Christmas 2006

Dear Friends & Family:

No formal Christmas letter this year, just a short note to wish you Happy Holidays and a Merry New Year.

It’s been a relatively uneventful year in Eugene. No major travels, except a trip to the Niagara area of Canada to spend a week with Deb’s family. We’ve enjoyed several day trips around the beautiful Oregon countryside, and a weekend trip to Seaside on the northern Oregon coast. We also enjoyed a weekend in Portland last summer for the city’s annual Jazz Fest nestled along the sunny banks of the Willamette River.

On the work front, Debra was promoted to nursing supervisor at the Willamette Valley Cancer Center, and Eric has been writing and producing a children’s television series called Nanna’s Cottage. In September, Eric hosted a Star Trek 40th Anniversary event in conjunction with the Eugene Celebration and the city’s annual film festival.

We’ve both enjoyed the opportunity to spend more birthdays, anniversaries and various holidays with Eric’s family. We also enjoyed a visit from our California friends Janet and Larry Nemecek, who stopped in for a visit during their summer vacation, which gave us an excuse to visit one of Oregon’s foremost wineries, King Estate, which is located just outside of Eugene.

We hope this note finds you happy and healthy in the New Year!

Best Wishes Always,

Eric & Debra

Christmas 2005

Dear Friends & Family,

It’s been an eventful year. Although it’s the first time in a decade that we haven’t stepped foot outside the country, we did decide to leave California. So we sold our house in Santa Clarita and moved to Eugene, Oregon. In addition to facing quality of life issues in Los Angeles (traffic being #1), we ultimately decided that we wanted to live closer to family. Eugene is Eric’s hometown and the place where we were married in 1996. Time flies. And twenty years in Southern California was enough.

When we came to Eugene in late February for Dad’s open-heart surgery, our first stop after landing at the airport was to put in an order for a new house at the Royal Creek development in west Eugene. They told us the house would be ready in September. Dad came through his surgery with flying colors and is doing very well.

A very dry winter in Oregon helped the contractor get ahead of schedule on our new house and eventually we were told it would be ready in August instead of September. Eager to get a head-start on our new life, Deb came up to Eugene in the Spring for a couple of job interviews and was soon hired at Willamette Valley Cancer Center.

Our house in California sold in a matter of days and escrow flew by quickly, so we sent most of our stuff into storage and Eric rented an apartment in Hollywood, which cut his commute from an hour each way, to just 3 minutes! Deb’s new job in Eugene started in June, so she came to Eugene early and rented an apartment of her own. Eric finished his work in Hollywood and came to Eugene at the end of July.

Our new house was ready on August 19th, so we closed escrow and immediately started painting and getting ready for our stuff to arrive from California. Everything was in the house by Labor Day weekend. Four months later, we’re still unpacking boxes – and we still don’t have a back yard, but we love our new house and we love being “home” for all the birthdays, anniversaries and holidays we’ve missed so often for so many years. Deb’s parents even came for a nice long visit in October and November, and it was great to have them here.

Eric’s friend and former boss, Michael Piller, lost his long battle with cancer and passed away on November 1st. It was a day we long anticipated, but never looked forward to. Eric made a pilgrimage back to Los Angeles to be a speaker at Michael’s memorial service.

The holidays spent with friends and family are cathartic. Now is a time for renewal and new beginnings. (And time for Eric to get off his ass and find a job!) From our house to yours, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Peace and Love,

Eric & Debra

Christmas 2004

Dear Friends & Family,

Warm greetings from Casa de Stillwell. We hope the season brings you tidings of good cheer and snowflakes on your nose. All things considered, it’s been a pretty good year.

Debra recently received her 10-year pin for her decade of service at Providence Holy Cross & St. Joseph Medical Centers. She was chosen by the Oncology Nursing Society to make a poster presentation at their annual Congress, which was held this year in Anaheim (a good excuse to visit Disneyland!). Debra also played a key role in Holy Cross Medical Center being chosen by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation for the 2004 Employer Recognition Award – out of all hospitals nationwide. And she was nominated by her colleagues for the Core Value of Excellence Award.

Eric was elected to the Board of Directors of the Hollywood Media District, a business improvement district which works to improve the area of Hollywood where he works. He even spoke to the Los Angeles City Council on the day they voted to renew the district. Eric also survived another season on “The Dead Zone” and is preparing for production on season four which begins in January. He is also associate producer this year on a two-hour pilot entitled “Wildfire”-- a story about a girl and her race-horse. We like to refer to it as “The O.C.-biscuit.” Watch for it on ABC Family Channel sometime in 2005.

The highlight of 2004 was our Baltic cruise in late June/early July, with Eric’s parents, which took us to Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Germany, Norway and England. We’ve decided to abbreviate our Christmas letter this year, so if you’re interested in seeing pictures from our trip and reading our travel log, please visit our vacation blog online at http://www.thestillwells.blogspot.com/. We’ve posted more than 300+ pictures from our trip. Click on any photo to see a full-size version. If you don’t have internet access, drop us a line and we’ll be happy to send you a hard copy.

We devoted many weekends in late summer and autumn to remodeling our living room, dining room and master bedroom, which included adding a wine grotto under the stairwell and a mural of a Tuscan landscape above the new dining room. We also made some upgrades to the backyard, including an expanded patio and a new barbeque island which we look forward to inaugurating when the weather warms up in the Spring. As always, all of you have an open invitation to visit.

Speaking of visitors, we look forward to spending the waning days of 2004 with Deb’s parents who will be flying down from Canada to spend the holidays with us. Their visit will include a family outing to Las Vegas before year’s end.

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Peace and Love,

Eric & Debra

Christmas 2003

Season’s Greetings! We hope this letter finds you happy & healthy as we “wrap up” another year! 2003 started out with the ambitious project of putting in a new swimming pool and landscaping. To say the project took much longer than estimated would be a understatement, but 4½ months later it was finished – complete with palm trees & outdoor stereo speakers!

In February we embarked on a two week vacation to Europe. First stop: London, where we spent five days catching up with old friends and seeing the sites of the city -- including a ride on the London “Eye,” a huge futuristic Ferris wheel built on the banks of the Thames River. The ride certainly gives you a bird’s eye view of the city. We did a little shopping, and were also treated to VIP treatment in Heaven – one of London’s hip nightclubs.

Our time in London was all too short, and soon we were jetting off to Italy were Eric was a guest at a Star Trek convention. Our hosts met us at the airport in Rome and took us directly to a restaurant were the other guests were gathering for the first in a series of massive Italian meals that would be the daily highlight of our trip! We’ve never consumed so many carbs in such a short period of time. Apparently it’s customary in Italy to have two different courses of pasta before each meal. And that doesn’t include the antipasto! Fortunately, we had a chance to burn some of it off as we spent our first full day in Rome walking across the entire city, starting at the Coliseum and ending in Vatican City. Highlights in between included the Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Parliament Building and some shopping.

On Thursday we headed to the site of the Star Trek convention in Fiuggi, a resort town about 60 miles from Rome. Here we spent the next four days eating & communing with the fans, & eating, & taking trips to nearby monasteries, mediaeval & pre-Roman towns & villages. And eating. Meals were part of the convention schedule: breakfast, lunch & dinner. Pasta, pasta, pasta – & more pasta!

On the Monday after the convention we traveled to southern Italy. Late in the afternoon we arrived at the ruins of the ancient city of Paestum, just south of Naples and Sorrento. One of the best examples of a Greek temple to be found anywhere in the world is located at Paestum. Founded as the city of Poseidon in the 6th century BC, this was a key stop on an important trade route. The Romans took it over in the 3rd century B.C., and changed the name to Paestum. The Temple of Neptune is better preserved than the Parthenon in Athens. That evening we dined in a top notch Italian restaurant and had one of the finest meals you could ever ask for. Then it was back to our hotel in Pompeii.

The next day, we walked a few blocks from our hotel to the excavation site of ancient Pompeii. On August 24, 79 A.D., the city of Pompeii was buried in volcanic ash from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Walking through the ruins is like taking a journey to a place where time stands still. The entire trip was a wonderful experience.

In May, Deb’s parents came for a visit & were here for Mother’s Day. We also drove up to Santa Barbara & enjoyed a visit to the Scandinavian town of Solvang and the Chumash Indian Casino. Memorial Weekend we made it up to Oregon for Eric’s family reunion. Steve Krutzler (http://www.trekweb.com/) stayed with us for six weeks beginning in June. He came out from Florida to be a Dead Zone intern at Eric’s office. His fiancée Brittani also got to spend a weekend with us. They will be out again next week, along with Steve’s parents to visit his sister who now lives in L.A., and they’re all coming to our place for Christmas dinner.

Summer was a sizzler – several weeks of 100 degree+ weather – and we were glad to have our new pool to play in. Eric’s parents came for a visit near the end of July. We even lucked out with a visit from Eric’s cousins John & Cara and their kids Amy, Jessica & Brett. The pool got a good inauguration this year. In August, we made our annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas for the big Star Trek convention. Labor Day weekend we drove down to Mexico where Eric’s boss rented several beach houses for the staff of The Dead Zone to spend the weekend together. Deb’s parents came for another visit in September – and we made a special trip to Las Vegas to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We stayed at their favorite hotel, Imperial Palace, and Margaret won $1,000 on a Royal Flush. Eric won three jackpots of $1000 each!

In October we had the pleasure of hosting our nephew Zach for his first trip to California, and – of course – Mickey’s house! It was nice having Marc and Stacey here, too. We let the parents have all the fun taking Zach to Disneyland, but while they were here, we also introduced Zach to his very first movie-going experience – Disney’s animated “Brother Bear” at the historic El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, which included a live musical performance with several Disney characters including Mickey Mouse! That rat gets around! The weather continued to be unseasonably warm with temperatures over 100 degrees. We had Zach’s Uncle Greg & Aunt Vicky and his cousins Eilidh & Finn over for a fun pool party. We even got to celebrate Stacey & Vicky’s birthdays with cake & ice cream. Near the end of their visit, wild fires started to rage through Southern California, which was a little scary for everybody – especially with the fires so close to Greg & Vicki’s home in Alta Loma – and then a few days later within view of our own home. Marc, Stacey & Zach got out of town before the worst of it. Eric had big plans for Halloween (fog machine, scary music, etc.) but that’s the night the rain finally arrived, putting a damper on the Trick or Treat fun, but proving very helpful to local firefighters. Winter started the next day.

For Eric’s birthday, we went to northern California to spend the weekend with our friend Lolita – and drove up thru San Francisco to the wine country in Napa Valley were we enjoyed visiting the various wineries and enjoying the fruit of the vine. We stayed at a spa motel in Calistoga where we experienced our first-ever mud baths. It was as nice weekend. Our friend Barb from Baltimore also came for a visit in November. She’s considering a life-altering move to L.A. sometime in the future, so we had a good time showing her the town and looking at cool apartments near the beach in Playa del Rey. She also treated us to a delightful holiday performance of “The Sugar Plum Fairy” at the Griffin Theater in Westwood. We spent Thanksgiving with our friends Lolita, Suzanne & Chase, and after turkey dinner enjoyed a lovely walk on the pier at Manhattan Beach. The weather was beautiful.

Eric has been busy at work this year. He was promoted to Associate Producer on The Dead Zone in January just as season 2 was expanded to include six new summer episodes. Season 3 started production on December 1 and will air summer of 2004. Eric has also become actively involved in addressing some socio-political issues (i.e., homelessness & crime) that have confronted the Hollywood neighborhood where his office is located. So, in addition to his long hours at the office, he’s also been attending meetings of the West Hollywood Safety Commission, the Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council, the Hollywood Media District’s Business Improvement District, the LAPD, and the Sheriff’s Department.

Debra was selected by the Oncology Nursing Society to exhibit a poster presentation at their conference in Denver this year. This was her first national submission, and was told by colleagues that this never occurs on your first try, so it was unexpected, but a great experience. She recently learned she’s been selected again for another presentation in 2004! Additionally, Deb was one of only four people chosen from her hospital to be trained as a “green belt” for Six Sigma – a quality-improvement process being adopted throughout the Providence Healthcare System.

December, as always, brings lots of parties and activities. Because we decided to stay home this year (rather than go to Las Vegas again!) – ostensively to “save money” – we’ve ended up re-doing the dinning room (in a rash of insanity) the week before Christmas (to include a new dining room table & chairs scheduled for Christmas Eve delivery) and are in the process of refinishing the hutch to the color of Brazilian rosewood. From the look of things, you’d never image we were hosting a Christmas dinner in less than 6 days! This is what happens when you watch too much Home & Garden Television! Oh, the glory of the season!

Love,
Eric & Deb

Christmas 2002

Season’s greetings! We left off last year waiting to hear whether The Dead Zone would become a TV series or not. On January 2, USA Network ordered 13 episodes. Development started immediately on new scripts and production commenced in March. Eric is the script coordinator and played a role in developing the marketing and PR strategy for the series. The network agreed to take the promotion to several sci-fi conventions around the country prior to the series launch. The show premiered with huge ratings and finished the season as the highest rated drama in the history of basic cable. The series was picked up for a second season and started production in September. Season 2 premieres January 5, 2003. Check out www.thedeadzone.net for more info.

Debra has also kept busy as Oncology Nurse Clinician for Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills. In April she attended an Oncology Nursing Society Convention in Washington, D.C., while Eric was in Denver promoting The Dead Zone. In October, Debra attended another ONS Convention in Seattle. She was also featured in an ONCC newsletter article because she recruited more nurses for Oncology certification this year than anybody else in the country. And her first-time proposal for Oncology nurse recruitment was selected for poster presentation at the ONS Annual Congress in Denver next year!

In May, we took time (for the first time in years) to venture down to Orange County to spend a weekend at Disneyland and check out the new California Adventure theme park. We even took in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones at the new theater complex in the outdoor pedestrian mall known as Downtown Disney.

The Dead Zone premiered June 16. Eric helped organize a star-studded premiere party at the newly remodeled Piller2 offices in Hollywood. The entire cast attended, including Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole deBoer and David Ogden Steirs who flew down from Vancouver, B.C., where the series is filmed. A few days later, we flew up to Vancouver en route to join our Cruise Trek pals for Alaska Adventure III (our second cruise to the “last frontier” state). In Vancouver we spent time on The Dead Zone sets and got to visit the production office and meet the people Eric works with via internet and telephone. We took a ferry to North Vancouver and Deb’s Aunt Joyce took us on a scenic tour of the area -- including visits to Capilano Suspension Bridge, Mt. Seymour and Deep Cove. Deb’s Uncle Don joined us in the afternoon.

Our cruise sailed from Vancouver Harbour. We enjoyed all our stops in Alaska just as much the second time around. Our excursions were more daring this time, including a dry-land dog-sledding adventure in the Yukon Territory of Canada with our friends Janie & Terry from Ohio. And in Ketchican we took a scenic tour of Misty Fjords National Monument in a sea plane -- just us and the pilot. The majestic and unspoiled scenery was awe-inspiring, especially from the air. We flew past colossal cliffs and magnificent waterfalls. We even landed on a pristine mountain lake where we witnessed a very large Alaska brown bear looking back at us from the lakeshore. And the trip wasn’t complete without a day of scenic cruising in Glacier Bay watching huge chunks of ice calf from the mountainous glaciers into the icy cold sea.

In July, Eric surprised Debra on our 6th wedding anniversary, taking us to Temecula for a weekend stay at Pechanga -- the largest Indian Casino & Resort in California. The facility was brand new -- only a week old -- and we had a beautiful room with a view of the mountains. We enjoyed the swimming pool, casino and top-notch restaurants at the resort, but the “real” surprise was a sunrise hot air balloon ride high above the local vineyards.

At the end of July, we went to Lake Tahoe for the wedding of Eric’s cousin, Melinda. It was like a family reunion. We enjoyed getting to spend some extra time with Eric’s cousins we seldom see. Melinda and Jeremy’s lakeside wedding was very beautiful. The day before the wedding, Eric even went swimming with the younger cousins in Lake Tahoe.

In August, we went to Las Vegas for a huge Star Trek convention. USA Network sponsored a PR booth for The Dead Zone and Eric was there as a liaison between the convention organizers and his boss, executive producer Michael Piller who was on hand to speak to the fans along with our series star, Anthony Michael Hall.

In September, we finally got to see the hit musical production Mama Mia (which had been sold out for months!). The musical tells the story of a young woman engaged to be married, and the 3 men, one of whom might be the father she’s never known, who she invites to her wedding unbeknownst to her mother. The story is funny and poignant and inspiring and is told thru the hit songs of ABBA -- the sensational 70’s rock group from Sweden. We really enjoyed it -- although Eric wishes we could have seen it on Broadway or in London. While we were downtown, we took the opportunity to visit the newly-dedicated, multi-million-dollar Catholic Cathedral which is across the street from the theatre. The Cathedral is a monument to modern architecture. But frankly, we thought it was pretty ugly, especially on the outside. But Deb liked the floor-to-ceiling tapestries inside. Eric says the restrooms reminded him of those at the Vatican -- nice and new and very clean (just in case you’re in need of a public restroom when in Rome or Los Angeles). J

Sadly, Eric’s great aunt Mable passed away in November. She was 96. We went to Oregon for the funeral. It was our only trip to Oregon this year, and despite the sad circumstances, we were thankful for the brief opportunity to visit with Eric’s family -- including nephew Zach who is growing like a weed. The very next day we flew home to California for a previously planned engagement: Eric’s 40th birthday. Debra had arranged a dinner party at a local restaurant and invited a group of our closest friends to help us celebrate. One of our guests, actress Chase Masterson, had promised to sing “Happy Birthday” to Eric the same way Marilyn Monroe sang to JFK. Never a dull moment.

Now we whirlwind thru December -- the month of non-stop parties and social events. Last week we attended one of Deb’s office parties. On the 9th we attended the world premiere of Star Trek: Attack of the Clone --er, I mean Nemesis at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood and the premiere party with the cast and crew afterwards at the brand new Highland & Hollywood ballroom. The 18th is Eric’s office party at his boss’ home in Hancock Park. Then hiatus officially begins on the 21st and we’re off to Las Vegas for Christmas.

Here’s wishing you and yours all the best in the New Year. May we have Peace on Earth in 2003!

Love,
Eric & Deb

Christmas 2001

Season’s greetings & warmest wishes from California! It’s been an extraordinary year, to say the least.

Deb’s parents came down from Canada in Autumn 2000 to spend the winter with us in sunny California and were here in January to help us bring in the New Year. They were also here to share our most momentous event of the year. On February 21, Debra became a citizen of the United States. The swearing-in ceremony was quite amazing. At that single event, more than 5,000 people from 40 different countries became citizens.

Before Deb’s parents departed for regions north, we had the good fortune to have them with us to celebrate both their birthdays (and Deb’s, too) including Clinton’s 70th. We really enjoyed their long visit and soon realized how spoiled we’d become with home-cooked meals, a clean house, and a well-organized garage! Abbie & Gray-C desperately miss the constant attention (not to mention being fed at the crack of dawn!).

In May, Eric was invited to a Star Trek convention in northern Italy. The convention was in a small resort town on the Adriatic coast. Our hotel was across the street from the beach. The Italian fans were gracious and kind and we really had a wonderful time. Afterwards, we spent a couple of nights in a quaint little hotel in Bologna and got to see some of the local historical sights. On our last day we took a train trip to Florence. We didn’t get to see much of the city because we spent most of our time standing in line for the museum which houses the famous sculpture of “David” by Michelangelo. But that’s what we went to see... so mission accomplished! The next day we flew home to L.A., with a brief stop in Zürich, Switzerland, to change planes.

As always, the highlight of our year was our annual Cruise Trek vacation. This year we toured the eastern Mediterranean starting in exotic Istanbul, Turkey. When we first learned we were going on the trip, Eric tracked down an old high school classmate from Oregon -- Katie Kranzler -- who has lived in Istanbul for the past 15 years. Katie and her husband, Sinan, invited us to come and stay with them. We eagerly accepted their invitation. We left Los Angeles on June 22 and arrived in Istanbul on June 23, with a change of aircraft in Munich, Germany, along the way. After meeting us at the airport, Katie took us to her home in Arnavutkoy -- one of Istanbul’s many outlying neighborhoods -- this one a charming and romantic village set along the Bosphorus waterway; with a farmer’s market, local shops, restaurants, banks and a post office all within walking distance of Katie & Sinan’s house. Here we were introduced to their 9-year-old daughter, Sunaliza, and her feisty Siamese cat, Sassy.

We wasted no time becoming tourists. Katie (who speaks fluent Turkish) volunteered to be our personal tour guide, taking us to visit such architectural wonders as the Topkapi Palace, where the Sultans and their harems once lived; Hagia Sofia, once the supreme church of the Byzantine Empire, which is now over 1,400 years old; the Blue Mosque, one of the four most holy mosques in the Muslim world; the ancient Basilica Cistern, an underground water reservoir built in the 6th century using the marble and stone pillars scavenged from the ruins of ancient temples. Katie also took us to the Grand Bazaar -- an incredible labyrinth of shops and stores selling beautiful hand-crafted Oriental rugs and every assortment of souvenir. We also walked through the Spice Bazaar -- a cacophony of exotic smells and colors -- where you can purchase a lifetime supply of saffron for just a million Turkish lira (or $1 U.S.). Afterwards, we took a ferry across the Bosphorus allowing Debra her first visit to Asia. The waterway separates the city of Istanbul into a European side and an Asian side.

During our visit to the Hagia Sofia, we ran into John De Lancie (the actor who plays the omnipotent “Q” on Star Trek) and his family, who were also in town for the cruise. Katie, who works at a local university translating historical documents into English, was immediately barraged with questions about Turkey, Istanbul and the local culture. That evening, John and his family joined us for a special dinner arranged by Katie & Sinan at a restaurant built right on the Bosphorus not far from their home. Most Turkish meals begin with mezes, a variety of Turkish appetizers, which were all incredible. Afterwards came the dramatic presentation of the flambéed fish baked in a dome of sea salt. The food was great and a good time was had by all. In fact, we had so much fun, we all met up again for dinner the next night for a wonderful Kebob dinner on the roof of a five-story building over-looking the Sea of Marmara. Meals are completed with a serving of fresh fruit -- and the intense flavors of the cherries, peaches and other fruits were amazing compared to the stuff we get in our grocery stores here. We loved the food in Turkey and had a wonderful time visiting the country. We highly recommend a visit to anybody considering a trip to that part of the world!

On our fourth day in Istanbul we embarked the m.s. Rotterdam and got settled into our cabin. During the afternoon we registered Cruise Trek passengers and in the evening we went ashore for one last dinner with our gracious Turkish hosts. On June 27, we set sail through the Sea of Marmara en route to the Mediterranean.

June 29: Alexandria, Egypt. We boarded a tour bus for a 3-hour drive to Cairo to visit the magnificent pyramids of Giza which are more than 4,000 years old. The nearby Sphinx, with the face of a man and the body of a lion, is believed to be even older than the pyramids. After lunch we drove to see the step pyramid of Sakara, believed to be the oldest stone structure still standing, more than 5,000 years old. We enjoyed our tour, but it was blistering hot in Egypt and we appreciated our air-conditioned bus ride back to Alexandria.

June 30: The island nation of Cyprus. Our ship docked in Limassol on the island's south coast. Without formal tour plans, we simply went ashore for a leisurely walk around town. Cyprus is home to Greco Roman ruins and Crusaders’ castles. The medieval castle at the center of town is the very place where Richard the Lionheart, the English King who conquered Cyprus, married Berengaria of Navarre and crowned her Queen of England in 1191. It was here we shopped for beautiful table linens and leather shoes.

July 1: The Greek island of Rhodes. Again, we had no formal tour plans, so we went ashore early to walk around the town and immediately fell in love with the medieval architecture and the castle-like battlements that surround the city. We walked to the palace of the Grand Masters. Beautifully intact Byzantine mosaics grace the floors, while marble staircases lead to soaring chambers with exquisite wood-beamed ceilings. At lunchtime we sat in a lovely outdoor café and shared our dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) with a friendly little Calico who decided to join us.

July 2: The Greek island of Santorini. Our ship anchored in the caldron harbor which was created by a volcanic explosion in 1500 B.C. The effect is still explosive. 1,000 foot-high cliffs rise from sea level, and dazzling white houses cling to the cliff tops. We took a sky tram (rather than the donkey ride up a very steep, winding path) to visit he picturesque town of Oia featuring blue-domed churches, two-story mansions crammed into narrow cobbled-stone streets, and tiny boutiques selling ceramics, paintings and local jewelry.

July 3: Kusadasi, Turkey. We took a tour bus into the countryside to visit three ancient cities. Priene, our first stop, is best known for its ruins of the Temple of Athena set against a majestic mountain backdrop. Our next stop was Didyma, where we toured the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, considered one of the greatest monuments of antiquity. Finally, we arrived in Ephesus, one of the best-preserved cities of the ancient world, with an extensive collection of Greco Roman ruins with marble streets and magnificent temples, Roman baths, fountains and mosaics. Most amazing were the 3-story ruins of the Library of Celsus and the large Greek theater where the apostle Paul preached to the Ephesians (as told in the Bible). We stopped at a beach resort and lunched on more yummy Turkish mezes and fresh fruit before returning to Kusadasi where we did more shopping in the local Bazaar.

July 4: Athens, Greece. We found it fitting to visit Athens -- the birthplace of democracy -- on the 4th of July. The city is a living symbol of a Golden Age which flourished nearly 25 centuries ago. The crowning glory here is perhaps the most famous temple of all time, the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena, the patron goddess of Athens perched atop the Acropolis, a limestone mass rising 230 feet from the plain with a majestic view of the city. With its ancient serenity, the Parthenon seems eons away from the sprawling metropolis below where half the population of Greece resides. After touring the ancient ruins, we enjoyed a Greek lunch and visited with the locals in the souvenir shops. The weather was wonderful and Deb had fun collecting the new Greek coins commemorating the upcoming 2004 Olympics. And we saved lots of money by taking the subway instead of the official bus tour!

July 6: After a day at sea, we arrived in the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Medieval ramparts encircle this 13th century city, and a marble statue of St. Blaise, the city’s patron saint, guards a stone bridge which bids welcome to visitors. In this tiny town, there are 24 Catholic churches, one Orthodox Christian Church and one Synagogue. Except for the brand new terracotta tile roofs, there is very little evidence of the recent war which ravaged the country. Dubrovnik has a proud history & remains an enchanting place to visit.

July 7: Venice, Italy, our final destination. Nicola and Stephania, two Italian fans we had met at the Star Trek convention earlier in the year, met us at the dock and the two of them gave us a personal walking tour of the city. Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) is the heart and soul of Venice with palatial arcades and charming cafes, and is the city's widest open area. With its Byzantine façade, St. Mark's Cathedral is one of the world's most magnificent churches. It was originally constructed in the 9th century to shelter the body of St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice. Only traces of the original structure remain, and the present building dates from the end of the 11th century. The exterior domes, pinnacles and bronze horses contrast with a glowing interior of gold mosaics, elaborate carvings and graceful statues. We also visited the island of Murano, famous for its Venetian glass-blowing factories. Nicola arranged a private demonstration for us. For lunch we feasted on authentic Italian pizza and later took a gondola ride through the canals and stopped at Harry’s Bar, home of the original Belinni (a drink made of champagne and peach juice). The next day, we were on a plane back to L.A.

In August, we flew to Eugene for Eric’s 20-year high school class reunion, which included a Saturday night formal dinner gathering and an informal picnic at a local park the next day. The whole thing seemed rather anti-climatic. But we did enjoy seeing Katie and Sunaliza again (who had come over from Istanbul) and also getting to visit family and friends and seeing nephew Zach!

On September 6, we flew to Las Vegas for the “35th Anniversary of Star Trek” convention. In fact, we really didn’t go for the event, but went to meet up with some old friends who were coming to Las Vegas for the convention -- namely Eric’s childhood pen pal, Barbara, and her husband Mike, from Baltimore. We also saw many other friends and acquaintances who had flown in from around the world. The festivities culminated Sunday night with a star-studded party at the Star Trek Experience. We flew home on September 10.

September 11. Words cannot describe it. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the victims, their families, and our courageous men and women in uniform. Someday, we hope, peace will prevail on Earth. Until then, we refuse to live in fear and try to find sanity & solace in life by immersing ourselves in our jobs.

It’s been a roller-coaster year for Eric’s company. Earlier in the year the company produced a television pilot based on Stephen King’s The Dead Zone. Unfortunately, the network that originally ordered the pilot declined to order the series for their Fall 2001 schedule. But they also refused to “pass” on the project and kept an option open to possibly order the series for mid-season. The option expires December 31. We still haven’t heard from the network. In the meanwhile, USA network, a cable channel, has expressed strong interest in ordering the series and negotiations are now underway. If all goes well, production should begin on the series early next year. Eric will serve as Script Coordinator on the series.

Deb has kept busy this year with her new position as Oncology Nurse Clinician for Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. In addition to educating the nursing staff on issues pertaining to Oncology, she is also responsible for teaching classes on the subject to both nurses and department managers. In May, to keep herself abreast of the latest developments in the field, Deb attended the Oncology Nursing Society’s Annual Congress in San Diego. In November she attended an Oncology Symposium in Newport Beach. From time to time, she also gives Cancer Awareness talks at local community centers and senior facilities.

In November, Eric’s parents drove down from Oregon to spend Thanksgiving with us. We enjoyed having them. There’s nothing like Mom’s homemade pies for the holidays! And Abbie and Gray-C enjoyed having another set of “grandparents” to terrorize for ten days. As always, the family visits seem far too brief. And now it’s December. Lots of holiday parties and dinners to attend. Afterwards, we’re heading off to spend Christmas in Las Vegas. It was an offer we couldn’t refuse: 3 nights FREE at the Rio Suites Hotel + $100 in cash. With any luck, we’ll end the year on a high note.

Here’s wishing you and yours all the best in the New Year. Happy 2002!

Love,
Eric & Deb

A note about our postage stamp: We had such a great time in Turkey this year, Eric thought it would be fun to commemorate our trip with this new holiday stamp, which honors an important Islamic festival -- or Eid. Eid al-Fitr (celebrated on Dec. 16 in 2001) celebrates the end of the Ramadan fast & is a period of thanksgiving. The Eid stamp features the phrase "Eid mubarak" which translates as "blessed festival" & can be paraphrased, "May your religious holiday be blessed." Eric bought these stamps on September 5 just days after they were issued by the U.S. Postal Service. We decided to keep the stamps and use them in the true spirit in which they were intended: To wish everyone a Blessed Holiday Season!

Christmas 2000

Holiday greetings & warm wishes to you and yours. And Happy New Millennium – this time for real! We hope the season brings you good cheer and good fortune, love, joy & happiness! The past year has zipped along, and already we find ourselves celebrating our third Christmas in our new home. Seems not long ago we were just packing up the decorations and putting them into storage for another year...

In January, after surviving worldwide computer crashes, power failures, communications blackouts, food shortages and the total apocalypse of common sense resulting from media-driven millennium hysteria, we put our lives back together and resumed our day to day routine pretty much as usual. For starters, we joined friends for an enjoyable performance of Les Miserables at the Ahmanson Theatre in L.A. Later in the month, we attended a party at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of The WB Television Network. Eric’s boss has been developing new programs for the network and the party was packed with familiar faces from our favorite TV shows, including 7th Heaven, Buffy, Angel, Roswell, Charmed, Felicity, Popular and others.

In February, we flew to San Jose for the California Democratic Party Convention. Vice President Al Gore and Senator Bill Bradley both spoke. Overall, the event was so boring we decided to come home early.

In March, we had a bit of a scare. After working out at the gym on a Saturday, we decided to go plant shopping at a local nursery. It was a very hot day and Debra started experiencing chest pains. The nursery staff called 911 and an ambulance and three police cars arrived on the scene in a matter of minutes. Debra was taken to a nearby hospital emergency room where the doctors made a thorough examination and determined it was not a heart attack. But just to be safe, they wanted to admit her overnight for observation. She was not a happy camper! Because it was a weekend, she ended up spending her birthday in the hospital. The final prognosis determined that she had over-exerted herself at the gym and her magnesium levels were low. Otherwise, she was just fine.

In May, we headed off for our annual cruise, which sailed this year from Barcelona, Spain. We arrived in Barcelona three days before embarkation. We hit the town and discovered the heart of the city along Las Ramblas, a tree-lined boulevard filled with outdoor cafes and shops. On day two, we kicked into full tourist mode and made pilgrimages to visit medieval churches and the local Gaudi architecture, including the inspiring work-in-progress – Sagrada Familia – a spiraling cathedral with incredible views from its churro-like spires.

On day three, we took an early morning train into the Catalan countryside for a visit to Montserrat, a mysterious monastery on the side of a mountaintop where we viewed the captivating Black Madonna.

On Sunday, May 21, we embarked the Maasdam and by nightfall the cruise was well underway as we sailed across the Mediterranean. In the middle of the night, Eric became very ill – probably from something he ate or drank in Spain – and began to suffer bouts of severe chills and fever (among other things). At first he was too sick to leave our cabin, so we were fortunate to be at sea for the first full day of the cruise.

On Tuesday, we arrived at La Goulette, Tunisia, in the northern tip of Africa. We headed out on a bus tour destined for the ancient ruins of Carthage with its sweeping vistas of the Mediterranean Sea. Eric made the best of it, though he felt weak and always needed to be in close proximity to a restroom. He claims, however, that one visit to a Tunisian restroom was enough to cure him. Our next stop was Sidi Bou Saïd, a hillside village of white buildings and blue doors that matched the color of Eric’s hair. (Eric had bleached his hair white, had gotten a crew cut, and colored the tips of his hair blue just before the cruise!) The Tunisians are a friendly sort. One street vender told Eric that Debra was worth a thousand camels!
On Wednesday, we arrived in Palermo, Sicily, and departed on an excursion to visit the ruins of Solunto – an ancient Phoenician town that was later occupied by the Romans. Afterwards we visited the nearby town of Bagheria and a baroque villa.

On Thursday, we arrived in Civitavecchia, Italy – the port of Rome. We departed early on our whirlwind tour of Rome, with views of the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, the Imperial Forums, the Tiber River and Castel Sant’Angelo. We only had a moment to throw a coin in Trevi Fountain and a few minutes more to the visit the Spanish steps. By this point, Eric had not eaten an ounce of solid food in four days for fear of being too sick to participate in our pre-paid excursions. His biggest disappointment was not getting to eat Italian food in Rome! In the afternoon, we toured the Vatican, including St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica (which is the most amazing cathedral we’ve ever seen), plus the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel.
On Friday, we arrived in Monte Carlo. Our excursion began with a spectacular scenic drive along the beautiful French Riviera. We spent some time shopping in Nice and visiting a Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Afterwards we drove up to the ancient village of Eze, perched high above the sea on the face of a cliff. We fell in love with Eze and marveled at the medieval architecture and cobblestone streets.

On Saturday, we arrived in Marseille, France, and departed immediately for the beautiful Provence countryside. We went to Avignon -- home to the 14th Century popes -- and toured the Palace of the Popes, strolled the cobblestone streets and had our pictures taken against the Rhone River and the Pont d’Avignon – the ruins of a bridge made famous by the children’s song of the same name. This was a nice moment for Debra who fondly recalls the song from her childhood growing up in Quebec. Next we visited the amazing medieval village of Les Baux, now home to a variety of delightful artisan shops. The many vistas of Les Baux offered a most amazing panorama of the French countryside.

On Sunday, we were back in Barcelona, soon bound for home.

In June, July & August we tried to take it easy, relax and enjoy the summer weekends in our own back yard. We diligently worked in our flower and vegetable gardens and inaugurated our fish pond with Koi. We had friends over for barbeques and pool parties whenever possible. We made time for a weekend trip to Toronto to see Debra’s family (including nephews Sean & CJ and niece Danielle), as well as a weekend trip to Las Vegas for a wedding. In July, Debra was recommended for a position at Providence Holy Cross as an Oncology Nurse Clinician and was hired to educate other nurses about the latest developments, procedures, and treatments in the field of Oncology. Teaching is something Debra really enjoys.

In September, our Koi pond was included in a local “Tour of Water Gardens” as part of a fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce education foundation. We were one of 13 ponds included on the tour. A week later, raccoons also discovered our pond and began a systematic effort to disrupt our lives by eating every fish in sight over a period of several weeks -- despite every effort on our part to stop them. We plan to have a much deeper pond when we start over again next year.

In October, Eric’s parents came for a visit. We took them to the new J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and also visited the campus of Debra’s alma mater, Mt. St. Mary’s, in nearby Brentwood, where Debra went to nursing school.

In November, Debra went to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Oncology Fall Institute of Learning. Deb’s parents, Clinton & Margaret, arrived from Canada the week before Thanksgiving and will be spending the winter season with us in California. Our two cats, Abbie & Gray-C, love the constant attention. We flew to Oregon and spent Thanksgiving week in Eugene with Eric’s family and left Deb’s parents in California to cat-sit. (It’s okay. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October!). We had a nice time in Eugene visiting friends and family and got to spend lots of time with nephew Zach. At the end of the month, back home in California, Debra spoke to a local women’s group about Breast Cancer Awareness.

The first weekend of December, Debra was off to Dallas, Texas, for a two-day Oncology Seminar. But now we’re both home for the holidays, and plan to kick back and enjoy the festivities of the season. Since we don’t know what the New Year will bring, we’ll just take advantage of this unpresidented time in American history to reflect on our good fortune and count our blessings. And recount them. And recount them. And recount them. J

Have aMerry Christmas & a chad-free New Year!

Love,
Debra & Eric

Christmas 1999

Dear Friends & Family,

In lieu of our traditional Christmas letter, we figured the arrival of Y2K was a worthy excuse for a New Year’s epistle. Not to mention we didn’t get it written in time for a pre-Christmas mailing. So, Happy New Year!

1999 zoomed by at warp speed.. A year ago January 4th, the new novel by Eric and his friends David George and Armin Shimerman hit the bookstores and quickly became the best-selling Deep Space Nine novel in the Star Trek fiction series. In February, Eric, David & Armin did a couple of book signings, including a blow-out extravaganza at the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas where the trio signed for several hours and were lavished with leather jackets, food, drinks and an all-expenses-paid weekend with their spouses at the Las Vegas Hilton. It was a blast and a good time was had by all.

In March, Eric joined his boss, Michael Piller, on a business trip to Chicago to attend a national marketing conference. Eric’s plane touched down at O’Hare just minutes ahead of a blizzard which blew through the windy city and made for a cold, but interesting weekend. Eric stayed with his friends John & Victoria (and their baby Alec) and had a nice visit before returning to sunny Southern California.

In April, friends Dave, Ali & Kim were in town from England to celebrate Dave & Ali’s 25th Anniversary. We also managed to keep busy with several Star Trek events, including the final Wrap Party for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which concluded it’s seven-year run on television in 1999. At the end of the April, Eric’s sister Stacey and her husband Marc were our guests. Marc’s brother Greg, his wife Vicki, and their two kids were able to join us one day for a backyard BBQ.

In May, we cashed in some frequent flyer miles for a trip to South Devon, England. We stayed with magnificent people – the Moorins -- who live in Torquay. Although we went to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary, it was they who showed us (and other U.S. guests) a grand time in their beautiful country – with daily tours and sightseeing to local attractions, several castles – even the port of Plymouth where the Pilgrims sailed to America. The countryside was, as always, breathtaking. It was a wonderful, wonderful trip and we enjoyed every minute of it. Especially the Devon cream tea. Debra also had the chance to score a couple hard-to-find Beanie Babies and pick up some mini-Beanie Babies thru a U.K. McDonald’s promotion.

Back home in Santa Clarita, we hosted another backyard BBQ at the end of May to celebrate Debra’s friend MaryAnne becoming a U.S. citizen. In June we had several more opportunities to enjoy our new backyard with a variety of BBQ and pool parties with various groups of friends. At the end of June, Debra received her 5-Year Service Award from Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. On the 4th of July, we both walked in the local parade to support U.S. Congressional Candidate Sid Gold. Eric is a member of Gold’s campaign staff for November 2000. At the end of June, Debra’s friends Linda and Angie were in town and we got to have a nice visit with them.

Eric spent most of the summer working at home -- telecommuting via email -- while his boss, Michael, made the transition to independent Hollywood producer. In other words, Michael opted not to renew his contract with Paramount Pictures and left the studio to establish his own independent production company, together with his son Shawn. The new company is called Piller2. The dynamic duo recently signed a two-year, multiple project development deal with The WB Television network which includes five TV pilot scripts and at least one guaranteed production. In September, Michael purchased his own office building in Hollywood. Eric has been charged with the day-to-day operation of the new business, and the various television projects have kept everybody busy. Later this month, major renovation and remodeling begins on the new building to convert it to a state-of-the-art production office.

In August, we became Aunt & Uncle to Zachariah Hamilton Cogswell, born to Eric’s sister Stacey in Eugene, Oregon. We were able to fly up September 3rd for a weekend visit with our new nephew and the proud, but exhausted new parents.

In October, we embarked from Los Angeles on our annual Cruise Trek adventure. This year we sailed south to the Panama Canal. Our Mexican ports of call included Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Zihuatenejo and Huatulco. Next we sailed to Guatemala with a stop in Puerto Quetzel where we opted to join an excursion to the northern jungles of Guatemala to visit the ancient Mayan ruins at Tikal. The ruins were amazing and we had a wonderful time until it was time to return to Puerto Quetzel and our rattle-trap aircraft wouldn’t work. We had to wait for hours in a jungle airport (guarded by soldiers toting machine guns) for replacement planes to arrive from Guatemala City. When they finally arrived, they looked like something left over from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, but we reluctantly boarded the so-called “aircraft” and began our long, death-defying journey back to the cruise ship, which was now 2 hours past it’s departure time. It was dark outside and we soon found ourselves in a thunder and lightening storm and our tiny plane was tossed around the sky in the severe turbulence. The pilot didn’t speak English. There was no flight attendant. We all thought we were goners. But after a while, we cleared the clouds and volcano peaks and could finally see the lights of Puerto Quetzel in the distance. We had been told earlier that the airport there had no runway lights, so we were concerned how the pilot intended to land in the dark. We were relieved to discover afterwards that the Guatemalan military had lined the runway with coconut shells filled with burning oil. It was an amazing and memorable trip. The rest of the cruise was anti-climatic by comparison. The next day we sailed through Golfo Dulce along the coast of Costa Rica. The day after that we sailed through the Panama Canal. Our next stop was Cartagena, Columbia. And after two days at sea avoiding hurricanes, we arrived at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas where we spent a relaxing day at the beach. The next morning we completed our 15-day cruise at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Before flying back to Los Angeles, we had a few hours to visit with Debra’s parents who had just arrived in the area for their winter solstice away from Canada.

In November, Debra attended an oncology conference in Salt Lake City. Upon her return, we attended the Eurythmics concert at the brand new Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles (to be featured this year as the site of the Democratic National Convention). Deb’s parents arrived just before Thanksgiving for a three week visit – their first trip to California since Debra graduated from college. They performed all sorts of handiwork around the house and helped us finish projects we’ve been meaning to do since we moved into the house! It was a very nice visit and we had a chance to decorate and celebrate an early Christmas before they headed back to Florida (via Las Vegas). After we saw them off at the airport, we went out and bought a new car – a model 2000 Nissan Altima! On December 16th, we went to another concert at the Staples Center – this time to see the Divine Ms. Millennium (Bette Midler) in a warm-up to her New Year’s Eve event in Las Vegas. On December 24th, we flew to Eugene to spend the holidays with Eric’s family -- Zach’s first Christmas. December 26th, the entire family was together for Zach’s dedication. All in all, a wonderful conclusion to a wonderful year.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Eric & Debra

Christmas 1998

As the New Year approaches, we extend Season’s Greetings and Warm Wishes to all our friends & family! 1998 comes to a close very much like it began... In January, we were in Las Vegas for the grand opening of Star Trek: The Experience -- an interactive space ride-simulation-adventure at the Las Vegas Hilton. Last week, we found ourselves in Las Vegas again, this time for the World Premiere of Star Trek: Insurrection -- a movie written and co-produced by Eric’s boss. The movie is a milestone for Eric -- his first on-screen feature-film credit.

Between January and December, we managed yet another trip to Las Vegas; to celebrate Debra’s 40th birthday in March. We were joined by Debra’s parents, Eric’s parents, Stacey and Marc Cogswell and Deb’s best friend, MaryAnne Given as well as MaryAnne’s father who was visiting from Canada. We all had a great time and Eric even won $1,000 on the slot machines! Deb won another $1,000 while we were there last week, so it’s been our lucky year!

We also found time for weekend trips to San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Seattle & Eugene. But our big trip of the year was our annual Star Trek cruise, which sailed to Alaska in June. We were joined on the cruise by Eric’s parents and their close friends Bob & Carol Elmore and Ann & Arnold Stocking -- all from Oregon; as well as our dear friends, David & Karen Ragan-George, and David’s sister and her companion from Virginia. The cruise departed from Vancouver in beautiful British Columbia (our only excursion outside the U.S. this year!) and sailed the Inside Passage to Alaska, with ports of call in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Valdez & Seward. We also cruised through the College Fjords and around Hubbard Glacier. The scenery was breathtaking and the cruise itself was probably the most relaxing we’ve experienced. Alaska is a genuine gem of pristine wilderness.

Debra took her Oncology National Certification Exam during one of our two visits to San Francisco this year. She subsequently passed the test and is now one of the few nurses at her hospital with national certification. Recently, as part of a hospital stewardship challenge to raise money for local charities, Debra designed and put together a cookbook to sell using recipes submitted by all the nurses and staff in her Short Stay department. For her efforts, Short Stay won first place for creativity among all the departments in the Providence hospital system in the Los Angeles area. As a result, Debra was chosen to present a check to Burbank Temporary Aid for $21,600 and her picture appeared in the local newspaper.

Of course the biggest news of the year is that we bought a house! To facilitate our goal, we submitted ourselves late in 1997 to a Los Angeles Times “Money Make-Over” -- a weekly newspaper column that provides free financial advice. Our story ran in January (with a follow-up story on December 29th) and the experience was both cathartic & validating, if perhaps a little embarrassing. But it did help us stick to our guns, and in February (after looking at hundreds of houses over the past two years), we finally found one we liked! We stumbled upon the house -- actually a model home -- in a new development in Santa Clarita, a bedroom community about 30 miles north of Los Angeles. Our actual house was not yet built when we first discovered the development, so we had the good fortune and opportunity to pick the lot of our choice -- one with a beautiful view of the Santa Clarita Valley.

From February through August, we observed on weekends as construction advanced from empty lot to finished product. We closed escrow and moved into the house in late August during an unusually hot hot-spell (110+ degree weather!). Abbie and Gray-C, our two cats, didn’t take kindly to the move, but after a few weeks they adjusted quite well and now enjoy the extra space (and chasing each other up and down the stairwell!). We’ve spent the past three and a half months getting settled. Deb has been busy with interior decorating and making curtains on her new sewing machine, while Eric has focused his attention on designing and coordinating the back yard landscaping. Eric’s parents drove down from Oregon last week to join us for the holidays and arrived in time for our inaugural Christmas Party. The outdoor portion of our festivities were threatened by an unusually cold cold-spell (wind chills below freezing at night), but we made the best of it. A couple nights later we thought it might actually snow. It hasn’t snowed yet, but we suspect even Santa Claus would feel at home in Santa Clarita!

Our guest room is open for visitors. If you plan to be in the area, give us a ring! We’d love to have you as our guests. And from our home to yours, we wish you love & good fortune in 1999!

Eric & Debra

Christmas 1997

Season’s Greetings!

We hope this letter finds everyone healthy and happy as the New Year approaches.
The past twelve months have found the two of us staying at home more frequently than in previous years – and we have certainly enjoyed the opportunity to spend more time with our local friends.

In January, we decided to adopt two little girls (of the feline persuasion) – a gray, British-blue tabby which we named Gray-C (as in “Gray Cat”), and a classic tabby that we named Abbie. They were both raised as kittens by the same foster family and were 5 months old and 8 months old, respectively, when we adopted them. They keep each other company when we’re not at home, and they get along wonderfully. They each have distinct, yet wonderful disposition and we love them!

It wasn’t until June that we made our first trip of the year – our annual Cruise Trek adventure, where Eric serves as emcee. This year’s excursion took us to Tahiti, also known as French Polynesia. We flew to Tahiti from Los Angeles, whereupon we embarked on a seven day cruise through the islands, stopping first at Huahine, then Raiatea where we toured old ruins and visited ancient temples of human sacrifice. Our next stop was Bora Bora where we laid anchor for two days. Our excursions here included a shark feeding where we snorkeled along a coral reef while professional divers fed sharks just a few feet away. It wasn’t as scary as you might expect, but it was exhilarating. We also got to hand-feed Sting Rays as they swam around us in the water. It was really cool to have them eating out of our hands! The next day was spent on a tiny reef island known as a Motu (a sand bar with palm trees), enjoying a barbecue and water sports. The last two days of our cruise were spent anchored in Cook’s Bay at the island or Moorea.

If ever there was a paradise on Earth, Moorea is the place. This island is incredibly beautiful with its jagged volcanic mountains jutting skyward, surrounded by deep waters of such intense blue, it’s impossible to describe with mere words. Here on Moorea we toured the island on scooters and visited steep vistas overlooking the incredible rock formation known as Bali Hi and the beautiful waters of Cook’s Bay below. Back at the ship we were treated to a private tour of the surround bays on one of the cruise ship’s motorized zodiacs. We had hoped to encounter some wild dolphin pods, but no such luck! Our friends who went scuba diving, however, encountered no less than 60 sharks on their dive, some as big as 20 feet! Leaving Tahiti was difficult. We could easily have there forever!

In July, we headed north to Canada where Eric was a guest speaker at a Star Trek convention in Toronto – conveniently arranged to we could take advantage of an opportunity to visit Debra’s family (mom & dad, brother & sister-in-law, our niece and two nephews) – all of whom attended the convention. Father Terry, the priest who married us, also made a surprise visit to the convention, and we had a great time. Debra stayed in Toronto for a few extra days to spend more time with her family, but Eric had to return to work in Los Angeles. Coincidentally, Eric’s sister and brother-in-law were in Southern California at the same time, as were Deb’s bridesmaids, Linda & Angie. Since Stacey was staying in the same area as Linda and Angie, they drove Stacey into the city one day to visit with Eric, then came back the next day for another visit, this time with Toya (who sang at our wedding)! It would have been even more fun if Deb could have been here!

During the summer, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary and mostly kept busy with work. Debra resigned from her Home Health position in July to spend more time working in the Short Stay unit at the hospital. Eric continues his employment at Paramount Pictures, and is currently working for his writer/producer boss on projects which include the next Star Trek movie and a TV pilot for CBS. Additionally, Debra took on some additional clients in her capacity as a freelance booking agent. Debra books actors for personal appearances at Star Trek conventions. We started a house fund this year in our quest to become homeowners, and the extra income from both Eric and Debra’s convention activities has been helpful. Eric also writes a regular column for the Communicator, a magazine published by the Official Star Trek Fan Club.

The summer’s end was sadly marked by the untimely death of Britain’s Princess Diana, which hit Eric particularly hard because of his affinity for England and all things royal. Our friends from England (Kim, Ali, Theresa & Debbie) were particularly thoughtful – sending copies of special Diana tributes and adding our names to the official books of condolence in England – even though it was we who should been consoling them on their nation’s loss. Such is the hospitality of the British people. Fortunately this year, we did have the opportunity to return some of the hospitality as we hosted a series of visits from various of our British friends, and some acquaintances from Germany, too.

On Halloween weekend, Debra participated in an annual craft fair organized and hosted by Eric’s sister, Stacey, in Eugene. The craft fair was a success and good fun was had by all. But on Sunday (which was intended to be a combo birthday celebration for Eric & Stacey), Eric came down with a 24-hour bug an couldn’t even partake in the home-cooked meal prepared especially by mom! Drats!!!

For the second year in a row, we found ourselves out of the country for Thanksgiving. This year, Debra arranged for Eric to be a guest at a Star Trek convention in Sydney, Australia. Since the trip coincided with a paid U.S. holiday, we were able to spend 10 days down under. We arrived in Sydney on November 21st and hit the ground running – visiting a wildlife park on the very first day. We got to see Koalas, Kangaroos, Wombats, and other exotic animals, and Eric even handled a black-headed python. Debra opted to be less adventurous. The convention was small, but great fun, and our hosts, Adel & Brian Carr, were ever the gracious hosts. On Monday, they took us to the Hunter Valley and arranged a wine & cheese tasting at one of Australia’s wineries. On Tuesday, they took us to the Blue Mountains. On Wednesday, we toured Sydney and helped celebrate the grand opening of Star City – a new mega-casino at Darling Harbor. The celebration included fireworks and a free outdoor concert by Diana Ross, which we attended. The next day, Debra and I visited the casino, won $100 (courtesy of Debra, who has her mother’s touch at the slot machines!), and were the very first guests to eat lunch in the hotel’s rooftop restaurant overlooking the majestic Sydney skyline. Later that evening, we joined Adele & Brian at Sydney’s Planet Hollywood restaurant where we treated our hosts to their very first Thanksgiving dinner! On Friday, they drove us down the coast past Botany Bay, the place where Australia’s first British colonists arrived in the 19th century – mostly criminals sent to establish a penal colony.

We also visited a couple of jewelry stores, one of which featured some of Australia’s famous, naturally-occurring pink diamonds. These diamonds are so rare, a one-carat stone sells for $250,000.00. We decided to pass on the pink diamonds this time around, but we did buy a couple of Australian opals. Our ten days in Australia was over before we knew it, and soon we found ourselves on a flight headed for home. The only advantage to spending 14 hours on a place ride from Sydney is that we arrived home in Los Angeles five hours before we left. We departed Sydney on Saturday at 1 PM and arrived in L.A. at 7:30 AM the same Saturday. Amazing those time travel machines!

We’ve barely had a chance to catch our breath since returning, and now the holidays are upon us already. On December 5th, we hosted more German guests for a dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant in North Hollywood. On the 6th, we attended Debra’s Short Stay Christmas party. Next week we have more parties and birthday dinners to attend. We’ll spend Christmas with Heidi & Waverly Smothers and their three kids in Granada Hills. (Heidi is the production coordinator on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; she and Eric grew up and went to school together in Eugene.) We’ll probably have a quiet New Year’s Eve, then we’re off to Las Vegas on January 3, 1998, for the grand opening of the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton – a new Paramount Parks attraction which includes an interactive adventure on board the starship Enterprise, a 22-minute flight simulation ride through space, and a visit to Quark’s restaurant & bar (and gift shop!) at Deep Space Nine... but more on that in next year’s letter! We hope your New Year takes off with similar excitement and good fortune!

Love & Best Wishes Always,

Debra & Eric

Christmas 1996

Season’s Greetings!

Another busy year comes to a close and we find ourselves looking forward to 1997 as we reflect on the twelve months past...

The beginning of 1996 was filled with anticipation and excitement as we dedicated every weekend and every moment of free time to the planning and organization of our wedding. With very little hesitation, every married couple we encountered this year were more than delighted to share their own wedding horror stories with us. So even when we were traveling we found a way to devote time to our nuptial preparation (including the hunt for white lace stockings in Department Stores throughout England and Wales!). In Cardiff we turned on the television in our hotel room to find a program called “Wedding Disasters” being broadcast, which only reinforced our determination to be ready and prepared for any eventuality come what July.

The beginning of the year also saw some work-related changes for both of us. Debra applied for a new position with Providence-St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. In March she switched from being a regular float nurse at the hospital to being assigned specifically to the Short Stay Unit where patients stay for a few hours following minor surgery or walk-in treatment. Since there are no overnight patients, Debra is no longer required to work evenings and only an occasional weekend. As a per diem nurse, she makes her own schedule and works as many or few days as she likes. The flexibility of the job and the good nature of her manager, Cheryl, make it easy for us to travel when the opportunities arise.

In January and February, Eric continued his temporary assignments with various offices in the “Star Trek” writing department at Paramount Pictures. A permanent position became available in March and Eric was hired as Michael Piller’s assistant, returning to Paramount as a full-time employee with benefits! Michael is one of the co-creators of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek:Voyager” and was also Executive Producer of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” during Eric’s previous stint as Script Coordinator. In April, Michael stepped down as Executive Producer of “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” to begin a 3-year development deal to write and create new television programs for Paramount. Michael continues to serve as Creative Consultant for “Star Trek” and other projects. Additionally, he sold his first feature film script to Paramount, which is being developed by Producer/Director Sydney Pollack. Eric’s favorite aspect of working for Michael is typing the scripts through their various stages of revision. Michael is a brilliant writer and working for him is a wonderful learning experience.

In March we attended a small “Star Trek” convention in Salt Lake City where Eric got to meet Debra’s friends Larry & Ann Heinhold and their daughter Stephanie. In April we flew to Eugene on a wedding reconnaissance mission Easter weekend. We met with our photographer, the Church officials, the florist, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick makers...

The first weekend of May found us in Cardiff, Wales, for another “Star Trek” convention. We had a wonderful time with our British friends, Debbie & Theresa Moorin (who we’ve met previously on “Star Trek” cruises and conventions in Pasadena) and their mother Liz, who had driven up from Devon to spend the weekend. Debra never did find the white lace stockings she was hoping to wear at the wedding, despite trips to seven bridal shops in Cardiff and numerous more in the United States. Several weeks after returning to Burbank we received a package in the mail from England with a lovely pair of white lace stockings inside. Seems Mrs. Moorin was able to locate the stockings, with help from her sister, and pass them along to Debra as a gift. It was a wonderful surprise -- and one less thing on our list of “Wedding Things To Do...”

We attended Eric’s family reunion during Memorial weekend in Carlton, Oregon. Another chance for the relatives to meet Debra and for Debra to begin sorting out all the names and faces in Eric’s family tree. The weekend also allowed us to finalize some last minute details in Eugene as well.

In June, Eric’s sister and brother-in-law, Stacey & Marc Cogswell came to Southern California for a visit. While they were here, we devoted a full day to our annual outing: a trip to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire -- where 17th Century England is recreated in a regional state park about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. Every year we like to dress-up in our 17th Century peasant clothes (you should see Debra in a peasant skirt with bodice and lace!) and pretend to travel back into time where we can eat, drink and be merry! Afterwards we got to visit with Marc’s brother and his family who live in the area, too. Stacey and Marc also attended the co-ed bridal shower in Burbank hosted by Debra’s maid of honor, MaryAnne Given.

Also in June we decided to break with tradition (in a big way) and go on a honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean -- before the wedding. In reality it was a previous engagement for Eric (as emcee for Cruise Trek ‘96: The Caribbean Exploration), and we had a wonderful time. The cruise sailed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and stopped at the Caribbean islands of St. Thomas, Guadaloupe, Grenada, Aruba, as well as the city of Caracas, capitol of Venezuela, in South America! The cruise reunited us with previous Cruise Trekkers as well as friends from the Los Angeles area including Suzanne Fuentes, Diane Peterson, Lynda & Dan Foley, as well as our friends who organize and run Cruise Trek, Linda Wolf and Charles Datin.

On July 13th, in Eugene, Oregon, we were married. Since most of you reading this newsletter also attended the wedding or have heard stories and seen pictures, we won’t bore you with all the details again. Suffice it to say, it was a lovely day (despite the unusually warm weather!) and for us, it couldn’t have been more perfect. We were honored by the presence of everyone who attended. We were thrilled, too, that so may people from distant places could join our friends and relatives in Oregon. Father Terry flew from Toronto, Canada, as did Debra’s parents Clinton & Margaret Holdbrook and her brother and sister-in-law, Steven & Elaine Holdbrook. Our friend & soloist, Toya Brown, came up from Los Angeles, as did friends Linda Wolf, Charles Datin, Lolita Fatjo, Heidi & Waverly Smothers, David George (Eric’s best man), Karen Ragan, MaryAnne Given (Debra’s maid of honor) and Hugh Given. Victoria Zimmerman & John Ratnaswamy flew from Chicago, Angie Aniol came from Davenport, Iowa, and Linda Husong from Fort Worth, Texas. Debra’s relatives, the Davies family and the Quarts family, drove down from British Columbia. Eric’s relatives, the Fergusons, drove up from Northern California and numerous more of Eric’s family drove from various parts throughout Oregon.

The siblings of the bride and groom and their respective spouses still haven’t been thanked enough for all their help at the wedding and reception (thank you, again, Marc, Stacey, Steven & Elaine!) as well as both sets of parents for being so wonderful. We also had great fun opening our gifts at the party hosted by Delmer and Frankie Stillwell at their home the day after the wedding -- even if it was 103 degrees in the shade! We stayed at a beautiful Bed & Breakfast in Eugene before returning to California.

In Burbank we had another reception on July 20th for our friends and co-workers who were unable to attend the wedding in Eugene. Eric’s parents drove down from Eugene with our wedding gifts (as well as Eric’s entire childhood “Star Trek” collection dating back to 1972!). Our apartment will never be the same! We haven’t seen the dining room table in months, and that huge walk-in closet... well, you can’t walk in it anymore!

In August we worked to pay off wedding bills.

In September we flew to New Jersey to attend the wedding of our friends Karen and David (Eric’s best man). In turn, Eric was one of David’s best men. The wedding was held indoors (thanks to some residual weather from a hurricane) at an old Victorian mansion, and the service was very beautiful. The reception afterwards was great fun. During the weekend we met many of Karen’s relatives and friends of both. We also had the pleasure of meeting David’s mother, Patricia, his sister, Jennifer, and Anita. John and Victoria were also there from Chicago, and all seven of us had a great time together at dinner one night. The next day we drove with John & Victoria along the Jersey shore before heading back to Newark for our flights home.

In October we worked to pay off wedding bills.

In November we celebrated Eric’s birthday by attending a small “Star Trek” luncheon in Sacramento, California, which was a fundraiser for the Pediatric Aids Foundation. Eric was one of the honorary guests and the group raised over $6,000.00 for the charity. Back in Los Angeles we attended the World Premiere of “Star Trek: First Contact” at Mann’s Chinese Theater on November 18th. The film was followed by a huge Hollywood party across the street which was attended by the entire cast of the film, the writers, the producers, the director and many others. Debra got to tell the film’s producer, Rick Berman, how much more she enjoyed this movie compared to his first “Star Trek” film!

On November 21st we departed Los Angeles for another convention in England. (Ironically, we had a connecting flight through JFK airport in New York City on November 22nd -- the 33rd anniversary of JFK’s assassination.) We eventually arrived in London after what seemed like a never-ending flight and were met at the airport by one of the convention organizers, Ali Hopkins, who promptly drove us to the site of the convention (two hours away) in Folkestone, England, an ancient little town situated precariously on a cliff overlooking the English Channel. The next morning we caught up with our friends Lolita Fatjo and Max Grodénchik (who plays Rom on “Deep Space Nine”), who were also there for the convention. Max had just come from a convention appearance in Northern Ireland. Debra made all the “talent” arrangements for both conventions, representing Max, Lolita and Eric. Lolita and Eric hosted one of their “writers workshops” during the weekend and were interviewed by the Sci Fi Channel.

Convention organizer Kim Knight made everybody feel right at home. Our friends Debbie, Theresa and Liz also came for the weekend and a good time was had by all. The weather turned stormy on Sunday evening -- gale force winds across the English Channel. We were concerned that our plans to cross the Channel the next morning would be scuttled. But the storm blew itself out overnight and the next morning we went to Dover for the ferry trip across the Channel to Boulogne, France.

We arrived in France on November 25th. We took a train to Paris and arrived in the early evening. After navigating through the Paris underground -- The Metro -- we arrived at our quaint little hotel in the old part of Paris not far from Notre Dame. The Hotel du Lys, now remodeled, had once been a mansion in the 17th Century. Our room was small, but quiet -- and furnished with all the modern amenities. From the hotel we could walk to numerous cobblestone streets filled with restaurants, cafes and outdoor markets. The weather was mostly cold and rainy, but Paris is a beautiful city and we had a great time. During our five day visit, we traveled the Metro to numerous tourist sites, including the beautiful cathedral Sacre-Cœur which overlooks the city, Notre Dame cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, L’Arc de Triumph, Avenue Champs Elyseé, and the Moulin Rouge district. We devoted one entire day to the Louvre, a former royal palace-turned museum, where we witnessed famous works of art firsthand, including the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory and the Venus de Milo. We spent Thanksgiving Day at Disneyland Paris and at one point it was actually snowing. The Seine River cruise in freezing cold weather was also “interesting.” Eventually we were exhausted and ready to go home, but first we needed to get back to London for our return flight. Originally we had planned to take the Eurostar train from Paris to London via The Chunnel (a train tunnel under the English Channel) but a train fire several days before our arrival had caused the indefinite closure of The Chunnel. Fortunately we were able to make flight arrangements back to London from Paris.

Our friends Gail and Bo Maxwell met us at Heathrow and helped us get checked in at our airport hotel for the overnight stay. Then they drove us to to see Windsor Castle, not far from the airport. Windsor village is an ancient and delightful place. We walked along the banks of the River Thames and watched the swans swimming. Afterward, Bo & Gail drove us to Woodstock -- another old and quaint village near Oxford, adjacent to the family estate of Winston Churchill’s family. We had “tea” at an old hotel, with a fire raging in the hearth. We loved every minute of it. Then we went back toward London and had an incredible English dinner at a restaurant called ”The Pheasant.” On December 1st, we returned to Los Angeles.

Now we’re well into December and the month seems to have zipped by with holiday parties and Christmas shopping. In just a few short days we’ll be flying to Eugene to spend Christmas with Eric’s parents. We’ll also celebrate Del’s 62nd birthday before returning to Burbank for the New Year.

To each and every one of you, your friends and loved ones, we send best wishes for a New Year filled with happiness, joy, love and good health!

Love,
Eric & Debra