A tough way to start the new year, but on January 22nd we had to say goodbye to our beloved Kitty. At nearly 21 years of age, she certainly had a good life, but her life spanned nearly all but six months of our married life. She’d had some medical conditions during the last few years, but her quality of life was good right up until the end. We will miss our Kitty.

On Sunday morning, February 4th, as we prepared to leave for church, the phone rang and it was Grandma Luders with the shocking news that my sister, Bonnie, had passed away unexpectedly and inexplicably from heart-related complications. Lori and I rushed to Elma to gather with family and support those left behind. The Lord’s reasons evade my comprehension. I traveled to Elma once again in May to spend Mother’s Day with Mom and travel to Oswego to see Bonnie’s son, David, graduate from college.

In June, Lori and I traveled to Virginia to spend a week with the Foster clan at Massanutten resort in Harrisonburg. Chris was already up there with our church on a middle school retreat at the Massanetta Conference Center. Brandon was in Valdosta for the summer (more later). The resort was nestled amidst the mountains which provided beautiful scenery, challenging terrain, abundant wildlife, and as Uncle Larry and I will attest, a very challenging golf course! Even the driving range required shooting up the side of a mountain. We all traversed a mountain with the assist of the resort’s chairlifts. We also took a ride up Skyline Drive on the way to Luray Caverns. I would normally have a problem with deep, dark holes in the ground but these were well traveled and the chambers and formations were quite spectacular. We collectively shared three timeshare units which gave plenty of opportunity to be one big family...the crux of such gatherings and memories.

Brandon (AOL IM - Ludeman84) had the opportunity of a lifetime, being selected to spend the summer at Valdosta State University for the Governor’s Honor Program. Essentially, 600 of Georgia’s best and brightest high school students spend six weeks living on campus and spending their days in intensive exploration of their field of interest and expertise. It’s been a busy year for Brandon as he readies himself for college. He waived marching band this year in favor leadership positions (Beta Club President, Georgia NHS Board, Math Team Captain, Academic Team) and is also taking night classes in advanced math at a local college. His Georgia ARML math competition team placed 6th in the nation at the annual tournament at Penn State in May. His efforts have paid off handsomely with near-perfect college placement exam results. He has applied to Georgia Tech, MIT and will be applying to Cal Tech, Stanford and the University of Michigan for aerospace engineering.

Chris is a freshman in high school and has just finished his first season playing trumpet in the marching band. He takes his music seriously and hopes to upgrade to a professional trumpet for Christmas. He has joined Brandon on Academic Team, spends a lot of time on the net (AOL IM - Rim817), keeps a full social calendar, and is taking the rigors of high school life in stride.

Lori has transitioned her volunteer efforts to the marching band as Vice President of Finance spearheading the fundraising efforts along with working the concessions and travelling with the band. She has also just finished a successful effort on the communications committee for a local option sales tax extension to build schools.

I continue at LPB (lpbatlanta.com), have advanced my NASCAR affliction to an avocation (will work for pit passes) keeping a web page for a local racing radio show (captainherb.net), keep our churches web page (phpcusa.org), had a fair amount of success in aiding to change Georgia’s teen driving laws (SCAREDgeorgia.org), and got the marching band up on the web (duluthwildcatband.org).

What you see here is what you get with Nicky. She’s a mess, but keeps us entertained. We did some flooring renovation work this year which included oak treads on the stairs and Nicky now requires an escort to muster the courage to come down the stairs! Keep up with us @ http://www.geocities.com/bluders