Another year has past. This time last year we were wondering what the new year would bring…Calamity with the Y2K bug…collapse of the financial markets…the end of the world? Well none of those thing happened and I'm not surprised they didn't happen. Could it happen in the future? It will someday. Will it be soon or a long way off? That I don't know. All I know is that Jeri and I are ready whether it's tomorrow, next week, next month, next year or whenever.

This year started off watching the new year emerge from around the world. I actually got up at 2am to watch the new year arrive on the island out in the western Pacific. Though all the celebrations were special, the one that comes to mind first is the one from Paris and fireworks around the Eiffel tower. It was amazing.

The new year started with Cam's job moving to a new location at his company. His job basically the same with some options for new responsibilities, but he got a new manager. So far it has gone OK.

In April for our 5^th anniversary we went to Victoria BC Canada for 3 days, via the Victoria Clipper out of Seattle. We had wonderful weather, a very nice hotel and a great time. Went to Buchart Gardens and walked the streets of Victoria. Found many antique shops so Jeri had an extra special good time.

Later in April, we decided to upgrade one of our vehicles and purchased a 1999 Ford Explorer. Yes, it had the bad Firestone tires which Firstone replaced. Other than that we have been very pleased with the car.

Also in April, Cam's dad had hip surgery. Recovery was slow but he is doing fine now.

In May Jeri's mother had back surgery. Following the surgery her parents stayed with us a month during her recovery. Also during this time we found some kittens that needed care (11 of them to be exact) and started parenting them. We found homes for 9 of them and have kept 2. One of the two is missing a front leg which is one reason we kept him as we wanted him to have a good him. We named him Abbot after the major league baseball player that had just one arm.

The first weekend of June found us on a whirlwind tour of the northwest. We basically went from home to Pendleton Oregon for Cam's Cousin Bonnie's, Daughter's hi-school graduation. We then left there and drove to Auburn Washington arriving around 10pm that night…a long drive. In Auburn the next day we attending Jeri's oldest brother Don's son Brian's hi-school graduation.

We both had the second week off in July. Spent it around the house working on the yard and the garden railroad. Finished two houses.

In August we had a 10 day vacation, going to the Northwest Adventist Radio Association Hamfest at Hope BC Canada for three days, Grand Coulee Dam for a day then on to Leavenworth Washington for three days. The reminder of our time off was spent at home.

The summer did have some unhappy events. Our two kitties, Maggie and Reilly, apparently upset by our parenting the kittens, didn't come home. Reilly actually left first, was gone 4 weeks and then returned for a couple weeks. A week be fore he returned Maggie disappeared. After two weeks or do Reilly took off again and didn't come home. Both of them have name tags with their names, our address and phone number. We are very bewildered why they would not come home and even more why no one would call about them. We hope wherever they are, the well and happy.

Addendum:  We Actually have good news about Reilly as he did come back after 3 months.  He has never left for as long a time again.  He has left for up to a week at a time though.  Fortunately, he has always come home.  We have found it to be amazing that he will go away for those lengths of time and come back like nothing has happened.  We are thankful that God has watch over and protected him.  He is a special cat. C&J