While this newletter typically follows a chronological order, this year it opens out of order to address the elephant in the room. After over 19 years residing in Half Moon Bay, Bill and Carrie spread their wings in September and flew south! This move has been in consideration for years, and was a fairly narrow scope - one of three communities in northern San Diego County. After multiple "siteseeing trips" and visiting well over 50 homes during the first half of the year, a home finally spoke, and the deal was done. Downsizing (o a bigger home) has its benefits, and the grandkids LOVE the backyard! Now, back to the year in review.

2017 ended with Delilah turning five on Christmas Day, followed by Bill and Carrie taking their traditional ride to Santa Cruz to welcome in the new year. January ended with a large Super Blue Moon, for those who were willing to get up at 3am to capture the moment. In late January, Carrie flew down to Burbank to spend a weekend with Ryan and Breezy at Universal, where Godric Gryffindor's hat (aka "the sorting hat" assigned them to their new House at Hogwarts.

February brought a couple of birthdays, Austin turned twelve (so yes, he's just shy of being a teenager), while another birthday boy, Nathan, turned 26 this year. He's still in Flagstaff, still working as a Pharmacy Technician, and will receive his diploma from ASU next May!

March brought a loss to the family - Danny's mom (Amy's mother in law) passed unexpectedly. She's missed by the entire extended family. March also brought some relief from FEMA (after the widfires had destroyed their home) - the Pardini's moved into their new home. April brought Easter - clearly Savannah was not impressed with its representative. In April, Austin got a job - seriously. He started ump'ing games, and thoroughly enjoys it.

In May, for the first time, Austin, Shaylee, and Delilah were all on baseball teams! Shaylee also continued with fútbol, helping her team win a tournament late in the month! In early May, Bill and Carrie spent a nice date weekend in Pismo Beach, Then, in mid-May, they joined Carrie's dad for five days in Washington. While Bill spent a couple of years there in college, Carrie and her dad had never been. Playing total tourists, the group visited the White House, an Egyptian obelisk, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, many of the Smithsonian museums, including the Air and Space Museum, the Martin L. King Memorial, Ford's Theatre, Arlington Cemetery, and, of course, the Exorcist steps. They finished the trip by taking a Duck tour on the Potomac River (where they promptly got stranded with a certain song containing "three hour tour" humming through their brains). They left DC and joined Nathan in Atlanta, driving up to Bill's sister and brother-in-law to spend five days celebrating Bill's mom's eightieth trip around the sun - with one or two others joining in. A ton of time was spent on the water, with boat sightseeing and Bill and Nate being boys with new toys. For a complete set of pictures of the Washington trip, click here.

June was a busy month. It started with Shaylee turning 10! In addition to several "sightseeing trips" referenced in the first paragraph, Bill and Carrie flew out to Denver to visit with Carrie's sister Missy, her husband David, and Carrie's dad. The group went to Coors Field, where they got to see a fantastic sunset while enjoying Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers, as well as some little band called "The Eagles" (those guys might go somewhere....a pretty amazing sound!). In a happy coincidence, Carrie worked with the head of networking for Coors Field long ago, and had arranged for a short tour of "behind the scenes". Three hours later, the group had seen virtually every aspect of the field, including the owner's suite and a view from the field. For more pictures of this amazing tour, click here.

In July, Austin continued to show his athletic prowess by winning the first golf tournament he entered, then going on his first hunt and bagging a buck. And in August, Bill and Carrie had to fly out to Maui for the weekend to take care of a few things with the condo. And Shaylee spent an exciting week at Science Camp, including a trip to Mendocino National Forest.

September brought quite a few changes. Bill and Carrie made their move to Carlsbad, and Austin and Shaylee started school. In addition to that, Delilah started kindergarten, and Savannah turned two!

In October, Delilah was recognized for her willingness to help others in class, and Bill once again had to go to Prague to deliver product training. This was his third trip in as many years, so he decided to explore the surrounding area. He visited Kutna Hora, where he visited Sedlec Ossuary (aka "The Bone Church") and St, Barbara's Church, dating back to the 1300's, with fourteen stunning stained glass windows. He also visited the original castle (Vysehrad Castle), as well as Novy Svet, a medieval section of Prague - dwelling doors are typically three feet high in this section of town. Having heard about another Cerny creation, Bill tracked down his Statue of King Wenceslas leading his army into battle (a warped view, mind you). And, of course, no trip to Prague is complete for a photographer without a visit to Old Town Square and a sunrise on Charles Bridge. The complete set of photos of the Prague trip can be found here. While Bill was in Prague, Carrie was hosting her dad, showing off San Diego, including a visit with Ryan and Breezy. A few days later, Bill and Carrie were off to Vegas to join Ryan and Breezy and Nathan and his girlfriend Retta to catch a Jimmy Buffett concert - a GREAT weekend! Finally, October ended with Shaylee and her "can do" attitude for Halloween.

November was a busy month. Shaylee continued to show her prowess in the kitchen, while Austin made his school basketball team! Carrie was ecstatic that her favorite Zumba Instructor was in town to do a jam. For Thanksgiving, the entire Pardini clan headed south to spend the it with Bill and Carrie. On Friday after thanksgiving, most of the clan went karting, while Savannah took care of her Christmas letter to Santa.

December of course, also brings the holidays. Carrie visited the kids in Ukiah, where to celebrated by making Christmas cookies. The Pardini's headed out to find the perfect Christmas tree, and followed that with an Ugly Sweater contest. Santa once again sent a personal video to Shaylee, Delilah, and Savannah. They learned from the videos that they once again made the Nice List, and a few days later, received their official Nice List Certificate. Rumor has it that Santa himself will be calling each of them just before Christmas to remind them to continue to be good. And Delilah has her sixth birthday to look forward to after Santa leaves!

And that about wraps up the year...Bill and Carrie wish all of you the best for 2019!