December 2001.

Well, it is December 22^nd, and I am just about to start our annual letter… I guess the only people to get it “in time” will be those who get this by email. I am embarrassed to see everyone else’s cards and letters on our kitchen table, but am blaming things on a very busy end of term (which finished on the 19^th).

 Once again we have had a busy year and the girls continue to grow up. Jenny is now 11 and is at SMUS’s Middle School and Claire is 9 and at the Junior School. Both are enjoying their classes and doing well at school (we just received excellent reports for both of them).

 We spent Christmas break of 2000/2001visiting with Monica’s parents in Armstrong, BC, our friends Jack and Mary Bereziuk near Calgary and had a wonderful time. Jenny and Mike tried snowboarding for the first time, but snow conditions were not that great. We were also able to spend New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with Mike’s sister’s family, the Akenheads who were visiting the Banff area for a ski holiday. It was great to see all the cousins and to have a festive time. We went skiing a few more times over the winter and both the girls tried downhill skiing for the first time. We took a group of students from our boarding residence on an overnight ski trip to a chalet at Mt Washington and had a good time with them too.

 In February, we traded our Dodge Dakota truck in towards the purchase of a GMC safari Van. Mike misses the 4 wheel drive aspects of the truck occasionally, but we have found the space and  8 passenger carrying capacity to be a boon.

 In March Monica and her friend Mary Bereziuk had planned to go to Baja California (Mexico) for a sea kayaking and whale watching trip, but the trip was cancelled by the operator. Instead, they went to Las Vegas where they saw several shows, including Riverdance and the Cirque du Soleil. They also made a side trip to Zion National Park and Red Rock Canyon.  At the end of March, Mike made a short trip to the Whistler area where he joined a group which attempted to do a back country ski trip called the Spearhead Traverse. The snow conditions and weather were not in our favour, so we spent a few days snow camping and skiing just outside the Blackcomb ski area.

 Mike’s knees have been bothering him for a while and in April he had the right meniscus trimmed and cleaned up via arthroscopy. The operation went well, and he had the left knee done in October. Both knees seem much improved and he hopes to take them skiing this winter! Jenny took some riding lessons in the spring and loved them. She asked if we could keep a pony on the school playing fields! I had to tell her that the athletic director might object…

 In May, Mike co-led a group of students on a sea kayak trip in Clayquot Sound. This was the third time he had done such a trip and it went well. Mike went to Clemson South Carolina again at the beginning of June to grade Advanced Placement Environmental Science exams - it is always fun to meet colleagues again and to enjoy some “southern” weather.

 The summer holiday began with a short visit to Vancouver where we picked up Mike’s mum, Anne, and then headed “up country” to Monica’s parents place in Armstrong and then to a guest ranch in the Cariboo region of BC. We had a wonderful trip. The girls spent quite a bit of time horse riding, while the (allergic!) Mike went fly-fishing on several of the local lakes.  Anne came back to Victoria with us to spend another pleasant week.

 At the end of July, Mike went to Ecuador to lead another Galapagos trip for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The trip went without a hitch – the highlight was watching a pod of Orca whales chase and attack a pilot whale – right in front of our ship! Monica, Jenny and Claire went to spend a week or so at the lake in Oyama. At the beginning of August, Mike and his friend Peter Leggatt went for a brief camping and fishing trip to the Tofino area in search of fly caught coho salmon – the trip was successful but VERY damp!

 Towards the end of August, we went to the Shushwap lake area of BC where we rented a houseboat with our friends the Buckinghams. This was only a four day trip on the houseboat, but we had a wonderful time. The houseboats are very relaxing and fun to travel with. The girls enjoyed the slide off the back of the boat into the warm lake water. We had some nice hikes and saw some spectacular waterfalls.

 September rolled around again and a new school year began - Jenny in Grade 6 and Claire in Grade 4. Jenny has been active playing soccer, playing the trumpet and is on the student council (as well as her classes!). Claire had a good season of cross country running, has been doing Girl Guides every Wednesday and is playing the cello. Mike continues as head of science, academic technology coordinator, and teaching geology and physics. Monica has spent much of the fall working (for $$!) as a science lab technician at the school (the same job she had up to 1992) as the lady who normally does the job had to take medical leave. She has enjoyed the job once she was had resurrected the long dormant brain cells and will miss the job when the regular technician returns in January. Together, Monica and Mike have been senior house parents for the Barnacle House residence of 31 boys aged 14 to 18. The fall has been a busy one with many activities, exams and such.

 We plan to spend this Christmas season quietly and at home and are having Monica’s sister, Seasonn, and her great aunt, Marjorie, to visit. Some of our plans for 2002 include a trip to the UK in March, a Galapagos trip in July for Mike and leading a trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands for Wilderness Travel.

 Once again, Mike has put together an updated collection of family photos on the web which can be found by going to http://www.islandnet.com/~mjackson/family/ . If you are an “Windows messenger” user, you can contact Mike via galapagos_guy@hotmail.com

 Wishing you Seasons Greetings and all the best for 2002,

 Monica, Mike, Jenny and Claire.

This page was last updated on 01/06/01 by Mike Jackson.

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