2024

December 2024 

To our family and friends, 

Camryn – Camryn turned 7 this year and is in second grade. She is excelling in school and especially loves math. When she’s not at school, you’ll often find her upside-down or doing some sort of acrobatics. She started in the Xcel gymnastics program at Mt Si Gymnastics and is loving the new challenge. She has her first competition in January and is nervous to compete in front of so many people but practices non-stop at home. She enjoyed playing rec soccer again this fall and had many goals and assists. She wants to try basketball and volleyball in the spring, and in the meantime continues to have fun snow skiing and swimming.

Blake – Blake turned 5 this past summer and started Kindergarten! He was most looking forward to “playing in the rain at recess” and “seeing his sister”. He played his first team sports this year, soccer and basketball, often having more fun with his friends than concentrating on his skills. He reads very well for his age despite protesting most nights. After he recovered from tonsillectomy in the Spring, he has become an entirely new energetic and audacious kid. He loves to swim, snow ski, and ride his bike – especially on the local pump track.

Briana – Briana just passed a decade of employment at Seattle Children’s Hospital! She continues to split her time between Bellevue and Seattle campuses, and the Prenatal Center. She is in the final review stage of submitting her own manuscript on equity of echocardiograms with the goal of being published in the Journal of American Society of Echocardiography. On her day off, she has enjoyed getting to know her kids’ teachers and classmates when she volunteers once a month in each of their classrooms.  

Phillip – Phillip kicked the year off taking Blake to Monster Jam in Tacoma, followed by family ski outings where, for the first time in 5yrs, no harnesses were needed! Another highlight of his was manta ray diving in Kona with Kent and Briana. Professionally, he continued managing the M2D2 project, a proposed aircraft carrier-capable dry dock at PSNS. The work included a trip to Washington, D.C. in August, presenting the project to Navy leadership. And after a four-year hiatus he is excited to get back onto the soccer field, playing indoor with his cousin Leif.

We had a very busy year with lots of travels! We visited Mt Bachelor for a ski vacation, New Orleans to celebrate a friend’s birthday, relaxed in Kona, Hawaii, over Spring Break, went camping at Galiano Island, visited Lake Pend Oreille with the extended Olson family, had a long weekend getaway to a cabin at Mt. Ranier for some hiking, and just the two of us spent a week in Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, when we were lucky enough to have the grandparents spoil the kids for a week!

In between all of our travels, we enjoyed our beautiful summer weather, enjoying time on both Tiger Lake and Lake Louise swimming, boating, and jet skiing.

We are so blessed to have the family and friends that we do and wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy 2025! 

Love, 

Phillip, Briana, Camryn (7) and Blake (5)