Here we all are, Melinda, Ella, Chloe, and me, having a little toast, what makes this seem like an appropriate photo for the first day of the new year. But if you must know, the photo comes from Christmas Eve and was taken soon after the Shaw & Somers families had arrived. Greg, Melinda’s brother-in-law, caught the four of us together.

So what are you looking forward to in 2013? For Melinda and me it promises to be an important year, if for no other reason than we both turn 50 in May. We have another trip to Nantes planned for July, this time for just two weeks. And like last year when the Boudeaus came back from Nantes to Seattle, this year Christine & Bernard Bertail will be coming home with us for a couple of weeks.

For Chloe, she turns 20 in February and will be halfway through with college a couple of months after that. Ella’s big event just took place, turning 16 on December 18th and getting her driver’s license.

So here’s to a great 2013!