Merry Christmas from the Darron family. Hope your family is healthy and happy. Our 27th annual internet christmas letter.

We really are lucky. It’s warm inside, we have power and food and each other’s company. This Christmas there are many who are not so lucky.

Merry Christmas from The Darron Family!
The annual Christmas letter on the Internet celebrates its 25th year.
We hope you and your family are healthy and will be so in the coming year.

Wow. What a "dumpster fire" of a year this has been. This is probably the first time I can't wait for a year to end. Our terrible pandemic will probably make life different for another year or so, and the world is going to be "outta whack" for some time. I guess we all just need to get used to it.

There are two houses in Rush. The other is the old tenant house from the farm. We're working on getting it fixed to rent. Many years of use meant it needs some more work. It's a project to hopefully finish in the coming year.

In September, Monika, Eva, V and I were in Utah together. We drove to a bunch of National Parks, camping along the way. The weather was great and it was fun to see some places we saw before but really love.

Mom passed away this year. Sue and I were there. She was sleeping and there was no pain. She suffered and recovered for a few years and finally gave up. We miss her.

Anna and Mike were married in August. The whole family made the trip to Kent in England for a great ceremony and an epic outdoor reception. The weather cooperated and everyone had a great time.

I've spent lots of time looking at pictures this year, and I think this is the one I like best. It was taken in the Rocky Mountains this September when Monika and I were hiking. We stopped to take a picture of this beautiful mountain lake when two fishermen appeared and started fly-casting. Here's to the hope that you can go someplace as pretty as this and have the time to do something you enjoy with your friends and family. Be sure to take time away from your regular life to relax and enjoy the important things.

We hope you and your family has a happy holiday season, and we wish you the best in the coming year.  Enjoy your time together and be sure to enjoy some of the beautiful places on the planet with people you like.  Our family believes that it is best cure for all the problems of the world.

This fall we went to see Monika's mom in Krakow, Poland for a week. Monika hadn't seen her in awhile and it has been six years since I was there. Anna and Mike joined us. The city has changed quite remarkably since the time I first visited there 30 years ago. It is a beautiful travel destination.

Rest in Peace Cousin Marilyn.

She's actually my Mom's Cousin, but she was always "Cousin Marilyn" to us. In addition to being a brilliant physicist, she researched and documented our Mom's side of the family history (in the time before the Internet when you actually had to go to the county records and look up stuff in books). My Dad was inspired to follow her lead and did research on his side of our Family.

This summer the whole family along with Anna’s boyfriend, Mike took a trip to the Pacific Northwest. We flew to Seattle and spent two weeks camping and hiking the trails in the Olympic and Cascade ranges. We had fantastic weather and saw many wonderful sights in Washington State and in Canada.

Anna finished her Masters program in Anthropology at the University College London last year, but she and her boyfriend Mike had to wait until this year to enjoy their graduation ceremony.

It's great to have everyone back at home for the holidays. The last time was over the summer and it didn't last long. The good news is that the kids are still a bit "silly". We do miss them, even though technology makes it easy to stay in touch.

The kids are all off to school during the year so it sure is great to have them home.

Monika and I are at home some nights alone during the year. Now is the best part of the year because all the kids are home and all their friends are over too. It really makes up for those "empty nest" evenings.

This year we didn't get to do our usual vacation. We made that big commitment of becoming home owners. We didn't move far. We're still in the town of Fair Lawn, NJ, just a mile or so from where we lived for the last 18 years.

We went on another epic road trip to the Southwest USA this summer. It felt good to be free of the "normal" life for a few weeks.

The neat thing about having three teenage daughters with electronic cameras is that there is never a shortage of pictures to choose from.