This year has been a great year!  There are usually ups and downs in life, but this year seemed to be filled with mostly ups.  Here are some of the high lights by month and photo:

January started off big for Jean Ann as the Zonta Club of East King County came to fruition and ‘formed’ on 1/11/11, which is Amelia Earhart’s birthday and she is integral to Zonta International.  Jean Ann started putting the club together in August 2010 and currently serves as charter president through May 31, 2012.  She expects to attend the Zonta biennial conference in Turin Italy in July 2012.

Pictured are initial board members; Kelly, Deb, Joyalea, Allyn, and Jean Ann with Corrine not pictured. We lost Kelly and Deb and added Sue.  We started out with our meetings at the Crab Cracker, but moved to a class room setting at CityU in Bellevue.

February was the beginning of a whirlwind of travel for Jean Ann, as she was teaching two courses in Mexico for CityU, which meant 4 weekends teaching in Mexicali.  Sparky received a reward trip/cruise to the Western Caribbean Feb. 18-26 which included the following ports:  Miami, Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Grand Cayman.  (The links will take you to albums on FB.)  We were on Carnival, which is not how we like to travel, but we had not been to any of the ports.  Some of the high lights of the trip were swimming with sting rays, going to a turtle farm, seeing many Mayan ruins, and having our pictures taken with monkeys and parrots.

March was a REALLY BIG month for Sparky, as he did the BIG 7 Ohhhhh!  Jean Ann pulled off an incredible surprise party for him, which was amazing with the travel schedules.  On Sparky’s birthday, 3/11, he was in Vegas for work and Jean Ann in Mexico teaching.  The party was held on Sunday, March 13 at the condo clubhouse.  Jean Ann had ordered the cake and had Les and the kids pick it up, while Toni, Tami, and Bob purchased decorations and decorated around 1 pm.  Jean Ann had the punch and champagne already purchased and stored in the clubhouse.  Tami was a REAL surprise, as she came from ID.  Sparky’s life long friends, Tom Gish, Paul Petersen, and Bob Trosvig, were present for the event.

April was busy for Jean Ann with Zonta EKC holding their charter event on the 13th and she attended an Area 2/5 Zonta Workshop in Chehalis on the 15th. 

May had its own kind of busy going on . . . Jean Ann’s mom, Dona Jantzen, got married on Sunday the 8th to Jerry Harman.  A trip to Oklahoma was imperative!!!  Karla went along and Jean Ann sang two songs in the wedding.  Jean Ann and Karla were there for a week, while Sparky flew in on Friday and all going out on Monday the 9th.  When Jean Ann got home, she was running headlong into Zonta EKC’s first fundraiser – a purse auction.

June was somewhat quiet by comparison, but it was really only the quiet before the storm!  During all of the first quarter chaos, Jean Ann authored Chapter 21: “Utilizing Case Study Analysis in Online Learning” in the book  Authentic Instruction and Online Delivery: Proven Practices in Higher Education, which was published by CityU.

July was a great month because Mom and Jerry came to the NW for a visit.  (Click the link for an album of their visit.)  Sparky and Jean Ann were great tour guides and showed Jerry a good time for his first ever visit to Washington and Oregon.  There was a day trip to Portland and Boring, OR to see friends on top of the following:  Mariner’s game, 4th of July at Les and the kids’ place in Kirkland, Snoqualmie Falls, Ballard Locks, Boeing tour for Jerry, doing Seattle at Pike’s Place Market and via the Duck. 

Mom helped Jean Ann pack for Australia and there was a ‘reception’ party for Dona and Jerry complete with cake on Sunday the 10th.  Dona and Jerry flew out on the 11th and Jean Ann headed for a semester in AU at the University of Southern Queensland in Springfield, just outside of Brisbane.

August was a time of adjustment, as Jean Ann settled into teaching at USQ and Sparky worked very hard on his business, which was booming.  Jean Ann kept a FB page and a blog at www.JeanAnnDownUnder2011.Wordpress.com and Sparky burned up the satellite calling her on Skype 2-3 times a day.   Go to the links for stories, photos, and videos of her 4 months Down Under.

September was good for the happy couple, as Sparky arranged to spend 9 days with Jean Ann during her spring break in and around Brisbane.  Most notably, the visit included; The Australia Zoo, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island, and Brisbane.  Sparky kept the blog during his stay and this link will take you to day 1 of his week in AU on the blog.  This link will take you to the album of his week on the Jean Ann Down Under 2011 FB page.

There’s no way to tell all of the tales of Sparky’s visit in this Holiday Greeting blurb, so go to the blog and go to the album and go to the Facebook page for photos, stories, and videos.

October was a fast month as time was running out to wrap things up in AU.  Jean Ann returned on October 29, which was a 41 hour day for her.  The best part of the return trip was the 5 hour layover in Fiji, where Jean Ann had dinner with friends Vada and Siti in their home.  Time couldn’t go fast enough for Sparky, as he was ready for Jean Ann to be home!

November rivaled July and March for crazy busy!  Just two weeks after Jean Ann landed the happy couple (happiest when they’re traveling) were winging their way to Tahiti for a cruise of the Society Islands on the Paul Gauguin ship.  The ports included: Raiatea, Ta’aha, Bora Bora, and Moorea.  Activities included: snorkeling, pearl farms, shopping, swimming with sting rays/sharks, helicopter ride over Bora Bora, and island tours.  Click on links for more pictures.  A new Facebook page was created to track the travelers’ trips; Adventures of Sparky and Jean Ann – “Like” the page and keep up with their adventures.

As if Tahiti wasn’t enough, Sparky made a trip to Vegas for business at the end of November and treated Jean Ann to 3 days of bright lights and the Terry Fator show, while staying at the Mirage.

December is what it is . . . busy with holiday stuff.  Jean Ann held an Aussie Tea for girlfriends on 12/10.  Sparky and Jean Ann missed the lighting of the Christmas tree at the country club, but did attend the holiday open house on 12/18.  Christmas Eve will be spent in Bellingham with Sparky’s daughter and son, Toni and Bob, and Christmas afternoon with Jean Ann’s French Family in Kirkland.

2012 has many more adventures for Sparky and Jean Ann and they stand ready to embrace them all.  Here’s wishing you and yours the happiest and healthiest year ever in 2012 and enjoy your holidays.

This is our version of the “Christmas card” and you can ‘send’ your ‘card’ by leaving your comment on this blog.