Dear Family and Friends:
This past year has again been one of many, many blessings — filled with visitors, flying, traveling, and precious time with family and friends. After Steve scouted out the land of septuagenarianism, Nancy also took the plunge, and it has turned out to be one of the best years ever.
If we had to characterize the year with a single theme, we’d call it “The Year of the Vehicle.” Since we continue to split our time between Genoa and Fountain Hills, we’ve needed wheels in both places. After passing along their previous cars to family members, Nancy acquired a Subaru Crosstrek and a Sundowner Mini-Go trailer to support her shooting activities in Nevada, and finally took delivery of her new Boxster in Arizona early this year. (Daughter Tabitha also celebrated a milestone birthday and was gifted Nancy’s previous Boxster.) Steve moved boldly into the future with a Tesla for Arizona — and is now contemplating what his new “airport vehicle” in Nevada should be.
But the new vehicles didn’t stop with cars. Steve is getting close to taking delivery of his new SW-51 airplane, affectionately named “Plum 51,” featuring a shiny aluminum base with deep purple and yellow accents. In support of this project, we traveled to Europe in June. We spent a week with a longtime friend who lives in the Paris suburbs, visiting special places that truly require a car to reach. Steve then continued on to Krosno, Poland, where he worked in the factory alongside the company builders to qualify the aircraft as experimental.
Tabitha joined us in Paris as part of her major birthday celebration, and while Steve was in Poland, she and Nancy enjoyed a perfect week in a little pied-à-terre beside the Pont Neuf — filled with walking, sightseeing, shopping, and plenty of soul-sharing.
In October, coinciding with Nancy’s birthday, we met in Knoxville to take delivery of our new Cirrus Vision Jet — a red, gray, and black SF-50 G2+ named “Morgan.” Having completed our recurrent training in the preceding months, we flew Morgan home to our base at the Minden–Tahoe Airport in Nevada. A group of Steve’s airport friends greeted us with cake, champagne, and a decorated hangar — very sweet indeed. Steve has since added an advanced simulator for the jet, allowing us to practice without burning too much jet fuel, though we’ve still been flying quite a bit. A good friend of Steve’s earned his rating as well, and Steve has been helping him complete his SOE (Supervised Operating Experience).
Nancy logged a great deal of flying earlier in the year in our Cirrus SR22T, before it was sold to make room for the new jet. She continued her activities with the 99s, including a major cross-country trip to the 99s International Conference in Burlington, Vermont with friends and sister-pilots Marcie and Wendy. After the conference, they continued on to visit friends and family. Nancy also attended a Southwest Section meeting in Monterey — where she was born — over her 70th birthday, just before heading to Knoxville. One of her first trips in the new jet was flying California friends to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to celebrate another milestone birthday for her friend Susan. Nancy has also stayed active with her shooting, once again attending the Girl & A Gun annual conference in Grand Junction, Colorado. She is learning skeet shooting and hopes to add competitive shooting to her repertoire. She continues her Bible study activities, health maintenance, and time with friends.
Steve’s flying has accelerated now that he has reclaimed his FAA medical. He enjoyed several strong soaring flights ranking high in the Online Contest speed category. In this category, pilots may bring a coach, and Gordon helped him on a couple of flights. Steve’s club has won the world club championship for speed tasks six years in a row — no small feat. To score points for the club, a pilot must finish in the top three on a given weekend, which Steve has actually accomplished a couple of times. Considering the club includes numerous soaring contest winners and national record holders, that’s quite a challenge. Steve thrives on the learning environment and camaraderie.
We’ve continued upgrading our homes as well. In Genoa, we installed a pneumatic elevator to help Nancy’s knees — friends say it looks like a Star Trek transporter or people mover tube from the Jetsons. In Fountain Hills, we’re still working toward completing a large solar project. We are now 11 months into what was originally described as a two-week job. Sigh.
Rich and Tabitha are doing very well and appreciate that their jobs allow them to work from anywhere. We had planned to have them visit over the holidays, but Rich’s mom was in a serious accident. They’ve since gone to their new home in Michigan, near her, to help with her recovery. We hope to see them in the spring — and perhaps for next holiday season.
Beckett and Brandy, now nine years old, continue to be our cuddly joys. We still trade pet-sitting with our friend Susan, and her dog Obie has become a welcome and regular visitor. We’re convinced Obie loves us — and not just for the pool, where she swims whenever temperatures exceed 70 degrees. Beckett and Brandy, on the other hand, disdain the pool and reserve their aquatic interests for the hot tub.
We’ll enjoy a quiet Christmas in Fountain Hills, though we plan to host some good friends for Christmas Eve dinner. Some of Nancy’s California 99s friends plan to visit between Christmas and New Year’s. As we continue with our regular activities — along with the added busyness of the season — we pause to remember the reason for Christmas, captured beautifully in the words of the Christmas song Hark! The Herald Angels Sing:
“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the Incarnate Deity! Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.”
May the coming year be filled with joy and blessings.
With love always,
Steve, Nancy, Brandy, and Beckett
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