Gorzen Christmas 2025 Holiday Newsletter!
Welcome to the first digital version of the Gorzen Holiday Newsletter! We are probably saving at least a couple of Christmas trees by not printing this!
Australia News…
Our biggest news for 2025 was also our smallest – Alicia and James O’Rourke of Australia had baby Eric in mid-January 2025! So of course, Chrissy and I had to get out there as soon as possible, which was mid-February until mid-March. (Actually, Drew was out there one week before us!)
Gigi and Eric – 2/20/2025
Not only were Alicia and James new parents, but they also were excellent cruise directors as we were able to visit a number of places in Australia even though they had a new-born. Here’s a short sample of where we visited:
| Gympie – Where James and Alicia now live | Gympie to Amamoor tourist train |
| Steve Irwin’s Australian Zoo | Beerwah – James Mom’s hometown |
| The mountains of Montville and Maleny | Jurassic forest of Buderim |
| The Sunshine Coast | Glass House Mountains |
We were also supposed to visit Brisbane for a big house party with all the folks who showed up at Alicia and James’ wedding, but a Typhoon made travel to Brisbane too difficult. The airport got a bit flooded too, and we had to extend our vacation a few days until schedules normalized. That was a nice break!
Alaska Visit in June
In June we visited our friends Matt and Dayna in Anchorage, Alaska so we got to experience twenty-four hours of daylight! More importantly, we got to hang with their grand-daughter Rosalee, who is super smart and charming! Some things we did….
Native America Cultural Center
Mountain tours
Plenty of Brew-Pubs in downtown Anchorage!
Visit the folks in Phoenix
I did spend a week visiting my family in Phoenix. Dad Joel likes to contribute his time to local charities as well as cook dinners for my sisters Kim and Jenny. Mom Georgene is living in a memory-care facility about 2 miles away from Joel’s house. Brother Jeff was also visiting from Oklahoma City, so Dad had plenty of chores for us to tackle while we were there. Still, I found plenty of time to have some fun including taking the light rail around town with Jeff, and checking out the fashionable Westgate shopping area with Jenny.
Steve in Tempe (I’m the one on the right)
Jenny Shopping in Westgate
Jeff in Mesa Museum District
Team Portland
Of course, we got to spend plenty of time with Alex, Erica, Zoey, Cassi, and Leo in 2025. The kids especially love beaches, playgrounds, and ice cream! Zoey is in middle school now, Cassi is in 3rd grade, Leo is in 1st. Zoey got her braces on earlier this year and is already looking forwarding to getting them off. Cassi got a role in Les Misérables which the High School is performing in February! Leo has been playing Minecraft nonstop and he finally has his first loose tooth! Erica is keeping busy with school functions and Alex is still working from home but keeping busy with all the projects around the house!
Gigi and kids at Port Huron Lighthouse
At Marysville Dairy Queen ice cream stand
GiGi always entertains the Grands
Cassi and Leo in their Portland garden
Local News
We still have plenty of fun in St. Clair, even though we are old. The annual Black Locust Tree party continues, as well as numerous other get togethers such as 4th of July. Chrissy is still very involved in the museum, especially now that they are going to get a million dollar expansion! Steve continues to do I.T. work as well as flipping our own rentals. Two more sold in 2025, leaving us with only 4 remaining rentals in Port Huron (yay)! So all is well with us.
Black Locust Party on the Patio
Halloween at the “Big House”
Trips to visit Drew, Drew in Kalamazoo
We get to visit Drew in Kalamazoo a number of times yearly to see him in his theater productions. It is always fun to hang with Drew after the play and to either go to a local brew pub, or just have a hotel room party. We also go out for breakfast the next morning, usually to a restaurant called “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” in Kalamazoo.
Drew in the play “Rhinoceros” in Kalamazoo
Drew got to hold Baby Eric during a visit to Australia in February!
Speaking of baby Eric….
Nothing is more entertaining that watching the rapid progression of little babies as time allows us to see their personalities bloom. So we end this newsletter with more recent pictures of baby Eric who is making his first trip to Michigan in December for Christmas this year!
Alicia and happy baby Eric
Who has a better mustache?
Crikey!
We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a great 2026!