2019 Christmas Letter

Each year as I think back over the past year I'm amazed at just how much we did. We have been a little better this year at putting our activities on the blog, Knotaklu,  so check it out for more details. Here's the blog website:

https://knotaklu.blogspot.com.

Once again Mona and I wandered south for the winter, this year taking the coastal route. We spent a few days at our favorite coastal town, Yachats, OR, hiked in the Redwoods, and visited my brother and several of Mona's old friends north of the Bay area. 

In Arizona we camped at one of our favorite spots near Lake Havasu where we almost got stuck hiking in a nearby slot canyon, check the blog for all the scary details. There was a vintage VW gathering there one weekend. We had a great time looking at hundreds of old VW cars and vans in various stages of restoration. Mona was in heaven having owned a couple of VW's in the past.

Mona put up with me again at the Amateur Radio event called Quartzfest near Quartzsite Arizona. This year over 1,000 folks registered. Mona heard the event called “Burning Ham” once and the name has stuck with her. She did escape for a day to go to Phoenix with a friend to visit some museums.

This year we did something a little different. Usually we would spend just a week or so in one spot then move on. This year we opted to stay a month at an RV resort in Yuma. Pickleball was the main attraction for us but there were lots of other activities we enjoyed as well. Interesting, most of the folks there looked like our parents friends. OMG!!! That's us now!!!

Normally we would hang around the Southwest for another month or so. This year though we hurried home the first week in March for a very special event, the birth of Christine and Clint's second child, a boy they named Lincoln. Mother, Father, new Son and Sister are all doing very well. Lincoln now is just on the verge of crawling.

In May, Mona and I went for a week to Vancouver BC. I had forgotten just how big that city is. The main reason for going was the see the Museum on Anthropology. If your into First Nation art, like I am, it's like Nirvana. I highly recommend it even if native art isn't your thing. And don't forget to rent bicycles and ride around Stanley Park.

During the summer we managed to keep pretty busy. We rode the Hiawatha Trail with grand kids. We bought a used pop-up camper and went camping in places we never could not get the trailer into. I redid the floors, except for the kitchen, in my house. The kitchen floors are the worst, but I ran into an issue which has caused me to delay while I figure out how to continue.   We also camped with friends and family a few times in Canada. And, we got to visit and welcome my new grand-nephew, James.

The main event for the summer was the wedding of Mona's son Max and his lovely bride, Diana. They live in the LA beach area but decided to have the wedding in Coeur d'Alene. I think most of the LA friends and Diana's family wanted to get out of the LA area and come to see Northern Idaho where Max grew up. What can I say. It was one of the best weddings ever!!! All of my family came over to help celebrate.

A couple of our friends are caretakers at the Kirkwood Ranch, a historical site in Hells Canyon. Originally we thought we would catch one of the tour jet boats in and then hike out. However, we were going at the very end of the tour season and none of the operators wanted to run their boat for just the two of us, so we backpacked the 6 miles in and out. Much of the trail is a real cliff hanger being several hundred feet above the river. We were pretty proud of ourselves for backpacking both directions.

In Mid-October, Mona and her Daughter Lucy went on an almost three week mother-daughter adventure in Tanzania. Some of Mona's Bonner's Ferry friends have close family living in Tanzania.  They run a none-hunting safari business there. Since Mona and Lucy were friends, they really got the royal treatment and were able to do things most tourist can't. I'm going to have to bug Mona to put some of that adventure up on the blog.

While Mona was in Africa, I watched the Seattle grand kids while their parent went for a weekend getaway.  And I bought a sailboat with Clint and Christine and a couple friend of theirs. When the cats away,,,, etc. The boat belonged to a friend of mine.   I knew the boat was in immaculate shape and I let it be known for years that if he ever sold the boat that I was interested. He made us an offer we couldn't refuse. We're indebted to him for being so generous. He said, for personal reasons, he wanted the boat to go to someone he knew and trusted would take care of her.

And now for the family

Michele, Stan and the kids are all doing well. Michele is still nursing in the intensive care unit at the local hospital along with some home health care. Stan is running the Forest Service's fire retardant tanker base at the local airport. Saray is really into volleyball doing both club and high school. Can you believe she is in high school!!! Raif is the boy who enjoys building and taking things apart. Celine is a little darling who loves being the older cousin to her three younger ones.

Eric is still managing engineers at Boeing when he and Julie are not messing around on the boat.

Christine runs the charity, The Juniper Fund. Check it out and donate if you can. She also has her own human relations consulting business. Clint graduated this year with his Mechanical Engineer degree and within just a few days was offered an engineering position at Boeing. Mila is in preschool and loves it. At first they had a hard time getting her to go. Now she never wants to leave. And little Lincoln is ready to crawl. He constantly gets up on all fours, just hasn't figured out yet to to get the arms and legs moving properly, although he scoots around pretty well.

Teresa still teaches advanced children in grade school along with being the district's math specialist. John loves being a stay at home dad along with mountain bicycling, I'm so jealous. And Caanann loves sports and riding his bicycle. He was riding his peddle bicycle before he was three. And they love to camp, especially in Canada.

Max is a manager for a company that develops web materials for doctor practices. Diana is working full time and just started nursing school. How anyone can work full time while carrying a full time nursing curriculum is beyond me. She is amazing!

Lucy is living in New York City where she is a user researcher for Chase Bank. We don't know exactly what she does, but do know that she is quite successful at it.

Wow, these letters keep getting longer. Once again, check out the blog (https://knotaklu.blogspot.com) if you desire more details.

Our wish for you all is a great holiday season and a year of good health and great adventures.