Top right is Tamirat who lives in Ethiopia.
Genesis is the bottom left, lives in Nicaragua, and was born on the same day as Sophie. We've been sponsoring Diony in the Philippines throughout our married life and he's in college. |
Dear Family & Friends, Merry Christmas! We hope and pray that this letter finds you well and looking forward to another exciting year ahead. This is our 2010 year-in-review letter, and we thank you for taking a moment to read it. Most of you probably know about the tragic events that happened in our life in April. Our firstborn daughter Annasophia Marie (Sophie for short) arrived on April 16th, stillborn. Everything was going so smoothly with Gaby's pregnancy, and it was a shocking visit to the doctor the day before and everything that unfolded at the hospital. But we are SO BLESSED by all the wonderful support we received by family and friends at the hospital, and over the weeks and months that followed. Not a day goes by that we don't think of our little girl, and "working through" the grief is a process that we are still far from done with. But we continue to thank the Lord for the support we've received, and we look forward to other little ones that He will bless us with in the future. In a mixed blessing, we found a house that we love and moved in on April 10th. Our beautiful home was built in 1924, and we've painted virtually every room and made a number of other changes to make it ours (photos: before and after). Shaun's company moved their offices in the Spring, and it happens that their new office space is just a few blocks away, and most days he enjoys walking to work (even now in the winter cold). It's a 2-minute car drive, so it's not enough time for the heater to warm up anyway! We are planning to head back out into the mission field somewhere in 2011, and we have been doing more outreach things with our Small Group at church in recent months. Shaun was asked by his business partner to marry he and his wife, so he got ordained via an online church, and is now authorized to solemnize marriages in the great state of Ohio. He really enjoyed that ceremony, and did a second wedding over the summer - after a client saw on Facebook that he was authorized to officiate and they needed somone in a pinch. Gaby has started working at a local hospital administering EKG tests and has had several other administrative assignments throughout Kettering Health Network. She has really enjoyed working with the patients in the hospital and comes home smiling everyday. We had a couple additions on Gaby's side of the family with our nephew Leo that arrived for Mark & Ashley in April, and little man Carson who was born to David and Jessey in May. We've watched Carson a few times for David and Jessey and we've really enjoyed those times with the little guy who we affectionately call "Chunks". We've had several get-togethers with both sides of the family throughout the year, and we look forward to even better relationships with them in 2011. We were able to take a couple fun vacations this year as well, going down to Red River Gorge in Kentucky over the summer and camping, and then to Gatlinburg to visit the Great Smoky Mountains in September as our anniversary (3 years!) getaway. Each of those places were a beautiful reminder of our creator's imagination and splendor. We're talking about a few possible destinations for trips next year, but nothing's set yet. Well that's about it from us this year. We clung to each other even tighter this year and looking forward with a great deal of optimism and promise for the future. Our Christmas card here shows pictures of our sponsor kids, and we put some of our hope in them. We hope and pray that this Holiday season finds you well and enjoying all that He has given us her in this world. Merry Christmas!
Shaun & Gaby |