The Hand HeraldThe Hand HeraldMerry Christmas to all our friends and family!! We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this holiday season. We are all well here in Chapel Hill and have had a good, if busy, year.
In February, we started the year off with a fun, fabulous family trip to Walt Disney World! Thanks to the Hand grandparents, we had terrific accommodations and had a blast at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Other fun trips during the year were centered around Joey's reborn mountain (road) cycling hobby.
He rode in one 75-mile and three century (100-mile) rides this summer, peaking with the Bridge to Bridge in September, which ends on the summit of Grandfather Mountain. Katie Rose and Joey ended the bike season riding 12 miles in the Tour de Pig in Lexington, NC. 
The kids and Debbie are very proud of Joey's accomplishments and had a wonderful time in the mountains of NC hiking, picnicking, exploring, and supporting the bike rides. The kids and Debbie also squeezed in a brief trip to the beach this summer, and we've been to see family and friends in GA & SC-including Joey's 20th high school reunion. Most recently we visited Beautancus, NC for a Hand family reunion/pig-pickin' for Thanksgiving. Even the Herron side (Debbie's parents and sister's family) got in the act for this fun family time. 
Joey's siblings joined us then at "Herron Heights" in nearby Graham, NC for a fun pre- and post-Thanksgiving hang-out.
We've had some sad times this year, with the death of Debbie's Grandpa Herron (age 95) in February in Williamsburg, VA, and with the death of Dad Hand's cousin Christine Davis in Beautancus. 
It's been bittersweet, as it's allowed us time to visit other family members. Grandpa Herron's ashes were interred in June in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. All of his Herron grandkids were present for this momentous occasion.
Joey continues to work at IBM as a systems analyst on the conversion of their ledger system to the SAP program. After over a year with the phone stuck to his ear planning and planning, 2007 brings testing before the formal roll-out for 2008.
Debbie is still at the VA hospital in Durham, working 15 hours/week as an acute-care occupational therapist with the veterans, many of whom are older WWII and Korean War veterans, but increasingly seeing those from Vietnam and even a couple from Afghanistan and Iraq. It is a surprisingly uplifting job which Debbie feels fortunate to have. She also continues to put in as much time again as the PTA co-president at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School in Chapel Hill.
Katie Rose is now almost 10, and is charming and fun. She is a great student and loves her school and her friends. She continues to amaze us with her talents, the newest of which is horseback riding, English hunter-jumper style. Having flown up to Junior Girl Scouts and weathered a "cool" summer Girl Scout camp with her cousin Ryn, she is now a "veteran" scout, with 4 years under her belt and hopes for more. Her musical skills are improving, with piano lessons, church choir, and school chorus keeping her in tune.
Pete is now 7 and full of zest and vigor for life. He's cute and fun and is the darling of the Tiger Cub Den, which Joey is co-leading. Pete also is taking off in his piano skills and in choir singing. 
His speed is a big help to his soccer team, although he also enjoys playing goalie. He loves first grade has just been nominated for the Gifted program like his big sister. Both kids miss swim team and will be happy for the fun pool days to roll back around in May.