2018 is quickly coming to an end. As I went through this year's pictures I am amazed at all the things we have been able to do. We have traveled and taught and visited family and have traveled some more. We have visited Harbin, China, the coldest city I've been to and seen their beautiful ice and snow sculptures. We traveled to Japan and Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore. We went to many many cities and places in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Leshan, 4 Gorges Dam, Yangtze River, Guilin, Yangzhuo, Hong Kong, Hainan, Lee River, Mt. Huashan and Zhanjiajie. We said goodbye to the many dear friends we made in Xi'an China with hopes of someday meeting again.
We returned home on July 2 to three of our daughters and their families waiting for us when we got off the airplane. It was a wonderful uniting better than we could envision before returning. We traveled to Colorado 3 different times to visit Annie and Dale and their 5 children. Kim was able to baptize Robi during one of those visits. We spent a week in Iowa helping my mom as my dad recovered from a hip replacement. Then back again in November to celebrate both of their birthdays but especially my dad's 90th. We traveled 3 times to California to help Abbie after giving birth to Maverick James on September 11 and back again when he was blessed by his father, James. We spent many days in several different occasions visiting with Millie and Jacob and their 2 girls in St. George. Kim had 2 visits from 4 former students from XISU in China. We were able to spend 3 weeks in Europe. We went on a Rhine River Cruise with our neighborhood friends and then spent 2 weeks touring Kim's former mission in Germany. We spent 4 days with Ellen Müller, whom Kim baptized on his mission, and her husband Peter. We visited Berlin, Goslar, Celle, Fellbach and Rothenburg, Germany. We spent 2 days in Paris and a day in London. WOW! I often stop myself and ask, is this really happening?
We have had quite the year and feel very fortunate to have the means and the health to be able to do all that we have done. We look forward to 2019 as we anticipate the birth of our 9th granddaughter and 13th grandchild into the O'Neil Family. Early in March we will return to Xi'an, China to finish a contract for the couple that replaced us and are not able to fulfill the contract themselves. We will teach English at the same university for 4 months and will return around July 1. Then we anticipate going on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in August, going to Fiji to help school teachers receive their teaching certificates.
We are grateful for this time of year when we catch up on the lives of all of our family and friends. But especially when we can celebrate the greatest event in history, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We're grateful for our membership in His church and for our testimonies of his love, life and atonement. May you each have a peaceful and joyous Christmas season.
Love from The Ropers,
Kim & Rhonda
Jacob, Ellery, Aayla, & Millie for Aayla's baptism in January. We got to experience through Face Time.
Saying goodbye to our Branch in Xi'an
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| Homecoming! Ellery, Aayla Webb & Macie Schramm |
Robi, Meggie, Annie, Dale, Brinley, Ben
Annie, Dale, Robi, Rem, Ben & Meggie
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Robi's baptism |
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| Macie meets Maverick James 9-11-18 |
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| Maverick's Baby Blessing: Kim, Rhonda, Abbie, Macie, James, Maverick, Jacob, Ellery, Millie & Aayla |
Lee and Grayson, Kim's students from XISU
Andy & Nicholas, Kim's students from XISU
Universal Studios with the Webbs
Lucerne, Switzerland
Goslar, Germany
Rothenburg, Germany
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Paris 90th Birthday Celebration |
Love having these guys living with us.
Check out our China Blog: roperstakeonchina.blogspot.com
Kim put together a video of the Christmas story with our family narrating it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvMJ_3-zROs