Christmas Letter 2010

Hey Everyone,

The past several years, Leslie has written an excellent Christmas letter. When I read it I think, "Boy, that's really good," and, "I don't know if I could do that." And that makes me think, "Don't compare yourself to others!" You have to write your own way. So let's see how a bulleted, executive summary of the year might look:

Leslie, Rob, Emily, and Steve

• Vacation trips: two trips to New York City to see Mary Poppins and, this fall, Wicked. Broadway deserves its reputation for major musical spectacles. Emily and Leslie went to southern California in August,  and Steve camped in his favorite spot up in Maine's western hills. Lastly, we had a family reunion in Reno, Nevada, where the Greffenius clan gathered for the annual fall air races at Stead Field. It's heaven for pilots and all lovers of powerful airplanes!

• Rob began his new job at Fried Frank in Washington, DC. Practicing law agrees with him, and he has adapted well to the long hours. Then a surprise benefit: Rob's firm granted him a business leave of absence to work at the Constitution Project at the end of the summer, an opportunity for professional development usually reserved for more senior associates.

• Emily has more homework than any seventh grader ought to have, and does it all without complaint. Outside of school, she joined the dance competition team at the Dance Force, and entered her first competitions last spring. Emily also enjoys horseback riding, where she learns how to jump and do other challenging stuff. To read Emily's recent stories and poems, plus a Christmas letter she wrote some time ago, check out Friendship Farm and Childhood Dreams.

• Leslie will say more about our family in her own letter - here are a few links. First, Leslie's taken a lead role at Beyond the Margins, an active and well received site for writers and readers alike. Check her author's page for a list of all her posts. In addition, Leslie published a short piece of fiction, My Mother's Pillow, at Calliope Nerve. Stand by for more publications in 2011!

• Steve joined Conexant Systems to manage technical publications 2007. You stick around for just a few years in a technology firm, and you have some seniority. Our group designs chips to control printers and digital photo frames. You learn fast how much information you can store on a small piece of silicon. To see Steve's recent writing on current affairs, visit The Jeffersonian, Revolution in the Air and Soldier of Misfortune.

• Weddings: Steve's brother David married Ellen Morris on October 31 this year. All of us went to upstate New York, right on the Hudson River, for the big event. Congratulations to you both! We're also looking ahead to Rob and Jess's wedding on April 9, 2011, in Chicago. For pictures and a great story about how Rob and Jess met, visit their wedding site.

That's going to do it for this year. Please write to tell us how you're doing. Have a prosperous, happy, and productive 2011!

All the best,

Leslie, Steve, Rob and Emily