2004 Holiday Letter

It hardly seems possible that another year has gone by, and yet here we are sending you the latest news in our lives along with our holiday wishes. As we look forward to 2005, we look back on a wonderful 2004.

Our most exciting news is that we have purchased a house in the town of Poughkeepsie, and will be moving before the end of the year. We started our house search in late September, and managed to find a wonderful four bedroom Cape Cod on three-quarters of an acre. It's been a whirlwind of meetings with our realtor, our mortgage lender, our attorney, and many others helping us through this complicated maze of real estate… but we couldn't be happier with our choice, and hope to host many of you in our new home in the years to come. When you visit — or write — you'll find us at

33 Winnie Lane
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603-5227

As in years past, we have enjoyed the opportunity to travel and visit friends and family throughout the year. Our first trip was to Hawaii in February, where Paul was attending a conference for work. After the conference ended, we managed to drive from one end of Maui to the other, having such a wonderful time that we're anticipating a repeat trip in February 2005.

July brought another trip to Arizona, where we experienced the Sonoran desert in the summertime. Believe it or not, 108 degrees of dry heat really isn't that bad! And for our second summer trip, we returned to Stone Harbor, New Jersey for a week with the family. Although it was a busier trip than in years past, we managed to enjoy the beach and look forward to making the trip again next year. Since Chris finally learned to ride a bike this spring, he thoroughly enjoyed riding up and down Second and Third Avenues in Stone Harbor, where the lack of hills makes the ride go much easier!

December brings to a close three years of graduate studies for Chris. It has been challenging to integrate the classes, reading and homework into our busy lives, but we hope the master's degree in management will mean better opportunities in the near future! Paul continues his studies toward his master's degree in computer science, which due to ever-changing schedules will be completed in May 2006.

Paul has had tremendous success at Weight Watchers this year. In the spring, he decided that he had a few extra pounds to lose, and chose Weight Watchers as the best weight loss plan for him. In November he reached his goal weight, a full forty-seven pounds lighter than when he began. He's never looked better, and he's now raiding Chris's closet to double the size of his own wardrobe!

We hope that 2004 has been as rewarding and fulfilling for you as it has been for us. As always, we send the warmest wishes for health and happiness to you and your loved ones.