Christmas Letter

Aloha Friends and Family!

Well, we decided to try to send out Christmas letters this year, letting you all know what’s happening in our lives. This year has been a busy one for us. Karen was just saying that I was in Iraq and that’s about all that happened, but I know there is more to it than that. So allow us to recapitulate… no, there is too much… so we’ll just sum up.
This year started with us coming back from leave from last year’s Christmas break. We got back on a Monday, and so I called my unit on Tuesday to let them know that I was back in town. They said, “Good, you’re leaving Saturday for Iraq.” We already knew that I would be going, but thought we’d have more time before I left. So off I went. Karen bravely stayed alone in Hawaii for the nearly 5 months that I was gone. We were blessed to talk on the phone nearly every day. I had great experiences making new friends with guys from as far away as Romania. The Lord blessed me with the opportunity to go to Church almost every Sunday. One interesting tidbit about the place where I was is that the ancient city of UR was within the perimeter of our base. So I got to visit some 4000 year-old ruins including Abraham’s house where he lived before he left to go to Canaan.
While I was gone, Karen kept busy as the first counselor in the Young Women’s program in our ward. She also babysat quite frequently and made good friends with her treadmill. She was in great shape when I came home because she was running 2.5-3 miles per day most days of the week. As I was getting ready to return, Karen booked a really wonderful trip for us to Kauai to celebrate my return. We stayed on Kauai for 3 nights, the first one at a quaint bed and breakfast in the mountains called the “Strawberry Guava” and the other two nights at Barking Sands, the Navy’s missile test range. Sounds romantic, doesn’t it? Well it was… a private beach and a really nice beach cottage made for a wonderful stay.
After this trip, I worked for a couple of weeks, then we took off for Stewart and Rachel’s wedding in July. It was so great to see everyone in Utah and Idaho. We went to our land in Grace, and planted a couple of trees, one of which might actually make it. Then when we got back to Oahu, I had a leadership class to attend for a grueling 6 weeks, then it was back on vacation for a week and a half for me and 6 weeks for Karen. I was supposed to be in China while Karen stayed in Idaho. (She didn’t want to be alone again.) Unfortunately, the funding for my trip was not approved, so I ended up in a translation class where I’ve been “working” for the last 6 weeks. Karen had a great time with her family for Thanksgiving, while I was grateful to be invited to our bishop’s house to celebrate.
So now Christmas is rapidly approaching, and we’re grateful for all of our blessings. It’s been a year of ups and downs for us all. We’ve spent a lot of time with family and friends, and we’ve also spent a lot of time apart. It’s an exciting and a scary time to be alive. We hope the Spirit of the Lord will be with each of you and your families this season and through the coming year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!