Happy holidays from the Dintzis/Van Gelder clan!

We hope the winter season finds you and your family happy and well. We have had a most eventful year in 2008. On Christmas day 2007, Russ, Suzy, Rachel, and Max flew to Seattle to begin our move from St. Louis. Suzy and the kids settled Russ into his apartment on Mercer Island, and Russ began his new job as chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at University of Washington on January 2. After a winter of commuting cross-country, Suzy, the kids, and Zika the guinea pig bought one-way tickets and flew out at the end of March. We bought a house on Mercer Island, and moved in the first of April. We've been settling in to our new lives ever since.


Maxwell decided he did not like the idea of adding an extra digit to his age with his 10th birthday this year and so has decided to count his years in base 16; accordingly he is now A years old. Max hit the school trifecta this year, starting 3rd grade at Westchester Elementary in Kirkwood, MO; finishing 3rd grade at Lake Ridge Elementary on Mercer Island, and starting 4th grade in Mr. Baxter's class at West Mercer Elementary on Mercer Island. Max played baseball in the spring with the Angels, and soccer in the fall with the Dragons. He is enjoying taking Japanese and learning to play tennis.

Rachel turned 13 this year. She transferred from North Kirkwood Middle School to Islander Middle school in April, and is now in 7th grade at Islander. She is enjoying all her classes, particularly science. During the summer, Rachel organized the neighborhood kids to produce a local newspaper for our part of the island, called 'The Hoot'. You can read about it here: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/mir/news/28075874.html.

Rachel played soccer for the Mercer Island Tigers, who posted an undefeated season. She continues to play piano and has been very fortunate to have two wonderful teachers, Mrs. van Eenam in St. Louis and Mrs. Jacobsen on Mercer Island.

With the move, Suzy left her position as chief of pathology at St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield to become Assistant Professor of Pathology at University of Washington. She is signing out general and specialty surgical pathology, teaching residents and students, and is back in research after an eight year hiatus. Suzy's research interests include comparison of mouse and human pathology in genetic disease models, pathogen detection in chronic disease, and the ethics of medical error disclosure. In her spare time, Suzy has embraced the local foods concept and enjoys cruising the plentiful farmer's markets around Seattle.


Russ moved from his position as the BB (Bernard Becker) Professor at Wash U to the BB (Boyd Bucey) Professor at U Wash, where he is also chairman of the ophthalmology department and founding director of the UW Eye Institute. Russ has had a very busy year learning the ropes of his new job, moving his laboratory (including bringing three students and technicians from St. Louis and hiring several new people for lab), starting his uveitis practice in Seattle, hiring new faculty for the department (7 this year!), and planning for the opening of the new Eye Institute next summer.



We spent most of our collective free time since our move exploring our new home. Seattle is wonderful! We have enjoyed finding new favorite ethnic restaurants and exploring the local sites. Highlights have included two trips to the Olympic peninsula and the Washington Coast, a weeklong trip this summer to Vancouver Island and Strathcona Provincial Park in the wild Northern part of the Island, numerous hiking trips to the Cascade Mountains, less than an hour from our house, hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park, and exploring some of the islands of the Puget Sound.

We were very fortunate to have many visitors in Seattle this year, too, and enjoyed hosting Grandma and Grandpa Dintzis, Aunt Joanne, Uncle Jim, and Cousin Marlin, as well we the Lerman family (Joel, Jeanette, Alex, and Derek). We have enjoyed reconnecting with the Green/Henri clan in nearby Everett as well.

Sadly, Russ' brother-in-law Kevin Sharpe passed away this past year after a long battle with metastatic cancer. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Russ' sister Leslie, who now lives in New Zealand.

We know 2009 will be a challenging year for many of our friends and family but also portends great opportunities. We wish you the best in health and happiness for the new year.

Suzy, Russ, Rachel, Max, and Zika