Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings to everyone! Merry Christmas and a more Blessed New Year 2009 to everyone; as we Praise and Thank God for His Love and Generosity during the year and ask for more Blessings for 2009 - Peace, Joy, Good Health, Love, Happiness – among others, provision for all our needs and the rest of the world, especially the children!

On our Catholic Breakfast Club meeting for December, the invited speaker was Mr. Tarek Saab, who spoke on ‘Gut Checking: young men confronting the Big issues like Love, Work and Manhood’, offering a fresh perspective on being a ‘twenty-something’ male and Catholic, in today’s world! A candidate on NBC’s The Apprentice 5, he is president of T. Saab Media, and founder of Lionheart Apparel, a men’s clothing line he launched after his TV debut. He has been named Kipling’s “Who’s Who among Executives and Business Executives for 2008. He is a popular Catholic speaker and author of ‘Gut Checking’ which I got a signed copy with dedication for my children Sean and Sarah. An insight as guide for young: Choose a ‘favorite saint’ to become a model for your life who will serve as your guide, like St. Augustine, St. Thomas, St. Theresa, and always think of death as the greatest equalizing factor to keep you grounded - for humility!

We celebrated a very meaningful and memorable Christmas season with much joy and happiness in the family as we were all together, after 3 years of being multi-located. My hubby Gerry joined us at home in Sacramento during the 1^st week, so we were able to complete the 9-days ‘Misa de Gallo‘ masses starting on Dec. 16, culminating with the Christmas evening Mass at St. Mel’s church. Our daughter Sarah and her 6-years old son Max, who are based in New Jersey, joined us Dec. 23 – Jan. 2. so we all enjoyed our magic moments together for the holidays – thanks be to God!

On Christmas day, we had lunch/dinner with my sister’s family at their residence in Roseville, with the traditional exchanging of gifts and updates on life events. The following days were spent on family bonding – driving around Sac area, shopping, eating out on various restaurants, keeping fit at our clubhouse – father/son bonding playing billiards, visiting/meeting up with friends, trips to Max’s ‘toy farm’, highlighted by studio sitting for family photos which will be coming out soon.

For our traditional family ‘last Saturday of the year-end diner at home’, we invited close family and friends as we served Filipno lechon, shrimp with quail eggs, dinuguan, sotanghon, lumpiang shanghai, sinigang, several salads and desserts, drinks, culminated with ‘magic sing’ concert by all attendees. Guests included my sister and hubby; Dr. Connie Fajardo (a surprise as she sang like an Opera singer) and hubby with their friend Sylvia, daughter and her son; Mert (my husband’s ship Radio Operator 30 years ago who is also residing in our Anatolia) and wife Dr. Edna with their daughter Carolyne; Russel and Tess; Sean’s friends: Red, Jason and Michelle. They enjoyed singing till 2:00 am. When the guests were leaving my hubby Gerry said he would go up to the bedroom to sleep. I reminded him that we still had a lot of work to do – fixing up all the food left, cleaning up and everything – the realities of American living, with no help to clean after you, so we all had a big laugh – reality check!!!

While we wanted to spend New Year’s day at home, we squeezed the Schroeder’s invitation to be at their home in Roseville due to Sarah’s limited time; we had good time on ‘magic sing’; we realized we were a karaoke family as Gerry always opened with his ’My Way’ , Sarah with her ‘Till I Met You’, Sean with his “Creep’, then with my ‘Dancing Queen’; likewise, Max always grabs the mike and joins his lolo in ‘My Way’.

Attached are photos of: 1) at home with our guests; 2)at my sister’s home ; and 3) with Sarah, Max and lechon. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. We thank God for a meaningful Christmas with the entire family in Sacramento. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG