Happy holidays, and welcome to the recap of the year's events in the 11th Annual dzFamily Holiday Letter. 2010 began with activities appropriate for the long Minnesota winter. Hazel continued her hockey tenure under the watchful eye of her uncle, Bob, while Adeline began her acting career in the school's Drama Club. Amie, fighting the numbing influences of the cold, dark evenings, co-founded a book group that combined her love of books and movies.
Late in the winter and into the early spring, the dzFamily was treated to two wonderful dramatic productions - Class C's interpretation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Class D's retelling of "A Thousand Cranes." Addie and Hazel were outstanding in their roles, of course. As the snow began to melt, Jason accompanied the four kids to Running Club. Theo joined his sisters in completing the Get in Gear 2k race and reveled in his finisher's t-shirt and medallion. With spring fully in bloom, both girls journeyed to the Land School in Wisconsin with their classes and spent days exploring the woods and feeding the chickens. Amie's efforts to hone her teaching skills were rewarded when she was presented with the Juliet Nelson Award for making a personal impact on the lives of her students.
Summer finally arrived, and with it the freedom to ride bikes, play soccer, and invent wacky backyard games. The newly christened French River Lodge was completed after a long, cold winter of work and was immediately utilized as a base from which to explore the North Shore and the city of Duluth. Amie and Jason celebrated their 15th Carleton reunion with friends from far and near. A lightning strike outside the house knocked out power for more than two days, leading to the untimely demise of a few fish and the creative use of the electrical outlets at the local coffee shop.
Theo suffered a fall from the monkey bars which resulted in a broken arm and the longest 20 minute car ride Amie has ever experienced on the way to the hospital. Hazel took an art class; Addie embraced martial arts. As summer began to fade, Oscar embarked on a great adventure when he paddled into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area with his parents and his dog, Phoebe, for his first campout. We are pleased to announce he neither jumped nor fell out of the canoe, both of which were real possibilities. Upon their safe return, the whole family celebrated with a ride on the Pizza Train along Lake Superior.
Amie biked (a little); Jason ran (a lot). Both took a needed break to attend a wedding in New York City and enjoy the luxury of walking in Central Park without children. When school resumed, Theo rejoiced at being able to stay for full days and to eat lunch in his classroom with the older children while Hazel entered Upper Elementary (4th grade). Jason shared the Montessori experience by chaperoning Addie's class trips to the Land School to harvest pumpkins and to the Minnesota Orchestra for a Halloween concert.
Fall brought the complete submersion of the children into the world of Star Wars, complete with re-enactments of key movie scenes, costumes, and endless questions about the parentage of Luke Skywalker. It also brought the resumption of activities before and after school: choir, guitar, Brownies, and piano. Amie tried to kick her Diet Coke habit and failed. She did not try to kick her Bejeweled Blitz habit and spectacularly succeeded in not doing so.
Overall, 2010 was remarkable for its ordinariness, yet was punctuated by huge family landmarks: we said goodbye to the Diaper Genie after 9 years (!) of continuous use; Addie was the only one in the family to not get the stomach flu; we managed to learn how to accommodate two parents, two boys, a dog, and a few cats in the bed on nights when "I had a scawy dweem!"; and the children volunteered to keep only 15 pieces of Halloween candy each (weirdly, the anti-sugar brainwashing seems to be working). Clearly, with four children between the ages of four and nine, 'exciting' is a relative term.
The winter snow has once more returned to Minneapolis (has it ever!) and we are all settling in and preparing to wait for spring. We wish for you and your families in 2011 a year of peace and happiness, with many memories and meaningful events upon which to reflect.

~ Amie, Jason, Hazel, Addie, Theo, Oscar, and pets
(Phoebe, Sabrina, Pasha, Maggie, and Whitey)