Thursday, January 26, 2023
Scripture Study dilemma
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Family Letter 2022
Sadly we were all together only once in 2022, at the beach in North Carolina. But our week together was terrific, and thankfully we've had other time together in smaller groups throughout the year.
Back: Kate, Cindy Lynn, Mahon, Josh, Jason, Danny, Ruth, Rachel Front: Jenna, Cindy, Russ, Ashley, Jared |
Russ’s favorite parts of the year (I don’t even have to ask him this!) were spent looking at the ocean. After our week at the beach with our kids and our friends’ kids we spent another week in a small condo with just our friends. As our families have gotten older/bigger/grandchildren we’ve realized that we don’t have a lot of time to hang out with our friends at the beach like we used to, so this second week has been wonderful. He also enjoyed spending time with me in the beautiful ocean of Hawaii in October. By then we already knew that there was a possibility of layoffs, but the trip was already paid for so we figured we might as well have a last hurrah if that’s what it turned out to be. We spent hours every day in the ocean looking at the fish and true to his turtle whisperer nickname, he found one turtle on our very last snorkel. Besides cooking great Sunday dinners for us every week, Russ’s other favorite hobby has been watching families on YouTube who live on sailboats and sail around the world.
My 2022 was a year that felt very “best of times/worst of times.” I spent the whole year having online book clubs with different groups of women that were just wonderful and fed my soul. In the early spring my NC book club reunion was back in Durham, and it was terrific. I spent some time in Utah with our families, and in September took a wonderful trip to CT to spend a week with Jason, Ruth, and (especially, of course) Danny! I had looked forward to that visit for months, but did not expect that it would be my second trip there of the year.
(Healthy) time with Danny in Sept. |
Cindy Lynn & I surrounded by sting rays! |
Cindy Lynn, Kate, and Mahon |
Touring Yale--Jason with Danny in the stroller, Mahon behind Cindy Lynn in her wheelchair holding Kate |
Ruth, Danny, and Jason |
Josh, Jared, and Jason |
Josh is working at Intel and sharing a house with a friend about 20 minutes away from us. We love that he comes over for Sunday dinner every week and several times during the week to spend time with Tiger. He still loves snowboarding as much as he can at Mount Hood, and surfing at the coast. Mt Hood has one of the longest snowboarding seasons, and Josh was able to snowboard and surf in the same month last summer! Josh is my favorite child because he comes to hang out with Tiger and clean the litter box several times a week.
Josh & Rachel after a day of surfing at the coast |
Rachel |
Jenna |
Jared loves snowboarding and has been able to teach snowboarding at Sundance for the last two winters. Last winter, he went snowboarding more than one hundred days! He also spent a lot of time rock climbing, as well as hiking and camping with his wife Ashley, this summer. They built a bed into the back of their Ford Escape for a great camping setup. Jared worked at a physical therapy clinic for a lot of this year. He’s still at BYU, but hoping to graduate in a little over a year with a degree in exercise science. Jared is my favorite child because he sends me beautiful pictures from the snowy mountains.
Ashley & Jared |
We hope you've enjoyed the picture-heavy version of the annual Ray family newsletter! We love keeping in touch with each of you and love when we get to hear what you've been up to. Thanks for being a part of our lives,
Russ, Cindy, & co.
Jared, Cindy Lynn, Josh, Rachel, Jason, & Jenna |
Contact info:
Russ russray@gmail.com
Cindy crayz2sew@gmail.com
Cindy Lynn storygirlcindy@gmail.com
Mahon (and his robotic pantry ideas) mbbaldwin@gmail.com
Russ & Cindy's photo organizing business:
RCphotosolutions@gmail.com or RCphotosolutions.com
Sunday, January 10, 2021
taco cat goat cheese pizza
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Christmas thoughts
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Answered Prayer
Thursday, November 29, 2018
The Zen Snorkeler
The first day Jenna and I went snorkeling we got in the water, went to the right, and almost immediately saw a turtle! What were the odds?!? (I mean they weren't terrible because of where we were, but it was still a surprise.) After we snorkeled for a while we got out, had a snack, and warmed back up. Then when we got in again and went to the left, we saw even more turtles! So awesome.
Whatever we saw was going to be amazing, which I think is a pretty good way to live.