The next generation (Evan, Madison, Mike, Sloane, Lochlan, Jon):
We are grateful for our daughters and the men in their lives and of course being able to share Christmas with four delightful little girls was magic. Our granddaughters are at the precious age where Christmas is full of possibilities and their daily excitement is definitely contagious.
There is nothing better than playing games in front of the Christmas tree. Codenames was one of the fun games we played this year.
It looks like a bit of conspiracy is afoot here.
Lochlan is a puzzle master and helped Ted and Merritt finish this puzzle of the Netherlands. Ted is pointing to Zandvoort where he was born in 1931.
Monopoly Deal was also fun to play.
And then there is the old standby Mexican Train Dominoes, which Holland redubbed "Run Away Train" which makes it sound much more exciting. The girls enjoyed playing along with Opa and everyone in between.
Sloane introduced Mike to Swedish Pancakes. We made a double batch which was just right for our crew. One of the best ways invented to enjoy Nutella and jam in a single mouthful.
Lochlan and Heather made one of our family's finest snacks, Bear Rocks! These are cheese and pepperoni wrapped into bread dough and baked, next time we need to make twice as many.
We broke out the Coco Motion machine which we had kept in storage and introduced the girls to the perfectly mixed cup of Hot Cocoa! They seemed to enjoy it down to their toes or to quote Emma, "I don't like it, I love it!"
The girls each made special gifts for us but this "card" from Mary was definitely a standout.
Opa Teddy (as the girls call him) had a chance to admire some of the artwork of his great-granddaughters.
One of our creative projects for the holidays was making some soap with the girls. This batch will be ready just in time for Valentine's day.
We enjoyed a trip to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights and make some donations at the Giving Machine. Some farmer somewhere is getting seed and fertilizer to plant an acre of sweet potatoes.
Of course, you can't be in Utah in the winter and not partake of some of the best snow on earth. I needed those flames on my helmet to help keep up with these expert skiers. Those girls just fly down the mountain, Improving my snowboarding skills is now on my "To Do" list.
One of the added benefits of spending Christmas in Utah was being able to meet up with some of our friends.
It was very nice to get together with Pat and Lon Neild, who we met in Serbia. Merritt especially enjoyed joining Lon for some doubles tennis, the first tennis action since his lung surgery in September.
Rose and Bill Davidson, who we first met in Portland but now live in New Mexico were in Heber so we were able to catch up with them. Bill and Rose are early retirement people like ourselves. It's always great to spend some time with them.
Our long-time friends Steve and Lisa Smith were able to stop by for an afternoon of visiting along with their daughter Mattie and her two children. Merritt and Steve helped each other get through BYU's Chem E program and later they introduced us to living and working overseas. They followed us to Albuquerque then we followed them to Taiwan and places beyond.
Speaking of old friends, Merritt had the opportunity to go on a snow hike with Adam Sego who was just 16 when we first met him in Corrales, New Mexico and now he's our favorite dentist in Salt Lake City.
Merritt took Ted to the airport so he could fly back to Sacramento. It was so nice to have him there with us.
We drove back to Sacramento and spent New Year's day exploring the neighborhoods in downtown Sacramento looking for monumental art where artists use buildings as their canvas. This was one of our favorites.
In our downtown wandering, we found ourselves passing in front of the Memorial Coliseum. Merritt worked for The Ice Capades one summer while they were using the Coliseum as their base to assemble their show. That's the summer he added Zamboni driver to his resume, but that's another story. Now it serves as a great backdrop to our first photo of the new decade.
It's a Wonderful Life! We hope you all have a fantastic 2020!
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