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Dear Friends and Family,
I can't believe that another year has come and gone so quickly - and what an
incredible year it was for us! We hope that all is well in your world - and if
it isn't, we hope that 2001 will bring better things for you and yours.
As you all know, the year 2000 began with the purchase of our first house and
with the news that we were going to become parents. During the course of the
year, John and I learned the joys of homeownership as we worked on one
home-improvement project after another - including the decoration of our
nursery in preparation for our new arrival! (We decorated the nursery in a
skydiving/aviation theme, with little airplanes and skydivers stenciled on
sky-blue walls - appropriate for either boy or girl, since we didn't know what
we were going to have!)
The highlight of the year, of course, was the birth of our daughter, Mary
Suzanne Verley, who was born on August 8, 2000, 6:15 p.m., at Good Samaritan
Regional Medical Center. She weighed eight pounds and two ounces and was
eighteen and a half inches long.
Although she had a traumatic birth and had to spend three days in the
Intermediate Care Nursery, she is a very healthy and happy baby, and we love
her very much!
With Mary's birth came the beginning of a new adventure. After we got used to
having a baby in the house, we began to take Mary on outings. At
19 days old,
Mary went on her first day-hike, and a week later, her first backpacking trip!
Both trips were on the Mogollon Rim, in the
Clover Creek area. So far, in the
first few months of her life, she has "hiked" a total of 56 miles, in three
wilderness areas!
Just a few months before Mary's birth, we learned that she will soon have a
cousin to play with; John's sister Janice and her husband Danny Guckenburg
announced that they, too, are expecting their first child. They are going to
have a baby boy named Joshua Alexander, and he is due to arrive January 21,
2001. We are very excited for them.
John and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary this year on July 17.
We spent our anniversary visiting the Chiricahua National Monument in
southeastern Arizona. The Chiricahuas are very beautiful, and we look forward
to returning there - with Mary! - next year.
In other news: John was certainly popular in 2000. He was in Parachutist
magazine twice this year! His first appearance was in a great picture,
which was taken during the Rocky Point Skydiving Boogie in April (he organized
the jump). And John received a promotion this year! Effective October 1, he
became the Payroll Manager for
Banner Health Systems of Arizona. Mary and I
are very happy for him!
This was also the year of the "separate vacations". In
April, I went on an
all-girl retreat with my best friends (a.k.a. United Friends); our destination
was Tucson, where we spent three fun-filled days eating, hiking
Sabino Canyon,
and goofing off. In June, John did a three-day backpacking trip with his
brother-in-law Danny; they completed a treacherous twenty-mile hike through
the Wet Beaver Creek Wilderness Area. In September, John and his father
completed - in three days - a forty-three mile backpacking trip in
Paria
Canyon, at the Utah-Arizona border. He says that it was an incredible trip,
and he is planning to take me there next year.
John and I are looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead of us next
year. We already have plans to visit San Francisco (including a side trip to
Yosemite National Park), and we're also planning a difficult five-day hike in
the Rincon Mountains near Tucson - and Paria Canyon as well! As always, you
can read about our adventures on our website "Arizona Hiking Trails", which is
located at: http://www.arizonahikingtrails.com.
We hope that you have a wonderful holiday season, and Happy New Year to all!
Love,
John & Heather & Mary Verley |
