Merrifield Times

By Trevor This spring, Trevor had a great time playing for the Little League Diamond Backs. In one of his games, he hit two inside-the-park home runs!!! In his last game, the team had two problems. First, one of their best pitchers, Brendan, was injured. Second, they only had 8 players including Brendan. Near the end of the game, Trevor went to the mound to pitched. He nearly saved the game, but the dumb time limit ended and the D-Backs were behind by one run!!!!!! That was really upsetting. Late in the summer, Trevor and his sister Hannah stayed with their Grandpa Herc & Georgia for a whole week… without their parents!!!!!! This school year is going great. Trevor's favorite subject is math. His sister thinks that long division is very, very hard, but to him, it's easy. His best friend at school is a kid named Josh. They are very close friends and both play in Beginning Band. Trevor was first chair Alto Saxophone. Trevor got a bunch of neat stuff for Christmas includi...

By Hannah Hannah is 8 ½ and will be 9 in March. This year she has played volleyball and gone to rock climbing camp. For Christmas, she got a PlayStation2! She is in 3rd grade, her teacher’s name is Mrs. Vanderhoff. Hannah had lots of fun in Whistler and enjoyed staying in Bend with her Grandpa & Georgia. Her favorite movie is Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit. Her favorite food is honey baked ham. And most of all she loves Christmas!

Michael had quite the sailing experience this summer in their class nationals held in "The Gorge” near Cascade Locks, OR . This area of the Columbia River is known around the world as a first class windsurfing and kiteboarding venue. Thanks to the Columbia Gorge Racing Association , who served as our race committee, this area is gaining popularity with people who still sail boats. Although Mike has been sailing with Gordon and Don since 1998, this was his first class championship regatta. After four days and seven races, the Water Boa finished in 5th place (out of 23 boats) in the 2005 Santana 20 Class Championship Regatta . The class website has the best information about the racing, conditions and results (and several photos). It was Gordon and Don’s best finish at S20 nationals since they started sailing together 30 years ago. As Mike puts it, they had a blast (pun intended) and came home bruised but excited by the experience of racing in the Gorge and their results. This wa...

Mike went with a group of high school youth and a couple other adults on a four day retreat in the Oregon Cascades. They stayed at Fairview Peak Lookout and spent time reading, praying, hiking and just hanging out together. As you can see , it was a great time and is a really cool place.

Jolyn has had a stressful year (as you might imagine). Her selfless service to others has been a blessing to many at church, work and at home. On a global scale, difficult situations abound with wars, natural disasters, etc. Closer to home, we’ve been affected by loss, conflict and relational disasters. The opportunity to help out takes its toll so we are grateful for family time: celebrating Herc’s 75th on the coast, a week in Whislter (just us) and simply relaxing at home with a fire in the stove.

Mike was fired from Symantec (aka Somantic) in the middle of April – absolutely blind-sided - in what appears to be a very clear-cut case of him (and at least one other person) taking the fall for some upper-level management incompetence. They were accused, tried, convicted, sentenced, & punished without opportunity for any rebuttal whatsoever. The organization he was in has a reputation for being an absolutely poisonous place to work but Mike really poured heart & soul into it to try & succeed. He was just met with resistance at every turn & was ultimately libeled. As the shock wore off, we discovered a blessing in disguise (in several ways). We have a family life once again! No more late nights at the office for Mike or calling contractors in India at midnight. We realized the incredible stress a job with big corporate America placed on us. We realized that no amount of pay or benefits could make up for the cost to our family. We found sufficiency in our loving Heave...

Our puppy as you may remember was rescued by our vet with a life saving surgery. After recovering and being placed in our home, Lido grew... and grew. His role model is no doubt our neighbor's 100+ pound yellow lab, Ben. At the beginning of this year, Lido had come of age and it was time to nip that potential problem in the bud... Only he was missing one bud... The partial cryptorchidism wasn't really a problem but required a couple additional incisions to locate the hidden nut, squirreled away in Lido's abdomen. Lido has had many nicknames so far in his colorful life including Lido Baggins, Prewash... and currently Big Boy. He's now close to 90 lean pounds and has to perform his KP duty while standing on the floor.