If we didn’t get to see you this year, we hope to in 2025!

Wow, where to start? First of all, I hope you all have our correct mailing address now. It’s 1221 Ocean Ave. Apt 808, Santa Monica, CA. Marissa’s cell is 310-591-4206 and David’s is 310-295-8466 - update your address books!

We have been renting a place in Santa Monica to be closer to David’s work, and are very much enjoying being close to the beach and watching sunsets daily. 🌅

Highlights from this year:
David turned 50. (What?!?) His friend sent us a singing telegram to celebrate, which was so much fun (May photo). He was also awarded an endowed chair for his work at PNI’s Brain Health Center (June photo - so deserved!). We celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary with a second honeymoon in Maui (October photo), which was amazing! The photo is us at the top of Heleakalā, a dormant volcano where we watched the sun set from above the clouds, and then got to see all the stars. It was incredible.

Calvin turned 12 in September. He is in 6th grade, enjoys playing eukelele (teaching himself, no lessons), video game playing and creating, drawing/painting/sketching/art class, dungeons and dragons, and is doing great at school and life. He’s a responsible and caring young man who looks out for his sister and supports his friends. He ran cross country again this year and will likely play soccer in the spring. He was Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s day off for Halloween, which was pretty epic and a bit hit with the parents. I took him to Tony Robbin’s Unleash the Power Within in November and he walked on hot coals. Now he can add “Firewalker” to his resume. Pretty cool!

Emily turned 8 in November. She is in 2nd grade, and having a blast with all her friends. They are a very creative bunch of fabulous young ladies. She still loves Nutella (anything chocolate, for that matter), and all cute little ‘Hello Kitty’ things - especially Cinnamoroll. She is enjoying reading some graphic novel series, dance class, and piano (on her terms, no lessons). She continues to be our sweet ray of sunshine, loves to have fun, and is always singing at home. It’s like living in a musical! She and I were matching butterflies for Halloween this year. 🦋

I traveled to Australia for the first time this year in March, and got to pet koalas and kangaroos and hear kookaburras. We hope to return as a family next summer. I continued building The Parent Doctor, an educational platform to support and empower parents using neuroscience, psychology and spirituality. My goal is to reduce the teen mental health crisis on a big scale by supporting as many parents as possible. You can support my growth by rating and following my podcast (The Parent Doctor Podcast), sharing my free monthly bookclub and Instagram (@the_parent_doctor) with any parents you know! I’m available for speaking events in person or virtually too, just reach out (hello@theparentdoctor.com). And since I’m sharing all our ages, I turned 47 this year! So far, it just keeps getting better🔥

Fluffy, our chihuaweinerdoodle, is now 12 or 13, though from his energy you wouldn’t know it. He has only a few teeth left and howls randomly at times for no apparent reason. He doesn’t seem to hear very well either, but overall he seems happy enough and the vet said he’s super healthy and we should expect several more years with him. If any of you would like a trial dog, or “foster dog”, I can promise a high likelihood that a week with him would reduce your children’s begging for a future dog. His schedule is open and he travels well. Let us know, cell #s above 👆

Coco, our Havanese princess, is already 2 and has calmed down a fair bit from her wild puppy days. She definitely wins “cutest pet”, but has some bad habits (she will shred any paper or tissues you leave in her vicinity, including rolls of toilet paper when we leave a bathroom door open). We forgive these infractions because…cuteness.

Overall, life is a colorful, sometimes chaotic, but usually fun and peaceful mix at this phase and we are so very thankful for all we have, most importantly our health, work we enjoy, and the friendship and support we have from all of you! Wishing you a healthy holiday season and fun-filled year ahead.

XOXO,

Marissa (and David, Calvin, and Emily - but really, we both know this was all me! 😉)