Photo Credit: Kodak Gallery

Photo 2c: Silvie and Peter enjoy a sandy beach in Bora Bora [typeface chosen by Silvie. Island motif designed by Peter].

Dear family, friends, college room mates, coaches, dentists, neighbors, past and present financial managers, work associates, and rain gutter cleaners,

Happy Holidays! It has been a rocky year (the recession, increasing menace of global warming, and any other disasters that may have plagued your family) but we hope you are able to find comfort during this warm season and bring in the New Year with cheer!

Just to brief you on the development of our family:

Our daughter, Silvie, age 9 (Weight 76 pounds, height 4’11”) is LOVING fourth grade. Her teacher, Mrs. Lawler, is fantastic and John and I absolutely adore her. In our parent-teacher conference she may have mentioned that Silvie is the fastest reader in the class (shhh!) (!!!!!!) and that she is kind, inclusive, and compassionate to her peers. We have no idea where she got it! Silvie continues to horseback ride every day and recently qualified for the equestrian team (see photo 4.a: Silvie with her horse, “Rider”). John and I could not be more proud of her but we are making sure not to praise her too highly. Modesty and humility are the two traits we are teaching her this year. This spring we are planning a college-tour on the east coast. We want Silvie to get an idea for which universities will best foster her love of horses. We think it is important to set your goals high but John and I are struggling not to pressure her too much (something we learned in our parent therapy session with Dr. Brown).

*Side Note: Silvie has been working tenaciously on her children’s novel. She is totally self-motivated! To read the first volume of her novel click on this link: www.silvie’snovel.com

Peter, age 7, is still our little comedian. Weighing 60 pounds and standing 4’6” tall, Peter amazes us in every thing he does. (see photo 5b: Peter sleeping). His teacher, Mrs. Gracin, is not our favorite (nor is her fashion sense). Last month she sent home an email reading “Peter needs to focus on his work more. Maybe you could have a conversation with him about it.” We did no such thing; we decided it would hurt his confidence. Mrs. Gracin knows nothing about parenting! John and I discussed the situation and came to the conclusion that she is threatened by Peter, his fluency in Mandarin, and his overwhelming maturity. Peter earned various ribbons in his jump-roping competitions this year and learned how to use chopsticks! (Photo 6c). He is such a blessing!

I don’t want to bore you with the details of mine and John’s lives but John is still working at Google (we think he will get promoted soon!) and recently received a very generous pay raise. Don’t want to brag but let’s just say it was a pay raise that updated the cars in our garage and funded our beach-front property in Bora Bora. (Email us if you would like to visit!) I am SWAMPED with my PTA duties—I hardly have any free time!

We hope to get together with many of you in the new year; there is so much to catch up on!

Wishing you all a joyous holiday season,
The Partridges