Hi there,

The saying “time flies faster as you grow older” is soooo true. The 2007 Christmas is right around the corner while the 2006 Christmas seemed to be just a few weeks ago. We hope this letter finds you all well, brings you an update about our family, and wishes you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

As you can see from the collage, our grandchildren have grown a lot and we have become much older. Our 7-year-old grand-daughter, Sarah, is extremely literate and gifted at drawing. Every time she finishes drawing a picture, she will write stories about the pictures and staple the pages together to make them look like a book. The 4-year-old Nathan is great at assembling puzzles while still crazy about cars. He can finish a 60-piece puzzle in no time. In early 2008, another exciting moment is awaiting us. We are ready to welcome the newest member in the family - Angela’s baby girl!!

In mid-January this year, we finally had our kitchen remodeling completed. During Easter we went to HK to visit our parents’ graves. We took the opportunity to tour Macao, Shanghai and Xuzhou. Macao is Dominic’s home town. That visit brought back a lot of cherished memories to Dominic. His elementary school and high school were still there. He also located where he used to live even though the house is now replaced by high rises. One can hardly tell that Macao was once a small and quiet town if not for a few ceramic street signs and some old trees here and there.

Shanghai is Christina’s home town. The changes in Shanghai are more than we can imagine. This is especially true with PuTong. Christina did not have the luck to find the street, not to mention the house she grew up in. Xuzhou has become an industrialized city. Yet it’s pleasantly surprising to find small houses with black roofs and white walls not too far away from the modernized zone. (You can get a glimpse from the background of the collage.) By touring the streets and shops in old Xuzhou and visiting the temples’; preserved big, old mansions; and privately-owned gardens there, we re-appreciated the poems and essays we learned from way back when. This is our culture and it is still running in our blood. We are proud to be Chinese.

How about you and your family? Jot us a note whenever it’s convenient.

Once again, we wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christina & Dominic