Christmas time has arrived and the New Year approaches rapidly, we find ourselves looking back over the year remembering what has happened and how far we have come. It is a time to think about life and count all it’s blessings. For the Ohligs this has been an eventful year to say the least.

The kids –Adam, Annie and Alyssa - have done their job by keeping their parents quite busy. In May, Adam bought a motorcycle – to be exact - a yellow 2003 Honda CBR 600 RR. You can be sure that the bike put a few more gray hairs on Bert and Robin’s heads. It was a beautiful motorcycle until it had a couple of accidents. Annie was the first to scrape up the bike after about a month. Then Adam took his turn this November. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, besides the motorcycle that is currently out of commission, and valuable lessons have been learned.

As for schools, Adam is still at Orange Coast College. His time is spent at school and working as a welder at Fabcon. He spent some free time making steel flowers for his mother and such. That is quite amazing considering the task of welding. Annie graduated from Newport Harbor High School in June and is now attending Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. She is studying business administration and will also be studying music. Moving her into the dorms was a family effort that required much hard work and intense interior decorating skills in order to work with the interesting furniture that college provides you with. Alyssa is in the 4^th grade at Mariner’s Elementary School. She is doing very well there and has made many new friends. She also played on the Rip Curl soccer team this year and they won 2^nd place!

In August, the family took a vacation to beautiful, sunny and hot Arizona!

Our First stop was Lake Havasu, which was wonderful. The kids (Bert included) rented Sea Doos and played around for hours. At first Alyssa was a little timid but then she became the most fearless of them all. Adam was skilled enough to get Annie to fly off the back of the Sea Doo by hitting sharp turns.

The Second stop was the Grand Canyon.

The weather was wonderful. The sky was blue and clear so the visibility was amazing. We could see all the way to the bottom to the Colorado River. The canyon was breath taking. Yes, it looks like the pictures; but there is something special about seeing with one’s own eyes. Of course Bert took about one million and a half pictures (ok, perhaps that is an exaggeration. probably more like 50).

Finally, the last stop was Phoenix. This was the point of the trip to relax and lounge by the pool with lemonade and a good book. The 100^o weather made the 80^o pool very inviting and comforting.

We took a drive out to visit Walter, Aurora, and Kim Ohlig while in Phoenix. It was nice. The trip was a blast and it was great having the family together.

Unfortunately, this year has not been all good news. In July, Robin lost her father, C.D. Taylor. He had been struggling with Alzheimer’s for a while, but we are relieved that he is suffering no longer. He was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather and is missed greatly. Please keep his wife Billie Taylor in your prayers.

Bert lost his uncle Friedel who lived near the Rhine River in Germany near Wiesbaden (Frankfurt). Lottie’s brother was an accomplished mechanic and had a love of life.

... Press the [FLASH TRIP] to see our movie ...

We hope your Christmas season is full of joy and happiness and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

God Bless –

The Ohligs: Bert, Robin, Adam, Annie and Alyssa.

[Ohlig Family 2004] [FLASH TRIP]