Photo credit: Hannah Berman. Thanks Hannah! Picture taken on Indian Rock in the Berkeley Hills. Asher’s CD is Meghan Trainor’s “Title.”

Fenton will turn 10 soon. At school he loves to read, he plays the clarinet and piano, and he plays Zombie Tag on the big new school campus. Fenton makes impressively groan-worthy puns and we all have to be on guard.

Laurel uses what spare time she has working in the garden, where she is focusing on restoring the land through the planting of native species. Among the many plants she has added this year, some of her favorites are California poppies, lupines, and many varieties of salvia. She’s also been adding fruit trees, just for fun. We now have two kinds of figs, apricot, persimmon, and citrus: lemon, lime, and mandarin.

Asher just turned 4 and he is also extremely interested in music. Music and dance time at school is his favorite activity, he sings along to Beatles with his grandparents, and he is our most dependable dance party instigator at home. Asher’s favorites include Meghan Trainor and Tom Waits.

Myles appeared on Jeopardy! in February. He worked closely with Jeff Probst and created original rebus puzzles that air on “Survivor” on Wednesday nights. He contributed questions to the British quiz show “Only Connect.”

Together, we enjoy playing Uno and Dungeons & Dragons and having frequent dance parties, sometimes on the trampoline. Come visit and see the lupines.

We are thankful for all of you. Wishing fervently for a traditional New Year.