It has been a year of transition for our family. I don't do change very well and life seems to be full of it.

  Chris finished high school in May. He won his share of accolades and scholarships, finishing 3rd in his class. It was followed by a big party with two of his classmates. Then he and 9 friends headed to Disney World for a week. Lori and I drove the "bus" and performed discreet chaperone duties during a fantastic week with a great group of kids. He took it easy during his last summer before college, hanging with friends and youth group, going to Montreat and a mission trip to Washington, and he even helped out at my office. He set his sights on Georgia Tech (Chemical Engineering) and was awarded a President's Scholarship (PS). His semester started early, with a PS retreat and marching band camp before he even had his first class. He found out quickly that academic life at Tech is very challenging, and coupled with marching band during football season...he's been busy, but is thriving amidst all the opportunities at hand. He volunteered to chronicle a year in the life of a GT freshman for the Alumni Association. You can follow his journey at http://gtalumni.org/site/Page/OJChrisFall05. His first round of finals will be over soon...whew!

  Our boys are brothers! Brandon http://www.luders.net is in his fourth year at Tech (Aerospace Engineering) and has been in the Delta Chi fraternity since the start of his second year. During Rush, Chris also found the benefits of brotherhood appealing and joined...his brother! Brandon has been living in the new fraternity house since January, spending the summer working at a non-profit and heading up a multitude of projects and on-campus organizations. He was a finalist for Mr. Georgia Tech at Homecoming and is currently experiencing the most challenging (and stressful) academic workload of his life. I had a chance to look at (not comprehend) Brandon's Senior Design Project. I fully expect a government agent to show up, give him a code name, and send him off to an underground bunker in an undisclosed location any day now. He's looking at grad schools and headed for the slopes of Utah in January!

  Lori and I are learning the ropes of the empty nest. We realized on a trip up north to see my Mom in July that her Mom was in need of a little regular help too. So between Coda and her Mom, Lori manages to stay as busy as she wants to be. She is teaching 4th grade in Sunday School and going to weekly Bible study. We had season tickets for Georgia Tech football and have volunteered for several functions with the Alumni Association and PS program. We've given the boys their space, but manage to get down to take them to dinner or do a flyby with supplies, as requested. I envisioned our lives slowing down a bit as the boys headed out, and either it hasn't...or we don't seem to mind!

  My Mom transitioned from assisted living to long-term care over the summer. We almost lost her in May, but she bounced back and even with her physical frailties, manages to enjoy relatively good health in the skilled care of the good people at Seneca Manor. My cousin Jan has been Mom's guardian angel.   

  Either I'm getting old or it has been a brutal year at my office...or both. We've had more work than we can handle (good problem), but the pressure of keeping sufficient infrastructure in place, to handle the ever increasing workload, has been the most challenging of my nearly 20 years with the firm. Is overtime a hobby?

  Even Coda has change is her future. She's a constant source of joy, but we've noticed her coming up lame on occasion. It turns out she's got some genetic deficiencies in her knees and will need surgery after the holidays. There's a good picture of her on Chris's GT BLOG, chewing on one of those nasty dawgs.

  Yes, 2005 has been a year of change and life is good. We sincerely hope the joys and blessings of the holidays will be yours.  God bless you, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!