Howdy! I hope this greeting finds all of you in good spirits. We have all survived another year here in

Ponca City, America, in that ever elusive journey to what I like to refer to as retirement.

I did a little checkin’ before I started writin’ this letter, and most of the stuff in general is about the same

as it was last year with our clan. Our address is the same. I counted the children, and we still have three

of them. I still have the same job (pursuant to my long term goal in paragraph one), but Lisa doesn’t.

More on that later. I reckon it’s just the details that have changed throughout the year, so let me see if

my aging mind can recall a few of those and give y’all the highlights.

Kenny, our 17 year old, is now half way through his senior year of high school. He doesn’t spend a lot of

time at the high school, though. He has managed to get himself far enough ahead on credits that he

only has to carry one hour of high school credits (and that’s an elective) to graduate in the spring. He

spends that one hour out at the ag farm, so his senior year of high school is pretty much a blow off from

that perspective. He does spend the rest of his academic time taking concurrent classes through the

local college. When he graduates high school, he will also have 30 hours of college credits, so he should

be in good shape to start his college career as well. The rest of his time he spends working and hunting.

Maybe when I write next year’s update I can tell you which university he is going to and what he plans to

study. Right now we aren’t sure, because we haven’t found a Duck Commander University that offers a

B.S. in Duck Calling with a guaranteed $100K/yr job post-graduation. At 17 years old, he ain’t quite got it

all prioritized yet.

I reckon y’all have probably heard the expression “slow and steady wins the race”? I can’t think of a

better phrase to describe Brad, our now 14 year old male half of the twin set. I usually review last year’s

notes before I write these things, and I could just copy and paste my update for Brad. That ain’t a bad

thing, though. You may recall his main obsession is all things medical. If that sticks, that may just pay

off in the end!! The little man spent most of his time this summer volunteering at the hospital just so he

could be around all that kind of stuff. That was 40 hours a week! He was 13 years old. No pay.

Volunteering. No pay! He loved it. No pay. I gotta talk to him. They loved him, too. Gee, I wonder

why? NO PAY. I gotta talk to him. He did get to collect a bunch of medical “gear” that was going to be

thrown away that he now can play around with at home. Out of date stuff and the like. No drugs or

anything, but I have caught him trying to intubate the dogs a few times. Just kiddin’!!! He thinks that is

pretty cool. Other than that, Brad is still doing great in his school work. He is still active and doing very

well in both basketball and tennis.

Ashley, the female half of the twin set, is still Ashley. She is 14 years old now, and she is growing up.

There is no doubt that she will be her own person and that will be a great thing in time. She continues

to be a standout basketball player, and without a doubt will grow into one of the better tennis players in

our area if she decides she wants to continue down that path. The high school coaches have already pin

pointed her as being one they want to watch for as she continues. That can’t be a bad thing, right? Ney

Ney (that’s our nick name for her) is also doing pretty well in school. She has an ability to stay on task

which lends itself well to both athletics and studies. That’s good. I don’t know where her interests lie

for a career, but she has a lot of Ellie May Clampett in her. I often wonder if it came down to a life and

death situation where she had to choose between her dog or one of the family members…….no, that’s

just wrong!!! Anyway, maybe she’ll be a veterinarian. I hate to see my little Re-peat (Lisa is Peat….you

know, Peat and Re-peat) growing up, but I reckon there isn’t much I can do about it.

As for Lisa and I, we are as good as can be expected. As I mentioned up top, I am still at the same job

working at the same ol’ place. It has been a very trying year for the company. Without getting into any

boring details, we are a commodities based business (beef packer), and we have been through some

rough markets plus a few incidents with the company itself to include being slapped with an unexpected

fire on the fabrication floor that halted production for a while. It has made for some long days and

weeks for both the folks in the plant and all of us in management, but I have survived at work and the

family has put up with me at home. All in all, I have it much better than I probably deserve, so I ain’t

complaining. As for Lisa, and to follow up on that earlier comment about her job status, she is now

working a new job. I am not going to pretend to understand all of what it involves, but she is now

employed by the National Safety Council. She gets to work from home most of the time, but she does

travel quite a bit (a little more than I thought it would be). Most of that travel is down into Texas, so she

does get to see some of our friends down there (Hey, y’all!!!!) when she goes. Other than our work

lives, we still maintain our typically busy home routines that I won’t pretend most of you that read this

don’t understand yourselves. You’ve all been there yourselves or are right there with us now, so no

point in boring you with our details on that.

Well, I reckon that’s enough for this year. I’m about tired of typing. I say it every year, and this year will

be no different. When and if you are ever in our area, we would love to hear from you and have you

stop by for a visit. You are always welcome! From all of us to you and yours, have a very Merry

Christmas and the Happiest New Years!

Sincerely,

The Robinsons

(Kevin, Lisa, Kenny, Bradley, Ashley)