2022 Year In Review

 

Ken and Sarah underwater with snorkel gear on and fish surrounding them.



Ken and Sarah stand in front of a one story cream limestone house with blue skies surrounding.
Ken and Sarah kicked off 2022 with a 25th anniversary cruise, then we bought a house after 10 years of renting in Austin!  We did some very “Austin-y” things by going to our first UT football game (Tian joined us and TJ, who has been to many games, was there, too!), and seeing Willie Nelson at a Beto rally.
Willie Nelson, hair braided, straw cowboy hat on, sits on a stool playing guitar. A band surrounds him.

Ken, Tian, and TJ lean on the railings. A packed football stadium, lights, field, and jumbotron behind them.



Tian and Travis stand in front of a water fountain at the Orlando Airport.
Tian (13) and Travis (14) started Mu Sool karate this year. In summer, they were pages with Jr.NAD’s page program at the National Association of the Deaf biennial conference in Orlando, Florida, then traveled to Rochester, NY for a week of Tech Tigers Camp at NTID-RIT. Ken and Sarah stayed nearby at an AirBnB and visited Niagara Falls. 


Both boys are halfway through 8th grade and will start high school next fall!! How is that possible?!

TJ, a tall teenager, leans against his black 1997 Corvette that is parked in the street in front of houses and blue sky.
TJ (19) started a new job at a water storage systems company. He worked 2 jobs all summer to buy a 1997 Corvette and has just enrolled for spring in the welding program at ACC. 


Kenzie, wearing a ball cap and holding on to a cart full of plants (monstera, pothos, and colorful blooms)at Home Depot.
Early this year, Kenzie (21) moved out to an apartment down the road, left her job at We Are Blood to earn more as a server, and helped nurse Layla, the pit bull/doberman she and her then-boyfriend, Emilio rescued off the streets of Laredo, back to health. She's back home for a few weeks while she transitions to a new place


2022 brought lots of opportunities to travel.  Ken and TJ traveled to LA and Bakersfield, CA to visit family and the car museum. Sarah went to Cleveland, OH, College Station and San Antonio, TX, Boise and Twin Falls, ID, Aurora, CO, and San Diego, CA for work this year. Before all that, she and Ken traveled to the Western Caribbean on a cruise, then to Orlando, FL and Rochester and Niagara Falls, NY with the boys’ events.  

TJ, wearing a racing shirt with the Hooters logo on it, smiles a cheesy smile while surrounded by sports cars in the basement of the auto museum in LA.

Sarah still can’t believe her fortune to work with the National Deaf Center. She also reached a long-time goal of  passing her court interpreter certification and has begun doing a bit of court work here and there. She started the year with 4 plants and ended the year with almost 40! 


Ken left Z/Purple and continues his business, Scan Mailboxes. As president of TSD Foundation, the fundraising arm of Texas School for the Deaf, he helped lead a very successful gala this fall.


We got the difficult news that Ken’s mom has stage 4 cancer. Ken made a few trips up there, then with Sarah and the youngest boys, getting as many visits as possible while she’s in home hospice care. Connecting through Portal is also valuable time.


Hannah, Chance, and Aaron stand in front of the justice of the peace desk in a courtroom.
Hannah (23) reconnected with a long-time online friend, Aaron. They got married this fall and are expecting a boy next summer!  Hannah continued working as an interpreter in Temple, TX. Her school district made the news because of their poor treatment of students and interpreters, so she shifted and got an internship with a fantastic agency in Austin and she’s working toward getting certified.


Chance (4) started pre-school. He’s super smart, kind, loving, and funny as can be! He likes video games, playing with his toys,
and loves his cat, Socks.


It's been a tough year in a lot of ways and for a lot of people, but I hope you are ending your year like we are, with joy and surrounded by people who love you. Happy New Year!

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