From Tresine Logsdon posting under Matt (technical snafu)--
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Ray Kin-
2017 has arrived.  With little fanfare and with hopeful hearts that despite the palpable absence of Prince, David Bowie and George Michael and the lamentable state of our nation's political landscape--- 2017 will be the year of optimism and rebirth.
January was Matt's 19th and my 18th teaching, all of his @ Henry Clay HS where we  taught together 2004-2010 and the last 7 as Fayette Co Public School's Sustainability Coordinator.  In early 2016 we discovered Eloise and Isabelle would finally be under the same roof and on the same side of town for the first time in the fall @ the School for Creative and Performing Arts.  At last, only one carpool, one dismissal time, one school schedule.
As is typical for our family, January and February trudged along full of conventional routine and commitments with little variation to our weekly obligations or opportunities to enjoy the outdoors amidst these cold and wet months.  These two months, however, kept Isabelle busy traveling around central KY for Saturday Speech Team tournaments, one of her favorite and most accomplished extracurriculars.
In March the National Green School Conference regrettably coincided with our Spring Break, so Matt and the girls kindly obliged to join me in Pittsburgh so that I could accept the district-level national Green Schools Award, one of my proudest professional moments.  Isabelle earned accolades and medals at the state Speech Team tournament and as the ground thawed Eloise grew increasingly enamored with horseback riding at a nearby farm where she took lessons as often as we could get her there and weather allowed.
Earth Month (April) and May are predictably harried months as the school year wound down with concerts, performances and wrapping up a school year.
In June Matt and I took our week-long stints grading AP exams for College Board (he AP Language & Composition in Kansas City and I AP Env Science in Cincinnati) before immediately embarking on our first ever family out-west adventure.  This enterprise was three years in the planning and saving and included as many hikes, explorations, visits and miles as we could muster.  After 13 cities, 9 national parks, 9 hotels, 6 legs of flights and 3,000 miles in a rental car-- we rank Zion and Bryce National Parks as our highlight.
The summer was rounded out by trips to the pool, lake and VA for a lovely, inspiring and jubilant welcoming of Sami into our family.  Our world travelers are in Singapore now as Alex and Sami squeeze every last beautiful drop out of their honeymoon year and newlywed-dom and we eagerly anticipate seeing them again as Mr and Mrs Forstler.
The school year began as usual in early August to most Kentuckians' chagrin.  Eloise joined her sister for the one-and-only year they would be under the same roof, Eloise in 4th and Isabelle in 8th grades, before Isabelle heads to high school in August of this year.  Both girls are String majors, Isabelle a violinist and Eloise a violist, and delight us from time to time with impromptu duets.  Eloise continues to dive more deeply into her true love at the moment-- horseback riding.  Isabelle picked up a heavy commitment to an Episcopal Choir that rehearses and performs 8 hours a week and added Archery and Student Council to her engagements.  She met the financial obligation of an Oct 8th grade trip to NYC by summer busking at local markets and fairs; and the following week all 14 of us settled on the Santa Rosa, FL beach for our annual coastal holiday.
Matt was elected to represent his faculty on Henry Clay's SBDM (local decision-making body) and continues to serve as one of the most accomplished, influential and effective teachers of KY's largest high school.
After living in a lovely and comfortable suburb for 10 years, our gaze had started to shift to the downtown corridor and in September we swiftly put our house on the market in hopes of snatching a 1890 renovated home in the diverse arts and culture nexus of our city.  After 8 weeks of the unforgiving lifestyle of trying to keep a home market-worthy and living at the whim of showings, we gave up in November with the tentative plan of giving it another go in March.  The downtown home we love did not sell either.  In the throes of this attempted house selling/buying, Isabelle evolved into an official teenager (13) and Eloise double-digits (10), Audrey and I started our 5th decades-- and Matt and I celebrated our 15th anniversary with no hullabaloo at all as we tried to keep up with the frenetic pace of life we found ourselves in.
In November we lost our dear 15-yr old Shetland Sheepdog Callie, and I mourned the passing of my very first true pet and, in some ways, the season of new marriage, babies and professional enthusiasm her time with us represented.
Our New Years Eve last night was celebrated among our nearest and dearest friends as we all reflected on how we could be a little better, kinder, gentler, wiser in 2017 than '16.
What I look forward to most in 2017 may be our early July Ray Reunion where I always feel the deepest and most authentic kinship.
Love you all so very much.