MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Carlsons

The year is finally drawing to a close, and its been an adventuresome time in the Carlson household. We survived the summers Derecho, the falls Hurricane Sandy and the even more devastating onslaught of political advertising. Living in a swing state gave us the benefit of thirty-one voicemail messages left by the campaigns on election day alone. Heres an update on each of us:

Dave had a productive year, illustrated by perhaps his greatest accomplishment to date: clearing out the garage to make room to park two cars. Well, its a big deal at the Carlson house, anyway. Scout activities, Church Finance Committee, Haiti, and other volunteer work kept him pretty busy, but financial planning for people still occupied most of his time. Three-fourths of the Carlsons went to Estes Park and parts of New Mexico for a great Western adventure over the summer. But back to the garage for a second: The project was such a recovery mission that it almost overshadowed our bigger (but maybe not as impactful?) projects for 2012 such as re-cladding our Arlington backyard patio in slate, and the upgrading the kitchen counters and floors at Lake Monticello.

Dave

Sue

Sue continues working at Kaiser Permanente where the hours are longer, the workload is heavier, and the surgeries are more numerous than ever before. (Which is a good thing! Kind of.) She still spends several hours every day working for the people in Medor, Haiti, and was able to visit at the beginning of the year to help plan a new primary school to replace buildings destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. She has scheduled her 11th trip to Haiti in January 2013, when the primary school

will be dedicated. She went on a surgical mission to El Salvador last February, performing cataract surgeries for people with no access to doctors. A side benefit of her mission trip to El Salvador: Sue learned to knit, and is now furiously trying to put Chinese child laborers out of their jobs by churning out trendy scarves at an alarming rate. After hearing Dave blab about Philmont for years and years she enjoyed finally seeing the famous New Mexico Boy Scout camp in person over the summer.

Patrick left his job at the Aerospace Industries Association in February and is now pursuing a graphic design degree at the Corcoran College of Art + Design in downtown DC. He is learning more about page layout, typography, interactive web design and hipster culture. In between resisting peer pressure to smoke, ink up with tribal tattoos or don guyliner, Patrick does freelance web and design work. He is a member of The Washington Chorus, and the less prestigious, more egregious Noctonals a cappella group. After pancreatitis in the spring, Patrick isnt allowed carbonation or alcohol, starting a bawdy romance with ice water.

Patrick

After twenty consecutive years of education, Bonnie finally finished her schooling this year with a law degree from George Washington University. To celebrate, she spent the entire summer studying for the Virginia bar exam, which she took in July. Bonnie surprised absolutely no one by passing the bar, and now works at Legal Services of Northern Virginia in Old Town Alexandria as the Domestic Violence attorney. She represents domestic violence victims in protective order hearings, custody cases, and child/spousal support matters.

Bonnie

To all out-of-towners: Washington is a great place to visit and we have a spare bedroom. We would love to see you! May the holidays bring happiness and joy to you and yours!

Love, The Carlsons