Holiday greetings to everyone.

Some of you wondered last year whether you’d been dropped from our distribution list. Fear not, no one was eliminated. We just didn’t send out a letter.

Maybe we were still traumatized from the election. To be honest, we still haven’t fully recovered. And now we learn that many of the men we admired weren’t really worthy of that admiration.

There wasn’t much to report in 2016. Putting the two years together might make for more interesting reading. John made it to 75 years in September 2016, and Deanne reached the same milestone in September 2017. We celebrated in Vegas (saw The Beatles Love for the second time) and at a resort in Phoenix (spa treatments and a special dinner), respectively. Those of you on Facebook may have seen some commemorative photos.

We’re still healthy – clean reports from all our doctors. Still exercising regularly, but we’re not playing as much golf as we did (or would like). But 2017 was a tough (and sad) year for many of our neighbors. We are thankful that we’re still able to “move” and enjoy life.

Still attending performances of Arizona Opera and getting our fix of Broadway musicals at Gammage. Made our annual trips to Palm Desert and Las Vegas and our bi-annual trip to Minnesota (doctor appointments). Deanne had a celebration breakfast with several of her now 75-year-old friends. We plan another trip to Palm Desert in February for Modernism Week – a celebration of mid-century architecture and design. We took an architectural tour a few years ago and it piqued our interest. We’ll be taking another tour and attending an event at one of the iconic houses.

This year we’re doing the holidays at home. We’ll celebrate the feast of the seven fishes (an Italian tradition) on Christmas Eve, with a nod to Deanne’s Swedish heritage by adding lutefisk. Roast beef and plum pudding – in recognition of John’s English ancestors – on Christmas Day. Deanne has been busy using our new bread maker – julekage, stollen, pannetone. It’s difficult (maybe impossible without a special order and providing the recipe) to find Scandinavian treats here in the desert. So we need to make our own. We do have a source for lefse. We’ll celebrate New Year’s Eve at a community event with our neighbors.

Hope that this greeting finds you healthy and in good spirits. All the best in 2018.

Deanne & John