Happy Holidays! 2023 was a pretty good year for us. No one died and we got to welcome a new family member to the world. Declan was born to Maren and David last July. That puts our family up +1 for the year. If you choose to read no more of this letter, you have got the main gist of this year. Oh, we went places, met people, did things and stuff like that, but that sounds all so ordinary in comparison.

So on to the ordinary. We began our travels in January. Our recent progression of winter getaways led us further afield and south this year. We flew to Costa Rica in January. We took a tour there through Roads Scholar, formerly known as Elder Hostel. This organization is one that Bubs and Harry used quite a bit. It was an excellent trip, where we saw lots of wildlife and got to enjoy this vibrant country with others. With the help of our guides, we saw interesting sights and got lots of great pictures.

Our journeys next led us to Monterey, where we visited with my dad and Chris. We had to cut short that visit when Harry fell ill, and Anne was called to the rescue. She flew onto Ann Arbor, and I came home. We parted ways in Salt Lake City. Her job was to help take care of Harry and spell Jane from her responsibilities. Back home, I had to get our car out of hock. A squirrel had done $12,000+ worth of damage to the RAV4. With that much damage and our insurance company’s involvement it was not an easy task getting the car fixed, but I eventually succeeded.

I joined Anne in Michigan where my duties were pretty much limited to gofer, like go for lunch. We did get out some and I got to go to the art fair for the first time in more years than I care to admit. Harry seemed to recover, and we started to roam. In no order, we visited upstate New York for a baby shower, our summer cabin in the spring and back to Saint Louis for extra miles. During the summer at the cabin, we were joined by Dan and Britt (seen sailing into the sunset), Jay and Carl, and our friend Joanie. We also got to see Anne’s cousin Aimee, her son Robyn, his wife Megan, and their daughter Teddy, short for Theodora. Theodora’s height was duly measured on the Old Cabin doorframe. Her father, grandmother, and great-grandmother are also enshrined on the doorframe, along with many other relatives. The cabin will be 100 years old in 2024. “May she stand forever,” as written on the birch bark dedication by Jack.

By the end of the summer, we had racked up some 5,000 miles, visiting Boston, Montreal, Rochester, Toronto, plus Ann Arbor and the Soo again. In the fall, Anne flew to Boston and practiced being a grandmother. Rounding out our travels for the year, we plan on meeting the kids in Michigan for the holidays. May the darkness of the winter solstice be lit up by your celebrations, and may the coming New Year be filled with many blessings for you and yours!