| Dear
Friends,
Seeing Yannan touching up his annual Christmas letter, I was alarmed
at the pace that time flies. It was not long ago when I managed
to remember to change year 2005 to 2006 on the check-book, and
now here is another new year. It has been a while since I wrote
you a Christmas letter. I am getting old, and I am getting lazy.
I used to feel aimless if I did not get enough jobs. Now I am
actually feeling happy when I do not get a job assignment. Arriving
home, I would readily lie down on the sofa (Picture
8: living-room) and turn on the TV. My eyes, though, would
look out to the little forest across from our house (Pictures
9 & 10: little forest across the street). The sun is shining
and the sofa is cozy. Life, when you do not have to work, is wonderful,
isn't it?
In May this year, Hong's company (Holiday Retirement Corp.) sponsored
a conference/vacation at Maui, Hawaii for all employees with a
seniority of five years and more. Each employee can bring one
spouse, or partner, and all will be covered: airfare, lodging,
and food. As they can also take more people at their own expenses,
Hong took us all. So, there were over one thousand and two hundred
employees, plus people they brought over, taking up one of the
biggest hotels in Maui: the Wailea Resort (Pictures
1 & 2, Wailea Resort, Maui, Hawaii), where the minimum
rate for a single room is $500 per night. The first three days
were group activities, which included wellness lectures and training,
such as how to relax and how to stay healthy. The last three days
were employees' own time, and we went touring the island. What
was most exciting was we saw a lot of sub-tropical plants and
fruits that we used to know very well where we came from (Xiamen,
China). On Mother's Day, Hong gave me and Sandy each a gift for
a special spa. The spa was claimed to be world 's best,
and would have cost $165 per hour each, but Holiday Retirement
employees got a discount of 50%.
Holiday Retirement Corp. also offered two free dinners to all
employees and their guests. The dinner was by the sea, and it
was grand and splendid, accompanied by professional entertainment
(Picture 3: Hawaii
dance). On the last night, the "door prize" included
two cars as top prize. Finally, Mr. Colson came to the stage briefly
to thank everyone for coming, and to wish everyone a safe journey
home. He was really a very kind and very generous boss.
Earlier this year, my cousin Xiao Rong came from China to California
to see her son and daughter-in-law. In July she visited with us
for three weeks. We spent a lot of time together: U-picking blueberries
and cherries, crabbing (Picture
4: seafood dinner), shopping, jogging. We had a lot to talk
about. It was wonderful that she was able to come.
Wei and Maki have moved to Vancouver, WA. Sometimes they drive
one hour or so to visit us, and play with Kevin, then go back
after dinner. One day at work I was browsing
some newspapers, and suddenly I saw Wei's photo (Picture
5: story on Wei's award). So Wei has won a national
award for a computer design for his school's guidbook.
Hong is busy and happy as ever. He is kind
to all people, and all people like him. His fondest pastime is
fishing, and he recently did catch quite a big salmon weighing
close to 40 pounds (Picture
6: Hong's big catch). His son Kevin (Picture
7: telling a story to Kevin) is our favorite. Kevin
has agreed to let me pick him up from pre-school every Friday
noon, then stay with us for the weekend. By night fall,
he would grow restless, and would say that he misses his mother.
"Can you call mom for me please?" he would beseech,
without resorting to grumps or tears. He likes to ask questions--a
lot of questions. One day he was jumping on my bed when he said:
"Grandma, why is your bed so pretty?" I told him
that he could have the bed and the quilt tonight with me.
"Why are you so kind to me?" He asked. "Because
I love you." "Why do you love me?" "Because
you are my grandson." Without hesitation, he said:
"You are my grandson too."
We will have a second grandson in February 2007.
We had hoped for a girl, but we know that boy or girl, whoever
God gives us is good.
Grateful are we for the Almighty. He has
given us more than we have asked for. Trust in Him, and
you will be as blessed as we are, enjoying abundant peace and
happiness in the years to come.
Li-qing
November 2006
see also:
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亲友们：
看到燕南又在准备圣诞信了，真是感慨，什么时候开支票的时候，刚将2005年改成2006年，现在2006年又要过去了，时间过得快得让你赶都赶不上。好几年没写圣诞信了，年纪越来越大，人也越来越懒。以前没工做的时候，心里总痒痒的。现在没工做时，心里竟会感觉一丝喜悦。经常下班回来，都会重重地将自己摔倒在沙发里(图八：家里客厅)，开着电视，眼睛却望着窗外不远处的一片树林(图九、图十：窗外的树林)，阳光从窗外照进来，感觉真舒服。生活是美丽的，是吧？
今年5月份，庄宏工作的公司让每一个工作五年以上的员工，带一个伴去夏威夷度假一星期。机票食宿全包。如要多带人，机票自己出，庄宏就将秀娟，恺恩和老爸老妈全带上了。来自世界各地分公司的职员就有一千二百多人，加上他们的家属，公司包下毛伊岛上最大的旅馆(图一:
夏威夷毛伊岛Wailea 大度假村；图二：度假村海滨)，每个职员拥有一个自己的房间，每个房间每晚费用都在500美元以上。我们一下飞机，就租了辆汽车，头三天公司有集体活动，如请专家讲述健康保健知识等。后三天大家就开着各自租来的汽车游览岛上的风景点。对我来说，最开心的莫过于在岛上看到了久违了的龙眼、荔枝、番石榴、还有三角梅，感觉亲切极了。母亲节那天，庄宏还送给秀娟和我一个礼物--去享受
spa (泡澡和按摩)。一个小时是$165，他们公司的人可得到50%优惠。
晚上几千人集体享受夏威夷美餐，还有专业演员表演(图三：夏威夷舞蹈)。最后那个夜晚，还有抽奖，两个头奖是各一辆汽车。老板是在最后一分钟才在台上出现，简单几句话，感谢大家来，希望大家玩得愉快。有人在下面喊：谢谢某某先生！我们实在感慨这老板的慷慨和平实。
七月份，堂姐晓榕从加州她儿子那儿来看我们，住了三星期，这是一段美好的时光。我们一起去果园摘蓝梅和樱桃，一起去海边抓螃蟹(图四：烧烤大餐)，一起去逛商场，一起去散步，我们有说不完的话，谢谢晓榕，给我们带来这么多愉快！
庄伟和麻纪子搬到华盛顿州，就没能每个周末回来了。有时开了1--2小时的车回来，吃顿饭，就又马上回去了。有一天我上班时随手拿起一份报纸，翻着翻着，居然发现有一版登着庄伟的照片和介绍他的文章(图五：介绍庄伟获奖的报纸)！原来他设计的一个电脑绘图作品在全国比赛中得了奖。
庄宏的工作是又忙又愉快，他对人好，大家也爱他。他业余的最大爱好是钓鱼，最近他钓到一条近40磅的野生三文鱼(图六：庄宏钓的大鱼)！他的儿子恺恩(图七：我给恺恩讲故事)是我们的最爱，他答应每星期五让我从学校把他接回来，晚上在我这儿过夜，星期六晚上他爸妈来家吃饭后才把他带回。他不吵，但天色晚了会说他想他妈妈，问我他可不可以给他妈妈打电话？小孙子凡事都要问个为什么？有一天他跳到我的床上，说：“奶奶，你的床真漂亮！”
我说：“好啊，你晚上可以盖我的被子。” 他说：“你为什么对我这么好？” 我说：“因为我爱你” 。他问：“你为什么爱我？” 我说：“因为你是我的孙子”
。他想了想，说：“你也是我的孙子！”
明年二月份，我们将迎来我们的第二个孙子。虽然我们希望这第二个是孙女，但我们也相信：上帝赐给我们的将是最好的。
数算上帝的恩典，心里充满感恩，天父赐给我们的，远超过我们所求的。真希望你们也得着这个福份。信靠上帝吧，他会赐给你无限的平安和喜乐！
丽 卿 二○○六年十一月十日
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