Alisha and Cooper's family are continuing to thrive in Dickinson, ND as they try their best to stay as warm as possible despite record snowfall in April and record cold (-51 degrees!) by early December. The highlight of the year for Jenelle (8) was being baptized in August in Lake Oswego where she was surrounded by lots of loving family. Meredith (6), is having a blast in 1st grade and lives for gymnastics class. Isaac (3) devours anything to do with dinosaurs and is constantly showing his parents the many fun and active ways in which little boys are different than little girls. Grace (1) eats nonstop, copies Isaac all she can, and loves babies, which is a good thing as they will be welcoming baby #5 into their family in February!
Adam's adventures continue with no end in sight. He is currently residing in Varanasi, India, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the holiest of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism. He had spent the prior year in and out of various significant places in the history of Buddhism throughout China and Nepal. His unofficial post-graduate work on his Anthropology degree advances with every day. After three years of not seeing Adam, Steve caught up with Adam in March in Eastern Nepal, and they trekked together up to Mt. Everest Base Camp and beyond to the top of Kala Patthar (18,200 feet) for some amazing photography of the sun rising over Mt. Everest. They had a once in a lifetime experience together at the roof of the world. After Steve hopped on a small airplane to fly back to Katmandu, Adam walked from the Tibetan northern border of Nepal to India, by himself, through the Himalaya mountains until he reached Darjeeling, India, where he wrote for five months. He has no current plans to return to the US, and we have no idea where he is heading next.
Andrew and Lenora brought Henry Santo Berne into the world on May 10, 2013. and they are currently in Italy visiting Lenora's family for the Holidays, who live in Sipicciano. Andrew is now half way through law school, and he hopes to split this next summer working for the Babcock Scott law firm in SLC and the Harris Berne Christensen law firm in Lake Oswego, which is what he did last summer. Andrew had a full year, he became a father, ran his first triathlon, and bagged his first buck. He is enjoying a lot of venison jerky, sausage and steaks, not sure Lenora has tasted any of it yet or ever will. She still has mixed feelings over the killing of Bambi's father, but that didn't stop her from helping Andrew skin the deer! Lenora keeps plenty busy with Henry and her constant travels and visits near and far to family, which is what makes her happiest (other than accumulating large quantities of chocolate, Henry's first Halloween was Lenora's favorite).
Anna and Wes have moved from New York City, where they have been living for the last two and a half years, to Seattle. They are now so much closer to home-Yea!!! Earlier this month, we helped them move into their spacious new apartment (as compared to their little place in NY) in the Magnolia area of North Seattle, where they now have beautiful views of the city. Before they left NY, they enjoyed trips this last year to DC and Philadelphia, where Peggy joined them while Steve was trekking in Nepal. Wes was relocated with a new agency, Razorfish, to work on Nike's digital advertising-his dream. After the Holidays, Anna will be looking for local work in Sports Medicine. She really hated to leave her Lacrosse coaching job at Trinity School in NY, but it won't take her long to get recruited to new coaching positions in Seattle once the locals find out she is available.
While Steve was away visiting Adam, Peggy visited their other kids in the US and enjoyed some historic sites with Anna and Wes in Philadelphia, and took the Whitmans to South Dakota to visit some Badlands and Mount Rushmore. She is waiting for Adam to land in a place of the world where she would feel comfortable visiting, and hoping that happens some time soon. Now that Anna and Wes have moved to Seattle, we see on the horizon new adventures to the San Juan Islands, Whistler, BC and Vancouver. Great times ahead, and we hope that life is good and full of excitement for you and your families. Thank you for your love and friendship.
Love Steve and Peggy Berne
