Christmas greetings 2016!

Dear friends and family,

We had a very good 2016, and hope you did as well.

Dan continues to work at Intel.  He is managing platform development for two Intel® Xeon Phi™ programs, targeted for high-performance computing and machine learning.  One of the platforms, the Intel® Xeon Phi™ x200 family, launched during the year.  Dan's job is keeping him very busy, but his work travel continues to be modest.

Nancy's volunteering expanded at Union Gospel Mission's LifeChange for Women and Their Children program, and she is now spending several days a week cooking, assisting with education, and otherwise helping the program.  She is also occasionally participating in projects with Women of Vision, an affiliate of World Vision.

2016 was our second full year living in the Portland, Oregon area.  We're fully settled in and feeling very much at home.  We have continued to explore Oregon.  While we have seen a lot, there's still plenty more to see!

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, Woodburn OR

Mount Hood from Trillium Lake

Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose at the Evergreen
Aviation Museum,  McMinnville, OR

Our explorations of Portland have included its culinary riches.  Some of our favorite restaurants feature James Beard Award winners, Iron Chef America winners, and Top Chef contestants.  Too many great places to choose from, but it's a great problem to have!

"Herring under a fur coat", from the DaNet
Russian pop-up event 

We continue to have great nature & wildlife availability even in our back yard.  The coyotes in the green space behind our house had another litter of pups; it was interesting to watch them grow & develop.

Coyote pups in our green space

Red-tailed hawk soaring behind our house

Double rainbow visible from our back deck.
Frequent rain has its occasional advantages....

Our personal travel included our annual trip to Park City, Utah in February, a vacation to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands in May, a family reunion in southern California in July, a visit to Boston over Labor Day weekend, and our annual Pittsburgh trip at Thanksgiving.  In addition, we visited San Jose, California over a weekend to see the Pittsburgh Penguins reprise their Stanley Cup Finals victory over the San Jose Sharks.

The McPolin Barn in Park City, Utah.
Taken while we were cross-country skiing.

Magens Bay, a great swimming & snorkeling beach
 on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Dan, Nancy and cousins on the set of Friends,
 on the Warner Brothers Studios tour in Burbank, California

Pausing at the Paul Revere stature in the North End
of Boston, during the Freedom Trail Run

The Pittsburgh Penguins playing the San Jose Sharks
at SAP Center, AKA the Shark Tank, in San Jose, California

We continued our running this year, including two half-marathons and a number of shorter races.

Run on the Runway 5K, part of the
Oregon International Air Show

The Hop Hop Half Marathon,
which has an Easter theme

Race 4 Hope 5K - We're not nearly as fast as we look!

Ready to run the half marathon
of the Portland Marathon....

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great 2017!
  -- Dan & Nancy