Happy Holidays: The 2013 edition

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Boyles! There was a California theme to this year's goings-on, as we explain:

		Evan, 24, as the biggest news from the Golden State: He now has a California address as he pursues his Ph.D. in genetics at Stanford University. In August, Evan, Alan and Tonia drove in a convoy through Oregon and Northern California to bring him down to the Bay Area and get him settled on campus. Here you see him framed in the upended roots of a redwood tree. Evan is also enrolled in a Master of Medicine program (a.k.a. MOM), which is aimed at students who are interested in pursuing biomedical research but aren't so interested in an M.D. or clinical work. Meanwhile, Evan's work at the University of Washington's Shendure Lab resulted in some substantial research papers published in Nature, Nature Communications and Bioinformatics. For more about the implications of the gene-editing research published in Nature, check out this commentary.
		Alan, 60, traveled to California several times in 2014 – not only to help Evan move in, but to write about stories on the space and science beat for NBC News Digital. Some of the stories were pretty flashy, such as January's test of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane in Mojave and May's rollout of the SpaceX Dragon V2 capsule that will eventually carry astronauts into orbit. (Alan got to sit inside the capsule, which you're getting a peek at here.) Other stories were tragic, such as SpaceShipTwo's destruction on Halloween and the sad, challenging aftermath. Alan also traveled to the Midwest several times, for conferences in Chicago and Columbus as well as family visits to Iowa. There were also trips to check out the big evolution debate in Kentucky, high-G training in Pennsylvania, zero-G training in New Jersey and Spaceport America's situation in New Mexico. In October, Alan went to Huntsville, Alabama, to accept the Von Braun Communications Award, and in November he was in Cape Canaveral for the first space test of NASA's Orion spaceship in November. The NBC News Seattle office suffered some painful downsizing over the past year, but Alan is still working at Columbia Center, a.k.a the Dark Tower. He's also still president of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.
		Tonia, 64, got in on the big drive to California, but she traveled to other wonderful places as well. In the spring, she and Natalie paid a visit to sister Andromeda in North Carolina. And during the summer, she made several sojourns to Port Townsend to help one of her best friends, Fiona, go house-hunting. (This picture shows Tonia hanging out amid the driftwood at Fort Worden State Park.) Fiona eventually bought a charming double-unit house in the resort town, and we're looking forward to future visits. Tonia has also had her hands full keeping up with our extensive yard, the vegetable and flower garden, and the traditional autumnal rounds of canning. The cupboards are now well-stocked with cherry, raspberry and peach jam, apple butter and other goodies.
		Natalie, 27, is closing in on graduation with a Ph.D. in entomology from Washington State University. Her research focuses on alfalfa leaf-cutter bees and their wanderings through the alfalfa fields of central Washington state. Could they carry pollen from genetically modified crops to non-GMO varieties? How much separation should there be between GMO and non-GMO alfalfa? Those are key questions to answer for central Washington's hay industry, which depends on exporting alfalfa hay to regions that ban GMO crops. This year, Natalie's boyfriend Dan spent Thanksgiving with the Boyles. To balance things out, Natalie is spending Christmas with Dan's family in ... you guessed it ... California. Dan is getting his Ph.D. in physics and also expects to graduate in May.
		Bijou and Rosie, our 12-year-old Tibetan spaniel and 7-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, have been in good health over the past year, and our dog-sitter reports that they behaved themselves while we were on the road in California. Good dogs! We regret to report that Mr. Peepers, our gray canary, passed away after only a few months in our midst. The cage stands empty for now, but it's likely to be filled in 2015 – and the house will once again be filled with tweets. Speaking of tweets, keep up with what we're up to in the new year by following @b0yle on Twitter, or hook up with Alan and Tonia on Facebook. Here's wishing you a great holiday season and an even greater 2015!