Dear Family and Friends - 1992 was another good year for us, with a growing boy to keep us running, and middle aged parents trying to keep up, the time went by all too quickly again.

We are happy to enclose with this letter an aerial photograph of our home and ponds. The picture was taken last winter, and we chose the one that best showed our ponds and the surrounding woods. We were all struck by the size of our house compared to the ponds. The white structure next to the house is the garage we've been building for the past several years.

Ted and Steve participated in their first winter campout last January. The Houghton troop, of which Steve is a member, is well known for the amount of camping they do, and the fact that they camp every winter. There was not a large turnout for the January outing, however, because some parents were concerned about the severity of the weather. The windchill was below zero, and there were travel advisories the day we were to camp. Our leader, John Quinn, was very experienced with winter campouts, so when he said it was a go, we decided to go. We arrived early Saturday morning dressed properly for the weather, thanks to the scout literature we'd studied, and spent the day building our "Quincey Shelters". They are constructed by heaping snow into an oblong igloo shape, and then digging out the insides. By the end of the day, we were tired but equiped with snug shelters. Everyone turned in early because it got dark so early. We slept surprisingly well inside our huts. We both agreed that this campout was one of the best.

Steve participated again this year in the Spring Ice show, but this time as a featured skater. He played a magician complete with tux, top hat, cape, and magic wand. While Steve did his routine, including his first full revolution jump, a group of pre schoolers dressed as bunnies, popped out of a hat and toddled around the ice. After all the rehearsals, working on the sets, and driving back and forth, we were happy when the showtime finally arrived, and very happy with Steve's performance.

Around mid May we bought a German Shepherd puppy. Panzer was about 3 months old when we got him. The evening he arrived, we took him on a walk to introduce him to the pond. He walked out to the end of the diving board on the dock, and promptly fell in. So he got the honors of the first swim of the year. After staying under for a few seconds, he surfaced, let out a yelp, and headed for shore. He wasn't a stylish swimmer, but he got in all right. Panzer has been an absolute delight to own. He's smart, very strong and willing to please. Ted is working with him to qualify for a Schutzhund title, which involves tracking, obedience, and protection work. There has been a fair amount of travel involved in the training, but the results have been very encouraging. If everything goes well, he should get one or two titles next summer. Stay tuned.

About the time Panzer came, Ted was negotiating to have his work year reduced from 12 to 9 months. With MTU experiencing budget difficulties, staff were encouraged to reduce their schedules if possible. It was written in the contract that the first year would be a trial year, and that the following year the decision would be made whether the 9 month schedule should be permanent. Since Alice is a 9 month faculty, and Steve is off school for the summer, there was a lot of family time. It allowed us to take several nice trips, and get a lot done around the place.

Our first trip was a jaunt to Mackinac Island. Steve brought his buddy Trevor Petersonas a guest. We met Ted's parents for a long weekend at the Grand Hotel. The highlight of the trip was when Alice, Steve and Trevor were invited to ride the Grand VIP carriage, pulled by two fancy high stepping hackney horses.

Later on in the Summer, Ted took Panzer to a seminar on dog training in Madison, Wisconson. They drove all Friday night, and arrived in time for the beginning Saturday morning. The dogs were worked all day Saturday and half of Sunday. They returned late Sunday night, tired, but had great stories to tell about the pretty country in southern Wisconson. We' been interested in taking a family trip to the Wisconson Dells for some time, so we got on the phone, made reservations, loaded up the car, and headed back south the following Tuesday morning. This time Steve brought his buddy Josh Hiner along. Panzer came too, and got to ride on top of the luggage in the back of our little station wagon. We spent one day driving, the following day at the "House on the Rock", the next day at a water park in the Dells, and the next day visiting a train museum and doing the lower Dells boat tour. We drove back that same night, tired but happy. We see now why so many people visit the area. The House on the Rock is incredible, and the Wisconson Dells has some of the prettiest natural beauty we've ever seen.

In late July Ted and Steve said good-by to Alice, Panzer, and Ripley for a week, and headed toward Munising for scout camp. Ted as an adult leader, and Steve as one of 12 members from troop 208. Ted helped out with some roofing and digging projects, worked with the boys, and earned his "mile swim" patch. Steve earned five merit badges during the week - rifelry, archery, rowing, basketry, and leatherwork. There was volley ball, swimming, and lots of other fun stuff to do. We had a great time, but were ready to come home after a week of it.

In keeping with our habit for the past two summers, we planned another week long trip to Isle Royale to visit the beautiful island, and our good friends the Petersons. Steve and Trevor Peterson are school and scouting buddies, and Rolf and Candy are long time friends of Ted and Alice. Our trip this summer was quicker and less exciting than last year's. We took the easy way out this time and bought tickets on the Ranger III, rather than chartering a sail boat. We planned to do a couple of days of hiking, and with Trevor's help, planned and executed a nice two day hike. The weather was perfect and we saw a lot more of the island's interior than we had previously. Alice and Ted also had a nice 14 mile (round trip) canoe ride from the Peterson's camp to Rock Harbor - the civilized portion of Isle Royale. We left early enough to arrive in time for a nice lunch at the lodge, and treated ourselves to warm (not hot!) showers. We even bought some Pop Tarts at the park store. When it was time to return, we launched the canoe into the teeth of a lot of wind. What had been essentially a two hour glide in calm conditions to Rock Harbor became a four hour struggle to return. We made it though, and were pretty darn proud of ourselves when we got back. Too soon again, it was time to board the Ranger III and return to "civilization".

Toward the end of summer, Steve participated in the MTU summer skating school, which is an intensive two week program of skating instruction and testing. He did well, passing his last preliminary dance, his first pre-bronze dance, preliminary figure, and preliminary free style.

Steve passed two other milestones this year; he started Junior High School, and he turned 13. And during the first scout Court of Honor this year, he became a 1st class scout. Grandma and Grandpa Soldan drove up from Lansing just to witness the event, and Steve surprised Grandma by presenting her with the 1st class mother's pin and a hug. It was a real nice ceremony, and we were all proud of his scouting accomplishments. As of this writing, he is well on his way to receive his next rank, Star Scout, has been made troop historian, and is an Assistant Senior Patrol Leader.

Because of some planned changes with the first two ponds (that's right, more pond stories), we had to move our thriving asparagus patch. Every root died that we transplanted, however, so we decided to reorder. Since there was a sale on, we ordered lots, and while we were at it, got strawberry and raspberry plants too. One suffers these episodes of insanity when the seed catalogs arrive and the Visa card is handy. The plants came in a deceptively small package at an inopportune time. The directions for the asparagus were simple; dig 100' of trench 18" deep, fill 12" of the hole with compost, insert the roots, and cover with 2" of dirt. On paper, this doesn't seem that bad, but Ted spent 2 days of hell hacking the hard clay with grub hoe and shovel, hauling compost (we used the bulldozer for this), and planting. The strawberries and raspberries were simple compared to the asparagus, and we intelligently saved them for last. Hopefully all this work last fall will pay big dividends in the next few years.

Winter is trying to start now in early December. There is only an inch or so of snow on the ground. Our skis are in the shop getting tuned and adjusted for the season. Steve got a season pass to Mont Ripley, the ski hill visible across the canal from MTU. Hopefully he'll be able to get some after school skiing in this year. Our Christmas shopping is almost done, and we're looking forward to some company, rest, and good food over the holidays. This year has been a good one, and we plan for next year to be even better. Who could ask for anything more?