We are happy for Christmas to come around once more with the spirit of kindness and love that it brings. We wish all of our family and friends a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS.
This year has been a very good year with lots of excitement, miracles, change, and blessings. We are in a different environment this Christmas than last years' experience in cold Omaha,Nebraska. As we visit the malls and shopping centers here in Santiago the holiday fashion is swim suits and beach wear. Summer is just around the corner except today it did not seem to be, it was cool and rainy this morning. The weather is wonderful with fresh breezy mornings and warm sun very much like California in the Summer.
Our children are doing well and seem to be blessed each day. They are doing fine without us, maybe because we are able to talk most weeks with one or all of them with our Skype phone. We also are able to talk to our parents and family. So it doesn't even seem like we are gone to them, for the most part.
We had a blessed time with Tanya and her family although scary at times, last year. We got very close to our grandson Nathan, as his caretaker while his mom was recovering from leukemia. It was hard to leave them and go home, but the Doctor said she needed to get on with life and take care of her own family. Tanya and Nate are doing fine this year. Nate is busy with his residency in psychiatry and Tanya is busy being a great mom. Nathan, is a fabulous two year old (no prejudice on our part). Nate was called to be a counselor in the Bishopric. With the miracles in their family, I guess it's payback time.
Jake and Liangzi graduated from BYU-Idaho in April, Liangzi in tax accounting and Jacob in sociology (criminal justice) with a minor in Mandarin. After a few days in Houston, they flew to China for six weeks. Jacob taught English in a private school for four weeks. He enjoyed the kids and they brought him little gifts to show their appreciation. When they came home Jacob started working as a security guard. He investigated joining the service and finally decided on the Army. He is in basic training right now, but should graduate the first of February. He has two weeks off for the holidays right now. After he finishes basic, he will enter specialized training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He should finish the end of May 2015. Liangzi is working as the head accountant for a start up company that specializes in compounding drugs for doctors. She likes her job and is very good at what she does. She created a program to simplify the accounting for them and to make her job easier. She is living in our home in Houston, we are so blessed to have her.
Mandy and Jason sold their home in August and moved into a one bedroom apartment at his Father's house. They have a new home under contract that should be finished the first part of May 2015. They have all sacrificed to make this dream come true. Jason recently changed to the day shift at his work. So things are good for their family. They are planning on moving into our house after Christmas for a few months until their house is done. We won't know where they live when we do get home to the States. They aren't moving too far away though, the kids will still be in the same ward and schools. Rian is excelling in music, and Ray and Reese are doing well in sports. We are so proud of them. They are great kids.
Chalice and Jhonny have been improving their home this past year. They have painted, replaced the fence, built a large dining room table and turned their family room into a home theatre area. Last year Ammon was about six months behind in his physical development. He has caught up this year, but is still behind in his language skills. But the doctor found that his ear was plugged and was able to drain the fluid. He should start picking up more words now that he can actually hear them. Last fall Chalice and Jhonny got an exchange student from Denmark. Sally moved into the family at the beginning of the school year. She rooms with Jessica. She fits right in and is a big help to Chalice. Jessica is first chair in her choir class. She has a very nice voice. Lily is in soccer, and Gavin tried football. Chalice is the girl scout leader for Lily's age. As you can see, they keep very busy.
Ginger and Eric in (Grants Pass, Oregon) bought a home this year. They were so excited to finally have a place of their own. The home needed some work and Ginger worked hard getting walls painted and wallpaper removed. They are adjusting to being home owners and watching their paycheck go to house payments and bills. But they are loving it and the boys seem to like having their own space where they can be boys. Ginger is working in a job that she really likes. She works with businesses and students helping them find opportunities for employment. Kind of what we do as missionaries. Weston is in school full time this year. Rigby is growing up fast as well. They are both active in sports. Erik is coaching Rigby's basketball team. How great is that.
Spencer and Shelly are in Provo, Utah. Spence travels to all the football games and is gone a lot for work but finds time to spend with his girls. They are busy with sports, school, and also an exchange student from Korea.
So as you can see they are doing great and really are doing fine without us around which is a good thing and allows us this time to serve in Chile. We are finding many of the Christmas traditions a bit different here. Most Chileans stay up most of the night on Christmas Eve and open presents from Father Noel at midnight. They then party until two in the morning. They sleep most of the day on Christmas. They do not have a big dinner but eat snacks and candy on Christmas. The kids just got out of school for the summer down here. I was thinking, they get school graduation and Christmas all at the same time. The U.S. kids get Christmas and then 5 months later school is out. My Spanish teacher told me they do get a two week break during their winter (our summer time). As you can imagine, the malls are packed and the traffic is crazy. This year doesn't exactly feel like Christmas because the weather is so nice. We are enjoying the season with a little less stress. We bought a few small gifts for the other missionaries and some folks that really helped us get settled into our apartment. We have a small Christmas tree that was left here from other missionaries. We have some other decorations, but not anything like we did in Houston. We are excited to Skype with the kids on Christmas. We miss them very much, especially around the holidays. We are invited to a gathering Christmas Eve, and a dinner on Christmas. We will be among friends, so don't worry about us.
The missionary work is starting to pick up. We are teaching self reliant classes every week. They are going well. We have been called to work in the Temple baptistery Tuesday nights from 6-8. We hope you are all doing well. We look forward to a fulfilling year in 2015.
Life is good and we are happy. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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