With much of the beginning of the 2008-09 school year disrupted by "Hurricane Ike" and time spent on damage repairs, one of the things delayed was the Bellaire High School musical production. The theatre department is known for choosing ambitious and/or relatively unknown shows and their production of "The Frogs" in January was both. Dan was an impressive Herakles in a part that showcased his vocal skills and a costume that showed off his muscles nicely.

 
The closest Belinda got to being in a musical theatre production was hidden in the pit for a local community production of "Hello Dolly!" She was originally asked to play bass guitar in the orchestra, but when the rented music arrived it was obvious that a double bass was going to be much more appropriate. That being one of the few instruments that she does not own, there was quite a bit of last-minute scrambling to find one to borrow, and then brushing off 30 years of rust to remember how to play it.

 
In a more visible role, Belinda remains highly active with Houston Choral Showcase, one of only a couple of adult show choirs in Texas. An entirely new repertoire is developed each season (twice a year), and there are about 8-12 performances per season. Belinda is not only a performer with the group, but also responsible for Public Relations on the Board of Directors.

 
In his freshman year at Bellaire High School, Jason played bass guitar in the "pit" for the marching band (pit instruments play from the sidelines and do not march).

 
After that first year, Jason decided that he wanted to be part of the "battery" (the part of the band that marches). So he switched to playing bass drum and consequently now has to master choreography as well as music. The drum is pretty heavy and he has to be careful not to strain his back. In the picture below, Jason has the second largest bass drum (second from the right).

 
And where is Alan while all this musical activity is going on? Most of the time hard at work and often away from home. At a time that has been difficult for so many, he has been blessed with work opportunities for his self-employed consulting engineering business, Rossiter & Associates.
 
In addition to the paid work, Alan also remains committed to Take Heart Association Project, Inc. and here is pictured (second from the right) with the rest of the Board of Directors in Washington, DC. Peter Kamau (third from the left), the founder of the organization, originally met Alan in Kenya many years ago when Peter was a safari guide.

 
A milestone for Dan this year was his graduation from Bellaire High School. We are proud of what he has accomplished so far and look forward to his future successes.

 
Another rite of passage was his high school Senior Prom.

 
Dan is now a college student at University of Texas at San Antonio, with plans to transfer to University of Texas at Austin after his first year. He intends to study Business and Computer Science.

 
Although Dan's dorm room is small, it is at least a private space in a cluster of four rooms with shared lounge and bathroom. However, perhaps technically he has a room-mate if you count his guitar, Elvis.

 
With brother off at college, dad away at work and mom at rehearsals, Jason makes the most of alone time at the house to make noise. Lots of noise. He used proceeds from a summer job to buy a used bass guitar amp/speaker set that is powerful enough to make the house frame shake.

 
And when not vibrating the house that way, he plays loudly enough on his drum kit to be heard at the end of the street. You'll notice that HE wears headphones to block the noise!
 
But seriously, Jason is thoughtful about choosing his practice times so that he does not disrupt others. He works hard and is developing into a fine musician.

 
For several weeks this year, Jason sported an eyebrow piercing. He had wanted to do this for a long time but waited patiently for parental permission, and then for a time that would fit around situations where it would be inappropriate (for instance, he waited until after his summer job at the church had finished). However, he eventually found that managing the fiddly stud was too inconvenient and he has now allowed the hole to close.

 
Alan spent much of the early part of the year commuting to England to see his parents. His father was in hospital for several months, and sadly passed away in May. Here's a fairly recent picture of Alan with brother Jeff and his late father, with two smiling sisters-in-law in the background.

 
We had two interesting cat episodes this year. In May, Xena (right) was lost outside for several days until a neighbour recognized her from posters and captured her.
 
And in November, Midge (left) was scared by a visiting workman and decided to hide in the attic for two days until she was unceremoniously hauled out. For a while we wondered if this would be a repeat of the "Midge Rescue 1999" performance, but on this occasion we did not need to destroy sheetrock or call out the fire department.