Christmas greetings 2018!

Dear friends and family, 

We had a very good 2018, and we hope you did as well!

Dan continues to work at Intel, with an expanded role this year.  He is now Director of Program Management for several product lines in the Data Center Group, including the Xeon D, Xeon E and Atom C product families.  While this keeps Dan very busy, his business travel has been modest; mostly to North American destinations including California, Arizona, and Guadalajara Mexico.

Nancy continues to volunteer several days per week at the Union Gospel Mission's LifeChange for Women and Their Children program.  She contributes by cooking, assisting with the women's education, and mentoring.  Nancy also continues to volunteer with Women of Vision, an affiliate of World Vision.  She is now on the Portland area leadership committee for Women of Vision and is in charge of orientation for new members.

Our personal travel was impacted by weather and related conditions twice.  For our annual trip to Park City, Utah in February, the weather was warm and there was no snow at base elevation, so it turned out to be a hiking trip rather than a cross-country skiing trip.

We had planned an August trip to Crater Lake in southern Oregon, but very heavy smoke from the wildfires in Oregon and California made that infeasible. So instead we explored the central Oregon coast around Newport.  There are always plenty of wonders to explore on the Oregon coast!

Heceta Head Lighthouse, near Newport, Oregon

Newport harbor

A special experience for us this year was a trip to San Antonio, Texas to attend Baking Boot Camp at the Culinary Institute of America.  We learned enough to whet our appetite in areas like bread baking, but it will take a lot of practice at home to get good at it!  While in San Antonio, we saw sights around the area.

Us at CIA Baking Boot Camp!

Our baguettes!

Mission San Jose, in the San Antonio Missions National Park

We continue to have an abundance of wildlife in the green space behind our home.  We watched another litter of coyote pups grow up.  A family of beavers has dammed the creek in the green space.  While we haven't seen the beavers, their impact is obvious, as there's now a pond.  As a result, we now have more regular visits by large waterfowl, including Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets.

Coyote in our green space

Great Egret in the new pond

We continued our running this year.  Dan ran two half-marathons, the Helvetia Half and the Portlandathon, each at a personal best time.  Nancy also continues to run, mostly at 10K distance.

Dan running the Helvetia Half

Nancy finishing the 10K at Helvetia

Both of us continued to take golf lessons through the year, with Nancy venturing onto a real course for the first time.  Golf continues to be a work in progress for us, as it is for most players....

We continue to enjoy the attractions of the Portland area.  The restaurant scene here is great and continues to expand even more.  We day-trip to the coast and to the mountains as time permits.  So many things to do and try; so little time....

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great 2019!

  -- Dan & Nancy