HAPPY HOLIDAYS

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
…from the McClearys and our little Foster dog! He was so tolerant for our holiday pic…
We hope your 2011 was wonderful. Ours was very eventful!

We had a two year old foster boy for December and January, and for the first half of the year we fostered 13 year old Luis. He was a good kid that fit in well at our house. He enjoyed spending time with Jeff & we had fun discovering new hobbies and interests together. Once school was out he went to a hopefully permanent home & we decided to go inactive for a while. It was a very good experience working with the kiddos, but not necessarily the bureaucracy.

Jeff was going to help out his parents' neighbor by driving one of his flatbeds. We'd rather he not be away from home that much, but if it’s only for a little while he enjoys getting out on the road. He took a bike trip up to Washington to see the girls before he got too busy driving. That may have been the last cross country trip for him a while or for the Concours, because in August on the way home from an impulsive weekend trip to Lake Roberts, New Mexico before Jeff left and I started a fall class at UTEP we had an accident. Jeff spent a week in the hospital; I had a cast for a month, but we are doing well now. The last few months of the year have been completely focused on our recovery and everyday is better. We are so lucky it wasn't any worse than it was & we are so thankful for family, friends and coworkers that were there for us during the rough time.

I canceled that class at UTEP so I could focus on taking care of us, but will start up again in January. I have 5 classes left for my MBA in International Business so it may take me a year or so. I enjoy classes, but also working full time, I stay very busy. Jeff already has a job lined up whenever he feels up to working.

We are excited to spend this holiday season in Minnesota with some of my family. Mom was able to come visit us a few times this year, thankfully once to help us after the accident. Dad may come to the Sun City to escape the MN winter. If this winter is anything like the record cold weather we had in El Paso during in February, we might have to escape to MN!

We hope you have a happy holiday season and an uneventful 2012! Amber and Jeff