2016 In Review

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and may

the quickly-approaching NEW YEAR be good to you and your loved ones!!!

Time for the Priem year in review!!!

(I KNOW you're excited!)

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In March, we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.

Then (1996):

Now (2016!):

To celebrate a meaningful 20 years of marriage and to put Greg's THIRD sabbatical to good use,

we did a whole bunch of traveling - yay!

TRIP #1:

First we went to New Zealand, where we fully enjoyed everything Hobbit-related!

visiting Hobbiton (filming location for parts of  "The Lord Of The Rings" and "The Hobbit")

Greg drove (on the wrong side of the road!) all over both islands and we had the blessing of seeing a lot of the majestic and rugged countryside.

Huka Falls

Franz Josef Glacier

Find out more about our trip to New Zealand by clicking here!

TRIP #2:

Less than two weeks after we got back home, we left again,

this time for Switzerland!!!

flag on scaffolding in a construction site in Lauterbrunnen

It was great to be able to travel everywhere by train,

though we did have to pack light.

In Grindelwald

Switzerland is exceptionally beautiful! 

the Kapell Bridge in Lucerne

Rhein Falls near Zurich

Switzerland is FULL of waterfalls!!!

We made lots of wonderful memories and saw amazing scenery.

Find out more about our trip to Switzerland here!

GREG'S JOB:

Greg keeps chugging along as a software engineer at Intel.  He's enjoying the newer position he moved to a couple of years ago and likes that his team and his boss are at the same location.

Since his campus has a Foosball table, Greg gets to unwind at the end of his workdays by playing, and this has become one of his favorite parts of the day.

We've been able to host his Foosball friends for a few holidays this past year, and it's been neat to learn more about different cultures (most of them are from India).

CHRISTIE'S JOB:

Christie continues to improve and distribute the Chirp Curriculum, a tool to teach young children and children with special needs Biblical truths in a way that's relevant and understandable.

This year, we've added bonus stories to help families and teachers discuss subjects like death, communion (The Lord's Supper), baptism, choosing to follow Jesus, and divorce.

the bonus story on baptism

We've also added Family Packs, which provide families the opportunity to teach and reinforce spiritual beliefs and practices.

lesson #24

The Chirp YouTube channel continues to grow, and I enjoy filming videos on topics that will help families (and other professionals or volunteers) better support kids with developmental differences and delays.  I love the feedback I get that my videos were encouraging and that families feel better equipped to deal with challenging behavior, sensory difficulties, and communication challenges after watching my videos!

OTHER STUFF:

We still have cats, and they are still cuddly and adorable.

Scroll back on the blog (if you are new to blogs, you can do this by clicking "older posts" at the bottom of the screen) to see them and get to know their silly sweet personalities.

I changed my diet drastically last summer, and it made a HUGE difference in my health.

For about six months.

Then I started feeling horribly fatigued again, and I've been struggling quite a bit to function.

I finally have found a great doctor who has run some tests that no one else has run and she thinks she knows what's going on.  Her office already called to tell me that some of the results are abnormal, and I see her Friday for the follow-up, where we'll discuss her recommended treatment plan.  I'm excited to finally have HOPE that I can get better all the way!

I'll post more details on the blog when we get them.

Thank you for keeping up with us this year and we look forward to sharing the coming year with you, too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!