Christmas Letter 2015

Sally (our basset hound) has written our Christmas letter every year – following the tradition of our first basset hound, Sarah. This year, Sally was joined by Suzy to tell everyone about our past year.

Woof, Woof, Bark from Overland Park.

It’s been another exciting and buys year here. The biggest news is that we have a new recruit in the house. In what some have termed a moment of temporary insanity, we got a basset hound puppy in June. Suzy Beatrice has put a skip in all of our steps. Sometimes, tat skip is a rush to see what she’s into, but she tries to be a good girl like me. Suzy and I enjoy walks, playing outside together, wrestling, and cuddling. I’ve dropped a few pounds thanks to the extra exercise Suzy needs and have a renewed interest in toys. Suzy’s main job is being president of the Sally Sue fan club. She begins each day with a little parade for me. We are best buddies.

Anna is a senior this year. I’m not sure what this means, but I hear she will be leaving home and heading to K-State to study music next year. I’m pretty sure I won’t like this one bit. It’s a little surreal to my parents to think that Anna will have some of the same teachers they had. Anna continues with piano, violin, and voice. She is in orchestra, choir, marching band, and musicals at school. She also works, is in Girl Scouts, and is very active with music and youth group at church. It’s scary to think of Anna heading out into the world, but I’m going to be brave and Mom is going to stop tearing up whenever some says “this is Anna’s last/next to last…”. We know she’s going to do great at college and everyone looks forward to seeing her on football Saturdays.

Emily is our dancing junior. Drill team at school and ballet at the studio fill up her and our nights and we love seeing her shine. Emily continues with piano and flute, has a job and is also active in music and youth group at church. Thanks to Emily, we were able to host two German band students in April. I became an international internet star (at least in my mind) thanks to these two girls. In June, she took the trip of a lifetime with the school band to Austria and Germany. We got such great reports from her, we weren’t sure she would come home. Emily is interested in Spanish and law in the future. Emily has always been our girl on the go.

Dad became a runner this year. He completed the Bill Snyder Highway half marathon in May for his first ever race. He’s got his eye on a marathon next spring. Dad has been super busy with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus this month, but he loves it. He continues to work as an emergency room pysician, which keeps us flush with dog treats and trips to daycare while the family travels. Dad is still our biggest KSU football fan and never misses a game.

This was an excellent year for Mom. In case you didn’t hear, her KC Royals won the World Series! We spent many hours in the sunroom together this summer watching baseball and cycling while training Suzy. Mom serves as chief dog walker and continues to rule the scheduling world with her paper calendar. She is still teaching piano lessons. Mom planned trips to Mexico and California for the family this year.

As the year comes to a close, I hope your days are filled with tail wags, sunshine, and belly rubs like mine. We all wish you a Merry Christmas and happy New Year.

Love, Sally & Suzy

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