As mentioned before- I faithfully write a Christmas letter every year. I just don't always get it mailed- last year's letter is a case in point. For those of you who haven't yet written us off as a bunch of flakes, here's our 2006 Christmas letter...
Dear Family and Friends,
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve written. Life continues to move along at a frantic pace here in the Silicon Valley- where this year was full of changes…
Teenage Son is 14 and started high school this year where he is a freshman (and yes, we feel OLD!) His favorite class is wood shop where he has been making all his Christmas gifts this year… He also enjoys activities with the youth group at church and is looking forward to the upcoming snow retreat near Lake Tahoe. He is now taller than both Dad and Mom and continues to grow…
Teenage Daughter is in 7th grade at CMcA, the parent participation school we have been at for a few years now… The highlight of her summer was a mission trip to Arusha, Tanzania in July. Along with mom and a team from our church, she spent two weeks distributing school supplies and copies of The Book of Hope in schools. She was quite the celebrity there- all the Tanzanian children wanted to talk to her and touch her. At one school we had to put her on the roof of the land cruiser to keep her from being mobbed! All in all, she did very well on the trip and had a great attitude- she even developed a taste for roasted goat.
Young Son is in 3rd grade at CMcA. During the weekends he is playing in a dodge ball league at the local YMCA. His other favorite activities include camping and video games (not necessarily at the same time). In November, he was diagnosed with ONA- the same eye condition that Teenage Daughter has. Although his vision is better overall than hers, he is still classified as visually impaired. He enjoys school- especially recess, and is doing well this year.
J continues working at the City of PA. In his spare time he has also been coaching U18 girl’s soccer and teaching adult Sunday school at ALAG (our church of almost 17 years). LeeAnn continues to keep busy volunteering at the kid’s school, as well as recently accepting the position of missions director for ALAG.
Last June, we were finally successful in convincing J’s mom, Shigeko, to move closer to us. She moved into an assisted living facility in Sunnyvale, where she stayed until she passed away on November 8th, after an extended battle with liver disease. While losing her has been difficult for the whole family, it was a blessing to have her close to us for her final months… We have also been blessed by the outpouring of love and support from those around us.
We hope this finds you all well. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all as we wish you a joy-filled holiday season.
J & L, Teenage Son, Teenage Daughter, and Young Son
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve written. Life continues to move along at a frantic pace here in the Silicon Valley- where this year was full of changes…
Teenage Son is 14 and started high school this year where he is a freshman (and yes, we feel OLD!) His favorite class is wood shop where he has been making all his Christmas gifts this year… He also enjoys activities with the youth group at church and is looking forward to the upcoming snow retreat near Lake Tahoe. He is now taller than both Dad and Mom and continues to grow…
Teenage Daughter is in 7th grade at CMcA, the parent participation school we have been at for a few years now… The highlight of her summer was a mission trip to Arusha, Tanzania in July. Along with mom and a team from our church, she spent two weeks distributing school supplies and copies of The Book of Hope in schools. She was quite the celebrity there- all the Tanzanian children wanted to talk to her and touch her. At one school we had to put her on the roof of the land cruiser to keep her from being mobbed! All in all, she did very well on the trip and had a great attitude- she even developed a taste for roasted goat.
Young Son is in 3rd grade at CMcA. During the weekends he is playing in a dodge ball league at the local YMCA. His other favorite activities include camping and video games (not necessarily at the same time). In November, he was diagnosed with ONA- the same eye condition that Teenage Daughter has. Although his vision is better overall than hers, he is still classified as visually impaired. He enjoys school- especially recess, and is doing well this year.
J continues working at the City of PA. In his spare time he has also been coaching U18 girl’s soccer and teaching adult Sunday school at ALAG (our church of almost 17 years). LeeAnn continues to keep busy volunteering at the kid’s school, as well as recently accepting the position of missions director for ALAG.
Last June, we were finally successful in convincing J’s mom, Shigeko, to move closer to us. She moved into an assisted living facility in Sunnyvale, where she stayed until she passed away on November 8th, after an extended battle with liver disease. While losing her has been difficult for the whole family, it was a blessing to have her close to us for her final months… We have also been blessed by the outpouring of love and support from those around us.
We hope this finds you all well. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all as we wish you a joy-filled holiday season.
J & L, Teenage Son, Teenage Daughter, and Young Son
December 2006
No comments:
Post a Comment