Wonder Years with Chris and Wendy

  Year’s End 2023 12/26/2023 2023: A Good Year     Wendy recently listed an excellent month by month set of highlights for the year. There were, of course, other people and events which added to our enjoyment of these fleeting times. Our opportunities to be with family and friends across the country is so meaningful as we grow older! Our current mobility both to walk and to drive hither and yon is a blessing we try not to take for granted. Thanks to all of you who hosted us in your homes and who journeyed to Burlington to be with us. We appreciate the fact that our current range will gradually decline. At least we’re still roaming while we can! Part of the joy of our lives is our connections to not one but two faith communities. We still are involved with Govans Presbyterian Church in Baltimore. Wendy remains a member there as she serves remotely on the Racial Justice Committee. We worship there online, visit in-person and commune in other ways...

After family visits, we headed to Mexico for sightseeing in Mexico City and Oaxaca to see the celebration of Day of the Dead. There, we met good friends, David and Joanne, who we originally met in South Korea as Peace Corps Volunteers. We loved Mexico City and enjoyed the Mexican people that we met throughout our stay. So much culture and history! It was a wonderful trip!   Some scenes from Mexico City. We highly recommend this beautiful city  as a destination for a fantastic vacation! In Oaxaca there were plenty of skeletons and macabre decorations. We were intrigued by this plethora of visions. Below are three young Korean visitors with typical face paintings. We opted not to get our faces painted because, well, we're OLD and really didn't want all that stuff on our skin. LOL.  A stylized rendering of Mexico City from a castle on a hill. And below is a view of Monte Alban, an ancient ruins outside of Oaxaca. So much culture and so much history!  Thank you Mexico fo...

 We were honored to attend the wedding of nephew Clyde Always (Danny Beck) and new wife Nikki! They made a beautiful couple and we had such fun dancing and celebrating with them!  From San Francisco, we went to visit Chris' sister and brother in Sacramento and Seattle, just a quick trip up and down the west coast. Time to meet our newest grand niece, Eleanor and to see Tom and Cindy's new house outside of Seattle. We also made use of the time to see a little bit of Seattle, loved the Chihule Museum and the Space Needle. What a fun trip! Here's Chris' Aunt Kathleen, as well as baby Eleanor! As well as some cousins in between.  A  And our time at Tom and Cindy's was great! We are so blessed to have family members who are also friends!