January 1, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
Happy NewYear !!!
Once again, the end of the year has come upon us and so, too, the urge to reconnect with you, if we haven’t had the pleasure thus far.
Denny has just begun his 7th year with Payless Institutional Pharmacy and continues to make tracks up and down I-5 to the many facilities with which they have contracts. He primarily serves as a nurse consultant to these facilities, but has also become quite the “narc” nurse: the “go-to” person for determining how meds are missing and patients are not getting pain relief. As for rest and recreation, Denny went to high school camp again this past summer to a drive bus (one of six!) of 60 kids to western Idaho, as well as to do his tech magic: photographing the events of a 5-day camp in which over 250 students participated, running the sound system for the several meetings and putting together end-of-day videos set to music of a given day’s events. He had a blast, came home exhausted and only 4 days later, had his left knee joint replaced. 
He’s remarked that his recovery was much easier and faster than with his right knee replacement 15 yrs prior and we are so grateful!!!
Nick is fast approaching his first year working for Cinetopia, an upscale movie theater, known for its gourmet restaurant, wine bar, gazillion dollar sound system and $150 per pair 3-d glasses. Food & beverages are made to order and served to you prior to the start of your movie or in the dining room. While having enjoyed working in such a fine establishment, he will be looking for another position that offers more work hours after the first of the year. In the meantime, he has found a way to supplement his income by posting videos to You-Tube of his collectors’ series Lego creations, only to be invited by Google to be one of their paid contributors. This has, thus far, netted a noteworthy second income for him. Bravo, bud!!! 
Nick continues to inspire both of us with his diligent weight-lifting regime, presently boasting 200lbs. We frequently ask him for the best way to use the equipment for our personal goals, which, by the way, do NOT include putting on more weight!! I have begun my 3rd year of lifting weights and can finally see the advantage to supplementing my lifetime of aerobic-only workouts.
Bethany finished her sophomore year of college this past summer, as well as her 4+ years at Costco Pharmacy, only to head over to Florence, Italy to do her junior year through Gonzaga University (no jealousy here!!!). 
If you are one of her “friends” on FaceBook, you already know what an incredible 4 months it has been for her there. She has been completely immersed in all things she loves: Italian culture, art, architecture, history, language, food and daily life. Needless to say, she is in heaven doing her photography there. Her classes have been challenging, but with a 4-day school week, she has had ample time to study. The school trips she takes are dovetailed in her classes and are fair game for exams. There are also trips that many students take on their own tab, as RyanAir makes hops all over Europe for reasonable fare. Many students leave every weekend, but Beth has not been away as much as we imagined, enjoying her home town of Florence and the relationships she’s made with students, staff, her pensione owners and even local merchants. Presently, she and her roommate/dear friend from Vancouver are in the UK spending Christmas with friends, then heading to Ireland and Scotland before returning to school for classes on the 10th. THANK GOD we get to chat with her “face to face” on SKYPE every week or instant message with her on Facebook/Gmail. Oh the wonders of 21st century technology for lessening the longing for missed loved ones!!!
This past year has afforded me the opportunity to visit my 
mom a couple times, as well as my dear extended family members in LA. I was also blessed to visit my dad and his wife in Tulsa, OK, in April. 
Volunteering has afforded me this flexibility. My favorite place to do so has been at Clark College, in their ESL classrooms. (I got the “bug” for helping non-native English speakers when I took a trip with a team from our church two summers ago, to Martin, Slovakia). These adults are highly motivated to support their families , as well as contribute to the Vancouver, WA community. As you can imagine, they are hard-working, eager and appreciative students, so I love working with them. Additionally, I sing on a worship team once per month with our church and enjoy the company of some elderly friends who live in an assisted living near our home here in Vancouver. For “r & r”, I dabble in paper crafts, beading, gardening, reading classic literature and generally doing whatever “sport” lends itself to the weather at hand in our beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Well, I think that about covers it for the Blairs. Thanks for taking the time to read this and we hope we can connect with you in person in 2011(or at least by phone or SKYPE). As we anticipate the blessings of the Lord on your life, we send our love, too.
