It’s holiday time again! We’d like to say that we’re sitting in front of a roaring fire and looking out on a frosty landscape, sipping cocoa – but instead, as we write (few days after Thanksgiving), it is about 70 degrees and we are relaxing after a bike ride to Bisbee this morning. What can we say – this is Arizona. Don’t worry, folks in colder climates – we’ll get some cold weather in, oh, January.

We’ve had a nice year. Robert is more or less retired; Liza’s “retirement countdown” will be within a year after Christmas! (Scroll down on this page – it’s on the left.)

We had some awesome travels this year, the major trips being a cycling tour in Slovenia, Italy and Austria in June (with VBT), and a do-it-yourself birding and wine country tour in Chile and Argentina. We also had some shorter trips, including southern California in July for brother Lee’s wedding to his bride Jenn; southern California again twice (for Robert) for his brother Rod’s 60th birthday and mom Claire’s 85th birthday; Oregon for the wedding of Robert (the son of our friends Tom & Diane Mosher) to his bride Kaila; a weekend in NYC with friends Mark and Joanne Guralnick; and a weekend (for Liza) in Prescott, AZ to see cousins Bob & Pam Deichmeister.

When not on the road, we’ve enjoyed being at home in Arizona, riding our bikes, birding, and generally being ruled by our two senior citizen cats, Phoebe and Woody. We also welcomed visitors this year, including Liza’s mom Alpha, sister Luci and niece Margaret; and Robert’s cousins Valdo and Renate with daughter Clara.

Next year we have some more travels planned (of course!), the main adventure being a long-awaited birding trip to Bhutan. (Ok, a lot of people ask us where Bhutan is. If India is Texas, Bhutan is Arkansas. Does that help? 🙂 We’re also contemplating a return to either Chile or Argentina – or maybe Uruguay – or maybe forgetting that and going cycling in Spain.

A few photos from the year are below; hover to see a caption, click each to see the full photo. Wishing you all a most happy holiday season – Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Kwanzaa, whatever works for you – and hope to see you in person/online in the coming year!

Robert, Liza, Phoebe & Woody