Christmas greetings 2023!

Dear friends and family, 

This year we finally returned to our normal amount of travel, and then some!  

• Both of us continue to be significantly involved with the Union Gospel Mission of Portland (UGM).  Dan continues to be on the Board of Directors.  He is serving as Strategy Chair and led the recent search for UGM’s new Executive Director.  Nancy continues to contribute to UGM’s LifeChange for Women program by cooking and mentoring. 

• Nancy also continues to volunteer with Women of Vision, an affiliate of World Vision.  In February, Nancy traveled to San Pedro Sula, Honduras with Women of Vision.  There, the travelers witnessed communities which are moving away from gang control and generational violence through World Vision’s Christian Discipleship programs.

Women of Vision trip to San Pedro Sula, Honduras

• Dan continues to be the webmaster for the Watercolor Society of Oregon .

After postponing the trip for two years, we finally went on Viking’s Passage to Eastern Europe river cruise, along the Danube from Budapest to Bucharest.  We visited five countries:  Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania.  The cruise was outstanding, and we learned a lot about these lands and their people.

Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest

Serbian folk dancers

Rock sculpture of Decebalus,
along the Danube at the Iron Gates

Our other trips this year included Park City Utah; northern Virginia to visit Dan's mother and sister, Marco Island, Florida; Orlando, Florida; and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Washington Monument

Jefferson Memorial

SpaceX rocket on the pad during our
Kennedy Space Center tour

A trio of alligators we saw
in the Everglades

Sunset on the beach at Marco Island

The Desert Botanical Garden
near Scottsdale, AZ

We continued to pursue our usual activities.  We continued to take golf lessons and to play golf.  In addition, we saw the U.S. Women's Senior Open golf tournament, held at the Waverley Country Club in Portland this year.

2023 U.S. Women's Senior Open
at Waverley Country Club

We continued to run and to exercise.  Dan ran in the Helvetia 10K, achieving a personal best time.

Dan after his personal best 10K

Dan continues to pursue watercolor painting.  He attended the two Watercolor Society of Oregon (WSO) conventions in April and in October.  During the summer, he took a class in abstract painting to "loosen up" his artistic style.  He is now painting on his own as time permits.

"Ribbons", one of Dan's abstract paintings

For 2024, so far we have planned to travel to Hawaii (the Big Island), back to Scottsdale, the Williamsburg, VA area, back to Park City, and Hilton Head.  More golf, with hopefully lower scores....  More paintings, with maybe an attempt to get into one of the WSO exhibitions.

Merry Christmas to all, and best wishes for a great 2024!

    -- Dan & Nancy