December 2010

People say that there are no seasons in southern California, but the gold, red, yellow and brown leaves that are falling from the trees against a clear blue sky show that it is indeed fall. The early morning frost foretells the arrival of winter, even if it is a southern California one.

Another year has flown by faster than ever before. Tomorrow we will decorate our tree and the smell of the fir tree will once again fill the house. It is such a special time of year for our family. And after missing Beth (in Peru) for Thanksgiving it will be nice to be all together once again.

Jenk continues to enjoy his retired freedom, spending many hours with his genealogy. He also serves on two condominium boards and continues to head the finance committee at church. He occasionally declares himself “on vacation” to “rest” from his busy schedule. In November he flew to Texas to see his sister and other relatives as a part of his “time off”.

Patty spent another summer in China with the high school exchange program and her students, but came home earlier this year to have some rest before the arrival of the new group. Soon after school started she returned to China with the principal of Saugus High School for 4 days to participate in an international forum. She enjoyed being treated as a “VIP” for a few days and also had a chance to visit with friends – without the responsibility of students.

Marc continues to enjoy teaching and coaching basketball. During a break from summer practice he traveled to China to join Patty for two and a half weeks, serving as the male chaperone for the time in Beijing with the students. He also joined the group for a visit to the world’s fair in Shanghai. It was Marc’s first trip to China. He loved the food and the friendliness of the people.

In order to keep track of Beth we sometimes resort to looking on Facebook. She has spent many weeks on-site with her work, and also finds time to travel. This year she took a vacation trip to Peru where she hiked to Macchu Pichu and visited many scenic spots not often visited by foreigners. On her “way home” from Peru she flew to Spain for a conference and then went on to Germany and Austria. It appears that she may now be home for a few weeks.

Our family was enlarged again this year with the arrival of Junying Li, the exchange teacher from Xi’an, China. She has lived with us for the last 4 months, giving us the chance to revisit some special spots around southern California. We will miss her when she leaves with her students next month.

Another change in the family has been the passing of Dee Elwood, Patty’s mom’s second husband. He survived her by 15 months living to celebrate his 94 th birthday.

We hope that you will all enjoy this most blessed season of the year. You are all very special to us. May 2011 be a year of coming peace and economic recovery for all.

Love,

Jenk & Patty