2006 Chistmas Newsletter

Dear Ones,

We figure a select few of you will read this, and while we love the paper version, we wanted to do something a bit faster this year. Hence the card with the website address.

Paul: This year has been a year of connections. After two years in Laredo we are starting to really feel connected at Christ Church. It takes a while to begin to feel at home, but we have been welcomed and are glad to be here in Laredo.

At the end of December last year we got to go to Houston for Wendy Mims wedding to Hugo Rivas. Paul was blessed to help at the wedding. It was wonderful to catch up with the Mims and many of our friends from our Church of the Redeemer, Houston days! We got to meet lots of folks Hugo’s side of the family (from Perú). And we had a chance to see my Aunt Judy and my cousin Mike.

Then this past spring we were blessed to go to the Pittsburgh area twice. First, we traveled one weekend in April to the retirement celebration of Les Fairfield, the beloved Church History professor at Trinity Seminary in Ambridge, PA, where Anne and I were blessed to study prior to ordained ministry. We were doubly blessed by being able to stay with Mark and Sarah Kwolek. Mark whom we knew from our time at Church of the Savior, while studying at Trinity, and Sarah (Mims) whom we have known since birth, those many years ago when we were at Church of the Redeemer in Houston, Texas. That two people we know and love from such different places would find each other, and that we would be blessed to see them and their new baby Micah is blessing indeed.

We got to see so many other folks while we were there, my brother Matthew and his wife Katherine, and many of my classmates as well as friends from Church of the Savior. In addition I had the gift of spending several hours with David and Pam Meeks, who were the first couple I had the privilege of officiating at their wedding the year I got ordained. It was so good to see them and hear first hand about the mission work they are doing in the places God has called them to serve.

Anne: A month later, we were given the opportunity to go back to Pittsburgh for two special events over a long weekend. First we attended the spring festival of the Arco Iris Spanish immersion preschool that my sister Megan founded in Pittsburgh. Paul, Suzanna, and I had a wonderful time joining her and my Dad there. It was wonderful to see Megan and Eric, and so many of her friends in action and to watch the kids. And as Paul said, “It’s almost a miracle to eat truly well made tamales in Pittsburgh!” Then from Megan’s we drove over to Oberlin, Ohio to go to Colin’s junior recital at the conservatory. We took two nephews Yoka Rooney, and Drayton Frey, and one Aunt Katherine Frey with us. Colin showed us around the college, and we met some of his friends and heard his composition and several other pieces. Colin’s piece included a voice piece, Native American drums, a trap set, organ, and an electric bass being played with an electric toothbrush!

Then at the end of July we were blessed to go on a week’s vacation to Portland, Oregon to celebrate (a month early) my dad’s 80th birthday. It was a wonderful Rooney reunion. My brother Ted and his wife Lori graciously opened their new house to the Frey clan. Colin and Suzanna got a chance to re-connect with cousins on my side of the family. It was a very special time to gather together, and to honor my dad. All 9 of us brothers and sisters were there along with their families and many old friends.

Paul: Then later in August our good friend Sanae Yamazaki. We are grateful that God has made it possible for us to keep up with her over these last several years.

And this past November, Anne and I were blessed to be part of a short-term mission team to the Episcopal Diocese of Southeastern Mexico. We traveled to Tuxtepec, and some of the smaller cities in Oaxaca and Veracruz states. My parents were on the trip as well. My Dad and I did a clergy retreat together. This was my second visit to Tuxtepec, and it was wonderful to see many familiar faces, and to be able to introduce my dad to them.

Anne: Then a week after we got back we gathered with Bill and Barbara Frey, Ann B, and the Timberlake clan to celebrate Thanksgiving. Again, it was so nice to reconnect with friends and family. And thankfully we were still there on Saturday, when Paul had to take his dad to the ER. Bill had felt tired the whole time we were in Mexico, and it turned out he’d had a minor heart attack the week before we went, and now needed bypass surgery. So, the end of November, and the first part of December, we have been even more grateful for all the time we’ve been able to share with Bill and Barbara and all the people we love.

At the same time I started a new job, Associate Director of Grant Resources at Texas A & M International University, (TAMIU), here in Laredo. Basically I’m always looking for money for each department! It really is a wonderful change from the public school classroom.

Paul: Dad’s surgery reminded me once more that it is our relationships that have eternal and lasting value. It was another reminder to never take time with those we love for granted.

And now a word about our kids…
Colin is now a college senior set to graduate in May, with the dilemma of trying to figure out what comes next. And Suzanna is now a high school senior in the throes of deciding where she wants to go to college. Lots of transition for both our kids this year!

So…if you are reading this it is because we want to keep up with you, even if electronically!

Much love in Christ,

Paul and Anne Frey
139 Kentucky Street
Laredo, TX 78041
956-727-2774 home
rooneyfrey@sbcglobal.net