Our Bookof Appreciation

FROM ALL OF US TO ALL OF US

(WITH LOVE AND APPRECIATION)

CHRISTMAS 2012

CHAPTER 1

We Appreciate Mama/Grandma/Betty

What I appreciate about Mama/Grandma/Betty:

She’s wonderful, sweet, loving, caring, even keel, rarely gets upset, the best mama in the world. (Lucia)

The way she’s always thinking of others, like sending comics to me every so often (Andrew).

That she is very caring and nice and peaceful (Caroline)

Her wonderfully cheerful spirit (Andy)

How she is always there for me, a ready audience for my stories when growing up and now, and the many ad-ventures we have had together, including the latest of introducing Fluffer to the grassy knolls of Van Dyke court. (Lois)

What I appreciate most about my adorable mother is her strength and courage. (Lani)

CHAPTER 2

We Appreciate Maria/Nai Nai

What I appreciate about Maria/Nai Nai:

Her generous spirit (Andy)

Her warm hospitality and care, how she wasn’t shy about giving me good advice when I was younger (Lois)

Her very generous and warm personality (Andrew)

Nai Nai is very generous and helpful (Caroline)

Has determination to get through struggles. Is a won-derfully generous person. Fiercely loyal to her family and grand kids (Lucia)

Maria, I appreciate your friendliness and your caring for your visitors. You have done so much for us (Betty)

What I appreciate most about Maria, is her kindness and generosity. (Lani)

CHAPTER 3

We Appreciate Lucia/Mama

What I appreciate about Lucia/Mama:

That she is kind and awesome! (Caroline)

Her loving and caringness. (Andrew)

That she loves telling stories, and used to share the most fantastic dreams when we were growing up, and that she really got into her creative side when raising the kids and wanted to write a children’s book – her great spirit that she benefits from taking time and resting in (Lois)

Anyone willing to happily drive us back and forth to the ho-tel has a great sense of hospitality and generous spirit – thanks! (Andy)

Lucia, I appreciate your thoughtfulness. The way you are concerned about your family. I think it’s great that you are enjoying your work. (Betty)

What I appreciate most about Lucia is her wry sense of hu-mor and her ability to take good care of all of us! (Lani)

CHAPTER 4

We Appreciate Austin/BaBa

What I appreciate about Austin/Ba Ba:

Takes pride in all his work and accomplishments. Is han-dling the concerns of a parent to teenagers with grace. Makes activities, whether cleaning the house or playing, fun. Young in spirit (Lucia)

The way he loves his children and takes care of the chil-dren who come to see him, and our shared love of sports (Betty)

Babba is funny and awesome! (Caroline)

His love and guidance (Andrew)

A great conversationalist, very hospitable, and a great Xmas tree stabilizer (Andy)

His playful, gregarious and generous nature, and the way he makes sure if I don’t get something, that I eventually get it! I also admire his stamina and passion for his work.  (Lois)

What I appreciate most about Austin, and he may not know this, is his wonderful explanation of Spiderman and the Dungeons and Dragons game. I love all the great metaphors! (Lani)

CHAPTER 5

We Appreciate Caroline

What I appreciate about Caroline:

Her daily enthusiasm. Organizes friends well. Loving to family. Keeps life dramatic. Is dedicated to accom-plishing her goals. Is our Christmas baby. (Mama/Lucia)

Her expressiveness and appreciation for things like French berets (!) – how much fun we would have act-ing out things like Miss Scarlet and Mrs. Peacock in Clue. How natural and honest she can be -- the times she would share things that were on her mind. (Aunt Yo Yo, Lois)

Her grace, cleverness and lighthearted spirit. And com-petitive game playing! (Andy)

That she’s the best sister anybody could ask for. (An-drew)

Enjoy her enthusiasm for Christmas and other celebra-tions, her dance recitals, her friendliness and willing-ness to be helpful (Grandma/Betty)

What I appreciate most in Caroline is her awesome sense of style and her ability to keep my sister Lucia busy and happy! (Lani)

CHAPTER 6

We Appreciate AndrewWhat I appreciate about Andrew:

That he’s really funny, weird and awkward (Caroline)

His intelligence, wit, and keen Mindstein ability! (Andy)

His sensitive and loving nature, and how as a kid he connected me to things he loved, trains, animal planet, pokeman cards, Calvin and Hobbs, and would hold my hand until he fell asleep at night!  And was the first to call me Aunt Yo Yo.  (Lois)

Loving, caring son. Has amazing ability to remember historical facts. Enjoys taking care of family and sister. Is a good big brother and leader (Lucia)

I remember him as a little boy and how important his trains were to him. I appreciate how kind he is to his grandmothers. (Betty)

What I appreciate most in Andrew is his creative spirit and the fun we had carving runes into his wooden sword. (Lani)

CHAPTER 7

WE APPRECIATE LOIS

What I appreciate about Lois:

Aunt Yoyo is really funny and calm (Caroline)

Thoughtful, caring especially with mama, making sure she is there when parents need her. Wonderful story teller, looks at life with a sense of humor (Lucia)

Beautiful spirit, creativity and sense of humor (Andy)

The way she is always helping others (Andrew)

Your visits to Pleasant Hill - it's so much fun having you come. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and love and con-cern you have for friends and family. (Mama)

What I appreciate most about Lois is her tenacity and strength in the face of challenges, like moving sand bags during difficult times. (Lani)

CHAPTER 8

We Appreciate Andy

What I appreciate about Andy:

His affectionate nature, care with small kind-nesses – whimsical notes left on my car, re-

sourcefulness and commitment to his passions, and his love of crooning like Bing or Ella or Louis! (Lois)

Uncle Andy is nice and smart (Caroline)

His funny and nice personality (Andrew)

Thoughtful, caring, loves to travel, keeps Lois happy ! Inquisitive (Lucia)

Andy, I appreciate your friendliness, your calmness, your writing ability, and you and Lois together. (Betty)

What I appreciate most about Andy is his story-telling on facebook and in newspaper and journal articles. I am in line for the book when it comes out! (Lani)

CHAPTER 9

We Appreciate Edward

What I appreciate about Edward:

I love his Irish brogue – his lilting voice and field of study (Lucia)

Though we’ve never met, I imagine we could have very interesting conversations! (Andy)

His persistent curiosity and sense of adventure, how he took me kayaking on the Atlantic and excavating pieces of old bottles from Prospect Bay – and his interest in re-ligion and frank skepticism about Unitarian Universal-ism. (Lois)

That I will one day meet you (Andrew Yu)

That he’s Irish like my favorite One Direction band member (Caroline)

Edward, I especially enjoy the way you answer the phone and are so friendly. The way you and Lani take care of your dogs. I enjoyed out walks together with Lani and the dogs and our little trip visiting Nova Sco-tia. (Betty)

What I appreciate about Edward is that he wears his crown so well. No, actually I appreciate his joy in gar-dening and life in general! (Lani)

CHAPTER 10

We Appreciate Lani

What I appreciate about Lani:

Creative spirit and sense of humor (Andy)

How she sticks to what she loves, and likes to share her treasures – from the stick dolls she would make out of twigs, cotton and moss, to the cats and Emily collage she fashioned for my Facebook page. How she sees life as an adventure – will always remember when we snuck up to the bow of a ship and watched through the anchor portal in quiet awe as it cut through deep wa-ters. (Lois)

Aunt Lani is very creative and fun (Andrew and Caro-line)

Lani, I appreciate your artistic ability and how you use it to make people happy, your quizzes, love of animals, and how you make my visits so enjoyable. (Betty-Mama)

Creative and knows how to teach others to be creative. Keeps communication lines open, cares about nature, enjoys the experiences life offers (Lucia)

What I appreciate about myself is my sense of humor and fun. It sure doesn’t seem to go away with age, thankfully. And maybe that came from my Grand-mother Charlotte, so I appreciate her for that! (Lani)

CHAPTER 11

We Appreciate Ourselves

Take this space to think about what you appreciate about yourself. It is actually a kind of game to help build resilience and inner strength. You don’t have to tell anyone what you appreciate about yourself, but if you want an example there’s one on Lani’s page. You may discover and realize that your strength is inherited from your ancestors and you will probably come to ap-preciate them as well. Hope so!