THE WISCONSIN SUNDHEIM CHRISTMAS LETTER

Our year of visiting friends began in May with a trip to Austin, Texas. We left the boys with one of Jane’s sisters and flew off to the lone star state. It was great to see so many of our friends that we had missed. After days of parties and swimming in Barton Springs, Jane left for home and I stayed for a mathematics conference in honor of my thesis advisor, Cameron Gordon. After days of parties and lots of math I wearily wended my way back to Wisconsin.

In June we took two trips as a family. The first (right after Stephen’s fourth birthday) was to see friends and relatives in Minnesota. We had a second birthday for Stephen complete with a digger-and-dump-truck cake. There were enough kids to cause real havoc, so the kids had a blast. We also were treated to being towed behind a fast boat in an inner tube.

The second was a trip to Missouri. While camping with friends in a state park, we went spelunking (see the picture at the right) and swimming in the park’s lake. On the way home, we stopped at the Saint Louis arch to travel in one of the little pods to the top.

In July, right around the fourth of July we were lucky to have my sister and brother in law come for a short visit. Together we saw the fireworks and went for walks and parties. The raspberries provided a bumper crop and the summer temperatures were wonderful for playing on the slide.

The next trip, I took with two colleagues from the college. We traveled to Canada to go canoeing in the Quetico National Park. We went four days away from civilization and four days back with nothing more than would fit into one conoe. It was quiet, peaceful and a wonderful rejuvenating break before the start of the fall semester.

After the trip, I finished a sabbatical proposal which was funded for the fall semester of 2006, so now I have a nice long break to look forward to next year too. (I won’t be teaching summer school, but I might try for a summer research grant.)

In September Anders and Stephen played soccer again, Anders started first grade and Jane and I tried yoga practiceI started a new semester and had an MRI on a sore wrist that showed a torn ligament. Surgery was set for October. Also in October, Anders started Tiger Cubs Scouts and Jane became the scout den leader.

November it was Jane’s turn for a trip. She went to New York city to visit some friends that she had been meaning to see for years.

[Yes, that is the real cookie monster in the photo.]

It is December now and the cold has come in hard with snow. Soon we will be traveling to California to visit with relatives and friends, an appropriate way to end a year of many happy reunions.

We hope you are doing well and happy. May your new year be even better than the last one!