MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Yuletide 2005

Dear Loved Ones,
Merry Christmas to all of you! As we come to the end of another blessed year, we give thanks for God's gifts of friendship and family. We hope that your celebrations are filled with joy.
Lots of things have happened this year, but it's the 22nd tomorrow so we'll keep it short (you'll find the long version on our family blog at http://byspam.stefoodie.net).
One big news is that we're moving again -- back to Ohio, early February 2006. This comes after a hectic year of travel and long hours of work for Bong.
The whole family continues to enjoy Tang Soo (except for Stef who quit when the traveling sched got too heavy). Migi is now a red belt and Aisa is a green belt. We are still homeschooling and plan to keep on doing so. The kids are, as always, voracious readers; you can imagine just how thrilled we all were when one of our all-time favorites made it to the big screen this year (C.S. Lewis' Narnia). We watched it in St. Louis with Papa and Mama and Tito Alvin the day after it came out (a rarity since we hardly ever watch movies on the big screen anymore).
Aisa still cantors for and sings in the choir, among other things. She also made great progress in violin this year, but is switching to voice lessons when we move back to Cincinnati. Paco also made great strides in violin, though late this year he chose to go back to piano, with the occasional lesson from Mom. We recently purchased recorders for the whole family, so some nights Aisa takes us under her wing for some recorder lessons. Migi still loves to draw and write and make up stories. Because of the proximity in age, the two boys along with Yena frequently stay in each other's company, though as one may expect they also get tired of each other every now and then. Yena, as girly as a girl could possibly be (she's into dolls, clothes, etc.) is also every bit a whatever-Kuya (big brother)-is-into fan. Even her food decisions are usually based on what the boys are having. Stef's Papa calls this stage the "great imitator", which she certainly is.
The other big news is that Stef's youngest brother Chris got married this year. Chris and Mina are joining us this Christmas as we have our first, and last, holiday festivities in this house (we were in St. Louis last year). The whole family was active participants at the wedding; quite an experience for the kids, especially for Yena who was flowergirl, and the boys who got to wear barongs, and dance at the reception.
We celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary last week, and spent the day driving, after 3 weeks of non-stop househunting. These 2 weeks are being spent preparing for the Lord's coming as well as preparing our house for sale in January. As 2006 draws near, Bong looks forward to working with former colleagues now that he's back in Cincinnati. Stef continues to blog, about food at stefoodie.net and as a network blogger on Asian food for b5media.com. The kids keep their own blogs (you can see them linked at eclectichomeschooler.stefoodie.net). Come visit them sometime!
Much love and wishes for an awesome New Year,
Bong and Stef (16+ and counting!), Aisa (14), Paco (9), Migi (7), Yena (4)