Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year!

In my annual Christmas letter, I focus on the positive changes and events, but sometimes a shadow of sadness must be reported.  This year, Julie’s mother Edna passed away in the fall after a long period of declining health.  She will be missed by all of us, but she was ready to make her transition.

At the other end of the life spectrum,  granddaughter Emma turned one in June, and she seems to already understand everything, or at least everything within her sphere of influence in the present moment.  We were fortunate to spend some time with her and her parents on several occasions throughout the year.  Daughter Gina brought Emma to California for an extended visit in November and December, which has been fantastic.  Gina worked at USC as part of her new five year grant project.  Securing that grant was the biggest headline for Gina this year, ensuring her position at Columbia University.  Gina continues to have a steady stream of public health articles published in prestigious journals, and she serves as an editor for American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Her husband Laszlo couldn’t join us in California due to his obligations as a computer teacher at the Museum School, a public high school in New York, but his mother Ria came for about the last three weeks to help care for Emma.

Jay’s big headline also related to work.  He secured a permanent position with Universal Music Group, the leading music company in the world.  He’s been enjoying all aspects of his job, which involves music placement within television and film soundtracks, and has been receiving lots of positive feedback from supervisors and associates.  Finding employment has been difficult for college graduates the last three years, but Jay managed to land one exactly in his preferred career path.  He loves his work, which utilizes his extensive knowledge of music, TV, movies and video games. His vocation is truly his avocation, and he has attended many concerts and screenings.  He still lives in the San Fernando Valley, where he added a new roommate who has become a good friend.  Jay has been hiking in the wilderness on weekends, frequently accompanied by his roommate or one of his other friends.  We're happy to say Jay still takes time to come visit Mom and Pop, whether for some homemade meatloaf or a happy hour at Patrick Molloy's.

Amy has been busy at UConn.  Amy started the year with Julie and Wes at the Grand Canyon, a preamble to cheering on UConn’s football team in Phoenix's Fiesta Bowl. UConn didn’t fare nearly as well on the gridiron as their basketball team did during their amazing run to the NCAA Championship.  Amy went with Honors students to help rebuild New Orleans over spring break.  For the summer, Amy landed a prized internship with Hearst Publications at Country Living Magazine, a job that prompted her to send e-mails saying, “Love love love my job!”  She stayed with Gina, Laszlo and Emma for the summer, which made it even more special.  She only came home for a weekend in summer, to attend cousin Kelsey’s wedding, an occasion that also brought Laszlo, Gina and Emma from New York to join the California contingent.  For Thanksgiving Break, Amy flew to Paris to spend the week with a UConn friend spending semester studying abroad.  In between, Amy managed to hold down a paid editor position with the Daily Campus and earn straight A’s despite a heavy load.

With Julie’s company of the last 10 years, CSC, announcing they would consolidate headquarters in their Virginia headquarters near DC, we balked at making the cross-country move, opting to stay in Southern California.  Julie officially leaves in early 2012, but she already landed a new position as Director of Corporate Benefits at Wyle Labs, which happens to be about a hundred yards from where she currently works.  She has high hopes, because she no longer will have 71 unions to juggle as she did at CSC.

Wes continued to work as a cruise consultant, helping lots of great people embark on dream vacations.  Jay, Amy, Julie and Wes took an amazing vacation to the Greek Isles, spending time exploring Rome and cruising to fantastic ports including Chania, the beautiful village on Crete where Julie’s grandfather Nick embarked for America about a hundred years ago.  We had the privilege of visiting the mountain village of Madaro, seeing the small stone house where Grandpa Nick was raised as one of eleven brothers.  We’re grateful to her cousins Nikos helped us make connections and Vasilis, who acted as both translator and guide.

Julie and I also flew to Connecticut for a week at the start of the school year.  We enjoyed a great trip visiting the Hartford area.  We even attended another UConn football game, which they again lost despite the home field advantage. Gina and Laszlo came up to join us for a weekend trip to Mystic, CT, along with Amy and Jordan.

Julie and Wes continued to stretch the wings of empty nesters, taking some weekend trips to places like Las Vegas or day trips to local landmarks like the Getty Museum.

We will end the year skiing in Big Sky, Montana, an annual trip we cherish courtesy of my sister Darlene and her husband Brooks.  It is always a highlight of the year for us to return to these gorgeous mountains and enjoy several days of great home cooking, comfortable accommodations and fantastic skiing. 

Enjoy a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

San Diego Zoo

People cruising from San Diego should plan to spend at least a couple of days exploring that wonderful city before their cruise, including a visit to the world famous San Diego Zoo, which truly earns its acclaim.  It is only a short taxi ride from the port to the Zoo, and while you're in the area, you can also visit the museums at Balboa Park next door.

The Zoo is a great place for kids of all ages, but I guess that is stating the obvious.  Adults will love it too.



When my children were small and my family lived in San Diego, we had annual passes for the San Diego Zoo, which included admission to the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

Our children grew up with an appreciation of nature and love of animals. With annual passes and free parking (parking is still free!), we didn't have to make it a long day. We'd pack a snack and head to the Zoo to spend a couple of hours and just see a few exhibits.

Now that we live in L.A. County and my youngest daughter Amy is about to graduate from college (a year early), I have to say I can't remember the last time I went to the Zoo prior to Saturday.

My daughter Gina made plans to bring my graddaughter Emma to meet her cousins Kendra and Kelsey, along with Kelsey's son Lucas, at the Zoo, and Julie and I were happy to drive them there and go along.

We enjoyed a wonderful day. With cell phones and texting, we had no trouble meeting up with the cousins despite being about an hour late.

The San Diego Zoo is one of four zoos in the U.S. currently displaying large pandas (the others being Memphis, Atlanta and Washington D.C.), but the highlights for Emma were the elephants and the monkeys.

In the monkey section, the big kid that is me liked the Mandrill best. This huge ape would be recognizable as anyone who has seen "The Lion King" as Rafiki, the ape that annoints the baby Simba, but his face is much more brightly colored in real life than I would have imagined.



After the Zoo, we met Gina's brother-in-law Szilard who had been visiting with his mother Ria at the Urban Grind, a coffee house in Hillcrest. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food, which was attractively presented. Julie and I only split a delicious, sugarfree Caramel Sutra cappuchino served in an oversized cup like you might find in France.