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| Christmas Eve 2010 |
Dear Friends and Family,
Here it is Christmas Eve Day and I'm about half way through the 2011 year in review on this blog. Maybe I'll finish it and pass on the link for those who may wish to follow the Keebler/Beaver* Adventures in greater detail. In the meantime Jack and I surely want to wish you and yours our best this holiday season and to reciprocate all the greetings we have received via email and snail mail of late.
I'm not sure how long we'll be able to keep up this living from November through March in mostly sunny Arizona, April in Fairbanks, May on the Tozi, June through mid-August back in Fairbanks, mid-August through mid-September on the Tozi and another six weeks in Fairbanks before flying south once again. I'm behind on almost everything but cooking, cleaning and packing! Nonetheless, we are grateful for the health and the means to be living this nomadic life for the present.
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| 45 Years and Counting! |
In June we celebrated 45 years of bliss -- 15 of it wedded. In October we completed our 40th year as Alaskans. Our lives have been blessed with the company of friends and family on adventures so numerous I can't seem to finish that yearly update. But the highlights were the times with granddaughter Ari who turned 3 in April both in Arizona and Alaska. Her daddy's professional travel as a theoretical physicist working at Los Alamos National Labs and her mommy's work as a first year assistant professor in economics at University of New Mexico in Albuquerque have provided us with several full weeks of grandparenting pleasure.
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| Triker Extraordinaire - August, 2011 |
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| Montessori School Girl - August, |
Each of us had a chance to care for her in Albuquerque where we've walked her to school, met some of her friends and enjoyed re-living many of the experiences we had raising her daddy. We can surely wait until she decides her peers are more interesting than her grandparents!
There've been some downturns this past year, but they've largely resolved themselves. We spent our spring month on the Tozi unable to travel the river or enjoy pike fishing (At least Jack enjoys the fishing; Karen limits her enjoyment to eating Jack's famous fried pike!) because our brand new 250 lb. boat motor refused to start. It took the first half of our fall trip for Jack to figure out the problem and get the boat in the water.
Jack's energy level in the fall was improved due to the outcome of another downturn, which was his being diagnosed with the need for a stent in one artery. That procedure in late August put off and shortened our time on the Tozi, but it was still a wonderful three and a half week respite from the demands and cares of civilization. We had no visitors and saw no wildlife larger than a squirrel or a pike. It was wonderful to share our Tozi home with just each other.
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| The Peace of the River - Tozi - late August, 2011 |
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| Robin and Ari depart AK 30 Sept., 2011 |
The big downturn story of the year occured 6 April when Robin took a 17 ft. fall from a climbing wall in an Albuquerque gym. We are eternally grateful for his good sense in not falling on his head! Instead he landed on his right foot resulting in a compound fracture above the ankle. That put him out of commission for the summer and kept him and Ari from making a planned three week trip to Alaska in May-June. We're glad to report that he's back on his feet and probably looking forward to a job-change that will relieve him of the 200 mile-a-day commute to Los Alamos for work. We were also happy that he and Ari were able to visit us in Alaska for six days at the end of September.
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| Ari & Meg dressed up for the ballet |
We next saw them in Ari-zona for Thanksgiving after which Meg flew home to finish out the semester and Robin flew off on a three week professional gig in Singapore, Zurich and Montreal. We had Ari for nearly two weeks before driving her back home to Albuquerque. We stayed there with her and Meg until Sunday 11 December when the four of us attended The Nutcracker and Ari announced her desire to learn ballet. She's been doing gymnastics for the past year and a little bit of dance at school, so she'll have some preparation. She also got comfortable in the water and started dog-paddling in our Sun City rec center pools during her stay with us.
Robin, Meg and Ari have spent a well-deserved vacation together up through Christmas at a Florida beach. We anticipate dinner and a movie with friends Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner at Aunt Lovie's.
We look forward to more adventures with friends and family in 2012. And I look forward to finishing the 2011 Year in Review for this blog. When I do, you'll get a link so, if you shared adventures with us during 2011 you can check to see if photos of you made the cut! We have guest rooms in Alaska and Arizona and do enjoy company. For those who may not have our contact info:
April - October
144 Sunrise Drive
Fairbanks, AK 99712
907-457-3579
907-457-3579
November - March
13814 N. Newcastle Dr.
Sun City, AZ 85351
623-977-9822
Email Addresses
karen@tozikaket.com
jack@tozikaket.com
Karen is also on Facebook
Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Karen, Jack and Butter
*For those unfamiliar with "Keebler/Beaver," this goes back to 1975 when Karen's parents, Bob and Elfie, visited the Tozi. We put them up in a camp 3/4 of a mile away from us. We outfitted them and ourselves with walkie-talkies. We needed "handles," of course. Jack was Big Beaver and I was Keebler Kookie. My parents cutely called themselves One Elf (mom) and Two Elves since we all know Keebler Kookies are made by elves!
