Greetings friends and relatives! It’s hard to believe yet another year has passed so quickly. But here we are, facing the end of 2006 already!
I spent a majority of the year working in Salt Lake City again this year. It was every other week for the first 3 months, but then turned into 4-5 days a week for the rest of the year, with an occasional break in the schedule. Early in the season, I split my weeks over weekends and had Jeff join me in Utah to take advantage of the many nearby ski and snowboard resorts.  Late in my second season on the snowboard, I’m finally getting the hang of it and can almost keep up with Jeff!  We’re looking forward to doing the same this coming season, so if you’re interested in joining us in Utah this season, let us know.  They say it’s the “greatest snow on earth�. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s pretty close! I do know that Jeff’s very anxious to use his new snowboard.
In my spare time, I continued my French language classes at the local chapter of the Alliance Française on Saturdays throughout the summer and fall.  In addition to one trip to Geneva (Switzerland) and two to Montreal (Quebec) for work-related meetings, we were planning a fall vacation to visit France.
In the first half of October, we took an 11-day trip to France.  We had been talking of it for years, and we finally made it happen.  We flew from Minneapolis to Nice, where we spent 4 days on the côte d’azur.  Our friends Stephen and Cayetano, who live in Nice, were wonderful hosts, showing us sights from Monaco to Cannes and locations in between.
We then took the high-speed train (TGV) from Nice to Paris.  I would recommend it to anyone.  The scenery was beautiful, the coach was roomy and comfortable, and the whole trip was only 5 hours.  No airport hassles either! Once in Paris, we spent the next 6 days on foot and using the Metro system. We covered a lot of area and saw a great many sights, including the scene depicted in the original oil painting we bought 2 years ago.
We had a wonderful time and I could go on about it for hours! Â There are photos online here and some more details if you read down this blog an article or two.
Meanwhile, Jeff has kept himself busy as usual.  He again this year participated in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon as a runner in the 10-mile run, which he really enjoyed.  He also has become a member of the marathon’s staff working in the marketing and communications department and putting his technical writing skills to work.
This year also saw some more home improvement work. Although the finishing touches aren’t complete on the hardwood flooring installation in the living and dining rooms, this spring we undertook the master bedroom, its closet and the hallway upstairs.  It made a huge impact on the look of the room, calling for new furnishings.  The trim work still calls my name when I’m home, but we still have the upstairs guest room to go. This winter or spring we also hope to work on the upstairs bathroom.  We’ve selected tile already, and look forward to changing from shades of grey to more earthy tones.
Professionally, we’ve both found ourselves very busy. I have been involved in a very large project that has been focused in Salt Lake City.  That project is scheduled to be completed by mid-year, at which time I’m really hoping the commuting will significantly ease up.  My company has asked me about interest in relocation to Utah, but I told them we aren’t interested.  We will see how things play out in 2007. Jeff got a promotion to a lead business analyst role this year, and I have noticed he’s a lot busier!  He’s enjoying the challenge though!
We’d like to thank our family and friends for being part of our lives and we look wish you all the best for the coming year.  We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you if at all possible.
Kevin & Jeff
The drive on Saturday was fairly easy once we got outside of the metro area. We took a quick stop for lunch along the way and ended up in Appleton late in the afternoon. We had arranged to visit with our friends Mike & Jerry, who had offered to let us stay with them. It was a great treat to catch up with them after a few years, and they were wonderful hosts. They grilled a dinner and we made a Brazillian drink called a Caipirinha made with a rum-like liquor called cachaça that was quite yummy! We brought the Nintendo Wii along on the trip, and so we enjoyed playing Wii Sports and Mario Kart.
