One year into their post-European stage the Randalls (Ian, Ashley, Patrice, and John) are set to embark for the new millennium.  We must apologize for the poor (non-existent) distribution of the 1998 Randall Christmas Newsletter.  We do offer it and all of the previous 14 years of ridiculous Randall random ramblings on our website.

Ian Info:  Our blond blue-eyed bouncing baby boy is now 10 and in the 4th grade.  Ian has become a yoyo master, a Pokemon Trader, a reader of Harry Potter, likes to draw, and has developed an interest in all things Egyptian.  Recently, he has been busy with basketball and Karate lessons.   Another interest of Ian is inventing.  He is keeping a journal of his many inventions that John plans to patent and make much money with.  Since returning from the continent, Ian has become reacquainted with old friends, made some new ones, and even brought some with him from Europe.  It seems that his best bud from Belgium, one Jared Paris and his family moved to Mckinney just 30 minutes north of the Randall Hacienda.

About Ashley:  Ashley now 15 and in High School, is no longer a little girl.  When we first got back from Europe, Ashley couldn't find a field hockey team to vent her aggressions on so instead went out for track.  She competed in the 100 yard dash and made the School 4x100 relay team.  Now in High School, Ashley has been bitten by the Drama Bug.  She has been competing in Prose, Humorous Interp, Duet, and Poetry.  She has "broken" (broken out of preliminary rounds) several times and is on the traveling team. It would be remiss of this chronicler to fail to mention Ashley's significant infatuation with a particular actor named Seth Green.  Anyone wishing to gain eternal gratitude from Ashley could gain it by arranging an audience with this young man.

Pertaining to Patrice:  To say that Patrice has been busy is like saying that  Ashley likes Seth Green.  One of her more intensive projects is to turn Ian's room into an Egyptian Throne Room.  She claims to have no plans (at present) to Mummify Ian.  She is volunteering at the library at Ian's School.  Patrice had an idea that John kept fiddling with.  We can't tell you what the idea is yet because the patent is not filed yet but it will be soon.  Patrice has spent a lot of time recently trying to decide if she wants to build a new house, become a land developer, or both.

John Junk:  Back at TI in Dallas, John has become the C35 Gate Team Leader.  This is a polite way of saying that there are 30 or 40 people that yell at John when things aren't going well.  Happily John has been blessed with some wonderful team members that have so far kept him out of serious trouble.  With Patrice's permission, John has been taking flying lessons (look out below!).  He did his first solo flight in August but does not yet have his private pilots license.  For the 2nd time in his life John applied for but was not accepted into the Mission Specialist Astronauts program.  John simply can't imagine why NASA doesn't want him.  He may need to reconsider listing his primary qualification as being younger than John Glenn.

The Pet Report:  Max, the Randalls' Belgian Tervuren puppy dog, is now 4 and has mellowed.  Well, mellowed may be too strong a term.  In quantitative terms, chew toys that are given to him now last weeks instead of hours.  The exception to this is golf balls.  He shreds golf balls in minutes.  Since the Randalls live on a golf course, shredding golf balls and terrorizing golfers are among Max's favorite hobbies.  Another favorite passtime of Max is to distribute in the house, fur, leaves, and mud.  In light of Patrices concern with cleanliness and order in the Randalls house, it is a testament to Max's and Patrice's mutual love and devotion that Max is not collecting fleas at the pound.

Acquiring Art: The Randalls bought a new piece of Art.  It is a commissioned oil painting by Christian Seidler.  It is not a portrait but Ian was the model for the painting.  The artist has developed a new art technique called Matricism that is sort of like a combination of Impressionism, Pointillism, and Hyper Space.  On the web page you can see an image of the painting, but if you really want to be wowed, you have to come see it in the Randalls living room.