The Hand HeraldThe Hand HeraldIn 2005, our family had a wonderful year filled with fun, activities, and joy.
As is often the case, the year began with some chaos--this time in the kitchen. Spurred by some cabinet-cutting for the gift of a new stove for Christmas from Debbie's parents, and perhaps by Debbie's need to keep up her contracting skills after finishing her parents' new house, we got new countertops, a sink and fixtures, backsplash, and an over-stove microwave for our kitchen. Our old stove was a built-in, 27" model (c. 1969), so the additional improvements went along with widening the opening to fit the much more common free-standing, 30" models.
In May, Pete graduated from Greenwood preschool. In June, after several months of commuting every 10 days or so from Baltimore, Debbie's parents moved permanently into their new house in nearby Alamance County. Thus, her parents are now 30 minutes west of us, her sister and family are 25 minutes east, and North Carolina is now fully stocked with Herrons.
Katie Rose swam again this summer for the neighborhood Heritage Hills Hurricanes, who won the Chapel Hill Summer Swim League Championship. Katie Rose herself won some heats at a few meets, doing well in breaststroke and backstroke. Late in the summer, Pete passed the pool's swim test--swimming the 25m length of the pool--which is necessary to be allowed to jump off the diving board. Pete had been looking forward to that from two years ago while he was still wary of the shallow area of the big pool. In July, Joey changed positions at IBM, retaining a small piece of working with the legacy ledger application and moving to the project to deploy a new general ledger application (SAP) for the US and Canada for 2008.
August through November featured many weekend trips--some planned and others either spur-of-the-moment or just unexpected. Among the planned trips were a couple to the North Carolina mountains, near Boone, 
occasioned by a couple of bike rides that Joey did--the Hurt, Pain & Agony Metric Century (62+ miles) and the Blue Ridge Brutal 100 Century (100+ miles). While his times in the rides were unremarkable, he was very happy to be riding again in his favorite terrain. While in Boone, the family also visited the Tweetsie Railroad amusement park, which has a Wild West theme. On two weekends in September and October, we enjoyed the warm ocean temperatures at the beaches near Wilmington, NC. In late October, we went down to Bamberg, SC to see Joey's Uncle Rod after he was hospitalized for a second time in a few weeks. A couple weeks later, Uncle Rod passed away, and we returned for his funeral.
Also in the fall, we enjoyed two visits by sisters(-in-law) and their kids, Amy with Chip and Margie with her new daughter Charlee, who was born in August. When we return to Bamberg for Christmas, we will see another new niece, Lydia, born to Scott and Veridee just before Thanksgiving.
They moved this summer from Texas to Norway, South Carolina, where Scott is working with a ministry. Finally, we added two new members to our own household--cats Summer and Rainbow. A co-worker of Joey's mom had picked up the apparently abandoned, couple-week-old kittens on the side of the road, and Mom Hand had volunteered to take them. When she could not keep them due to a then-resident grandchild's allergy, she offered them to family.
Joey's bicycle rides inspired Katie Rose to attempt a ride of her own, and on October 1st she completed the 20k (12-mile) option in the Mayor's Metric Century down in Fayetteville, NC. In the fall, Pete started kindergarten. He was just starting to read and write while he was in preschool and over the summer, and he is very excited to be learning lots more in kindergarten. Katie Rose really enjoys her third-grade teacher this year, Mr. Brown, whom she and her classmates consistently describe as "funny." She is also excited to have one of her best friends in her class again this year. Katie Rose started taking piano this fall, and continues to enjoy seeing her friends at Brownies. 
Pete's big activity this year has been YMCA soccer in the spring and fall. Another perk of being in kindergarten this fall is that he gets to sing in the elementary-kids' choir at church along with Katie Rose, and they are currently preparing for their Christsmas play, a musical.
Other interests of family members this year:
Joey got a beginner telescope early in the year, which affords great views of the planets and the Moon. He is still learning his way around the sky, but has seen great views of Saturn, Jupiter, the Moon, Venus, and Mars, as well as the Orion nebula and the Andromeda galaxy. At Orange UMC, he finished teaching a 'Christian Believer' class on Christian doctrine in the spring; is now taking a class on John and Charles Wesley; and assists with teaching a Sunday school class focused on parenting. After some hemming and hawing, Debbie accepted an appointment this 2005-06 school year to be the PTA co-president for Frank Porter Graham Elementary, where Katie Rose and Pete both now attend. It keeps her very busy, and she enjoys being involved. She also continues to work part-time as an OT at the Durham VA Hospital. Off hours, she still enjoys playing her flute in the Chapel Hill Village Band. She is also learning to play the silver Gemeinhardt piccolo she got as an early Christmas present. 
Katie Rose, in addition to her other activities, also loves reading and adores horses. One of the highlights of her year was a 90-minute horse ride she and Debbie took in the mountains. Pete continues to enjoy cars and trucks in many manifestations--playing with them as toys, seeing interesting ones on the road, and watching NASCAR with his dad.
As the year winds down, we offer thanks for the blessings our family has had and warm wishes of health and happiness to you and yours. Merry Christmas!