Happy Holidays 2011

December 15, 2011

Ni hao friends and family,

As always, Travis and I hope this letter finds you and your family happy and healthy this holiday season…

Here are some of the highlights of our year:

Isabelle Mae Tebo is born! On Friday, January 21st at 6:00pm, my second baby girl was born to the sounds of the “Modern Family” television show in the background… Love that show! Weighing 7 pounds and 6 ounces and 21 inches long, she was almost two weeks late. Travis was an excellent labor coach and did an amazing job helping me to relax. I’m grateful for an easy pregnancy and delivery. As I write this, Isabelle will be 11 months on December 21st. We’re planning a one-year-old party for her over the winter break. She went from being a newborn blob at the beginning of 2011 into a walking, babbling, laughing, happy little baby/toddler. She is very cuddly and sweet and she’s the first baby that I’ve ever heard of that gives hugs. Seriously. She’ll put her arms around your neck and squeeze it. It feels like heaven! I was able to take a trip back to Washington in March with Isabelle, as part of my maternity leave, so that I could show her off to everyone. Travis took his five days paternity leave and Spring Break (so two weeks) to come back (along with Gabby) to Washington and we all flew home together. It was a nice treat to be in the States during spring, but it made me realize how much it rains in Washington…

Summer: Travis and I both love Washington State in the summer time… It was a bit of an uneventful summer but we did purchase a house in Bremerton, WA. Before you get excited, this isn’t really a dream house and we’re not moving back any time soon. We’re renting the top and bottom and are hoping that we’ll be able to sub divide and build a house next door. It has a nice view of the mountains and water. Plus, it’s close to friends, family, and shopping. I imagine this will be a long process but we’re optimistic that it will pay off. The Tebo family also took a couple of road trips, including one to Bend, OR, to visit our friends (the Lence family). Not to mention, fun nights at the Zarling’s cabin in Tahuya. Like I said, pretty uneventful but I’m not complaining.

Travis: He’s doing great and is still teaching grade seven math/science but may be moving to another grade next year (not sure yet). He’s still playing in his band. They’re called Zuo Gao Su which means “Take the Highway” and play at local pubs once or twice a month. They have a great time and play some good music, like Fleetwood Mac (personal favorite), Steve Miller, and the Rolling Stones.

Cara: I’m still a grade 9/10 school counselor, but things will be changing for me professionally in the next year as our department moves into a grade 9-12 alphabet split. This probably means nothing to most people, but to me, this will be great. It basically means that we’ll be taking care of the same kids for all four years, which includes helping them through the university application process. This has been a professional goal of mine for seven years so I’m extremely excited about this opportunity. This will allow me to diversify my skill set and will make me much more employable to other international schools. ISB is sending me to Washington D.C. this summer for a college counseling training workshop and to Miami the summer 2013. Can you say a trip to Disney World? Yippee! Being a mommy keeps me busy and I really just enjoy spending my time doing things with my family... It sounds cheesy, but that’s when I’m the happiest.

Gabriella: Where to start? The changes are so fast and furious that it’s hard to keep up with it all… Gabby will be four and a half on December 28th. She’s attending PreK-4 at ISB and it’s so nice to work in the same building… Travis and I pop-in to the classroom or say hello to her at lunch, which is a really nice benefit. Since my schedule can be somewhat flexible, I’ve been able to attend parent workshops during the day or volunteer in the classroom. Gabby loves to dance and attends ballet and swim lessons once a week. She also played soccer this fall but she isn’t a huge fan (yet) so we’re going to try this again with a better organization this spring. She is also writing up a storm. If there’s a pen or paper, she’ll just write down letters, and do this for ages. She’s been taking an interest in reading and knows some sight words. She seems to really enjoy arts and crafts right now. I can rarely get her to wear pants nowadays, as she’s still into dresses. Gabby is also very sweet and tells us how much she loves us all the time. Her new thing to say, “I will never stop loving you.” Or “I don’t love you this much (puts two fingers together), I love you THIS much (puts arms wide open)!” She said she made that up? Not sure. I’m just glad that she is healthy and happy… I love this age and I wish I could just bottle it up. I don’t want her to grow up anymore!
Next Up: We signed-on for another school year in China, so the clan will be here at least until June 2013… not sure of our plans after that… we just go year-by-year… At this point, we have no desire to return to the United States but we also know that things could change. We have a trip planned in March to Thailand (our third visit) and we’ll be back to Washington for summer time. As I mentioned previously, I’ll be attending a conference in Washington D.C., so we are tentatively planning a trip to visit friends and family on the east coast in June. For this winter break, we’re off again to Washington State to spend it with family and friends.

We wish everyone a safe and FUN holiday season! Happy New Year of the Dragon!