The new year brings with it many new things for our family also. Turning 50 a couple of weeks ago was a bit of a milestone for me. Karen tells me that I now have to act like an adult so that in its self will be a challenge. As the weather turned cold in Indiana, we are still enjoying 70’s and 80’s everyday here. The rain has stopped so we no longer need to take an umbrella with us every time we go somewhere. School has started up again and we are all back into the homework stage of our lives. Karen and I made a short trip to California the first week in January for orientation at the Students International headquarters. We were disappointed that because of fog, we missed our flight out of Phoenix but we soon forgot about that as we made connection with some friends from our community in Indiana that had moved to the Phoenix area in the early 70’s. Bob and Janice Ropp treated us to great breakfast at Denny’s and spent 2 hours of catching up with them. It was nice to have them all to ourselves to visit. Thanks Bob and Janice for that time.
Karen spent some of the Christmas vacation doing "craft things". I always wonders what that meant, to "do craft things". Well here is one example of what that actually means.
This is the U ladies using their fingers to make a star. :)
As school gets harder and more challenging, I am grateful for the offers from people at Shore to help us with a foreign language. I had an offer last week from a gentle man that said he had pinched his finger earlier that day and had all at once started to speak FrenchJ. He was surprised because he didn’t even remember taking French lessons anytime. (Of course I am guessing that it was not an appropriate use of the French language that I could use anywhere in public). Thanks for the offer Kevin, but I think we will stick with the tutors here at the school for right now at least.
I have taken on the challenge of our Pastor in Indiana, Carl Horner, to read the bible in a year. I have wanted to do that for some time now and never have. I thought that with being 50 now, I should do it while I can still remember what day I am suppose to read what passage. I finished Genesis and am into Exodus right now. It only takes about 15 minutes a day and what a great way to start out. I think the thing that really prompted me start that was, when we were in California, it was mentioned several times that while we are in the middle of our time of service, it is easy to forget the our main purpose of why we are there. That reason is to glorify God in whatever way we can and we cannot let our good acts of service overshadow or praise of God. In other words, “Keep the main thing, the main thing”. One way for me to do that is to read through the bible during the year. How can I know what He is trying to tell me if I do not listen to his words?
Karen and I have a tutor everyday from 12:15-1:15 and she helps us review what we went over that day in class. That has been such a huge help as it is a time that we can ask more questions and practice talking. (Ha, who would have ever thought that Mike Unternahrer would need to PRACTICE talking HA!). We are talking more Spanish in our apartment now as the girls are learning more in class also. It is still a real challenge for all of us but it is only through our practicing an mistakes that we can improve.
Here is a photo of how they deal with potholes in San Jose. This is not really just a quick fix. It is actually fairly permanent. There are several of these throughout town, that have been here since we came in August. If someone thinks that the hole is getting big enough to be a hazard, they just stick a branch or a post in it and that's how it stays. There is one similar to this in front of the school. So far they have lost several 1st graders in that one !.
We enjoy getting emails from any of you to let us know what is happening in your lives so feel free to let us know that.
