This is our fifth year living in Montpelier, VT.  Winter arrived early this year.  We had many good cross country ski outings in November. Unfortunately, it rained in December, washing away much of the snow. We continue to love Vermont life -- hiking, skiing, snowshoeing and swimming in the lakes in summer. We keep busy with volunteering at the local food pantry. Heather teaches ESL at Central Vermont Adult Basic Education. and most recently joined the City of Montpelier Recreation Advisory Board.  Steve still pursues his study of Italian, serves on the board of the Green Mountain Club, Montpelier section (hiking, kayaking, skiing), as well as the City of Montpelier Tree Board. He also volunteers at Montpelier High School to help with the AP computer class. This year we also took Feldenkrais classes together.  We feel very blessed with good health, family and friends.

David is in his fifth year as a web developer with Code.org, a non-profit which teaches coding to K-12 students and educates teachers of computer science. He enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing in summer and skiing, both downhill and back country in winter. His big news is that he and his girlfriend Natasha will be married next May near Leavenworth, Washington.

Melissa moved to another apartment in Boston (Jamaica Plain), Mass, and continues to work from home for Kaiser Health News, a non-profit news service, where she explores end-of-life issues. The organization gives their stories away for free to news outlets like NPR, the New York Times and the Washington Post. You can read her articles here. Melissa enjoys doing tai chi, yoga, meditation, and leading hikes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Martin Luther King weekend found us in the Keene Valley, NY, for our annual get together with the Appalachian Mountain Club.  It was a very cold start to the winter.

Rainbow Falls, St Huberts, NY

In February we traveled to Val Morin, north of Montreal with a group from the Catamount Trail Association.  We climbed Montagne Blanche on cross country skis!

To celebrate Heather's 70th birthday in April we traveled to Utah to hike in the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and visited Monument Valley, Arizona.  David and Melissa joined us for some of our adventures.

Landscape Arch

June found us in South America.  Our dear friends, George and Lisa Biehl (on right), joined us to explore Machu Picchu in Peru. We also climbed the mountain in the background, Huayna Picchu.

From Peru we traveled to Colombia, visiting friends in Bogotá and Medellín and exploring Parque Tayrona on the Caribbean coast.

Rodolfo, Federico and Luna with Steve

Parque Tayrona

In July Heather's brother Dennis died from cancer, having been diagnosed only 9 months before.  The family traveled to Lakeville, NY (near Rochester) for his service. Dennis was an avid outdoorsman, spending his leisure time hunting and fishing. We miss him and think of him often.

Denny with his faithful beagle

Dave and Natasha were engaged in March and we are excited to be attending their wedding on the shores of Lake Wenatchee, Washington, on Memorial Day weekend, 2019.  We traveled out to visit them in July and did several hikes.

Dave and Natasha with Mt Baker behind

In August the Bailey clan met in Lake Placid for a reunion week. We always have fun getting together.

Bailey family hike

In September we traveled to Chicago to celebrate Steve's 50th high school reunion. It was great to see classmates Steve had not seen in 10 years.

December found us back in Panama. We wanted to visit the town where we served in the Peace Corps, 2012-14.  We spent 5 days there reconnecting with families. Summer had arrived and the weather was lovely in the mountains.

Our closest neighbors in town

Cooling off at a local waterfall

Christmas brought Melissa to Montpelier.  We were able to do lots of outdoor activities with her.

North Branch of the Winooski River

Cross country skiing near Elmore, VT

We hope you all are well wherever you are, and we wish you a happy holiday season and a new year filled with joy.

Steve and Heather