Season’s greetings! We hope this finds you well and that you had a wonderful 2025.

As usual, we were able to take several trips this year. For the first big trip, we spent several days exploring Death Valley National Park, doing lots of hiking and seeing the various formations all around the park. After that, we joined some of Frank’s cousins in Las Vegas. It was great to spend time with them.

The second long vacation was a road trip. The first half was with our hiking group, driving down the Oregon coast, then going to Redwood and then Lassen Volcanic National Parks. We then continued south to see some of Frank’s friends in the Bay Area, fitting day trips to San Francisco and Half Moon Bay into the stay. We then hiked around Mt. Shasta, saw a play in Ashford, friends in Medford, then hiked the Ten Falls Trail near Salem.

The last trip of the year was also a road trip with Melody’s sister Celeste. We met their brother Keith and his wife Bev as well as their cousin Kevin (from Illinois) at Spokane to spend time with their uncle, Neal. We then drove to visit their niece Carmen who is in her first year at Boise State. After spending a few days in Yakima to see their mom, we returned home.

We did a few other smaller trips through the year, including snowshoeing in Mt. Rainier National Park, a winter trip to Yakima and Spokane, nephew Kenny’s junior recital (trombone) in Bellingham, and a staycation weekend with some of Frank’s cousins who flew into town.

This was Frank’s first full year in retirement. He got a few projects done in the wood shop as well as some things around the house. He and Melody did several day hikes with their hiking group, going all around Western Washington. It's a cliché, but true that it's hard for him to imagine how he fit work into the schedule.

Melody continues to do German to English translation. Book clubs keep her busy, and she was able to go cross-country skiing several times last winter. She and Frank will often go out walking, then meet up at a local café to hang out.

Kellen continues to be very busy with his job at the Pokémon Company. He is now living with Laney and her kids, Adelaide (12), Axel (9), Hazen (6), and Arden (4). They moved to the area this year from around Boise.

Brady is still at Ravensburger, and they were able to make a quick trip to France this fall. We are glad Brady still joins us when the family gets together.

When not working from home for Peach Finance, Tynor has been baking up a storm. Mallory is still at Pfizer and definitely doesn’t discourage Tynor’s baking. The two of them are still doing a lot of ballroom dancing, and they took the top prize in their category at a competition in New Orleans. Next year will be a big change for them, as they are moving to North Carolina near Mallory’s family.

Hope everyone enjoys their holiday season and best wishes for 2026!