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2019 was all about changes. Sonia graduated from Smith. Jared and Draken graduated from Washington-Lee (now renamed Washington Liberty). And we did lots of other stuff. Here is Draken with something he just baked. He's really taken to baking and cooking

January 6, 2019 at 5:06:25 PM iPhone SE

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In February Beth and Simson went to see Metric, a band that Simson has gotten into. Here is Beth's glamor shot in front of the club.

February 15, 2019 at 6:08:04 PM iPhone SE

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In March, Simson and Sonia took a trip to New York. Beth thought that viewers of this picture show would be bored by the picturesque photos of the High Line and New York City architecture. There was a Samsung event space at the bottom of the High Line and Simson and Sonia took this cool photo.

March 9, 2019 at 1:17:06 PM SM-N960U1

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Sonia continued to have problems with her glasses.

March 12, 2019 at 12:24:27 PM

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Simson's father celebrated his 90th birthday and had this lovely dinner at his continuing care facility. It went so well, he's determined to have a 91st as well.

March 23, 2019 at 6:29:35 PM

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Jared was accepted to Northeastern University (where he now attends). This was the welcome celebration that we attended, where he realized that he could switch from the school of humanities to the school of engineering.

March 31, 2019 at 11:45:26 AM

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Sonia graduated from Smith. Here are the photos she didn't buy.

April 7, 2019 at 10:29:07 AM

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And she got her class ring. April 11, 2019 at 5:11:44 PM

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Draken was accepted to Brandeis, where he is now a first year student.

April 14, 2019 at 3:01:21 PM

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Sonia was the "pitch" of Groove, an a capella group at Smith. This is the cover of their last album. April 27, 2019 at 4:14:28 AM

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Here we have Draken and Jared with their prom dates, Miranda and Casey.

May 3, 2019 at 7:42:42 PM

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Simson attended the 125th reunion of The Shipley School, which he graduated from in 1983. There was this huge bubble. A portion of the school is in the background.

May 4, 2019 at 12:20:48 PM

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Sonia marched in her graduation! May 19, 2019 at 12:35:38 PM

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Here we have the graduate and the proud mother.

May 19, 2019 at 1:26:30 PM

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The New York Times unearthed this historic photo of Simson covering a press conference with Steve Jobs. You can't tell from the photo, but Simson is the only one wearing sandals.

May 31, 2019 at 12:28:06 AM

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Draken and his friend Miranda are cooking up a storm.

May 31, 2019 at 4:44:30 PM

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We had a little graduation party... June 16, 2019 at 5:13:22 PM NIKON D3100

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...with cute little cake decorations. June 17, 2019 at 7:05:08 AM

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The next day, Simson and Draken left for Israel. (Their flight was delayed due to weather in NYC, so they actually flew out the following day.) Here they arrived! Draken went to Israel for a 3 week archaeological dig.

June 22, 2019 at 1:13:03 PM

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Draken contemplates the Western Wall June 22, 2019 at 5:34:14 PM

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Here is Draken with professor Yossi Garfinkel of Hebrew University (relationship uncertain). Dr. Garfinkel took good care of Draken Garfinkel (Draken was the youngest person on the dig).

June 23, 2019 at 9:32:08 AM

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Meanwhile, Simson stayed in Israel and worked on his novel, which takes place in Jerusalem. Here Simson is underground, tramping through a passageway that brought water inside the City of David so that the city could withstand a seige.

June 24, 2019 at 11:56:44 AM DMC-ZS50

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_aa7e.jpg A really cool street scene in Jerusalem June 25, 2019 at 6:19:09 AM

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Simson with the Magritte at the Jerusalem Museum. June 25, 2019 at 4:32:26 PM

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Here we have another underground tunnel. We are now alongside the Western Wall of the Second Temple. In the novel, we will go underneath the Western Wall.

June 26, 2019 at 10:02:17 AM DMC-ZS50

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On the way back from Israel, Simson just happened to sit next to Chris, someone he has known since 2001 when he was at EPIC. Simson and Chris are now writing a book together. The novel is on hold.

June 28, 2019 at 11:09:31 AM

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Can you believe it? Simson and Sonia went back to New York City and went to the top of One World Trade Center. Here we are looking down.

July 5, 2019 at 4:25:05 PM

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This is the "cube of truth" created by Anonymous For the Voiceless, a veganism group. Veganism is the way of the future, you know.

July 5, 2019 at 6:47:54 PM

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Meanwhile, we must do our best to eat all of the remaining fish. This is a huge all-you-can-eat Sushi bar that Simson and Sonia went to in New York City.

July 5, 2019 at 7:25:03 PM

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And this is crazy. This is a coffee shop that has different kinds of baklava arranged in drawers. You read the right. In drawers!

July 6, 2019 at 11:07:43 AM

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Oh, Simson and Sonia were in New York to see Moulin Rouge.

July 6, 2019 at 1:39:15 PM

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Simson took a trip to Stockholm, where he planed to meet Draken. Except that the plane had a fuel leak and it had to turn back before going over the Atlantic and get another plane.

July 13, 2019 at 8:55:42 PM

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This year Simson and Beth really got into CrossFit. Simson visited a CrossFit gym in Stockholm and got this photo of himself, so the workout wasn't wasted after all.

July 18, 2019 at 7:39:06 AM

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On the way back, Simson visited Bletchley Park and got a photo of himself with the famous Turing statue. July 22, 2019 at 4:02:52 PM

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Miranda drew these lovely charactures of Casper (left) and Reuven (right) on our white board.

August 17, 2019 at 12:12:07 PM

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Simson started teaching at GW August 23, 2019 at 2:55:28 PM

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Draken packed up and went to Brandeis. (Jared went to Ireland, but the photo didn't come out.)

August 24, 2019 at 7:43:19 AM

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Simson and Beth celebrated their 25th reunion. Here is a lovely card that they received (and still have).

October 14, 2019 at 9:29:02 AM iPhone 6s

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Jared spent his first college semester taking classes at University College Dublin and going on a lot of field trips. October 19, 2019 at 4:37:13 AM

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The family celebrated Thanksgiving in Barcelona, where we visited the Plaça de la Sagrada Familia, a bascilla that is still under construction.

November 30, 2019 at 1:38:55 PM iPhone 6s

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We were were really bad about taking group photos so we will leave you with a photo with bottles of wine and food, which is really what Barcelona is about. We hope you had a great 2019 and are looking forward to a calm 2020.

November 30, 2019 at 6:56:49 PM iPhone 6s