Happy New Year's Eve!

Wow! It is amazing how fast the holiday season has flown by. It just seems like yesterday that we were getting ready for Thanksgiving. At least it has been a wonderful holiday season for Rusty and I. We had Rusty's Dad, Steve, Stepmother, Faith, and brother, Steven, out to visit for the week of Thanksgiving. We enjoyed having them visit the DC area and, for their first trip to DC, they enjoyed seeing all the monuments and spending lots of time in the Smithsonians and at Washington's home at Mt. Vernon. With all that walking that we did, there was no question of walking off Thanksgiving dinner and all the extra sweets we ate that week.

December came fast an furious. Rusty and I flew down to Florida to visit with some friends stationed at Patrick AFB, whom we were originally going to be stationed with had we not been sent to DC. We went on our first cruise (3 days only) in mid-December. Some people were concerned about me going on the cruise knowing my motion sickness issues, and being in the first trimester of my pregnancy. I had wishful thinking on my side that everything would go well. Leading up to the cruise, I had only had 1 week of feeling a little nauseous in the AM but had been fine for the preceding 2 weeks. So off to the cruise we went with high hopes for no sickness. Needless to say, Rusty and I suffered from mild motion sickness that first night. But after that, the rest of the cruise was wonderful. Thankfully, we had no problems eating the wonderful food on board, and we had a great time. We only had wished the weather would have been a little sunnier and warmer. Guess our next cruise will have to be at a warmer time of year. We enjoyed spending the week with Paul and Amanda in Florida and seeing what we are missing, being up here in DC.

We returned to DC on the 21st and flew Rusty's Mom, Brenda, in from Reno on the 24th for the week. We had a wonderful time with Brenda on Christmas and the following week. We toured the many monuments around DC during the day and at night; walked many miles through the Pentagon seeing where Rusty used to work, and where his new office will be; and we went to the Air and Space Museum. Thankfully we were blessed with beautiful weather for the end of December. We really enjoyed having Brenda out to DC for the week of Christmas.

As we head into the new year, Rusty continues to train for his marathon in Feb. He will run his first marathon in Austin, TX on Feb 18th. It is quite amazing to watch Rusty's taining and see how almost effortless it is for Rusty to increase his mileage each week. His endurance training from cycling is definitely paying off and has been able to convert the many miles on the bike to his running legs. I will be excited to see how he does at the marathon in only a few months.

We hope everyone has had a wonderful year in 2006 as we look forward to 2007. We will try to keep everyone updated as to all the changes in our lives as much as possible, especially with a baby on the way. These past few months have been very busy, and we hope for a few slower months ahead. Only time will tell. Best wishes to everyone for a happy 2007.

Maria