Dear Family and Friends,
It's that time of the year when we get the chance to be in touch with all of our dear friends and family.
The year has been a busy one and full of blessings. Our blessings started at New Year when we celebrated the beginning of the New Year with our parents, brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces. What a celebration it was; New Years Eve at midnight in Nazareth. Fire works lit from every house. It was an amazing show to see the whole city lit up, and to know that everyone, from their own homes and with their own families, were all celebrating together! We could not begin to describe to you the emotions that overwhelmed us to sense that everyone was celebrating together.
Christopher
this year completed second grade with an average of 98%. We were so happy and
proud of him. He had worked so hard to learn the Arabic language and be able
to master all the subjects. In September he started third grade, and this year
in addition to the Arabic and English language, he is also learning Hebrew and
he thinks it's easy. His favorite subjects are English and Math.
In August, Christopher celebrated his eighth year with a big party inviting
many of his friends and cousins. It was an "American" party with
lots of games and good food. Everyone had a great time.
In the summer, Christopher and Matthew went to two camps. The first was an Art
Camp where they experienced food, music and activities from Lebanon, Greece
and China; of course, they worked with many different materials, making art
representing those countries. The second camp was swimming. At the beginning,
Christopher was nervous, but by the end, he was swimming under water!
In October, Christopher started a Mask acting class, where he learns how to
make masks, and using the masks, they learn to act. He likes it so far. He has
also started learning Piano with the help of his auntie.
Matthew
graduated to Kindergarten, so now he gets to go upstairs to his class and he
feels all grown up. In February, Matthew made a friend. Although it took him
many months, but now that he has befriended "Wael Karram", they are
the best of buddies. They have made plans to be in Elementary school together,
high school together, University together, get married together and even grow
old together! They are so cute and would do anything for each other.
Matthew celebrated his 5th birthday in June. He had two parties, one at school
and one at home. Matthew still favors speaking English over Arabic although he
speaks only Arabic at school. He is enjoying kindergarten because sometimes
they get homework and he feels like a grown up.
When Matthew attended the swimming camp, he was also nervous at first but
later on, I could not believe my eyes when I would see him swimming in the
deep end!
As a result of the art camp that he attended, the art teachers recommended
that Matthew should take art lessons because he seems to have a gift in that
area. Therefore, in September, Matthew started taking art classes, one day a
week for one hour and he really enjoys it.
In October, Matthew got dressed up and was the ring bearer at my cousins
wedding. He was nervous about the experience, but during the ceremony, he did
well!
Matthew still loves his sushi and exotic foods. He does not care much for junk
food and treats. He is happier with fruits and vegetables.
Serene,
where do I begin???!!! Serene started pre-school in March. The first
pre-school she attended, she was miserable and cried the whole time she was
there. We tried this for a month, when I decided to change preschools. There
she was happier, and what helped was having her cousin with her. It was
difficult for her to separate from mum!
Now, she gives me a good bye kiss, wishes me a good day, and off she goes.
Serene turned 3 years old in November. She is still a petite but she feels
like a teenager at times. The things that come out of her mouth, constantly
blow our mind and make us feel like we've never raised kids before. She is
full of energy, she takes it out on her brothers, by jumping on them, bossing
them, dictating to them, and it goes on. She is a laugh!
Recently, Serene made a good friend and both of them get along soooo well. I
have never seen 3 year olds, get along so well and have so much fun together.
Serene's friend happens to be Wael Karram's sister! They will be going to the
same school next year and will be in the same class.
Serene also takes art classes with Matthew. She enjoys it and loves to paint
most of all.
Habib is doing well. He is still working for
the same company but doing much more now including traveling to Europe 
to
visit customers.
He is still enjoying and treasures being so close to family. He is Mr.
socialable and everyone in Nazareth knows Habib! Habib has joined the "Sabeel"
organization. He works and meets with Christian couples to discuss different
social and religious issues. He also helps plan the Sabeel activities and
events for the community in Nazareth and surrounding cities. If you would like
to know more about Sabeel, please visit their website (www.sabeel.org).
Sabeel is an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among
Palestinian Christians. Habib and I are also volunteering our time working
with the Holy Family Hospital in Nazareth. We research foundations, write
letters and proposals for grants to improve the hospital conditions, and
therefore better patient care.
I'm doing well. In March, I was presented with a very good offer to work with a non-profit organization called "Al-Tufula", meaning childhood. This organization works in two areas, Early Childhood Development and Women's empowerment. I do the international fundraising for the organization. A new experience, but I like the people I work with and the position is relaxed. I start at 8 am, after I drop off the kids, and leave at 12:30 pm to pick them up from school. I have the freedom to work from home and the freedom to attend all my kids' field trips. In the beginning, I was very torn about going back to work, but this offer was too good to refuse.
Other
excitements for the year include a family trip to the Cypress Island for one
week. We all had a great time.
We have been touring Israel. We spent a weekend in Jerusalem and really
enjoyed ourselves. We've had picnics near the border of Lebanon, where it
really hit us how difficult it was to see the people on the other side of the
fence, but you couldn't cross over. The same was true for another weekend,
where we were on the border of Syria, it was amazing to see the houses on the
other side, and you were separated by a barbwire fence. How we hope and pray
for peace!
Our house plans were completed this year, but unfortunately, there has been a
delay with the government over signing off some papers and so we are still
waiting to get the signature to start building. The house turned out to be
bigger than what we thought, and the highlight of the house is the wine cellar
that will be built into the hill, because of the slop of the lot. So, we've
started our wine collection! There will be a lot of room in the house, so you
are all invited to come and visit us once our house is built!
Being home, we are a part of much larger community. As a result, we attended nine weddings and lost the count on the funerals. We celebrated with friends and relatives during the happy times and comforted others during the difficult times. We also had many family visitors, and it was wonderful seeing them all.
To our Muslim friends, we hope you had a
great and a happy Ramadan.
To our Jewish friends, we hope you had a great and a happy Hanukah.
To our Christian friends and family, we wish you a Very Merry Christmas.
And to ALL, a Happy New Year filled with blessings and peace!
With all our love
Habib, Gosayna, Christopher, Matthew, Serene and our angle Akram.
P.S. if all goes well, we will be visiting California, July-August of next year and we look forward to seeing you!
Our mailing address is:
P.O. Box 6789
Nazareth, 16483
Israel
Our home phone number is: 972-4-646-1275
Our email addresses:
Habib - habibkaram@yahoo.com
Gosayna - gosayna@yahoo.com
The Karams - the_karams@yahoo.com
