Happy Happy Christmas - 2015

Happy Holidays dear friends! As each year draws to a close, we feel even luckier, at peace in our home, and more blessed with our friends and our lives. Thank you for being out there! We will need it when the s_ _ _ hits the fan!

Peace, hmmm. Of course, we ain’t talkin politics here – nothing peaceful there. As usual next year, we will leave the country in October in order to avoid the hateful thing we call election hoo hah, or words to that effect. But gee, it seems to already be happening. How can that be???!!! We may have to leave sooner rather than later, and stay longer this upcoming year! Fortunately, we may have more time for that.

 Mark is just dropping down to practicing 2 days weekly and I am down to 2-3 days a week. Mark is not winding down his practice, but is certainly winding down his involvement in it. My firm is merging with another firm and the two “oldsters” (me and the other firm’s major domo) will be phasing out slowly over the next 2-3 years. Life is good…now, where is that travel money coming from? Hmmmm, must find cheaper way to do that! I know, says Mark, let’s buy a rig! A what?! A travel trailer?! Yuck, no, I don’t want to be one of those old couples arguing our way down the road says Kathie. But wait, says Mark, I have an idea. So, picked that idea up in Boise last month and spent 3 days wine tasting in Wala Walla. That I can get used to. Small, though, not one of those big things…and lots cheaper than airline flights to somewhere else! License is “On Paws.” Nuff said. Woof. The dogs think it is their new dog house…about the right fit for them. If we don’t take up too much of the bed!!

T@B crazy

It's our kennel, what do you mean you want in???

 As before, we have continued to enjoy our new home (now almost 4 years in!) immensely. (Why do we want to leave in a tiny trailer!!?) From the annual Easter duck races in the stream,

Duck races - an annual event since we moved here

All 8, but coop is hidden behind Gracie!

to grandkids overnight, to office or other parties, to dogs running everywhere, to kayaking daily, it is awesome. After adding on an apartment last year, just for fun, it got taken advantage of by Jake and Kim. They moved in for 6 months while building a new house. The apartment was a bit small for 5 people and a dog, but it worked out well for us as we got to spend lots of time with them all. Gunner our 9 yr old setter was a bit grumpy with the 1 yr old Golden retriever, but all went well once he got fixed….

Golden treasure at the end of the rainbow

Wild Waves for Gracie's birthday, the cousins take a ride!

The heirs....2015

Jake’s practice is going well, leaving time for training (more on that later). Kim sold her businesses but still is busy all day every day. and the kids are all doing well in school! Mason is a sports freak and can quote every game statistic and draw all their logos. Kale is a sweet strong, very deep little 6 year old. His thoughts keep us guessing. Paige is becoming quite a character at almost 2 – and strong willed. They just got a new dog to join Kula, the golden - Yet another English Setter. 7 months old, smart as can be and a nose that tracks down every morsel of food left high or low. His current name is Noah, sounds close to “No” so he hears it a lot. That may change (name or the yelling??)! What more can we say? We have successfully passed our insanity on to our kids.

Mason Paige Kim and Kale

Jake and boys finishing the triathlon

Kale  and Soccer

Kale gets to drive the boat

Paige and Gunner

Paige

Jake Kim and family flying high

Waiting for the Tour de France to pass

Looking for whales at our house

 Ian and Candace have settled into Puyallup well (about 3 blocks from Liesl). Ian is enjoying his new law firm very much and we hear his voice emanating out of the TV once in a while. Weird. Candace has created a lovely yard and garden area and works hard with the kids to enhance their school experiences. She is enjoying being home and not practicing law and has also begun painting with acrylics...budding artistry!  Aidan is into soccer, Donovan into art, and Nya is lost with the fairy princesses somewhere. They all took part in a wedding this summer, hence the fancy pictures! They also have a new puppy, a golden doodle whose name is, I believe, Remy(sp?) Disney rules!

Aidan and soccer

First day of school for Aidan and Donovan

The Ian and Candace family dressed in wedding duds for Candace's brothers wedding

 Liesl and Nate have had a bit of a change this year. Liesl’s practice is still busy and crowded 2 days each week in Oly, but Nathan has left Starbucks. He is now with Amazon in Seattle, working as a lead person in compliance with regulatory issues for products going in to Canada. I am sure I have that wrong, somehow, it is a new job and I haven’t got the patter down yet! He still rides the train into Seattle and he and Ian get a chance to talk more regularly as they wake up on the train! Cooper is a true lego maniac. He can build just about anything and is way beyond the 6 yr old recommended levels. Grace is beginning to get excited about school next year now that Coop in in Kindergarden. She doesn’t much like being left behind. Their lovely bloodhound Burger died this year so they got Lacie another dog to keep her busy…a Puyallup street rescue dog…shepherd, lab, husky? Who knows! Sherman is a sweet, not so little, terror!

Overlooking Goult in Provence

Staying cool in the Rhone river

Classic Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Gracie flies in the water or on land

Legoland exhaustees

A quiet evening with wine

Gracie and Coop loved the medieval!

The night watchman!!!

Desperately seeking Pisces (What, you expected Susan?) - 2015

Now, on to us. As you know, we are always kayaking and looking for snorkel spots. After kayaking in Greece in 2013, and then Dalmatia in 2014, and seeing no fish whatsoever, I got frustrated and planned a kayak snorkel trip to the Caribbean to celebrate Mark’s 66th. Surely the Caribbean wouldn’t be as warm and salty as the Mediterranean and would have fish! We headed down there through Puerto Rico for a short stay. Didn’t kayak or swim in PR but truly enjoyed our time on the beach and touring the old forts. So much history we hadn’t remembered from our schooling. Gee, did they ever touch on the battles that took place there or did we learn it all from Pirates of the Caribbean? Either way, lots of fun. From Puerto Rico we took a short hop in a SMALL plane to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands.

 We stayed in an expensive hole (note that is not a misspelling of hotel) …sadly, lots of the island was that way. The island has shut down their refineries and other main jobs for the locals, so there is extensive unemployment, an increase in crime, and a sad loss of dignity for many. Of course, as the crime rate went up, the tour boats stopped coming. A beautiful struggling place. I can attest the fruit flavored rum made there is top notch, though.

 Buck Island off the NW shore is supposed to be some of the best in the world for snorkeling, but the coral was almost all dead and there were few fish…My oh my. Off we flew to St. Thomas, jumped in a car and caught a ferry to St. John. This island is quite prosperous with few big hotels, lots of little ones and beautiful beaches (and sun!!) and restaurants, but still few fish and not a lot of healthy coral. In search of more fish, we took a long day trip tour to the British Virgin Islands…more fish…more rum. Most ports we went into were too small for the boat to dock so we simply jumped ship, swam into shore and ate or drank our way through the visit before swimming back.

St. Thomas

Jumbies on St Croix at a jump-up

Lunch on shore, sort of, our boat in back

Lovely beaches on St. John

 The most interesting (challenging?) spot was the “Soggy Dollar” bar on Jost Van Dyke island. No credit cards…they simply set up the glasses, poured 20 mixed drinks at a time and collect the dollars. Apt name! Getting back to the boat was a hoot. One of the locals was making quite a profit picking up drunk visitors, flopping them into his zodiac like dead whales, steering out to the moored boats and shoving them, hands deep into buttocks, till they kerflumped (onomatopoeia) back in to their yachts. Like landing 300 pound flounders. Fortunately, we were classy, we had stairs out of the water. After our lovely time on St. John and the BVI, we took the last few days at St. Thomas. The USVI are lovely (and sometimes expensive) places to visit. I expect we will go back, but no fish or coral to speak of. There is a rumor that if you go further SE along the island chain .....

Summer in Europe with Family - 2015

The other major trip of the year was a visit to Germany and France with Jake and Kim’s family and Liesl and Nate’s group. We landed in Munich to pick up Mark’s new car at the Audi factory,
 then spent a night at Legoland amusement park with the kids before heading to Roth Germany where Jake was running the world famous ROTH Challenge Triathlon. The heat was miserable, about 100 degrees much of the day. He finished the total 140.6 miles (combined 2.4 mile swim, 112 bike ride and a marathon (26.2)) in just a little over 10 hours…quite a successful run!

Then we all took off for Provence to recover. We had a house that slept us all plus Mark’s (and Jake’s) partner Shauna Richert with her family. The high heat continued so most afternoons were spent in the pool, in a river close by, or in the Mediterranean.

 Even got to the point where all the kids would climb into the bathtub to cool off!















Jake and Kim also spent some time in Barcelona before the trip and a North Sea Disney cruise after. Liesl and Nate spent time in Paris after. We headed for a tour of NE France and Belgium WWI battlefields, ending with 3 days in Bruges.

 Wonderful break! Sadly, Ian’s family couldn’t make it as the family was taking part in Candace’s brother’s wedding! Next time!

French towns and men

Wine

Pool time

Who can jump the highest?!

Roughhousing while waiting for jake to finish!

The meaningful wedding - 2015

Other than travel, we had a pretty special year with 3 family weddings. Each has its own special flavor and brings tears to our eyes for different reasons. The first took place over Memorial Day on Cape Cod. My cousin Bonnie’s daughter had a great wedding that was pretty much a family reunion for Kathie’s mother’s side of the family. The wedding was impressive because of the quality of the people involved. Chad, the groom, was special forces and Ashley, the bride, had met him during her stint in the military as an interrogator in Iraq. The wedding party was made up of close friends and special forces/military. The bonds between them all were tight and obvious. Wow, this is what keeps us safe in the world. Admirable people who have each other’s, and our, backs.

Chad, Ashley and Kathie's cousin Bonnie

The beautiful wedding - 2015

The next wedding was for my beautiful niece Claire and her fiancé T.J. This storybook event took place in Portland and was the crème de la crème of lovely weddings. Voodoo Donuts (bacon and maple bars) met us at the door, lovely girls in long pastel dresses, sunshine, flowers everywhere, a full orchestra, fancy food and, again, family reunions all around. It was like a movie set, but warm and real. We floated through the day. The loveliest couple you could imagine. And so were my brother Perk and his wife Cary!!!

Kathie, Cary, Cam, Claire, Whit, Perk, Scott

Claire and TJ

The fun wedding 2015 and the end of the year

The third wedding, one we thought we would never get to attend was for my nephew Scott and his fiancé Daniel. I have never been to such a fun and joy-filled wedding. The invite was a script specially written for each invitee (they are, afterall, screenwriters!). As friends, actors, comedians, a few ordinary people, and screenwriters filled Portland, the whole weekend was well staged. They started with a food truck picnic at the Portland zoo, extended into karaoke at a gallery/bar, and moved to an historic downtown building for the wedding. Their “flower children” were their two nephews who screamed down the aisle at full speed throwing confetti at everyone – confetti kids, not flower girls! Daniel and Scott entered to the Superman theme and cheers. The vows took place on a stage with a script written by the officiant who knew them well and through best friends managing puppets speaking lines about how they met (online). Their dog objected (on screen) to the union. Then Scott surprised Daniel by confessing a sordid past, binge watching Daniel’s favorite TV show (which Scott hated) so Scott could share Daniel’s fetish. The vows ended with glitter cannons (enough to smother the crowd) and a first dance that included choreographed technical moves, waltz, ballerina dancing (12 year old niece) around them, and mad dancing runs up the atrium stairs and back down trailing more glitter and streamers. The toppers were the cookie pizzas, instead of cake, and the French fries and gravy served at midnight. The after party nearby was easily located by following the trail of glitter. Best weekend ever!

Now, we have had a really special year and feel very lucky. Thanks to those of you who have had a part in making it special, and here’s hoping we get to see many more of you next year! Who knows what the next year might bring, perhaps fish, perhaps more weddings (who’s left??), perhaps more trailer camping…oh well. Time will tell and so will we, next year. Watch this space! Lots of love (isn’t that what lol means) and Happy Holidays! Oh, and more pictures of the year can be found below