The Christmas Card

This week I sent out the Christmas cards. I LOVE Christmas cards. They are one of the joys of the season. This isn't the picture I put on the card, but it was my favorite of the pictures that we had taken. Our friend Peter Roise took the photo, and you can see the rest on his website.

We kept our Christmas letter very brief, but directed everyone to our blogs if they wanted more detail. You can click through the archives to see what we have been doing month to month. I'll point out the highlights that I picked out after scanning my planner.

For Christmas last year I bought Rick season tickets to the WSU basketball games. We went to many games, but we also had tickets to share with friends and family which was very nice. It truly was the gift that kept on giving. While we were in Ethiopia I called home to check on my Dad. He was just getting home from the game against Arizona. The Cougs had won, and he was really pumped. I was glad that the family was enjoying themselves while we were gone. The Cougs had a great season, and it was Tony Bennet's last season at WSU.

We brought Nes home in March, which brought many changes into our lives. It brought several trips to Seattle to visit Children's Hospital. We tried to capitalize on these trips and went to a Mariner's game, spent sometime with Gram Pam at the beach and got to know some adoption friends better. I have to say that I am very thankful for these trips in many ways.

We discovered this year that our older girls are gifted runners. Mads is our sprinter and BK needs a little more time to get her stride. They had a challenging track season, with several meets snowed out. Mads ended the season 3rd in the 100, and 200m. BK ran cross-country this fall and ended up 4th in the district.

In June we began the process to bring an older girl into our family. We passed court in Ethiopia in November and are waiting to be given an embassy appointment to get her visa to come to the US. She is a beautiful 11 year old girl. She has several friends in the western Washington area who we are looking forward to meeting in real life when she gets home.

This has been a year of many changes. I am looking forward to an upcoming year of settling in. I am hoping to get the rhythm of our life established this year and to be able to serve my neighbors. I am trying to keep my eyes open for ways to serve those in need in my own community, while remembering that there are so many that have so little all around the world. Our family is committed to do what we can to serve "our people" in Ethiopia as well. We have been given very much this year, and we are very thankful for all of it. May God bless each of you this Christmas season with joy, and thankfulness for all that He has done. Merry Christmas.