From Karen and Jim

Another year, pretty much terrific with small doses of annoying bad stuff.

About the only bad news - late April, Karen was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer (shocker!) and had surgery 8 days later (lump outta here!) and then a special radiation study. We consider that episode done - BUT odds of women getting breast cancer are 1 in 8, so all you gals - make sure you get mammograms and do self-exams. Karen found her lump and had screenings within days. So we caught it early and odds of recurrence are 1 in 98.

Work has stayed fairly constant with a variety of geophysics applications - we certainly have been busy and very grateful in these still trying times. And we managed to get in our usual fun outdoors activities! We try to live every day to its fullest.

We went to the Big Island of Hawaii in Jan. We don't waste time lying around and drinking!. We shore flyfished, climbed volcanoes, hiked, explored lava tubes, watched too many whales, dove, snorkeled, and generally tried to wear ourselves out! Jim went up for a flight on a tandem ultralight - the newest, safest design around. He had a blast and loved the pilot. A few months later, this 'safest' craft crashed and the pilot was killed. We rented a kayak in a bay that had spinner dolphins! What a treat - We slid off the kayak and snorkeled with them while lots leaped into the air.
Off riding near Fruita - Karen got a new bike - an electric Zero Motorcycle. Wow - can it go. The torque and hp are amazing. Like riding a mountain bike with power! Raider attempting to make us nervous as he was on the edge of a drop-off overlooking the Colorado River Fishing on the Rio Grande - Karen loves fishing while Jim oars and Raider rides. Just a great fishing river, NO BIG RAPIDS.
Karen and Raider in the rocks of Penitente Canyon in southern Colorado. This is a rock climbers heaven-300 separate climb areas. Ace photographer Jim gets a shot of K's record-breaking brown trout (the thing in her hands). Raider on his chariot enjoying a tour thru the back roads of the Black Hills. No one around-----everyone's riding Harleys on the hiways.
The Black Hills S. Dakota during Sturgis Motorcycle Rally- wow, 550,000 people in
a town of 7,000.  An Experience for sure!!		 Raider takes every opportunity to swim when there is not a river close by-- even if it's in an old stock tank. Rocks! Here Karen and Raider play around at Toadstool Park in Nebraska on the way home from Sturgis.
 
 Other stuff:
  • Karen and colleague, Al Marlowe, completed another digital map set, the South Platte River
  • Jim's still running most of TroutGear.com
  • Karen continues to serve on the Colorado State Trails Committee, representing the 6th Congressional District.
  • We helped neighbors and ourselves fell a lot of dead trees (beetle kill)
  • We did a fair bit of volunteer work, for Trout Unlimited, Homes for Our Troops, and others
  • Karen's sis, Janis, moved back into aerospace getting a job at Raytheon and is awaiting her super top secret (shhh) clearance
  • Janis' card is online - click here
  • Edna, Jim's mom, is doing great in her apt in Kelowna - still driving and thriving at 95 yrs old
  • Agnes, Karen's mom, is doing fine albeit with memory loss, living at a home in Denver

We had a mom Black bear and two cubs in the yard this summer. The cubs were so cute! But stay away from mom....

 We added to the family with a young cat, Y-Lee. What a joy, and a terror at times. But we love him! It's great to have a kitty around again

 We continue to have our outdoor pets, like this big bull Elk drinking out of our pond near the deck

Thanks to everyone for being our friends and sharing our lives with us. We continue to try and be happy and to give back in any way that we can, as thanks for our great lives. We wish the best for you and yours during the holidays and for 2011.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!

- Jim, Karen, Raider & Y-Lee

Karen Christopherson and Jim Thompson
26961 Hilltop Road
Evergreen CO 80439 USA         303-674-0252
Jim email: jftjim@aol.com  Cell: 303-594-1672
Karen email: chinookgeo@aol.com