Greetings!  Here's our annual boring form letter.                     
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Alex (almost 6) played T-ball in the spring and soccer in the fall... 
his kindergarten brainwashing                                         
is going very well.  Tearful to watch him get on the                  
yellow bus on day one...                                              
Ethan (4) likes                                                       
gymnastics, and rode his bike sans training wheels at age 3.5.        
He hasn't flunked outta preschool.  Both boys enjoyed street sledding 
on linoleum pieces during our unusually snowy spring.                 
And Ozzie                                                             
(10, our very hairy                                                   
first-born) survived getting locked under the house                   
for two days last winter.                                             
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Thom still works with IBM Aptiva home PCs.  He created an HTML        
app called 'Helper' that assists users in answering                   
questions and solving problems.  He also helped code the Update       
Connector, a Java app that automatically determines what software      
upgrades a user's PC needs, downloads the files from the Internet, and 
installs them.                                                         
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Andrea continues to enjoy her work as an occupational therapist at     
Western Wake (pediatrics/adults).                                      
She helped outfit the clinic with                                      
therapy aids for kids, and                                             
has had to help in the marketing area                                  
more than she ever wanted to (but has actually liked it).  We both     
are fortunate to have flexible work schedules -- Andrea is 20-25       
hours/wk, and Thom can work some at home.                              
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Andrea was featured this month as a 'great cook' in Raleigh's NEWS AND 
OBSERVER newspaper.  Thom nominated her as 'the best parts of Betty    
Crocker and Betty Boop'.  Her quesadillas and chili are locally famous 
now!                                                                   
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We drove to Cleveland for Thom's sister Chris' wedding in August.      
Thom and his Dad took a bus trip to Baltimore to watch the             
Tribe beat the Birds.  Andrea went to Atlanta for the Olympics        
(mens' gymnastics and wrestling).                                     
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Thom played in basketball and softball leagues (one co-ed that Andrea 
also was in), snow-skiied and white-water rafted.  He also            
iced down his first keg of home-brew (yum!).                          
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Andrea and Thom partied in                                            
Myrtle Beach S.C. while Grandm(p)a had the kids.  We grooved          
to dinner                                                             
accompaniment by an accordianist who played Pink Floyd, and a show    
(impersonators -- Bette Midler, Elvis, Blues Brothers, 4 Tops, Johnny 
Mathis).                                                              
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Thom explained the exciting (!) life of a programmer to               
7 classes of middle                                                   
schoolers for National Engineers Week, and helped lay cable during    
national interNet Day at Alex' elementary school.                     
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What else... Thom finally ditched the Shovette,                       
and bought a purple pickup.                                             
With Andrea's green car we now have mardi gras colors in the driveway.  
Andrea is teaching sunday school and greatly enjoying her local         
Antiochian Orthodox church.  The kids loved it when the Bishop visited; 
they asked him such intriguing questions as 'Do you like meatballs?'.   
(He does.)                                                              
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We really love our house and neighborhood, and the simple way of life in
North Carolina.  Lotsa buddies for A and E along our street.  The       
hurricane Fran cleanup is still going on, but almost over... tough way  
to get to know the neighbors.  We lost 3 trees, but none hit our roof.  
Boys are now considering 'stump grinder' as a career option.            
Andrea has been a gardening maniac.  Please come visit!                 
You can scrape tar off your heels with us...                            
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Wishing you and yours the best in 1997...