Dear Family and Friends

All the Krummes here in Washington send you our warmest wishes for a Happy Holiday Season and a wonderful New Year! We are glad to be able to report that we are in good health and looking forward to many yet unplanned 2004 get-togethers hopefully including visits to our now 92-year-old Mom (Erna) Streich from some of you.

In lieu of any more dramatic changes in our lives, we can announce that we are now 'officially' residents of Bremerton having moved our last furniture "and things" from Redmond! After six months of intensive work updating our former home, it "sparkled" with newly refinished oak floors, new roof and paint, and an updated kitchen with new appliances and countertops. After some drastic pruning, we even rediscovered our "Cascade Mountain View". The house had become an ideal place for a Microsoft couple where one spouse would appreciate our garden with its rhododendrons, azaleas and huge Japanese maple, the other the short walk to the office. Lo and behold, that was exactly what transpired when a California family bought the house in July after hardly more than a month on the market. (Click!)

Günter's retirement from college teaching (and collecting too much "stuff") coincided with the house sale. Our 33 years in the same house and 40 odd years of teaching result not only in countless memories, but also mountains of paper and objects which we now have the "pleasure" of sorting (und zu "entsorgen"). You should see our garage...

Our family continues to keep us happy and busy. We are grateful that we can still enjoy four generations living within 1/2 hour driving distance. Ursel's mother is now a resident of nearby Belmont Terrace. Her health is "up and down" (presently mostly "up" thanks to the local medical establishment and the pharmaceutical industry). Heidi, Chad and their 3 girls also live close-by. Alyssa (9), now a fourth grader, enjoys entering competitions and recently had one of her drawings accepted in an EPA sponsored "Recycle Calendar" for Kitsap County (click to site!). She continues to participate on the Swim Team and play the piano. Kimberly (6) joined Alyssa at the Sylvan Christian School as a Kindergartener this year and is busily immersed in "sliding sounds together" something we used to call "reading"! She also loves her Monart Art Classes and Gymnastic lessons! Kylee, (1 1/2) is a happy and smiling bundle of activity learning new words each day and trying to keep up with her busy two sisters' play activities!

Lars and Jean's family have moved to Winthrop in Eastern Washington (what Tyler calls the "Snow Mountains") following the relocation of homemovie.com in March. Tabitha (6 1/2) enjoys her 1st grade class including "journal entries" while Tyler (5) loves his new Montessori School. Both seem to have adjusted quite readily to the rural environment and have already taken to the nearby stables with their horseback riding opportunities!

We also had several family "pow-wows" and visitors during the year. In early July, we assembled by car or boat at one of our beloved places in Washington's San Juan Islands: Smuggler's Villa Resort on Orcas Island. We never get tired of keeping ourselves "busy" with picking crabs, swimming in the pool (the sea water is too cold) and playing badminton on the front lawns late into the spectacular sunsets. (Ursel's sister) Eileen, from Istanbul, was able to come for a short visit during Mom's gall bladder surgery in April and for a somewhat longer stay in August helping Mom recuperate from a blood-clot hospitalization. This longer visit allowed us to get away on a 10-day sail trip to Oro Bay, Bremerton's Yacht Club's out-station, on Anderson Island in the South Puget Sound. Some time in between, our nephew Karl (Lindevaldsen) and his 3 kids visited Heidi's family to give (wife) Rena some time for uninterrupted preparations for the Florida bar (lawyer) exams (following their move from New York). Mom Streich thus had Joshua, Kaleb and Ingrid here to help celebrate her 92nd birthday! Amazingly, Karl and Heidi took their (together) six children and caravanned with us over the North Cascade Highway to spend a couple of days with Lars' family in Winthrop. We took turns at giving "Grandparent" support for the long drive! We all had fun getting to know Lars & Jean's new surroundings: the beautiful Methow Valley, Winthrop, Twisp and its famous Cinnamon Twisp Bakery, and Sun Mountain Lodge, where we celebrated Ursel's birthday. In the Fall, a short trip to yet another of our favorite islands, Maui, and its Sugar Beach Resort, made us aware of our new role as "retirees". Hopefully, we will make this trip more frequently from now on.

We have not had any visitors from Germany this year, but are not surprised since our own travel has been sharply reduced during the past two years. Günter's sister Bärbel is flying about for all of us checking out the World's trouble spots: recently Afghanistan, Southern Sudan, Iraq, Palestine and now, for the second time this year, Liberia. We simply did not have enough turmoil here in Washington State to qualify for a visit from her.

Let's hope that the World becomes a quieter place in 2004 reducing the need for American soldiers and relief organizations such as Bärbel's Caritas.

Peace + best wishes for the holidays and the coming year,