Dear Friends and Family,
As we look back through our past Christmas letters, we have most often shared with you our years of happiness and pleasure. However, this year has been one of sorrow and challenge for the Sliwa family.
After a visit to Camas and White Salmon for our niece Aleah’s wedding last December, Steve’s mother Shirley passed away suddenly as she prepared for her trip back to Florida. She always loved the Christmas season, and worked very hard to make it bright for her family. Our holiday was bleak without her. Steve and his siblings prepared a wonderful memorial for her the end of January back in Daytona Beach, but we still miss her a great deal. As executor of her estate, Steve has had an extra workload to deal with, and her beautiful home in Indigo Lakes still has not sold.
Last Christmas also marked Nancy’s sister Janice’s diagnosis of an aggressive brain tumor. Her surgery in early January left her bed-bound and essentially helpless; Nancy became her primary caregiver in Seattle, with help from her brother Rick when he could get away from his job as a police officer. Janice’s friends rallied around her in a truly heartwarming way, and provided comfort and respite to Nancy as well. In spite of our prayers and best efforts, Janice passed away in late July. As executor of her estate, Nancy has continued to work toward cleaning out her condo and stewarding her assets, spending a few days every other week in Seattle. We hope to have the condo on the market by the end of the year.
Despite our losses, we have been richly blessed in many other ways this year. Insitu is still expanding (240 employees now and more added every month) and continues to receive growth awards from Inc. 500 and Deloitte and Touche. Insitu UAVs have operated over 60,000 hours, the third most in the US industry. Longer-term contracts have helped to remove the “start-up” moniker, but Steve is still committing energy to get Insitu to next level. Major customers include USMC, US Navy, the Australian Defence Forces, and Evergreen Aviation.
Nancy continues to make progress on her novel. She was able to spend several weeks (one at a time) at the writer’s retreat house to which she belongs. She received comments from a professional editor and is working hard to incorporate them. She attended another writer’s conference in Portland, where she garnered more interest from agents in seeing the manuscript. She plans to start sending out excerpt packages right after Christmas. She’s already started her second novel and is longing to devote more time to it. She continues to serve as an elder at her church.
Our goal this year was to finish the several outstanding remodeling jobs on the house that were in progress but incomplete. Hooray! We did it! The deck is done and is beautiful. The new master bathroom is complete and in use. One bay of the garage was remodeled into a workout room that we’re actually using. And last but not least, the “hardscaping” of our yard is complete. Several terracing walls, drainage trenches, and an irrigation system were installed during the summer, and we’ve begun the process of planting shrubs. Steve’s dream has come true; our side yard now has a healthy crop of grass which keeps the dogs’ feet clean when they go out. We also had a paving stone patio laid on the lower level (below the deck) which has tamed our sea of mud.
Our daughter Tabitha continues as Insitu’s Marketing and Communications Manager. Her duties have her traveling quite a bit, notably to Australia, D.C., and Newfoundland this year, to provide an Insitu presence at major UAV trade shows. She and her boyfriend Rich (see picture) also managed a vacation in Maui this summer. She has been enjoying the Gorge lifestyle including hiking, biking, and skiing.Our guest room has been put to excellent use during the past few months. Nancy’s cousin Shannon, who spent 11 years in the UK as a contractor, has come back to the US for good (we hope.) She is currently a contractor for Insitu, in a position we hope will become permanent. Until she can sell her flat in Harrogate, she is staying with us. We love the extra company and built-in dog sitter. She has made many friends already, found a home church, and adapted easily to the Pacific Northwest lifestyle. She hopes to get up to Mt. Hood skiing this winter.
Our pets survived another year. Pixie, two years to the day from her last accident, broke her leg again (same leg as last time.) The vets in Portland pinned it together and she made a quick and apparently complete recovery. Steve is trying to teach her to catch a Frisbee. Angel is a wonder dog at catching anything thrown, but Pixie doesn’t seem to get the hang of it. She’s more interested in the running and jumping and spinning part, rather than the catching part. We’ve included their Christmas picture from last year (after they’d lost all the bells from their fancy collars). Casper spends a little more time in front of the fire than he used to, or cuddling up to warm bodies, but is still healthy and happy.Although our paths have not crossed with many of you for quite a while, at this time of year we cherish the memories with which you have enriched our lives. May you and yours be blessed with peace and plenty in the coming year.
Steve and Nancy Sliwa
Pixie, Angel, and Casper
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