What an amazing Christmas I've just had with Kristin and Ryan, and their family yeterday. The food was amazing, Shelby's boards rocked the house, and I got to know some great folks.

Ryan is a 24 year Marine and as we drove back to Shelby's place for the homemade cranberry sauce we left behind, we chatted. I told him that if I had served I would have wanted to be a helicopter pilot. He smiled and told me that's what he did! How about that.

Paul is Ryan's step dad, ex airline pilot, Flight Controller for decades, and eventually a Controller trainer for the FAA. I told him I worked for Sundstrand back in the early nineties, writing assembly language code for the Black Box. When I said, "but it's really a red box", he knew I was for real.

Rob jumped in and said he also wrote assembly code back in the day. Turns out he's a mainframe guy with an amazing background. Suddenly we were standing over in a corner swapping stories loudly and drinking Ryan's smoked Old Fashions. From left to right, Paul, Ryan, me and Rob.

Ryan's mom Jean Anne is a lovely woman with a great smile, who loved my nails. We chatted about cruises and life. Kristyn, Ryan's wife, cooked up a wonderful spread and spread her beauty around the house.

Their 8 year old daughter Katrina, who I met the last time I was down, was sick but hung in there. The other daughter, 13 year old Kaitlyn, was pretty, and very smart. What a great family!

Shelby and I did a Facetime chat with my Idaho family. It was wonderful to see them and introduce Shelby to my sister, nieces Catherine and Elizabeth, and Dave. Brian she knows well. No snapshots, but maybe Brian will send me a photo or two.

Then we did another Facetime with my son Riley, Jessica and the babies. It was also great to see them and the new baby.

I was honored to have a seat at the table, and see my family on a phone screen!