Deko's last day at age 104, Nov. 9th, 2025

Today, on Nov. 9th 2025 at 3:30am, died my grandpa (deko), Dusan Petrovic, my favorite person in the world: my math and history teacher, my example for patience, humanity, peristance and curiousity about the world, the person who made me laugh with his cute jokes, who played games with me from cards to chess since early childhood, who always called me 'mezimica' and 'prva unuka' (favorite and first granddaugther). He was loved by all, adults and children alike, those who enjoyed the conversation, those whom he selflessly helped, even those who couldn't tolerate another person - yet they enjoyed having him around. I haven't felt a loss this huge in my life.

Christmas

We had an early Christmas this year as we were flying to Utah right afterwards. Everyone got exactly what they wanted and it was fun to watch the happy faces.

Halloween

Stephen tried bow and arrow shooting at a sponsor stand at Boo at the Zoo and got compliments from the Easton Park coaches on how well he did :) They thought he had been practicing already. Then we did the usual Halloween walk through the neighborhood with Prietos and Butlers, with Stephen and James only, while the older kids did their own thing.

Minja's Ragnar Race

Ran my first Ragnar relay with a few friends in Alafia Park near Tampa. What a great Fri/Sat! Events like this make you realize how adaptable we all are and how much energy and fun you can have (even at our age - ehem) on almost no sleep over 24hr, running and waiting around in freezing cold weather and in middle of the night, even while running with a no-so-powerful headlamp over roots and muddy creeks. I can't wait for the next one! Oh, and we placed 3rd in our category and top 10% overall, not bad.... Here's a photo with Jeff, Scott, Chris, Gary, Jen, Dan (top), Steve, myself and Dave (bottom).

Stephen's 7th birthday

Stephen has been counting down (several times daily for the past few months!) days until his birthday. He expressed the wish to start the day with crepes and black-and-white cookies:

Later, at the trampoline party with his friends:

Just for fun, here is a picture of Stephen, dressed in a suit as he likes to be for any mildly special occasion, at the end-of-year piano recital at the Thomas Center:

End of the 2024 sports season

Nikolas went with his Buchholz baseball team to the State Championship at the Twins Stadium in Fort Myers. They ended up second in the state. Sonja picked up 2 varsity letters, for soccer and softball (way on the left in the photo.) Michael didn't pick up a varsity letter this year, but he caught up to me in height while we were in Europe - making him officially taller than Sonja for the first time since they were born. Buck has gotten less athletic: he can't take the long walks in the heat, and he knows when I'm about to make the turn for a longer walk so he sits and pulls back. If I trick him and take him anyway, he'll decide at some random point to lie down on the grass and rest and make me just stand there and wait.

Steve and Laurie's visit

Uncle Steve and Aunt Laurie came to see us and to watch the kids play baseball and softball. It's always fun and refreshing hanging out with them!