December 2017
Dear Family and Friends,
This past year has been one of joy and sorrow, new beginnings and sad goodbyes, but always centered in the love we’ve felt for and from you all.
January welcomed two new fur babies into the Sliwa family. Brandy, a red Standard Poodle, and Beckett, a mini Irish Goldendoodle, have dominated our lives all year with their training, feeding, antics, and mischief. With the addition of an electric fence, bark collars, new carpet, and flooring, I think we’re finally through their destructive puppy phase. As if by magic, when they reached one year old, they’ve started behaving like more mature dogs. Hurray! But they are so cute and affectionate; it’s been hard not to spoil them rotten.
Casper had time to meet the puppies and indoctrinate them into the ways of Sliwa pet-hood before crossing the rainbow bridge in July. He had been a part of the lives of six of our dogs during his long and affectionate life. He had lived in five states and seven houses with us over the 22 years he was with us.
Seeq has been developing nicely into its fourth year. Steve just closed $18M in Series B funding (he says there is a little more coming in the New Year), and the company now has 35 employees working out of their virtual office. They’ve just released Version 19 (quarterly releases) as they bring the best of ‘big data,’ ‘visual analytics,’ and ‘machine learning’ to their clients. Seeq is now up to 75 customers including Abbott Nutrition, Amgen, Chobani, ExxonMobil, International Paper, P&G, Shell, and Tesla. Steve says it’s still in the scary early stages, but he’s pretty excited about the prospects.
This summer saw several trips featuring our bright yellow Cirrus. We flew to upstate New York for a big Sliwa Family reunion. Hiking Watkins Glen, touring the Corning Glass Museum, and visiting the National Soaring Museum, where Steve’s mother was once director, were just a few of the activities interspersed with wonderful family conversations and meals.
Another big trip this summer was to visit the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh once again. It had been eight years since our last visit to the most extensive air show in the US. This time Steve flew the Cirrus out with student pilot Ethan Graham and Seeq partner Brian Parsonnet, and Nancy flew with friend Marcie Smith in Marcie’s Cessna 182. We had a great time touring the modern aircraft, seeing new product technologies, and watching the nostalgic re-enactments with all the old warplanes.
Rich and Tabitha are continuing their split schedule between Hood River and Portland. Rich is just now finishing up his tenure with Elemental, an Amazon subsidiary. He plans to pursue other opportunities in the New Year outside of Amazon. Tabitha has reduced her hours with Seeq and has not only started teaching Barre3 classes in Portland, but is also starting a wedding/special occasion make-up business featuring organic cosmetic products. Check out her new website at www.PearlandBlush.com. She has recently finished her certification and licensing to prepare her for the 2018 wedding season.
Nancy visited her mother in Tennessee several times over the year, including throwing her a big 90th luau-themed birthday party in June. Steve flew the Cirrus out to Johnson City and served as the party photographer. (link) Sadly, Alma passed away in November, but she left an enduring legacy of love with her friends and family. (link)
The coming New Year already promises to bring new and exciting things, including a tour of the Holy Land in Israel for Nancy. We hope that life continues to be fulfilling and adventurous for you and yours.
Love,
Steve, Nancy, Brandy, and Beckett
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We lost Casper this year, but here he is purring next to the new puppies. He trained them well. |
Puppies sure group up too fast; picture here before a swim in the Columbia River. |
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Steve and Nancy posing with Tabitha and Rich Colie. |
Nancy with her mom at her 90th Birthday Party. |
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Nancy’s plane, Maxwell, looks good and the technology really contributes to the safety and enjoyment. We put in almost 150 hours of flight time this year. |
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Shot of Maxwell’s panel while Nancy maneuvers between storms near Chicago. |
Steve and the Seeq sales team at a conference in San Francisco. |
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The Seeq team at a meet-up in Scottsdale. Seeq’s geographically distributed team uses virtual office software so meet-ups are valuable team building events. |
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Sliwa Family Reunion in Elmira NY. Here we are about to hike down Watkins Glen. |
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