Season's Greetings! We wish you a Merry Christmas,
and joy, health and prosperity in the New Year.

From Liz, Dan and Don

Click here to jump below and read the stories of our year.
Hover over a photo to read the caption, or click on it to see an enlarged version.

2012 Christmas Card

2012 Events and Travels (Click to enlarge photos)

Kitchen redo Kitchen redo : Between Liz's before, during and after photos and Don's video, you'll see how we lived over five disruptive weeks. We survived the hole in the temporary kitchen ceiling -- when the contractor fell through -- and an amazing amount of dust, especially when we removed the popcorn ceilings in the entire house. We all love the results despite our improved view of a new housing development going up out back with its large pit to prevent flooding from a "hundred-year" storm.
Don refills the bird bath Don's TLC : One benefit from Don's meticulous care in the back yard is the hilarious and frenzied bathing in the bird bath, which he was willing to refill three times a day to keep them coming. See the fun in Dan's splashy video. Also, Don was ecstatic to finally qualify for Social Security. His dream of living and working in San Francisco just got a little closer.
Dan and Dylan at Monterey Dylan in Monterey: Dan's first grandson Dylan has grown into a strapping young weight lifter. We enjoyed a weekend with him, exploring Big Sur and Monterey where he's studying Arabic at the Language Institute. With his recent field trip to Morocco he's now a world traveler like his grandfather. We are overdue for a trip to New Jersey to visit his mom Kim, Richard and two more grandsons: super-smart Chase and football-star Austin.
Liz at Rancho La Puerta Rancho La Puerta trip: In July, Liz's childhood chum Donna made arrangements to "gift" eight women with a week at Rancho La Puerta, an amazing health and fitness spa in Mexico. Donna wanted her closest gal pals and relatives to share in celebrating our 60th birthdays (four of the eight). See Liz's photo documentary of the people, food and grounds. (Click to view full-screen and read captions.) Liz also started Tai Chi lessons this year as a long-term mind/body fitness pursuit.
Dan on zipline Costa Rica Recon: During Liz's week away, Dan decided to explore a new travel destination for potential future vacations. The weather was not that great for photos, so no album to share here.
Dan cooks backpack style Backpacking in the Sierras: It was very uncharacteristic for both of us to have foot issues that prevented us from taking our scheduled week-long backpack. However, we did manage a late summer weekend backpack to Dardanelles Lake (along with dozens of excited boy scouts). For something new, we learned standup paddleboarding during our camping week at Zephyr Cove in Lake Tahoe.
The bride and groom Bride and groom (not us!) : We felt honored to be invited to the wedding of Liz's Camp Rollerblade boss and owner of Zephyr Adventures, Allan Wright to Devon Metz. They treated us all to a stupendous weekend at the Dove Ritz Carlton, a spa hotel just outside of Tucson Arizon. We did everything from lawn games on Friday to hiking on Saturday and Sunday and dancing between dinner courses at the ballroom reception. Click any photo in the Wedding Adventure Weekend album to read captions.
Dad and Don at Thanksgiving Don, Dan and Liz visited Jerry Miller for the Thanksgiving weekend. You would not know this man turned 84 a week later. No wonder we have him on a pedestal!Great food, great hiking, great photos of the Miller environs and our hikes!