Another year, another ‘Christmas’ letter I didn’t write until after January 1st. So I’m not sure I can call this a Christmas letter anymore, and I don’t have the mental capacity to come up with a title that’s quippy and cute. But even without a strong title, I can fill you in on our happenings over the past year.
Activities
Connor finished up Kindergarten in the spring and started first grade at City View Charter School in the fall. He continues to enjoy the occasional event at the Movement Park, a parkour gym in Hillsboro, but he stopped taking formal lessons in the fall. He’s honing his musical talents instead, through piano lessons with our friend Paige. He also experienced his first theater, a local production called ‘Iron Jo’.
He continues to have a love-hate relationship with the water. He loves playing in the pool, but did not love swim lessons which he stopped taking in the spring. In Hawaii this summer, he spent more of his time poolside than in the ocean, but he did enjoy seeing the fish in the shallows.
Other activities he enjoys include crafting and art, beatboxing (but I’m not allowed to share a video), Legos, Minecraft, Pokemon, and generally being a ham.
Josh continues to nerd out about all things space-related, and spends much of his free time watching launches, listening to commentary, and reading up on related news. His dream is to see a launch in person in the next several years. Or possibly to go to space.
I am still running on a regular basis with a goal of completing one marathon a year. In September I ran the Appletree Marathon in Vancouver, WA and broke my personal record with an overall time of 5:23:28. If I can continue to shave a few seconds off my time over the next 35 years or so, I should be able to qualify for the Boston Marathon by the time I’m 80 (my secret ambition).
Connor is also becoming a runner, and did several races with me this past year, mostly 5K runs.
I’m still knitting on a semi-regular basis and keeping up with my knitter friends for beach weeks and otherwise when I can. I finished my big project this year, a chainmail weighted blanket. Most of my other crafting is child-focused. Connor has become increasingly independent, so we are all learning about how different substances interact (food coloring will color more than just food; slime comes off of hard surfaces easily but not soft things like stuffies, etc.) and how to encourage self-sufficiency as well as responsibility. His favorite art project is making comic books.
Thanksgiving in Indy
We headed to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving week this year to spend time with Shelly, Shannon, Shannon’s fiance Randy, and my dad. We spent time playing lots of cards, playing lots of board games, playing in the snow, and just playing. We attempted to do the Drumstick Dash with Shannon, Connor, and myself, but the weather did not cooperate, it was just too cold. Maybe next time.
Oregon Coast
We are still getting out to the Oregon coast as often as we can, enjoying the sunshine when we get it and the weather when we don’t. All three of us have gotten addicted to agate hunting, so most times when we are on the beach you can find us with our heads down, looking for that translucent glitter in the sands. Even though Connor also loves to play in the waves and the sand, he’s become a pro at finding fun rocks and other treasures. During one trip, Josh tore his ACL playing frisbee on the beach. It is a little better but he’s still considering surgery.
Camping
This year we tried to do more camping, especially over the summer when the weather was fine. We still haven’t gotten around to backpacking yet, but Connor is finally at the point that he will go on a longer hike if there’s a suitable reward (like a waterfall) at the end of it.
Annette Visit
During the summer Connor and I also took a short trip to Eugene. We were able to spend a few days there with my friend Annette and her wife, Bec. During the COVID years we hadn’t gotten to visit in person as much, so now we are trying to catch up with them more frequently. It was a good trip, filled with eating lots of pears, games, dogs, and a tiny snail.
Hawaii
We went on one big trip in August this year, to Hawaii. It was the first time for all three of us, and we spent a wonderful week exploring all the sites from the ocean to the mountaintop. We visited Haleakela, spent time swimming in the ocean, went to a luau, made several visits to Maui Tropical Plantation for fresh fruit and more fresh fruit, went to the Iao Needle and associated hiking trails, took a sunset and stargazing cruise, and spend time lounging by the pool in our hotel. There were two activities that were on my list: snorkeling and having a coconut, and I managed to accomplish both. For Connor, the event he was most looking forward to was getting to see an active volcano in real life. By the end of the trip, his favorite activity was actually the sunset cruise, which he was a little afraid of at the start because of the depth of the water and the choppiness of the waves leaving dock.
Poppa visits for 4th of July
My dad came to visit for Independence Day. He got to spend some good quality time playing Legos with Connor, enjoyed the Tuesday Night Market in Hillsboro, watched Connor and me run a 5K before Hillsboro’s 4th of July parade, and generally spend some quality time with us. I didn’t get many pictures – we were too busy enjoying our time.
General News
I am still at Nike, but took more of an operational role just over a year ago. I’m now part of the team managing the contingent workforce program, overseeing things like process improvement, policy compliance, and balancing costs with quality and speed.
There was also some sad news. I lost my friend Pam to cancer this year. I miss her wisdom, her humor, and her willingness to talk about zombies at the drop of a hat. I did get a chance to visit with her some before she was gone, so I am grateful I had my time to say goodbye.
We hope all is well with all of you and 2026 will be a good one.
Water Ouzel 