It’s that time of year again when we reflect on our first full year in Pennsylvania. We had thought at the outside that we’d have a quiet one now we were back on the domestic payroll, but it turned out to be quite a year. You’ll have to read through this to find the biggest surprise of them all!

     Our annual pilgrimage to Bangkok started in earnest the weekend before Christmas, this time via the quite splendid new terminal building in Doha, Qatar. This was our longest trip home compared to even Lagos to Bangkok, but due to very short lay-overs it didn’t seem too bad at all.  We were fortunate this Christmas that 1) Calliana didn’t need to be hospitalized, 2) Matt didn’t need to be hospitalized and 3) our friends Elsa and Joseph, over from Atyrau, were staying in the same serviced apartments as us. As well as the usual events with the British Club gang on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, we got some quality time in with Mum and Dad at our house, spent a great day and evening with the Bradleys and had New Year’s Eve with Keith and Aom and friends,  surprise reunion with the Babcocks, and Calliana got to catch up with her favourite fashion guru and life-coach when we dined with the Fegans.

January saw the beginning of the 3 month freeze and our first taste of a proper winter, maxing out at chilled out -25.5 C. Brrr. But despite this, and the inevitable salting and shoveling of our driveway on at least 25 occasions, we still managed to get out and about. After a 2 year or so break since New Zealand, we got our skiing fix at the near bye (I hour) Ski resort and enjoyed our first Burn’s Supper since Bangkok, and Calliana’s stage career progressed with an ensemble singing event at the local High School.

     It was perhaps with all the constant cold in mind that we decided to make a dash for the warmth with a trip to the Bahamas for Spring Break, but not before our friends from Lagos – The Bombardes, now living in Houston, braved the cold to come spend some quality (if not mainly indoor) time north of the wall. The trip to Nassau allowed Matt to check off one of this “must do’s” and that was to have a martini in the One and Only (Bond aficionados please take note).

     By the time April rolled around we were starting to get an early taste of spring. The snow had finally all gone, the sun was shining and thoughts turned to planting. Matt was also lucky enough (yes, my word for it) to lead a business trip to Bangkok in April. Lucky because not only did he manage to get some time with Mum and Dad, but also several opportunities to catch up with friends including……. yup, the Babcocks again (thanks to FB), on their farewell tour of Asia before settling back down in NA after many years overseas. Matt also had a great Football Section reunion one night at the former Bull’s Head.We also took custody of young Ms. Jada as part of the local High School Thai exchange program and Calliana got to get a feel of what it’s like having a great big sister.

May really did see a welcome turn in the weather. As we approached one year in the house, we all got busy building raised beds from recycled pallets, getting the pool opened (and warmed) to start reclaiming our outdoor living space, and supporting Norwich City through the play-offs to reclaim a spot back up in the Premiership, and having a great run of concerts including EW&F, , John Mellencamp and a fantastic Beatles Tribute Band.

     Summer rolled in with Calliana finishing off a very  year as a 4th Grader with her “playground petition project” finally being approved by the board. What a great legacy she’s leaving at her elementary school. As a reward, we surprised her with tickets to Taylor Swift, and a good time was had by all. This was closely followed by the Rolling Stones and maybe it was all the music but it inspired Matt to formed a work band and start rehearsing for late summer Chevron concert; the first time since the Unocal Band in Bangkok some 15 years earlier. Callie carried on her love affair with robots are Robotics Camp and also had a Spa at Home party for her 10th with her gal pals just before school turned out later in June. We also decided to squeeze in a long weekend in D.C. before the real crowds formed for the 4th and were delighted to be joined for dinner by the all grown up and lovely young lady in the form or Marissa Morgan, current denizen of that fine city.

     The highlight of July was clearly the Rockies Road Trip. Planned over the Duckworth’s Boxing Day Party and refined over a few bottles of wine on New Year’s Day, the result was a week’s tour of 3 very different ski resorts in Central Colorado. Our first stop though was a weekend with Darrell and Kim Kramer in Denver, who showed us a great time around the Red Rocks Amphitheatre and their house up by Lake Dillon. We then met Struan, Tor, Berry and Kiera in Denver and proceeded to drive west to Snowmass near Aspen (A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano). Anyway, these ski resorts have reinvented themselves to be family fun centers over the summer with multiple festivals and activities. Snowmass was a prime example of all the things you can do: rock wall climbing, hiking, mountain biking, arts and crafts, etc. Plus, with two excellent Thai chefs along, Struan and Matt really only had to act as chauffeurs and porters. The upscale condos at very off-peak prices added to the ambience. After a couple of nights there it was on over Independence Pass to Breckenridge and more of the same up at the resort after a short gondola ride. Lastly, we finished up our trip at Winter Park, just in time for the Colorado Free Ride Festival where we got to see stunts on bikes that we only thought were possible by CG in movies. Struan decided to get his Spice Roads shirt out for a test as he attempted the “Plank”. We all had a great time to be sure

     August was a time of heat and music and thundering water. A week’s business trip to the Big Oven of Houston provided a chance for all of us to go visit with the Bombardes and Chip Morgan, including a fun adventure at the iFly, high tea with some old Bangkok chums and one even older Aberystwyth Chum, the Unocal 10 year reunion (since being bought by Chevron), and enjoyed the fine care and attention offered by Chip and by Rachel and we thank you all.  Bi-weekly practices with the band continued through the summer as we started harvesting from our garden in earnest. We finished up August with about a week on Lake Ontario just before Calliana headed back to start the 5th grade at her new middle school. We also had a chance to appreciate (?) the true fanaticism that comes with being a Pittsburgh Steelers supporter. The very end of the month saw us at the Carnegie Science Museum for Chevron’s Family outing and Matt’s band, and as he said at the time, “this may not be our first rodeo, but it is the first time we’ve ridden together in public”, and the last so far anyway, but a good time seem to have been had by all. The only fly in the ointment in August was saying goodbye to John and Lianne Sanclemente. It was sooooooooooo (too?) much fun while it lasted and we’ll miss you very much, but such is our lot in the oil patch so we wish them well and know we’ll be seeing them again.

     So what of September? What a milestone month, but it turned out to be for two very different reasons. One was Matt’s 50th birthday party at a local historical site. The photo album should be pretty self-explanatory and thanks to all for the birthday wishes from around the world. Certainly having our friends come up from Houston, coupled with Matt’s brother and sister coming over, made it an event worth remembering. Matt continued the party the following weekend with a trip to London (ably assisted by Simon Everidge – thanks mate) for the Rugby World Cup England vs Wales. Over a short 4 days Matt got to breakfast with Scotty and Craig, lunch in Dorking with former high school friends, university friends, former work mates and Fran and Jez, as well as wine and dine with Simon and family. It will be hard to top that for Matt’s 60th (but he’ll try).

     The other even more momentous milestone was the realization that Jeab was in fact pregnant! Those of you who know our story very well will understand why we haven’t gone public with that until now, but we are glad to report that at the time of reading this, Jeab will be about 19 weeks pregnant, and everything appears to be as it should for a delivery of a baby girl around May 7th. Wish us luck!

Seem like we costed in to the last quarter of the year but there were still some big events, not least of all being our quick visit for a taste of Central Florida, including a full on day at Universal Studies, almost a drive by visit of NASA and a wonderful beach side wedding for cousin Daniel Bruce and his lovely bride Sarah. It was also nice to see cousin Hannah and surprise cousin Janet who didn’t know we were coming. Meanwhile Jeab was becoming steadily more pregnant and sadly, steadily more pukey, but despite several nail-biting trips to the emergency room, things had settled down by the time we got then end of November. Calliana upped her skills on guitar (for fun) and violin and vocals (for school) and was building up to two year-end performances at the High School and Downtown Pittsburgh which were really fun.

     So here we are again. A momentous years in many ways. Very turbulent for Matt’s work, with significant restructuring during the year to turn the business around. We have come to love the Pittsburgh area ver much and with the mild winter (so far) it’s made the run in to Christmas a very pleasant affair with a great Thanksgiving with friends, an number of fantastic concerts and theatre shows in town, and a strengthening of position with families in our neighborhood. The day after Christmas we will be off to San Diego to stay with fellow SDSU Alum Kevin Bryan and Robyn, Aislinn and Reece (both all now grown up since Matt last stayed with them many many years ago) and we thank them in advance for their hospitality. Next year looks to be as momentous but our thoughts will surely be focused in the same arrival of your newest family member. We never lose sight of the fact that we are very very lucky in the way we get to live and enjoy life. Life’s tragedies have hit many of you hard this year and you have been in our hearts and our thoughts. Many more outside of extended family suffer at levels we can’t imagine.  As we said last year, the world in general seems no less troubled than this time last year, but for us, our natural optimism sustains us and we hope you all have the merriest of Christmases, the happiest of New Years, and a wonderful happy and safe 2016!

All the best

Matt, Jeab, Callie and The Bump