Merry Christmas!

 It's Christmas Day, 2020.  A wonderful day, a Christ-filled day.  A thoughtful day, a fun day.  After Christmas present opening and a fabulous breakfast of eggs and homemade cinnamon rolls, Tom and I went to Park City to ski, then home to the hot tub.  We have had fun celebrating with the Portugals and with Colie.  

I thought today might be a fun day for me to catch up on my blog.  Turns out that we did indeed get the condo in Solana Beach.  It really happened.  It must have been 'meant to be' because we offered a contingent contract and they accepted.  Then our house had two buyers that fell through and they still hung in there with us.  Then the cost of the VA repairs were way more than we expected, so CA came down 8,000 to accommodate us.  We finally settled on Oct 13, and got our 'keys' to the condo.  The realtor for the sellers came by to make sure we were okay.  Her name was Debbie and she was so kind and caring and really took care of us.  We got a property manager:  Roxanna Feder and after some false alarms was able to get ourselves a great renter:  a young couple who signed a contract through the end of May.  We had a heck of a time getting the washer/dryer set up, even had flooding in the other apartments connected to our pipe system, but eventually it all came together.  Then we really enjoyed our stay with no worries to occupy us:  we met with friends, we walked on the beach every day at low tide, we explored the area, we dreamed about our time in the future when we can spend more time there.  We took a day trip to Coronado as well as a day trip to Catalina Island.  It was a fabulous time to enjoy an area we love.  Seth and his family visited for a couple of days and rented a place in Oceanside and it was fun to 'play' with their family at the beach.

We packed everything we needed to survive at the apartment for a month, all into our new Outback Subaru (purchased 2 weeks prior to the trip).  We brought air mattresses and bedding, folding chairs/tables and microwave, dishes, etc.  Our car was stuffed!

The stackable washer/dryer was a pain to install.  They were expensive, then once installed we found out the pipes were blocked.  Called two plumbers and flooded 3 other apartments before it was solved.

Our makeshift furniture did the job.  Our strip of ocean view and the ocean breezes were savored.

We walked at low tide and the beach goes on for miles.  We had no idea.

Our lifeguard stand and beach access.

Blumenthals drove up from Coronado and joined us for dinner at Jakes in Del Mar one evening.

Our favorite time to walk the beach was a low tide and this walk coincided with sunset!  The beach increase in size by triple.  The sunsets are stunning.  The reflections on the beach at low tide is so picturesque.  

Catalina Island was gorgeous and the day was perfect.

Catalina Island is very unique and a fun boat ride from Dana Point.

Wilkinsons(from Coronado), and Moons, and Teasdale/Wells (from Orange County) all came to the apartment to welcome us to the area.  Again, we ate at Jake's, a restaurant right on the beach at Del Mar.

Seth's family took a vacation to Oceanside while we were in CA.  So they were able to see our new condo and we spent several days with them at the beach and on a hike.  Here is a hike near Solana Beach, which was actually closed b/c of Covid.  Seth, Luke and I didn't care and crossed the ropes and found this cool hike!

My niece Alyssa was married in October and her Dad took this picture of my Mom.  Here she is at 97 sitting very comfortably on the ground.  She is phenomenal!

We got back from our month in California and took advantage of the nice weather to host a few lunches on the deck.  One lunch was with the Tomlinsons, Kimballs, and Jessie Taggart.  Always fun to rehash our love and adventures from Belgium.  We also had the Waltons and Hiltons over for a meal on the deck.  Not so fun to hash the upcoming election b/c Hiltons were Trump supporters and so was Ric Walton!

Levi was baptized and we were able to drive up to IF and be a part of that event.  Such a great family!

Peaceful Heber Valley at sunset with the snow-capped mountains.  This is what I want to remember about November, but in reality it will be the Presidential elections.  How Trump refused to admit defeat, did everything in his power to stall, impede and divide, and basically block our democracy from progressing.  It was/is a shameful act of selfishness, pride, and narcissism.  I hope President Biden is guided and protected.  He will need Godly power to reunite what Trump has divided.

Colie has come up a couple of times with and without her girls to spend time with Natalie's family who arrived on Thanksgiving Day!  Here we are making adjustments to a dress she bought.  Colie has started dating a guy that we all like:  Scott Jackson.  He lives in Portland, divorced with 2 girls, handsome, intelligent, has a good job.  If they get together it will only happen b/c it is meant to be b/c of the obstacles they both face with having to live near their children.  It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

The PortuGALS.  We are at Deb Gardiners house meeting her new puppies.  Her place is always a fun treat with dogs, cats, and horses!  Deb recently lost one of her dogs, Bing.  Bing was always behind me when we would take walks.  I'll miss him too!

We haven't had a huge amount of snowfall yet this year.  Still waiting to get enough to sled on. Luckily the ski resorts have made snow and we have been  able to ski.  We've gone 11 times so far and it's not even the new year yet.  In fact, I taught Tori to ski.  Natalie said, "Mom, you taught Tori to ski in the time it took us to check-in to our hotel!"   One Sunday when Seth's family was here to ski as well, we all went to the park in Heber and Bryn started a snowman.  We all joined in the fun.  I love how the cousins love to play together.  Even as I type this, Natalie's family is at Seth's house visiting!

Steve's family came for an overnight and Rach was visiting as well.  Mel's dad got remarried, Jake took care of his kids in PA, but Rach came with her mom and stayed with us so she could hang out with Bryn.  Mel stayed with us for only one night, but we still had time for the hot tub and some good chats. Colie & girls came up and we threw a surprise party to celebrate Steve's graduation from college.  Bravo Steve!

Natalie broke out her good camera and took a family photo of Steve's family.  They are all so photogenic!  And Isaac has all of us wrapped around his finger.  So stinkin' cute!