2021
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The year began with an incredible gift from God when our nephew, Tristan, was born. Hospital visit? No. House visit? With restrictions. The boys love their cousin so much, and enjoy any time we can be together, even if it means wearing a mask. Vaccinations came a couple months later, thank God and science. The end of the school year brought our rst family getaway to Legoland, which remained a hit with the boys. A family wedding in Idaho brought an epic three week road trip to the Paci c Northwest. Hikes and a stay in Leavenworth, visiting friends in Seattle and Camas, and a lengthy stay with Nana and Papa along with Uncle Ben and Aunt Kelly in Yakima. Highlights were oating the Yakima River and celebrating the 70th birthdays of mom and dad. School resumed in person for all of us. William loves 2nd grade at St. Charles, playing baseball, soccer, hallway football, and still loves tackling Mateo. Mateo is enjoying pre-school, loves art and soccer, and talking to anyone who has ears to listen. Both loved having Nona and Pouli cheer them on. Spidermen played in our house before, during, and after Halloween. We lamented an early playoff exit from the San Francisco Giants, celebrated Ben’s birthday in Las Vegas, hiked at various local parks, continued to make Burton Park our backyard playspace, coached baseball and soccer, made one trip to the ER for a broken arm (William), advocated for women deacons in our Church, taught Con rmation at St. Charles, became part of a women’s spirituality group (Kristin), started spiritual direction (Billy), tried to make a dent in my pile of books, and recently became godparents to Tristan! Life is still full of mystery and tension. We are learning to embrace both, while leaning deeper into Christ. We cannot make much sense of climate change and the lack of governmental action to tackle it; though we realize our own complicity in this issue. We cannot make much sense of the refugee crisis that remains, along with political upheaval in so many parts of the world from Haiti to the United States; though we know we can do more to advocate for the marginalized and seek justice in our local community. We cannot make much sense of the Church and its efforts to undermine progress and inclusion; though we can do more to promote equity and create space for all. Christ remains our model of light and hope in the tension and mystery that surrounds us. O come O come Emmanuel! CON AMOR- Bi y, Kris n, Wi iam, and Ma o P.S. - If you are able to support young Nicaraguans seeking hope through education and a college degree, please donate to SNEF.