T. Guttenberger Family Station: Wow!!!! What a busy past month...

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone already... so fast. Well, let's see... Thanksgiving was oodles of fun. John, Jeannie and her folks joined us for Thanksgiving. Dad made a very fortunate layover and was able to share in some of the festivities before heading back to the road. Then the remainder of us managed a Phase 10 marathon that lasted to 1:30 AM. Amazing!

Afterwards I (Ty) had a business trip out to CA for the week. The great folks I work for now even encouraged an extended stay where I was able to visit with friends and family galore. It was really great to see you all and I can't wait for the next chance - miss you all already. I wished I'd taken my camera just to get a few snaps of everyone, but I just didn't get my head in the game until it was too late. I managed to squeeze in quite a bit though. First night in Santa Barbara I ran the gauntlet by walking around my old stomping grounds at UCSB. I can't believe how much I love it there. It's so incredibly beautiful there. I must have walked past by some of the most amazing, exotic trees a million times, but this time I noticed. AMAZING!!! Then I was off to downtown Santa Barbara for an ice cream and a beer. I walked State Street and ran through tons more memories before walking across an Irish Band playing old folk music. A perfect evening.

Next day, after a morning at the Daily Grind (one of my favorite coffee houses), I had business in Camarillo, where I ran into an old college/work mate of mine, Mikka Kangas. Wow, he's changed! Tuesday, was an all day workday in Santa Barbara. Lots of interesting info and good connections. Dinner (again!) in SB was at the coolest little taco stand kinda' place. I'll have to remember the name now, but it was really, really good! Boy do I miss that CA, Mexican goodness. And it almost hurts how much I miss SB. If only had another life to just sit and listen to those waves...

After another day of work in Sonoma I finally broke away and started my visit with friends and family. Lunch with Charlotte(from Atsugi, Japan!). An all-too-short evening with Grandma Guttenberger - She looked really good. Early morning breakfast and visit with cousins Rob and Angie - always spectacular (even if it's just breakfast...). A drive out to the central valley for a late lunch with cousins Kelsey and Sara - wow they always amaze me (beautiful, smart, and loving). A little further south and an evening with Gail and family. My little neice and nephew are adorable and Gail's new wife is incredible. I hope I made the right impression!!!

My visit to CA was WAY TOO SHORT. But visiting everyone did my heart good. It's too easy to get disconnected from people day-to-day, but for those special ones it's so easy to slip into reconnection. There is nothing more valuable in life. Thanks to all.

Upon returning I found Tam, Tommy, Tilden, Bizzy, Bitz, and Brie all in good spirits. Tilden worked out his firt turn-over (face down to facing up) and Tam's excited to share all the play-by-play action. He's getting bigger! The house and yard were all well taken care of - Tommy is just turning into an outstanding young man. I know he doesn't think I see the little things (he's a teenager afterall), but he's just the greatest kid. He's turning 16 soon and he's going to do fine when he gets a license. Shhhhh, don't tell him I said that... :P

Sure nuf with only a blink of an eye and it's Christmas time!!! We all got some neat stuff, but most importantly we've really been enjoying the free time together. Only one sarrowful note - we lost Bitz. He'd been having hypothyroid troubles and finally lost his liver function. We just couldn't see more vet visits with so little hope, so had to let him go. But back to happier times. Christmas day we spent with Tam's mom, aunt, uncle, and grandfather. Tam and I hadn't really had a chance to spend much time with Uncle Charlie, Aunt Ressie, and Grandpa Ed, (in fact it was my first meet), but it was a real heart-warming time. I know Lyn was pleased, to say the least, that we finally managed to gather as a family... Now she's having to figure out how/if she's going to move to FL to be closer... :) It was short, but very sweet. We've got promises to make plans in the near future and I'm already looking forward to 'em.

In just a couple of weeks now there's more fun to be had. Tommy's 16th birthday is coming!!! Grandma and Grandpa Larson will be here. There's rumor that we'll see Jan and Doug???!!! And Mom is gonna be here in just the blink of an eye. They'll be pleased to see how far Tilden has come in 6 months for sure! And, wow! has Tommy grown in just the few short months that we've been in FL. I wonder if some will even recognize 'im? :)

It seems like I just breezed through such special times. I could go on for pages at how special these last few weeks have been... but even in brevity it seems I already have. Truth is, we live for moments like these... truly.

Now time for pictures... :)

Thanksgiving: