A New Decade Begins – Happy New Year from Rwanda

To all our family and friends, Happy New Year from Rwanda – where the parties are still going on from last night as I write this at 3:00 p.m. New Years Day.  We’ve been told by Rwandan friends that this is their most celebrated holiday, and the general sentiment is they are thrilled to have survied another year – hence the non-stop partying that we can still hear going on even now from a nearby bar/restaurant/club.  I assume this is also why our guard has not showed up for work…  Ah, well – ‘Africa time’ strikes again.

URQUART’S NEW YEAR CARD: (click link for pictoral collage) 
http://www.vuvox.com/collage_express/collage.swf?collageID=034cb8683f

2010 was quite a year.  There is too much to recap here (and I’m too lazy to do it), but suffice to say, we are extremely grateful for all that we have, the experiences we’ve enjoyed (and survived) over the past year, and the deepening of relationships both here and back home - family and friendships old and new.

Ella: Turning 13 in Frebruary and fortunately (hope I’m not jinxing myself here) shows little signs of teenager antics (yet). She remains very athletic, loves to play the piano, challenge the boys in most categories (one of only two girls in Tae Kwon Do), and continues to excell at school. We are very proud of her and I dread the day when the flip switches and I start to hear about boys in a different light. Come to think of it, I’ll be the last one to hear about it…

Weston: Three years running – still marveling at Weston’s dedication to American football. His biggest concern about living in Rwanda is not being ready for college and pro ball back in the US someday. One step at a time… To that end, he has recruited me to coach a group of 14 boys he has recruited through sheer force of personality and passion – most of which have never played or spent any time in the U.S. Like his sister, he does well at school, plays piano, started Tae Kwon Do, and is a popular friend to many. He got an African puppy this year, Dagger, who promptly become the responsibility of Kristen, despite his promises to the contrary.

Ava: Boy, can that girl make some noise when she wants to get her siblings in trouble for their teasing (real or exagerrated). Turning 8 this past October, she is growing fast, stubbornly insisting that she can do anything and everything her brother and sister can do. She is her mother’s daughter in terms of loving animals and spends quality time with the dog, cats and rabbbit – the latter of whom is expecting new baby bunnies – much to Ava’s delight. Very imaginative and with plenty of “spunk”, Ava does well in school and rejects all things “girly”. A recent quote when required to attend a friend’s Christmas tea party: “I really don’t like tea parties. You have to dress up, eat not very good food, and have meaningless conversation.” She is very put out not to be old enough to participate in Tae Kwon Do, and she certainly does her best to practice on her siblings often.

Kristen: Spending a lot of time at the kids school working in the library, subsitute teaching as needed, volunteering at the local orphanage twice a week, and keeping us fed, sane and generally in line and on track. Still one of the most calm under pressure people I’ve ever known ( a good balance to a personality like mine). She is having a bit of trouble patiently waiting on the adoption process to slowly move forward (currently feels like a standstill) but trusts that God has it under control.

Greg: Enjoying Karisimbi Business Partners and our work here. It is a world of constant change and variety, and the partnership both with my business colleagues / friends and our clients continues to be very rewarding. I turn 40 next month and the “Karisimbi guys” will be summiting our namesake, the volcano Mt. Karisimbi two days before I hit the big milestone. Looking forward to the challenge – it’s way up there and a good opportunity to stay young (and not cause I expect to die in the attempt).

May God bless you all in the coming year – and we are grateful for your love, support and prayers!