If it’s December, it’s time for the 2024 (and 32nd overall) edition of the Weissler Holiday Gazette, our annual year in review. It was quite a year – and don’t worry, no politics here!
Together in Singapore 
With Bob and Pam Deichmeister 
Florian, Robert, Hans, Lisa 
Robert, Katja, and Theo 
In the Altmühltal 
Liza in Rothenburg o/d Tauber 
Robert and Wolfgang, Leobschuetz 
Rosa Weissmann née Weissler, Bytom 
Liza in the Rynek Główny, Krakow 
Prater Garten, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin 
Margaret and Micah’s wedding 
At Kinabalu Park, Borneo 
On the trail, with leech socks! 
At a USC tailgate party 
Barahona, Dominican Republic 
Together in Puerto Rico 
Robert, Rachel, and Madalari at the Seattle Xmas Market 
Madalari and Aunt Liza 
Christmas merriment!
On the family front, the highlights of the year were the baby shower for niece Rachel Weissler and fiancé Elliot Powell; the birth of their daughter Madalari; and the wedding of our niece Margaret Lenker and Micah Solit, in Santa Barbara. Time marches on…but at the same time we continue to look back with our genealogy research. We had a wonderful family history trip in Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland with Robert’s cousin Wolfgang Weissler, following in the footsteps of Weissler ancestors. We also connected with a distant relative, Patricia Zawadzki in Germany, and (much) closer to home a cousin on Robert’s mother’s side, Corey Spector, a musician living in Tucson.
Our travels this year were far-flung – first the family history trip as mentioned, which also included a stop in Munich to visit friends and family, cycling through the Altmühltal, a brief visit to the Zakopane (a ski resort in southern Poland), and finishing up in always-fun Berlin. Next was Borneo (Malaysia) for birding, with a stopover in Singapore. To end the year we had a “let’s go birding and escape the election” trip to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. (Sure, Puerto Rico is a US territory, but it was a lot less crazy there.) Stateside our trips included Prescott, Arizona to visit cousins Bob and Pam Deichmeister, the baby shower in southern California, the wedding in Santa Barbara, and Washington state to see Rachel and Elliot, and to meet Madalari!
Liza also moved a step closer to obtaining Croatian citizenship, being eligible through her grandparents George and Lucy Ursich. After waiting 18 months for a consular appointment, she was finally able to drop off her completed packet and now gets to…wait. Maybe another 18 months, who knows. Why bother? Just seems like these days, perhaps having an EU passport wouldn’t be a bad thing. To that end Robert can work on German citizenship, as he is eligible through his father Gerhard.
We are still contemplating next year’s travel, plenty of ideas, the only definite so far being a return to Czech Republic and Poland for more family history with Wolfgang. (Certainly it seems the more you learn, the more questions you have!)
Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season, whatever you celebrate, and a safe, happy, and healthy 2025!
Also check out…
The Adventures of Buddy Bison!
Liza’s food blog, Liza’s World Kitchen
Ancestry.com: Liza Weissler
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