Embedded Files
Amy and I were very happy with the results of our 2006 Christmas Letter, and as it is now much too late to be asking Canada Post to send our mail, you again are invited to read online about our year.
2007 came in with an overdose of light and sound at Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Orlando. Amy and I spent the week from Christmas to New Years in a flurry of Disney and Universal excess with Amy's sister Amata on her first visit to Disney. On our first full day and on what was our one cold day, we went on a rafting ride midway through the morning that left us dripping and spun us into a funk that could only be fixed with Dr. Seuss's "Thing One" and "Thing Two" and some red and white "Thing" pants.
Despite Amy's lack of disposable vacation because of her pursuit of a part-time Masters of Public Administration at Queen's University, Wesley gave her a trip to Costa Rica for birthday, cleverly disguised as a sewing machine! We rented a car for the duration of our 9-day visit in April and drove a loop south from San Jose down the Pacific coast, and from San Isidro back north along the mountaineous inland highway. We slept mostly in small inns, staying for a couple of nights before driving to our next stop. Along the way we surfed and went rafting, climbed a mountian and a volcano, and saw plenty of nature and wildlife.
In May Wesley organized a small reunion in Ottawa to celebrate the ten years since he (and Amy) graduated from high school. It was a beautiful day downtown (as Amy enjoyed a drink on the patio) and a fun evening of reminiscing and of catching up with the class of 1997.
In June the Okes celebrated a landmark birthday of Susan's at the Canal Ritz, allowing for this mom and family shot with Wesley's sisters Debby and Carrie, and her first daughter Mary-Jane.
Summer vacation 2007 consisted of a trip to Winnipeg for Amy's cousin Ean's wedding and then on to Edmonton for Amy's friend Danae's wedding. In between the weddings we made time to stop in Amy's home town Westlock to visit as many people as possible in three days and then it was on to Cold lake to visit Carrie and family at the air force base.
Those who know Amy know that alongside everything else exists volleyball. In addition to her co-ed team "Joy of Sets," Amy stared a women's team "The Eh? Team," which also plays in the Ottawa Competeitive Volleyball League.
Wesley spent the first half of 2007 at Defence Research and Development Canada, writing his Master of Applied Science thesis "Exploiting Temporal Redundancy for the Detection and Estimation of Low Probability of Intercept Radar," which he successfully defended it in early September, leading to his graduation in November. His new job keeps him in Shirley's Bay in Ottawa's west end and involves the programming and support of the defensive electronic warfare suite installed on the Canadian Air Force's CF-18 Hornet fighter jet.
Amy worked her last day at DA-Test today, and is moving on after a six year career in microelectronic test engineering. On January 14th she will be starting her new job in downtown Ottawa with Engineers Canada, the national organization that oversees the regulation and licensing of Canada's professional engineers.
We are excited about the new year, which will include Amy's graduation from school in addition to her new job. We wish you the best of the Christmas season and a wonderful 2008. We hope to have the pleasure of talking to you in the near future.
Love,
Wesley and Amy
Page updated
Report abuse