Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! We praise and thank God for all the blessings of 2010 as we look forward to and welcome 2011, with more hope and enthusiasm for God’s loving kindness, generosity, guidance, as we pray for discerning well His Holy Will towards the right, good and positive direction in our lives! To everyone, I wish you the best for 2011 – good health, peace, love, joy and happiness always, and may we always do the things that we pray for!!!

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on Dec. 17 at the Radisson Hotel, the guest speaker was Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ – Pres., Gonzaga University, Host, - WTN program, author of many books. He discussed the topic ‘New Proofs of God’s Existence’. Since my Faith and my Thomasian philosophy studies had equipped me well on God’s existence, which was re-affirmed in his presentation, I instead got his autographed book on ‘Five Pillars of the Spiritual Life’ - A practical guide to prayer life for active people. The five pillars are as follows:

· The Holy Eucharist and other Sacraments

· Spontaneous Prayer, “Thy Will Be Done”

· The Beatitudes, toward Holiness

· Partnership with the Holy Spirit: Peace, Inspiration, and Transformation

· The Contemplative Life: This portion gave me the ‘AHA’ moment since it affirmed my present life phase where God has given me all the graces of experiencing all the elements I am enjoying; thus, I am on the right path of my life journey!

The season was a rush of activities focused on the meaning of the Christmas, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ: giving and sharing all the blessings. Aside from contending with the harsh winter cold weather and heavy rains daily routine, Highlights are as follows:

· I completed the 9-days morning Novena Masses at St. Mel’s church starting on Dec. 16, culminating with agape breakfast with other churchgoers on the 24^th;

· I met up with friends several days prior for exchanging pleasantries and gifts, sending out donations at various drop-off points in between holiday shopping to take advantage of discounts / sales of merchandisers and malls;

· We had special recollection during the month with our Opus Dei group with Fr. Gerry officiating Mass, which also coincided with the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe wherein the Latino community had musicians in colorful costumes with maracas, mandolins with fiesta ambiance;

· After the Christmas eve Mass, we attended our neighbors’ (Jonah & Joey Caliao) party together with their 5-couples nurses- friends and their kids. Everyone had so much fun: food was great (lechon, ham, pasta, cakes, salads, and many more), kids’ game (Xmas edition of Pinoy henyo and others), exchange of gifts, singing and dancing, and the ever present karaoke sing-out challenge. A dozen adults were competing for the pot of $100. My son Sean and nurse Joy were tied at a score of 96. Some suggested splitting the money while others wanted a tie-breaker. Joy opted to sing again and got a score of 85. Sean had to sing again and got the same score of 96, thus was declared ‘karaoke

king’. On several times he had won at ‘magic sing’ challenges, thus, he had proven to be adept at his singing skills – may dependable sideline na, with his favorite ‘Creep’. After the 2^nd round of eating, we went home by 3:00AM Christmas day – what a truly memorable and enjoyable celebration!

· On New Year’s Eve, we went to the 5:00pm Mass at the Basilica of our Blessed Sacrament. Then later, we went to Old SAC for some musical entertainment, displays and join the rest of families and children enjoy the fireworks at 9:00 pm; another fireworks was set at midnight for adults. By 9:30pm we were back at home to watch the NY Times square drop ball for 2011 and the rest of the US and the world, and make/ receive New Year’s greetings to families and friends. A MORE BLESSED AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!

Attached are 4 group photos of recent reunions with family and friends. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG

Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! We praise and thank God for all the blessings of the year as we start the season of Advent in preparation for the Christmas season. Our Thanksgiving holidays wer

e celebrated extra-special and very

memorable this year for various milestones in our family – new jobs for both my daughter Sarah and son Sean, new home for Sarah and Max, good health, peace, love in the family and many, many more. We do praise and thank GOD for His love, kindness and generosity!!!

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on Nov. 19 at the Radisson Hotel, the guest speaker was Mr. Dick Lyles – Host, EWTN’s Catholic Business Hour, CEO of Leadership Legacies and Origin Entertainment, and New York Times best-selling author of more than 18 books. He discussed the topic ‘Authentic Catholic Leadership in Today’s Culture’, and how it impacts our lives. As usual, I got a signed copy of his newest book, Pearls of Perspicacity. On our Bible Study class, we culminated the Adventures in Matthew weekly series on the third week of the month with lunch gathering at the home of our leader Claude, he enjoys hosting our group. Our 2^nd Saturday Opus Dei ladies group had more Recollection attendees than usual in preparation for the Advent season. Other highlights for the month are as follows:

· Sean and I opted to travel to the east coast for the 4-days Thanksgiving holiday week-end with Sarah. We took the Nov. 24, 10:40 evening flight out of SAC to Newark via Atlanta. Since we decided our trip only 3-days before, tickets were more expensive and we got the last back row seats, and were anxious about airport security checks by the TSA. To my surprise, SAC airport security check was very laid-back, it took only a few seconds – no pat downs. We arrived Newark, NJ airport at 9:30a, were met by Sarah and had our sumptuous Turkey lunch. Later in the evening, we joined friends and family for dinner at Francis / Tita Dompor’s residence for dinner;

· Started Black Friday shopping day to the Garden state Mall very early with parking almost full so it was smart of Sarah to decide for valet parking. Since NJ do not charge sales tax, shoppers from NY and other states flock the area, so imagine the crowd of shoppers. I sat in a sofa at the Nordstrom entrance while Sarah and Sean shopped till they dropped; then I helped carry the packages. Sean shopped for snowboarding gear at Sports Authority. What he expected to spend in CA, he got all the items for half the price or much lower. It was truly worth shopping in NJ.

· Saturday, Nov 27, we took the early morning train for NY Penn Station to meet up with his Ninong Francis Catayong, then to proceed to his Huntington Station, Long Island to visit with his family. They (3 kids: Kay, Rey and Len, and couple Francis and Mareng Nory) were home for the holidays, and it was our reunion after more than 5 years, so there was a lot of catching up stories to do, mostly how they grown so fast and how they were all doing in their lives! We had lunch at the Best Buffet – food was so great. By 2:00p, the 4 of us (Nory, Francis, Sean and I) were on our way to NY to meet up with my nephew Rothmer and his fiancée Lyn at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. With so heavy traffic and people all over the place, we alighted from our taxi at Rockefeller Plaza and had to inch our way with the large crowd ogling at the sights of ice skating, tall buildings with holiday displays/ decors. NY is surely the place to be – melting pot of various nationalities! Despite the sea of humanity, we were able to accomplish our objectives and Sean took beautiful pictures of all the sceneries. We took the 6:15p train back to NJ, where we joined Sarah and Max with their friends Dr. David and Donna for dinner. They also had drinks, coffee and pastries, with good conversation to cap the day;

· Our experience with TSA security at Newark airport on our way back to SAC via Salt Lake City was another interesting story. We started on the standing queue at 4:30am and finished with the check by 6:00a – a full 1.5 hours of standing. They made 2 columns of line, but there was only 1 scanner, After going through the scanner, you go through line of 3 steps and given a pat down (a black girl touched my bra and legs, a flash with a cloth on my middle finger was done and brought to a screen, then after being given an up sign, I was okayed to go. Looking back, I could see the long lines piling up. It was okay to be assured of safety and security, but I hope they improve on the system. It is understandable why they are so strict at Newark because critical incidents originated there!

· There was heavy snowstorm when our plane landed at Salt Lake City so the place was all white. As our plane for SAC was preparing to leave at 11:30a, we spent 30 minutes more for the de-icing process before we lifted on air. I learned that other later planes were unable to leave or postponed departure. We were so blessed to arrive at SAC airport by 1:30pm, able to attend our Sunday obligation Mass!

Attached are 4 group photos of recent reunions with family and friends. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG

Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! We are now in the cold spell of fall with rains and strong winds to contend with, change of wardrobe, and the layering of outfits.

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on Oct. 15 at the Radisson Hotel, the guest speake

r was Dr. Ross Porter – Psychologist, Educator, and Author – on the topic COURAGE: Warriors, Not Wimps. We live in challenging times that tempt us to fear, worry and doubt. However, this is a time for profound opportunity: for healing, growth, changing the world! This is a time for ordinary people to become extraordinary warriors, not wimps. A popular Catholic radio show host, his inspiring, practical talk focused on the virtue of Courage, especially for our present age – to develop it in our life, and how to transform the world around us – to be a hero in order to get to heaven, and help others get to heaven too! As usual, I got an autographed copy of his book “ .

Highlights for the month:

· Since October is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary: Feasts of Our Lady of Fatima, Lady of La Naval, re-committed to complete the four Mysteries sets of daily Rosary prayers for special intentions - Good Health, Peace, Love, Wisdom, Success in various endeavors, among others;

· Oct. 9 – Invited family / friends for Sean’s Thanksgiving Lunch held at our Clubhouse (with swimming – 11a to 3p). My neighbors Yolanda, Jonna, Joey, Flo helped us with the arrangements as 25 guests came to feast on Fil-Am foods while kids enjoyed swimming to beat the last summer heat as the chilly nights of fall creep in.

· Resumed attending our Tuesday Bible study group (Adventures in Matthew – The King and His

Kingdom, to last till November) since I missed some sessions. Camaraderie had developed as we take turns serving snacks for the group during the lively discussions; During my sharing on the parable of the Talents, my experience is that as early as 5 years old, I remember my father advised me to use God’s gifts so when people ask you to sing – you sing; when asked to recite – you recite; when asked to dance – you dance; I did follow his admonition which somehow developed my confidence. Since my parents were both teachers, I am so blessed to grow up in a very nurturing environment. Now with my a Ph.D., I am still learning – blessed to be using / sharing maybe 20% of God’s gifts, and still in the process continuously.

Fr. Mauricio Hurtado, a Latino who replaced Pinoy Fr. George, who attends our Bible study, shared of his nice experiences with Filipinos (nurses, doctors, professionals) who are sharing their talents and faith in the communities, while the rest of our group agreed, especially in the health care system in America;

· Since we are in the middle of the election campaign season, I did volunteer work for the party I am registered with as part of my immersion on social responsibility in the political system, - attending fund-raising gatherings, info dissemination, collation / distribution of stickers, yard signs and other campaign materials;

· We watched theater movies – a comedy ‘Life as We Know It’ and action/comedy ‘RED’;

· With Sean’s hectic office schedule coming home late midnight on weekdays, we make sure week-ends are quality time for rest/ relaxation, mostly outdoor activities;

Attached are 4 group photos of recent reunions with family and friends. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG

Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! Officially, fall has started but we are still experiencing the heat of summer, both in the east and west U.S.A. where I partly spent the month of September.

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on Sept. 17 at the Radisson Hotel, the guest speaker was Carol Younger, Ed. D. on the topic Jesus, the Saints . . . and God’s Salvation Story. Although I was not physically present, my friend shared the following notes: What are the critical elements of the Greatest Story ever told? Where do we find these elements in everyday life? How do we understand and communicate this great sweep of Jesus’ history with excitement and connection to life in the 21st century? Dr. Carol, an educator and expert in narrative and connections to the daily life of Catholics, presented a lively discussion with a captivating, exciting, and responded effectively to queries on the current topic issues.

As planned, I went to the east coast (Sep. 5 – 26) for my APOstolate, i.e., to big-boy sit my 8-year old MAX while his mother Sarah went on a Paris, France holiday. During that period, Sarah celebrated her birthday (Sep. 7) while I had mine on Sep. 20. Highlights of my sojourn are:
:

• Sep. 7 – After Mass at the church in Montclair, NJ, had lunch at the Greek Taverna with Sarah’s friends Tim Graham and Dr. David Anderson; followed with Cake and coffee at Sarah’s pad; then attended a meeting at Max’s school;

• Sep. 11 – Drove Sarah to Newark International Airport on her JEEP Commander for her flight. Using the GPS, I traversed successfully the Garden State Parkway and other routes, without a single ‘recalculation’; The driving boosted my confidence level throughout my stay as I brought Max to / from school the succeeding days;

• Sep. 17 – Joined relatives for the 97th birthday celebration of Mommy Charing Dompor I Clifton, with Mass and sumptuous Filipino food – lechon, pancit, lumpia, etc. She was still active and very pretty!

• Sep. 19 – The family of my Kumpareng Kiko (Engr. Francis Catayong of NPC days), his wife Nory and son Rey, who are based in Long Island, NY, fetched me to spend the week-end with them. First, we had lunch with Sarah and Max before we went off. After the long drive, we were joined by their daughter Len-len at their home; then went to have dinner at the fine-dining H2O resto. As Sean said later, ‘social, pang-movie sets, at reservations required daw’. The kids do have great tastes. Our families. bonds date back long years. We started visiting Mareng Nory who was a nurse in NY in 1988, and every time we are in the U.S., we would watch Broadway shows, after having lunch; Kiko is Sean’s baptismal Ninong, his three kids attended NPC Christmas parties, Sean’s 1st birthday at Jollibee’s, and other family events. Our 5 children combined (2 from us, 3 from them) are now: Sarah (36), Kay (30), Rey (28), Len (26), and Sean (23) grew up close together – see how time flies!

• Sep. 20 – My birthday turned out memorable as I had envisioned it to be! I intended it to be secret, but Sarah blurted out to them that it was my special day. Pareng Kiko had promised to have the day off from work that Monday, and I prevailed on Mareng Nory to do her normal working day; Kiko was enough to guide me in NY. After breakfast with Len, she drove us to Huntington station for the 10am train to NY. Upon arrival at Penn station, we took a leisurely walk from 34th St./7th Ave. to 49th St./5th Ave. St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was perfect timing as we entered the church; the priest was also entering the Altar for the 12:00 noon Mass. Then we spent hours at the Top of the Rock, Rockefeller plaza, posing like tourists, enjoying the full alert status with the opening of the UN General assembly in NY. We had so much fun before I took the 3:10p train back to Montclair, where Sarah and Max waited for me to have dinner and spend the rest of my birthday with them! I thank God for the opportunity to have a memorable day with my loved ones and friends! BTW, I had a long phone chat with Gerry and office staff in Pinas the night before, extending me their greetings and the great news of their major, major busy days as they were completing documentation of officers and crew joining the new Taiwanese vessel on Sept. 22. Thus, I announced a bonus for them as our anniversary and my birthday sharing and appreciation for their services and God’s Blessings!

• Sept. 26 – Thank God to be back in SAC, after the smooth flights from Newark, via Salt Lake City.

Attached are 5 group photos of recent reunions with family and friends. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! With the heat of summer came the various outings, reunions and trips clad in casual, colorful, comfortable get-ups.

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on August 13 at the Radisson Hotel, the guest speaker was Ms. Teresa Tomeo, Talk Show host, motivational speaker, and media Consultant, 0n the topic NOISE – the Media, The Culture, and the Catholic Family. She provided advice on How can we discern God’s will for our lives if we don’t make room for peace, quiet, and yes even total silence? Discussion included how our media saturated culture dominated our lives and dismantled our families. We were surprised to learn just how much noise we are exposed to and the impact it has on our lives and our relationship with God and our loved ones. She presented action plans to help silence the noise in our homes as well as the best way for Catholics to engage the culture and make a difference.

Sean and I got back from our exciting week-end in Las Vegas by Southwest airline Aug. 29 evening flight to Sacramento. We went there on early morning flight to LV Aug. 28 to join the Panglao, Bohol Group celebration of the feast of St. Augustine, our hometown patron saint, at lunch with about 60 attendees at Cocinille restaurant. We had great time reuniting with families and friends, some I had last seen 45 years ago since finishing high school. Represented were clans: Arbilo, Arcay, Arcamo, Arrieta, Bon, Bongoyan, Bonje, Cloma, Estoque, Fucanan, Hora, Mijares, among others. Close circle included Virgie Arcay (SFO,CA), Margie Arrieta (Indiana), Luz Bonje (LA,CA), Fe Hora (LV,NV) Nevada)and myself (Sac, CA). Some came from Canada, Chicago (Eugene Mijares), Texas, NY, Arizona, etc. for the event. We spent the entire afternoon reminiscing beautiful hometown memories, re-introducing ourselves and family members, and many more. My son Sean was amazed to discover relatives and friends located all around America and listening to wonderful childhood achievements, milestones, and success stories. Highlights were captured in photos and videos – fun with the 45 years later images!

My nephew Rigel and family also came for the occasion by car from Phoenix, who provided us the city transport service and treated us to the evening show at the MGM Grand of Cirque Du Soliel – KA (Chinese- inspired musical action adventure) – so technically fascinating! Then Sean and I spent the night walking by the Strip until 1:00 AM, taking photos of the LV lights/sights: Paris, New York, Flamingo, ARIA, Bellagio, Mandarin, among others. Wherever I am, I make sure to attend Sunday Mass and was so glad to go to the Guardian Angel Cathedral for the 11AM service, which featured very inspiring musical band instruments – amazing Las Vegas talents! Attendees were 60% Filipinos, 30% Latinos, 10% Whites – thus we felt so at home! Later, our close circle, together with our children had lunch at the home of Fe Hora, had more reminiscing and updates, before John Arcay drove us to the airport for our 7:00PM flight back to SAC. It was truly a beautiful week-end swirl of activities – smooth plane rides, reuniting with clan and friends, recollecting childhood memories, sharing photos, planning future events, taking some 45-years later photos to share in Facebook accounts, with promises for future re-connections in 2010 Panglao, GOD Willing!!! Much thanks to Kuya Rudy who encouraged the bonding and gave my contact to Luz who initiated the connection to the group culminating with the memorable reunion!

Other milestones for the month included:

· Hosted our OD Circle with swimming for the kids at our clubhouse under the sweltering heat of summer with 15 kids and 4 moms in attendance on Aug 24;

· Updated health care program for Sean and myself – registered with our new physician Dr. David Yang at the Rancho Cordova Kaiser facility, upon recommendation of Dr. Edna Tanegra. On my 1^st visit on Aug. 26, Dr. Yang instructed me to take blood tests, Mammography, BP screening the following day; results were posted immediately on-line Aug. 28 –so fast and efficient, seems okay, but I have to exercise more control on my diet;

· I look forward to my East coast (NJ) sojourn (Sept 5 – 25) to big-boy seat my grandson MAX while his MOM Sarah will be on her European tour;

Attached are 4 group photos of recent reunions with family and friends. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG

Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! Like our Pinas, with its new political climate of hopes and dreams, our personal lives experienced God’s beneficial shower of blessings and fulfillment of dreams – towards our destiny! I am excited to share that on the 1^st week of July, Sean started his American career as Tax Auditor in one of the top three State Accounting/Auditing function firms.

Jason, Sean and Tom (JST): The amazing journey of three close friends who graduated with BS in Business Administration major in Accountancy from CSUS; The top 3 state firms are: Board of Equalization (BOE - for Sales taxes), Employment Development Department (EDD – for Un/Employment benefits/insurances), and Franchise Tax Board (FTB – for corporate and business taxes). Friends JST are each employed in 1 of these 3 firms. These firms share info/databases relevant to incomes/taxes; thus, each firm is highly sensitive and income-generating for the state. In the recent announcement of furlough days for state employees, the three firms along with 3 others are exempted since they are performing functions critical to the state’s continuous operation.

The Recruitment Process: Most state job applications are done thru the net in State Personnel Board (SPB.gov). Sean started with an entry level job as an Accounting trainee, then later upgraded to higher levels, until he was accepted to range A Tax Auditor position. You go thru a series of tests, submission of documents and interviews. With the current joblessness and economic crisis in America, there are thousands of applicants for very few vacant positions.

During the 3^rd/final interview, you are to submit 3 references which the prospective employer actually checks so you have to ask prior permission to list them. Sean is so blessed that he listed Dr. Connie, Deacon Henning and Fr. George, who all gave him very positive feedback as to integrity, diligence, intelligence, competence, etc. They called me to inform about the reference verification; Fr George, who was leaving for his new assignment in Redding the next week, was very confident that Sean was getting the job – his prayers were indeed very powerful! We are so blessed that we are surrounded by very great and supportive people here and thank God for continuously blessing our journey! My prayer is to bless us and allow Sean to fulfill His Will and destiny – but God gives us so much more – we are always grateful and faithful!!!

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on July 16 at the Radisson Hotel, the guest speaker was Mr. Eric Szatkowski, head of Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, who spoke on the topic The Dark Side of Digital Technology. Discussion highlights: The Internet and cell phones open broad education and entertainment horizons for young people. But they can also have a dark and dangerous side ranging from cyber bullying to exploitation. He presented real life examples and practical advice about safety and well-being of children. Parents should supervise closely all activities of their children; it is very critical to monitor your child’s internet access. More tips: Teach you values, develop their self-esteem; know your kids’ friends, families, and values; Use common sense; good parenting/ communications skills; do you want to be best friend or parent? Say ‘NO’ some of the times; Use Filters, monitor software (computers/cellphones) ; Love your child / Educate!

Exciting activities for the month included, among many others:

· Went to the annual California State Fair (running July 14 to Aug. 1) last Saturday – visited the entire county exhibits (winner - Placer county), new products, animals, rides, concert, Hypnosis show, ate Funnel cakes, etc.;

· With Sean’s professional career, went shopping for new wardrobe – shirts, pants, ties, shoes, etc;

· Watched movies – SALT (starring action favorite Angelina Jolie) and Inception (Di Caprio);

· Attended the Retirement program of Col. Thomas Chapman and Change of Command of the U.S. Army Engineer District, Sacramento, in ceremonies held at the Memorial Auditorium, as part of my civic immersion. Thom (M.S. in Civil Engineering) is the husband of my O.D. supernumerary Deidre.

Attached are 4 recent photos from the state fair. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!