Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Welcome to our 3rd annual on-line Christmas letter! Whether you arrived via our Christmas card, blog reader, Facebook, or are simply passing through- we wish you a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!


Dear Family and Friends-

It’s hard to believe that another year has flown by… Life continues to progress at the speed of light in our household, where kids keep getting taller- while our house continues to get smaller!

‘Teenage Son’ is midway through his junior year at MVHS where he is enjoying Chem AP and World History. It’s hard to believe that we are already starting to look at colleges for him- wasn’t it just yesterday that he was toddling around our living room sporting his trademark bowl haircut? He has his learner’s permit and is looking forward to getting his license soon. He also enjoys being active in the youth group at church and went on his first WOW JAM trip to LA in June.



‘Teenage Daughter’ also attends MVHS and is a freshman this year. She loves the social aspects of being a high school student; even though her visual issues have made the academics more of a challenge (her favorite class is drama). We are blessed to be in a district with a great support system for disabled students, however and she seems to be settling into a rhythm now. She also went to WOW JAM this summer (her second trip) and has also been very active in youth group this year.



'Young Son' is now a 5th grader at CMA School. He loves school and complains during the summer months when we are out. One of his highlights of 2008 was taking a solo trip to Poppy and Grandma’s house in N Idaho where he learned to snowboard at Schweitzer. He also loves camping and is looking forward to a week-long class trip to environmental camp in Mendocino this spring.



J and I continue to serve at the church that we have attended for the last 19 years - Jim as a TRAC teacher (adult Sunday school) while I serve as missions director. We traveled to Tanzania again this summer, taking two separate, short term missions teams to work with CHaRA. We both accompanied a team to the remote area of Haydom, where the team completed a school for the village children. After two weeks, J returned to the US while I stayed in TZ for an additional two weeks with the second team. This team worked in CHaRA’s malaria clinics on the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar where we screened thousands of Muslim women and children for malaria, administered medical treatment, and distributed mosquito nets. J and I continue to be burdened for the people of this amazing country and look forward to returning in the future, perhaps even on a long term basis. In addition to our overseas trip, we managed to fit in a couple of family trips to Disneyland and a short, family trip to Seattle just before Thanksgiving.

In the midst of all the craziness that we call everyday life, we have discovered Facebook! We are enjoying keeping up with friends and re-connecting with some that we had lost touch with. If you are on FB, drop us a ‘friend request’- we’d love to hear from you! In the meantime, we hope that this finds you all well and we pray that you will have a joy-filled Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Even if...

After a mostly restful day- full of Dad-pampering, we headed out to Tony Romas for a special Father's Day dinner. Over our scrumptious meal of pasta, ribs, and hamburgers Young Son declared the following to J...

Even if you threw us out on the streets and we had nowhere to go and we had to go live with a foster family- you'd still be the best dad ever!

Well- lets hope it never comes to all that, but we think he's a keeper anyway!

Happy Father's Day sweetheart!

In Remembrance...

All hail the frou frou berry!

In honor of the arrival of Spring, I decided to bake a frou frou berry pie today. What? You say you've never heard of frou frou berries? Well, that's because the little known frou frou berry, bright pink in color, only grows here in the Silicon Valley...



Oh, OK... There is no such thing as the Silicon Valley frou frou berry. What I actually made for dinner was a shepherds pie in disguise. It's an April Fools tradition in our home to have a silly dinner. Last year I made meatloaf cupcakes for dinner and a cocoa crispy meatloaf for dessert- all recipes that I found here.

Of course if you have pie for dinner, you have to have hamburgers for dessert right? So for dessert we made mini-hamburgers using Nilla Wafers, mint cookies, and colored frosting (red and yellow for ketchup and mustard).



Guess we'll find out if my kids are sensitive to food dye won't we? I sure hope not, or it could end up that the April Fools prank is on me!

He is risen indeed!

I wanted to write a deeply introspective post about Easter, but Ann did it better than I ever could have...

Read it here.

And Happy Easter to you all... He is risen- He is risen indeed!

...But the greatest of these is love.

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

We quote it when sharing the gospel. We teach it to the little ones in Sunday School. According to topverses.com it’s the most commonly referenced Bible verse on the internet. Go to any sporting event and you’ll see it on a sign. Even people who don’t read the Bible can often recite it, usually in King James- For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son…

It’s such a commonly used verse that I wonder if we forget the power of it? When was the last time you really meditated on it? I confess that I sometimes brush it off as being overused. I would rather ponder trivial questions like “What was up with the Nephilim?” or “Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?”

But there’s a reason why it’s quoted so often. It’s all there, the whole gospel in one verse- God loves us; we would perish without Him; He sent His Son to save us.

He loved us enough to make the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf- to ensure that we can be in relationship with Him forever. He loved us then and He loves us today. His love for us is past, present, and future- so much love that he sent Jesus to die for you and for me.

There’s nothing trivial about it, it’s revolutionary. Ponder that today. Then think about what you can do to pass that love on...

It's Valentine's Day- if you are not already sponsoring a child, today is the perfect day to start sharing God's love and HOPE with a child who lives where hope is absent. Go here to start.

Pancake Tuesday...

Young Son has a good friend, A, who's family is British. Today A invited Young Son over to his house for Pancake Tuesday.

I have to admit that I had never heard of Pancake Tuesday and initially thought that it was something that A's family had invented. You know, like some quirky family tradition. But it turns out that Pancake Tuesday, also known as Shrove Tuesday, is a legitimate event. Essentially it gives homemakers the chance to use up the remaining butter and sugar in the home before Lent begins.

Anyway at A's house it's like an evening long crepe party with people stopping by to partake of crepes with butter, lemon, and sugar. Sort of like an open house at a crepery... I went over at 7:00 to pick Young Son up and ended up staying until 9pm when we finally dragged ourselves away- this being a school night and all.

All in all Pancake Day is definitely something I could get into... As a matter of fact I'm putting on my calendar now for next year!

A different kind of Christmas?

It was kind of a different Christmas this year. This was the first year that we did not have any family here to share the holiday with. J's parents are both gone (his mom just passed away last year). And since my Mom had to work yesterday and today (she's a nurse), my parents weren't able to make the trip down from Idaho. So it was just the 5 of us. It wasn't bad, the kids had a great day- it was just different. To be perfectly honest- it didn't really feel like Christmas for a lot of the day...

Oh, we had a nice Christmas morning- fresh baked cinnamon roles and an orange biscuit ring with orange juice and coffee. We read the Biblical account of Jesus' birth from Luke. We prayed. We opened presents...

Then we went to the movies. We saw National Treasure- Book of Secrets and let me tell you, the theater was packed! I had heard that Christmas Day was a popular day for going to the movies, but I didn't realize just how popular until we got there... Fortunately we had bought our tickets online, in advance... We did enjoy the movie, it was a lot of fun. But, it just didn't feel Christmas-y...

Since it was just us, we had decided to go out for dinner- instead of coming home after the movie and cooking a big meal. We headed over to Chevy's... Again- it was packed. After a brief wait to be seated, we ordered. Dinner wasn't great (there was a mix up with our food), but it was OK. Again, however, it just didn't feel like Christmas Day.

After we came back home and the kids played with their new stuff- the boys played with Nerf guns, Teenage Daughter figured out how to use her i-Pod, the kittens frolicked in the empty boxes and found all sorts of new things to bat around on the floor. And started to feel like Christmas again...

So now the kids are in bed and once again, I'm listening to Michael W Smith's album It's a Wonderful Christmas. And I'm realizing that all day I had been thinking that my home and our family is what makes our Christmas celebration special. And then I hear, really hear, the lyrics reminding me that Christmas is not about where we are or what we do. How we celebrate Christmas doesn't change who we're celebrating, because it's not about us at all.

It's about Him... Jesus Christ. Son of God. Son of Man. Savior for us all. And it's not just today, but everyday.

Thanks. I needed that reminder...

Of Rudolph and radar...

All I know about NORAD, I learned from this 80's classic. Evidently the fall of the iron curtain and the end of the cold war must have freed up their resources a little, because now (instead of just monitoring US and Canadian airspace) they also watch for Santa.

This is actually of on my favorite websites. Check out NORAD's Santa Watch if you haven't already. You can track Santa's progress today as he travels on his annual holiday journey. My favorite feature is that, no matter where you live, Santa always manages to show up on the radar where you live right around bedtime (thus encouraging the kiddies to get in bed and go to sleep so that he doesn't have to 'fly over'). As I write this post, he is currently over Madagascar...

So if you have excited little ones waiting for Santa tonight- take a swing by NORAD's site. I promise that your visit there won't end in a stalemate game of tic tac toe...

It's a wrap!

I've got Christmas music on...

I've got my eggnog...

The shopping is done...

Kids have all been sent to bed...

Time to wrap some presents!

Mission Possible...

This morning I dragged myself out of my cozy, warm bed at the crack of dawn... Oh- OK, it was only 6:30, but it felt like the crack of dawn... After rousing our children, we loaded (a reluctant) Young Son and (an excited!) Teenage Daughter into the car and drove 45 miles to San Francisco. Where we spent the morning volunteering at the San Francisco Rescue Mission in the Tenderloin along with a group of 18 other volunteers from our church. (Teenage Son stayed home to study for his Chemistry and Algebra 2 finals on Tuesday.)

I have to admit that I wasn't so excited about going. In fact, I would not have gone at all if this hadn't been an outreach event for the missions department of our church- the very same missions department where I happen to serve as missions director. But feeling obliged, we rallied the troops and went anyway.

We don't spend a lot of time in the city as evidenced by Young Son's comments as we drove through San Francisco on our way to the mission...

What's that?

What?

There's writing on that building...

That's graffiti.

Whoa! Isn't that illegal?

Yes, he lives a sheltered life. But anyway, back to my story... We arrived at the mission and, along with 400 other volunteers, and checked in at the registration table to serve at their holiday outreach. We were quickly assigned to "Meal Prep" duty. After opening in prayer and singing a couple of carols, we had a brief orientation and then went to work. For the next two hours I scooped mashed potatoes into Styrofoam take-out boxes. We assembled over 1,400 meals that were delivered to families in the neighborhood. In addition there was a grocery give-away and a holiday party (complete with presents!) for the area children.

About a third of the way through the meal assembly, we ran out of the gospel message fliers that were being taped on top of the meal boxes (this was Young Son's job). I told Young Son that he could take a break and eat a Christmas cookie, but he declined saying- They're making more fliers and I need to finish taping them on! And this is a child who never turns down a cookie!

Two thirds of the way through our 1,400 meals, my sciatica started acting up and my back was hurting. But you know what? I didn't really care. In spite of my initial reluctance, I was having a great time visiting with those around me as we worked together to serve the community.

After we finished assembling the meals we spent a few minutes cleaning up. There were a couple of minutes when I couldn't find Young Son. When we located him, he was spraying tables and wiping them down with a sponge (cleaning up- the last place that I would think to look for him!). After finishing up, we decided to take the kids out to lunch in the city before driving back home. We headed down to Boudin at Fisherman's Wharf for their famous clam chowder in a bread bowl.We had a nice lunch and arrived back home around 2:00.

All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. Even more important- we blessed people who can use a little extra blessing, especially during the holidays.

I have a feeling, we'll be volunteering at the rescue mission again. In fact, it could become a regular event.

Santa's Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki

I originally wrote this post last month... But since WFMW is holiday themed this week, I thought if fit perfectly. I hope it works for you- check Shannon's site for more WFMW Christmas-ish tips!

If you're looking for books to share with your children this holiday season, let me introduce you to my all time favorite children's book for Christmastime... I purchased Santa's Favorite Story in a bundle from Scholastic when Teenage Son was in 1st grade and it quickly became a must read for our family. I have also used this book in Sunday School lessons as well as in my children's classrooms when they were younger (yes- in a California public school no less!).

This beautifully illustrated story tells of Santa going for a walk in the woods before Christmas. On his walk, he gets tired and falls asleep under a tree. When the forest animals discover him sleeping, they worry that he might be too tired to deliver presents this year- alarmed they ask "Does this mean there won't be Christmas?". Santa awakens and reassures the animals that Christmas will always happen because "Christmas hasn't anything to do with me". He then goes on to tell the animals the Christmas story. Santa concludes by saying "Love was the gift God gave to us on the first Christmas, and it still is you know. And this love is far better than any presents I can ever deliver." Refreshed by his nap, Santa and the animals then return to prepare for Christmas and Santa's annual Christmas eve journey.

I love this book because it bridges Santa and Jesus' birth so beautifully. Having Santa himself recant the true meaning of Christmas really brings it home for children. I hope that your family enjoys this book as much as we have!

Jasmine aka "The Eddie Haskell of Kitties"...

My friend Hockeygirl recently asked how our new kittens are doing with the Christmas tree... It seems that Jasmine, in particular, likes it just fine-

As a matter of fact, it makes a comfy spot to perch and look out at the world-

It should get even more interesting when we put the ornaments on!

Some fluffing required...

We finally caved in... Since our favorite Christmas tree 'farm' in Mountain View is gone (Johnson Farm across from El Camino Hospital) we bought an artificial tree at Costco. The 7 1/2 foot tree came in a 4 foot tall box with some assembly required written on the outside. It only cost about $50.00 more than the live noble firs we have bought in the past. But, I do have to admit that it was a little disconcerting to open the box and find this notice-

J got the tree put together with little difficulty, but it didn't look near as nice as it had at Costco. Looking at the directions again, I read that you need to fluff the branches. Since the tree is stuffed into such a small box, the branches come out quite smooshed (and yes, smooshed is the technical term). Fluffing transforms each branch from this-

To this-

After an hour or so of fluffing, here is the overall effect-

Not too bad. Of course when we take the tree down, we'll have to smoosh it all back into that box... I'm not going to think about that now tho'.

I do have to admit that I miss the smell of a real tree. What I do not miss, however, is the mess from bringing it home and having to crawl under the tree each day to water it. And even tho' it took a while to fluff- it was still less work than wrestling with strings of lights!

And I can always buy a pine scented candle at Target...

Black Friday... Or not!

Today is Black Friday, or as I prefer to call it- Black and Blue Friday. Maybe you are one the those daring souls who ventured out at 4am to get that $399.00 laptop while I snoozed at home in bed. Last night the 11 o'clock news actually reported on people who were already lined up at Best Buy waiting for the doors to open at 5am. Not only were they lining up overnight, but the first people in line had been there since 9am on Thanksgiving morning!

Sorry, but there is just no amount of savings that could get me to do that. Face it- I'm just not that brave- mission trips to Africa, yes... Fighting my way through crowded stores to get my shopping done early... Ummm, that would be a no.



So since we weren't at the mall today, we went to see Enchanted instead. It was a great day to go to the movies- this might become our new day after Thanksgiving tradition. Not only was there plenty of parking, but the theater was only about 1/4 full. We all thoroughly enjoyed the film- Disney did a great job of poking fun at themselves. The little girls in the audience all oohed and ahhed over the princess while their parents cracked up over the spoofs. All in all, we had a great time...

Speak up Sonny! I can't hear you...

Eh? What's that? I can't hear you... I'm a little deaf today. It might have something to do with the fact that we took the whole family to this show last night.

If you're not familiar with the band, you might remember their music from this obscure little video that has been floating around the Internet for the last couple of years.

Last night's show looked a little more like this- only with more lasers and bigger pyrotechnics...

This is the third consecutive year we've gone to this show to kick off the holiday season. Because as you know, nothing says Happy Holidays like a little head bangin' and some screamin' guitars!

So, I need to go put the turkey in the oven- I hope I can hear the timer when it goes off...

So wherever you are today, I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

2006 Christmas Letter

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

December 2006

2007 Christmas Letter

Every year I faithfully write our family Christmas letter- thoughtfully reflecting on all that has happened in the past year. Next I search for a decent photo of the whole family from the past year. If I can't find one, I drag the kids out and attempt to capture all three smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. Only after all that is done- do I go out and purchase Christmas cards to mail.

By that time- I'm done.

Seriously, I have good intentions- but, it just totally burns me out every year. So this year, I've decided to take a totally new (and hopefully more manageable) approach... I still need to send cards, but our letter will be posted here (I'll post last year's letter as well- since I never got it in the mail either!). So welcome to our new family tradition- the Christmas blog...

Dear Friends and Family-

It's hard to believe that another year has raced by. The kids continue to grow and life in the Silicon Valley has kept us busy!

Teenage Son is now in his sophomore year of high school. He is doing well- his favorite class continues to be wood shop, but he also has an interest in history and enjoys chemistry. He ran cross country this fall and is also active with the youth group at church. The highlight of 2007 was finally getting his own room! He is looking forward to getting his braces off this month and getting driver's license next June (and mom can't wait either!).



Teenage Daughter transferred to our local neighborhood middle school this year. While it has been a big adjustment, she is settling in. It's been a good experience for her as she prepares for high school (Ack! That's next year!). The highlight of her year, was going to WOW Jam in LA with our church youth group in June.

Young Son continues at CMcA, the parent participation school that we have been at for 6 years now. He is looking forward to the one week class trip to the gold country in the spring and enjoyed their three day beach trip at Manresa last September. His main interests continue to be play dates and video games. One of his highlights for 2006 was when Mom won a contest with the Harem Globetrotters. As a result- Young Son served as honorary ball boy during the Globetrotters game in San Jose. He also was able to go into the tunnel during a break in the game to meet the players and get autographs.



J is continuing at his job with the City of PA. He also has continued coaching U18 girls soccer with our good friend, and Pastor, GW. LeeAnn continues to volunteer at ALAG in the missions department and keeps busy shuttling kids to their various activities. A big highlight of our year was a trip to Africa in September. After 16 years of marriage and multiple, but individual trips- this was the first mission trip that we have been able to go on together. Read more about it here if you like...

In other news, we managed to take a family vacation to Hawaii with LeeAnn's parents this year as well as multiple trips to Disneyland. After two pet rats, we have upgraded and now have two kittens who have joined our household. Needless to say- putting up a Christmas tree will be an experience this year!

We hope this finds you all well. Our hearts are with you, as we wish you a blessed holiday season.

All our love,

L, Teenage Daughter, Teenage Son, J, and Young Son (L toR)
Christmas 2007

Happy Halloween!

While driving the kids to school this morning- I saw a hippie, several witches, Thing 1 and Thing 2, and a skeleton...

And then I saw some kids in costumes as well...

Seriously though- when did grown ups start dressing up for Halloween? When we were kids, there were always a few adults who dressed up for the office- but it was the exception, not the rule. I guess it's not wrong- it just still seems a little odd to me.

Anyway, now that I've done my ranting and raving for the day. Here are Young Son and Teenage Son (who has decided that he is not to old to dress up after all) in their costumes (Teenage Daughter went to a friend's house straight from school, so no pictures yet).

Young Son (I mean Captain Jack Sparrow) strikes a dramatic pose...

Teenage Son as Dr Who

Burning off a little extra energy before trick or treating...

Arrr! It be talk like a pirate day!

Arrr! As you surely know, today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! So even if you be a land lubber, today be your chance to unleash your inner pirate!

If you be needin' some help in the pirate speak area, I be providin' the handy reference guide below taken from this pirate-y web site:

Ahoy! - "Hello!"

Avast! - Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, "Whoa! Get a load of that!" which today makes it more of a "Check it out" or "No way!" or "Get off!"

Aye! - "Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did."

Aye aye! - "I'll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over."

Arrr! - This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously, "yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "I'm enjoying this beer," "My team is going to win it all," "I saw that television show, it sucked!" and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr.

So avast, me hearties! If you be needin' to know more about how Talk Like a Pirate Day came into bein' read this column by land lubber, Dave Barry.