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Erin enjoyed her first season in the ESS Soccer Club. Her team played in several tournaments around the Twin Cities including Plymouth, Forest Lake and Woodbury. She made many new friends and is looking forward to playing again next season. (Practice starts in December...). On one of our trips we decided to take in a Twins game. During batting practice Erin caught a homerun ball. While that's exciting enough, she caught it on one hop and I bet it was still going 100 MPH. All of the fans trying to get souveniers stopped in their tracks and gave her a standing ovation. Erin is also participates in the GATE (Gifted and Talented) program and in an after-school book club. Charlie is now in the second grade. He really enjoys spending time reading and doing what all little boys enjoy...video games. Last winter Charlie got the opportunity to play hockey. It was a lot of fun for Dad to help out with the ice and some occasional coaching. I even got to learn how to drive the zamboni. Charlie didn't care for the cold weather too much, so this year we'll give basketball a shot. 
One of the highlights of our summer came when we got to spend a little time at the Science Museum visiting the Star Wars exhibit. We learned how build droids and make electromagentic speeders. They also had a number of the actual costumes on display. Darth Vader is even more menacing in person... 
Julie is in her fourth year working for the Duluth Public Schools. We received the news of her tenure a couple of weeks ago. I guess that means they have to find a REALLY good reason to dismiss her now. :-) In other school district news, the voters approved the continuance of the current operating levy. A very generous act considering the economic situation of the area. Julie is also now the director of the Sunday School program at church. She still enjoys running, hiking and skiing when she can find a little free time. EmpowerMX is struggling to keep the ship afloat and I was cast aside in a pre-Halloween restructuring. I can't say that I'll miss the late evening phone calls and pager/on-call duty. I will be starting a new position with United Health Group at the end of the year. In my new role, I'll be helping design infrastructure platforms for the IT services division. I will be spending quite a bit of time traveling to the metro area to work, but my new manager assures me that I'll be able to work a considerable amount of time from home as I grow comfortable with my duties. Things always seem to work out for the best. Merry Christmas! Rod, Julie, Erin and Charlie
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