These shots are: Sutherland and Potter family party; Moonrise over the Wasatch; Temple Square nativity; Potters at Cathedral of the Madeleine choir concert; Sara's aerobic exercise shoveling the latest snowfall! We had 4 in a few days. Beautiful!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The photos are: The Potters with Nathan and Chasta at Gardner Village in SLC; Norm and Sara with Ann and Bud Gammon at the Davis Master Chorale concert; Dan and Angie Miller with Norm and Sara; Norm's sibs Myrna and LaMar, with our family, Van, and Katie; Karen Greenwell and Sara at Joseph Smith Memorial Building in SLC. Just a few of the many activities I was able to squeeze into my December visit in Utah!
December Pix
The photos in the previous post are (top to bottom): Sara and Norm at San Antonio Temple; Emily, Norm, Sara, Rebecca at Conference Center in SLC; Norm, Sara, Vicki & Joe Southerland at Phoenix Park Ski Resort in Korea at Thanksgiving time; Norm and Sara with Israeli students selling Dead Sea beauty products at mall in San Antonio; The handbell concert in SLC.
Here are the kids' "assignments" written in their own words (although they all chose to write in 3rd person). I am still waiting to hear from Norm with his entry.
EMILY was extremely excited to turn 30 years old this year. She graduated with a master's degree from the University of Montana, studying Intercultural Youth and Family Development. She completed a six month internship in India. She worked as a commissioned acrylic-on-canvas artist for the summer. (to see samples of her art, go to: www.passionforartexperiment.blogspot.com) In Montana, she started a small band just long enough to produce and sell a cd of 10 original songs. Her biggest musical thrill was to hear one of her songs selected on a local radio station in Missoula. She is currently rehearsing with her new Peruvian dancing partner for a local salsa dancing competition in the following year. After her adventures in India, Emily moved back to Kaysville and feels most blessed to have Rebecca and Daniel as her roommates. She is using her undergraduate degree, working as a full time Recreation Therapist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City. She delights in her job in every way, although she still can't believe the federal government would hire someone with dreadlocks.
In a few months, REBECCA will celebrate 10 adventurous years with Delta Airlines by going on a family trip to Japan, her favorite country. This past July, she joined half the family in experiencing the wonders of Mongolia, a true highlight for her. In our church, she is currently serving as an Achievement Day leader for the 10 and 11 year old girls, and she is working on the Enrichment committee. Rebecca found a green thumb in gardening tomato plants again this summer, which she calls her babies. She and Emily also learned to be more confident in the kitchen by taking private cooking lessons from Daniel. She is stunning family and friends with her talent of editing of home videos. She has also found a talent in hosting a myriad of social events from time travel parties to picnics to planning a whole month of Christmas festivities. Rebecca has found a special interest in learning about nutrition and homeopathy, and hopes to continue her independent education in this field. She could not have been more excited to welcome Eleanor, who she loves dearly, to the family in May and always looks forward to any time she gets to spend with the newlywed couple.
MICHAEL AND ELEANOR couldn't be happier after 7 months of marriage. They're enjoying naivete in all of its forms, especially being dirt poor. Eleanor finished school, and Michael is ecstatic to have only one more semester before he finishes his degree (film major and Japanese major). He quit his job making videos for BYU and started working for BYU's International Cinema, where he directs shoots of commentators for each film screening. Next year he plans to start a freelance video production business (so if you have any video needs of any kind, be in touch), and make a few short films to submit to festivals. He is developing a feature film script this next year, which he plans to shoot in 2009. It will be a independent production, so, seriously, if you know anyone who is looking for an investment opportunity that they can brag to their friends about, let him know. Eleanor has made a beautiful newlywed home down in Utah County, and will be working on her handmade boutique items, including baby clothes, aprons. The young couple is still pretty enamored-- sometimes obnoxiously so.
DANIEL had a banner year, first due to finally keeping a New Year's resolution to get off the couch and enter his first-ever running races. He and Emily trained during the spring and early summer for the Kaysville July 4th 5K, crossing the finish line together and loving it so much that they began to train for a 5-mile Thanksgiving run where they again triumphantly crossed the finish line together. Meanwhile, unbeknown to Daniel, the pounds began to slip away and he was surprised to discover by just running a few times a week, 15 pounds can just magically disappear. Ah, youth.
He also is racing ever closer to finishing his teaching degree with a minor in ESL. When he's not up on campus, Daniel works in the headquarter branch of the Davis County Library in Farmington, a dream job of sorts to be surrounded by books and quirky librarians and a prime. Thankfully he lead his sisters in a cooking course, so we can always come home to a wonderful meal. He's excited to travel again in coming months, after whetting his appetite with the Mongolian and Korean expedition in July and August this year.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas Greetings 2007
This photo is the embroidery I finished months ago, and finally made into a pillow cover, just before I flew from Korea to San Antonio. It summarizes nicely how I feel about the Christmas season, after all these years. It is a joy to re-connect with our family and friends from past years and current times. Just knowing you are there is comforting. We cherish any opportunities we get to spend time with you, and we enjoy some great memories of terrific people in our lives, scattered among many nations and cultures around the planet. This Christmas season, we feel especially blessed to have time at home in Kaysville, Utah with all four of our own children, and our new daughter -in-law Eleanor. I am giving each of the family an "assignment" to summarize their 2007 lives, thoughts, or feelings here to share with you. I will lead the way!
For me, 2007 was a year filled with a variety of emotions and activities. There were some highs and a few lows, but by the time the year ends next week, I do believe the highs will win. I spent the first half of the year in a major weight-loss and fitness effort, which paid off in many ways. I treadmill most days of the week at the apartment building's fitness center, while watching TV on Korean or English language stations, and have learned a lot of things on Discovery, CNN, Arirang, AFN, and a movie channel. Norm joins me sometimes, and I also walk around the Yongsan post as needed, since we only are allowed to have one car.
Living in Korea has been good for my nutritional health, too. We have more healthy choices in foods available in the Korean culture, and we also have access to the best commissary in the overseas military communities. I have learned more about all kinds of good things to eat for middle age thriving, so combining the food and exercise into a daily lifestyle has been paying off in a rewarding way for me!
My work has evolved into a self-directed teaching career where I pick and choose my commitments to students, and have preserved a reasonable daytime schedule of early morning phone English students, some days of subbing at Seoul Foreign School (including the British School, and the elementary, middle, and high schools there), as well as the Seoul American Middle School on Yongsan Army Garrison. In addition, I have a steady group of wonderful Korean students of various ages who come to our apartment for English tutoring. I could be a lot busier with them if I was willing to work into the night time, as all of them do, but I cut it off by dinner time, so I can have a life.
In our branch at church, I continue teaching the Gospel Doctrine Sunday School class to adults, in which we get to delve into and discuss the scriptures each week. I am also teaching the Relief Society lesson once a month. I love to teach, as you can probably guess, and I love to help others get enthused about whatever the subject is, so I am content to be a teacher in so many settings, meeting with such a variety of good people of all ages in the English and Korean communities.
For my "favorite things" pastimes, I have done a lot more reading and sewing in the past several months. Sewing is a fun adventure in Seoul, with the fabric market so close and so full of any kind of fabric you can imagine, at great low prices! Reading takes on a new focus with my recent involvement in a book club, so I finally am reading some of the books I have heard of for years but never made a point of reading before. I also find real joy in cooking, and especially in teaching one of my Korean students (age 9) how to bake and cook in the American style.
Norm and I continue to serve in the Seoul LDS Temple regularly as ordinance workers, and we participate in other community activities such as the Good Neighbor Program and the SESA organization (Seoul English Study Association). And of course, we travel whenever we can get a few days off. Our trips have gravitated to more Korean discovery tours, and fewer international travels, since we are affected by the airlines' trend to fewer and fuller flights (thus, fewer stand-by seats for us!) But we never get tired of seeing new things in Korea. There's a lot to learn and experience here! We get around nicely on subways, buses, and trains, which are all excellent in Korea.
If you read backwards in the blog, you will see that we managed three separate trips to the US in 2007, and I am still here in Utah as I write this. It has helped me a lot to stay so connected with our home base and neighborhood in Kaysville, while maintaining our home in Korea. I sometimes forget which is my real home. I don't think I know anymore, which one it is, actually. I feel totally at home in both countries now. If I didn't, I don't think Norm would have extended our stay in Korea for another two years!
At Thanksgiving, I wrote down all the blessings I could think of at the time, and my list filled an entire journal page. I often marvel at how well my life is going, in the midst of so many troubles and woes in the world around me. I feel immersed in a midlife-mellowing, which is good. It sometimes is a bumpy hormonal ride, but over time, I have learned some wisdom to smooth my own path, and I find rewards of living a Gospel-centered life, every day that I awake and continue to move and breath. Above most anything else, I am grateful to witness the fulfillment of a special promise to me in 1971, that I would know the joy of "rearing my children in righteousness." That takes in a lot, and it is real. Excellent memories, and great adventures to anticipate in months and years ahead! It's all about enjoying the journey, isn't it?
For me, 2007 was a year filled with a variety of emotions and activities. There were some highs and a few lows, but by the time the year ends next week, I do believe the highs will win. I spent the first half of the year in a major weight-loss and fitness effort, which paid off in many ways. I treadmill most days of the week at the apartment building's fitness center, while watching TV on Korean or English language stations, and have learned a lot of things on Discovery, CNN, Arirang, AFN, and a movie channel. Norm joins me sometimes, and I also walk around the Yongsan post as needed, since we only are allowed to have one car.
Living in Korea has been good for my nutritional health, too. We have more healthy choices in foods available in the Korean culture, and we also have access to the best commissary in the overseas military communities. I have learned more about all kinds of good things to eat for middle age thriving, so combining the food and exercise into a daily lifestyle has been paying off in a rewarding way for me!
My work has evolved into a self-directed teaching career where I pick and choose my commitments to students, and have preserved a reasonable daytime schedule of early morning phone English students, some days of subbing at Seoul Foreign School (including the British School, and the elementary, middle, and high schools there), as well as the Seoul American Middle School on Yongsan Army Garrison. In addition, I have a steady group of wonderful Korean students of various ages who come to our apartment for English tutoring. I could be a lot busier with them if I was willing to work into the night time, as all of them do, but I cut it off by dinner time, so I can have a life.
In our branch at church, I continue teaching the Gospel Doctrine Sunday School class to adults, in which we get to delve into and discuss the scriptures each week. I am also teaching the Relief Society lesson once a month. I love to teach, as you can probably guess, and I love to help others get enthused about whatever the subject is, so I am content to be a teacher in so many settings, meeting with such a variety of good people of all ages in the English and Korean communities.
For my "favorite things" pastimes, I have done a lot more reading and sewing in the past several months. Sewing is a fun adventure in Seoul, with the fabric market so close and so full of any kind of fabric you can imagine, at great low prices! Reading takes on a new focus with my recent involvement in a book club, so I finally am reading some of the books I have heard of for years but never made a point of reading before. I also find real joy in cooking, and especially in teaching one of my Korean students (age 9) how to bake and cook in the American style.
Norm and I continue to serve in the Seoul LDS Temple regularly as ordinance workers, and we participate in other community activities such as the Good Neighbor Program and the SESA organization (Seoul English Study Association). And of course, we travel whenever we can get a few days off. Our trips have gravitated to more Korean discovery tours, and fewer international travels, since we are affected by the airlines' trend to fewer and fuller flights (thus, fewer stand-by seats for us!) But we never get tired of seeing new things in Korea. There's a lot to learn and experience here! We get around nicely on subways, buses, and trains, which are all excellent in Korea.
If you read backwards in the blog, you will see that we managed three separate trips to the US in 2007, and I am still here in Utah as I write this. It has helped me a lot to stay so connected with our home base and neighborhood in Kaysville, while maintaining our home in Korea. I sometimes forget which is my real home. I don't think I know anymore, which one it is, actually. I feel totally at home in both countries now. If I didn't, I don't think Norm would have extended our stay in Korea for another two years!
At Thanksgiving, I wrote down all the blessings I could think of at the time, and my list filled an entire journal page. I often marvel at how well my life is going, in the midst of so many troubles and woes in the world around me. I feel immersed in a midlife-mellowing, which is good. It sometimes is a bumpy hormonal ride, but over time, I have learned some wisdom to smooth my own path, and I find rewards of living a Gospel-centered life, every day that I awake and continue to move and breath. Above most anything else, I am grateful to witness the fulfillment of a special promise to me in 1971, that I would know the joy of "rearing my children in righteousness." That takes in a lot, and it is real. Excellent memories, and great adventures to anticipate in months and years ahead! It's all about enjoying the journey, isn't it?
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Holiday Time
Tempus Fugit! I keep thinking of updating this blog a lot more regularly, but something, like life, always delays me from my intention. Today, however, I am spending some much-appreciated time in a hotel business center at a computer with no deadline or other commitment. I am just waiting for Norm to be done with his first day of class at this San Antonio conference.
Yes! We have returned to Texas for the second time in a few months, and, as before, are staying in the Double Tree hotel, enjoying gorgeous weather and blue skies...while most of the nation is enduring a blizzard, I hear.
Since my last blog posting in October, I have stayed busy with plenty of work at home and at a couple schools in Seoul. At Thanksgiving time, Norm and I went with our good friends, Joe and Vicki, to enjoy the snowy scenes and sites in northeastern S. Korea. We stayed at a large and popular Korean ski resort in a rental condo suite for a few days, and had a great time getting away from the city stress and traffic.
One place we discovered is called Herb Nara...which means Herb Farm. It is the first (and only?) in Korea, and may be a well-kept secret, at least from the Americans living there. Even in the cold of winter, it is a fun place to roam around, with all sorts of fun displays and gardens on display where many kinds of useful and aromatic herbs are grown and sold. We ate our Thanksgiving Dinner there, too, at a great Korean restaurant which treated us like VIP's...because we were the only customers that day...a weekday in winter.
This will be a work-in-progress since I am in and out of the hotel, and I can't download any photos, so stay tuned....
Yes! We have returned to Texas for the second time in a few months, and, as before, are staying in the Double Tree hotel, enjoying gorgeous weather and blue skies...while most of the nation is enduring a blizzard, I hear.
Since my last blog posting in October, I have stayed busy with plenty of work at home and at a couple schools in Seoul. At Thanksgiving time, Norm and I went with our good friends, Joe and Vicki, to enjoy the snowy scenes and sites in northeastern S. Korea. We stayed at a large and popular Korean ski resort in a rental condo suite for a few days, and had a great time getting away from the city stress and traffic.
One place we discovered is called Herb Nara...which means Herb Farm. It is the first (and only?) in Korea, and may be a well-kept secret, at least from the Americans living there. Even in the cold of winter, it is a fun place to roam around, with all sorts of fun displays and gardens on display where many kinds of useful and aromatic herbs are grown and sold. We ate our Thanksgiving Dinner there, too, at a great Korean restaurant which treated us like VIP's...because we were the only customers that day...a weekday in winter.
This will be a work-in-progress since I am in and out of the hotel, and I can't download any photos, so stay tuned....
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