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Tomato Family Holiday Letter for 2011

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14592261/Holiday%20Letter%202011_Text_Final.pdf

Go, Tomatoes, Go!   2011 Edition

This year the Tomato Family logged serious mileage by planes, trains, and automobiles, but why stop there?  We were on the move by bike, ski, canoe, jet boat, paddle boat, scooter, motorcycle, roller-coaster, horse, jet ski, boogie board, flipper, cleat, and jogging shoe too.   

Let’s begin with Seth, Chief Road Warrior and lover of fast cars.  Business travel landed him in at least 75 different rental cars as he chased deals for SAP America as their Business Objects Stud Muffin (in Amber’s opinion).  He also was lead driver of the F350 pick-up camper borrowed from Amber’s parents for a Southern Oregon road trip this summer.  We hiked the Trail of the Molten Lands, caught more trout than we could handle at Miller Lake, skied Crater Lake in shorts, paddled Klamath Lake while catching giant adfluvial rainbows, and explored the Oregon Caves with a B-boy tour guide. 

Through the year, Seth hit more than his share of car shows including a family trip to the amazing Art of the Car exhibit.  But who would have thought Seth would bliss out in a 1987 Westfalia pop-up van called Hula Wahine with a four speed transmission and top speed of 70 mph (with a tailwind downhill in hurricane)?  We toured the Big Island of Hawaii “Pahoa” style, parking the Westy at any beach that caught our fancy.  We hung with turtles at a black sand beach, ate coconut cream pie in Na’alehu, eyeballed manta rays, braved the road to the green sand beach (not in the Westy), birded the volcanoes, and snorkeled everywhere.  Our most amazing experience was swimming with a pod of wild spinner dolphins at dawn in Captain Cook’s Bay.  Our funniest experience was when Amber and Seth boogie-boarded while the kids sat on the beach glaring at us like little old curmudgeons.  And we were christened, by fellow Westy friends, the “Evil Portland Family” for reasons we must not disclose.  (If you come visit, you may find out why!)

If dolphins are unavailable, Beryl’s favorite mode of transportation is the horse.  She celebrated her birthday on horseback.  She participated in a small horse show at the end of a week of horse camp and wowed us with her abilities.  She was the main reason that we decided to lease a pony, Peanut, for two years.  We spent a delightful summer with him and his stablemate, Sir William, riding and hanging out with “the boys” and then were completely devastated when Peanut colicked and died in Amber’s arms.  We continue to help with Sir William and his new companion, Donald the Sheep, but we miss our sweet little dude.  Beryl loves to ride her bike but it’s not as much fun as a horse.  She plans to be a horse trainer and/or mounted police officer some day.

Fisher’s inherited his father’s need for speed and fire power.  During our visit to Seth’s family in Florida, Fisher relished the rides at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, jet-skied like a madman, and jumped into GramB and Pop’s pool about a thousand times.  He’s unstoppable on his mountain bike and is always ready to wrangle any willing group of children into some madcap battle extravaganza.  Turns out, he’s also super fast on the soccer pitch and a darn good golfer.  Fourth grade took the academic expectations up more than a few notches, but Fisher’s very self-motivated and always on top of what he needs to accomplish each day.  And he was a comical tomato in the school musical and very nearly stole the show.  How fitting is that?!

Amber’s theme for the year was JUMP.  From the Leap of Faith (a flying jump from the top of a telephone pole to a trapeze) at B’nai Brith Family Camp this year to the plunge off Jump Rock in Pen Lake during our annual canoe trip in Algonquin Park, Amber has been flying high.  On the professional front, she sold her first novel this year, a young adult, action-adventure story that is part of a transmedia project called Angel Punk.  She loves her creative team (the movie makers and comic book writers) and the challenges this type of project offers.  On the personal side of things, Amber finished her many years of Jewish studies by converting to Judaism in a profoundly moving celebration. 

All things considered, it’s been a great year full of both hard-work and fun.  We’ve been blessed to spend quality time with family and friends. May the next year bring many more adventures and good times for all. 

  Happy Holidays!

Love, Amber, Seth, Fisher & Beryl

 Adventures of the Tomato Family: tomatofamilyjournal.wordpress.com
 Seth’s Personal Blog:   isenberguncertaintyprinciple.wordpress.com
 Amber’s website:   www.amberjkeyser.com
 Angel Punk:     angelpunk.co

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