2016 Messenger

Volume 22 Issue 1 2016

Merry Christmas family and friends! It's been a memorable year with many ups and downs. Our nation's presidential election has brought about some uncertainty and perhaps some anxiety as well. Our hope is that you can rely on someone who is never changing, full of truth, and gives us security and hope: our Lord Jesus Christ. It is He who we celebrate this season. We cling to Him when everyone else may fail us. We hope you can experience His peace in these uncertain times.

Matt, Cezanne, Emily & Hannah

Celebrating my birthday at Alexander's Steakhouse

EMILY (16 yrs)
“Exhausted” would be Emily's word to describe her first year as a high schooler. To describe the level and amount of work expected from her classes: "a lot." Thankfully she acclimated to high school and finished 9th grade strong. Her summer started off quite busy as well. Right after school ended, we went on a family vacation to Seattle & Vancouver with my side of the family. After we came back she left for a one week summer camp to Hume Lake with her youth group. It was her first time at Hume Lake, and also the first time away from us for a week. The house was much quieter and we missed having her around, but we knew she was in good hands and we also wanted her to build community with her peers. Emily said that her highlights included the worship time and the cabin time. After camp she volunteered for a week with a summer school program making snacks for the kids. In her spare time she loves to sleep, read (read over 50 books this summer!) and make home videos. Matthew says he can now retire from being the family videographer! Emily received her driver's permit over the summer and is now reluctantly putting in her practice hours behind the wheel.

Emily at Hume Lake Christian Camp with her youth group & counselors

Got her learner's permit! Watch out on the road!!

HANNAH (13 yrs)
“Growing like a weed" describes Hannah’s year: she lost 6 teeth; is only 1.5 inches shorter than her big sister; and is almost the same shoe size as me! In the spring she spent a week at Outdoor Ed/Science camp with her dad and enjoyed the outdoors, even with the rain and mud. In the fall Hannah moved to a new junior high school (7th grade). She had a difficult adjustment at the beginning, but with the help of good friends and a great school staff she's settled into a comfortable routine. Hannah does not do well with unexpected changes and she likes to know what's going to happen next. One thing she is good with is names and faces. She can identify and name all the GS Warriors starters and most of the bench players. Her daddy loves having a 'lil partner to cheer on his favorite sports teams! Hannah still enjoys collecting squishies and Disney tsum tsums. She's been an avid youtube filmmaker for several years, except that none of her videos were actually posted online. This year we finally let her publish them on her own youtube channel. She would love it if you would check it out and subscribe if you find it interesting:
 Am Hannah

Bonding with a banana slug at Outdoor Ed

Portraying Hua Mulan for her 6th grade Great Lives project

MATT
On the surface there are some obvious highlights of Matthew's year: snowboarding at Whistler, Canada, and taking a drifting class (google Ken Block if you don't know what that is, except they only did about 2% of what Mr. Block does). But what you may not know is that he misses his family whenever he is away from home. Despite all the fun he had on those trips, he would never trade it for important family time, like spending a week with Hannah at Outdoor Ed, or teaching Emily how to drive. Injuries to his wrist, knee, and sciatic pain have slowed him down but he still tries to play basketball regularly to de-stress and to stay fit. He always feels thankful to be able to run, jump, and use the physical gifts that God has given him. When he plays sports he wants to do the best he can as his act of worship to our creator. When he's not exercising his major muscle groups, he keeps his fingers active on a myriad of iPad games, but mostly on a space battle game called "Vega Conflict." This year at his work, Matthew has been a part of a leadership team that is bringing about change with an emphasis on organizational health. He says that it's been very busy but also very rewarding to see positive change at his workplace. Matthew continues to serve at our church in different areas: co-leading a men’s small group; playing guitar; helping out in audio/graphics; and teaching the 4th-6th graders' Sunday School class.

And the winners of the 2016 Winter Olympics are...

Just hanging at the Mystery Spot; Yes they are standing straight and are not leaning

CEZANNE
The four Rs adequately sum up my year: Race, Rest, Refocus, and Renew.
Race: It was a race to the finish line as my responsibilities at the school came to a final end: teaching yearbook class, subbing, and overseeing the parent group which helped to raise almost $17K for the school. I was tired and burnt out and knew that this season needed to end. After being a parent volunteer for 11 years, I was blessed to have accomplished much through working with some wonderful parents and school staff.
Rest: I finally get to rest and do what I want to do and not what people tell/ask me to do. Summer was filled with wonderful memories with my family and friends. Now as the girls are back in school, I get to do what I want to do.
Refocus: I will still substitute at our church's school but I wanted to see how God wants me to serve Him now that I am no longer a parent volunteer. I've been overseeing more women’s ministries events, which led to an official title of Women’s Ministry Coordinator at church. I've been exploring how God wants me “to make disciples who makes disciples,"as well as mentoring and encouraging other women in their faith (still co-leading an amazing women’s life group). It’s been an interesting transition from 'doing things' to ‘investing’ in people. I’ve also stepped out of my comfort zone to be a part of our school district’s Executive PTA Board as Financial Secretary. It’s an area that I am not familiar with (since my kids have not been a part of the public school system until just last year) but it’s an opportunity for me to understand the needs of our community in regards to our schools.
Renew: I hit the half century mark and I really feel it! I was determined to turn a new leaf to purposefully strengthen my physical and spiritual core. So after watching the movie, War Room, I was inspired to pray expectantly and purposefully. PLUS I signed up for a membership at an IMX Pilates studio. I've been working out muscles I didn’t even know I had! But it’s all so good!

Celebrating my 50th starting with a weekend trip to Napa with my Girls Group...

Getting pampered at the Dry Bar with dear collegues ...

And eating some more at Cheesecake Factory..

FAMILY HIGHLIGHTS:

Our one and only high school graduation this year was for Brian Y. (Michael & Angela's son), who gave the valedictorian address at his graduation. He is currently attending UCLA studying mechanical engineering. He was also accepted at Cal but chose not to go. That’s okay. Matthew and I don’t hold it against him. Much. Just kidding!

We made some fun giant heads for Brian!

We went on a week long family vacation to Seattle and Vancouver, Canada with my parents and siblings and their families. It was the first time in 14 years that my whole family was able to travel together.

We saw lots of orca whales!

Trying to get a creative selfie of my whole family with the Seattle Space Needle (my sister didn't quite understand the concept of "if you don't see yourself, you're not in the photo")

Ended the summer in Monterey with the Lee Family

Whenever we are with the Lees, we eat well!!

We were honored to witness the wedding of one of my former Sunday School students, Elizabeth, who married a fine gentleman named Sebastian. The gathering turned out to be an awesome reunion with many many old friends from our former church, our friend's church, Matthew's childhood playmates, and even from Matthew's parents' former church from 40+ years ago and 3 states over!

The beautiful couple

We hope your year was filled with lots of joy, peace and hope!

2015 Messenger

Volume 22 Issue 1 2015

We hope to find you, our dear family and friends, in good health and in good spirits. Seeing the daily headlines, it's easy to feel the burden of a broken world lay heavy on our heart. We look around our lives and see broken relationships and broken bodies. We yearn for peace and hope for a better world. There is a certain hope that brings peace, and it is why we celebrate this season: that our Lord Jesus came into this world. He has promised redemption and healing for all who believe, so that we would be filled with joy and peace. Our hope and prayer is that you would experience God's goodness and love during this Christmas season.

Matt, Cezanne, Emily & Hannah

At the Dome of the Rock, Temple Mount

EMILY (15 yrs)
We have a high schooler in the house!

Emily giving her salutatorian address.

After 11 years at the same school from Preschool to 8th grade, Emily has finally left the building! But not without leaving with a BANG! She celebrated 5 years playing clarinet in the Advanced Band; received MVP Defense trophy for Girl's Basketball; was part of the Girls Volleyball team for the first time; and gave the Salutatorian address at her 8th grade graduation.

Meeting Lady Liberty

She also celebrated with her 8th grade class by going on a whirlwind one week tour of Washington DC and New York. It was a memorable experience for me to spend time with my first born and her friends seeing our great country's beginnings.

All dressed up on our Dinner Cruise on the Potomac River

Emily hasn't had time to care for her backyard birdies this year but she still loves to see wild birds whenever we are away.

Feeding the sandhill cranes in Canada...again

She also loves to make art whenever she has free time from homework, reading and sleeping. She created this entry for the PTA Reflections Contest this year in high school.

High school has been a big transition for Emily. Coming from a small private Christian school to a very large public high school, she realized that she is just one tiny fish in the big big sea. She was frustrated with the chaos, disorganization and rushed feeling of it all in the beginning but is getting the hang of it now a few weeks in. My daughter is all about order, clarity and calmness. (Hey that sounds like me!) We are thankful that she has plugged into her high school youth group at church which is led by a great couple, the Ingbretsons, of which Mrs. Ingebretson was Emily's bible teacher and one of her favorite teachers at KHA. (She is also one of my favorite friends who I am privileged to meet weekly with and work with at church.) Emily is also learning to receive help from others when needed and it is much needed in her Honors Geometry class. This particular class has been quite a challenge for her and for her parents. It's way over my head and some problems even stump Matthew. We are thankful for her tutor Kyle to help her through those head-aching proofs and theorems.

HANNAH (12 yrs)
Our "baby" has entered middle school and transitioned very smoothly with a sweet group of friends and some very nurturing and patient teachers. Her anxiety for the most part seems to be self-controlled. She still worries often about what tomorrow may bring, and she constantly asks for prayer for her tummy aches. We did name her well. She was named after Hannah in the Bible who fervently prayed to God.

A fancy squishy store

She spent most of the year creating squishies and her own DIY squishy videos but now her attention has been focused on blind bags: purchasing them, making them, and watching blind bag videos and of course making her own blind bag videos. She also loves collecting Tsum Tsum stuffed animals.

Racing like her daddy!

Celebrating her 12th birthday with the Woo's

For her birthday this year she wanted to go to Disneyland. It was her vacation so she planned out all the rides!

With Coconut Yee

Both girls do love hanging out at home especially if we are bunnysitting, which happens at least once a year when our friends go on vacation.

And of course they love spending time with their cousins, Marissa and Timothy, who are both at the same school as Hannah.

MATT
Matthew says that he is feeling old, struggling with knee pain and back pain that comes and goes (usually when he plays basketball). He enjoys being physically active so it is very frustrating for him. He was also disappointed that there wasn't much snow last winter. Hopefully it will be different this winter!

With Owen and Michael

Matthew celebrated 20 years at his work this year! But there have been some changes. Same building, same co-workers, same boss, just a different name. Their division split off from Legacy Partners and is now is called Steelwave. So different right? We are thankful that he works family friendly hours and is able to be home for dinner every night.

Matthew was a tad bit short to fit into Darth Vader's suit but the kids didn't care. He was so hot in that costume!

After work, he is usually busy helping Emily with her Geometry homework, watching Warriors or NFL, or playing one of his numerous iPad games with his 'clans'. He has a servant's heart and is thankful for the opportunities to serve at church: audio/graphics, worship band in English and Spanish services, and teaching Hannah's Sunday school class (5th-6th grade). He also partnered with two friends to start up a men's small group to pray for and encourage each other in their faith journey.

CEZANNE
This year went by so fast I can't believe I actually survived. I keep telling myself that I would do less each year but that is not the case. Even though I am not fundraising for a child's school trip this school year, I am still overseeing the parent group at KHA, teaching the Yearbook elective in the middle school, being involved in Women's Ministries at church, and co-leading a Bible study. I still love to read (I borrowed over 100 books from the library this year!) and continue to write and document my thoughts and adventures on this blog.

As I approach the half century mark next year, I do feel that the more I do, the more I need time alone. To recoup. To rest. To read. My true introvert nature at it's best! I also feel that I can't have any regrets. Life is too short for regrets and I don't want to reflect back on my life thinking, "I should have.. ". So am I taking risks and going skydiving? No way! But I am doing things out of my comfort zone like getting baptized in the Jordan River. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but I am terrified of being in the water! I still don't know how to swim and my face doesn't even get wet when I take a shower.

Being baptized in the Jordan River by Pastor Sherman with Matthew assisting.

FAMILY HIGHLIGHTS:
We had many memorable family highlights this year. Matthew and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary by going on a 16-day trip to the Holy Land with our church family. It was a once in a lifetime trip, one that I will never forget and will always refer to whenever I am reading God's word or listening to a sermon. We visited 69 locations in three countries: Israel, Switzerland and Greece. One of my favorite things about this trip was traveling with friends and deepening our relationships with them. 16 days 24/7 can be a very long time together!

On the Sea of Galilee

Riding camels in Jericho

At the Acropolis in Athens

We also celebrated some wonderful milestones in our family:

Our nephew, Daniel, graduated high school from The King's Academy and is now attending Santa Clara University.

Our godson, Kyle, graduated from Valley Christian High School and is now attending Cal Poly SLO.

 We attended two weddings of cousins..

In Vancouver BC, we celebrated the wedding of Matthews' cousin, Sherman to Elaine.

And in SF, we celebrated the wedding of my cousin, Tiffany to Roy.

We stayed in a house in Monterey for a few days with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law part of the time and also with our friends part time. I didn't realize how special and important these opportunities were to my parents. My mom and dad turned 80 and 75 respectively, and thankfully they are still in good health and enjoy traveling with us where ever we want to go. My brother, Park and his wife Hilda moved to a new house just 11 miles from us. We get together more often now since they are much closer than their old house in SF. Family time is so precious.

It was a great time for my parents. They cherish vacation time with the family.

It's always great to spend time with our friends, the Ngs, too.

And of course we have to get together with my girls group. We celebrated our first kids heading off to college. Susana & Dave's daughter, Caris May is at UC Irvine and Hanford & Marj's son, Isaiah is at Westmont. I can't wait to grow old with these wonderful people. We are already talking about building a 'village' to house us all when our kids are all grown and out of the house.

Yes we will grow old together.

At Fremont Community Church we have been privileged to get to know and be cared for by some wonderful pastors: Pastor Sherman & Marti, Pastor Daniel & Valerie, and Pastor Kevin & Pauline. For almost 2 years we have been praying for a new lead pastor and God answered in his perfect timing. We are so excited and thankful for Pastor Dave and Helen Chae coming to FCC. We look forward to this new season of worshiping and serving our Lord Jesus!

26 years together; 20 years of marriage

Life continues to go not as we planned. This year we have seen too much pain and suffering from those who are close to our hearts: death; broken marriages: separation and divorce; serious illnesses: cancer, Alzheimer's, kidney disease, depression; teenage self-abuse: cutting, anorexia; and job discontentment. Life is not fair. Life can be hard at times.

The question is: How do you make it through the difficult times? When the going gets rough?

Jesus is our certain hope. He loves me unconditionally, despite all my shortcomings and failures. Despite my disobedience. His love envelopes me and sustains me in this broken world we live in. Our wish is that you would also experience this. May you have a hope-filled Christmas.

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!