Eric and Lisa

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We're thoroughly enjoying this year's holiday season. We don't have as many Christmas functions to attend as usual, mostly because we're both sort-of self-employed and don't have office parties to go to and partly because we have a little one who needs to go to bed, so we can't attend some of the later functions. But we've been relishing in the events we have been able to attend.

Also, Ian is crawling everywhere and getting into as much trouble as possible -- and it's so much fun! This morning he "discovered" the Christmas tree and started pulling off ornaments. It's a good thing we purposely placed bigger, non-breakable ornaments at the bottom of the tree that he couldn't hurt himself with! Yesterday, Eric spent a lot of time installing safety catches on our kitchen cabinets to keep Ian from exploring them, and now we're constantly pinching our fingers trying to open the doors! We'll get used to it. The nice thing is, Ian seems to have a good understanding of the word "no" and usually turns away from whatever he's been getting into when we use a firm (but not harsh!) voice with him. He's already learning what's ok and what's not ok to play with. At eight months, he is at such a fun age, and we're enjoying it immensely.

All in all, this Christmas season has been an encouraging and thoughtful one. It's always wonderful to celebrate the miraculous incarnation of God becoming human and relish in the hope, love, and peace that event creates in our lives. Praise God for his unwavering love for us. We hope that all of you find the same joy this Christmas season.

--Eric and Lisa

Whew! We made it back in one piece from Hawaii, where we went for a conference and to visit some family. We spent nine days enjoying the warm weather -- sans Ian. It was a long time to be away from our little guy, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. He seemed to have a great time bonding with his grandparents while we were away, too.

The first part of the trip was spent in Waikiki in Honolulu, where the conference was held by a joint meeting between the Accoustical Society of America and the Accoustical Society of Japan. Eric presented two papers there in two different poster sessions, and he received a lot of encouraging feedback. His second presentation was especially well-received, which is a good thing, since it will tie right into his thesis for his PhD. He feels ready to tackle the next phase of his program now.

During the second part of the trip, we stayed with my dad's cousin Steve and his wife Lynn, who live outside of Honolulu in Nanaculi. They're pastoring a Missionary Church there in Nanaculi, and we had a great time with them. They were so hospitable and really made us feel at home. Since we didn't have any more conference responsibilities, we were able to travel around the island and see some cool things: various beaches, a vacation resort, the Dole pineapple plantation, a really windy lookout point called Pali Pass, the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, and a couple really yummy places to eat. On our last day there, we were able to connect with a group of Bethel students on their way home from a semester abroad in China. They were taking a "detour" through Oahu, and we got to spend a good part of Tuesday with them and their administrator, Rob, whom we also met while we were in Beijing two years ago. One of the students, Jake, is a younger brother of one of Eric's college roommates, and it was nice to catch up with him. We really enjoyed those last few days of the trip; it felt like a real vacation, which is something we haven't had in a long, long time.

We're glad to be back home, though, even though we went from 80's and sunny to 20's and windy! It's nice to have our family all back in one place again. It seems like Ian grew five inches and gained ten pounds in the short while we were gone, as well as learned a few new tricks! We're tired from the traveling, but feel more refreshed and rejuvenated than we have in a long time.

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Check out some of our photos from the trip in our photo album labled "Hawaii 2006"!