Zack is 18 years old and graduated high school this year. After 4 years of hard work, Zack was able to graduate as a Top 25 Senior (top 2% of his class), complete with his name displayed on a plaque in the school. He has been focused on achieving this distinction ever since landing as one of the Top 25 Freshman.

Zack worked over the summer as an IT assistant at a local retirement home. He learned a lot and enjoyed the job. He happily went to work every day (dressed in a shirt and tie)! His boss took on a mentor role with him and provided him with a lot of great information and experiences.

Zack chose to attend the University of Cincinnati, pursuing a degree in computer science. He was extremely well prepared for his classes and had a very smooth transition from high school to college courses. Zack just finished his 1st semester and did very well. He will take all sophomore classes in the spring due to the significant number of AP credits he earned while in high school. The computer science degree includes 5 semesters of paid co-op experiences where the students don't take classes but instead work full-time in their chosen field at an actual business/company. Zack's first co-op will take place in the fall.

Zack and Mary celebrated their 2 year anniversary in August. I'm always amazed how they are able to juggle work/school and still manage to spend lots of time together.

Jackie is 13 years old, and in 8th grade. She is in junior high but half of her classes this year will count for high school credit. I'm hoping this opens up some slots for her later on in her high school career for electives in which she may be interested. She also took gym over the summer to give her an extra elective this year - she chose to take robotics.

This year Jackie is participating in band, jazz band, robotics and honor society. In the spring she, and a team of friends, earned an all-expenses paid, 5-day trip to Nashville to compete in the national TSA convention (Technology Student Association). Peter and I joined them for 2 days to get in on the fun.

Jackie plays the flute in band, but continues to dabble in other instruments. Her latest interest is the alto saxophone. She would like to continue jazz band next year, but they don't allow flutes or clarinets in the jazz band at the high school level - so she is experimenting with other instrument choices.

With slightly less than 2 years before she starts driving, Jackie has already identified the car she would like - a Volkswagen Beetle. Maybe light green. But definitely with eyelashes on the headlights.

After several years of being fish-tank free, Peter set up a cichlid tank in his office in the spring. Recently, sparked by a random conversation with our optometrist, Peter was bitten by the salt water bug and set up another tank. He has gone back to his roots with a porcupine puffer, lion fish, yellow tang and some clowns. Let's just say he spends more time preparing their meals and feeding them then we spend on our family dinners. Unfortunately the lionfish died just a few days ago. Peter is currently considering what to get as a replacement fish.