Hello Friends and family:

It’s difficult to even begin a weekly letter after three weeks of being away. It was good seeing most of our family. We visited all of our children and Debi’s dad, but didn’t have a chance to visit any other family. Mom, I’ll do better in May when we come to bless Krista’s baby and attend Cody’s graduation.

It was a tough holiday for Debi. As soon as she got off the plane in SLC a rash broke out. Turned out to be shingles, it took two weeks to get the correct diagnosis so she was in a lot of pain most of the holidays. In addition to shingles, she also had strep throat. But in spite of not feeling too good she was able to play with Cherry and Cody’s kids and spoil them. Shena and Cherry were spoiled before they arrived in STG.

We then went to LA to visit Krista, Greg and Zac. While in LA I was given a new name; I’m Mike. Greg’s dad’s name is Mike, Greg’s best friends name is Mike, and Greg’s sister’s boy friend is named Mike. So he thinks all men are named Mike. We worked the entire time we were there to get him to call me grandpa or Paul. But when I left, I was still Mike. New goal in life; get Zac to call me grandpa.

After LA we went to Seattle to visit Mya, Kermit, and the boys. It was good to see them. Seattle is beautiful. Didn’t see a lot of the city but were able to go up in the space needle with Kermit and the boys. The boys also got in some quality swim time at the hotel pool.

In Seattle, we met up with Margaret, Ethan and Christine. We all flew back to Nairobi together. As soon as we arrived, Debi, Margaret, Ethan, and Christine left for Serengeti for a safari. They also visited other places along the way but I’ll let them give the details. I can’t spell most of the places they were going and because I would have to work learning them it would just make me feel worse (not; it was good to get back to work so I could relax and get some rest). The safari was six days so they all return to Magadi tomorrow night. Margaret will stay until the end of February and return with Debi but Christine and Ethan return on Thursday. They go via Paris for more vacations time.

This was the fourth trip I’ve made to Kenya and I’m batting 500. This trip was all messed up from the start by snow in Amsterdam. My flight was 7 hours late leaving Nairobi so I missed all my connecting flights. My luggage didn’t leave with me and by the time they found it, I told the airline to keep it in Nairobi and I’d get it when I returned. While in Seattle, the airline called to tell me there was no one home at our STG address; duh. I told them if they could get it to Seattle before we left to send it if not send it back to Nairobi. Well it arrived and I quickly unpacked all contents and sent them to the family. I was very happy to send the grandkids noise makers to drive their parents crazy; a little revenge on my part. That is why some packages arrived with no notes and no warning. I had about two hours to get to the post office and get them out prior to our flight leaving. The other trip was messed up when the volcano in Iceland was spewing ash and I had to fly through Dubai and not Amsterdam. Traveling is great! But Debi and I are racking up some sweet frequent flyer miles to use when this gig is over.

Speaking of when this gig is over. At the board meeting in December, the president of the company (the guy that asked me to come here) asked if I would be interested in working a little longer following my assignment here. There is a plant possibly being built in Utah that he wants me to work at. May be janitor or flunky, he didn’t get too specific. But it looks like there will be a job if I want to leave after this year. The day after I was asked that question, the HR director asked me if I would be interested in staying a third year here. So make that two options following my second year here. Don’t know which offer I will take; still have a few months to figure it out.

The plant’s performance has been improving over the past few months. In December we shipped more product that ever in the plants history. I have attached a letter distributed by the Managing Director (equivalent title to CEO in US companies). After all the grief I’ve had to deal with this past year, it was good to get some good press. There were times I wondered if I would make it through the next week. We are not out of the woods when it comes to plant operations but things are improving.

It was good to visit with all the kids and grandkids over Christmas. I love all of you. And to those we weren’t able to visit, I love you too. We’ll do better next May when we come home.

Love you all
Dad/Paul
PS: Happy birthday Mom on Friday. Don’t party too hard!!!!
PSS: Can't get the letter attached, so I'll forward it as an email