2009 edition (vol. xii) circulation approx. 75...
TRANSCRIPT
2009 Edition (Vol. XII) Circulation Approx. 75
the
Pearsonfamily
Austin, April, Randy, Kyle & Autumn in our front yard. with the reindeer and Santa.
We are eagerly anticipating an Oregon win at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day!
Go Ducks!
Austin Took to New Heights
Austin (age 16) changed it up
in track this year, grabbed an
11 foot pole and vaulted
himself 9 feet 6 inches in the
air over
a pole.
At
barely 5
feet tall
himself,
we had
to buy
him his
own
pole; Randy drove Austin and
the pole on Sundays to train
with Olympic legend Jan
Johnson in San Luis Obispo.
Horse Lover Dolly
Autumn (age 15) spends much of her
summers at resident horse camp. She was invited to leadership training in the
spring enabling her to be a mentor to younger campers. Autumn moved into
the bunkhouse for the first two weeks of
summer, “holding over” between sessions rather than coming home. She then returned to Raintree Ranch for the
last session of the summer. As Autumn
says, “Raintree is my 2nd home.” And, if 3 weeks of horse camp was not enough,
Autumn ran 50
miles a week during the
summer to compete with
the high school cross country team in the fall.
Boston We spent spring break in Beantown following the Freedom Trail and touring the historic city. True to form, we dined
at the Chart House which is housed in the building that once was John Hancock’s
office. April & Randy have been frequenting Chart House Restaurants since their first date in 1984.
Historic Fenway Park (can you tell
that it was COLD?)
Austin was selected to
participate in the National
Youth Leadership Forum on Law
& Crime Scene Investigations
in July in Washington D.C. His
group even conducted a mock
trial of the U.S. Supreme
Court free speech case
commonly known as “Bong Hits
for Jesus.” The budding
lawyers took their roles so
seriously that when they were
not allowed outside to watch
fireworks on July 4th, the kids
all called home and requested
that their parents complain.
Lawyers don’t take no for an
answer.
In 2009 Austin got his
Driver’s License and grew at
least 5 inches. He is a 3 year
letterman in cross country, is
taking 4 Advanced Placement
courses and still exhibiting an
enviable love for life at Damien
High School.
Riding and Running
April gave up running in 2009
after knee surgery which put an end to her 28 years of logging
miles. Randy surprised her with
a light-weight and hi-tech Specialized road bike for her birthday so that she travels miles
with the turn of the pedal instead.
Randy has persevered in
running much to Remington’s
delight. Randy is training for a
½ or full marathon to assist Austin with his goals. It is an
amazing role reversal in the
Pearson household with Randy
running and April biking. At
the founding of the April &
Randy union in 1984, the roles
were reversed.
Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear A Tale, A Tale of a Tiny Ship
College life suits Kyle (age 19) - the late
nights, the freedom to make his own choices, the wide array of friends. Still, we were surprised when he and 2 friends crafted a boat out of cardboard boxes, plastic bags and duck tape and then set sail down the Willamette River on a stormy day in May. The boys navigated the boat with the help of stick paddles 8 km down the river until the police threatened to arrest them for boating without life vests. The TV cameraman arrived too late to capture the voyage, but he did give the boys a ride back to school.
Stroke! Stroke! And that must have been Kyle ‘s
inspiration because in the fall he joined the University of Oregon Club Crew team which required a 4:15 a.m. daily alarm, a bus ride from school to the lake for training, and a wet and tired return to school by 8:30 a.m. His 8-man team rowed along the Willamette River in Portland, in the Puget Sound and along the shores of the University of Washington in Seattle. April, a former rower herself, watched the race in Portland and managed a visit with friend Vivian Solomon the night before. The team rows in the pouring rain and in the cold, and, yes, the 4-man boats can capsize – Kyle can tell you from
experience. Quack. Over the summer Kyle interned with California Assemblyman Curt Hagman’s office during the worst of the California budget crisis.
Kyle boarding at Mammoth January 2009.
April & Autumn competed at the Delta
level in Ice Skating in the spring and
Autumn performed again in June before
dashing off to horse camp. April skated
to an old Partridge Family favorite (I Can Feel Your Heartbeat) while Autumn
chose more traditional music such as Bella’s lullaby (from the opera Il Trittico). We both brought home medals.
We Came to SK8 April’s ski/skate buddies packed their
new skate bags and headed to the Big
Apple for a 4 day weekend. The fabulous trip fulfilled Mary Norton’s dream to skate
at Rockefeller Center. An instructor there even invited us to perform in their Christmas program in 2009. Laurie Olivas
discovered black & white cookies and Karin Muth conquered all fears to see the
nighttime view from the Observation Deck of the Empire State Building. Of course,
we played tourist and visited the Statute of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, and
Laurie, April, Mary & Karin atop the Empire State Bldg
other historic sites and caught the show Billy Elliot on Broadway. Despite a spacious suite on the 42nd floor above
Times Square, we slept little, foregoing rest so that we squeeze every minute from the day!
Lastly, the yearly count: Deer 13-Randy 0
Randy did get to take Austin to a hunter training safety course in hopes of one day having a buddy to hunt with. Meanwhile,
Randy spies many a deer while trail running in the valley less than a ¼ mile
from our home.