Christmas 2001 - The Nachtsheim Family Letter
First of all, Happy Holidays.
Vital Statistics:
We’ve been married 14.5 years; Katie is almost 5. Jami is a little older than that. Stephen isn’t. Katie is in her third year of pre-school (we hope she passes this year). She also takes soccer, skating, ballet and tap dance, swimming and art. We live in the same place. Neither of Katie’s parents is gainfully employed (by design).
The Year
In January,
we went skiing – to Lutsen, Minnesota believe it or not.
Steve’s
brother Chris and his family introduced us (or reintroduced in Steve’s case) to
the glories of Minnesota skiing: “4 mountains, 38 chairs, one gondola, …” We
had a great time. It snowed every night, the days were sunny and ”warm,”
everything was half price and Katie got her first ski lessons in a group:
usually one Katie and two or three instructors. There was NO ONE there!!!!
Henry
(Steve’s dad) came out for our annual Bay to Breaker trek in May. 
Following that we popped up to the cabin. We got the boat out for it’s maiden
voyage of the year, picnicked on the lake and generally relaxed in great late
spring weather.
It was
Jami’s year to plan the anniversary trip and it was great. A deluxe vista-dome
train ride across western Canada to Banff and Lake Louise.
Katie went to Arizona to be with her maternal grandparents. That is among her
favorite things in the world so it worked out for everyone.
It was a
treat to host our niece Monica Regnier for a whirlwind tour of the Bay area.
Katie was in heaven having a “teenage cousin” to pal around with. We went to
the Monterey Bay aquarium, San Francisco, Alcatraz, Sausalito and Stanford
University among other spots.
Stephen
retired from Intel in August after 20 years on the job.
In August,
Chris ands Renee Nachtsheim and our other niece (Abby) and nephew (Andy) came
for a weeks visit to the cabin. There was more water-skiiing (see last year’s
Christmas letter on the web), Gator riding, hiking, winery visiting and all the
other usual Sonoma pastimes.
The fall
brought another year of school for Katie interrupted by a few trips. Two were
to Minnesota in October and December – thank goodness for the unseasonable hot
spells. The other was to New York in November. We linked up with friends who
had flown in from Europe as well as friends that live there. We did a lot of
the touristy things: the Rockettes, the skating rink at Rockefeller Center,
Staten Island Ferry, the Lion King on Broadway, the Natural History Museum …….
A couple of observations: of all of those things, Katie’s avowed favorite thing
was the subway ride for a buck and a half. Secondly, Katie has an Intel Digital
Camera; she is also fiercely interested in dinosaurs.
She
took 144 pictures of the dinosaur fossils in the museum. We can send them to
you if you would like!
We hope you have a safe and happy 2002.
Katie, Jami and Stephen Nachtsheim