HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2020!

Dear Family and Friends,

2020. Need I say more? 😏 

The year started out beautifully with a Martinelli toast to the New Year with my parents and some of my sister Amanda's family.

February was definitely the most eventful month of the year.  My mom, my sister Christina, and I all won Oscars! 😀 These are actually the real deal. (And they are heavier than you'd expect.)

L to R: Three Oscars won by Ken Darby for Best Musical Score for Camelot in 1968; The King and I in 1957; and Porgy and Bess in 1960.

In mid-February we had what would be this year’s first and last big family vacation with a visit to our cousins’ cabin by Henry’s Fork of the Snake River in Idaho. 

Cross-country skiing on a few feet of snow . . .

 . . . and with this amazing winter vista!

At the end of February I conducted a plenary session of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society’s Annual Conference in Phoenix, AZ.  This was one of my last ministerial actions as the outgoing International Chair of the Women in Law Committee. 

Presenting the Women in Law Service Award

On March 17 we all got sent home from work (for what turned out to be the rest of the year) because of the then-new COVID-19 virus. Just because we needed to be reminded that everything was crazy, we had a fairly sizeable earthquake the next morning and many aftershocks for the next month or so. (I now know that I’m terrified of earthquakes.)

 

Thank goodness the Hulk saved my framed photo from earthquake damage! (Whoever said office joke gifts weren't valuable?)

And then the next day I celebrated one of the early COVID birthdays of 2020. Physically distanced, of course! 😊

I'm not so sure about this whole birthday thing, especially during COVID. Trying to put on a good face!

In April I participated in the socially distanced version of the Cougs Vs Cancer Rex Lee 5K run. 

In June I did some chalk art with the teenage girls that I help lead in our LDS ward. All these small and simple things felt significant this year.

In August we had our first Thomas family zoom gathering. So much fun! 

Over Labor Day weekend at a friend’s invitation I tried my hand at kayaking for the first time and loved it! 

In mid-September, as part of a Father's Day gift from me, my dad and I went on a day trip to Wyoming to look at wagon tracks along the Mormon Pioneer Trail. We may or may not have jumped a few gates and traipsed through a herd of cows. 😉

I also spent some time walking around the the Wasatch mountains for fall leaf-peeping.

Cascade Springs trail with Mom

Cascade Springs (and yes, my eyes are closed as usual haha!)

In October my dad and I made a quick trip to LA for some family estate business. 

Overlook on Los Liones trail near Pacific Palisades

View from the overlook

Sunset at Will Rogers State Park. This is my happy place.

In November I bought my own kayak!

And now here we are in December! What a crazy year. It’s strange, but even with all the physical distancing we have experienced this year, in many ways I feel closer to my family and friends than ever before. I wish you all a peaceful holiday season and a healthy and happy new year. 

Here’s to 2021! 🍸🎉

 

Much love,

Susannah