Highlights for 2009 / Christmas Newsletter - HomePage

Welcome to the HEART Family 2009 Christmas newsletter. Thank you for visiting our site.

SUMMARY of Key Events of 2009 (not in chronological order)

• Erin gets baptized
• Purchase of new "old" house in Santa Monica.
• Henry rehabs and returns back to work.
  
• Family vacation to Mazatlan, Mexico.
• Erin performs in Beauty & The Beast school play.
• Ryan's mysterious illness forces him to use a wheelchair.
• Erin graduates and goes to SAMOhi (what's SAMOhi?).
• Ryan: From Westwood Charter to Paul Revere MS.
• Family vacation to Yosemite Valley.
• Erin returns to VBS Navajo Missions.
• Erin & Ryan both go to new schools.
• Dad is getting remarried (click BACK to return to this page.)
  

Mazatlan and Yosemite 2009

For Spring Break 2009, our family including Kitty, Alice's Mom and Henry's Dad, took a trip together to Mazatlan, Mexico. We traded our timeshare points for 5 nights at the El Cid Vacation resorts, one of Mexico's largest hotel chains. The accommodations were okay and the service was good. The weather was wonderful, the food was ranged from excellent to so-so depending on where we ate. Henry LOVES Mexican food so every meal was a treat for him!

My only advice for those visiting any El Cid resort/hotel is to "just say 'NO' to buying a vacation plan/timeshare!" Remember that you are buying a Mexican vacation contract: Legal issues and contract conflicts for dealing with Mexico are a nightmare. I suggest that you take advantage of the freebies by listening to a timeshare presentation, but just make sure to say "No, gracias" when they try their hardest to trick you, I mean coerce you, into buying.

Yosemite. Our other major vacation for 2009 was our annual camping trip to Yosemite Valley. This year, we booked 4 sites for 6 families during July. Henry and Alice rented an RV from El Monte RV again. Other than the heat wave, it was a great trip, as usual. The 2 best memories are the numerous bear encounters and daily trips "in" the Merced River to escape the heat.

The clear cool waters was heavenly. We biked Yosemite Valley once or twice a day; we hiked up to Vernal Falls, and took mini-hikes everywhere everyday. Most memorably, we had several bear exciting including Henry's encounter with a fleeing bear that almost ran into him face-to-face (within 5 feet!) in the dark, and a bear hiding within 5' of Wai to try to steal his bacon as he was cooking. Star gazing was fun and exciting too.

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Our 1912 Craftsman Home - Santa Monica

University HS or Santa Monica HS (aka SAMOhi): Which high school was Erin going to attend? We had one week to decide.

All summer we had been trying to decide which high school Erin should attend. After visiting several schools, we hoped to get Erin into SAMOhi. The problem is that we were not residents of Santa Monica. All summer we looked for houses in Santa Monica. We were soon discouraged because most houses we liked were too expensive for us. Fortunately, Henry's aunt generously offered the use of her home address in Santa Monica so that we can declare that we were Santa Monica residents and enroll Erin into Samohi.

At first, we were relieved that Erin could get into SAMOhi, but we began to feel uncomfortable with the idea of lying. Since Henry's accident, we have been so grateful to God for his second chance in life. After sharing our dilemna with our church homegroup and asking them to pray for us for guidance and God's will, our good friends, Jimmy and Janne, bravely called us one night to tell us that the Holy Spirit was prompting them to tell us "not to lie" and to do the right thing. This was the confirmation we had felt all along. Therefore, we submitted to God's will for us to live in integrity and told Erin that we are are not going to lie to get into SAMOhi and that she should go to University HS. Our prayer was very specific: "God, if you want Erin to go to SAMOhi, please provide a house for us that was in a good location that we could afford. If not, we will be happy and content for Erin to go to University HS."

Immediately after our prayer time that Sunday night, Henry suddenly felt compelled to go online again and check one last time for any new listings. Henry found a house, under an estate sale, which had only been on the market for 2 days! It was in a great neighborhood and the price was right! Excitedly, we call my uncle and real estate agent, Robert Lin, to make an appointment to see the house right away. He called the selling agent on Monday morning; we saw the house on Tuesdays; we made an offer on Wednesday; the seller made a counter-offer on Thursday; on Friday, they accepted the counter-offer; and by Monday the house was in escrow. Later, we found out that there were 4 offers on the house, and 2 were at asking-price or higher. Thanks be to God, the seller accepted our offer over the others' higher bids.

The night we received news that we were new homeowners, we gave thanks to God and read the following scripture: "I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you." 1 Chronicles 29:17.

Be careful what you pray for, because God can sometimes answer right away. We are just so amazed how God provided the right place for us, at the right time and at the right price. Only when we fully submitted to Him and stepped out in faith did He bless us and give us the desire of our heart.

We hope to build and finish our simple 2-story house by March 2011.

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Henry & Alice 2009

2009 was the year of recovery and restoration. Physical healing and emotional healing.

Throughout 2009, Henry continued to rehab through physical therapy, acupuncture therapy, jogging and now light weight-lifting. In mid-January '09, I began to drive myself to work, 3 days a week. Despite a minor rear-end accident, which set my rehab back by a month or so, I was still happy to go back to work part-time. And though I lost a key customer to competition and some drop in sales due to the economic crisis, I'm still grateful to be able to work and still support my family. Almost every medical professional that I encounter, who hears about my injury, are amazed by my near-full recovery. Nerves grow back 1/2 inch per year, but spinal chord damage is permanent. Today, I still suffer from numbness and tingling on my hands and legs, my left hand and my digestive system are still both very slow. However, I accept this slight inconvenience and reminder of my accident: "In my weakness, He is made strong."

In April 2009, our entire family went to Mazatlan, Mexico. (click HERE) We had a great time! We enjoyed the beach, the waters, sportfishing, massage therapy, and all fabulous meals included. It was our first family trip together without mom, yet we enjoyed our trip together as a family. For Henry, eating Mexican food every day was a dream come true!

In July, six families went to Yosemite (click HERE) and camped together for a week. We hiked, biked, ate and spent a lot of time in the river to escape the heat.

In September, our family bought a house in Santa Monica. Please read all about it and our interesting story of how and why we got this house. Click here.

Erin. For Erin's story, click HERE.
Alice is glad that Erin is able to take the bus home from school; is patiently waiting for her to change, get ready, change again. Alice is proud of Erin's courage to attend SAMOhi without knowing any new friends. She made new friends within a week. Erin also developed very close friendships from church.

Henry is proud that Erin learned to play bass guitar and now starting to sing, lead or backup vocals, for the Harvest Live worship service. Henry is happy Erin made the JV tennis team and can contribute to the success of the team. Henry was also proud that Erin performed in her school play, Beauty & The Beast. She played both a "Gaston-crazed" village girl and a "spoon" in the Beast's enchanted castle.

RYAN. For Ryan's story, click HERE.
Alice is looking forward to hearing Ryan play his french horn. Henry and Alice are proud that Ryan really enjoys Boys Scouts (BSA) and are really happy with the troop that we picked. Henry is glad that troop 144 has great leaders and wonderful scout activities. Most of all, we are thankful that our family is finally "all healthy." Ryan and Henry have a lot of bonding time together playing Xbox Live (gamer tag "heartfamily5".) Maybe too much fun? Ryan is Henry's hero (rescuer from the waves.)


Henry is blessed to have Alice in his life. Alice has been such a blessing to Henry, Dad and the entire family. At a fellowship gathering, one of our friends called Alice "the rock." Thoughout all the trials of 2008 and 2009, she has the been taking care of all of us.

If God puts trials in those whom he loves, then He must really love us! Alice and I have grown spiritually together so much this year.

Lastly....

In loving memory of Mom.
"A woman of noble character who blessed our lives with love, faith and devotion. A true gift from God, and example to all who knew her. Your cherished memory will forever live in our hearts."

Ryan Ting 2009

In May this year, Ryan missed nearly 5-6 weeks of school. At first, we thought he caught a flu: Slight fever and body aches. After nearly a week with a low-grade fever, Ryan suddenly suffered sever joint pain, starting at the hips, then traveling down to the joints behind the knees, and eventually down to his ankles and feet. The pain was so severe that Ryan eventually couldn't walk. He could only crawl or had to be carried. We had to place towels and trail of rugs from his bed to the bathroom so that he can crawl to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

After a battery of tests, including an MRI, several pediatricians diagnosed that he suffered an auto-immune response caused from streptococcus virus (strep throat.) His body's auto-immune system was attacking his joints (hips, knees, ankles) as it mistakenly thought it was fighting the strep virus. In retrospect, we realized that Ryan had a similar incident a couple years ago, but much less severe. If Ryan was to be exposed and attacked by the strep virus again, his body would likely over-react even more and cause even more pain and suffering. Poor Ryan. Poor Alice. Seeing Ryan sick was harder for Alice than dealing with my broken neck.

After much prayer and consultations with several specialists, we opted to have Ryan "regularly" take penicillin as a precautionary treatment against another strep infection. Within a short time, , and with the aid of a wheelchair, Ryan attended his elementary school graduation and even attended his culmination dance that night. He quickly came to a full recovery after the penicillin.

Several other key events of 2009:

- Paul Revere Middle School. Ryan got into Revere MS via school lottery! It was such an awesome feeling when Ryan's name was picked from the tumbling canister of names of wanna-be students. We are very happy with the school.

- Ryan joins Boys Scouts. Choosing Ryan's middle school was easy. Choosing which Boys Scout troop to join was difficult and also required much praying and consideration. We decided to join Troop 144 so that Ryan can stay with one of his best friends, since pre-school, Conner Smith. Conner was one of the 3 boys that rescued Henry from the waves on Sept 30, 2008.

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Erin Ting 2009

Hi everyone! My name is Erin Ting, I am a 14 years old, and am a proud freshman viking at SAMOhi (Santa Monica High School.)

It’s been another quick year filled with new memories. In June, I happily graduated from Emerson middle school and had high hopes for high school. I decided that I would like to go to Santa Monica high school to start brand new. I had only a few distant friends there and I sort of wanted to just start brand new with the year.

When summer finally came, I had a lot of things planned out. My drama class raised enough money to go on a trip to New York. I enjoyed the place so much. It was a week of sight seeing, shopping, plays, and even a day at New Jersey’s six flags! When I came back, I relaxed only a short time before getting ready to go to Yosemite with my family and other church families.

As soon as I got back, I packed my bags once again and left for another year of Navajo missions. With experience from last year, I was ready for anything. This year went great. The VBS material was fun, our team was prepared and God was with us throughout the trip. When I came back, my summer was coming to an end and I was ready for school.

Now, I am at SAMOhi and I love it. It is the new start I wanted and with new friends and a new attitude. I was on the JV tennis team, but since the season just ended, I’m unsure of what I will do for the second semester.

On Sunday, December 20th, I was baptized. I am absolutely ready to accept God into my heart and I've been pretty active in the church. I'm on the worship team playing the electric bass and singing vocals. It's a lot of fun. As the year comes to an end, I realized that my family had only hit a few speed bumps such as my brother’s illness and a couple other surprises…and I am ready for whatever will come this new year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

With love ,
Erin Ting

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