Happy New Year!

Susan Jane taught Forest Law and Policy again at Lewis & Clark (her alma mater), and also taught classes at the University of Washington and Oregon State University.  She travelled for speaking engagements to the Yale School of Law, the Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, Oregon, and the Collaborative Restoration workshop in Denver, Colorado, among many others!  The FACA committee met nearly every other month in 2016, including DC twice and Portland for the first time (this is a federal committee that reviews the work being done on National Forests and makes recommendations on how to implement forest policy).  Among other accomplishments, the committee published a Citizens' Guide to help average citizens participate in the forest planning process without being forest experts (available here).

SJ cooking her birthday breakfast

Paul's parents visiting the big trees in Southern Oregon

The FACA committee in September

SJ continues to play active roles in two separate forest collaborative groups in Oregon which have her traveling to Eastern Oregon frequently. She works with the Forest Service at both the local and national level, coordinating with various contacts in Congress, and engaging with local communities and organizations.  The goal of all of this is to find common ground that considers scientific data, ecology, and regional economies. While it's great to see her getting the national recognition this work deserves, it is rarely easy and keeps her very busy.  Meanwhile, her full time job is still as an active attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center (where she has been for over 7 years) and she maintains an active litigation docket as well.

We finally replaced the roof on our garage - it has leaked since we moved in

Just another beautiful spot in John Day

We have started hiking around Portland - you can find some interesting places if you know where to look

WELC retreat in Colorado - October

Probably our biggest news is the decision to build a second home.  Considering all the time that Susan Jane has spent in Eastern Oregon over the past 13 years, we finally purchased an acre of land in John Day!  We have since broken ground and are scheduled to have our house move-in ready by March of 2017 (we'll still maintain primary residence in Portland).  We purchased our lot on a hill just above the downtown which means we have a great view but also a short drive to the hardware store.  Paul spent roughly three weeks in John Day and he is excited to buy his first truck, rifle, and camouflage jacket. Note: we are in the direct path of premier viewing for the highly touted 2017 solar eclipse, and would love to host you!  (ed note: depending on how many people respond, you may be sleeping on the floor :) )

Mari and Niki have all the fun while Indy scowls

Paul enjoys being "the fun uncle"

Paul planted his first garden this year

Sunrise - taken from our lot in John Day

Paul is still doing very well with his work.  He signed his biggest customer since he joined the company and was promoted to President of Cinder Staffing in September. Cinder was recognized again as being one of the fastest growing private companies in Oregon and now has over 250 full time employees. He works with a great team and they are starting to get noticed around town.  He enjoys building a wide network of professional colleagues and even started his own "peer group" this year with a cross section of business leaders in Portland.

We had lots of snow on our trip to Colorado Springs in April

Nephew Ryan, age 3

This group of former Intel coworkers has been friends for 16+ years!

SJ with Lesley in Bend

Cinder at the Fastest Growing award party

Susan Jane got an early Christmas present with the government’s rejection of a liquified natural gas pipeline that she has been fighting for the past decade: the pipeline would have required the use of eminent domain to condemn the private property of hundreds of small landowners and would have destroyed ancient forests and miles of pristine rivers. This generated a lot of news locally including in the Portland Business Journal. In November, she also traveled to San Francisco to argue a case before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can actually watch a multi-camera video of the argument!

Paul was invited to join the regional Leadership Council for the Oregon Community Foundation. As a volunteer for OCF, Paul chairs several scholarship committees for vocational students, evaluates grant applications from local nonprofits, and has really dug in on the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion work that OCF is doing. In addition, Paul is now an officer on the board for Growing Gardens, a smaller local non-profit.  Paul has taken up daily meditation and yoga and has found them to be incredibly helpful in managing stress and improving his mental clarity.  All of these activities keep him out of trouble as he fumbles through his midlife crisis :) 

We love hosting garden parties - and the fire pit doubles as a cooler

Nan doesn't like her picture taken any more than she likes losing to Paul when we play cards

No need for a workout when you're around these kids

The coastal portion of the Olympic National Park with SJ's parents

SJ enjoys the quieter side of being an Auntie - Baby Evan was born on Oct 24

Paul and team built a greenhouse at a local juvenile detention center

At the end of 2015, we traveled to Munich just before Christmas, then took a high speed train to Berlin for Christmas, and finished in Paris for New Years 2015-2016. It was an awesome trip! While we enjoyed all of it, Berlin was a true highlight and one of the most interesting cities we've visited. More pictures are available here: Munich, Berlin, and Paris.

Getting all 12 of these family members to smile at the same time is quite an accomplishment!

SJ hiking Red Mountain on the Siskiyou Crest

Everyone drinks beer in Germany, even SJ!

In August, we joined SJ's parents for a trip to the Olympic National Park and Victoria, BC (more pictures here). We visited SJ's family in Colorado Springs in April and went back to Chicago in December to visit Paul's family and our new niece, Evan. Susan Jane also made it out for some great hiking trips to the Deschutes and the Sierras, and Paul travelled to Chicago to see his 93-year-old grandmother when she was in town. 

Paul had great turnout for a fundraising garden build in October

Paul's friend Jay has tickets to everything!  Seen here at an Oregon Ducks foodball game in September

We've had Niki two years now and these two still play every day

Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC is a MUST SEE!

Paul's family had a bit of a scare in late September.   What started out as a routine hip replacement for his dad evolved into a significant health crisis ending with a triple bypass open-heart surgery 9 days later. Paul had great support from work (and Susan Jane) and was able to fly back home on short notice to help out wherever he could. Incredibly, his dad was home about a week after the surgery and is making great strides on his recovery - losing 30 pounds in 2 months, exercising, eating better - and looks fantastic. Modern medicine is really incredible and the whole family was overjoyed to celebrate Ray's 71st birthday at home!

There are so many awesome sights in the Olympic!

We really enjoyed Berlin over Christmas

We had great weather for the garden party in June!

Paul's parents were in town for our annual garden party and also made it to the Southern Oregon coast to check out the big trees and beautiful shoreline. We were able to host the FACA committee for a second garden party when they came to Portland, and it was great for Paul to meet all the people that SJ has been working with for the past four years.  Susan Jane and several friends met in Bend, OR for their 7th annual "Women's Weekend" and in addition to the Portland Bridge Pedal, we participated in several Sunday Parkways events.

Indy and Niki are not impressed

Quick stop at Notre Dame on New Years Eve

Nothing beats a relaxing bike ride in the summer (Mt Hood is in the background)

Another Women's Weekend, another great cake!

Of course, no annual letter would be complete without an update on the dogs!   While they are frequently a handful, they bring us quite a bit of entertainment. Niki and Indy are constant companions and we've developed a nice routine of taking long walks on the weekend with our friends Andrew and Tanya and their dog, Mari. Niki and Mari are great playmates and it is adorable to see how excited Niki gets when she realizes that she is going to get a play date with Mari. Overall, they are a great diversion from everyday life :)

SJ's hiking trips are a great break from city life

We went to an opera in each European city - who says Americans are uncultured?

Curling up by the fire is the BEST!