Bill chose a more active birthdy party, going to the Skateland rink in San Marcos for an afternoon of roller skating and pizza.  You can tell he's growing up, he wanted presents more expensive than I got!  But he settled for video games instead.

The Gryta family spent a nice Christmas in Houston.  Kathy and the kids got to go a few days before Christmas and spend some time with Nanaw and Papaw , and Brian joined them on Christmas Eve.  While Nanaw watched Cheryl, Kathy and the other kids went to see Toy Story 2, and rated it 4 Stars, better than the first Toy Story.  Christmas Day dawned bright and early (no surprise there!), and the whole family, including Uncle Mike and Uncle John and Cyndi, staggered downstairs to open presents.  The kids were all thrilled with their gifts, and even managed to act surprised even though I'm sure they must have seen me hiding them in the van on the way down.  An added surprise this year was the engagement ring that John concealed in about 20 progressively smaller boxes.  Cyndi was surprised and we all were very happy to add her to our family as sister and daughter-in-law sometime soon.   The best Christmas present of all this year was that Brian's mother, Beverly, had successful quadruple bypass surgery and was able to come home from the hospital two days before Christmas.

The New Year started peacefully enough.  No one's computer, bank account, or electricity went kablooey, and so we decided that the whole Y2K thing was a bunch of hype.  We celebrated Chinese New Year about a week early at our house with 12 other families whose lives had been affected by adopting from China.  The children from China ranged in age from 7 years to 13 months, plus assorted other American born siblings, and we never have seen our kitchen island so crowded with different kinds of foods.  All in all it was a great time seeing all the little girls chasing each other around.
      

In the animal kingdom, we've had two happy additions and one sad subtraction in our pet family.  Fritz, who has been Kathy's cat since 1984, finally reached the age where death with dignity was necessary.  As sad as it made us to see him go, we are at peace knowing it was the kindest thing for him.  On the happy side, we've added two guinea pigs.  The male is  a tortoiseshell short-hair named Newton ("Big Pig here!"), and the female is a long-haired white with cinnamon head named Ginger Pig.  We expect piglets sometime later this spring.  I've never had guinea pigs before, and have been surprised what affectionate pets they are.  No one ever told me they Purr!  Now I know where Star Trek got the idea of tribbles.

In the "Real Life mimics TV:" department, we had a real Home Improvement experience.  We decided to recarpet the living and dining rooms and have new tile put into the kitchen and bath.  While this gave the public areas of the house a much needed face-lift, it also had some hidden costs.  For example, the removal and replacement of the toilet in the bathroom revealed the fact that it was leaking, which necessitated a visit from a local plumber.  Moving the refrigerator revealed that it's drain line, too, is leaking.  That repair is still pending, until Kathy is comfortable calling in the appliance guy to fix that.  But it's just like living in a new house seeing how good the floors look!

The kids keep us busy with their usual active lives. Bill's basketball team finished their 8 week season undefeated, with a very exciting last game.  Suzie spent a week at Jr. Highsteppers dance clinic and came home with a new ambition.  Webelos scouting, Tiger cubs, and Brownies all have been active this spring, and baseball season is just getting started for Bill and Michael, with practices twice a week already.  Games start the end of March.  Suzie is learning to sew on a sewing machine, which is almost as exciting to watch as it is nerve-wracking for Kathy.

In school, all the kids continue to make good progress.  A couple of highlights are that  Bill recently was tied as the fourth grade Geography Bee champion at his school, and Suzie just had one of her pictures selected for the district wide student art show.  Michael is showing a good head for numbers, and Cheryl just began attending Mother's Day Out  3 days a week.

We're looking forward to a mini-family reunion later in March.  Our cousins from Oklahoma, all 8 of them including the newest Harmon descendant Chloe, will be in Austin following a basketball tournament in San Antonio, and my folks will drive up from Houston to join us.

That's all the news that I'm allowed to print, at least for the next 6 months or so until I sit down here again.