Wilbur Christmas Letter ~ 2018
We are still in Southern California, year number nine (9) for us. Weather is awful – 72 degrees and sunny almost every day. As you can see, we try to enjoy ourselves while making the best of our time here. Eventually we will move north – Washington or Idaho with Idaho leading the selection. Maybe not really an annual letter but we always have the great idea of writing one and then get part way finished in February, so, it has been a couple of years.
Highlights from 2017:
~ January, Lisa was laid-off from her job from EdgeMac, which was for the best all the way around. Lisa had already set her sights on taking some online courses at Coastline Community College, oh boy have things changed since 1987 when she first graduated CHS… three online courses in 2017 and will definitely be taking more classes going forward, as though life was not busy enough, right… Happily, also started doing temp work for a local agency.
~ February brought us some sad news, Lisa’s cousin Victor Razo had passed away. Memorial services were in Colusa, so off to pay respect to her cousin Cleo, his sister and the family. You talk about a long overdue reunion, possibly the last time we saw this portion of our family was when Lisa’s grandfather passed away in 1998. Although time has passed, the love for our family has not. Lisa & Torey had a great visit with Cleo and so very great to meet your family too. Kind of a mini Razo reunion, was great to see you all, but Tia Pat, no more rides to the hospital in an ambulance after falling and scaring us all, many thanks to God you were ok.
~ April had placement for Lisa with a long-term temp position as an Administrative Assistant, covering for someone out on leave. Great times!!
~ June, we hosted Torey’s Bridal Shower here in Orange County. We all had a great gathering with family and friends. Thank you so much, Peter, Mom Frances, sisters Melinda, Marie and Marian for all of your contributions and assistance and for everyone joining us, making this a cherished event, much love always! So sorry we missed those that could not join us. Unfortunately, we also missed the Razo Family Reunion scheduled also the same weekend… Ok Aunt Pat, how many years had the reunion been on Father’s Day… did not expected this conflict. We missed going to our Razo family reunion yet again, but we still love and miss you all.
~ October, Lisa’s assignment then turned into permanent position as Admin Assist & A/P Assistant at US Demolition/Rimshot Demolition (USD/RSD), two different companies with the same ownership became home. Offering help as needed, able to apply accounting, office as well as computer skills too. But then as probation was ending, as another office person departed the position evolved yet again to Admin Assist & A/P, turning into a great job! Also missed out on Lisa’s Colusa High School Class of 1987 – 30th Year Reunion. Although this would had been a great event to attend and to catch up with great friends, as we were full swing in preparing for the upcoming wedding. Lisa was already scheduled to spend a week in Colusa and with both events only weeks apart, sorry but the wedding won.
~ November, Torey and Ethan were married November 11, 2017 and another great gathering of family and friends. Thank you to everyone that joined us, and so sorry for those that were not able to join us, as the venue had limited us on our guest list too. So many hearts filled appreciations and love to my husband Peter, my Mom Frances Villalobos, my sisters Marie Perez & Melinda Landeros and Marian Johnson, my niece Sandrah Fellows, Torey’s Godmother Cathy Serrano, Torey’s Dad Ron Bruggman & family, and my Uncle Steven Razo you all helped to make this wedding a beautiful, cherished memory for us all. Not only did we gain one son-in-law, Ethan but also his brothers Drew and Josh so more family all in all, life is good.
2018
Lisa is still working and enjoying her job at USD/RSD. It keeps her busy. The drawback is the commute. She drives the Orange Crush and it takes 30 – 45+ minutes to go 20 miles. Such is life in SoCal.
Peter is still at Evisions. The new year brought trips to Alabama and Dubai, as he used to travel extensively but has come off the road this year. Inserted are the Airbus 380 which had at least 2 levels of passengers and full service, similar to traveling in the 60’s & 70’s, simply amazing. Also, was a photo from his hotel room while staying in Dubai, very impressive and not what we would expect from the desert. A very different life indeed.
The travel was a grind and Peter is needed around the house with Mom more than in the past, as Marie celebrated her 94 birthday this year. He has the benefit of working from home a couple of days a week, which means he avoids the traffic, when not commuting with Lisa. Being in the office and seeing the same people every week is strange. His new position allows him to work with different people than he had in the past. He really enjoys it.
In June, Peter, his sister Connie, niece Nicole & her kids and Lisa were able to catch up with more of Peter’s extended family, their niece Claudia and nephews Mark and David Wilbur. Claudia of course we have seen over the years in Portland and here in Orange County, but as for Mark and David it had been about 20-30 years since they were all together. We had a great visit and looking forward to keeping in touch going forward.
Our niece Sandrah, Melinda’s daughter was promoted from middle school to high school this year… oh where has the time gone… So glad to join you along your journey as you are growing up and sassy… but we love you always too!!
Peter has a good role-playing group and play a couple of times a month. Lisa and Peter recently joined a disaster preparedness group. Which makes us realized that if the big earthquake hits the area, we are basically screwed. Hopefully, this group will help us with water storage, food storage, information, etc. So far, they have been fantastic. One poor guy that lives in an area just south of us was without power for two weeks due to fire. No electricity, no water, no refrigeration – it was an experience. Definitely encourages us to be better prepared…
Peter has continued to work on the house. The den, bathrooms and kitchen have been updated. He has the horrible work of trimming everything. Lots of measuring and cutting odd sized boards. We recently replaced our sliding glass door with French doors and added a doggy door for the kids. Next year’s plan includes a new front door and possibly AC (climate change you know). Solar system is working great. Especially now that the utility company can charge the customers for the wild fire costs, rates continue to skyrocket here.
We are still gardening although at a slower pace. This year we had some tomatoes, (tomatillos did not make it so well) squash, eggplant was good as well as the jalapenos, habaneros and the Carolina Reapers have been over abundant, and let me say “Wow”, that definitely kicked it up!! We should have enough in the freezer for salsa for several years.
Another long overdue visit came in October, Lisa and Mom Frances went to Palo Alto for a long weekend. We were able to catch up with cousins Christy, Gabi, Dave, Jake, Alex, Torey and Ethan too. Our weekend of going down memory lane remembering our times when we were all in Colusa and all of our fun times together. As life has taken us all in various different directions, we are definitely grateful for our few opportunities to come together to laugh, cry and to cherish our lives together. Sorry we missed you Carlos and Tami, much love always.
Road trip number two in October for Lisa and Melinda head north to Colusa to finally attend the Colusa High School Class of 1987 – 31st Year Reunion, as Peter was working, of course. Accompanied with two of her closest friends from Colusa. Liz and her husband Robert and Stephanie all joined up to go. On Friday, Lisa, Stephanie, Torey & Melinda joined up for dinner and the Homecoming Football game… it is just amazing how even though the venue had changed, yet all the memories come back of the old days… Saturday, trying to visit whoever is around, while in Colusa, Lisa, Torey & Melinda were able to catch up with Aunt Elaine, Cousins Stephan, Stacey and Sam for lunch, just amazing that we were all in Colusa at the same time… Stephanie was awesome and joined me for the reunion and then Liz and Robert met us there. Even for a few hours, we had great times visiting with great friends, laughing and trying to figure out who people were that had changed over the years. So very thankful for our friends over the years we have remained close and look forward to watching our families over the years to come. Much love to you all!! A slight detour for breakfast on Sunday morning was 9am in Sacramento, hoping to meet up with Stephan and family (of course we already visited with them on Saturday in Colusa, but that was not the original plan), but because we were in Sac, we took advantage of the opportunity to catch up with more family for Melinda and I to see, including: Torey & Ethan from Colusa, our cousin Anne-Marie & Nino from Stockton, Liz & Robert from So Cal (heading home after the reunion) and nephew Tony from Sac, Mom Leanne and sister Kim from Middletown and sister Liz & Wes from Elk Grove. This gathering is important to both Torey and Lisa as all of these people have been in our lives, through thick and thin and through happy and sad times too. We love you all so very much and we will try to visit more often.
As the year 2018 comes to a close, we remember that a year ago our family grew a little larger, Torey and Ethan have celebrated their 1st year wedding anniversary. Wishing them the best life filled with love and happiness always!!
Dogs are getting older. Dante had some issues with falling down the stairs, a little too excited going down the stairs but he has recovered nicely. Alice is getting older as well and her hips are in bad shape. We do what we can to make sure their quality of life as good as it can be.
Over the last few years we were so blessed to be able to visit with friends and family from all over, we have forever grateful for these opportunities. We look forward to seeing you all again soon.
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~ Much love always! Peter and Lisa