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Better late than never!  I wrote this back in early January and then forgot to post it!!😁

Holiday Greetings from Texas! 

We hope this little note finds you and all your friends and family doing well. We are all doing well, unaffected by many of the issues that made the national news. We live at the edge of “Hill Country” but are fortunate enough to live on a ridge, out of range of the devastating flash floods that struck the Texas Hill Country, particularly along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County. It’s been a really dry year in general, so who would expect that kind of flooding in July. This state is known for its extreme contrasts in weather, so we shouldn’t be surprised. So far, the tornados have missed us too!

Steve’s main hobby is maintaining and improving the RV, and we’ve made good use of it this year. We made the annual trek to Arizona for the annual “Say Hi before you die” reunion with his former coworkers from Orange County, CA, and enjoyed visiting several parks and museums along the way. It’s great to be able to connect again with friends from so long ago. 

Much of our spring was consumed with family concerns, helping Daph’s siblings relocate their older sister, Diana, to a memory care facility. She passed away in late October, just a few days before her 92nd birthday. Several trips to CA were required to assist with the sale of her house as well as the contents. Two siblings still live in CA so most of the responsibility fell to them. We will all miss Diana, but she had a long and good life, so no regrets. 

 Once the dust settled around all of that we turned our thoughts to another dog. Since we lost our other two last year things had been just a little too quiet around here. We found a “rehoming” opportunity for a 6 year old border collie that seemed ideal. She’s now part of the family. We adopted her in May and we’re still trying to figure each other out but she’s fitting in pretty well. She almost has us trained to suit her standards! She came with the name of Angel, and she’s pretty sweet and calm (for a Border collie), but definitely has her own idea about how and when things should happen. We tried changing her name but so far that hasn’t been too successful. 

We introduced Angel to camping in October and she took right to it, with long walks, an introduction to campgrounds and friendly armadillos, and lots of opportunity for sniffing. Her favorite activity is chasing a ball or Frisbee which is limited in campgrounds, but the exploring opportunities seemed to keep her busy enough. 

Kendra and the boys are doing well. 

Raylan is now 11, and though he hasn’t caught up to Jaxen yet, he is growing. Jax is now taller than Steve! And he’s only 14. To celebrate his birthday he wanted to go to NASA, so, off we all went, to Houston. It was a good trip, and we all really enjoyed the Space Center. 

The collection there includes an amazing variety of space vehicles, many of them very historic. Our generation grew up with the first moon landing and many other “firsts” but to the boys it’s all ancient history. They’re dreaming off into the future and seeing all the vehicles that have been into space and back really fueled their dreams.

 

Kendra’s health challenges continue. She became eligible for VA health care this spring thanks to the PACT Act and it has been helpful, as well as frustrating. As with all bureaucracies everything seems to move at a snail’s pace. When things finally happen it’s a real benefit. She just took delivery of a new power wheelchair, a process that started back in early October.  It will really make life easier for her.

So we’re all doing well and ready to start a new year. We hope yours holds good and exciting things for you and your friends and family! 

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! 

Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Year! 

Take your pick or celebrate them all!!