Other highlights of the year: *Our picture was featured in the September 1 edition of "Family Circle" in a story about cooking for large families on a budget. *The story of how we kept in touch with our children back home via internet while we were in Vietnam was included in a piece in the June edition of "American Way," the in-flight magazine of American Airlines. *We got to drive a Ford Expedition for a week while our van was being repaired after we were hit by another car (at low speed, so no one was injured). *A photo of Lap and Lanh was selected for the 2001 Holt Calendar. *We met Gov. Gary Locke at a Memorial Day event; as the country's only Asian-American governor, he's a great role model for our new children. We wish you blessings this Christmas season, and a wonderful new year. Please drop us a line - electronically or via snail mail - from time-to-time. |
Ian is in 9th grade at Cedar Heights Junior High. He's starting his freshman year of high school with a lot of focus: his goal is admission to the Air Force Academy. Like I did with Nathan when he was in 9th grade, I took Ian with me on a business trip to Washington, D.C. In addition to the White House and other sights in D.C., we spent a weekend in Annapolis, Maryland, visiting the Naval Academy. We joined in prayers for the Kursk submariners at Sunday morning church services. On the way home, we stopped in Denver and drove to Colorado Springs. Ian checked out the Air Force Acadmy while I had an appointment at Focus on the Family. Despite a naval tradition on both sides of the family, we both preferred the Air Force Academy. Ian also played junior varsity tennis at Kentlake, sings in CHJH choir, is active at church and is now taller than his mom. Caroline is a seventh grader at Cedar Heights. She's in choir as well, but was able to play flute with the band during the Christmas concert thanks to her work with her flute teacher. She also had fun being an understudy in the fall drama production. She and Ian have the same algebra class and teacher - though at different times. Caroline is enjoying her first year in Youth Group at Faith Baptist, as well as volunteering Sunday mornings in the nursery. Despite her entry into adolescence, she remains (mostly) a very sweet daughter and sister. Lap is making great progress in school, where he made honor roll last quarter. His reading skills are picking up, though he'd still rather play computer or watch a video than pick up a book (like any 5th grade boy). When we talk to him on the phone, it's hard to believe he spoke so very little English just one year ago. We learned this summer that he's actually a year older than we thought; his uncle had "adjusted" the year of his birth to get him into school. From September to February each year, Lap and Caroline are the same age. I love telling people the ages of my children, and having them ask if Caroline and Lap are twins! Lap is taking clarinet like his mom and Ian, played soccer in the spring and is in Awana. Our "baby" Lanh also is making tremendous progress in school. It's been easier for her because she started Jenkins Creek so young. She's taken to English so well she's on the verge of being kicked out of ESL (English as a Second Language) classes because she's bored. Unlike the other 2nd graders in the program, she speaks English at home. The down side is that she is losing her Vietnamese language. We hope to enroll her and Lap in a weekly Vietnamese language course in the spring. Dance lessons also are in Lanh's future, as she is extremely graceful. At Vacation Bible School this summer, Lanh invited Jesus into her heart. Randolph has had a good year with the Carpenters Union. Most of his work has been finish, including a new custom bath and windows at a millionaire's home on Elliot Bay, looking out at Puget Sound (he misses the view from the deck where he ate his lunch). At Faith Baptist, he's enjoyed the music and drama programs; he co-directed our Christmas drama-musical. He also is on the property committee. He had a good time hunting this fall. His name appeared on our November 7 ballot as he serves as a Precint Committee Officer (no recount needed). He's enjoying being Dad to elementary-age children still. This has been a hard but productive year at work for me at World Vision, as the Media Relations department has been short staffed - severely so for several months. In a way, it was good for me. When I returned from adoption leave in January, I wondered if I could still have the same commitment to my work as before. While I don't work 60-hour weeks anymore, I definitely am not on the "mommy track." In fact, my consumate family-man boss has given me more responsibility. There's been less time for writing, but I was able to work with other staff and World Vision officials on pieces that appeared in the International Herald Tribune, Christianity Today, Christian Science Monitor and the Los Angeles Times. This year also brought the challenge of giving a speech at the annual awards chapel (where I also received a watch marking my 20 years at World Vision). In November, I took an 11-day, around-the-world trip to India (Bombay and Delhi) and Thailand (Bangkok and Cha Am) for World Vision, returning home the day before Thanksgiving. Between work and family, I've found time for only one hobby, scrapbooking. I'm taking a break as an Awana leader this year, but I look forward to the monthly scrapbook nights with the ladies at church - the modern-day equivalent of the quilting bee. Our big trip as a family was a weekend in Los Angeles to celebrate Don and Shirley Johansens' 50th anniversary just before Valentine's Day. Nathan sang "Blue Moon," which was his grandparents' song, and I made a scrapbook commemorating my parents' lives and 50-year marriage. Caroline returned to L.A. for spring break, and Nathan, Ian and Caroline attended various camps and retreats with the church youth group. Randolph, Sheryl, Lap and Lanh took a road trip to Oregon to attend the annual picnic of Holt International, our adoption agency. |
Nathan is a senior at Kentlake High School, but taking many of his classes at Green River Community College. He's been accepted at Kent State University in Ohio, but also is applying to colleges a little closer to home (for the sake of his mother, who becomes weepy trying to figure out where the little boy in overalls with strawberry blonde curls went). This summer he participated in his second missions trip to Mt. Vernon, Washington, where youth from Faith Baptist ministered to children of migrant farm workers. The work at Mt. Vernon, as well as his 1999 missions trip to Argentina, have kindled an interest in working in a Latin American country someday. Nathan also visited Cleveland, Ohio, where his lovely girlfriend Amanda moved after her graduation from Kentlake in June. Amanda now is working at a missions house at Kent State; hence Nathan's interest in the school is not solely rooted in '70s history. Nathan remains active in choir, is a leader in his church youth group and Christians in Action at Kentlake. He's starting a new job at Dairy Queen. We are very proud of the young man he has become. |
Merry Christmas from the Watkins Family! |
Trip to Vietnam |
Dear friends and family, Christmas 2000 Merry Christmas from the Watkins Family - all seven of us. The most photogenic of them are shown below. If there was a Y2K bug, for us it was in the form of a schedule - two careers, five children, church and other activities - that ate all our free time. This was our first year with Lap and Lanh, who we adopted on November 15, 1999. (To view photos of our trip to Vietnam, click on icon at left.) Our lives now are incredibly full - and rich. There have been times this year where it seemed we needed to be four places at once, and as we adjusted to our new household we have, at times, been exhausted, frustrated and perplexed. But there's never been a moment that we've regretted the decision. God has given us the family we've always dreamed of! If we do have any regrets, it's that our schedule has left us less time for friends. A close friend had a serious illness this year, and I thought how much poorer my life would be without her. Yet daily, I know we miss some of God's greatest blessings because we don't make room in our lives for those we love who are outside of our immediate household.. |
Nathan is a senior at Kentlake High School, but taking many of his classes at Green River Community College. He's been accepted at Kent State University in Ohio, but also is applying to colleges a little closer to home (for the sake of his mother, who becomes weepy trying to figure out where the little boy in overalls with strawberry blonde curls went). This summer he participated in his second missions trip to Mt. Vernon, Washington, where youth from Faith Baptist ministered to children of migrant farm workers. The work at Mt. Vernon, as well as his 1999 missions trip to Argentina, have kindled an interest in working in a Latin American country someday. Nathan also visited Cleveland, Ohio, where his lovely girlfriend Amanda moved after her graduation from Kentlake in June. Amanda now is working at a missions house at Kent State; hence Nathan's interest in the school is not solely rooted in '70s history. Nathan remains active in choir, is a leader in his church youth group and Christians in Action at Kentlake. He's starting a new job at Dairy Queen. We are very proud of the young man he has become. |
Ian is in 9th grade at Cedar Heights Junior High. He's starting his freshman year of high school with a lot of focus: his goal is admission to the Air Force Academy. Like I did with Nathan when he was in 9th grade, I took Ian with me on a business trip to Washington, D.C. In addition to the White House and other sights in D.C., we spent a weekend in Annapolis, Maryland, visiting the Naval Academy. We joined in prayers for the Kursk submariners at Sunday morning church services. On the way home, we stopped in Denver and drove to Colorado Springs. Ian checked out the Air Force Acadmy while I had an appointment at Focus on the Family. Despite a naval tradition on both sides of the family, we both preferred the Air Force Academy. Ian also played junior varsity tennis at Kentlake, sings in CHJH choir, is active at church and is now taller than his mom. Caroline is a seventh grader at Cedar Heights. She's in choir as well, but was able to play flute with the band during the Christmas concert thanks to her work with her flute teacher. She also had fun being an understudy in the fall drama production. She and Ian have the same algebra class and teacher - though at different times. Caroline is enjoying her first year in Youth Group at Faith Baptist, as well as volunteering Sunday mornings in the nursery. Despite her entry into adolescence, she remains (mostly) a very sweet daughter and sister. Lap is making great progress in school, where he made honor roll last quarter. His reading skills are picking up, though he'd still rather play computer or watch a video than pick up a book (like any 5th grade boy). When we talk to him on the phone, it's hard to believe he spoke so very little English just one year ago. We learned this summer that he's actually a year older than we thought; his uncle had "adjusted" the year of his birth to get him into school. From September to February each year, Lap and Caroline are the same age. I love telling people the ages of my children, and having them ask if Caroline and Lap are twins! Lap is taking clarinet like his mom and Ian, played soccer in the spring and is in Awana. Our "baby" Lanh also is making tremendous progress in school. It's been easier for her because she started Jenkins Creek so young. She's taken to English so well she's on the verge of being kicked out of ESL (English as a Second Language) classes because she's bored. Unlike the other 2nd graders in the program, she speaks English at home. The down side is that she is losing her Vietnamese language. We hope to enroll her and Lap in a weekly Vietnamese language course in the spring. Dance lessons also are in Lanh's future, as she is extremely graceful. At Vacation Bible School this summer, Lanh invited Jesus into her heart. Randolph has had a good year with the Carpenters Union. Most of his work has been finish, including a new custom bath and windows at a millionaire's home on Elliot Bay, looking out at Puget Sound (he misses the view from the deck where he ate his lunch). At Faith Baptist, he's enjoyed the music and drama programs; he co-directed our Christmas drama-musical. He also is on the property committee. He had a good time hunting this fall. His name appeared on our November 7 ballot as he serves as a Precint Committee Officer (no recount needed). He's enjoying being Dad to elementary-age children still. This has been a hard but productive year at work for me at World Vision, as the Media Relations department has been short staffed - severely so for several months. In a way, it was good for me. When I returned from adoption leave in January, I wondered if I could still have the same commitment to my work as before. While I don't work 60-hour weeks anymore, I definitely am not on the "mommy track." In fact, my consumate family-man boss has given me more responsibility. There's been less time for writing, but I was able to work with other staff and World Vision officials on pieces that appeared in the International Herald Tribune, Christianity Today, Christian Science Monitor and the Los Angeles Times. This year also brought the challenge of giving a speech at the annual awards chapel (where I also received a watch marking my 20 years at World Vision). In November, I took an 11-day, around-the-world trip to India (Bombay and Delhi) and Thailand (Bangkok and Cha Am) for World Vision, returning home the day before Thanksgiving. Between work and family, I've found time for only one hobby, scrapbooking. I'm taking a break as an Awana leader this year, but I look forward to the monthly scrapbook nights with the ladies at church - the modern-day equivalent of the quilting bee. Our big trip as a family was a weekend in Los Angeles to celebrate Don and Shirley Johansens' 50th anniversary just before Valentine's Day. Nathan sang "Blue Moon," which was his grandparents' song, and I made a scrapbook commemorating my parents' lives and 50-year marriage. Caroline returned to L.A. for spring break, and Nathan, Ian and Caroline attended various camps and retreats with the church youth group. Randolph, Sheryl, Lap and Lanh took a road trip to Oregon to attend the annual picnic of Holt International, our adoption agency. |
Other highlights of the year: *Our picture was featured in the September 1 edition of "Family Circle" in a story about cooking for large families on a budget. *The story of how we kept in touch with our children back home via internet while we were in Vietnam was included in a piece in the June edition of "American Way," the in-flight magazine of American Airlines. *We got to drive a Ford Expedition for a week while our van was being repaired after we were hit by another car (at low speed, so no one was injured). *A photo of Lap and Lanh was selected for the 2001 Holt Calendar. *We met Gov. Gary Locke at a Memorial Day event; as the country's only Asian-American governor, he's a great role model for our new children. We wish you blessings this Christmas season, and a wonderful new year. Please drop us a line - electronically or via snail mail - from time-to-time. |
Love, Randolph, Sheryl, Nathan, Ian, Caroline, Lap and Lanh |
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