Holiday Cheer and 2015 Year-in-Review

Instead of the annual holiday letter and a day full of addressing cards, this year we're presenting a year-in-review!  We'll still send out a few cards, but our goal this year is a more lovely recap of the year with lots of photos that will be a double win, sharing a more vivid update with friends / family and saving us the intense time of sending cards to almost everyone we care about (there are a lot of you)! We think this will be more fun for everyone. Thus, on with the show!

This year....

We've continued to love our home among the redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains.  I'm also still a huge fan of visiting the ocean with every grocery visit because I find it so breathtakingly beautiful.

Tracker came back from guide dog school.  He flunked at the end of training for a fluke which left him beautifully trained to be a private service animal. He became Cameron's autism service dog.

We visited LegoLand as a family, plus Cameron's best friend, Nat.

Andrew's parents and niece visited us.  Cameron and Cousin Emma are wonderful together.

Andrew started work at Looker, a company based in Santa Cruz.  He's loving it and we had fun together at their holiday party!

WWW.Looker.Com

He's also continuing work on his Minecraft site in spare time and getting lots of traffic so that it supports itself!
http://crafting-guide.com

My beautiful niece was born and grew!

We visited Atlanta as a family and enjoyed a wonderful conference! Cameron met his online literature teacher.

Andrew and I started clarinet lessons together and Andrew has become enthralled.  He's joined a symphonic band and loves the instrument.

Cameron graduated 5th grade which is the end of elementary school here. (Year book page and hugging the principal at graduation)

Throughout 2015, Cameron did many more studies with Stanford. He's an expert at the fMRI machine and we've got soooo many colorful pictures of his brain!

Over the summer, Cameron house sat for neighbors with farm animals. He liked the goats. It was his first paid job outside of the studies.

He went to two camps and almost three.  He had his first experience of home sickness and decided that two was enough. (OVY camp, Camp Altitude... he loved the counselors)

My best friend visited with her family and we explored lots of local attraction.  So wonderful to have friend time :)

We went to Sea Ranch for a visit with my parents.  They dealt with a serious health challenge this year and it was wonderful to spend quality time together. We played lots of games together and apart and brought the clarinets too.

I started singing in a local chorus that does barbershop and is stretching my skills!  I've made my first recording with them and been coached by famous international directors.  Exciting!

Cameron started at Scotts Valley Middle School. He also changed from doing intermediate gymnastics every week to doing it only monthly.  He began a new martial art called YAMA.

My aunt and uncle visited from Vermont.  We explored and visited the Winchester Mystery House.

Cameron turned twelve and had a birthday at the park again. It was just what he wanted.

My mom and I visited Safari West for our birthday and enjoyed all the exotic animals!

We spend the Thanksgiving holiday at my parents' house for the annual Chanukah / Thanksgiving / Family Photo tradition.  Lots of smiles :)

The fall is hear and we're all doing well.  We've enjoyed many fires in our wood stove and are looking forward to a cozy season!

May your holiday season be filled with warmth and cheer!

Rachel, Andrew, and Cameron