Some of you may have missed our letter last year, while others may share the opinion of our cat Chloe a couple of years ago: while I was frantically finishing typing, she hopped on the keyboard, typed "poo" and deleted the document! (I swear!) Regardless, we still think of all of you throughout the year and want to keep in touch. In February of 2012, Tim and I celebrated our 40th anniversary by returning to the scene of the crime - the Pt. Reyes area, my hometown and where we got married - to stay at a B&B (formerly the house of one of my classmates). We spent a few days being tourists, biking, hiking, shooting (photos), talking with so many people - some old acquaintances, some new. The highlight was having a scrumptious dinner at Osteria Stellina in Pt. Reyes Station, quite a different scene in my hometown from the old days. In May, for my usual spring Petaluma Band concert, I had a special guest in attendance - my high school band teacher Gwen Gibson. I gave tribute to her, and introduced her to the audience, as she was largely responsible for my continued interest in music. She's now about 83 and still going strong! Thanks to my sister and brother in law, Joyce and Irv Jensen, Tim and I were their guests in their north shore condo for nine days in Hawaii. We haven't been to Oahu in nine years and this time we could just relax. We had time to meet people and talk, sight-see, golf, hike, shoot pictures, and of course, swim and snorkel - with sea turtles! The summer kept us busy with gardening chores, kayaking, Tim's photo meet ups and classes. In August of '12, many of our extended family rented a cabin at Lake Tahoe, where we attended the wedding of my great nephew Alex Joslin and his bride Elannah George. We spent a few days having a great time laughing hysterically, floating down the Truckee, swimming, kayaking and just hanging out. We also saw a wonderful performance of "Les Miserables" in San Francisco. (Thank you Amanda!) On LABOR day, at a quiet family dinner, Jocelyn brought pink and blue balloons for the kids to play with. Hmmm. Then Kyra appeared with a Big Sister T-shirt. Because she was already nine, I had given up on her having any siblings, so I must have been the slowest grandma on record to recognize Jocelyn's announcement - she was pregnant! More on that later... In October, we attended a reunion for my high school - Tomales High, for the 60s decade (very small school) It was a blast (60s slang), and nice to revive some old friendships. In the midst of the end -of -year craziness, we went on a tour of Safari West, where the grandkids had close -up views of giraffes and other animals; we also took Kyra to Union Square in San Francisco for skating viewing Christmas decorations, and had Kyra and Lily over for a simple tea party and play day.
As mentioned, we had a new addition to the family in 2013. January kept us busy hosting a baby shower for Jocelyn, then finally on February 25, Odin Sterling Arango was born to Jocelyn and Martin. Big sister Kyra actually had planned to be at the birth along with the rest of the family, but as it happened, she left that morning for a long-awaited 4th grade trip to the California Gold Country. She was happy and surprised on return to meet her little brother. Odin is a joy to all of us. His little legs have been bicycling since he was born, it seems - ready to go - and he smiles all the time. At ten months he's almost ready to walk. Kyra actually enjoys playing with him, and is a big help to Mom and Dad.
About the same time, Tim said, "We're going to have guests in March." (??) Being on several photo-sharing websites, he talks with people all over the world. A young Israeli couple, Pablo and Efrat, were coming to the Bay Area for two days and needed a place to crash. Kind of a photographers' Air B&B. They're in their 20s, it was Efrat's first time out of Israel, and they actually came west to attend an Eric Clapton concert in Phoenix. When they asked, "What can we see in two days?" Tim and I quickly came up with a full itinerary, showing them spectacular views of Sonoma, Marin, and San Francisco, and ending the evening having Irish food at a pub in the city! Lots of fun!
In mid June we were guests of our friends Bob and Karen at their daughter's cabin in Tahoe. Glorious weather and glorious swimming and kayaking! We had one family beach day for Tim's birthday in July, and introduced Lily and Jackson to riding in the kayaks. It was Kyra's first time paddling on her own, and she went a couple of miles with Grandpa and Uncle Terry. Although Jackson wasn't too sure about being in the kayak at the time, whenever he sees the kayaks at our house, his eyes light up, remembering that day.
Grandma had some adventures this summer with Kyra, Lily and Jackson. In June we went to a local fair -fun, but a little stressful keeping tabs on then 2 year old Jackson. Later I took Lily and Jackson to the Bay Area Discovery Museum, where we had a blast! Even if at least once the staff, over their walkie talkies, had to announce "We have lockdown - we are looking for 2 year old Jackson Morgan...." Not to worry, it was an enclosed area! In August, we took Kyra on her first ferry ride and her first baseball game - at ATT Park! She had a good time, as much on the ferry ride, joining in with a family playing cards at the game! She also was a guest of our friend Karen at the Cal. Academy of Sciences, where she loves the rainforest and butterfly exhibit.
The end of summer we spent preparing for a long-awaited guest, our friend Moacir Carqueja from Brazil. His visit in September coincided with a huge San Francisco event this summer - the America's Cup sailboat races, and preceding Louis Vuitton series. What was so spectacular about this event is that viewing was accessible to the public, for free, all along the San Francisco Bay waterfront. The cutting edge catamarans, which actually sail above the water on foils, are incredible to watch, traveling up to 50 knots. We attended several races, both before Moa came, and while he was here. Although Tim could not get the time off work, we still had a great time, reminiscing, sightseeing, attending Lily's 5 year old birthday party ( he chose that over attending a race) , a Giants game, and a dinner party with friends. Before leaving he prepared a churrasco (Brazilian barbecue) for our family and some friends, and the evening ended with a crazy song fest, (thanks Lauren for playing piano!) and a family sleepover (after a few caipirinhas).
In early October, Tim and I took a long weekend for a photo meet up to one of our favorite areas, the eastern Sierra, where the aspens were turning brilliant shades of gold. We spent one shoot at an abandoned mine, but the main event was a night-time shoot at Bodie State Park, a ghost town, where Tim got some great shots and the low temp was in the teens, warming up from 1 degree the night before. We hiked and visited one of our favorite hot springs, providing us with a much -needed break.
Tim's mother turned 96 this month and on Thanksgiving weekend she and Tim's sister Kim, attended a family dinner, where she got to see her growing great-grandchildren and meet baby Odin.
Terry and Lauren are very busy with their work, and with two very active kids. Last year they moved to a house outside of Santa Rosa, with beautiful views, a small vineyard and fruit trees. Lauren can soon breathe a sigh of relief from her job as a music teacher, having finished the Christmas/holiday/concert season at several schools. The last two years they have taken Lily to Hawaii during Lauren's spring break, and have made some other trips to concerts and to see family in Washington and Oregon. Terry is utilizing his chemistry skills in making various forms of fermented foods; one project is cheesemaking. Can't wait for that Manchego! Lily is a fun-loving 5 year old, who comes up with the most hilarious sayings. She and her Dad collected snails from our yard to keep in a vivarium as pets, and she noted "Look, my snails are having a poop fest!" One day in the car, she casually said to her mom, "You know what I like about bats? They find their food using echolocation" Whoa. She loves princesses, cooking, her cousin Kyra, and is learning to read. She is a little fish swimming, learning a lot the first time she was in Hawaii. For her birthday this year, she celebrated with Cinderella in attendance. She and her little friends were in heaven! Jackson really started talking several months ago. Even before that, one of his first words was "ball". He is one of the athletes of the family, and will play any kind of sport involving a ball, with anyone (but he especially likes to play with his Grandpas) He's already hitting a baseball, and can really slam a soccer ball. His broad sweet smile tells us how proud he is: playing at a park, he proclaimed, "I climbed the tree all by myself!" and recently, after holding up his creation he made at Grandma's ( an egg carton "bell" sprinkled with red and white glitter), "It's so pretty!" His FAVORITE song is "What Does the Fox Say?! Recently, we took him on a hike with friends. At every fork in the trail, he would stop and say "This way or this way?" As long as we let him lead, he kept running! We looked at animal scat, birds, and spiders, and for days he was talking about the beetle he got to hold in his hand.
Jocelyn and Martin have had a nonstop year. Besides keeping up with baby Odin, Jocelyn was hired as a LVN, working nights. She sleeps in the morning, until Martin goes to work at 2 pm. They also decided to home-school Kyra this year, for fifth grade, so they take shifts on that, too. As Odin has grown, they've been able to go on more outings and mini-trips, and of course Kyra and even Odin have had some time with Grandma and Grandpa. Kyra is in Girl Scouts, a Lego club, can run like the wind, loves reading, and likes just playing with her friends. For her birthday last March we hosted a homemade make up party. She and her friends had a wonderfully messy time making lip gloss, lotion and bath salts.
Amanda has gone through many changes in 2012 and 2013. She moved to Blue Lake in northern California last year to be near her boyfriend Chris Okey. She left Petaluma Health Center after being there several years, but continues doing data entry remotely for them. She also worked at a hospital in Eureka as a phlebotomist (aka vampire - ha-ha) for about a year, but the two full time jobs were too much, so now she works from home, with a pretty flexible schedule. Last year she and Chris adopted a rescue Chi-weenie dog, Lula, and later another little Dachshund mix, Bucky. She and Chris like to take hikes with the dogs, and camp in the summer, and of course the dogs like to come to visit "Grandma". Our poor cat is traumatized though and has to be sequestered in the master kitty suite during their stay. (Oh, please). Turning 30 this November, Amanda and Chris planned a trip to Kauai. They stayed here en route. Chris took us aside and said, "I have something for Amanda..." Yes, he proposed in Hawaii! Congratulations to them! They're planning their wedding for sometime in 2015. On their trip they hiked, went on a cruise where they saw whales hunting a tuna, went on a zip line and had a fantastic time. Amanda also was accepted to go on a trip with The Giving Lens this coming February - to Thailand. It's a teaching photography workshop working internationally with at- risk girls. By coincidence, her cousin and his girlfriend are going to the same area to teach, about the same time. We have made several trips north to visit Amanda and Chris, once for the wacky kinetic sculpture race in May.
Tim and I continue to juggle our time between our work, and our families, and occasionally some hobbies. Tim is continuing with his study of photography, and is seldom seen without a camera. In Spring this year he took a class in social media and has joined in on Facebook, Twitter, and other stuff. He even has a blog (on photography of course!).
With work, gardening, and playing music once weekly - and leaving time open for babysitting duties - my schedule is pretty full. We are always happy to see any of you who might come through the area.
We hope you are enjoying Christmas and this holiday season close to your families and loved ones.
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! May we see you on the trail on New Year's Day!
Sharon and Tim (ok-and Chloe the Cat, as well)
Email: Tim - or Sharon -
We're on Facebook too.