Season's Greetings to all our friends and family!
2009 seems to have gone by in a blur as we look forward to the many great events planned for 2010. Our family is ever growing and two arrivals are expected Valentine's Day (Sigrid and Tyler's first child) and Memorial Day (Zypher's first sibling).
Ruth had another travel heavy year from January (President Obama's inauguration in Washington DC)
to March (appearing on national TV in Manila, Philippines)
to April in Dubai as a speaker for the Adamson University Alumni Assn of UAE Annual reunion
to August in Mexico on a last cruise with her youngest sister and mother
to October in Sangju Korea for their Fall Festival
to December for Grandma Uy's 90th birthday (by Chinese count).
Of course, her time at home in Davis was also packed with adventure as she presided as mayor again over Davis' successful Amgen Tour of California Stage One in February. This contributed greatly to winning Davis the U.S.Bicycle Hall of Fame which is relocating from New Jersey. In the fall, she was also excited to see that the Davis Farmers Market was awarded the Best Farmers Market in America. And seven years after Davisites overwhelmingly requested a Target and Trader Joe's store, the Target store opened this fall and the Trader Joe's store is planned to open next fall. Any free time goes towards playing with her grandson.
Alinia & Omen really do not have time for much of anything now that their time is absorbed by 18-month old Zypher's increasingly mobile antics climbing bookcases, tipping over bike trailers, and hugging unsuspecting children. Fortunately, they should have another distraction for him (and them) in the form of a second child due at the end of May. In the meantime, they strive to hold down their jobs at Intel where Alinia is building programs to produce motherboard design tools and U.C.Davis where is Omen is valiantly guarding the unsuspecting server owners from their own follies. And they do have some free time, as Alinia is working as treasurer again on Sydney Vergis' second campaign for a Davis City Council seat and Omen continues to sit on the board of TreeDavis. Plus now that Zypher is getting more mobile, taking him to play with the dogs in Omen's Alaskan hometown and dress up for a Halloween party at a college friend's house in Baltimore, MD is not as impossible as it had been.
Irena had another busy year witth the IMF and visiting friends and family. After a lovely inauguration weekend in January with Mom and Vigdis and assorted friends from across the globe, it was off to: Kabul (work and carpets), Delhi (and the Taj Majal!), Seattle (nieces!), Geneva (WTO), Croatia (mmm, picnics), London (trade finance conference), Davis (Chris and Becky's wedding), Delhi (work), Istanbul (ooh, Bosphorus!), California (nephew time and Blythe and Paul's wedding), Los Angeles (Jo and Mark's wedding), DC (moving out of my house), Los Angeles (Elizabeth and David's wedding), the Bay Area (Aunt Nora's funeral), Cincinnati (Dave and Brittany's wedding), Kabul (work), Dubai and Abu Dhabi with Vigdis (Beyonce!), and Davis (quality family time and old friends at the Turkey trot). In December, she finally decided it would be worth it to sign a short-term lease, although that was before she knew she would be working on Latvia!
Wil is still working at Apple in Corte Madera and daydreaming about fixing up his house on the hill. In the meantime he occupies his time with golf and gadgets and hopes that no one suspects his secret plans to build the largest pink fuzzy bunny the world has ever seen.
Vigdis ended four years of teaching 6th grade at St. James last June. After a wonderful summer spent enjoying Davis Farmer's Markets and eating cupcakes with friends, she moved on to Somaliland to help start a boarding school for the top 1% of Somali students. Somaliland is the semiautonomous northern region of Somalia in East Africa. She has been teaching math and English courses, acting as the Chair of Liberal Arts overseeing two other teachers, and working to set up an English Learner program that meets the specific needs of Somali students. She is particularly proud of the 17 girls that she advocated for in the 52 student inaugural class. In addition, she has been teaching an English course to local principals and teachers in order to reach students outside her school and teaching classes at the local village school. Read more about her adventures at asmundson.blogspot.com before she comes home in early January.
Jonas just celebrated his one-year anniversary at Chorus America where he directs education programs that help choral volunteers and professionals strengthen their organizations and better promote the art form. He’s settling into life in Washington, DC, singing in a bunch of choirs, playing ultimate Frisbee, volunteering, and doing artsy things.
Sigrid and Tyler have finally bowed down to parental dictates and are in the process of producing further grandchildren for the grandmothers' enjoyment. They anticipate Zachariah Davis Asmundson epidural-alleviated arrival around Valentine's Day. This is perfect timing as they were extremely worried about settling into a rut of bunco-crazed lawn-sodding following their autumnal move into a ginormous new house in another section of the Greater Davis Area known as North North Davis (the Springlake development 5 miles north on Pole Line Road in Woodland). The whole child project should give them a brief reprieve from Sigrid's San Joaquin empire-building as she collects further municipalities into her lawyerly clutches.
To all the friends and family that we did see this year -- hooray and we hope to see more of you this year. To all the friends and family that we did not see -- please know that our house and arms are always open despite the increasing diaper chaos. Have a safe and happy holiday season and good luck with that fast approaching new year!
Love,
The Asmundson-Wild-Cartano Family
This file last modified Wednesday, May 6, 2015.