Dear Friends and Family,

Christmas this year finds us moving to Huntsville, Alabama. I've already moved. I had to report to the Missile and Space Intelligence Center by the 15th of November. Debi and Candi stayed behind in Albuquerque so Candi could finish the semester and participate in a choir concert where she had a lead part. They'll be joining me in Huntsville by the end of the year. I just returned to Albuquerque to pick them up. We'll be spending Christmas with Debi's parents in San Antonio before driving back to Alabama.

This has been a very interesting year for us. Most of it was good. Our worst event occurred just before I was scheduled to depart for Huntsville. We hadn't sold the house yet, so we were looking at a potentially long family separation. I had planned to drive to Huntsville pulling a U-Haul trailer where I was going to set up an apartment. Three days before I was scheduled to depart, my Ford F-150 pickup was stolen out of our driveway. What really hurt was that I had cleaned out my office the morning before. The thieves also got away with all my plaques, certificates and memorabilia from 18 years of Government service. They also got my medical and dental records. The Air Force gave me a 30-day extension to recover. During that extension, we found a buyer for our house. My truck was never recovered, but I got a good settlement from my insurance company. Best of all, we didn't have to plan on a long family separation.

Because of delays in the final settlement of our claim on the truck, I bought a white, 1986 Ford Mustang as a temporary vehicle. It's a convertible with the 5.0-liter High Output engine and a 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive. It was in very good condition, and runs like a scalded dog at sea level. When I get my replacement truck in January, the Mustang will become of "fun" car. Candi thinks she's going to get my Mustang when she starts driving, but that may be too much car for a teenager.

Huntsville seems like an unusual place for an Air Force officer to end up. There's no Air Force Base there, only an Army Base. After getting over the initial shock of finding out about the assignment, we did some homework and it looks like a very good location. I'll be retiring in a little over two years, so I need to be where I can find a job. Huntsville is a high tech community that has been called the Silicon Valley of the Southeast. There's lots of industry in the area, and lots of demand for electrical engineers. The area is a lot closer to my parents, so I'll get to spend more time with them now.

My project at the Air Force Research Lab finally finished in April. The final result was a little misleading, but basically we did everything we promised. Unfortunately, the requirement changed at the last minute, after the system was built. Not quite the result I was hoping for, but I'm proud of my team and the tremendous job they did. Because of their efforts, I was awarded the Air Force Material Command's Ferguson Award for excellence in engineering.

Candi is still enjoying the piano and keeping busy with the chorus at school. She got to make a trip to Washington, DC this spring with her school choir. The choir got to sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in addition to touring many historical sites. While she was in Washington, Debi and I took a mini-vacation to San Diego. We enjoyed many of the zoos and sites that city had to offer. We took another vacation in June and drove up to Yellowstone National Park. I'd always wanted to see the geysers, and we knew that might be our last chance for a while. The weather was much colder than we imagined, and we got snowed on the day before we left. Some of our pictures are posted on our family web page, so check it out if you have some time.

Debi turned the Big 40 this year. I'm still holding at 21 of course. She's looking forward to getting settled in Huntsville and finding a new job. She was pretty burned out from the old job. She was handling most of the business management for the law firm, but wasn't really appreciated. She finally quit, but ended up working for them part time on her terms. They are still calling her a couple of times a day to ask questions. Aaron is still living with his Grandparents in San Antonio, but is joining the Navy soon. He's hoping to get into engine mechanics, which should be a good career for him. He needs to lose a little weight and should report for basic training soon, possibly before the end of the year.

We still haven't found permanent housing in Huntsville. Since this is my last assignment in the Air Force, and I'll probably retire in the area, we are thinking about building a house. In the mean time, we have an apartment in Madison, a growing community adjacent to Huntsville.

Well, that's it for another year. If you get to Huntsville, please look us up. We'd love to see you. You can always drop us a line via email or snail mail (that's Internet-ese for regular Post Office mail) at the addresses listed above. We hope this has been a good year for you and your family, and we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year.