THE "CROSS-MAS" CHRONICLES
Christmas, 2025


Dear Friends and Family,
Hi everyone! We hope you are well and have had a good year! For us, it’s been a bumper-to-bumper, wingtip-to-wingtip year of travel with 3 US road trips and 3 international excursions – to South America, Europe and India. That kept us packing and unpacking and taking jet lag to a whole new level. And, chiseled in between trips, I became president of our local garden club, which gave a whole new meaning to “Whack-A-Mole!”
But, we knew it was going to be an auspicious year when subtropical Houston got 6 inches of snow in mid-January! So rare, the National Weather Service called Winter Storm Enzo a “once-in-a generation” event. Now, all you northerners would call that a dusting, but, we said it was time to close down the city for a few days, party hearty, and make snow angels. And, that’s just what we did!

Argentina, Chile and the Amazing Tapati Festival on Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Easter Island, with its famous moai statues, was always on our “to-see” list. And the gigantic Iguazu Falls in Argentina was another. In late January, we started out in Santiago and after a few days, took a 4½-hour flight to Rapa Nui. Besides the moai, which are even more impressive in person, the Tapati Festival, with its south sea island singing, dancing and native competitions, was over-the-top amazing!. Sometimes, the festivities would go to 3 in the morning! It was so much fun! Easter Island is a small (63-mi2) island with only ~9,000 people, so, even with the festival, it never seemed crowded. (You cannot even go to the island without a hotel reservation.) We were lucky to be on the island for 9 days during the 2-week festival, which is always held in February. Because the whole island is a national park, we had to be guided at each moai site. The grand finale was sunrise at Tongariki (see card). We did Rapa Nui with Road Scholar and put it back-to-back with 2 more weeks in Chile and Argentina. Going south in Chile from Santiago, we crossed the Andes through lakes into Argentinian Patagonia and Bariloche, little “Switzerland of Argentina,” with chocolate shops on every corner. We had no idea that Chile and Argentina heavily recruited European immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. After getting to Buenos Aires, we flew to Iguazu Falls to see the massive falls formed by 275 cascades on the Iguazu River – the largest waterfall system in the world! After taking in a lecture on the falls, we felt lucky to have seen it, because, as impossible as it sounds, it has been absolutely dry at times, and, at others, there’s too much water and walkways are washed away. The mouth-watering Argentinian beef and sultry tangos also did not disappoint.

Around Europe in 42 Days – Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium and France
In mid-May and June, we headed to Europe with time on our own and a visit to our Belgium cousins interspersed with tours – a 10-day Viking “Elegant Elbe” river cruise from Berlin to Prague, a 16-day Road Scholar “Trains Through Switzerland” tour and a week-long boutique tour of Normandy. We started out with 5 days in Berlin doing museums and Potsdam. Low water on the Elbe River and a train bridge collapse in Dresden, necessitated a “ship swap.” Although it looked like you could sail through, we were fine with the decision not to, especially after learning a bunch of unexploded WWII ordinances were found under the collapsed bridge. In spite of the low water and only being able to sail 1 out of the 5 days, we didn’t miss any attractions. On our own in Prague, we were amazed by all the people. It looked like Disney World! We had heard that Prague was popular with western Europeans, but we weren’t expecting such crowds. After leaving Prague, we flew to Zurich and started our train adventure. John was so impressed! You could set your watches by the Swiss trains! Around 37 train rides, and all, except for one delayed by a rockslide, were on time. We saw the Matterhorn and so much fabulous scenery all through Switzerland, home of my grandfather. After Switzerland, we flew to Brussels and spent a couple days with my cousins Daniel and Jacqueline in Pittem, near Ghent. On arrival, and, by incredible coincidence, we met their son-in-law at the same carousel in airport baggage claim! They were totally surprised when we came out of the airport with him! Jacqueline is a fabulous cook and we were treated to some super-delicious meals, including mussels with Belgium fries with lots of Belgium beer.
The final leg of the trip was to go to Paris to join a tour of Normandy. After all the on-time Swiss trains, we took a Eurostar that wasn’t. We ended up rushing to another train that was packed – and making it to Paris. And, the tour of Normandy, with D-Day beaches, Mont Saint Michel, Bayeaux, Honfleur, Rouen and Giverny, was all good. Our guide lived in Bayeaux and his knowledge of the area and WWII history was encyclopedic.

Road Trip to Colorado & Oregon to See Family, Friends and HS classmates at a 75th Birthday Reunion
In late July, we set out on a road trip to Hillsboro, Oregon, to attend my Hilhi HS reunion for our class’s 75th birthdays. On our way to see friends and relatives in Oregon and Washington, we visited cousins Jan and Terry McCarter at their Texas ranch with six longhorns. In Colorado, we stayed with Dave and Kristie in their new home and checked out lots of breweries, including a visit to Coors in Golden. North of Denver, we toured an Amazon Fulfilment Center - the automation was absolutely head-spinning! (Check for tours in your area.)

India! Seeing John’s Foreign Exchange Student Brother and Family – And, of course, the Taj Mahal
For 50 years, John’s high school foreign exchange student brother, Vijay and his wife Kalpana have been asking us to come to India, saying, we’re all not getting any younger. We finally made a point to do so in October, and went to see them, their kids and grandkids in Pune and Satara for a week. After the amazing visit, we spent another 3 weeks on tour with Road Scholar, seeing Delhi, Agra and the spectacular Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Mysore, Calicut, and Cochin. We also went into the countryside and small villages in Rajasthan. India was so interesting and the people so welcoming and friendly. We didn’t know until we got there that we would be in India during Diwali, their 5-day festival of lights, a celebration like Christmas – with presents, lights and fireworks – so special! With 1.4 billion people, the cities and streets were packed with people, cars, tuk-tuks (they call them rickshaws), and zillions of 2-wheeler motor bikes going every which way. We learned so much about the people and how they live, their history, religions, caste system, and how things are changing. As you might expect, there’s a lot of Indian “call center” people that work the “night shift” during our days at huge multinationals around Delhi. Southern India was calmer and we spent 3 relaxing days on an 8-person riverboat in the backwaters before leaving from Cochin. We were afraid of getting “Delhi Belly,” but had no problem with the food – mostly chicken, mutton, fish and vegetarian. With ~12 hours of time-zone difference with India, it took almost a month to readjust.

Road Trip to Sedona and Scottsdale for a “Destination” Thanksgiving with Kids and Grandkids
This November, we opted for a “destination” Thanksgiving. Robert and Richard chose the place and made the plans and we went to Arizona. Near Tucson, we got together with John’s sister Jean and husband Dave and one of John’s HS classmates. We also spent a day touring the telescopes on Kitt Peak. For the Thanksgiving week – 3 days each in Sedona and Scottsdale – Richard and Robert picked out fabulous villas (mansions) with putting greens, swimming pools, theater room, tennis and pickleball courts, etc., etc., i.e. some nice digs. It was a ton of fun with the families and all 4 grandkids. And, the weather was perfect for hiking and all outdoor activities.

And When We’re Not Traveling - The rest of the story…
Again, John – “my hero” – comes to my “Tech Support” rescue. With my old computer sputtering and Windows 10 going off life support, it took 2 tries to get a computer, as the first one died in a day! After quite a few “adult beverages,” John got the new one up and running. It’s super fast! I could even “game” with it, if I knew how to. (BTW, No AI was used to write this letter! Only, good, old-fashioned brain power!)
As you know, I’m into gardening. After years of dodging the presidency of Gardeners By The Bay, I’m now it. “They” said it would be so easy – not much to do! Hah! AFTER you’re installed, you find out what’s involved. So, I compare it to the arcade game “Whack-A-Mole.” Stay tuned to see who wins – me or the mole!

Richard and Christiane, Andrew and Austin into Hiking, Webelos Cub Scouts and Travel
Richard, Christiane and family live in Oak Park, north of LA, and, although they evacuated during the Palisades fires, thankfully, their area did not burn. Super hikers, again this summer, they joined the 2-day, 35-mile St. Junipero Serra Pilgrimage from Mission Santa Barbara to Mission Buenaventura. Their travel plans are often “last-minute,” and, we were surprised to learn, they were in Normandy when we were in Europe. Twins, Andrew and Austin (11), 5th graders at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic School, love anything sports-related. Richard (44) leads their 2nd-year Webelos den and is the Senior Director of Quantitative Research at Moody’s Analytics. Christiane is in product management at DexCom, a maker of CGMs - continuous glucose monitors.

Rob Gets a New Job and with Laura, Peyton & Kensie travel to Portugal and Japan
Robert, Laura, Peyton and Kensie all love traveling, and, especially trying different foods around the world. In April, they went to Portugal and, in October, Japan. Besides multiple trips to Disney World, they went to Cooperstown in conjunction with Peyton’s “traveling” baseball team. In May, Laura was awarded a trip through her work, and she and Rob spent a few days in Napa, CA. Their wine “suitcase” came in handy there and in Portugal. In November, Robert (42) got a new job as VP of Products with East West Manufacturing, headquartered in north Atlanta. Laura is VP, Chief of Staff to the CEO at Aptean, involved in business solutions software. Peyton is in 8th grade at Northwestern Middle School and Kensie is in 5th grade at Summit Hill Elementary. We’ll be with them in December for an early Christmas celebration.

Dave and Kristie Get New Jobs in Colorado and a New Border Collie – “ Pronto” – from Detroit
Dave (39) and Kristie are in their happy place in Mead, Colorado, just north of Denver, where they love hiking and the outdoors. In July, Dave got a new job as a Senior Engineer with Williams, the largest gas pipeline company in the US. Kristie is the Director of Product Management & Customer Experience for “Get the Referral,” which includes developing phone apps for small businesses. Working from home helps her keep an eye on and train their new border collie, Pronto. Both Pronto (~1) and Jesko (~2 ½) are excited, and quite anxious, to learn dog agility moves and techniques. Dave’s rescue dog, Brody, just enjoys his dog bed.

Well, that's what we're up to.  Would love to hear how/what you're doing – and, even better – see you!