2021 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas family and friends. I hope this letter finds you happy and healthy. The Simanek family is doing well and we have been truly blessed this year.

Victoria and I started the year with a couple visits to Mesa, Az to see my parents and good friend/adopted sister Tamra. During one of the visits we went to see the beautiful rocks of Sedona, Az. Need to do a future trip there to go camping, jeeping and hiking. Then in February, we celebrated Valentine's Day in Borrego Springs. We stayed at a super cool hotel in the desert. Clothing optional pool was fun-- we wore suits. We took several Jeep trips and just enjoyed our time together.

Sierra and Tim went on some day trips to Borrego Springs to see the metal sculptures in the desert as well as another day trip to Palm Springs. For Valentine's day weekend, they went to Temecula where they went on a wine tour and went wine tasting at the Callaway Winery.

In March we celebrated Victoria’s Mom's 80th birthday. It was a small family only event. COVID made us keep it small. It was held at the home of Judy and Warren Slater. We had a lovely lunch and had a great time celebrating our Mom.

Luke celebrated his 19th birthday with a BUNCO Birthday party, and Sierra completed all of her schooling at University of Santa Cruz (online). She graduated with a 3.7 GPA, Cum Laude with her Bachelors of Arts in Film and Digital Media.

Finished the month with another trip to Mesa, Az to meet up with Larry's parents and best friend Jeff and Tina, with a quick visit with their kids.

In April the birthdays continued with a surprise birthday celebration for Victoria’s 50^th Birthday. I had Victoria pack a bag, I told her we were staying at a “local casino” for the weekend. We were heading to Coronado first, to have dinner at a very nice restaurant called Peohe's. We were a little early for our reservation so I drove down by the Hotel Del Coronado . I pulled into the driveway to “turn around” then stopped and got out? “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”, Victoria exclaimed. “I'm going to check in!” She was so surprised it was on her bucket list to stay there, and I surprised her for her 50th birthday. That was not the only surprise. We spent the day on the beach relaxing. I told Victoria I wanted to take a walk on the beach. As we made our way down the beach, she saw her family and friends set up for a birthday celebration. What an amazing day!

Sierra and Tim celebrated their 2 year anniversary in April, and they took a trip to Santa Barbara where they went wine tasting and sightseeing--the Santa Barbara pier, moke rides, and more wine. They ended up getting up to 3 bottles of wine from the different places they visited all year.

We had been working on our backyard and finally had pavers and grass installed. Lannie had given us her old patio set. Victoria cleaned it up, painted and put new navy blue cushions on the chairs. It looks beautiful and we celebrated Mother’s Day at our house.

The new patio came in very handy in the Summer of 2021. Much time was spent dancing in our backyard. I am sure the neighbors were thrilled to have a group of kiddos dancing several nights a week. Luke and Olivia (Luke’s girlfriend of 2 years) practiced two-stepping several nights a week. Sierra taught Tim when he came to visit from Arizona. We had a regular group-- mutual friends Isaiah Cordova and Tom and Chris Rusnak, Sierra’s best friends from high school and college, Kiya Guire and Kassandra Aguirre, came and joined in as well. This was fun for Victoria and I to sit on the porch swing and watch the youngsters having fun. We had fun dancing as well.

In June Sierra could officially walk for graduation. She opted not to travel back to Santa Cruz for a masked COVID /six feet separated graduation ceremony, so we watched the graduation on TV and had a small party for her. My parents, Larry and Linda, came to town and we went to Peohe’s in Coronado to celebrate Sierra's graduation with a nice dinner. Victoria and I bought her a watch and a Padres Dooney and Bourke purse. It could come in handy for her dream job, that she will get someday with the San Diego Padres.

In June Victoria and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary with a trip to Catalina Island. This was our 1st time visiting there, and we recommend everyone doing it at least once.

My Ford Escape’s air conditioning hasn't worked for 2 years and as summer was approaching, we decided to look for a new car. I really wanted a pickup truck but with gas prices and vehicle prices increasing, we decided on another Kia Soul. So we purchased a 2021 Kia Soul color Mars orange, and we named it the Mars Rover.

The Rover’s maiden voyage was a trip to Prescott, Arizona. Sierra’s Christmas gift to me in 2020 was tickets to the World's Oldest Rodeo in Prescott, Arizona. So Victoria, Luke, Olivia, and I packed up and headed East where we met Sierra and Tim. Tim’s parents live in Prescott, Arizona, so not only did we see the Rodeo, we went downtown Prescott Valley where Luke ran in the annual Cowboy Boot Race, and had a great time with Tim’s Family on the 4th of July.

My cousin Christopher was getting married in Illinois on July 18^th. Instead of flying we planned a 2 week road trip cruising Route 66. After much research, we tried to see as much as we could jumping on and off the real roads of Route 66. We started our trip by Standing on the Corner of Winslow, AZ. Our first stay was in the El Rancho Hotel in New Mexico where movie stars stayed and movies were filmed. We saw many other things on our way east to Chicago including the Cadillac Ranch where Victoria graffitied the Cadillacs which were buried nose down in the ground. We ate at the Big Texan, visited several gas stations (Phillips 666, Conoco, etc) and one of our favorite roadside attractions was the Blue Whale of Catoosa. Just too many stops to mention. Arrived at our final destination in Chicago and met up with friends and family.

Sierra and Luke flew in for the weekend to attend Christopher and Jennifer’s wedding. What an awesome wedding and now we can officially say we have attended a “Greek Wedding“. It was great seeing and catching up with family at the wedding. We were able to squeeze in time for some friends and then also visit with Larry’s Mom’s side of the family. Thanks to Cousin Steve hosting a family dinner. We had a great time seeing everyone. And as always we made sure we got Portillos and White Castle burgers before we left.

After the short trip to Chicago, we dropped the kids off at the airport and headed west for home. We continued getting our kicks on Route 66. We stopped at more places on the way back than going to Chicago. Some highlights were the Precious Moments Chapel, Cars Route 66, graffitied the slug bugs and lots of Tall “Midas Men” statues dressed up as astronauts, cowboys, holding hotdogs, etc... The scariest Route 66 hotel was Boots Court motel in Carthage Missouri which was recently reopened and still renovating. Coolest stay was at the Blue Swallow Motel. It is the motel with the longest consecutive years running Route 66. We checked out the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert before our last Route 66 motel - Wigwam Teepee Motel - another bucket list stay. There were so many more places, and we know a lot of you probably saw it on Facebook. It was a great trip, and our marriage survived the trip - that has to say something.

In July we celebrated an early 22^nd Birthday party for Sierra. She wanted to have her party early so that her boyfriend Tim could attend, before he headed out to San Jose State to finish school. Best friend Kiya was moving to Washington State and Luke’s girlfriend Olivia was heading off to attend Brevard college in North Carolina. The birthday theme was Mama Mia. It was a lot of work. She planned her own party. It was in her words stressful, but it turned out amazing. I did not help since we had just returned from our long road trip. Definitely a successful party, the cops came to say we were too loud before 10:00 p.m.

In August Sierra was taking pictures at a local high school basketball game. She had been working at Vans and helping a local photographer with team and game photos. She asked a young man that worked for a local news station (KUSI) how to become part of the Prep Pigskin Report. The PPR is where young up and coming journalists or students interested in broadcasting cover local high school football games on Friday nights. They make Youtube videos of the games. She was hoping working on the PPR crew would help her in her future goal to work for the San Diego Padres. He gave her his email and told her to contact him to become part of the PPR. She emailed him the video from the basketball game, and she got a job working for KUSI as a PPR Red Jacket Field producer. She also volunteered to be the social media coordinator for the PPR giving her some extra hours. August was a busy month for Sierra and she turned 22. We are so proud of the ambitious, enterprising and simply fierce young woman she has become!

In September we said goodbye to Tim and Olivia. Olivia is headed to North Carolina completing her degree at Brevard and playing softball. Tim headed to San Jose State to finish his Psychology degree. So things got quiet at our house real quick. Now Luke only two steps with his sister, but both Luke and Sierra took a liking to line dancing. Every Monday a local brewery has line dance lessons, so the kids both go and learn new line dances. Luke also started online college at SDSU again for this semester.

Sierra was finally saying she's done working retail at Vans. She's been there for about 2 years on and off, and she was asked to apply as a Campus Supervisor (Narc) at Victoria’s school Santana. So she went and talked to the VP at Santana. At the same time, she talked to her immediate supervisor about a full time job at KUSI. He pointed out a digital media producer position and let her use him as a reference. She got an interview, but she said it didn’t go well. A week goes by, and Santana was asking if she was going through with the Campus Supervisor position. She immediately emailed KUSI - HR and the grandson of the owner of KUSI. He immediately got back to her for the second interview, and in the afternoon after the interview they offered her a full-time job at KUSI as Digital Content Producer. We cannot be more proud of her and her drive to succeed. For the month of November she worked up to 50+ a week with her new fulltime job and her PPR job. She ended the season with PPR and was awarded the “Wilbur” award after working the PPR Silver Pigskin Gala (which a lot of first time Red Jackets do not get to attend). This award is for the Best New Red Jacket for 2021. She is hoping to be involved in the Sports Department at KUSI fulltime or involved as a Red Jacket next year.

November Victoria and I took a long weekend after Veteran’s Day to camp at Lake Cuyamaca. We met up with old Navy buddies Matt Bertrand and John Newbert. We almost burned down the motorhome (didn't see the plastic grill cleaner in the oven). It was very relaxing. Victoria hung out with John’s wife Toni and John while Larry and Matt fished. This may become an annual Veteran’s Day camping trip. We also came to the conclusion that it might be time to upgrade the motorhome. Victoria is getting too old to climb up to the loft bed, and I am super uncomfortable sleeping on the couch.

In November we missed our baby boy for Thanksgiving. Luke went to North Carolina where he spent 10 days with Olivia and Victoria’s family Aunt Theresa and cousins Rachel and Josh. Victoria and I headed to Mesa, AZ to do some pre-Thanksgiving visiting with my parents and family friend Tamra. My Mom and Dad bought another house in Prescott. We made it home to cook for Thanksgiving Day. We spent the holiday at Victoria’s Mom’s with her family. It was weird not having Luke at Thanksgiving this year.

In December we are looking to have family time, and another trip to see my parents in Mesa. And as always if you made it this far in the letter thank you for reading it. We have kept these letters since 1996, and every year we read through them and see how blessed and lucky we have been to have such great friends and memories. To all our friends we may not speak with often, or get to see as much as we would like, know we love you. Merry Christmas and New Year’s. Be safe and full of cheer - God Bless you all.

Love,

The Simanek Family