God is faithful! That is all you really need to read. The rest is boring details. Praise God that He is never bored with us and already knows everything infinitely beyond what can
possibly be put in a letter.
Ross continues to give his guardian angels a workout. At least they have fewer hairs to number on his head. He is teaching Junior Church and various adult classes as well as serving on the Outreach Commission (Missions) at First Free (www.firstfreechurch.org). He is on the Board of Twin Cities Creation Science Association and runs their website (www.tccsa.tc) . He brings a van load of kids to the monthly meetings. Ross sends many letters to the editor of various publications and is occasionally even published. They all end up on www.rossolson.org). He has occasional run-ins with critics including those at HealthPartners who only believe in freedom of speech when they agree. He is thrilled to have a new Christian colleague at his clinic and hopes to work at least to age 65, having passed 62 uneventfully. He takes his grandsons and their friends on outings (and appreciates the chance to bowl with gutter guards). It has been a year since our van was rear-ended and although it has been repaired and fault assigned to the other party, insurance has still not reimbursed our deductible.
Karin, Ross’s trophy wife, must have caught something from Ross because she is also overscheduled for about 110% of the available time despite being AARP eligible. She continues as a discussion leader for Bible Study Fellowship (www.bsfinternational.org) and brings two of our grandsons (Patrick and Aizec) this year to the children’s program. They come over the afternoon before and return home about 24 hours later getting 1/7 of their week as “Grandma Time” (with a little “PaPa Time” thrown in.) She is on the Worship Commission and teaches Kindergarten Sunday School at First Free. When a Mothers of Preschoolers group was started at church, (www.mops.org), she agreed to be the “Mentor Mom.” This makes her a “senior advisor” to the mothers of young children (“Yes they do grow up”) and responsible for a “Mentor Moment” at each biweekly meeting as well as giving several longer talks during the year. Karin is trying to get healthier by joining Curves (www.curvesinternational.com) and attending an “Arthritis Swim Class.”
Ross & Karin took a trip to Missouri and Kansas in June and July, seeing lots of friends and relatives but also attending a “Chautauqua” in Lawrence, Kansas that featured re-enactment of events just prior to the Civil War called “Bleeding Kansas.” Karin has been pleased to have had no more trouble with diabetic foot infections and thus no compulsory wheelchair rides for over a year. We also took two grandsons (Christopher and Patrick) to Wisconsin Dells for a Water Park and race car extravaganza. We continue to host Chinese and other international students we meet through China Outreach (www.chinaoutreach.org) and International Students Inc. (www.internationalstudents.org). We had another college age “daughter” for three months this summer when Alicia Bontrager, youth intern for the church, stayed with us.
Jeff and Rachel completed their first year of parenting Laura, now 18 months old, who has her own fan club, even outside of the family. She is increasingly showing her determination (read “strong will”) a characteristic passed along from mother to son to daughter, not apparently related exclusively to her red hair. Laura also loves animals, which is good since they have them in abundance. Rachel completed her bachelors degree in nursing but decided to leave intensive care nursing to intensively care for Laura (and Jeff). She is one of the organizers of the MOPS group at church and went with Karin to the national convention in Memphis. Jeff has a new position with his company, Thomson West www.west.thomson.com). Both Jeff and Rachel sing with the Worship Team at First Free and Jeff manages the website (www.firstfreechurch.org) as well as servicing all computer issues. Jeff built a rather elaborate fence around their backyard this summer. For more than you ever wanted to know, see www.olsonzoo.com.
Susan and Eric (Anderson) live about an hour away from us in rural Ramsey. Eric drives for a courier service called EWA (East West Allover) and Susan does a paper route and cleans houses for relatives — it sometimes pays to have messy relatives! They both work as independent business agents (www.hensman-intl.com) with Quixtar (www.quixtar.com). You can get a password by calling 763-221-2743 or e-mailing eric.susan.anderson{at}comcast.net. They attend Hope Fellowship and sometimes host family and friends at their 3 acre hobby farm where bantam chickens Edythe and Myrtle (lovingly named for their favorite grandmothers) continue to provide them with eggs.
Jason and Tami and their three sons Christopher 8, Patrick 5 and Aizec 3 live in St. Paul and attend North Heights Lutheran (www.nhlc.org). Christopher played baseball this year, making friends wherever he goes, started tennis and continues to home school. Patrick is ready to start reading and loves numbers and puzzles. Aizec has become the loudest of the three in order to get a word in — one of his famous lines is, “Can I talk now?” They have a dog, Lucy, and a cat MuShu. Tami, who got her driver’s license this year, has started a photography business under her original name, Ka’tambra, and specializes in capturing the personality of her subjects. The photo on our card this year is hers. (If you don’t like your personality, it can probably be retouched.) You can view some of her work at photobucket.com/albums/v117/mommo which also has a “contact member” button. Jason had a major setback when poor judgment led to the loss of his job of 10 years and severe penalties. Praise the Lord that He provided another commercial roofing job and things are looking up.
The artist formerly known as “Stacy” writes the following: “Claiming my identity with Christ has been impressed on my heart this past year. Making a legal change of my name from Stacy to KaWan is a part of that alteration — not so much for the sake of “change” but because of a vision Christ provided through its meaning (“Glorious Cloud”). I notice that using my Chinese birth name increases my opportunities to share Christ’s influence on my life. God is also refining who I am in Him as my connections with art and ministry increase in the Twin Cities. God is enlarging my heart for artists who are struggling with life and long for spiritual guidance. To make ends meet I keep my evening job at Associated Consultants, a bridal consulting company. God is also expanding my ministry at First Evangelical Free Church. I continue to serve on staff and I recently adopted 30 teens — and I am not even married! Yes, my ministry at the church has branched out to include the youth! You must be wondering how in the world I recalibrate from such a chaotic schedule. One of the ways is spending phone time with my very dear friend and sister in Christ in New Jersey! We make sure we get our daily dose of laughter, too.”
We want all of you to know the peace and joy that can only come from a secure relationship with the One Who holds the future and cares for us more than we can ever imagine.
Dear friends and family,