The Ho’s family wishes you a Happy New Year!
Family
We do a lot of snowboarding in the 2024-25 season (10 full days in total) and have so much fun taking these extended trips together as a homeschooling family. California is still dry in mid-December. As another storm system is approaching, we look forward to another great year of snowboarding on the Sierra’s. Both kids continue to do well in homeschooling (Gideon in 9th grade, Carina in 7th grade). Gideon’s school work ramps up significantly as he does dual-enrollment at Laney college where he takes college-level Biology with lab and French 1A. Gideon applies to join a 5-month exchange program in France and is in the finalist round (we are awaiting results). We enjoy riding e-bikes as a new family hobby and Calvin runs errands in town on them. Kids play a lot of tennis, basketball, and ping pong with their cousins Aimee and Ethan and uncle Frank who recently moved from Hong Kong to live in our town. Tiffany and Carina goes on a mommy-and-me trip to LA and attend the Blackpink Deadline World Tour concert. Carina finds her passion in fishkeeping. She loves fish and is learning aquascaping (aquascape is the art of creating the most natural aquariums with live plants to mimic nature). Tiffany prepares fresh food for our dog Bambi and she loves it.
Friends + Travel
Many friends come to visit us this year, including family from Hong Kong and NYC, friends from as far as the UK and Rwanda. There are stories of divine intervention and healing for our loved ones, including our parents. A family of six comes to stay with us in June. Taking advantage of having trusted friends in our house, Tiffany and I slip away for 13 days to celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary in Germany (thanks Daisy and Sam!). We sail along the romantic Rhine Valley, hike in the Black Forest and the Austrian Alps, tarry in Medieval towns such as Rothenburg ob der Tibur and listen to classical concerts in Mozart birthplace Salzburg and in Munich.
Tiffany traveled with her childhood friends to Taiwan in November. She was proud of renting a car and taking her friends to see the famous Alishan (阿里山). She made a stop in Hong Kong for a few days to visit Calvin’s parents and do some shopping there.
Conference Speaker
Tiffany wants a new challenge in her professional life so she lectured at the IAAHPC annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky in September. She is considered one of the pioneers in the field of end-of-life care and her talks are very well-received by the 100+ veterinarians in attendance.
Church and the Nativity Season
Our family continues to be actively involved with both the First Covenant Church of Oakland and the Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church in Castro Valley, with kids attending youth groups in both churches. Calvin is learning a lot about governance and administration at the Greek Church as a new parish council member. He volunteered to assist in IT, alongside serving on the Stewardship committee, the Welcome Team, and recently learning Byzantine Chanting with Petros every Monday night.
This year marks the 1700 anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, where the Ecumenical Patriarch invited Pope Leo XIV and leaders from major branches of Christianity to join him to pray for Christian unity, both as Jesus has wished for his Church in the Gospel of St. John, and also as a witness to a world marred in conflicts and hostility. We hope this update finds you and your family well. We look forward to hearing updates from you! May the nativity season be one that the incarnation of Christ becomes a fuller reality in our personal lives, our families, and the world. Amen.
