Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Natalie, Evan, Tonia and Alan! This is a big transition year for the family, with Evan finishing up middle school and Natalie finishing up high school. Alan, who hit the Big 5-0 this year, is science editor at MSNBC.com, and Tonia is the queen of the home and garden. Here's a picture that was taken during the height of the fall colors at Run of the River Inn in Leavenworth, Wash. Let's hope 2005 will be at least as colorful. Click on the thumbnails below for more highlights from the past year.

We haven't gotten any snow yet this holiday season, but this snapshot of our house from last winter should get you into the mood for a winter wonderland.

This year's big trip took place in July, when we went back to Iowa to help Alan's mom and dad move from their big house into smaller quarters. Natalie and Alan drove back to Washington state, visiting Utah (more about that later) and Yellowstone National Park along the way. The buffalo were out in force at Yellowstone, at times ambling right across the road.

Alan takes his turn alongside hundreds of other tourists to get his picture taken with the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" in the background. Another highlight of Alan's year was covering the $10 million X Prize rocket competition (the "X" in the Xmas headline at the top of this page). Check out MSNBC's "New Space Race" section to see how Alan spent much of his summer and fall.

Tonia snapped Natalie's official graduation picture, which will grace the Bellevue High School yearbook next spring. Natalie, a honeybee fan, was impressed by the Bee Lab at Utah State University during our summer visit to Logan, and has applied to Utah State as well as Western Washington University.

Alan turned 50 this year, and we celebrated the milestone with a garden party in August, complete with lemondrop martinis. One of Natalie's friends is a fiddler and wrote an Irish air for the occasion. Take a listen, or if the first link doesn't work, check this Yahoo archive.

Bijou, our irresistible Tibetan spaniel, turns 2 years old in January . Here's a picture of Bijou in the vegetable garden. Toby, our Norfolk terrier, is just as scrappy as ever. We still haven't come up with a name for our border canary, but he's doing fine, too, as are our resident hummingbirds.

Now we're getting into the holiday swing of things: Tonia, Evan, Natalie and her friend Claire decorate a batch of Christmas cookies in early December. Note how green the grass still is outside.

Mmm, the finished product. These didn't last long.

Evan and Natalie picked out the Christmas tree. Next come the ornaments, the presents ... and the warm wishes we send out to all of you for a happy holiday and an even better New Year. All the best from the Boyles!