This has been a year of adventure, loss, and celebration for our household.
The first (of six) trips to England this year Jacob had a weekend and went to see Ruth's aunt Mary and Uncle Hartmut in Bremen, Germany. It was really fun to see their life there, but we all missed Ruth and made a scheme to get her to Bremen later in the year... and maybe something special too.
 |
| Mary & Jacob in front of the Bremen Town Musicians, Bremen, Germany |
Hunter is 5 now and enjoys preschool. He was in soccer this year which was good entertainment for us and he had a lot of fun playing for (the mighty) Dolphins.
 |
| Hunter during a soccer game |
 |
| Lincoln, not really sure why we're playing in the rain |
 |
| Kiana, thankful for a reason to use an umbrella |
 |
| "How can we possibly be 'soccer parents'?!" |
 |
| "Is this the right direction guys?" |
Early in the year it became obvious that flight testing would be needed in England, so in March Jake was excited to fly to England in the company jet. Starting in Sandpoint we flew to Wichita, Michigan, Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, and then England.
 |
| On the Tarmac in Reykjavik, Iceland |
 |
Departing Narsarsuaq, Greenland
|
When Jake returned from England, Ruth left for two weeks in Mexicali and Tijuana, Mexico. This was the counterpart to the student exchange program that has been going on between the Red Rio Nuevo Youth Orchestra and Music Conservatory of Sandpoint (MCS) for several years. Though Ruth has sent students to Mexico for the program in the past, she was excited to participate in the trip this year. She spent the time there teaching master classes and directing the youth orchestra of American and Mexican students.
While the mom is away the kids will sneak away for ... some redneck fun! Jake took the three kids down to Lewiston for their first motocross racing at the Lewiston Supercross. All three kids enjoyed the entire event (and even took their fingers out of their ears for part of it).
 |
| Justin, Lincoln, & Jake at the Supercross |
 |
| Hunter, Kiana, & AJ at the Supercross |
This spring we took the kids to their first circus - a one ring circus that came to Sandpoint. The lion and the tiger were the highlight of the show ... and so was the cotton candy
 |
| Lincoln absorbing the circus |
 |
| Hunter with his friend Rainer, Lincoln and Ruth, at the circus |
Father's Day weekend we went to Tri-Cities for some family time and fun on the water.
We haven't had a proper family vacation since Jacob started working at Tamarack, but this year Ruth took matters into her own hands and took the kids to Portland to see Jake's mom and sister and play on the beach for a week.
 |
| Hunter, Nana (Jake's mom), & Kiana at Cannon Beach |
 |
Hunter, Ruth, Lincoln, & Kiana at Cannon Beach
|
This summer Brian and Natalie (Ruth's sister) came for vacation in Sandpoint and the cousins (and auntie's) wore themselves out playing on the beach.
 |
| Emma, Hunter, Lincoln, Jackson, Benjamin, Kiana |
Kiana's school reading program rewards students with tickets to Silverwood (theme park) so we had a family day late this summer and it was tons of fun!
This fall we had Jake's grandpa's SeaDoo so Kiana's 8 year birthday was a tubing party. It was very cold and windy, but the girls had a great time on the lake!
 |
| Jael, Coco, Rachel, & Kiana Ready to Tube! |
In October Grandpa Bob, Grandma Rona, and Nana were generous to keep the kids for two weeks and Ruth went with Jacob on another business trip to England. We spent the first weekend exploring London, Stonehenge, and Bath, England.
 |
| Jake & Ruth in London, in front of Palace of Westminster |
 |
| Ruth at Stonehenge |
 |
| Jake & Ruth in Bath, England near River Avon |
 |
| Jake & Ruth in front of that big shiny building in London... oh- right - Buckingham Palace |
When the workweek started Ruth went to the Netherlands & Germany to see her aunt Resie & uncle Dirck. They were kind enough to take Ruth to some of the landmarks in the Netherlands where her mom, Lilian, grew up; and also was introduced to cousins.
After a week of exploring the Netherlands and southern Germany, Ruth met up with her other aunt, Mary, and uncle, Hartmut, and the trio flew to Venice and Jacob flew down from London.
 |
| Ruth & Mary on the vaporetto (water bus) *Smooch!* |
 |
| Hartmut & Mary on the vaporetto |
 |
| Hartmut & Jake wishing the GPS worked better in Venice |
 |
| Jake & Ruth on the gondola ride in Venice |
 |
| Ruth & Mary at St Mark's Square in Venice |
 |
| Hartmut & Mary on the gondola ride in Venice |
After an excellent weekend in Venice, Jake left for London and Ruth, Mary, and Hartmut went back to northern Germany. Ruth was able to see Bremen where Mary and Hartmut live, and also meet more cousins in Hamburg.
 |
| Mary and Ruth in Hamburg, Germany |
This year we lost several people we love and want to remember.
Carol Belieu - Jacob's grandma
Jan Klinginsmith - Jacob's other grandma
Howard Lohr - our good friend (father in law of Ruth's sister) ,
Aaron Waters - Jacob's colleague
Jim Peasha - longtime friend from our small group
 |
| Jake with Grandma Carol & Jerry (2006) |
 |
| Jake with Grandma Jan (2010) |
Despite the hard time saying goodbye, it was good to see other family and friends at the different memorial services - including Ruth's grandpa Russ and grandma Sherry.
 |
| Lincoln was thrilled to ride on the scooter with Grandpa Russ at Grandma Jan's memorial |
The year finished with a celebration - after nearly five years of development the Tamarack active winglet is CERTIFIED!! This allows us to begin fulfilling orders under our contract with Cessna, and also will allow for Jacob to begin using some of the 600+ hours of PTO that has built up over the past few years.
Finally, the year ended with a Christmas miracle right out of the movies. When we left for Lincoln City this year for Thanksgiving our dog, Jasmine, ran away from the dog sitter. Despite the best efforts of the dog sitter, the Sandpoint police, and the animal shelter Jasmine was gone. So many people helped us search for weeks and we watched for sightings to be reported on the animal shelter Facebook page. We wondered if she was gone forever... and then on Christmas Eve we found her! She was less than a mile away from our house! Too scared to go to people, she had been sleeping in the forest for a month and had found some shelter in an industrial container.
 |
| The Kids & Jasmine |
We wish you the best for 2016 - may the Lord bless you with joy and courage for the road ahead!
