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Season’s Greetings,
We hope the Holiday Season finds you in good spirits and not too frantic with the more commercial aspects of “the most wonderful time of the year”. We try to keep our heads about us as we walk through preparations for Christmas and end of year celebrations. We sure don’t want our kids to get the wrong idea about why we do all of this every year!!
The millennium year brought many big changes to the Buttrey household. First off, Doug just finished his first year free of the stock option clutches of 3Com. He moved to HP for a “bigger” job but without the ridiculous work schedule he has held for many years. It actually took him a while to adjust to making decisions using facts instead of guesses. Doug also makes time to work in Adam and Noelle’s classrooms. The kids absolutely love it! Basketball is still his number one mode of exercise. Somehow he manages to take 2-hour lunches 3 or 4 times a week so he can get over to 3Com and play with the guys he’s played with for the past ten years. Since he will be celebrating his 40th in March, he decided to get a head start on the old mid-life crisis……..and bought a motorcycle. No young blonde on the back yet! Of course he will say the primary function of such a purchase was to allow him easy access to carpool lanes in the morning, but in reality he is a Hells Angel at heart.
The next biggie occurred in early summer, when we realized Adam would face another surgery for the benign tumor that was removed from his neck in Oct. 99’. The bugger grew back with a vengeance and the doctor felt this time she needed to actually remove the muscle the tumor was attached to, reducing the likelihood of another surgery. So, in the midst of throwing wedding showers for my sister Robin and planning other events for her wedding, three weeks before she said, “I do” Adam was at Stanford. Needless to say, the surgery went well and Adam was unbelievable about the whole thing. You have never seen a braver little guy. He really made it so easy for all of us because he recovered quickly and got on with more important things like cars, trucks, and trains. So far things look really good! With what we lovingly called “The Wedding” and Adams surgery, our summer seemed to come and go. We did end up making a trip to Disneyland in August before Noelle started Kindergarten.
Yes you heard right, the “peanut” is in Kindergarten and doing fabulous. The whole transition was so seamless; she acted like she’d been going to the school for years. She even asked on the first day of school why she wasn’t taking the bus home. Noelle is starting to read and she spends most of her time spelling words and writing. She has made many friends in the mountains. This has been a real joy for us to finally tap into a whole community up here that we didn’t even know existed. The school is just beautiful. It sits surrounded by a tree farm and has a view of the ocean. Can’t beat that!!! Noelle also takes a clay class once a week and has really turned out some interesting sculptures. She also started gymnastics, which at first we weren’t too sure about, but now she seems to be really enjoying. The kid could balance on the head of a pin so I think she is definitely in the right place.
Adam “bomb” started preschool this year two days a week. He loves his teacher Mrs. Dallas and his favorite part of the whole experience is snack time. He sure enjoys his food! This is a co-op preschool so Doug and I have the privilege of working in the classroom a few times a month. And I have a few hours a week to actually run errands by myself. Speaking of mom…. I have joined the preschool board this year as the official “party mom”. I plan all the parties for the kids and do all the shopping for goodies. It is really fun for me to do something a little extra for the school other than my workdays. I also have been working a few days a month in Noelle’s class. I love being involved with the kids and getting to know each of them and seeing where/how Noelle fits in.
Doug and I have also decided this year that we are not moving. We have been pondering this possibility for some time. We did some more looking in California outside the realm of Silicon Valley and realized that our Mountain retreat in Los Gatos was like an Oasis in one of the most interesting places in the Country. It really is kind of hard to beat what we have going. This means we are rooting ourselves until the kids are out of school or something changes our minds yet again.
Check out our web site if you have access: http://buttrey.freeservers.com/
That’s probably about it for us as far as news goes. We hope you and your families have a truly blessed Christmas and that you can ring in the New Year with a peaceful heart and a grateful soul.
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