2014

 SEASONS GREETINGS FROM 
THE WHITINGS 2014! 

Cara, Bryan, Kylie & Dave, Steve & Jeanne, Dan, Mike & Kathryn with West & Quinn

FAMILY UPDATES

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas!  We hope you've had a great year.  Here are some of our highlights.

This past June we celebrated our 35th anniversary - 3 1/2 decades together! Poignant feelings of the passing of time also came with Jeanne's trips to Utah for cleaning out her childhood home on Pine Lane in Provo and preserving decades of Grow/Mabey family history with Cara.

A highlight of the year for Steve, facilitated by the marvel of the internet, was reconnecting with friends from Beirut, Lebanon whom he hadn't seen since his mission there in 1975. How nice to see that seeds planted so many years ago grew and continue to flourish.  

Steve is still at KPMG.  He has taken up the guitar again and internet lessons have helped him play a pretty good Stairway to Heaven.  Rewarding music activities for Jeanne this year included involvement with a program for teaching piano to special needs students. She is now working with two children with autism and seeing amazing results.  Her Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation initiated a collaboration with the National Cancer Institute to run a trial on a promising drug, and she went to Berlin to speak at an international sarcoma meeting -- so interesting to be in Berlin this year when they celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

We look forward to gathering with family at Grandma Lora's for Christmas this year in Utah.  And we're especially excited that Dave and Kylie are expecting their first child in June - a girl!

We remember you all fondly this time of year!  Please be in touch.  See below for family updates!

Love, 
Steve and Jeanne

Celebrating 35 years

It all started on a very windy June 8, 1979

1979-Packing up our first Honda with a few wedding presents and taking off for
our first home at U. of Michigan. Gotta love those bell bottoms.

Scanning and cataloging generations of ancestors with Cara.
Cleaning out Jeanne's childhood home on Pine Lane in Provo - will
miss that amazing view of Utah lake and mountains from the back yard

   

Reconnected 40 years later - they never forgot Elder Whiting in Beirut in 1975

Rowing through November at 30 degrees - the crew of the Maritime Women's 8+

Grandpa time on Topsail Island, NC

Fun in Houston

Our 35th anniversary cruise out of New York - Rowing in beautiful Bermuda  

Mike & Kathryn, Quinn & West in Houston moved to a new house down the road, still in The Woodlands, Texas. Mike's busy with work and travel for JP Morgan in cash management.  Kathryn is busy with Quinn (4) and West (2), and-- as if she didn't have enough running to do with them-- she also ran her first marathon. 

Mike & Kathryn with Quinn and West

Quinn and West

Cara in Arlington, Virginia.  In preparation for a career change, Cara returned to school this year to take all of the science classes she avoided during undergrad.  She continues her historical research in Arlington, VA, but in June she'll be moving to Richmond to begin a doctorate in physical therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University.  It has also been a year of developing new talents: making her first soufflé; designing and completing her first quilt; dancing to a finalist spot on a cruise ship "Dancing with the Stars" competition; and returning to film-making, winning Best Director in a local film festival.

Best Director at local film festival and Road Trip to Nashville for great
country music and Southern food!

Prince Edward Island

Dan & Sonia in Denver.  Dan worked his fourth year with Baxter Healthcare in Denver.  Sonia has enrolled in a masters program in family and human development with ASU, and wrapped up her third year at an early head start preschool in Denver.  Dan spent his free time cycling and snowboarding and did his first few downhill mountain bike races at Winter Park, cheered on by his enthusiastic coach, Sonia.  Before the winter hit the mountains in November, they took an adventure trip to Kauai, the Garden Isle, where they backpacked several days on the Napali Coast, went snorkeling, and enjoyed a helicopter tour of the amazing scenery. 

Hiking the Napali Coast in Kauai

That GoPro can capture you anywhere!

Dave & Kylie in New York City moved 40 blocks north to a new apartment in Washington Heights.  Dave loves his 2 minute commute to school and they are both enjoying their beautiful view of the Hudson River and George Washington bridge.  Dave is continuing his dental training and is halfway through his 3rd year.  He is excited to finally be working with patients in clinic and even more excited to be closer to the end than the beginning. Kylie has kept herself very busy photographing lucky citizens of NYC, including notables like Bobby Flay on the Food Network.  The most exciting event for Dave & Kylie is the anticipated arrival of their first baby coming this Spring!

Every New York couple has to try those romantic rowboats in Central Park 

Best picture of the year! If dental sand sculpture skills indicate his future 
as a dentist, Dave has it made.

We get a tour of Columbia dental school and meet Dave's perpetually happy patient!

                         
Bryan at BYU is a second-year grad student working on his master's degree in statistics.  He was thrilled to pass his end-of-year qualifying exams.  He spent the summer enjoying life and working in Provo, including working on his startup company.  When the company moved to Seattle, he left it to stay in Provo and finish his degree.  He has been interviewing for jobs, working on his master's project and getting ready for the upcoming ski season. He just accepted a job in Washington DC with Bates White, an economic consulting firm, starting after April graduation. #gocougs

Graduate students get their own office

   Bryan and Mike get amazing seats at BYU Game              Sundays with Grandma Lora in Mapleton

Love from Steve and Jeanne

A happy 2015 to all!

2013

Best Wishes for Christmas 2013 From the Whitings! 

Dear friends and family,  
We send greetings and love from Connecticut.  If you’d like to catch up with our family, here are some 2013 highlights and updates.  We’re in our fifth year of doing this annual Christmas blog and have found it to be a fun way to keep a family record. 
 Know that you are treasured in our thoughts this season. 

Merry Christmas to you all!

Everyone Together for Thanksgiving
Top: Bryan, Dave & Kylie, Dan & girlfriend Sonia, Cara
Bottom: Kathryn & Mike with West & Quinn, Jeanne & Steve

A freezing New Canaan Turkey Bowl - Go Rams! (The only game they lost all year!)

Mike and Kathryn with West and Quinn in Houston

Grand Central Station celebrates 100 years. Can you find Steve waving in this picture? 
Can’t believe he’s been commuting to NYC for 30 of those years!

Our family tradition of taking first-day-of-school pictures 
 continues here with Bryan's first day of graduate school -- 
he discovers it's a long way from kindergarten!

Victorious triathletes

Cara’s adventures (Guess which one she did not tell her parents about!)

Dave & Kylie in New York City - surviving the second year of dental school

Also a long way from Kindergarten!

Fun Houston trips

Biking buddies take on big challenges in Virginia and Pennsylvania

Beautiful Connecticut sights this year: 10,000 daffodil bulbs planted by one family 
in Litchfield now number in the millions over 15 acres - a spectacular spring display

One man’s 40 years of planting hundreds of varieties of azaleas & rhododendrons
in his 3-acre back yard brings glorious color to New Canaan every spring

In our 19^th year of viewing the blazing New England fall display
 outside our back windows we are still awestruck 

A summer week on Topsail Island, NC

Special Grandma and Grandpa Moments

We survive both a 3-hour lightning storm and the University of Virginia fans 
at the BYU game in Charlottesville

Dan and friends climb Mount Bierstadt in Colorado

Catching the sunrise at the summit

Dan's a loving uncle

Music, music, music!

Driving along all those amazing beaches to the tip of Long Island for the first time

The grandeur of the gilded age - Newport mansions

Survivors' photo at our annual Running for Answers in Philly
DTRF raises over a million dollars for desmoid tumor research this year

Mom graduates from a wonderful 93 years of life 
A remarkable 101 of Mom’s 114 descendants attend her funeral

How far does the influence of one person spread?

Gathering in Utah for Grandma’s funeral

Fall beauty of Sundance and the Alpine Loop

UPDATES

Bryan has had an exciting year with many changes. He started the year as a BYU undergrad statistics student, taking entrepreneurship coursework, and coaching a previously perfectly-defeated high school lacrosse team to the playoffs. 

In the summer, while enjoying early-morning commutes, he learned to appreciate summer sunrises in Salt Lake and how to analyze investments at Beneficial Life. On the side, as a research assistant in the statistics department, he learned more than enough about health-care research. In his free time, he was mastering the freestyle swim.

In an August triathlon, he enjoyed swimming, biking, and running alongside Cara in the countryside of Virginia. After many humbling moments in September, he realized he was in grad school. He and a few classmates also realized that their entrepreneurship class turned out to be an interesting bargain. Hopefully their prizes in two student innovator competitions will mean something for a budding business for their mobile wireless home security system.

Dave & Kylie  enjoyed another great year of married life in New York City.  Dave is now halfway through his second year of dental school and putting in countless hours at the library to prove it!  Kylie has been busy with freelance photography and graphic design work, mainly keeping busy with projects for Scripps Network and Cooking Channel.  They love exploring all that the city has to offer, especially the new Citibike service, which has been well utilized for epic rides across the Brooklyn Bridge.  

Dan continues working in Denver with a large international medical equipment company, Baxter.  One of their primary products manages multi-ingredient solutions/compounds for neo-natal IVs.  Dan gives training in the new systems and handles calls from around the world when issues arise. After work, there are always Colorado mountains to climb and trails to ride.  

Cara checked a lot of items off of her bucket list this year. She visited Punxatawney Phil and Falling Water, competed in Tough Mudder, took a White House garden tour, completed a century bike ride with her dad, loved every second of a 200-mile relay through the Blue Ridge Mountains, and raced in her first Olympic triathlon with Bryan. To top it off, she enjoyed a once in a lifetime view of the Shenandoah Valley with a most trusted new friend who was carrying the parachute. She continues to live in Arlington, VA and performs historical research and archival work in DC.

Mike & Kathryn and Quinn & West  continue to enjoy the year-round warmth, BBQ, fajitas and urban sprawl of Houston, Texas. Mike writes: Quinn is an endlessly energetic three year old, whose vocabulary and awareness of the world around him expand daily. He began pre-school this year, which has filled our home with all kinds of God-praising children's songs. 

West is a curious and sweet-tempered one year old, who takes in stride the challenges the world (and his aggressive older brother) present him. West's successes this year include a four month stint (over the summer! In HOUSTON!) in a head-shaping helmet. If you want to know what that's like, shave your head bald, put on a bike helmet a size too small, and spend a few hours in a sauna. You can then forward your words of praise to westisthebest@gmail.com.

Kathryn continues to excel in her role as CEO of Whiting Family Enterprises. When she isn't managing the physical well-being, fashion sense, spirituality, education and entertainment of 50 lbs of male youth, she can be found battling a constant backlog of professional-quality photography of the abundant life that surrounds her. And if Quinn doesn't interrupt her with a shouting match, you may even find her dusting off her professional-quality piano skills.

Mike continues his work at J.P. Morgan, much of which is spent in the doting care of the good people at United Airlines. Next time you're in such scenic locales as Wichita, KS, Midland, MI, or Kingsport, TN, think to yourself ‘Mike is a LUCKY guy.’ When not in an office or an airport, Mike can be found building professional-quality cushion castles and telling unusually passionate bedtime stories.

Jeanne & Steve  Steve is in his last year at KPMG since partners have to retire at age 60.  Can’t believe we’re almost there. It will be a strange situation to be back on the job market as of next fall but we definitely want to work several more years.  Steve did two major bike rides with Cara this year, including a 100-miler from Williamsburg to Richmond and 60 miles with the wind against them through Amish country.  These destination bike rides have made for fun trips (especially for Jeanne who is doing none of that hard 100-mile work).

Jeanne keeps busy with her foundation.   It was fun to have Cara, Dave and Kylie join us for the annual race in Philly this year.  Jeanne’s sad to no longer be working in the Young Women organization at church, finishing off with a trip to girls camp in Vermont this summer.  She is now trying to figure out genealogy research for her new family history calling.  She retired from her job of 14 years conducting the Pitchpipers, a women’s close harmony chorus that troupes weekly to surrounding nursing homes and will miss that group. But the music will keep going with teaching Music Together and piano lessons, and conducting the ward choir.

Jeanne lost her mother, Sarah Grow, in September.  Sarah lived a wonderful long life of service to family and community.  Her funeral was held on what would have been her 93^rd birthday.  She left posterity of 114 (including spouses), and 101 of them came to the funeral.  It was a remarkable family reunion that Sarah would have loved.  We will miss her, but know she’s enjoying her own joyous reunion with Stew after 30 years apart.  We’ve learned how one person’s influence for good can echo in the lives of literally hundreds through the generations. 

We love hearing from you.  Your good also echoes in our lives and memories.  We send you---

Warmest Wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our home to yours!

Love,

Jeanne & Steve