This year I was determined to send out Christmas cards, even though I had misplaced ALL of my friends' and family's addresses, even though I didn't have the inspiration or time to create a fun and festive picture for the card, and even though the clock was running out of time. I decided to plod along anyway.
All of last week was pretty much about decorating the house and baking goodies for a Christmas party that we hosted Thursday evening. Since I work full-time, there are just a few short hours available in the evenings to do all my preparation and with two little girls vying for attention, it is hard to break away. I tried to engage them as much as possible and Chloe turned out to be a big help in the kitchen, even if it was mostly just keeping me company.
So now it's the week before Christmas and I have made a commitment to, at a minimum, send cards out to fellow families who have adopted children from Chengdu China (which is where our Pearl is from). I scramble to find a picture for the card and settle on one from last Christmas, my first and only 9 exposure HDR (if you know what that is), and upload it to Costco, where I can pick up the cards (on the cheap) in only hours.
I send out pleas for addresses and most people comply, but now, I have realized this card really doesn't tell the story and I don't have the energy to write on every single card or even prepare a family letter summarizing the year. After all, the letter has to be printed on fancy Christmas paper (which I don't have) and slipped inside each envelope and now the postage will be double! I am too impatient and I want to ge these cards out NOW.
So for those of you lucky few who managed to get a card, but no letter, here is your Christmas letter:
Chloe
Pearl
2010 IN THE CHAVEZ FAMILY
Dear Friends, Family, Blogging Buddies and Chengdu Families:
This year brought us a nice combination of challenges and changes, mostly welcome.
We finally sold our home after four years of trying and we did it without going upside-down. We found a new large, yet cozy home just steps from the elementary and high school. We are renting it and are experiencing the bliss of non-home ownership. Even though this place is 4 years new, it has some electrical problems and the roof is leaking. We keep the landlords apprised and go about our daily business and they coordinate the contractors to fix things.
Before we moved, we had a large and very successful yard sale. We got rid of half of everything we owned, if not more. It felt like a cleansing to be unburdened from so much "stuff". Now when I look in my closet, I see only clothes that fit, crafts and projects that I use, and empty suitcases waiting for a quick getaway. I love the absence of clutter, but now I am digressing.
Once we became settled in comfortably, we realized that we missed having an exchange student around, so we signed up for our third hosting experience. The month of August brought us Liu Shuer, commonly referred to as "Effy", all the way from DongGuan China. She will be spending the entire school year with us. She is only 16 and a bit younger than our previous girls, but she is definitely "sugar and spice and everything nice". Effy has a lively and vivacious personality, yet she fits in so well with our low-key existence. She is an amazing big sister to Chloe and Pearl and she is willing to answer the same questions over and over, since that is what 6 and 7 year olds do. At least the girls can now count to 10 in Chinese.
Chloe and Pearl are having a great year too. Pearl has lost several teeth and now has one adult front tooth and one baby front tooth. It has been that way for months. We had to have Chloe's front teeth removed as they began to abscess. That was likely due to a head injury she suffered a year or two earlier. She is still waiting to lose her first tooth from natural causes.
We adopted Pearl 4 years ago from Chengdu China when she was only 3 years old. She was on a waiting child/special needs list, but turned out not to have any health issues that we are aware of. Pearl is in 2nd grade and reading like a 5th or 6th grader. She is smart and quick and makes friends easily. She is hyper and fidgety, yet she still manages to pay attention to her teacher in school, so we try not to worry about her constant motion. I think that is why she is so thin. She eats very well and loves lots of healthy foods. Chloe, on the other hand, is an extremely picky eater. Until this year, if anything had a fruit or vegetable in it, she wouldn't go near it. Now she has embraced a few fruits and veggies. The list includes lemons, olives, dill pickles, corn-on-the-cob and artichokes. She really loves artichokes and will eat an entire one with her dinner (except for the heart, which she thinks is 'gross').
We adopted Chloe from Qinzhou, China in the Guangxi province in April of 2005 when she was just 14 months old. I remeber I had wanted to adopt an older child and now I find that I would do anything to have that first 14 months with her. Chloe is in 1st grade and is a hard-working slightly above-average student. She is a deep-thinker and very intuitive. She doesn't have a lot of friends and only recently developed a "best friend". Wouldn't you know it? Her best friend is moving to Argentina in January.
Chloe took this picture of her best friend Madison, who is moving to Argentina.
I really love how my two girls can be so different and yet get along so well. They are the best of sisters.
My work hasn't changed much. I am still working for the City of Shafter and it has now been about 16 years. I get to do a lot of fun engineering and designing and it is mostly my responsibility to get our town looking good. I design parks and buildings and landscaping strips. My current projects include improvements to our public pool and the completion on design and construction of a new 10 acre park.
Pete's structural engineering work has managed to continue even though the economy has really turned things around in the construction and design business. Jobs that he used to turn away are now welcomed with open arms. Negotiating prices is much more of a business practice rather than "take it or leave it". The one thing that has kept Pete's clients coming back has been his accessibility. He's not always the smoothest with customer relations, but he certainly is responsive, reliable and quick on the spot. The work gets done on time or even earlier. And sometimes, if it turns out to be easier than he anticipated, he will refund the customer for the difference (even though he gave a written estimate). He seems to have some very loyal customers and for that, we are grateful.
My hobby in photography has started into it's second year and I am still eager to learn everything I can about it, especially the post-processing end of things. I attended a week-long workshop in October and I am scheduled for a shorter one next month. My Christmas present to myself was a new computer, a high-end monitor with color calibration software, and a large Wacom tablet and pen (which I haven't used yet). I am hoping that I will have some time to become familiar with all this stuff during the Christmas holidays. Then maybe, I'll be able to post more often on the blog in the coming year.
After trips to Europe and Hawaii, we decided to take this year off from a long family vacation. We have made lots of short trips and even fit in a trip to see our fellow Sweet Peas (families who were waiting to adopt at the same time) at a reunion in Seattle Washington in October. We even snuck in a visit to see Chris, our previous exchange student, who is now a Junior in college.
Since springtime, the girls have been practicing a dance in their Chinese dance class that they take weekly. In early December, the girls performed their dance in a competition in Los Angeles, CA and received gold trophies for their efforts (which is really 2nd place). I think they were the youngest dancers in the competition.
girls with their dance teacher
Other Chinese dancers
In August, I signed Chloe up for gymnastics lessons and Pearl for piano lessons. Two days before Chloe was to begin, she broke her arm as she fell off the monkey bars at school. It was a horrific ordeal, but it is so nice to have it beyond us and to have her arm fully healed and good as new. We are planning to start the gymnastics class again in January.
We will start the New Year with a big birthday party as Pete turns 50 on the 2nd of January. After that, we will just take it one day at a time. Thanks for following along and I wish you all peace, love and happiness in the coming year.
With Love,
Pete, Lori, Effy, Pearl, and Chloe
Picture of a tulip from my Christmas flower arrangement
