Dear friends and family,

It is that time of year again when everything takes on a magical sparkle – we even transform the family into a series of idyllic calendar pictures. Just kidding… they really are wonderful! For more details, see our website, www.rossolson.org.

Stacy graduates this month with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The College of Visual Arts, majoring in illustration. She did an outstanding job on her final project and thesis. She is looking for jobs in her field and is especially interested in illustrating children’s books. (If you plan to write one, talk to her.) She will also be working full time at Associated Consultants, a Bridal Company (but that is all the closer she will get to marriage she insists.) At least that is what she says on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays -- on the alternate days she admits that she may consider matrimony when she turns 60. She is in the process of moving into her own place, half of a double bungalow (a side by side duplex) owned by church friends who live in the other side. She has been furnishing her nest very artfully but frugally with thrift store and alley acquisitions, and we’ve been emptying our closets and basement.

Stacy had an incredible summer in Hong Kong. She served with Youth for Christ from early May to the end of August. They get constant invitations to go into the high schools where they teach English, put on programs and present the gospel. Stacy taught, sang, did mime, gave her testimony, did office work and even cooked for other volunteers. They had over 1000 decisions for Christ from among those who heard the programs. Stacy also met her birthmother and was able to see her declare her faith in Christ. Finally, Stacy put on a program at the Children’s Home where she spent her first 5½ years, and was written up in one of the Chinese newspapers, including some of her Christian testimony. She can be reached at stacy.olson{at}earthlink.net.

Jason and Tami have incredible summers, falls, winters and springs – what else can you have with three active boys? Jason still works for Berwald Roofing doing flat roofs and also does some residential work on the side. They attend Messiah’s Fellowship, a very small congregation where their family makes up 25% of the attendance. Tami manages the home front and home-schools Christopher. She is somehow able to find time for many craft projects – evidently after everyone else is asleep. Their e-mail is katambra{at}usfamily.net.

Christopher, 6, enjoys transformers – actually the word might be LIVES transformers. For you who are out of that particular loop, they are not the electrical devices you may be thinking of but toy vehicles that transform into robots, etc. He also does a fair imitation of Spider Man, by climbing up door frames. He can talk for at least 15 minutes without an apparent breath and makes friends instantly, wherever he is. He is sad to have finished 3 years of the children’s program at Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). But he got to fly for the first time to Duluth and the North Shore with Grandma and Grandpa Olson over the summer as an “end of the term” reward.

Patrick, 3, gets to be at Grandma (‘Granny”) and Grandpa (“Papa”) Olson’s house once a week. Grandma picks him up Tuesday afternoon and he goes with her to BSF on Wednesday. At first there were some tears leaving mommy and brothers but now he loves it. He has taken a while to start talking but has made good progress with help from speech therapy. He likes imaginative play and is very mechanically inclined. Sounds like he’ll be an engineer.

Aizec, 1, is trying to fit into the pecking order. He runs after the other two boys, always a bit behind but persistent. He was toilet trained at 2 or 3 months of age – using a modified Chinese method. You will just have to ask Tami about that. Well, he is apparently destined to continually surprise us since he made his debut by being born in the van. Karin is already thinking of the day when he will be old enough to go to BSF!

Susan and Eric (Anderson) are settled on their 3+ acre hobby farm in the town of Ramsey, on the northern edge of the Twin Cities metro area. Their bantam hens produce a regular supply of eggs and they got some vegetables from their garden. They are trying to tame their wild barn cats. They attend Hope Fellowship where Susan volunteers in the nursery and Eric will be helping with the music. Susan stopped working at the hearing aid factory and does professional housecleaning. So if your house needs a very thorough going over, let her know. Eric does electrical engineering consulting from home and they both have begun to sell goods and services through a web-based company, www.quixtar.com. There are good deals and incentives. Contact them at eric.susan.anderson{at}attbi.com to find out how to order! (This has been an unpaid commercial announcement.) They have traveled for company training sessions to Lexington KY and will be going to Nashville TN in January.

Jeff and Rachel have a web site called www.olsonzoo.com and e-mail addresses jeff{at}olsonzoo.com and rachel{at}olsonzoo.com and that describes their place – dogs, guinea pigs and fish. They also have a remarkable garden for a small city lot. Jeff still works for Westgroup legal publishing, in their web division. He received a Masters of Software Engineering from the University of Minnesota – even though they called out “Jennifer Olson” as he was handed his degree! He has used his computer skills to develop a world-class website for our church, www.firstfreechurch.org. He also helped setup the church’s computer network and link to the new computerized projection system. Rachel is still an ICU Nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital and is very active in the church music ministry. Jeff and Rachel went on a trip to Beijing and Hong Kong, getting to visit with Beijing officials they had met in Minneapolis over the summer and also delivering a gift to Stacy’s birthmother in Hong Kong. While in China, they discovered that they are going to be parents! (Grandma Olson is hoping for a girl so she can start playing with dolls again, instead of transformers, trucks and Lego.)

Karin continues as a discussion leader for Bible Study Fellowship and serves on the Worship Commission at First Free Church where she also coordinates the drama ministry. She taught for the second time at Evangelical Free Church Missionary Candidate School in August, two intense weeks of work but a highlight of the summer. She enjoys having the grandsons over -- for defined periods of time. She has fought diabetic foot ulcers for a long time and despite heroic efforts, cannot get them healed completely. We are very thankful, however, that there have been no serious infections for many years and that the insulin pump has simplified control.

Ross has been at HealthPartners for 21 years now, although he has cut down on both extra days and urgent care so he usually works a more normal schedule. This either represents getting a life or advancing age… or both. He serves on the Board of Twin Cities Creation Science Association and runs their web site (www.tccsa.tc). He also posts all his unpublished commentaries on www.rossolson.org and gets e-mail at ross{at}rossolson.org. (Karin does not touch computers on ideological grounds but accepts printed e-mails.) Ross is on the Council at church and the Outreach (missions) Commission. He also writes and acts in occasional dramas. He continues to teach Junior Church and recently taught a young adults class – many of whom had been his students in Junior Church long ages ago.

Karin and Ross travel on occasion, sometimes to medical meetings with side trips, and visited Ross’s old Navy haunts in Pensacola after meetings in New Orleans. The trip also included plantation tours and visits with old Hong Kong friends in Louisiana. They flew to Duluth with Christopher (despite the fact that including airport time, it takes longer than by car) just so he could have the experience. Both Ross and Karin attend the monthly meetings of China Outreach Ministries and help Chinese scholars coming to the University of Minnesota get settled. There are a number that we have hosted and then invited to family gatherings and special occasions. We have mixed feelings about living without kids after 31 years. However we will now have a real guest room with a double bed, so come and visit! But you had better call ahead since we will be doing a lot of sitting around in our underwear.

As the clouds of war hang over the Middle East, we are thankful that the Babe of Bethlehem is now our Lord and Savior and that He will return – perhaps very soon -- as the Prince of Peace.

Do you look forward to His coming? We hope so.

Christmas Blessings, Karin and Ross Olson & all

PS send us your e-mail address to ross{at}rossolson.org and visit the rest of our website at www.rossolson.org.