A Full Life is Full of Life: Happy New Year from the Stone-Kerrs

Apparently it t'is the season for family update holiday cards and we're late to the party. In fact, we've never done one of these, but after reading others', I thought I'd take a stab at it:

The Stone-Kerrs are alive and well, enjoying all the good that Bellingham has to offer!

Ella turned 24 on February 24th 2024, which makes it not only her golden birthday, but she was born in the auspicious Year of the Golden Dragon in 2000, which only happens once every 60 years. But the Dragon year comes every 12 trips around the sun, so this makes it her own personal Golden Dragon year, making it, like, a double-golden

amazing year! That must have worked, because she landed a job she loves, starting as the Assistant Manager at Claire's (we called her the A** Man for short) and then quickly promoted to Store Manager (now we call her Boss B*tch for short...and for fun). She is just as sweet and sparkly as ever and spreads joy to many little girls!

Delaney continues to kick butt in the gym, and in fact is the Senior Wellness Coordinator at BP. She is employed by Premise Health to run the gym, help people get strong, do ergonomic consultations and teach classes to the many workers at the refinery. I know many folks that work there and let me tell ya - it can get annoying hearing about what an amazing and kind daughter we have...and how much she kicks their asses in workouts. Also Lou (that is what we call her) is wrapping up her master's degree at the University of Glasgow, where she spent a few weeks on labs in-person, but does the rest of the work remotely. In her free time she enjoys getting trapped under her lap-cat, Geraldine, seeing Taylor Swift and hanging out with her partner, Michael.

Mark is enjoying his third year teaching at Lummi Nation School, inspiring kids with history, silliness and occasional costumes. This year he coached the XC team to a first ever team score (you need 5 kids to score and they had never had a full team!) and took a talented young athlete to compete at the State XC Championships. The only drawback of Mark teaching at a tribal school is that we've pretty much given up hope of him EVER cutting his hair again....

I (Sharon) am still working at the YMCA with Girls on the Run, but have shifted a good chunk of my focus to grant writing for the Y. It has been a fun change, and it feels good to use my writing hobby to do some good in the world. I get to deep-dive into the many human service programs we have at the Y, talk 'em up and bring in financial support for the work we do in the local community. AND I still get to spread joy to little girls with GOTR - which brings me a heck of a lot of joy too!

Meg-the-prey-driven-dog has lost her off-leash privileges due to an injured knee and me growing weary of tracking her GPS all over Galbraith for hours on my trail runs. She and her adorable daughter, Dobby, still enjoy daily long leash walks on local trails. Lyra the cat is...well...a cat - she's sweet and quiet, except for at 4:30 in the morning when she makes a racket, stomps on my chest and head butts me until I get up. Alfie the turtle continues to entertain us with his ball chasing and toe-biting, but if you ask the other pets, he's just the annoying little jerk that bites them when they are napping by the fire.