2017 Year in Review- Dimit Family Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas 2017 from the Dimit Family.  This year for our Christmas letter, I thought I would reduce my carbon footprint ;-) and crank out a blog post in lieu of sending our Christmas letter through the mail.  Please note that Lester is authoring this blog post (since Elizabeth is not feeling well), so this Christmas letter will not have the literary flourishes you would get from Elizabeth :-).

Lester:  It has been an interesting year.  I completed by 22nd year at Intel, still working in marketing as the ecosystem manager for Intel's fabric business (fabric, as in supercomputing fabric ;-)).  I also had a very fun 11 week sabbatical this summer, enjoying time with the family.  Finally, I was called as the Elders Quorum president in our ward, so I have been very busy this fall learning my new calling.

Elizabeth: What a year!! It felt divided in two--before sabbatical and after. It was definitely the highlight of 2017, especially since I got to see 15 state capitols! (Good thing New England is so small!) Other than that, I spent time working as a freelance business writer and working on my children's book. I also volunteer at Brandon's middle school and teach an early-morning class about famous authors. I teach Relief Society at church, and have fun hanging out with the kids and Lester. Happy New Year!

VA State Capitol- Richmond, VA

Alexis:  Alexis got her learners permit in the spring and has been practicing her driving with Elizabeth and I.  Alexis also earned her 1st college credits last spring by passing her AP test for AP Human Geography.  She also started her sophomore year at Aloha High this fall where she is taking advanced Algebra and AP European History.  She is looking forward to turning 16 in a couple of weeks.

Brandon:  Brandon turned 12 this year and received the Aaronic Priesthood and is currently serving as the 1st councilor in the Deacons Quorum presidency.  Brandon is doing well in 7th grade and is doing very well in his classes (mostly A's).  He is also in 9th grade math, which is challenging for him.  He is also doing well in scouting, enjoying his 1st summer camp, and earning 12 merit badges and his Star Scout rank this fall.

Sabbatical 2017:  We had a great time on our 11-week sabbatical this summer, visiting 23 states (OR, CA, NV, AZ, UT, ID, VA, MD, DE, PA, WV, NJ, NY, MA, CT, RI, NH, ME, VT, OH, MI, IN, IL), 15 state capitals (for Elizabeth) and driving ~8,000 miles (not including the plane trips to Washington DC and from Chicago to Portland).  It was a very fun (but long) trip(s) where we got to build a lot of fun family memories.  Highlights are below :-).

Engstrom Family Reunion (6/26-7/1):  The sabbatical got off to a fast start with an Engstrom Family Reunion in Lake Tahoe.  On the way home, we took a little side trip to Crater Lake, OR.

Girls Camp (7/11-7/15):  Lester had the privilege of volunteering at our stake girls camp and spent the week making memories with Alexis. I helped run the rifle range, which was a lot of fun!!

East Coast Trip (7/18-8/16):  We took an extended trip to see the East Coast.  We flew to Washington, D.C. where we toured for 4 days before we started our State Capital Extravaganza :-).  Some of the highlights of the trip were Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Gettysburg; NYC; Boston; New England; Palmyra, NY; Niagara Falls; Kirtland, OH; the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Canton, OH), and Chicago.

White House- Washington DC

Lincoln Memorial- Washington DC

Gettysburg, PA

Liberty Bell- Philadelphia, PA

Lower Manhattan from Empire State Building

Evening Cruise of NY Harbor

9/11 Memorial, NYC

Old North Church- Boston, MA

Hill Cumorah- Palmyra, NY

Niagara Falls, NY

Pro Football Hall of Fame- Canton, OH

Kirtland Temple- Kirtland, OH

 Dimit Family Reunion (8/20-8/31):  Soon after the East Coast Trip, Lester struck out on his own for a 10 day road trip through ID, UT, AZ, & CA.  I saw the eclipse in the zone of totality just north of Boise with Matt & Becky Swain's family (Elizabeth's cousin).  Then it was off to SLC to visit with Sharon Parks (Lester's Utah mom) and meet up with Dan Dimit where we did a whirlwind tour of Arches NP, Monument Valley, UT, Lake Powell, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, and Sedona, AZ.  It was great to spend time with Dan exploring the beauty of Southern Utah.  We made our way to Mesa AZ for a family reunion with the Dimit side of the family.  Ian and his family from North Dakota flew in for the reunion, it was great to see him and his family (and to meet his 2 youngest kids :-)).

Solar Eclipse- Boise, ID

Horseshoe Bend- Page, AZ

Antelope Canyon- Page, AZ

Landscape Arch-Arches NP, UT

Delicate Arch- Arches NP, UT

Monument Valley, UT

Dimit Family Reunion- Mesa, AZ

Lester spent the last 2 weeks of his sabbatical puttering around the house, spending time with my beautiful wife Elizabeth, and recovering from all of the travel.

Hug Point, OR

We hope that you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year.


Love, the Dimit Family.

First Day of School!

We finally started school today! Brandon is in 3rd grade at Errol Hassell Elementary.

 That boy wouldn't do a normal smile if his life depended it. :)

Alexis started 6th grade at Mountain View  Middle School! Our little girl is growing up!

 And can you believe it...she's the class is 2020!! Yikes!

She'll be graduating before you know it!

Fun Day in San Francisco!!

August 3rd, 2013: The Coles and the Dimits spent the day in San Francisco ...we had a blast!

This is where they filmed part of the opening scenes of the old sitcom, Full House. Beautiful Victorian homes with downtown in the background.

Kids at Pier 39 at Fishermen's Wharf. Alcatraz Island is in the background.

San Francisco Fire Department boat.

Las dos hermanas at the foot of Coit Tower.

Hilly, windy Lombard Avenue.

Looking downtown through the steel cables of the Golden Gate Bridge.

And, finally, a bath for a tired, adorable baby Matt!

January - June 2013

Here area couple pictures of Brandon's baptism in February 2013.

Baby Matt w/ his favorite aunt.

Brandon's first Pinewood Derby.

The kids at Fort Clatsop, where Lewis and Clark wintered. We visited there over spring break.

Brandon's homemade haircut. I took this picture in the stealth of night. :)

Cool Bubba at the glasses store.

Alexis at her spring dance recital.

Alexis & Lester @ the father-daughter campout. They also have a father-son campout. Notice the lack of mom at these outings...which is just as it should be. :)

Alexis @ BizTown, sponsored by Junior Achievement. The 5th graders study economics and business for several weeks in class. Then they are "hired" for a day to perform certain jobs at BizTown, a simulated city with businesses such as a bank, store, cafe, insurance, healthcare facility, etc. Alexis was a project manager at Discovery Center, where they learned about robotics, etc. She was so excited because she got a robot working!

Summer/Fall/Winter 2012

In August, we kidnapped the kids and took them to Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park in Washington.

Then we went up to Seattle. Here is a picture of us on top of the Space Needle. It was crystal clear, a rarity in the Northwest. You could even see the Olympic Mountains across the Sound and Mount Rainier to the southeast.

Here is a picture of the kids in their Halloween costumes. Alexis, as usual, is taking center stage. :)

This is Alexis at her dance recital in December. She loves it. The world could be ending, and she would still want to do dance.

Uncle Danny, Lester's younger brother, came to spend Christmas with us. He's the single uncle who spoiled the kids with toys. He ate his way across Portland in the four days he was here. I don't think he left a single restaurant untouched. To say he is a foodie is an understatement. It was so fun having him.

And after Christmas came the birthday season. It was fun and full of presents and friends and goodies. This is a joint birthday party Brandon had with his friend, Tyler. Great name, don't you think, M? :-)

And on January 13th, we celebrated Alexis's 11th birthday. Not quite sure what she's doing here.

And, finally, here is Brandon making a flag during his second week of Scouts. He really enjoys it. We had a FHE about getting baptized tonight. He is excited for his baptism on Feb. 2nd. We will send lots of pictures. Grandma Espinosa (Lester's mom) and Great-grandma Hoogendoorn (Lester's grandma) will be there.