Our 2010 Highlights

2010 was a year full of adventures for our family. The year started with Andy’s deployment to Colombia. Fortunately, we were blessed to have Gaby’s mom come from Chile to help during that time. While Andy was gone and with an assignment to move to Monterrey, CA, we received unexpected news: Andy had been selected for the Olmsted Scholar Program. Our lives changed completely when we found out we were going to live in Taipei, Taiwan for the next 3 years.

Andy had to come back early from his assignment in Colombia. And during all the craziness we still managed to enjoy our first cruise. We took a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas with Andy’s parents and Gaby’s mom. We started to organize and pack for the BIG move and Andy’s mom kindly stayed with us to help with whatever we needed. For instance, she babysat for us for a whole weekend when we had to go to Washington DC to learn about “The Olmsted Scholar Program”. That was the first time that Gaby had ever left the girls overnight and for so long. She survived.

After college finals and graduation, passports, VISAS, military orders, document authentication, yard sales, the moving company, the storage company, house cleaning, 8 big suitcases, and very sad goodbyes, we left our Key West Paradise to start a new family journey. We spent 3 beautiful weeks visiting with family and friends and by the end of July we left the US and had

3 amazing weeks in Japan. We used our Japan Rail pass to the maximum extent possible. We went to Hiroshima, Nara, Osaka, Kyoto, Nikko and obviously Tokyo. It was all very fun and we learned so much about Japan.

When we arrived, Taiwan was not an easy place to live at first. In the first few weeks, a small hotel room became our home while Catalina started school and we went apartment hunting. We celebrated Gaby’s 30th birthday/moving day on Sep 2nd; and after the initial frustration of adjustment we can finally say “we love home”. We love where we live and love what we do. Taiwanese people are some of the nicest people we’ve ever meet. Our church ward is amazing and we have many friends. We truly are living the time of our lives. Andy is just a student but still gets paid. We have a lot of family time, so this is not just a big step in Andy’s professional career but also an amazing cultural experience for our family. We appreciate having Andy home as we pray and think of those service members who are far away from their homes this year. Andy has been away before and we always worried about him. We are so grateful for the time we have to share as a family right now. We recognize the Lord’s hand and tender blessing as we enjoy of this great opportunity, and we wanted to share it with you.

Catalina is five and attends Kindergarten at the Taipei American School. She loves her school, riding the bus (like a big girl), and recess to play with her friends. She is very responsible and has shown big academic progress in just 4 months. She is an innate artist and has a beautiful singing voice. Catalina is an amazing care giver as she takes the role of big sister very seriously. She loves anything that involves princesses, cooking, and art/crafts. She has a wide imagination and is getting smarter (almost too smart) every day.

Julienne is turning 3 this coming February. “Monito” (little monkey), as we mostly call her, keeps us busy and entertained 24/7 (not kidding). She is a fast learner and loves playing with Catalina. She also has a wide imagination and loves “pretending”. She has become very independent and is not afraid to speak her mind. She is very sociable and charismatic. Taiwanese people love her and she is constantly being photographed. We’re hoping she decides to move on from diapers this year.

Gaby turned 30 this year! She graduated from college last spring. She got an Associates in Art Degree with Honors at the Florida Keys Community College. This past Nov. she went through her first surgery ever (umbilical hernia). She is fine and enjoying every minute of our Taiwanese experience. She is very busy with Catalina’s school, caring for Julienne, and her church calling to work with teenage girls. She hopes to make time to also learn Chinese and to finish some craft projects she has been postponing throughout the years.

Andy somehow figured out a way to have the Air Force pay him to be a student again. He is very happy with his assignment and is probably a little bit crazy as he enjoys learning Chinese. Sometimes at midnight he is on the computer learning characters which he says helps him to relax. He finally finished his MBA from the University of Nebraska this year and is very grateful to hopefully never have to look at another finance formula again. Andy also completed the Taroko Gorge half marathon in November (one of the most beautiful places in the world), and looks forward to doing more. He is a dedicated father/husband and is truly grateful for this time to be with his family.