| Dear family and friends,
We hope this newsletter finds you well. We are official Southerners counting year five in the wonderland of North Carolina. Madison is now a mature kindergartener. We are tickled to see her flourish as a pianist and an artist since both mommy and daddy are geeks. She is also one of the few kids who got a private bus ride home on the first day of school because well, she fell asleep and 'forgot' to get off.
Olivia turned two in April. She has mastered the skill of wearing people out by constantly negotiating and changing her mind. However, her sweetness is just as overwhelming. This little girl gives hugs and kisses for no particular reason, and she is by far the hugest fan of her big sister.
A tremendous change in the Chen household is that ah-goon and ah-ma (Tina's parents) moved from TN to NC. They settled down in a new townhome just 1.5 miles away from us. We are enjoying extra helping hands and yummy authentic Taiwanese home cooking! Joe promptly does his laundry the day before their visits to our house so the unfolded pile can easily be seen by ah-ma.
We still enjoy working at Cisco. Tina is being a typical mom: working, volunteering at Maddy's kindergarten class, and serving in the nursery at church. Joe is Joe. Nothing has changed except that now people make fun of him when he plays volleyball and basketball. He's been helping out teaching youths at Sunday School and his term as worship deacon is up at the end of this year.
We celebrated our 10th anniversary! It doesn't seem like a decade has passed, and we're amazed and thankful for the journey God has blessed us with. Here are some pictures of the Chen household in 2008. We hope you enjoy them.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Joe, Tina, Maddy and Livy (and Brownie) Chen
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