Christmas letter 2013

We started 2013 in Leavenworth, WA, a “Bavarian-themed Village” where we put the kids on skis for the first time and tried cross-country towing the kids in a sled.

In spring we built the West Seattle Bee Garden with our neighbors, right next to our P-Patch and celebrated its dedication with a big parade and lots of media attention.

Sarah turned 5 in March and celebrated with a big dance party. In fall she started Kindergarten at the local STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) elementary school. She loves her teacher and friends there, even though school has a lot of new rules. She likes swimming, danced ballet in a big recital this year, and plays soccer and chess. Other favorites include crafts and playdates with friends. She is very caring and tuned to her friends’ emotions, but her temperament sometimes challenges her.

Christine started her Coworking space, the 'Office Junction' with her business partner Stefan in March, a communal office space for the self-employed. She kicked it off with a trip to the Coworking conference in Austin, TX, and currently has about 20 members in her space. She organizes a lot of events and drives Marketing and Finances. Besides the work she chauffeurs the kids, meets her girlfriends for walks and lunches and takes continued education courses. After 8 years Christine finally managed to change her family name to Deppe.

In June Tim and Marco went on a 750 mile road trip through 4 states to Yellowstone National Park. Sarah and Christine joined them by plane 8 days later and together we explored the hot springs, colorful geological formations and geysers. Old Faithful was on top of Tim’s destination wish list for a long time and he was very pleased to cross it off.

In August we finally took our friend Andrea up on her invitation to her small island in the middle of Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island in Canada. We circumswam it every day and had time to read, relax and play games.

Tim is in 2nd grade since fall and still likes math and reading, but writing much less so. As a reward for his excellent report card Tim and Christine went to California to visit Legoland, Santa Monica and Hollywood end of November. Tim loves swimming, soccer and playing chess. He is a little shy and likes to hide behind his little sister, if he has to talk to new people. Sarah enjoys helping him out with her outgoing nature.

Marco had his 10th work anniversary at Amazon and visited Brazil twice for work. In May he started Tae Kwon Do, now working on his yellow belt. He likes reading, cooking and baking, the movies and playing soccer with the kids. He recorded an album of preschool favorites playing the cello together with the band of other parents. You can download it here: http://bit.ly/1cLwG77

Next year we want to spend the summer in Europe and are looking forward to spend time with family and friends again. We are always looking forward to hear from you!