Dear family and friends,
We’re reflecting on another year together, growing, loving, and being challenged in ways we never thought possible.
In January, Jeff planned a first-time foray into crosscountry skiing for Andrea’s birthday. We hitched Vera up behind us and had a blast taking laps around the track. We also got away to Jay Peak, Vermont, for a snowboard trip to mark our milestone anniversary: 5 years married and 15 together. The conditions were perfect on the day of our visit: bluebird with an overnight dusting.
Jeff spent most of the winter training for the Toronto Marathon, when his weekly long runs seemed to coincide with the heaviest snowfalls. All that harsh weather training paid off in May — he smashed his goal of crossing the finish line under 3hr45.
Our summer season of road-tripping kicked off with a visit to Henrika and Grand-maman in Montréal to celebrate Vera’s second birthday. She preferred the chocolate cheesecake over the lemon sprinkles this time around.
On our annual family cottage trip, Vera and cousin Emily built sandcastles and hung out on the dock all day. Our superstar swimmer beamed with pride when she made it to the floating dock accompanied by her pool noodle (and mother).
Cottaging continued to the Algonquin Highlands with little Cameron, Ollie, Alfie, and JP. The kids tore up the water table and went foraging along the forest road for wild raspberries. Scout status activated!
To wrap up summer, we took our first international trip sans child. On a week without 7AM wakeup calls, we circumnavigated the Azorean islands of São Miguel, Pico, and Faial, while devouring fresh seafood, canyoning down waterfalls, and cliff jumping into the Atlantic. The trip’s highlight was a sunrise summit of Mount Pico (2,351 m), Portugal’s highest point.
In September, we descended on Nashville over Jeff’s birthday with our crew of Canadians to attend a Shaboozey concert. We had too much fun scooting around the streets of Music City, playing Top Golf, and bar crawling on Broadway.
Andrea tasted her way through Tuscany and Liguria on a work trip with fall flavours that included freshly milled olive oil, chestnut pesto pasta, and porcini mushroom bruschette. Meanwhile, Jeff held down the fort solo parenting, handing out Halloween candy accompanied by Vera dressed as a little piggy.
Alongside our highlight reel of 2025 has been our private struggle with secondary infertility. Life served us a surprising plot twist. It’s a strange grief to mourn a future that doesn’t exist. And so we’re trusting in time’s power to heal, and hindsight’s way of sense-making. Our present blessings are infinite, and this season does a damn fine job reminding us of that.
We picked out our first “real” Christmas tree as a family, and Vera’s been loving the glowing lights we pass on our dark walks home from daycare.
The New Year around the corner feels fresh and bright. We wish you all the very best for whatever comes next.
With love,
Jeff, Andrea & Vera
