John spent several weekends crawling around in caves. He helped laser scan a cave called Devil's Sinkhole to produce a 3D map. And he bolt climbed 150' up to the top of O-9 Well, a cave wall that's 300' underground. Donna's still not getting the caving thing - but John loves it.
We went up to Colorado for a week during the summer. As always, the hiking was fantastic. Donna would still prefer denser air, though, above 11,000' on Mt. Columbia.Between hikes, John introduced Donna to dirt bikes and indoor skydiving. She had a blast - and commented that she's never spent so much time wearing a helmet.
Being back in Dallas means we get to hang out often with Ilana (Donna's sister), Sophia (niece) and Braden (nephew). After John rigged a rope in a tree over the pool, he and Braden launched themselves off a ladder to swing higher, faster & further. Ilana told Donna, "Just for the record, John may *not* be left alone with Braden." They've both subsequently proven themselves responsible enough to hang out together without supervision, and are regularly found high up in a neighborhood tree doing "ropework".
The rope over the pool turned out to be a big hit during the summer. And Sophia and Lauren (another niece) enjoyed swinging fully clothed across the (really cold!) pool on Xmas weekend. (John's disclaimer: The helmets were for the bike ride home - from which they got distracted when the idea struck them to swing across the pool.)
And the highlight of the year: we got married! Nov 22 was a gorgeous day, which we started with a group hike in Snow Canyon State Park, UT. After lunch, we put on our "wedding jeans", walked barefoot across the sand dunes in the park, and said our vows in front of our families and a few of our closest friends. It was an amazing day, a fabulous weekend (more pics), and a wonderful start to the next stage of our journey together.
For us, 2008 was a year filled with love and laughter, friends and family, health and happiness.
We wish you all that and peace in 2009.
Love,
Donna & John
