Christmas 2008

Dear ones, family and friends,

(A quick note - to see the pictures click on them and they will open in a new window where you can see them slowly and with more detail.)

Looking back on 2008 we were tempted to borrow from the Chinese, and call 2008 our “Year of the Funeral”. We lost a number of loved ones, family and friends this year, and this Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord, we also look forward to the day when as St. Paul says “the last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:26). And we give thanks to God for the privilege of knowing some very dear family and friends during this earthly pilgrimage.

Suzanna Frey is now in her second year at Baylor, and still enjoying college. She’s actually become a member of the Hispanic Student Association, who decided after meeting her, that with 10 years on the border, she’s as Hispanic as many of them! She’s been able to make a few trips down to Laredo and San Antonio to see her parents and grandparents.

Colin moved from Guemes Island, near Anacortes, Washington, down to Portland, Oregon, and thankfully found employment. He’s working for a property management firm in Portland, and also playing the piano and organ for a church on Sundays.

Both Colin and Suzanna were able to be with us for Thanksgiving this year. Paul was officiating at a wedding of Beth Treviño and Mike Rangel on Catalina Island and Suzanna joined us and flew out from Austin, and Colin flew down from Portland. We spent Thanksgiving touring in LA, taking pictures by Ann B. Davis’ star on the Walk of Fame and eating at the restaurant bar of the Roosevelt Hotel. The next morning we joined the wedding party and their families on Catalina. It was a fun weekend and great to have the four of us together for the first time since Colin’s graduation in May of 2007.

Anne continues to work in the grant writing department at Texas A&M International. This year she feels that she’s learned enough to actually be valuable. Most days she loves her work, and only occasionally gets a little crazy during the weeks when multiple large grants need to be submitted all at the same time!

Paul is very thankful for Christ Church, and continues to feel called to parish ministry on the border. He wishes the climate were a bit more like the northern border, but you can’t have everything. He is also grateful that 3 out of his four siblings now live within a few hours drive. It is the first time in 30 years that 4 of the 5 Frey kids have been close enough to see each other somewhat regularly.

We also managed to travel to Guanajuato, Mexico with Suzanna to see Mike and Margaret Rooney and their kids, before they finished their year of studying Spanish. We drove down and spent a few days touring the beautiful city and promised ourselves a return drive down in the very near future. It was great to see Grace, and Adam, and Nora showing off their Spanish! And as a special bonus we spent an evening with some of their German friends, making delicious Apple Kuchen. A very international time indeed.


And we were blessed with a lot of visitors this year. We hosted Mike and Margaret just a few weeks after they had hosted us. We had fun with some exchange teachers from Korea who spend a few weeks with us, and our dear friend Sanae Yamazaki was able to visit us again this past August, which also meant we got to see friends from Eagle Pass.

This April Anne was able to make it to one of the funerals on her side. She was very grateful to join her sister Alice at Uncle Dick O’Donnell’s funeral, and see her Aunt Alice and cousins, and visit some with her dad.

Paul was grateful to make it to a dear family friends funeral in Denver this December. Lynn Ewing, a very close friend of the family passed away. Seeing family and friends in Denver was a great gift, despite the grief of the occasion.

As this year comes to a close we are grateful for so much: for another peaceful and democratic election, and for an African American president; for the gift of time with our children and other family members; for employment in a year when many are looking for work; for a home to live in and share, when many are homeless; for food to eat and food to share when many nearby are hungry. Above all for the love of God manifested to us in so many ways, and the opportunity to share Jesus grace.

Much love,

Paul & Anne Frey
139 Kentucky St. Laredo, TX 78041 rooneyfrey@sbcglobal.net

BTW - Paul can also be found on Facebook.- Look for the picture with him and Anne.
BTW - Again - The video is Christmas Day 2008 in Bill & Barbara Frey's kitchen.