Christmas 2025

Last Christmas (2024) most of my family came to Houston for Christmas. We missed Zoe and Garrett being with us. They were at Garrett’s family in Austin for Christmas. It was a wonderful joyous time.

Left to Right: Don (my son), Jennifer (Don’s wife), Scott (Haley’s husband), Haley, Stephanie, Eric, Riley (Stephanie’s fiancée), me (David), and Susan.

Haley and Stephanie are the daughters of Eric and Susan. Zoe (who couldn’t attend) is the daughter of Don and Jennifer.

In January I flew to Las Vegas to be with Susan and Eric (they had an Airbnb for a few months in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas).

The next day after arriving in Henderson Susan and I flew to Glendale, California to be in the audience of The Price is Right. I couldn’t be a contestant because Stephanie and I won in 2023, but Susan could and she was the last person called to contestant’s row. Being the last of 9 people called to contestant’s row meant that she only had one chance to bid and unfortunately she didn’t win that prize and didn’t get on stage with Drew Carey, the host. But it was still a great experience and a lot of fun being around people like us that love that show. My goal is to be in the audience again and be eligible to be a contestant again in 2033. Winners can’t compete again for 10 years.

When someone is called from the audience of The Price is Right to be in contestant’s row and big for prizes, the “contestant handler” hold’s up a sign with that persons’s name as the same time that George Grey announces that person’s name.

When we got in the car after The Price is Right was over, I immediately felt chilled and got a fever. Susan is always prepared with medication so she made me comfortable and I was able to get some sleep. The next morning we flew to Las Vegas she took me to urgent care where they tested me for COVID, flu, and RSV. They said it was probably a virus and the meds Susan gave me was exactly what was needed. Despite having a minor illness I was still able to go and do and I had a great visit in Las Vegas. Stephanie and her Cousins: Ashley Buschhorn and Kaylen Buschhorn were evacuees from the Los Angeles fires and were in Henderson. Seeing them there was an added bonus. They soon got an all clear and could return to Los Angeles.

A huge storm was approaching Houston, so I flew home early and got there just in time to improve the winterization of my house before the storm hit on 21 January. We got a fairly heavy snow for Houston. Fortunately, we didn’t have an electricity outage like February 2021 when we were without power for several days.

In July I visited Susan and Eric at their new house in Silverthorne Colorado (near Dillon and Breckenridge Ski area). They gave me a great tour of the area including riding the Georgetown Loop Railroad and the Gondola at Breckenridge where we saw several Moose in the forest below us.

We’re excited to share that Zoe and Garrett are engaged! Garrett Mott proposed to Zoe while vacationing in Iceland on July 16, 2025, making the trip even more special. We’ve known Garrett and his parents since 2019 when Zoe and Garrett met when Zoe joined the Longhorn Singers at the University of Texas. The Mott family already feels like family, making this engagement especially joyful. They are planning a 2027 wedding.

In Early September we (Don, Susan, Jennifer, Eric, and myself) flew to Vancouver, British Columbia to go on a cruise to Alaska. While in Vancouver we took the ferry over to Victoria Island and toured Butchart Gardens which I think has the most beautiful flowers and vegetation of any place on the planet. It took the entire day but it was well worth it.

Left is Susan (my daughter) and right is Don (my son). That is me at 86 year young in the middle.

From left to right: Eric, Susan, Don, and Jennifer.

We boarded the Nieu Amsterdam cruise ship (Holland American Line) in Vancouver, British Columbia and then visited the ports of Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway Alaska before debarking the ship at Whittier, Alaska 7 days later. It was raining in Juneau, but we still went ashore and had lunch at the Red Dog Saloon.

When we were in Ketchikan we went to the Totem Pole Museum.

When we were in Juneau, we visited the Red Dog Saloon.

The highlight of the 7-day cruise from Vancouver, British Columbia to Whittier, Alaska was the Harvard Glacier, College Fjord, in Glacier Bay National Park. The ship spent an entire day in the inlets where we could see the many glaciers in the National Park.

In Anchorage, Alaska we had a gorgeous day with no clouds (clear days in Alaska are rare in September because the polar front (with its band of clouds) is sitting right above Alaska. We got on the Denali Star train in Anchorage. It has an upper deck with large glass windows. I call it a “Vista Dome” train because that is the name I remember of a Santa Fe Railroad train like that that ran from Houston to Chicago through Norman, Oklahoma.

It continued to be the most beautiful clear day of our trip and then suddenly there was the majestic mountain Denali on the left side of the train with a lake in the foreground. It was 234 miles from Anchorage to Denali National Park and most of the way it was heavily forested, so it was difficult to see distant objects most of the time. Our conductor and tour guide told us that it was very unusual to have this beautiful view of Denali because it is usually covered in clouds.

I think we were near Talkeetna, Alaska when we had this view of Denali. If so we were about 80 miles away. Denali is about 22,000 ft high and has 4 nearby mountain peaks that are over 20,000 ft high. These mountains are due to the Pacific Plate being subducted under the Alaskan plate. This is similar to the Andes Mountains where the Southern part of the Pacific Plate is being subducted under South America off shore of Chile, Peru and Ecuador. The Andes Mountains have many peaks that are also about 20,000 ft altitude. In India and Tibet there are the Himalaya Mountain which are even higher at 39,000 ft altitude. These mountains are caused by the collision of 2 continental plates: India and Asia.

The next big celebration in our family is Stephanie and Riley’s wedding on March 28, 2026 in San Clemente, California. Riley Holmquist and his family already feel like family members to us. They are very special people.

I’m still doing Tai Chi, exercising on my recumbent bicycle and doing some of the exercises my Cardio-PT instructor taught me. I’m also still doing genetic genealogy and working on Paula’s and my genealogy. More genealogical data is available every day, especially from old newspapers which provide obituaries, so there is a lot to do. I have season tickets for the Houston Symphony and I go with either Susan or Don. When Susan is out of town which is frequent, Don drives to Houston and attends the symphony with me.

Don and Jennifer are both retired, but are keeping busy with genealogy, sports (Don), crafts (Jennifer), and Jennifer has a small business making custom shirts. They also stay busy helping Zoe with her classroom where she teaches in the Leander School District (Austin, Texas). Don took an early out option from Raytheon. Don, Jennifer, and myself are planning some genealogical field trips in 2026.

Susan and Eric are both retired as well. Eric took an early out option from Shell. They bought a second house in Silverthorne, Colorado and live in it during the summer months and lease it to skiers in the winter. Haley (their daughter) and Scott Bolen were married in Estes Park Colorado on the 21^st of September, 2024. Haley works in Denver for the accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers. Susan and Eric stay busy socializing with their friends, traveling, and playing golf.

Don and Susan and their spouses (Jennifer and Eric) provide help to me often and I really appreciate it.

Love, David