Once again it is time to wish Happy Holidays to all our family and friends. It has been a great year for the Mudds and we hope it has been the same for all of you!
This past year Patti’s job took her to Baltimore, Dallas, New York, and Portland, Oregon. The company that Patti contracted to, Lodestar, was bought out by Oracle during the late summer – which has enabled her to take a position with Oracle, staring in November. With the new job there is a possibility that Patti will be working close to home more often, much to the happiness of the rest of the family!
Doug’s book All the Money in the World was awarded the Numismatic Literary Guild’s “Best Book About World Paper Money” for 2006 at the ANA Convention in Milwaukee. What a great honor to be recognized in your own field!
Loren first year of middle-school is also her first year at a Public School. This decision was made after a long family discussion on what would be best for her future educational and social development. Loren was sucessful in testing into the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program at North Middle School. She is very happy and doing very well in her classes (so far!). Her extra-curricular activities include the school band as a flautist and the school play as a stagehand.
Loren was recommended as a National student leader by her 5 th grade teacher and she was selected by the national committee! This meant that she spent a week on her own in Maryland with several hundred other students from all over the US. The experience was a good one, especially since she got to spend some time with her Aunt Rachel.
During the summer, Loren and Doug went to the East Coast – first to visit the Mudds in Maine and then down to Long Island, where Loren was dropped off with the Kirkups while Doug went on to Lancaster to his gaming convention. While in Maine, Loren took up kayaking with her Grandpa Mudd – she loved it and cannot wait to go again. Last winter we took several skiing trips. Loren is a natural and the entire family finds skiing to be a lot of fun– we are waiting impatiently for enough snow to go this season!
Loren had a really great year in soccer. Her second season with the Stingrays was lots of fun – the team once again went undefeated. With the coming of tryouts for this year, Loren decided to join her own age group (she had been playing with older girls) and she made it on 4 th team – a big step up! She loves her coach and her teammates. Loren has turned into a dominant player on her new team at both the center mid and sweeper positions. Loren is now playing indoor soccer with her team for the winter.
Vinnie, Kimmie and David stopped at the Casa de Mudd for a few days while they were on their way to New York. It was great to see them again – notice the family resemblance!
Happy Holidays,
Loren, Doug and Patti