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Christmas,
2014
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(click on the picture to see a detailed view)
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| Dear Friends, |
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2014 was an exciting year as we watch our
younger members growing up. And there were some interesting
travel opportunities for the family.
Here’s the summary of our year in Lake Charles, LA. |
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In February, Sarah made her Bat Mitzvah. She did
a beautiful job with her chanting and played some wonderful piano
pieces. Young grandson, Leo, is walking now, and
granddaughters, Chloe and Lilah, are doing exceptionally well.
And there was news that the family will be expanding.
Lisa announced her engagement to Jason Rosensteel with a
wedding planned for early 2016.
Mark worked the entire year in South Africa as part of his ex-pat
assignment with Sasol Synfuels. Samuel and Lisa visited their
Dad in SA, going to Cape Town in early January. There the
three of them climbed Table
Mountain, rising 1000 meters above the city. Sarah,
Lisa, Ellen, and Mark spent a week in Scottsdale, AZ, in July.
Then in November it was Ellen’s and Sarah’s turn to visit
South Africa (Knysna, Cape Town, and other places).
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The highlight of the year for many was the
Texas A&M Aggies vs. LSU Tigers football game last
November. Lisa and Jason made the trek from Baton Rouge to
College Station, TX, and joined Samuel and his girlfriend Katie
O’Brien for a good old-fashioned football rivalry. As is often
the case, it was another heart-breaking loss for the Aggies.
On that same day Mark, Ellen, and Sarah were having a quiet
Thanksgiving dinner in Cape Town.
In December, Mark was home from South Africa for the holidays.
The family was host to Mark’s sister, Gina, and her
daughter, Carly, who visited from Pensacola, as well as Anthony and
Joseph and their families visiting from Houston. Jason and his
parents were here, too, so we had a wonderful group. |
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Sarah is now 14 and continues to grow into
a mature young lady. She’s in the eighth grade and continues to
make top grades in the SPARK program at SJ Welsh. As mentioned
earlier, she made the accomplishment of her Bat Mitzvah at Temple
Sinai in February. She continues her after-school activities such as
piano lessons and dance. Over the summer she went to state rally for
piano and received an Honorable Mention--not too shabby for being in
a higher and harder level. In district rally she finished second in
her division. She still plays the French horn in her school band,
and continues to be in the symphonic band, which is the highest
band at her school. Instead of participating in the local arts camp,
last summer Sarah attended her first sleep-away camp. It’s called
Camp Olympia. She enjoyed it so much that she’s going back again
this summer. Sarah now has an iPad Air as well as an iPod
touch. She still has a dumb cell phone which comes in handy as
she needs it. |
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Lisa had a very exciting year. Her boyfriend, Jason
Rosensteel, asked her to marry him on July 4th. She of course said
“yes” and they have set a date for the big day on March 5, 2016.
Lisa and Jason have also taken the next step in their relationship
by adopting a cat, Ashton. When they’re home, Ashton requires their
full attention. Lisa completed her second summer engineering
internship with Axiall. She worked at the old Georgia Gulf facility
this time and loved her coworkers and assignments. While the work
was a bit more in-depth, she gained valuable experience that will
prepare her for her future career. Meanwhile, she
continues at LSU working on her Chemical Engineering degree.
Lisa was offered permanent, full-time employment at Axiall in Lake
Charles to start after her graduation this May, and she gladly
accepted. She only has one more semester ahead of her before she can
begin her exciting new job. While driving to work one summer morning
in one of our traditional Louisiana monsoons, her beloved VW Beetle
found its way into a ditch
full of water. Once she released the car to Beetle
heaven, she decided to follow in her brother’s and father’s
footsteps by getting a manual-shift diesel Jetta (2014 model).
This makes three in the family now. |
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Samuel continues to work in the process
control group at Chevron Phillips in Port Arthur, TX. He is
actively implementing control improvement strategies which have
been well received by the plant. Samuel also experienced the
commissioning of a new boiler unit where he took on a lead role in
implementing all of the regulatory control. This past year,
Samuel decided to move past apartment living and purchase his first
house. Now Pebbles
the cat has much more room to run around and play with his two
new furry friends, Chico
and Typhoon.
Samuel’s devotion to Aggie football stayed strong while traveling to
every home game this past season with his girlfriend Katie,
including the aforementioned Thanksgiving game against LSU. |
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Ellen continues as the “stay-at-home mom,”
running the household while Mark is away in South Africa.
Things have gone pretty smooth, all things considered. And she
really enjoyed her second trip to South Africa, becoming quite fond
of the Cape Town area and all it has to offer. She especially
liked the narrow one-lane dirt roads winding through the mountains
in the rain and mist. Ellen continues to work out at the local
Curves Center and to volunteer at Sarah’s Middle school.
Although she still teaches Sunday school at the Synagogue,
considerable time was spent helping Sarah to prepare for her Bat
Mitzvah in February. And, of course, she still has to tend to
our three kitties (Luke, Lucy, and Tidwell).
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2014 was a fantastic year for Joseph and
Jessica. They spent a gorgeous week in Punta Cana, Dominican
Republic, and the whole family took a trip to Disney in October.
Joseph is continuing in his successful career at LyondellBasell as
the Control Systems Engineering Manager. The growing group
under his management now includes over 20 engineers, technologists,
and specialists. He led and participated in many prosperous
projects including two DCS upgrades and other capital expansion
projects.
Jessica is loving spending time with her smart, beautiful
daughters. Her life is filled with sparkle and tutus,
and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Chloe turned five and is thriving in her second year of
preschool. She has learned to read, do addition and
subtraction, identify all of the continents, name all of the planets
and much more. She has moved up two levels in swim lessons and
has begun singing in the church choir. Her favorite, however,
is ballet. She is a born performer who gives us much joy with
her impromptu shows. She is such a kind-hearted, caring child.
Lilah will soon be turning three and is spending her last year at
home. She knows her colors and is working on her letters and
numbers. She loves caring for her baby dolls, playing with her
big sister, and dancing. Anything mermaids or Tinkerbell makes
her happy, and she is enthralled with big show productions.
Every week she looks forward to her swim lessons and tap/ballet
classes. Lilah is such a happy child, always laughing and
giving hugs (if you can catch her!) |
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Anthony and Erika
continue living in Houston with their son
Leo. Leo decided to start
walking on his 1st birthday. He is very inquisitive, now
saying and signing some words, and is advancing quickly. He is
a very happy and pleasant baby and is usually laughing, talking, or
smiling. Many can't believe what a good baby he is.
Erika’s first year as a stay-home mom was an eye-opening
experience. She can’t remember how many times she couldn't
drink a hot cup of coffee, eat a hot dinner, or sleep through the
night, but definitely doesn’t regret having the toughest job in the
world. Anthony continues to work for LyondellBasell and is
winding down his Project Manager duties in the La Porte olefins
expansion project with its successful completion. He is now
serving as the lead Principal process control engineer and project
manager on a major advanced process control (APC) project to revamp
and add new APC applications, which is projected to make the company
millions.
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Mark’s home-away-from-home is Secunda, South Africa, working as a
Senior Process Control Engineer at Sasol Synfuels for two years,
the bulk of which is now completed. The work has proven to
be diverse and educational. The various chemical and
refining processes plus the heart of the operation (the
coal-to-liquids process) have given him the opportunity to learn
and to solve some fairly unique problems. The entire
experience has been rewarding as well as challenging. He has
shared his knowledge and experience with numerous young engineers
so that the work can continue after he returns to Lake
Charles. Outdoor life in South Africa is fantastic. As
mentioned earlier, there were two trips to Cape Town as host to
the family members, and Mark got the feel of hiking South African
style during a weekend outing near Parys. During the year he
managed to take a few international excursions: a week in Hong
Kong, and shorter trips to Mozambique and Cairo, Egypt. With
Sasol’s
approval of a project to build more new units at this site,
it looks as if retirement may be farther away than previously
thought. So the move to the Scottsdale retirement home is
still on the horizon, but it will have to wait for a little
while. Somehow, the most exciting stuff seems to come when
we are almost ready to quit. So for now Mark will carry on
with the work as long as it’s still good.
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| Our kitties Luke,
Lucy,
and Tidwell continue
to
hang with us. No status change here, just that they’re
probably a little more spoiled than last year, if that is possible.
They do seem to have lost some of the speed at which they would run
into and out of the house. Mark had them trained to minimize
the time that the door remained open but now that he’s away most of
the time they just resort to ambling in and out. Meanwhile,
these cats continue to rule. |
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| This year we are thankful that we’re all in good
health and we continue to have interesting, gainful employment. You
can find this Christmas newsletter and all those from previous years
online. Just go to our Web Home Page and click on the Christmas tree
near the bottom of the page. Please note our Internet addresses
below, as well as our street address. Please write (snail mail or
email) or stop by for a visit if you’re in the area. We hope you are
all healthy and feeling lots of joy. We wish you a very Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year! |
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Mark, Ellen, Joseph, Jessica, Chloe, Lilah,
Anthony, Erika, Leo, Samuel, Lisa, Sarah, and Luke, Lucy, and
Tidwell the cats
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