Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

2001 has been an exciting year with its share of tears and laughter. Let's start at the beginning. As last year was winding down, we had just become Mr.-Dr. & Mrs.-Dr. Chuck "W" and Chris "H" Richter, Jr, Ph.D., OD, respectively. We had flown to Cancun, Mexico where we began our week-long honeymoon. From there we took buses, ferries, and taxis to the island of Cozumel. We didn't have time to make reservations before embarking, and decided to travel as the spirit moved us. Having been to the island of Cozumel (the fertility island) before, we were in familiar territory. The trip began with three days of scuba diving in the island's wonderful reefs. Chuck did a wreck dive to explore a recently-sunk and well-preserved naval ship. After the comfortable lodging at the Scuba-Club Cozumel, we decided to head east back to the mainland. We took an autobus from Playa del Carmen to downtown Cancun where we were led off the beaten path to a "hotel" that redefined for both of us what passes for honeymoon hotel accommodations. The hour was late, the pickings were slim, and the cockroaches were big, so we stayed but slept in our clothes. The next morning, we rented a car and drove to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itzá. We spent New year's eve at a swanky party at the Mayaland Inn, right at the ruins. We returned to the Cancun area where we spent our last night at Punto Moreles before returning to Seattle.

Back in Seattle, we turned to the task of enjoying life as a married couple. Such enjoyment included shopping at St. Vincent d' Paul thrift store where we got free skis, boots, bindings, and poles for Chris. She had the bindings adjusted, and the skis waxed at a local ski shop. Or so we thought. We paid for the work, and shortly thereafter went to Steven's Pass ski area. After buying our lift tickets, Chuck put his skis on and watched Chris step into hers, but something was wrong. It turned out that her bindings hadn't been adjusted, and would only fit a boot that was at least two or three inches larger than hers. DOOH!!! After driving an hour and 15 minutes, and purchasing the $34 lift ticket, NOW we find out that the ski-shop workers were shirking. The Steven's Pass repair shop said they wouldn't fix the ski, but they would give Chris a free rental pair of skis. Excellent! As we were walking over to the lift, Chris apparently dropped her fancy Bolle(TM) sun glasses. Re-tracing our steps, the glasses were nowhere to be found. DOOH! The mountains were beautiful and we decided it would be nice to have a picture. Chuck had conveniently slipped the camera in his coat pocket for just such a moment. We took two pictures and then Chuck put the camera into the pocket, and went back to skiing. Two hours later, we were taking a break in the lodge drinking some hot chocolate (the real hot-chocolate), and Chuck felt his pockets, and found that the zipper was open. No Camera! This was turning out to be one of the most expensive ski trips (short of someone having an accident) ever! Believing there was little chance of finding them, we went to the Lost and Found and lo and behold, they had the camera! Whoo-hoo! But not Chris' sunglasses. Dooh! The day was fun and neither of us fell on the slopes.

February rolled around. On the 14^th, Chuck figured that his husbandly duties included buying some gifts and taking Chris out to a romantic restaurant. Chris enjoyed the evening including the stuffed animal and the candy. Little did we know that we were arranging a date with destiny to occur in just nine short months. A couple weeks later, in an incident that we swear was unrelated, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit the Seattle area. It lasted about 30 seconds and was felt as far away as Idaho. Building's swayed and phone lines were overloaded. Relatively little damage was done, and the only earthquake related fatality was the victim of a fright-induced heart-attack.

In March, because she is a glass-is-half-full type of girl, Chris decided to attend a weekend optimist (she pronounces it OPTOMETRIST) convention in Dallas. Chuck came along, and accommodations were made at the home of Julie, Laura, and Zeke Richter. On St. Patrick's day we climbed into a vehicle and headed for downtown Dallas. As we headed down the Texas equivalent of an interstate highway, the driver (let's call him Chuck) increased speed to avoid the car merging into our lane. "Charlie! Drive carefully, you've got precious cargo on board!" exclaimed Chris. Chuck was driving either Julie's Oldsmobile Achieva, or Zeke's Nissan Altima, and the precious cargo referred to Chuck's cherished siblings riding inside. Or so Chuck figured. Julie, Zeke and Laura on the other hand, figured it meant that Chris had precious cargo inside of something your grammarians (Hi Grandma!) would call the "womb." Chuck and Chris returned to Seattle, where an Early Precious Cargo Test confirmed Grandma's suspicions. The due date was set at November 6th.

One day in March for no particular reason, after dining atop the space needle as the sun went down, Chris and Chuck decided to see what was on the other side of the Cascade mountains. We loaded the bikes onto the jeep and drove east for a few hours. It occurred to us that you can't really see what is on the other side of the mountains if it's dark outside. So we stopped and camped in the jeep until the sun came up. After filling our bellies with fresh caffeinated coffee and doughnuts at a neat coffee shop in Cle Ellum, we drove to the city of Yakima. There we tested out their bike trails and Mexican restaurants, which, as far as we could tell, were up to par. The area boasts the same latitude and rainfall as the Bordeaux region of France. Chuck was unimpressed until he discovered that it meant they grew wine. The bottles literally hang from the trees. Wait-a-minute, they grow raisins, fill them with water and then stomp on them with stinky feet until they taste like wine or cheese, whichever comes first. However the process works, there was much wine tasting to be done there. While Chris was eating for two, Chuck helped out by drinking for two. The wineries were akin to your small Midwestern farms. Located out in the country, visitors were offered wine to taste, and home cooked food to nibble on.

In April, Chuck tore up the ground and planted some grass out in our backyard. Before completing the project he thought it might be a good idea to know where the edge of the property was. So we ordered a survey. It turned out that part of the grass growing experiment was held on the neighbor's property. Ooops! We missed the boundary by about 10 feet or so. Not to worry though, the dirt was put back and we planted quick-growing grass on it, and nobody was the wiser. At least Chris' parent's didn't notice when they came up to celebrate Easter with us. When we got done watching the grass in the backyard grow, the four of us drove up to Skaggit valley see the Tulip festival.

In May, the pregnancy excitement was growing as fast as the baby. Using ultrasound technology, the doctor spent 15-minutes looking at the little person growing inside of Chris. No more singing about how we are Toys R Us kids with no desire to grow up! The doctor said the baby was doing well. We were okayed for air travel, which was good because we then traveled on a 15-hour flight to Sydney, Australia. Chuck and several colleagues were there to attend a conference and Chris took the opportunity to tour the city on her own. Being next to the ocean, Chris' indulged some of her sushi cravings-the kind without raw fish. Her extensive reading in several baby books had told her that raw fish was on the list of taboo pregnancy items. We dined at restaurants that encouraged the patrons to bring their own bottles of wine; often the restaurants don't have liquor licenses.

While we were in Australia, we saw the Sydney Zoo, Chuck did some diving (since pregnancy and diving do not mix, Chris snorkeled), toured Cairns, and attended a carnival celebrating the opening of the beach-going season. The beaches are closed in the summer due to the extremely deadly Box Jellyfish that take over their beaches November to May. From May to October, the Jellyfish go somewhere else, and the beach-goers need only to cope with the estuary crocodiles. We rode bicycles along the four mile long beach, toured a rainforest habitat, saw lots of crocodiles sunning themselves on the beaches.

In June we had another ultrasound of the baby and found out that he was a boy. Chris lobbied to name him Charles William Richter, III. Chuck drug his feet, but in the end gave in following the sound marriage advice provided by several sources ("Yes dear").

We were really excited for July. Beginning in January several family members had been discussing a trip to the great Northwest for first week of July. The four Rasmussens headed west in their brand new Dodge Durango pulling a camper. The four Guetzloffs flew out, as did Julie, Zeke, and Grandma and Grandpa Luze. That same week, three of Chris' friends decided it would be a nice time of the year to visit. Including ourselves, there were nights that 17 people were sleeping under our roof. Cool! The week of vacation was a blast. We barbequed on the grass in our backyard, we hiked, we visited waterfalls, we took a harbor cruise, visited the Seattle science center and the aquarium, spent an afternoon at the zoo, soared above the city in the Space Needle, and almost froze everyone (Sorry Grandma and Grandpa! We didn't know it would be that chilly!) while watching the fireworks on the 4^th of July. Two of those vacation days, the family (led by Chuck's sister Chris on her hands and knees) attacked the weeds in our yard, planted flowers, and helped put bark mulch down. The yard make-over efforts were so amazing that the neighbors were commenting and soon requesting help. Capping off the week, Chris and Chuck followed the Rasmussens and the Guetzloffs (who were driving back to the Midwest) east to Idaho and Glacier National Park in western Montana where we camped for a couple nights.

One morning a week or so after we had parted ways at Glacier, the phone rang at 7:00 am. Ginger's voice came over the phone, "Chuck. Chris has cancer." We were shocked and devastated. Chuck was reminded of being 18 years old and watching his Mom battle and eventually succumb to cancer. Chris Guetzloff called an hour later to repeat and confirm the news personally. She had a baseball sized tumor and growths around the area of her uterus, possibly connected to her colon. She had been in the Rock Rapids hospital for five days where they tried to diagnose the fluid buildup around her pancreas and liver. Their first guess was her gallbladder (they found a one inch stone). Now she was moved to the McKennan Cancer Center in Sioux Falls. Chris and Chuck arranged to go back to South Dakota for a few days to be with Chris. We missed the surgery, but were there soon after. Chris Guetzloff's attitude was that of a fighter and an optimist. The entire Richter clan showed up in Sioux Falls, together for the first time since Kristian and Betsy's wedding.

In August we made a second weekend trip to South Dakota, where we visited with Grandparents and Chris Guetzloff who was recovering from the surgery. Chris Guetzloff's wounds were healed enough to withstand her first of six chemo treatments after returning to WV.

In September, Chris was still feeling good and able to exercise and work relatively comfortably. For the labor day weekend, we flew into Charleston, WV where the Guetzloffs put us up in style with a bed and everything. We spent some time with Chris, Tom, Bev and the kids, even watching a soccer scrimmage. The guys mixed up mortar and worked on replacing a wooden box planter with concrete block and a brick facade. Chris and Chris were inside the house freezing away dinners for those times when meal preparations would be difficult. We ate well, even had fresh cinnamon rolls. We got a preview of what it's like to travel with a baby bringing home a baby stroller, a baby carriage, a baby high-chair, and a suitcase full of boys clothing that the Guetzloffs donated to our cause. Before we left Dave Bentler met us and we all experienced the Ice Cream Social event of the summer in downtown Charleston. We ate ice cream and watched boats float by on the river regatta. A week after we returned home to Seattle, we awoke to the tragic news of planes flying into buildings.

In October, Chris decided that it was time to meet with her optimist buddies again. This time it was in Portland. Chuck came with and spent a couple days in Oregon. While we were there, we visited a couple brew-pubs and a bookstore that purports itself to be the largest in the United States. A week after we returned, the doctor did a follow-up ultrasound thinking that she looked a little small. Between Chris and the baby, indeed they were a few quarts low on amniotic fluid, so the doctor decided to induce labor on October 25. Because he required surgery for aortic coarctation, Charlie's birth was more eventful than we had planned, but we love him just the same. Before bringing him home, we spent two weeks at Children's Hospital where we learned that Charlie's problems were small compared to many.

In November, the Rasmussens surprised us with a visit at just the right time. Ginger and Chad helped out with many activities including painting Charlie's room, preparing frozen meals, and showing us how easy it was to go to a restaurant with the little guy. After the Rasmussens had left, Chris' parents and sister Kath came to help celebrate Thanksgiving and care for Charlie. We squeezed in a few pediatrician visits to confirm that Charlie was healthy and that he was gaining weight-indeed he was.

December has been busy. We are experiencing a number of firsts with Charlie. Charlie went to his first movie. He's outgrowing some of his first outfits. He had his first baby-sitter. As of this writing Charlie is about to see many of his relatives for the first time. The pediatrician granted us permission for Travels with Charlie. By the time we decided for certain that we were going to South Dakota, airfares were too expensive, and the decision was made to drive. Charlie's first 1800 mile road trip. We'll let you know how that turns out. Also this month, Chuck's sister Chris has completed the last of her scheduled six chemotherapy treatments. Preliminary exams show that she is doing well. Her doctors will monitor her. We pray that she and the rest of the family be blessed with health, happiness, wisdom and love. Merry Christmas, happy New Year and to all a good night!

- Love to all Chris, Chuck and Charlie