Christmas 2021 - the next normal... whatever that is

I took my 2020 Christmas/Holiday cards off the kitchen wall last week. They made me happy all year long, but when the next round came through, it was time. Even though 2021 was better than 2020, the next normal still feels a long way off. 

 We spent most of 2021 outside – backpacking in Trinity Alps, hiking in the Olympic National Forest, the Smoky Mountains, Rocky Mountains, Tahoe, and hanging out in backyards, local parks, and around our own firepit. 

 

This was a year of milestones. Hadley, (and bonus daughters) Toco and Chiko graduated from high school, San Jose State, and Holt College of International Business. 

Tracy and I marked our 25^th anniversary by going to tennis camp at the USTA National Campus in Florida. And when I turned 50 in September, Tracy threw me an epic 80s party. I can’t find my keys, but I still know all the words to every Erasure song. Mad life skills. 

I hate the term “empty nest.” It’s saccharin, glossy, and patronizing. That said, if you’re sending all your kids off to college, don’t send two at once. The life in the house evaporates overnight. Tracy and I have compensated by showing up in CO multiple times (lucky Skyler and Hadley), getting bees (that abandoned the hive, but left five gallons of honey), and drinking midday margaritas at Indian Wells. Clearly, we need more practice. Any suggestions? 

 

Skyler is a pre-med super senior at UCCS majoring in psychology, philosophy, and a minor in biochem. He’ll graduate in May, but if the MCAT goes well, he won’t be off our payroll for long. He’s added working in a local ER and volunteering at a food pantry to singing in his a cappella group and rock climbing. Apparently, that’s all too normal, so he took a side trip to Vegas to learn how to eat fire. Seriously. If you want to debate “isms” late into the night, come visit over the holiday break. He’s also gifted in acquiring free t-shirts, and is closing in on not buying a single article of clothing for his entire college career. Goals.   

When Liam found out Foothill College would be primarily online for a second year in a row, he 

applied to a handful of colleges with rolling admission. Oregon State was the winner and he moved to Corvallis in September to study electrical engineering (probably). It’s tough making new friends as a transfer (during a pandemic), but in person classes and an easy flight home for visits mitigates the transition. He’s taken up cycling and doesn’t seem to mind the cold rain… yet. 

Hadley is a freshman at CSU in Fort Collins studying evolutionary biology and genetics with a concentration in botany. She says everything in CO is better than CA, and sends us links to horse properties for sale. Um, no. It was tough doing her entire senior year of high school online, but at least field hockey restarted, so she got her final season as captain. In February, we visited the Word Equestrian Center in Ocala, FL where we found a four-year-old dark bay thoroughbred called Ollie. She spent the rest of the year training him and working for Nordstrom – nice discount! Ollie joined her at CSU in October. The eventing center is close to campus, and she can ride every day. 

 

After nearly two years as proximal colleagues, Tracy and I still like each other. His office is more open than mine, but hopefully 2022 will bring some equilibrium to our work and our world. We hope to see you soon and wish you all the best this holiday season.  

 

Love, the Colwells

 

 

Groundhog's Day 2021 - in lieu of a Christmas letter

 

February 2021 

Happy Groundhog’s Day! It seems like the most appropriate holiday to commemorate 2020, since the days just replicate each other. Thank you to everyone who sent Christmas/Holiday cards. I didn’t expect many this year, but there’s enough to cover the kitchen wall, and it makes me smile every day. 

I volunteered for Second Harvest early in the shutdown, and we ran out of food with at least 50 people in line. The abrupt, exponentially rising poverty combined with tepid online education and the brutal effects of isolation prompted my open objection to California’s handling of the crisis. What our leaders are doing to my home state is heartbreaking. 

So, I went through 200lbs of flour therapy-baking and sent cakes and cookies to teachers, and small business owners and employees. And kept volunteering. And inviting people to my backyard. Drops in a big bucket. 

For the most part, we’re all doing what you’re doing… life Covid style. 

Skyler’s now a senior at UCCS. He worked at an adolescent psychiatric hospital at the beginning of the shutdown, which gave him a place to go when all his classes went online. It inspired him to switch to pre-med, which means he’ll be a super senior next year. CO is more open than CA, so he’s been able to continue rock climbing and practicing with his a cappella group. We see less and less of him, so we try to plan appealing adventures to tempt him to visit or join us. It might help if we remodeled his room instead of using it for extra office space and storage. 

Liam was a freshman at St. John’s in Queens last March. Two days after he returned from spring break, the campus shut down and stayed that way. It was July before the school packed up his dorm and shipped his things to us. The reset was good for him, and he took a job as a Starbucks barista, signed up for classes at Foothill College, and built a home gym with some friends. He’s hoping to transfer to a university on the west coast when they open back up in person. It’s convenient having an onsite coffee expert, and he’s also polishing his skills as a short order cook. Too bad his dishwashing skills are not on a similar trajectory. 

Horseback riding was never canceled since it’s “taking care of a pet,” so, Hadley has basically lived at Webb Ranch. It mitigates the loneliness of online school. Unfortunately, Sunny was diagnosed with an incurable hoof condition early summer, so she can only compete on borrowed horses. It’s odd applying for colleges when you can’t visit them, but she’s got a handful of acceptances already and is hoping for more. Ideally outside of CA in a smaller town, with an equestrian facility nearby. 

Tracy and Lockheed are still getting along, and he had his Technical Fellow designation renewed which means he gets lots of “Tracy, can you fix this?” calls. It’s not that different from being at home, except he gets paid. With fencing centers shutdown, he’s focused on cycling, tennis, and house projects, most notably a monarch nursery and turning our backyard firepit into a social distance hangout complete with party lights and a rotating disco ball. 

Workday sent us home in March, and I haven’t been back onsite since. Even working remotely, my team is great and so is the work. I miss the salad bar, but I’ll trade it for spending my 90 minute commute on the tennis court or in the kitchen. We took advantage of empty roads and national parks (notched eight of them), and took a dozen little road, camping, and backpacking trips to places in CA we always wanted to visit - Lassen, Death Valley, Trinity Alps, etc. To escape the CA lockdowns, we defected to CO several times, spent Thanksgiving in Maui and the last week of December in Florida. We revived our scuba skills, and learned that diving in five-foot swells is as tough as the guide who tried to talk us out of it actually said it would be. 

I’m not introverted enough to cope well with a shutdown. I can’t wait to sing at a concert, go to lunch at a crowded restaurant, and high five my tennis partner. It feels like we’re all a little edgy, raw, and feral right now, but hopefully 2021 will be better. If you’re in the area, my firepit is your firepit. Pop-ins always welcome. Again, thank you for being part of our village. I can’t wait to see you again. 

Much love, Julie, Tracy, Skyler, Liam, and Hadley

Sunny the horse

Panda, Brocklean, and Tatertot the cats

Yukie the bunny (who is 9 years old and we suspect he is a zombie)

Colwell Christmas 2017

Dear Friends,

Time is definitely marching forward. This year, my parents celebrated their 50^th anniversary, and Skyler left for college and turned 18. With older kids, the house feels quieter and everyone has their own schedule. Instead of the challenge to find time to be alone, it’s a challenge to find time to be together.

Hadley is now a freshman at Homestead High School. She still spends every free moment with horses at Webb Ranch jumping, riding, working, and hanging out with other barn girls who would rather clean tack than go to prom. She’s a good student, plays school and club field hockey, and is perpetually optimistic about the results of the recipes she finds on Instagram. Last summer she took her first solo flight to visit a friend in Zurich. You don’t turn down a vacation in Switzerland!

Liam, 16, is a junior and at 6’2” is the tallest person in the house. He wrestles and dives for Homestead, and can out-downhill Tracy on a mountain bike (Climbing? As if!). Liam had a tough year with some back trouble and hard life lessons. But he seems to be emerging stronger for it. This summer, he spent two weeks at NYU in an electronic music program. New York life agreed with him and he’s hoping to find a big city college. Check out his songs and tutorials on his YouTube channel, Liam C.

Skyler is a freshman at UCCS (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs). During orientation, he changed his major from physics to philosophy and psychology. So now, we’re saving for grad school. He loves his coursework, professors, dorm, the view of Pike’s Peak, and college life, especially making his own decisions. Apparently, he wasn’t ignoring everything in high school, because he’s doing better in college than even he expected. He joined the badminton club (because it was free), and the Friday night ice cream club (wouldn’t you?), and some senior is teaching him to brew mead from local honey.  It’s the little things that make me miss him, like milk going bad, the hollow quiet in the house, and having too many leftovers.

After five years at Cisco, a new opportunity opened up. So, in September, I gave up my flexibility, bike commute, and familiar team, and joined the services marketing team at Workday. It wasn’t easy to leave, but it’s good to be new at something again, and I’m glad for the challenge. In April, I had my meniscus and rotator cuff repaired (during the same surgery) and spent most of the spring recovering. It’s no surprise I’m a cranky patient, but time and PT work wonders, and I’m finally back to running and playing tennis. I also started yoga when Trump got elected because I thought I should try something I didn’t like, to see if it had value.

Tracy earned his Lockheed Fellow designation this December. It’s an honor given to just a few engineers and something he’s worked for years to achieve. This translates to more travel and responsibility, so it’s harder to juggle the fun stuff. At home, he spends more time than he’d like fixing things, but is still a regular on the weekend road and mountain bike rides, and local fencing and tennis clubs.    

Celebrating 50 years of the Bristol family.

We didn’t do a big family vacation this year. All the kids had jobs over the summer and scheduling was complicated. But little groups of us did a lot of little trips – Yosemite, Mammoth, camping here and there. I went to Montana with Skyler and we took an epic snowmobile tour of Yellowstone. The insane snowfall on the west coast made for spectacular powder in Tahoe. My hiking group took an overnight cross-country ski trip to Glacier Point. Tracy and I went to Indian Wells to watch tennis, and spent the 4^th of July in NYC, popping in to see Liam at NYU. This fall, on a whim, some friends and I road-tripped to Smith’s Ferry, ID to be in the path of totality for the eclipse. Totally worth it. If you can find a spot in 2024, go for it.

So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We are so happy you are part of our village, both near and far. One more time around the sun… here we go!

With Love,

Tracy, Julie, Skyler, Liam, and Hadley

Panda, Loki, and Squeak (the cats)

Yuki and Super Fluff (the bunnies)

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Colwell Christmas 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Last year was the first in more than a decade that I didn’t do a Christmas letter. We had just moved home after the remodel and everything was a bit chaotic. Total mistake! Facebook is a poor substitute for reflecting on the passing year.

Our kids are happier hiking miles in national parks than traipsing around big cities. So, we took an epic summer road trip to house-sit for friends in Boulder and went the long route through Zion and Bryce. We even got last minute reservations to stay at Phantom Ranch in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I don’t recommend hiking out and driving all the way home the same day, but it’s worth it if you have to. 

This is the first year in a long time I haven’t left the country. I need to change that for 2016. I did get to visit Boston and Cleveland for work, play tennis tournaments in the Central Valley (where there is cheap land to build nice clubs), and take a girls’ trip to hike in Sedona. And we had some weekends away with friends. The CA drought has all but eliminated the ski season, but it looks like this year could be different. Also, I just passed the three-year mark at Cisco, and I’m fortunate to have interesting projects and great people on my team.

Tracy is approaching Lockheed icon status, coming up on his 20^th anniversary this year. He is fencing more, but cycling less, and usually spends more time building and fixing things around the house than working out. Although, he did earn his A rank in fencing (which is really good apparently – I didn’t know either).  He finally bought his own car… which is another minivan. So much for a midlife crisis.

Skyler, 16, is now a licensed driver, certified lifeguard, cross-country runner, and usually does his own laundry before he completely runs out of clothes. He towers several inches over Tracy and goes to bed after everyone else. We don’t see much of him during the day, but he makes up for it by starting existential conversations late at night. I try to stay up and chat. Our time with him at home is short.

Liam is now taller than me, beats me at arm wrestling, but can’t quite take me at tennis yet. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. He’s a freshman at Homestead, which requires that he leave the house at 7:30am. So, he’s a regular at the Monday detention breakfast club for multiple tardies. This past summer, he was a camp counselor with Golden Eagle and gained a whole new respect for parents. Love that!

I thought Hadley’s horse thing was a phase. It’s not. But, it is a rich kid hobby, so she spends all her own money on lessons and gear. Someday she’ll get off the waitlist to volunteer at Webb Ranch (for real – takes about a year), but until then, she works with the miniature horses at Animal Assisted Happiness and rides as often as I'll fund it. She still plays soccer and runs track in middle school, but everything takes a backseat to horses.

We finally have a cousin! Milo Bristol Jalgunas joined Heather and Charles on March 14, the day after Liam’s birthday. He’s a smiley army-crawling rugrat with notable skill chewing anything within reach and pulling himself up on whatever looks stable. It is so fun to have a baby around again.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We are so happy you are part of our village, both near and far. One more time around the sun… here we go!

With Love,

Tracy, Julie, Skyler, Liam, and Hadley

Flynn and Panda (the cats)

Yuki and Super Fluff (the bunnies)

Alpha (the beta fish)

Christmas and New Year 2013

Dear Friends and Family,

This is the latest I have ever sent out a Christmas letter, which at this point qualifies more as a New Year’s card.  I could come up with heaps of excuses, but the truth is that I just didn’t do it until now.  I hope honesty is refreshing enough to keep me on your Christmas lists.  I love getting cards, both real and electronic. 

I expected 2013 would pale in comparison to 2012, and it did.  (Tough to beat three weeks in France).  However, I got to travel for Cisco to Denver, New Orleans, and London and left a few days early to visit a friend in Amsterdam.  My sister Jessica and I spent ten days in Japan.  As a family, we went to San Diego, took several ski trips, and an impromptu road trip to Whistler when Tracy’s sister got married in Seattle on short notice – lots of camping and mountain biking.

This is the first year we have three kids in three different schools.  Fortunately, they can all get themselves there and back, so if they’re late, they can’t blame it on anyone else.  

Skyler started high school this year.  He shocked us by getting into classes we didn’t think he had the grades for, and despite his haphazard approach to turning in homework, he might survive ninth grade.  He is nearly as tall as me and can cycle faster, but I’m sure I’ll outweigh him until he graduates.  He’s still fencing, playing tennis, programming, and hanging out with friends in his own little man cave or as far away from the house as possible, especially if there are girls involved. 

In seventh grade, this year Liam joined the El Camino Youth Symphony in Palo Alto.  As the only baritone player in their intermediate band, he was in high demand before he even auditioned.  Liam also spent two weeks living in the rain at caveman camp at Turtle Island this summer, where he got to meet my cousins in North Carolina.  This fall, he joined the Mountain View junior development tennis team.  I think both boys just like sanctioned hitting things.    

This is Hadley’s last year in elementary school, and she is still packing her schedule with as much soccer and dance as she can.  Her affinity for horses has not faded, so in the shrinking soccer offseason, she’s fitting in some horseback lessons.  At eleven, we get glimpses of a drama queen we’ve never met before, but most of the time she’s enthusiastic and easy going, especially if her brothers are elsewhere.

I converted from a contractor to a Cisco employee in July, so I’m learning the tricks of navigating a large company.  Working full time has done nothing for my tennis game, French fluency, or social life, but it’s hard to beat the paycheck, and I enjoy the work.  I sprained my ankle in March and it was nine months before I could comfortably run and play tennis again.   Ouch.

Lockheed is still stumbling along, so after 18 years, Tracy has reasons to stay.  He’s been helping the American space program by working on Orion, the human space travel capsule, and was instrumental in fixing part of the launch structure – makes the astronauts breathe easier.  He also placed third at a national fencing tournament that boosted his ranking.  I’ve been dragging him out onto the court as my hitting partner, but I haven’t beaten him yet. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We are so happy you are part of our village, both near and far.  One more time around the sun… here we go!

 

With Love,

Tracy, Julie, Skyler, Liam, and Hadley

Flynn and Pixel (the cats)

Yuki (the bunny – we lost Xavier to a raccoon :( 
The geckos of shame who have no name

Colwell Christmas 2012

Today is Christmas Adam (the day before Christmas Eve).  I have never written a Christmas letter this late, but it didn’t make it to the top of the list until now. Some of you over-achievers got your letters out by Thanksgiving. Congratulations. I’m sure all your shopping was done in August, right? 

2012 was the start of parenting 3.0 in our house.  With all kids in double digits, a waning interest in legos and increasing requests for electronics and privacy, we’ve definitely stepped into the PG13 phase of life.  Half the time I don’t know whether to ground the kids for their awful jokes or choke with laughter.

For me, this year was magic.  I would happily rewind to January and start over.  Multiple ski trips to Tahoe and Bear Valley, even one with three moms and ten kids!  Three weeks in France, 10 days in Hawaii, camping with friends, Portland/Seattle and a fall trip to mountain bike in Moab with an accidental day hiking in Zion (because I mixed up the time of my flight home).  These trips were all such brilliant gifts, and I expect it will be a long time before I get a chance to travel so lavishly again. 

However, to fund more potential trips, I gave up the freelancing/tennis/ French-classes/semi-working mom life in October and took a full time job at Cisco doing marketing communications for partner services.  The transition wasn’t seamless and I’ve never been good at balancing and organization, but I’ve landed on a great team and I have the flexibility to work from home when I need to.  It was time to go back, and I’m grateful for the chance to earn a regular paycheck without the feast or famine rhythm of freelancing. 

Skyler marked his last year in middle school by moving into his own room.  He’s claimed our guest room, and as the neatest Colwell kid, if we have to kick him out to host friends, at least it doesn’t take long to get the room ready.  He continues to fence at Stanford and compete in local tournaments.  He’s also taking German, tennis, and fixes my computer.  At thirteen, he’s threatening to become a responsible adult, although his logic and sarcasm still need some refinement.   Soon, I’m sure.

Liam loves middle school because it’s much harder for me to locate and talk to his teachers.  I haven’t gotten any phone calls yet, and he spends enough time doing homework so he appears to be managing just fine.  This year, Liam took up tennis, joined the wrestling team, and played in the band -- dabbled with the tuba, but has resettled on the more manageable baritone horn.  His goals are to wear the least amount of clothing that is socially acceptable, grow his hair back out, and acquire an alpaca. 

Hadley is still packing more into her schedule than anyone else:  tap, jazz, ballet, soccer, French, clarinet, and math Olympiad.  I think she’d give it all up to live on a ranch and ride horses.  She loves her teacher, her friends, her rabbit, everyone except her brothers whose goal it is to taunt her mercilessly.  She uses this to her advantage and has developed the skill and subtlety to get them in trouble.  Her highlights this year all involve horses:  a week at Ranch Camp in Trinity Alps and a week at Webb Ranch in Portola Valley.

Tracy has gradually shifted his primary athletic pursuit from cycling to fencing, and climbed back through the competitive ranks past the class he held in college.  He still manages to ride some locals off his wheel, but the new contenders are getting faster.  At work, the government’s lack of ability to agree on anything has kept Lockheed treading water, so he had to make up for it by joining me in Grenoble for a week.  If things are miserable this year, we’ll have to plan another international trip, but he’s cautiously optimistic. 

Thank you for being part of our village.  We love our community and we are so grateful that we are in this together.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

With love,

The Colwells

Tracy, Julie, Skyler, Liam, and Hadley

Flynn (the only cat since Malarkey moved into the Greater Neighborhood)

Xavier and Yuki (the bunnies)

The geckos in Liam’s terrarium