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Post Office Box 24 Bakersfield, Vermont 05441 (802) 827-9968 sjk2468@aol.com June 5, 2002 Dear Family: I’ve had Robin entirely too long and it’s moved to "priority" on the "To Do" list tonight! Although it’s quite late, I’m going to finish this and get it out in the morning, so please excuse any ramblings or unintelligible sentences!!! Greetings from Vermont…yes, we are back in Vermont and happy to be for the most part. My job transfer was effective in August and the entire move went smoothly. That’s one thing about our government – they certainly do the household moves and transfers extremely well. This is my third major location move with INS and I’ve always had a great experience, which is a relief to say the least. Ground breaking on our new home was in June and on October 31 our goods were delivered and we moved in. Seemed like forever, however we’re told that the builders did great as far as relatively little time getting us into a new house. We are extremely pleased with our new home and finally are "settled" with no more boxes to unpack! It’s a nice feeling to be back "home" and Kamryn loves spending lots of time with her grandparents on all sides, as well as aunts, uncles and cousins on Shaun’s side. However, we miss GG and Poppy (aka: Trudy and Skip!), as well as Uncle Rich, Uncle Dan and Cindy’s families a whole bunch. But we’ve had the good fortune of getting together an average of once a month or so since we left their area. We’re trying very hard to make it even more frequent! My job has changed drastically since 9/11. I transferred to Vermont as an Intelligence Officer - which started out as a relatively calm position. A very nice office, a great staff and a whole bunch of more knowledgeable folks than I. So, I was learning a lot daily and enjoying the job immensely. The events of 9/11 became baptism by fire and nothing has slowed down since. It certainly has been an interesting experience and in many ways attention-grabbing. As you know, INS has been under tremendous scrutiny with the media and the Hill lately, and it has caused a lot of stress in day to day operations. Nobody knows what is going to happen next with our agency, and by next year’s Robin, I expect we will no longer know INS as we do today. God willing though, I hopefully will still be gainfully employed in some capacity. More job related traveling than I would like to do right now, but that’s part of our work, I guess, so we are living with it. Shaun took a managerial position at a nearby Cheese factory after we moved back to Vermont. Their specialty is making cream cheese and related products, which is entirely new to him. However he has successfully grasped the knowledge of the business and is enjoying the challenge of something new. They are exclusive manufacturers of cream cheese labels for such companies as Trader Joes Specialty stores, Brueggers’ Bagels, Weight Watchers brand, and a few others. Perhaps you’ve sampled one of their products? It’s a very "Vermont" company, all made with relatively local products, particularly the dairy milk! Shaun just finished a season of coaching a local High School Boy’s Baseball team. Although he enjoyed it, I think it was much more cumbersome and time consuming than he expected. He had fun though and they had a very nice winning streak, so that was exciting! Kamryn is nearly 2 ½ already! She is in a wonderful daycare right in the building I work in. That’s been a treat having her right there. Occasionally, I am able to eat with her at lunchtime, then read her a story before naptime. She also has been diagnosed with severe asthma, so there have been plenty of times when her teachers have gone into slight "panic" mode during her attacks and I can be there in literally a minute. We have an appointment with a pediatric pulmonologist next week, so I’m hoping that will shed some light and allow us to at least decrease the number of asthma attacks. It’s something she has dealt with most of her life, however the attacks seem to be getting more severe and frequent lately. Something we didn’t expect, as the doctors had often told us she would outgrow this! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that by the next time Robin flies to our house, we’ll have better news about the asthma. It’s been quite scary at times, especially since neither Shaun nor I has ever experienced asthma or allergy type illnesses. That’s about it for our life in Northern Vermont… It’s been another eventful year, one with lots of ups and downs. But It’s a blessing to read everyone’s positive notes and keep focused on those. All the best to the Family. Love, Shaun, Jen and Kamryn |