Year End Musings from the Curtis Home 2006

After 21 years of writing Christmas letter/end of the year brag sheets for Randy (and 10 years for Bethany), it would have been hard to let the streak end, even if there’s not much fresh news to our lives.  It’s not that we haven’t been busy but there haven’t been any milestone events.  But uneventful isn’t so bad.




The child centric nature of the photo collage pretty accurately reflects the focus of our lives:  Jane and Cate. Parenthood is both a blessing and a happy burden (though sometimes it harder to remember the happy part).  As their personalities solidify, it appears that our parents got their wish with the standard Parents Curse:  May you have children just like you!, as Jane and Cate are a healthy mix of their parent’s characteristics, both good and bad. Hopefully nurturing will mitigate the less pleasant quirks and we won’t add too much additional baggage.  They both love traveling, camping, dancing and music and don’t realize their father’s brainwashing of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, etc. tunes.  They love story time, and PBS favorites:  Sesame Street, Jakers, and Clifford; Dancing with the Stars (Bethany’s doing) and Bullwinkle (Randy’s doing).  Neither appears too interested in learning how to pedal a tricycle.  At 4-1/3, Jane is an early riser; goes to sleep easily; is a picky eater; loves wearing dresses and pretty clothes (getting her to wear play clothes is an ordeal); whines when she doesn’t get her way; is socially aware and loves most things Princess related despite our best efforts to the contrary.  At 2-2/3, Cate likes to go to bed late and arises hard.  She’ll eat most anything including Brussels sprouts, but likes her milk warm; is somewhat introverted; very observant especially regarding animals and nature; less concerned about clothes but is swayed by her elder sister in this regard and many others.  Most importantly they both adore one another, in spite of the petty bickering rituals common to siblings.  They both think Irving Berlin’s song “Sisters” from “White Christmas” was written specifically for them.  They are a treat (mostly).



Bethany remains a stay at home mom, though she got involved in a couple of part time jobs in November (teaching a toddler tumbling class at the YMCA, and working at one of her Dad’s EmbroidMe stores during the Christmas rush).  She’s also a room mother for Jane’s pre-school; active in the Tuxedo Park Babysitting Co-op and the neighborhood Bunco group; and helped organize another block party. Pretty domestic but she wouldn’t have it any other way at this point in the girl’s lives. Randy’s still at the Corps, traveling often (occasionally dragging along the family when he can).  His non-child free time is generally spent working on the house.  He wonders what hobbies he should pick up once all the house projects are complete though there’s little need to worry about that for the foreseeable future.



We enjoyed a couple of big trips this year.  In January, we joined the entire Sage Clan on a 7-day Caribbean Cruise courtesy of Bethany’s folks (the girls stayed with friends and Nana during the week).  In July, Bethany joined Randy for a conference in Las Vegas, which included several vacation days to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  We also made what has become an annual trip to DC via Indianapolis and Pittsburgh in the springtime; two camping trips to Maramec Springs; a weekend jaunt to Memphis, TN in the fall and a weeklong family accompaniment to Huntsville, AL in mid-December while Randy had a conference (not exactly a vacation for the parents but the girls loved the change of pace, hotel and eating out).

That’s about it in a nutshell.  We wish you and yours Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, etc., and a Joyful, Peaceful New Year!

 Randy, Bethany, Jane & Cate

(along with Maddie, Bert and Brazil)