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Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or

children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in

this age -- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions -- and in the age

to come eternal life. "

n Mark 10:29-30

December 28,2004

We chose the above to be read at our wedding, and we reflect on it again as we celebrate

our fIrst Christmas as parents of two beautiful girls. For both of us, the decision to go to Peru set

our feet on a path that led to our family being together.

We and our daughters became a family on the fIrst of June, 2004. That was the day when,

after two years of waiting, we met our daughters Cindy and Rosa in Guatemala City. We arrived

home in New York a week later, and the last seven months have been a whirlwind of introducing

the girls to their new home, friends, relatives, and culture.

We thank God not only for the presence of our wonderful children, but also for the support

we have received from our friends. family and community. In the fIrst summer. our extended

Marykrioll community welcomed them with love and made them feel at home. In the fall, Cindy

started kindergarten and we saw her take to it like a fIsh to water. As I write this a few days

after Christmas, the girls are eagerly awaiting their next chance to play in the snow at their

grandparents' house.

Cindy is a very beautiful, outgoing six-year-old who loves to draw and is making

impressive progress in learning English. It gives us enormous pleasure to see how quickly she is

adapting and learning new things, and we delight in seeing her approach life with gusto. Rosa is

the kind of three-year-old that people fawn over, with curly hair and an irresistible smile. She

loves to play-act with her sister, and loves to read with her dad. We know ourselves to be highly

blessed, and we are happy in ways we never know existed before.

Of course, we are also a little overwhelmed by instant parenthood, but we have

reorganized our life into a pattern that works for now. Janice works two days a week at the

Pawling Animal Clinic, a job she likes very much. Chris continues to manage the computer

networks for Maryknoll Lay Missioners's offIces in Ossining. When the girls first arrived he went

on part-time paternity leave, but that is ending now. One of our blessings is a good friend who

runs a family day care business, so Rosa has a great group of little friends to play with for the

two days that we both work. We moved out of our idyllic cottage on the Maryknoll grounds, and

we now have an apartment in town, walking distance from the library and grocery store. Chris

can still walk or bicycle to work.

Since their arrival, the girls have spent a lot of time getting to know Chris's side of the

family here on the East coast, including their delighted grandparents. At Thanksgiving we

traveled to Seattle to introduce the girls to Janice's family, a wonderful week of reunions and

celebrations. Cindy is already interested in returning to Guatemala for a visit, and we have

promised her "some day." To live and work as missioners in the developing world remains a

possibility for us in the future, but we feel that we owe our daughters at least a couple of years of

stability now that they are with their permanent family. We hear that after the first year

following adoption things always become easier, and we are eagerly awaiting that anniversary!

We feel that we are still and always will be in mission: we know that our native country

has at least as much need for witnesses to the Gospel as Peru. We see a sign of hope in that our

country has already begun re-evaluating some decisions that were made in fear and anger in the

past three years. What we hope for is that our actions toward other nations may more

consistently reflect the Christian values of charity, mercy, and reconciliation. We know that this

will come about only if it comes from the people, through greater faith and better understanding

of the other peoples of the world. The work of the world's missioners is more important than

ever.

To all our friends, we send our wishes for a happy and blessed 2005. We thank you for all

of your support and prayers for our new family.

Love,

101

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Christian Veterinary Mis$.ion continues to accept donations for Janice's account, which will supplement the

Heifer Project funding of the animal husbandry training project she founded. Chris is no longer in a position to accept

money earmarked for the solar energy work, but donations to his mission account will support other Maryknoll Lay

Missioners and their work with marginalized peoples around the world.

Because we believe that the work of these mission organizations, which includes starting new projects like

ours, is more important than ever, we are very thankful for our family and friends who have continued to support one

or both of them, and we thank others for considering a donation:

Maryknoll Lay Missioners

P. O. Box 307

Maryknoll, NY 10545

Chris, Janice, Cindy and Rosa

Christian Veterinary Mission

19303 Fremont Ave. N

Seattle, WA 98133-0166