A Year in the Life: 2011

GREETINGS from sunny Yorba Linda, where the grass is green, and horses—for some confounded reason—have the right of way.  Hoping this message finds you in good spirit and health.  It’s been a year since the last postcard, and for this I apologize.  Reasons abound.  But lame excuses aside, 2011 was a busy year for us.

There were two graduations last spring: Randi graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a BFA in Art, and Allie graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising with an Associate degree in Interior Design.  Allie also celebrated her 21st birthday in Vegas, baby!  Meanwhile, Doug—who turns 21 next month—is the manager of Jax Bicycles here in horse-friendly Yorba Linda, and he’s also pursuing a Business degree at Fullerton College.  Heather is teaching 3rd Grade.  She and my son-in-law, Conrad, are having a grand time raising my 3-year-old grandson, Logan.  That’s odd: everyone seems to be getting older but me.

Okay, that’s not totally true.  I am getting older (just a little).  The ol’ vision thing has been on the wane for some time, and so last fall, I finally conceded to cataract surgery: first the left eye, then the right.  The take-it-easy recovery phase had me on the sidelines for eight weeks, which was a drag.  But wow, what a difference in the eyesight! (No wonder Terry had insisted she drive when we went anywhere.)

We did manage some traveling and adventures around the eye surgeries.  Record-breaking snowfall last winter provided for some memorable ski days, including Mammoth Mountain on the 4th of July.  Our stay at the Barry Ranch on the Big Island was nice and relaxing.  For summer vacation, we took an abbreviated road trip to Yellowstone National Park, partaking in some outstanding mountain-biking in Utah and Wyoming along the way. Wrapping up the year, we spent Thanksgiving in Truckee; Christmas in Yorba Linda; and New Years at Joshua Tree with the SCMA gang.  Ahí lo tiene! 

Below is a link to a short slide show of some of our memorable photos from last year.  Hopefully we will cross paths with all of you in the weeks and months ahead.  But in the meantime, we want to wish everyone a rich and happy 2012. 

Cheers!

Ron & Terry

2011 Highlights… http://www.flickr.com/photos/91696789@N00/sets/72157629099946695/show/
(Note: For best viewing, click on the full-screen icon in lower right corner of the frame after slide show begins.)