This year has been one of movement. Our son moved from crawling to walking to running. The items on our shelves slowly moved up, being replaced by toys at G's level. We have all enjoyed moving around the city on two wheels. We all have bikes--yes, including G who doesn't ride his to daycare, but enjoys his daily commute from his seat on the back of either mom or dad's bike. Watching G learn to run inspired Courtney and I to also pull out our running shoes and take to our feet. Courtney wins the prize for distance completing three races this year: a 10k, and two half-marathons. While Courtney pounded the pavement I took to the dirt participating in two trail runs in the 5Peaks Series. As for G, he got his practice running down the halls of our condo and in the parks near our home (he has one gear, fast).

We also moved larger distances this year taking two family vacations. The first was a trip to New York City in May. We had a fun time visiting old friends, exploring old haunts, and seeing the city through the eyes of a child. We found it most enjoyable to keep G busy at the amazing city parks and open squares. We are even thinking about planing another trip themed "exploring NYC's playgrounds"! Although, I find it difficult to make any real comparisons between Toronto and New York City, there is one thing that they will soon have in common: bixi bikes.

Our second family adventure was a trip to Alaska, where my mom was finishing the rebuild of her cabin on the Gaede 80 Homestead. It was fun for me to return to Alaska after 10 years and to share it with Courtney and G. Our trip included many forms of transportation (which G loved) including two boat rides, one for halibut fishing and another to explore the Fjords outside of Seward. We all (including G) enjoyed flying with my uncle Mark in the Supercub. There really is no other way to see Alaska than from the window of a small plane. G loved watching the float planes takeoff and land on Lake Hood. And we all had fun hiking Fuller Lake and Flattop Mountain which is just outside of Anchorage. It was wonderful to take in all the open space and fresh air. G loved being able to play right outside the front door of my mom's cabin.

Work continues to be challenging and interesting especially since my focus has once again moved back to web applications. My current project involves dealing with search technology, big data, and the productizing of software solutions. I continue to enjoy the role of team lead and working in an agile environment. The move back to working with web facing technology has also given me some renewed energy for my own web site. Some of the latest work can be seen on the google map that creates a visual view of the fourteen thousand foot peaks that I climbed when I lived in Colorado.

Courtney continues her PhD work with plans to finish this spring and defend in September (yes, that means next Christmas there will be a Dr. in our house). Her work focuses on the relationship between bodies and technology in performance and includes chapters on things like the spatiality of screens, mediated presence, and desire. When she is not lost in her own head, she teaches at the University of Toronto Mississauga in the Women and Gender Studies department. She enjoys reading the New Yorker, cooking G and I yummy food, and the quite hours between 10:30pm and 5:00am.

G continues in his effort to be the tallest kid in his age group, as well and the fastest and most daring (okay, I know we are the parents). He spends his time building things with mega blocks, riding his Strider bike, and playing with his collection of toy trains and trucks. He loves to play in the sand, water, with big kids, and small kids...ok he just likes to play. And he is teaching us a little bit about it along the way!

Wishing you the best this next year.

Aaron, Courtney, and G.