Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that 2017 has almost ended.

In October, Julie and I met up with all our kids in Nashville, Tennessee, where we rented a 4 bedroom house for a few days.  We only had the full contingent there for a few hours, as Laszlo needed to get back to Pennsylvania for his job teaching SAT prep classes, and Gina had arrived at the end of a whirlwind three-week speaking tour where she had attended public health conferences in Portugal, Seattle, Brazil and Texas.

Gina traveled extensively in her new research position at Philadelphia's esteemed Drexel University, where she accepted her new position just over a year ago.

Besides teaching SAT prep classes, Laszlo continues to do tech consulting gigs much as he did before moving from New York.  He found time to travel to Scotland by himself this summer to visit his cousin.

As a family, they  took several road trips to places like Washington, D.C.

They flew for other vacations, including St. Louis to view the total solar eclipse in August.  They traveled in all kinds of weather.  During a trip to El Paso, it was so hot that Laszlo's hiking shoes melted!

Emma continues to dazzle us all with her intelligence and sweetness.  She has been thoroughly enjoying her ice skating classes, following in the steps of her mother.

The family came to visit us in California.  Emma always loves going to the beach to play in the sand and shore break.  We went down to my sister Darlene's house in Point Loma for a wonderful Easter together.  Darlene made a delicious meal for us.

Jay and his girlfriend Sasha were also with us for that Easter feast.  For Thanksgiving, they brought Sasha's Mom Libby along when we went back to Point Loma.  Brooks and Darlene hosted us all for a lovely turkey dinner at the San Diego Country Club.

The big trip for Jay and Sasha was a voyage to Japan in March during the apex of the Cherry Blossom season, visiting Nara, Kyoto and Tokyo.  A long layover in Manila made their flights a bargain and actually gave them enough time to explore a bit, checking another country off their bucket lists.

Jay continues as Director of Film and Television at Universal Music Enterprises.  Sasha is an events coordinator at UCLA.  They attended lots of great concerts, often associated with their jobs but also many others.  They said Chicago's 50th Anniversary Show at the Whiskey A-Go-Go was the best concert of the year, which is saying quite a bit based on the access they have to so many terrific shows.  Then again, when Jay was a trombone playing boy, we used to listen to Chicago quite a bit in our van.

Jay and Sasha both love to drive, so they had many other road trips, but they also like just chilling in Brentwood Village, about 2 miles from each of their jobs.

In August, Jay and Sasha joined Julie and me on a trip to see the total solar eclipse in Jackson, Wyoming.  We actually spent more time in Big Sky, but the eclipse was definitely the highlight.

They extended their trip to join Sasha's family at Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, where they had a great time and also took advantage of the chance to visit Jay's cousin Jered.

Julie and I needed to hustle back from the eclipse trip to California to greet youngest child Amy, who was coming to be a bridesmaid in her longtime friend Stephanie's wedding.

Putting a monkey wrench into the best-laid plans that had been the basis for an earlier May wedding planning visit to California in May, Amy's leg was in a cast for the ceremony.  However, we decorated her crutches with glittery gold tape at Carl's Jr. the day before the wedding, and she went down the aisle as scheduled, if not exactly as planned.

Amy had broken her leg practicing for roller derby, a new passion shared by her roommates but not so much by her fretful parents.

Her boss at Popular Science Magazine, where she is Online Director, must also be questioning her choice in hobbies, because his Science Editor, who also happens to be Amy's roommate Rachel, just broke her leg in this sport that "isn't at all dangerous.  Really."

Amy's hobbled recovery coincided with a major relaunch for PopSci.com that she spearheaded, but Amy nailed it, and the project went off without a hitch.

Amy's boyfriend Lukas works in New Jersey as an engineer specializing in battery storage for alternative energy.

Amy and Lukas frequently hit the road on weekends to visit his family's rural house in upstate New York or Gina's home in Wynnewood, as they did for Thanksgiving, when the girls once again made their mega-batch of Grandma Mary's fruitcakes.

They flew to Germany in June to celebrate his parents' anniversary and then parlayed that into an extended stay in Vienna, Austria, broadening their experience further with side trips to other locales including an excursion to the Wachau Valley.

Julie and I were in Austria at almost exactly the same time as Amy and Lukas, but this wasn't horseshoes, so we didn't score.  That happened to be our only cruise this year, but it was truly awesome.

The Romantic Danube aboard AmaCerto with additional stays in Prague, Regensburg and Vienna gave us several vacations worth of memories.

We always enjoy being at home in beautiful Redondo Beach, where we follow our routines like walking to Hermosa Beach to listen to jazz and split a Lighthouse Burger on Saturday and taking a two mile walk along the beach to get groceries at Smart & Final almost daily.

We regularly awaken to see dolphins playing in the ocean, and sunsets are routinely awesome.  In the summer, we drive to Manhattan Beach for Sunday Concerts in the Park.

Summers in Big Sky, Montana, also come with Concerts in the Park, held every Thursday, rain or shine.

We love hiking in the summer, and I managed to get in some golf with Darlene and Brooks, too.

We took several trips to Montana this year, enjoying every single one.  In addition to our eclipse side trip, we also drove up to Canada's gorgeous Lake Louise and Banff.  We stopped into the east side of Glacier National Park to do some hiking on our way north.

We especially love skiing in Montana, and Darlene, Brooks and BG3 again will graciously host us for an amazing Christmas ski trip at probably the greatest ski mountain in the world.  This year, we will have a full house, with all three kids and their significant others, plus skiing phenom Emma, attending.

I can't thank God enough for all the blessings we receive.  I remember lovingly every day my parents and all those other family members and friends who have been in the tapestry of my life, and I think I would dissolve into nostalgic remembrance if I didn't realize how much more there is to see and experience.

May God bless you and yours!