Christmas 2008 Newsletter
From Tom
On July 20th, I was privileged to hold my first grandchild, Celeste Lynn Diaz. After a long day of anticipation at the hospital, Roberto brought her into the waiting room. She looked directly at all of us assembled there, and it was love at first sight. We thank God for a happy, healthy little girl initiating a new chapter in our lives. My days and weeks remain full of travel as I continue my weekly commute to Chicago. After an initial period of adjustment, my career at The Walsh Group has begun to take shape. The work is steady, the people are great, and I appreciate the development of an extended network of clients and partners. I continue to be sustained in the pace of my life by a wife whose grace is matchless by any human standard. Her steadfast faith and service to her family continue to produce exceptional children and grandchildren. Enjoy reading the news, and I pray that you look in anticipation of what our Lord Jesus Christ has prepared for you and your family in the New Year. Celebrate His birth every day!
From Lynn
Greetings! And thanks be to God for another year of fruitful labor and the ability to serve Him. The spring was busy with high school graduation details and college applications for Christian. Christian is attending Union University on a full-tuition scholarship, for which we are grateful. David is still at Samford University which leaves Rose, Bekah, Micah and Jade at home. Poor Micah is in the minority! I spent the summer following Bekah around the country with her harp. We attended two summer harp camps and a harp conference. I am learning much. The highlight of the year was the birth of our first grandchild, Celeste Lynn Diaz. It gives me inexplicable joy to watch Katie and Roberto love and care for Celeste. She is a delight. My days are filled with Micah and Bekah’s schoolwork, music lessons, and college preparations for Bekah. Jade is always at my side asking her endless questions. When I run out of answers, I ask her questions. Her answers are priceless. May God bless your family in the coming year.
From Bekah
Howdy everyone! I turned sixteen this year and am now driving the family cars. Though not my favorite vehicle, the full-size van is the only one that holds the harp, so I am stuck with it. Last year, I was a member of the Curb Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Middle Tennessee State University Orchestra. I also played in Tennessee’s Mid-State and All-State orchestras. With preparing for six orchestra concerts, keeping up with school, and helping with Jade, I was worn out by the end of spring. Thus, I was excited that we could spend a week in Florida in May. My favorite activity there was swimming out to a sand bar with David, Christian and Micah during low tide to search for sand dollars. We found many live and dead sand dollars as well as some conch shells complete with hermit crabs. Once, we even saw a manatee. Christian dove to grab a sand dollar, and when he came up, there was a huge manatee one foot away from him. Though he knew it was not a shark, it still scared the living daylights out of him. During the summer I attended two harp camps, a harp seminar, and a competition, in which I placed fourth. Dad and I have been going to New York City for monthly lessons with a new harp teacher. The first two trips to New York City were tense for me, but now I am relaxed and enjoy walking around the city. I took an English Composition class at a local community college this fall. The class involved writing one to three papers a week along with a good amount of reading. It has been quite educational. One of my favorite activities this year has been playing volleyball and basketball at a local gym on Tuesdays and Fridays. Mom keeps reminding me not to break any fingers since I need them to play harp. Happy thoughts until our trails cross again!
From Jade
Guess what? I am an aunt. That means my sister, Katie, had a baby. Celeste is still too little to play with me yet, but I love her new toys. I gave her all my clothes that are too little for me. I also gave Celeste my bed because I am a big girl now (3 ½ years old and 38 inches tall) and sleep in a bed like Bekah’s. Mom and Dad took us all to Florida this year. It was my first time to see an ocean. The big waves tried to push me over and the water was so salty in my mouth. The seagulls were fun to watch, but after one of them stole my hamburger, I cried. Christian and Micah tried to catch one by burying themselves in the sand and putting crackers on top of them. The bird came to get the crackers, but the boys were not fast enough to catch it. Mom is taking me to piano lessons. I can play Mississippi Hot Dog. I still practice on my pretend harp and violin, but Mom says piano comes first. I like reading books, especially the ones with pictures. Eating is fun, too. I used to like rice the best, but now I like salsa with corn chips. I know it does not make sense for a Chinese girl to like salsa, but I was born in Hunan, China, where they eat very spicy food. In China, they called me a “spicy girl.” Mom and Dad taught me a Bible verse. It is Ephesians 6:1, “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” It helps me to do the right thing when I get “frustrate.” I hope you have a Merry Christmas and lots of Christmas cookies.
From Rose
At graduation last year, I received the Wall Street journal award of a 1-year subscription. Every day this year, the Wall Street Journal was delivered to our house. I wish I could say that I read…even one. I saved every one, thinking one day I may research and read what goes on around the World, but it’s old news now. The 6-foot high stack of newspapers will make good kindling for this winter’s fires. It makes me appreciate how many people read our Wallen Street Journal every year. This year has pretty much revolved around my B.F.F.L. (Best Friend For Life), Michael Gray. He inadvertently drove up our driveway one day in January, and pretty much every day since then. He has been our neighbor for almost 8 years, but we had not met until this year. Michael has two daughters, Aniya (12) and Nakiya (11), who live with their mother in PA, and spend the summers and holidays with him. One of our adventures this summer included a float down the nearby Piney River. We were all very excited about this trip, but I don’t think the girls expected so many bugs, sun…or water, for that matter. We were hoping to have a fish fry with our catch of the day, but we did not catch anything. So, we reheated leftover chicken over a fire in Michael's backyard and roasted some fresh corn and zucchini. While we were waiting for our dinner, we found no fewer than 100 ticks on Nakiya. By the time we solved that crisis, dinner was burned and it was very dark. The best part of the night was the S’mores…which, luckily for us, are hard to ruin! Earlier in the year, quite a few people contacted me for Interior Design Consultation. I advised on everything from paint color to furniture and layout for a 2,200 square foot basement! It was great experience to have interior design work to do in addition to my full time job as a Project Manager at Interiors International. Due to the economic decline, my employer decided to diversify his business. We are now launching his new business venture: Asian food imports. The most difficult part of this business has been communication with Thai companies on the opposite side of the world. My boss often stays awake at night to call our contacts in Thailand who work during our night hours. I am so glad I cannot speak Thai or I would have to stay up also. After a year and a half of construction project management, transitioning to food importing allows me to experience a new business adventure. Merry Christmas!
Hello, Rachel here! Christmas is here again. 2008 has been something of a monumental year for Tony and me. Near the beginning of this year, Tony began studying several hours every evening in preparation for an engineering exam. He passed the test and obtained his Professional Engineering License, an enormous accomplishment in his field. He enjoys using his new official stamp! During the summer, I finished off the last of my required classes and graduated as a microbiologist. My parents and Tony’s came to Michigan for the graduation and we all had a great time celebrating the completion of my bachelor’s degree. In between all the excitement, we managed to go camping near Traverse City in early July, and of course we made trips down to Tennessee to see family in August as well as for Thanksgiving. Recently we began the application process to work with Wycliffe Associates (WA), an organization which assists Wycliffe Bible Translators in translating the Bible into different languages all over the world. We hope to move to Tanzania, on the east coast of Africa, as missionaries under WA within the next year; we are looking forward to a 2009 full of God’s presence in our lives and wish you the same. Merry Christmas!
From Katie, Roberto and Celeste
Lately it seems that every year has brought with it a life-changing event. This year Roberto and I were blessed more than we could have imagined with our first daughter. Celeste Lynn was born on July 20th. We have been thoroughly enjoying her every moment since. It is such a joy to see her smile as she recognizes us and to watch her quickly grow. I retired from the accounting world 2 weeks before her birth and have loved spending all of my time with Celeste. It’s a wonderful life! Even at her young age, however, it is clear that she is going to be a daddy’s girl. She gets so excited when he comes home in the evenings and never cries when he puts her to bed. I think it’s the little songs he sings in her ear. I can tell I’ll be a minority in the house before long! In addition to the baby, we have been spending a lot of time lately visiting new cities. Roberto will be finished with his residency training in June and will be starting a new long-term job shortly thereafter. Poor Celeste has visited seven states in her five-month life as we have traveled to interviews! After three months of interviews and lots of prayer, we have decided to accept an offer from Emory University’s Department of Radiation Oncology, where Roberto will be splitting his time between running his new research lab and treating patients. Atlanta, here we come! Have a blessed Christmas.
From Christian
Wow, this year has been full of changes for me. In the spring, I graduated from high school! A great accomplishment! I continued working through the summer in the chemistry lab at Vanderbilt. My main job there was conducting reactions for the purpose of creating an organic molecule to accomplish drug delivery to the inside of a cell. Additionally, I had a very good year of bagpipe competitions in various cities including Charleston, SC; Atlanta, GA; and Grandfather Mt, NC. I also attended a bagpipe camp for two weeks in the mountains of North Carolina. The opportunity to learn from some of the best pipers in America greatly enhanced my playing. At the end of the season, I was promoted to a level 2 piper in the Eastern US Pipe Band Association. One of the biggest changes for me is that I am now a college freshman, majoring in chemistry at Union University in Jackson, TN. Some of my classes this semester are Biology, Calculus, and World Civilization. College is pretty crazy, but it is also fun. I have met many new friends and have already learned a good deal. My siblings will probably tell you about Florida and other events. Overall, it was a great year. Have a Merry Christmas.
This has been a very eventful year for me! I am happy to announce that I have passed Roberto in height, becoming the tallest member of the family! In May, our whole family went on a vacation to Florida! We piled an unbelievable amount of stuff into our van and took off on a 13-hour ride. We spent a lot of time on the beach just playing in the sand and conquering the waves. Dad, Christian, David and I went on an 8-hour long deep-sea fishing trip! I am proud to say I caught the biggest fish, a grouper! In the summer, I attended a four-week music camp in Indiana called Master Works. Along with weekly private lessons, I was in an orchestra and was assigned 4 or 5 pieces each week to be performed on Saturday. In the evenings, we played Frisbee or football, and I made good use of the soft-serve ice cream machine! My violin teacher inspires me and challenges me with new and difficult pieces to learn. I am enjoying the challenge. In the fall my brother, David, and I went hunting in our woods and I shot my first deer! Feliz Navidad!
It has been a tough year school wise. I happened to take a financial investment class which began just weeks before the Wall Street roller coaster ride. Each student was given $500,000 to mock-invest. Why couldn’t I have taken this class last year? This summer I had a chance to go deep-sea fishing in May while in Florida. Dad, Christian, Micah and I went out for a one-day fishing trip for grouper, grunts, and whatever else would bite. We mostly caught grunts and rudder fish, about 60 in all. It was a great experience. In May, I came back from school with a motorcycle strapped on the back of the truck. Mom was not too happy. Even Dad said I won’t be able to ride it. The engine was frozen and I wanted to have a project to work on over the summer. Unfortunately, I was so busy working all summer at a horse farm, I did not get a chance to finish repairing it completely. It is still lying in pieces all over our garage. I found the problem, ordered the parts, and just have to put it back together. Hopefully the parts will go back together as easily as they came apart! While home for fall break, I went out in the woods behind the house with my bow to hunt for deer. I had never shot a deer with my bow, so I was quite excited. The morning got late and I didn’t think I would see one. As I was about to leave my makeshift stand, I caught site of a doe walking towards me. I slowly lifted my bow, pulled back, and shot. The deer took off. I was pretty sure I hit it from the sound the arrow made, but it ran away quickly. I went back to the house to get Micah and we both tracked the deer for an hour or so. We found the broken arrow and the blood trail about fifty yards from where I shot. We followed this for a bit and finally stumbled upon the deer lying in a thicket. It was quite a thrill hunting and tracking a wild beast. A true illustration of survival of the fittest! Needless to say, I had a splendid year! I hope ya’ll had one just as great. Have a Merry Christmas!
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