We wish you a warm (and belated) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 2013 was the year of traveling and we're fortunate to have seen so many of you this past year.
First we'd like to take a moment to remember two dear family members we lost. In May, Gordon's grandmother, BB (Betsy Barr), passed away at the age of 85. BB will always be remembered for her wit and competitiveness, but most importantly as a loving mother of two and grandmother of five. Later in September, Nola's uncle tragically passed away. A loving and devoted father of two young girls, he is dearly missed by Nola's father and the rest of the Li family.
We closed 2012 and kicked off the New Year with friends, dominoes, a mean game of Muppets Monopoly, and spectacular views of the ocean in Pacific Grove, CA. We spent every other weekend from January to March in Tahoe where Nola finally learned to ski. Green circles don't daunt her anymore and the occasional blue is manageable. Squaw Valley was our mountain of choice and we got a special treat when Rachel and Leif joined us on the slopes for a few days at the end of March.
Gordon continued his travels for work which took him to White Plains, New York City, Louisville, Irvine (finally something close to home!), and most recently Des Moines. Towards the end of this year he stayed home for a whole 7 weeks straight! Gordon also passed his VMware exam this year, a feat that has been in the works for many moons.
Nola increased her work travel this year as well, finding herself in New York City, Denver, Burbank, Huntington Beach, and Atlanta. Nola also passed her LEED Green Associate exam. She continues to keep busy with her ever-growing list of "projects" and is very happy that her job affords her time to do so.
The end of May picked up steam for the rest of the year. Nola's parents, Mindy, and Matt made their first trip to visit us on the west coast where we spent Memorial Day weekend exploring San Francisco and Marin. We also celebrated with long-time family friends at Gail and Ting's fabulous wedding in downtown San Francisco. Congratulations to Gail and Ting!
No sooner had we said goodbye to the Li family, we hopped aboard our favorite plane (747-400) and were off to the British Isles for 11 days. This was Nola's first trip to Europe and we couldn't wait to see new countries together. We explored London, Dublin, and Scotland in our typical whirlwind fashion, all in the company of close friends. Gordon even got to tour his favorite whiskey distillery, the Balvenie, which we highly recommend to anyone who loves whiskey and is planning a trip to Scotland. As always, the best part of our trip was spending time with our friends :)
We attended two more amazing weddings over the summer. The first brought us back to Portland, OR, for Gretchen and Matt's nuptials. Landing at PDX felt like coming home after a year-long trip. A weekend of friends and family, with Mt Hood providing a stunning backdrop, made us long for the verdant beauty we left last year. The second wedding was also a homecoming as we traveled back east for a week in New Hampshire before celebrating with Heather and Scott in Boston. While in Boston we even managed to squeeze in a game at Fenway. Congratulations to Gretchen and Matt, and to Heather and Scott!
Summer also saw our first, and last, whale tour when we spent a Saturday cruising to the Farallon Islands. We got to see a mother Humpback and her baby breach after only four hours at sea ;) The Red Sox came to town en route to their World Series title (Go Sox!) and we caught them for a Sunday afternoon game in Oakland. We closed out summer with a September visit back to Houston to see Nola's family.
Autumn brought Gordon's parents for their first visit to us on the west coast, and despite all of the National Parks being closed we still managed to show them a great time. Bob was especially happy to spend his birthday shucking oysters at Drake's Bay, and Tricia fell in love with wine country in Napa. We look forward to more family visits from the Barr and Li clans in 2014.
Autumn also saw both of us get SCUBA certified. After classroom and pool sessions in SF we completed our Open Water certification in Monterrey Bay, and boy was it cold - a frigid 54F. The 14mm of neoprene on our core and 7mm on our arms and legs was just enough insulation. It took both of us a while to get used to diving, but now we're hooked.
For the first time ever we hosted Thanksgiving and the turkey came out perfect! ...after about 3 tries. Old friends now living in CA joined us to celebrate and we were especially thankful that everyone made it. We finally got to visit Point Reyes where we had a picnic of Thanksgiving leftovers on the beach - perhaps a new tradition? :)
December was a month of family travels and the first trip was to Turneffe Island, 35 miles off the coast of Belize. Alan flew into SF and we were able to show him around the Bay Area before we met up with the rest of the Barr family in Belize City. A week of diving as a family 2-3 times every day, including the Blue Hole, and some amazing meals made for a truly epic birthday celebration for Tricia. Plus, we finally found a sport where it doesn't matter if it's raining - we can still go outside and enjoy nature.
Christmas week found us back in Texas where we spent a few days with Mindy and Matt exploring Austin and catching up with old friends. We couldn't believe how much Austin has grown and the vibe reminded us of Portland and the Bay Area. The rest of the week was spent in Houston with Nola's family where we celebrated Christmas. Once again we had a chance to catch up with friends and we even visited St Arnold's brewery.
In true GordoNola style we wrote this at the airport and on a plane :) A special thanks to everyone who hosted us and to those who came to visit this year. We look forward to seeing many of you in 2014 and hope that you’ll let us know if your travels bring you to the San Francisco area.
With love,
Gordon & Nola
December 29, 2013
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