2014 Messenger

Volume 21 Issue 1 2014

We are thankful to God for you: family, friends and faithful readers of my crazy ramblings of food, fun, friends and family. We hope that you can make time to reflect on the true meaning of this season: CHRISTmas. Through the hustle and bustle of life, we truly treasure the peaceful times. Christ gives us His gift, "I am leaving you with a gift - a peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives." John 14:27

May the upcoming new year be filled with "peaceful" moments!

Matt, Cez, Emily & Hannah

Visiting Seattle Space Needle for the first time

Bonus Stats:
How many members in Matt’s clan are under the age of 18? 13 out of 30

The longest book Cezanne read this year? 725 pages

How many nail designs did Emily create herself this year on her fingers? 33

How many squishes did Hannah make herself? 69

EMILY (14 yrs)
Emily is a diligent and hard worker in all that she does. Her strength is in academics, where she ribboned at the the ACSI Math Olympics and was also selected to participate in the Honor Guard (reserved for the top students) during 7th grade. This year in 8th grade she is taking ASL (American Sign Language) as well as US History, Physical Science, and Algebra. I can officially say with humility that my daughter is now smarter than me. I have no clue what she is learning and could not help her in any of those subjects. It’s way over my head unfortunately. That’s what happens when you teach 3rd grade for so long.  My mind stops there!

We are also proud that Emily steps out of her comfort zone to do new things, things that neither of her parents have ever done! In 7th grade she decided to try out for basketball and ended up with the Rookie Defensive MVP award. This year she ran for student body Vice President and delivered a rousing campaign speech. She was a little heartbroken when she lost, but in our hearts we knew that it did not diminish her accomplishments at all.

This year's 8th grade Honor Guard Attendants at Veteran's Day Chapel

Immediately after the ceremony of the flags, Emily jumped right into the band to perform.

Emily loves expressing her creative side. She designed a Bible verse poster that was selected to be printed and posted at school. She also enjoys coming up with new nail art designs and learning about hair braiding and other hair styling techniques. With her busy schedule (band before school, basketball/homework after school), our backyard birds have been a little neglected this year, but Emily still loves her wild birds. One of her highlights was visiting a wild bird sanctuary just outside of Vancouver, BC, where she was so happy to hand feed Sandhill Cranes.

Emily and a wild Sandhill crane

Working hard at the Fall Family Festival to raise money for her Washington DC trip

HANNAH (11 yrs)
Hannah had a very happy 4th grade year at KHA (no anxiety attacks) and now is in a 4/5 combo with the same teacher she had last year. The majority of her friends are still in her class and she enjoys spending time with everyone. She is my social butterfly. Emily can be happy with one friend... Hannah needs a bunch!

Best friends with her sister

She also changes her interests as often as the weather changes. Everything I wrote about in last year's Messenger, she is no longer interested in. Currently she is into squishes and making "youtube" videos talking about her squishies and also how to make them. (A squishy is a decorative foam sculpture like a stress ball but cute-looking. The squishier and cuter the better.) She is very creative and loves to create her own special squishes to ‘sell,’ complete with custom made tags and cellophane packaging. Her videos are always addressed to her viewers, asking them to click like, subscribe, follow, etc... but none of the videos are actually uploaded to youtube.

Checking out a Squishy store in SF

While Hannah is our talker and loves telling us about her day in detail, she is not a performer (despite her fake youtube channel). We were proud of her taking part in the ACSI Speech Meet, something that was very difficult for her to do. We are very thankful that her separation anxiety has improved greatly, but she's been experiencing performance anxiety this year related to all different kinds of school activities, and not necessarily being in front of people. We would appreciate your prayers as we seek out therapy to help her.

MATT
My husband has had a very busy year at work. He has been going to different locations so I never know where he's coming home from each day.. He is all over the Bay Area and I am just thankful that he comes home for dinner every night. Despite the crazy workload, he is happy to work with a good group of people and to have a stable and satisfying job.

Snowboarding with Owen at Northstar

When work isn't too crazy, Matthew enjoys playing basketball, although he hurt his knee and had to take a break (like wife like husband). He's been faithfully leading a men's bible study, playing guitar and working the audio and graphics at church (not all at the same time), and also helping teach Hannah's 5th/6th grade Sunday school. During the winter his favorite activity is snowboarding, and his favorite indoor activity is Clash of Clans and whatever other iPad games he plays. Let's just say the iPad is attached to his hands when he comes home.

High school reunion pre-gathering with the guys

Celebrating his youngest cousin, Jonathan's high school graduation from King's Academy

CEZANNE
I am amazed on how fast this year went by. The busyness never ended and I have felt at many times pulled apart in numerous directions to the point it was affecting my health. But God is gracious and merciful. He has allowed me to continue to do what I enjoy. Like last year, I oversee the parent group at our school, which runs many of the all-school fundraising projects. I also teach Yearbook class, and substitute teach when needed.

Besides the all-school fundraisers, I'm also involved with 8th grade fundraising for Emily's Washington DC trip in May. In September/October I was juggling 5 projects at the same time! It got a little bit crazy! (Multi-tasking was an understatement)

Mother's Day portrait at church

The summer was filled with creating meaningful memories, whether it was reconnecting with old high school friends, entertaining a friend's son visiting America for the first time, or celebrating a best friend's 50th. I have realized that time with friends and family are irreplaceable and much more satisfying then buying new things for myself or the house.

Cezanne's unofficial 30th high school reunion with old old friends.. yes we go w-a-y back!

Cezanne's girls accountability group: celebrating Susana's 5-0 at the happiest place on earth

And squeezing in a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in the audience of the show, "The Doctors"

Ziplining.. YES I did it for the very first time and it was not that bad!

I am still involved in Women's Ministries at church with the exception of taking a break in leading a Bible study. I had to drop something in order to stay sane. But I have to say that the busier I got the more I needed to de-stress. So I read. This year I read over 220 books (mostly YA fiction). That is the most I have ever read in one year.

Celebrating Cezanne's nephew, Joshua's 8th grade graduation from King's Academy

HIGHLIGHTS:
We had the privilege of spending time with a friend's son from Hong Kong that had never been to the United States before. We showed Marcus what makes America (specifically California) so wonderful: riding the roller coasters at the Boardwalk; exploring Monterey Bay Aquarium; whale watching in Monterey Bay; zipling through the redwoods at Mt. Hermon; and eating at an organic farm in Carmel.

Marcus buried by the girls and Shawna at the beach.

We were honored to be invited to three weddings this year... all of which had a photo booth
 for their guests!

Mel & David Fong 5-24-14

Josephine & Henry Ow 7-5-14

Kate & James Rennie 11-7-14

In August we took a quick trip down south to visit some of our friend's kids who were starting college. We also enjoyed a visit to Universal Studios.

In June we went to Vancouver, BC to visit Matthew's new second cousins, twin boys, Tate and Bryce who are his cousin Stacy and her husband Terry's boys. Love our growing extended family!

The boys sure look like Ma boys.. takes after their mother's side!

We'd love to keep in touch with you and hear how you are doing. Please comment below or contact Matthew on Facebook.

 Merry Christmas to you and your family!