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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Just a brief update on our family - and hopefully you will enjoy the pictures. Allen graduated from Clear Lake High School in June (seems like ages ago). He accepted a scholarship to study Engineering at UT Dallas, and in doing so turned his parents into empty-nesters. His first semester went very well. He and his girlfriend, Kathy, celebrated one year together in November, but they are attending schools in separate states.  Allen and Kathy on their senior band trip at Harry Potter World in Florida.  Celebrating Allen's high school graduation.  Every graduate deserves a giant Rice Krispie treat. Megan is a senior at St. Edward's University and plans to graduate this summer with a degree in Photocommunications. This fall, she was honored to have some of her photos shown at the Bob Bullock Museum as part of an exhibit titled "Texas High School Football - More than the Game." She is also involved with the University Planning Board, which organizes campus activities for students. She has a knack for parties and hosted a "Harry Potter-thon" in anticipation of the final movie - complete with Potter-themed meals, decorations and videos.  Megan and Patty show off homemade decorations for their "Harry Potter-thon."  Megan's photo exhibit at the Texas State History Museum.  Enjoying a 22nd birthday cake. Andy finished his work on the movie "Transformers 3" early this year and received his first big-screen credit. In February he was offered the opportunity to work for Industrial Light & Magic (or just "ILM"). If you're a super sci-fi or film geek, you already know that this is the visual effects company that George Lucas developed to make Star Wars. This required that Andy move from LA to San Francisco with just 4 days notice, but he was lucky to have a friend put him up on a couch for a few weeks until he found a permanent place. He spent a couple of months working on "Cowboys & Aliens," and is now assigned to "The Avengers," where he very recently received a promotion to Production Coordinator.  Andy and friends celebrate his 25th birthday.  Might be colder than LA, but the view in San Francisco is just as good!  Andy with the Yoda fountain in front of ILM.  Transformers 3: Andy's first screen credit! Patty's main job is working for a family medicine clinic about 25 hours a week. All of the Christus convenience clinics in Texas closed this summer, so she is no longer a "checker at Walmart." She still works a couple of days a month at the school-based clinic in Dickinson that provides free care to students and community members who are underinsured. She doesn't particularly enjoy the empty-nest thing, but does admit that it's nice to have back those fall weekends that for the past decade have been dominated by marching band activities. Mike is now president of the JSC chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Their current project is to build solar-powered fruit driers for an orphanage in Rwanda that has no electricity, enabling them to sell the fruit for income. He is still a NASA engineer and looks forward to the day when Allen comes to work with him. ;)  Patty and Mike in Estes Park, Colorado. This year, the whole family took a relaxing vacation to the Colorado Rockies and enjoyed a white Christmas! No broken bones this trip, although the snowman was involved in a fatal car crash.  The snowman meets his untimely demise.  Patty and Megan take full advantage of the hills in Rocky Mountain National Park. We hope your Christmas was as great as ours and we wish you lots of happiness in the New Year! Love, Patty, Mike, Andy, Megan, and Allen Ewert  |
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