2013 Christmas Letter

Wow!  It seems the past few months have been a blur, but thanks to God's providence, here we are in our new home!  Well, as of this writing, we haven't quite moved to our new home, but we have closed on it and hope to move in, in January, after we make a few minor repairs.

But as we look back on the rest of 2013, we reminisce about how God has blessed us and trust that He has blessed you as well. 

January:  Cindy started cutting the boys' hair, we saw the Rose Parade floats up close and personal, Lukas participated in the Pinewood Derby with Boy Scouts; Cindy had a birthday

February:  we saw the Space Shuttle Endeavour, visited Descanso Gardens with Chris and Jim, visited Chino Planes of Fame, Lukas turned 9; and we visited Sea World;

March:  some of us went whale watching; to the Calico Ghost Town; to play in the snow (seems a little funny considering where we live now!), went to a Jeremy Camp concert, said good-bye to Jordana from Switzerland (who stayed with us for three months), and painted Natalie's bedroom;

April:  we went to an Angel's game, visited Descanso again with Chris and Jim and Ventura with Patrice and Patrick, went to a dirt track race, and went camping at Rainbow Basin, saw some great petroglyphs and visited Calico again;

May: Dominik turned 3; then our computer crashed and we didn't blog for a while, but we went to the beach.

June:  We finished the school year, had more end-of-school activities, Tom had a birthday, we went to the beach, and we had our own homeschool summer school.

July:  we celebrated Rubinstein-Taybi (RTS) Day, we hosted a Fourth of July party, met other great RTS families at a reunion in Las Vegas, did lots of fun summer stuff at home...because that's what you should do after a weekend in Las Vegas.

August:  Lukas started his own business, we went to VBS, Adventure Playground, and of course the beach again.  And then we went East for vacation.

September:  we came back from vacation and family reunion and it took us a long time to post pictures, and still we started school!

October:  Tom started a new job and we showed the house to sell it.  After about 30 showings (no joke!) we got several good offers and picked one.  We did a lot of our favorite California things, before...

November:  ...we sold the house and moved!  We also made an offer and went into escrow on a new home.  Tom grew a mustache!  And then he shaved it (whew!)

December:  We started school in a new state, our kids saw snow fall from the sky for the first time, Natalie turned 8, Konrad turned 6, and we closed on our new home.

So now the end of year update:  Tom loves his new job, Cindy loves the home Tom looked at and offered on while she was still in California, Lukas and Konrad love being in Idaho, Natalie loves her new school, and Dominik loves wearing his snow boots...but most of all we love being together after being separated while the California house was selling and Tom was working at his new job.

We are so thankful to God for His hand in everything:  Tom's fabulous new job in the area we have been wanting to move to for several years, the welcome of a new church family, the sale of our California home and the purchase of our new home, the uneventful move of our belongings, and great adjustment to our new area.  We trust that this season of reflecting on the Messiah's humility in coming to live and die for our sins will also lead you to see God's hand in your life.

Merry Christmas!
Tom and Cindy
Lukas, Natalie, Konrad and Dominik