Just a quick update: the family is doing well. William is a good eater and Lisa is trying to keep up with him. He's a pleasant little guy who is always either eating, sleeping, or actively taking in all the sights and sounds around him...we think we saw his first little smile this morning. Amanda is adjusting well, except for the few requisite jealous times when she wishes Lisa was holding her instead of baby brother, but she is a proud big sister overall. We are acclimating to much less sleep (at least continuous sleep!) and we'll see how that goes when I'm back to work next month! Unfortunately, we still have quite a few unopened boxes from the big move into the new house, and many "to dos" still on the list, but we'll get to this smaller matters over time :-)

OK, OK...I finally got some pics of William posted...it just took me 24hrs

 

Stats: William Calvin Korst (named after two of his great grandfathers), 8lbs 14oz, almost 20" long.  Born Thu 9-Aug at about 4:14pm. Pretty much a Goliath compared to his little 'sis, who was just over 6lbs. Dad will do all possible to keep mom well fed so she can keep up with his feeding!

 

Amanda is adjusting well and seems to be excited to have her long anticipated little brother, and is keeping us busy with all of her anticipated "why" questions :-)

 

Now, back to caring for the family and hoping all of us can get some much needed rest over the weekend!

Well, today finds us living with my sister. That's right, the one who has lived with us on and off over the past many years. This is turning out to be one heck of a summer. We are expecting our second child in a few weeks. On top of that, we've sold our home and are waiting for the new one to be completed (hence, why we are spending some quality bonding time with my sis and her family). The builder is a couple weeks behind, but we're still hopeful (and praying) that the home will be completed before the new baby is :-). I'm also changing jobs - still at Microsoft, just a different group (Microsoft Exchange). Oh, did I mention that my sister is also pregnant? I could write a book about the last couple weeks...but I'll just write a blog instead. Amanda is doing well. Today she decided that she is no longer going to wear diapers. She's about 33% potty trained, and still needs some work...hopefully my sister's furnishings can handle the "training" period :-)

It's been another whirl-wind year. I really can't remember much of what happened before March. And, unfortunately, it doesn't look like we posted any pictures during that time period to help me out!  I do remember a trip to Munich and a trip to New York, meeting up with Seth Bair and Yahya Jalil... I also remember a trip to Denver and Breckenridge, CO to visit Damian and Kelly Burke - in fact, it will be hard to forget with Amanda having a horrible cold and me getting altitude sickness for the first time ever.

 

Overall, it was a year of growth and travel.  Growth on the personal side with watching our little Amanda grow up way too quickly. Travel on the business side with me racking up over 125k miles of flying (hard to believe it, looking back!)

 

I spent March through May working for Microsoft in Europe, based in Paris during March and Munich for April and May.  While there, I visited the UK, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Denmark, The Netherlands, Czeck Republic, Latvia, Switzerland, and Austria.  Luckily, Lisa and Amanda were able to join me for a couple weeks in Paris, and then a couple weeks in Munich (and they even tagged along to Prague for a business visit). Amanda's passport has more stamps than mine did until just a few years ago!  I was able to return to Seattle for a couple weeks during the span, and we met for a wedding in New Jersey (Seth & Rhadika Bair) as well. It was an amazing time - I really enjoyed meeting all the people I did and learning about the various 'European' cultures.

 

After returning in June, luckily I was able to slow down my travels and spend more time with the family during the summer.  We spent most of our time not far from home, spending the 4th over at our aunt and uncles' (Ed and Jane) place on Lake Roosevelt with my Uncle Rod and his girlfriend Terry, and returning there for the Korst family reunion in August.  August also found us traveling to Vail, CO for a spectacular wedding (Damian & Kelly Burke) in the mountains with many friends from B School. In September, we spent time over at our new cabin in Winthrop, which is in North Central Washington - unlike Seattle, home to little rain, lots of sun, and lots of snow!

 

Autumn and fall also brought more travel: Belgium, UK, India, Denmark and Germany.  Many weekends were spent at the cabin, unwired from phones and TV. I spent a long weekend with buddy Brian McKay and good friends from Almira, WA during our annual 'hunting trip.'

 

Fall also brought even more growth from Amanda, who insists on learning how to talk, run, etc. She really is a ball of energy and quite a bit of fun. She has a particular interest in 'fire trucks' and goes crazy whenever we see one.  She even has her own 'fire truck, fire truck' song, of sorts. She is a great eater - getting that from both mom and dad. There's hardly anything that she won't eat - and the spicier, the better (which has generated countless comments at Mexican and Indian restaurants!)

 

Now, we're trying to quickly prepare for Christmas. The recent windstorm knocked out power at our house for three full days and set us back a bit - now we're rushing to get our shopping done!!

 

We hope that everyone enjoys the holiday season, and hopefully has the opportunity for some very focused 'down time' with family. We look forward to the new year, and seeing as many friends and family as possible in 2007!

Best wishes,

Jeremy, Lisa and Amanda (and Lucy, the dog)

We almost ran out of room on the memory card, so we thought we'd better upload some of these :-).

 

The first set is of Easter back in Washington State with the families.  It also includes some initial pictures of Munich as well as our trip to Prague.  We'll try to label them later :-)

 

The second set is of our fantastic weekend with a work colleague (Robert Feicht) and his family, who live south of Munich.  We stayed at their house, visited the town on the lake where he grew up (ate in a monestary/brewery that is hundreds of years old!), watched the small village put up its May Pole for Labor Day, and then spent Amanda's Birthday (May 1) afternoon on top of a mountain in the Alps.  What a weekend!!!

We've added two more albums to the right.  The first is for the Bair wedding in New Jersey in mid March.  The second is from Lisa's and Amanda's visit to Paris for the last two weeks of March (I'm spending three months in Europe for work - March in Paris and April/May in Munich).  There are also a couple pics of my travels in Istanbul and Copenhagen.

 

Yet again, we have found ourselves behind schedule and haven't sent our well-intentioned holiday greetings.  Now that I am at Microsoft, I will use the excuse of technology to send you these virtual happy holiday wishes.  We truly hope that all of our friends and family had a wonderful Christmas, Chanukah and holiday season.  Please continue to be better than we are at keeping in touch!

 

I will also use this opportunity to finally respond to all of the not so veiled hints from friends and family to update you all on our 2005 happenings.

 

Our greatest blessing came on May 1 in the form of a healthy, happy and absolutely beautiful little girl named Amanda Jane Korst.  Amanda has brought so much joy to our family.  She is more than we could ask for and more than we deserve.  She's constantly smiling, loves people and animals, and sleeps through the night.  She started daycare after Labor Day when Lisa went back to work part-time, and has caught countless daycare bugs.  She will have quite the immune system after this experience, but the most amazing thing is that even with an ear infection and bronchiolitis, she still seems to find enough energy to crawl around the house with a big smile on her face.  She wakes up each morning with a smile, and really helps to start the day off right and with the right perspective.

 

Luckily, we have been able to visit and be visited by so many friends and family.  The new pictures I posted will tell most of the story.  We were visited by out-of-town friends from business school, including Seth Bair, Damian Burke and Kelley Jaycox, Scott Davis, and Amy, Manish and Chaitan Butte.  We took our first major family road trip in August to attend the Korst family reunion at Uncle Ed and Aunt Jane's home on Lake Roosevelt, which was a great time.  September followed with a trip to cousin Krista's wedding in Yakima.  Then, we took our first cross-country flight as a family in October to attend the Bair family's biennial apple harvest in rural Pennsylvania, and then spent a couple days showing Amanda the sites, sounds and smells of Philadelphia, the place we called home not so long ago.  October brought about the 3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest, but this year we experienced a major change -- the first year had fewer pumpkins and more beer, and this year we had more pumpkins and even more children!  My how times change! 

 

We've seen an increased number of family visits (I wonder what the new draw is? :-)), which has been great.  Even though the grandparents live hours away, they seem to be very willing babysitters.  And, we hosted Thanksgiving dinner again, which is always a fun time!

 

As for our lesser events...

 

Lisa continues her work in the Benefits Department at Group Health in Seattle.  She of course spent the first few months of 2005 pregnant, and the remainder of the year trying to keep up with Amanda.  Somehow, Lisa still found energy to hike up Rattlesnake Ledge, as well as a five mile hike over Tiger Mountain within weeks of giving birth.  Not surprisingly, she makes a wonderful mother and continues to amaze Amanda and me.  I tell everyone that the transition to parenthood has been relatively easy, but I know that is almost entirely due to our fortune of getting such a good-natured baby girl, as well as my luck in convincing such a strong, capable, adaptable and patient woman to marry me.

 

I transitioned to a role in Microsoft Enterprise Services in January and am responsible the company's worldwide managed support services to corporate and mid market customers.  Since then, I've put on quite a few miles, traveling to Germany, France, England, Brazil, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico, not to mention the good 'ol USA.  I was able to fit in a business trip to New York City and San Francisco where I visited friends from B School, as well as a trip to Southern California where I was able to meet up with my high school buddy Scott Merrill.  I also took a few days for the annual Eastern Washington hunting trip with my very good friend Brian McKay and uncles Rod and Ed.  2006 will bring more travel, including a three month stint in Europe, with Lisa and Amanda joining me for at least a month.  I continue my volunteer work as a member of the Seattle Metrocenter YMCA's Board, this year leading our annual major gifts campaign, as well as serving as a member of the University of Puget Sound's National Alumni Board.  In addition to such a great baby girl, wife, and two energetic dogs, the volunteer work helps to keep life balanced.

 

Again, we hope you had a great 2005, a very happy holiday season, and that 2006 will bring even more happiness to you and your families.

 

Best-

Jeremy

 

As many of you know, working and being a new dad is a full time plus job!!  I know, I know, we've been slow to post new pictures of our beautiful little girl.  Well, trust me - we have been taking lots of them!  And, finally, I actually uploaded some new ones!