Brian’s move to a 32-hour work week in October of ‘99 gives him more time for non-work activities. He continues to enjoy running sound for the band "Fez Fatale". They’ve gone through some personnel changes and are now on their third set of vocalists. The new members have been with the band for nearly a year now and everyone is having more fun than ever before. They play an average of twice a month and spent time in the studio in November recording another CD. Brian also continues with community activism, serving as vice-chair of our local Citizen Participation Organization (CPO) and as treasurer of Oregon Communities for a Voice in Annexations (OCVA). He and James Just (our neighbor and friend) continue their watchdog work with Friends of North Plains, preparing lengthy analyses that have been favorably compared to those done by professional land-use attorneys! He’s also putting his web site development skills to work for the latter two organizations.  Check out their sites!

In August, we celebrated our 5^th wedding anniversary, reflecting on the moment over dinner while cruising down the Willamette River in Portland. We just had to share this photo with you… isn’t that just the cutest couple you’ve seen in a while?

Our friend Raul became a certified skipper earlier in the year and we are some of the fortunate beneficiaries of his new hobby. In September, we went sailing in the San Juan Islands in Washington State. We spent four days cruising around the beautiful islands of Puget Sound with Raul and four other friends. Mason proved himself quite the young sailor. Here we see him helping to trim the sails.

So as this busy year draws to a close, we’re putting together this little note and reflecting not just on the past year but on the last few years. Certainly, having Mason has given us a lot to be grateful for. And we feel blessed to have so many friends and family to be close to and to share our lives with.