Hello, All!

Happy Holidays from the Canino-Roberts Clan!  The big news this year, as many of you have heard, is that Ellen is pregnant.  Kid Canino is due in early to mid March.  Obviously, we are very pleased with this, and look forward to the challenges and responsibilities of parenthood that so many of you have already experienced or are experiencing (actually, we’re already looking forward to when the kids move out so we can have some peace and quiet!  J).  Ellen has avoided many of the classic symptoms of morning sickness, and the other side effects that normally accompany pregnancy have been relatively mild.   Mostly, she’s tired a lot.  She’s gaining weight nicely, and looks great!  She’s taken a great deal of time to educate herself on prenatal care, and is taking excellent care of herself and the baby.  We visit the doctor monthly and she’s had several ultrasounds and an amniocentesis (which was normal).  The baby appears to be doing great!  We can already feel him moving and kicking.  We know he’s a boy, so we only have to look at half of the book of names, which should save us a little time. 

In addition to that, we had another great year.  We celebrated our One-Year Anniversary in July.  Whew -- one year down!  We started out the year by visiting friends in Mammoth several times to do some snowboarding.  Our friends, Dave and Alex, were very kind and accommodating.  We actually flew up to Mammoth a few times, since Brian finished getting all of his civilian pilot ratings.  We traveled a lot this year.  Ellen traveled extensively to the east coast for her job and Brian traveled throughout the country while he was working for the Navy, in addition to flying around the country for airline interviews and seminars.  We also did a little bit of camping:  San Clemente State Beach for the 4th of July, Lake Havasu for somebody’s spring break and Thanksgiving, and Carlsbad State Beach.  We usually take Jake the Bird and the two dogs, Casey and Aika, with us when we camp.  We’re not sure any of them actually enjoy the experience, though.  We’re going to have to re-assess our camping accommodations with the baby on the way as the tent thing is starting to feel a little cramped and less than completely restful with the brood we take along with us.  Perhaps that 3-room tent from Costco will handle us all.  As we do every year, we went to Lake Powell for a week on a houseboat.  Thanks to Dan’s margaritas and 19 wonderful friends, we had a great time.  In addition, we went to St. Johns for some relaxation and to attend a wedding.  It’s a beautiful place, but a little warm and humid in the middle of the summer. 

Looking for another major career change, Brian interviewed with several regional airlines.  The plan was to fly with a regional for a year or so to get some recent experience, and then look to get hired by one of the majors.  After receiving offers from all of those that he interviewed with, he accepted an offer from Mesa Airlines, which operates out of Phoenix and flies routes for America West.  He left government service in August, and started training in September.  On the less than optimum side of how things could have worked out, the tragic events of September 11th resulted in Brian’s furlough from Mesa.  Thankfully, our loss was relatively minor compared to many others who were affected by those events.  After collecting unemployment for a couple of months (there’s a first time for everything!), Brian went back to his previous job as a civil servant working for the Navy.  It’s difficult to tell how long the furlough will last, as all of the airlines are having problems right now.  We are hoping for the best!

We hope your year was as rewarding and fun as ours was.  Good luck in the coming year!  Take care.