jbsaulog: The Saul family 2012 in pictures

Alana with Theodore

Marian, Alana holding Theodore, Erin holding Alexander, Theodore's brother, and Marcus, Erin's son.

Let's start our look at 2012 with the birth on January 10 of Theodore Bradley, shown here in the arms of his mother, our niece, Alana. Kathy's mother, Marian, now has five great grandchildren. Besides Theodore, there are his brother Alexander and his cousin Marcus as well as Cole and Hudson in California.

Molly Johnston

The year continued with John serving as the cashier at Molly Johnston's annual MS Pub Crawl in the Fremont district of Seattle. If you didn't make it in 2012, find your way there in 2013.

In March, John and Kathy made their way to Isla Mujeres on the Caribbean side of Mexico. You can read all about it here in the travel article John did for The Seattle Times.

Kathy and John traveling from Isla Mujeres to the bird sanctuary at Isla Contoy via panga.

After a swim in a cenote, an underground pool

Kathy climbing the temple at Ek Balam

In May, John and Kathy visited the California family for the May Day festivities at Hudson's (and his mother's) school and to see Cole in a cross country meet.

Hudson winds the May pole

Cole leads the way.

John's rugby club made the finals of the Super League, the highest division in the U.S., but unfortunately lost to New York Athletic Club. Great game and a chance to see many of the old boys from playing days gone by.

A behind-the-back pass by a New York player.

Many former players for the Old Puget Sound Beach rugby club came to the Super League finals.

John and Laura, a former student of his and a great friend.

Friend Laura was in town for the Folk Fest at Seattle Center over Memorial Day weekend.

Kathy walks into a surprise birthday party for her 65th.

Friend B-Z orchestrated a surprise party for Kathy's 65th birthday. Little did she suspect . . .

The other big event in June? John and Kathy celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. We haven't changed a bit since June 11, 1977, have we?

We visited our friends John and Trish in Geneva, Switzerland, where John was doing research at the university. We also spent some time in northern Italy and a couple days in France.

Trish and John

Hiking near the Matterhorn, which chose to stay in clouds while we were there.

John and Kathy in the Empress hot tub at the baths in Bormio, Italy. Let's go back for ski season!

Favorite place at the spa, the music room. Float around on noodles and listen to classical music piped in underwater.

John rode in the Seattle to Portland bike event in July. He did it his way, with a stop at Emerald Downs to celebrate his 64th birthday.

Along the way, John met up with Ken Wallis, rugby teammate from just a few years back.

Kathy was honored as a Seattle Times Journalist of the Quarter in the summer, which came at a great time for John because he was filling in as an editorial writer at the time and was able to be there for the presentation.

Kathy with Dave Boardman, Times executive editor.

August found John and Kathy back in California to help celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary and renewal of vows for Al and Shirley, who adopted Joe soon after his birth by Kathy in 1969. Great party and we finally got to meet Matt, Joe's older brother.

Al and Shirley with their three sons and grandchildren.

A kiss at the altar.

In September, John visited Ohio for the Frysinger reunion, his first time at that event. Great to renew some old connections and to meet new generations of the family of John's grandfather William H. Frysinger.

The grandchildren of William Harrison Frysinger. Back row: Bill and Becky Rogge; John and Mary Jo Saul. Front row: Weldon, Burdette, Wylodene and Jeanette

After the reunion, John, Mary Jo and her husband, Don, took a slow ride back to Cincinnati, visiting Fort Recovery and the American Bicycle Museum, both highly recommended.

John and Mary Jo at Fort Recovery, site of the worst U.S. Army defeat at the hands of Native Americans (no, it's not Little Big Horn and Custer's Last Stand).

Don takes a spin in a bicycle disguised as a car.

John's sister, Mary Jo, had just finished a bike ride from Cincinnati to the farm in Liberty Center with a group of her riding pals from southern Ohio.

Mary Jo's riding group at the Round Barn. This year they plan a ride along the Ohio River on the Kentucky side. Don, who provided SAG support, is at far left in back row. Mary Jo is the only one in an Ohio State jersey.

John and Mary Jo got in some rides together and also attended an Obama campaign rally in Cincinnati.

John borrowed Don and Mary Jo's car and set off for a weekend in Atlanta. John played for the Old White Rugby Club in 1975, and through hard work and dedication the club has obtained and built its own field, a remarkable achievement for any U.S. rugby club. Great field, great game (Old White won by a ton of points), great to see old teammates.

Old White teammates: Danny Fry, Bruce Vanderbunt and Don Kennicott. I played with Bruce and Don at Ohio State, too.

Old White (in black jerseys!) won their first game on their new pitch handily.

John had planned to ride in the Gran Fondo out of Santa Rosa with Joe's wife, Cyndi, but Kathy was sick that weekend and John stayed home with her (what a guy). So Cyndi and friend rode with Patrick Dempsey instead.

Cyndi with her new riding companions.

The Times job for John ended in October, but by then he was back to teaching -- one class at Everett Community College and another in the continuing education program at the University of Washington.

Also in October, John had an interview in Idaho for a magazine article and that became an excuse to extend the trip to Missoula to visit teaching colleagues, attend a Grizzly football game and see our friend Laura.

In the stands at a University of Montana victory.

Much of John's exercise routine now consists of walking, and in November he walked the 13.1 miles of the half marathon event in the Seattle Marathon. Looking forward to doing more of these events.

Only two more miles to go.

About a week after Thanksgiving John and Kathy were back in California, this time for a night tour of Alcatraz with Joe and family. Highly recommended.

Left to right across the top: Cyndi, Cole and Joe; in the middle, Hudson; on the right, Kathy; down low, John.

We got out on parole just before December and time for the annual tradition of cutting our tree at the Pilchuck Tree Farm and hosting the Seattle family on Christmas Day.