We remember the great times we got to share with them and are so thankful to have had them in our lives.
We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy 2017!
Love,
Phillip & Briana