At the Firm

Brian‘s Rotary Club adopted an orphanage in Tijuana to provide gifts over the Christmas holiday.  The CCMI team adopted five of the children and spent a lunch hour shopping for gifts to send to the orphans — new clothes and a toy for each of them. It was a fun team building event and a great way to give back during the holiday season.

The CCMI team’s charity of choice for the year was the National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) San Diego Chapter. We’ve enjoyed having team members support the organization throughout the year in different ways — from participating in the NAMI walk to putting together hygiene bags for the homeless population it serves. CCMI will also be contributing a check at the end of the year to support NAMI.

The CCMI team enjoyed a nice holiday dinner at Rare Society in Encinitas. The evening was lovely and it was great to spend time as a team outside of the office and get to know spouses and other family members better. 

Matt attended his final Scripps Health Foundation Gift Planning Advisory Board meeting in December.  He has been on the board for six years and his term is now up. Tina has replaced Matt on the board going forward and recently began her term. Matt also attended the holiday parties for the Estate Planning Council of San Diego and his Vistage group of business owners.

Kim was busy with her Rotary events and co-hosted a gathering for all new and long-time Rotarians. It was a fun way to get to know others in the group better, especially given the large size of the club! Kim and the CCMI team were busy in early December with year-end tax planning.

As we hit the home stretch of the fourth quarter, tax planning, Roth conversions, charitable contributions, and required distributions are at the forefront. Tina has been enjoying her experience with LEAD Impact, working with a community-based non-profit organization to help with strategic planning.

Alana had the rewarding opportunity to volunteer with Junior Achievement’s Finance Park. She spent the day working with sixth graders in Finance Park’s dynamic, hands-on facility, helping students explore the importance of budgeting and building good credit. While some kids were laser-focused on the lessons, others were excitedly “buying” cars they couldn’t afford with their virtual credit cards — ah, middle school dreams! Alana found it inspiring that these students had access to financial literacy education at such a young age. A big thank you to Junior Achievement and its generous donors for empowering the next generation with essential financial skills!

On the Home Front

The Matter family enjoyed serving lunch on Christmas Eve at Serving Seniors, which provides a variety of services to low income seniors in downtown San Diego. Brian’s Rotary Club arranges to serve there around Christmas each year and this is the third consecutive year that Brian’s entire family has participated in what is always a fun time.

The Showleys had a fun-filled trip to Japan the week of Thanksgiving and returned in early December. The food was incredible, the Japanese culture was fascinating, and the various shrines and gardens they visited were immaculate. They were also fortunate to visit during the fall colors period for the hills surrounding Kyoto, allowing for some incredible views and photos. For December, Matt and his family are mostly relaxing and enjoying the holidays with family and friends.

Every year, the Bensons have Friendsgiving and invite all their friends whose extended families may not be in San Diego. The result is lots of food, drink, fun conversations, and of course gratitude!

The Vieregg family spent Thanksgiving in Manhattan Beach with Tina’s brother and his family. It was an unusually small group this year, but was enjoyable nonetheless with a fun morning hike followed by a great feast.  

Sadly, Tina’s mother-in-law passed away on December 2 at the age of 83, after a short illness resulting from a fall. She lived a wonderful life, was an accomplished artist; a fantastic cook and entertainer; a dedicated mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law; and had many friends and family who will miss her dearly.

Monica kicked off the month of December by attending the Coronado Holiday Parade with her mom and some friends. Later in the month, she and Mike spent an evening admiring the decorations and light displays at the Hotel Del and snapped a photo in front of the lobby tree. One of their favorite traditions is going Christmas caroling with a big group of families where they sing the Twelve Days of Christmas. The Larsons are assigned the three French hens. Monica and Mike went to Wisconsin just in time to spend Christmas with Mike’s mom. They were happy to be in a winter wonderland!

Abby loves the holiday season with all the hustle and bustle! She had her yearly trip with girlfriends she grew up with in the Bay Area. This time they went to the Napa Valley, stayed in St. Helena, and visited a couple lovely wineries. It was a nice weekend getaway to catch up and embrace the holiday season. She also celebrated the Christmas holiday with visits from her kids, enjoying a nice relaxing day by eating and spending time together. Abby looks forward to 2025 and wishes everyone a Happy New Year!

Jessica was fortunate to chaperone Gigi’s class field trip to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. The lively pack enjoyed a scavenger hunt and a workshop on building a model of their own community. After the field trip, Jessica was Mystery Reader for the first-grade class. Olivia earned a Standout Student Award for Leadership. Her family is proud of her for continuing to try her best every day! The Hurleys are looking forward to spending time together over the holidays with their aunt and uncle visiting from Kent, England.

This month, the Willifords enjoyed the holiday season while battling cold after cold. They attended a few holiday parties and had a wonderful time when feeling well. During Christmas, Katie’s brother and sister-in-law flew into town. It was refreshing and so fun catching up with them while they were here for a few days. Ansley, who is a complete “threenager”, has been asking for a pink car, so of course she got a giant motorized pink car with a remote control for Mom and Dad to have some semblance of control. Mackenzie has been crawling and climbing everywhere so she got a foam climbing set, which will hopefully keep her entertained for at least five minutes before she tries climbing the dining room chairs or the stairs (for the umpteenth time). Mackenzie’s first birthday also passed this month, if you can believe it! She is a little goober and growing up so fast! All in all, it was a wonderful holiday season.

Last month, Alana enjoyed a heartwarming Thanksgiving with her family in Tyler, Texas, just a couple of hours south of Dallas. She reconnected with cousins she hadn’t seen in over a decade, yet it felt as though no time had passed at all. One of the highlights was getting to know her cousins’ children, which left her feeling deeply grateful. The trip was a wonderful reminder that while her family may bring a bit of chaos, they certainly know how to have fun and care for one another. Yeehaw!

 

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