Merry Christmas

December 16, 2003

Dear Friends and Customers,

I had planned to send out Christmas letters thanking everyone for their understanding and support during this difficult year for my daughter, MJ. Unfortunately, I have been sick with pneumonia and then Influenza A. To make matters even worse, MJ caught my Influenza and was hospitalized for 8 days starting December 5th. She was home last Saturday and back in the hospital Sunday after having 3 seizures. After the third seizure her breathing was so low that we thought we were going to lose her. Of course after rushing to the ER, she bounced back and was fine. She spent the night in the hospital for observation and has been improving since then. The seizures really scared us so we now have a device that monitors her heart rate and respiration at night. If MJ stops breathing a very loud alarm sounds. My wife, Christine, and I currently believe that the Influenza caused the seizures and that once she is over that illness, she will be fine again.

I am happy to report that the month before the flu was MJ’s best month ever developmentally and really gave us hope that she would in fact get caught up with her peers in the near future. She was doing new things every few days just like a “normal” kid. It was really great to see, and we are looking forward to that again in the next week or so.

With all the health problems the last few months several projects are very behind. If this delay affected you I apologize for any problems. Barring any more emergencies I hope to get caught up in the near future.

We are hoping that 2004 is a better year for the Larsen Family and we are also hoping that 2004 is a great and prosperous year for you. Thank you again for your understanding and support.

Happy Holidays,
Rich Larsen