December 2016

To our family and friends,

We hope this letter finds you and your family happy, healthy and enjoying the holiday season! Continuing the Neader tradition, here is the 2016 Year in Review. NOTE:  you can click photos to enlarge them.  Wow!

Last year we said that the theme of 2015 was “International”. Although we took no trips out of the country, 2016 proved to be another very “international” year.

During January, Ashlyn was excited to learn that the Rotary Club had selected the Vienna, Austria area as the location for her year-long student exchange (Aug ‘16 – Jul ‘17). Once the country was chosen, the focus turned to all the planning and paperwork (and many meetings) necessary to prepare her for this amazing journey.

In mid-June, Ashlyn left on a 3-week trip to Germany. Last fall, high school students from Stuttgart, Germany came to stay in La Crosse for 3 weeks, and now it was time for the La Crosse students to visit Stuttgart. Ashlyn was thrilled to be reunited with her friend, Lara, who had stayed with us during last fall’s exchange.

In early July, while Ashlyn was still in Germany, we welcomed Cameron back to the USA, after his yearlong Rotary Club exchange to Istanbul, Turkey. Cameron had an absolutely amazing experience in Turkey. His host family took such great care of him, and he made many lasting friendships with friends from his school as well as the many exchange students that had come to the Istanbul area from around the world. Cameron especially enjoyed making the almost daily trek from his suburban location into Istanbul, to explore all that the city had to offer. He also had a chance to go on some extended tours of the country and even into the neighboring country of Georgia. While we certainly had some concerns about his safety while in Turkey, we knew that he was being kept as safe as possible, and that the odds of him being harmed by terror attacks were very minimal.

A few days after having Cameron home, it was time to head to Grand Rapids, MI for a 4-day Rotary Youth Exchange conference. Rotary exchange students are required to attend this conference before their exchange, and again the next year, after their exchange. Since this was a mandatory conference, Ashlyn had to cut her trip to Germany short by a day, and fly home all by herself, via Chicago, where we picked her up on the way to Grand Rapids. On the final night of the conference, Cameron one again sang and played piano at the Variety Show, with over 1000 parents and students in attendance.

With the family all back in the USA again, in mid July we took a trip to South Dakota to visit with Laurie’s dad and step-mom in Rapid City, SD. Along the way and back, we did some sight-seeing, shopping and played some “Pokémon GO” (hey, it was fun for a while…). At the end of July, we hosted a ‘Going Away’ party for Ashlyn, where she could say goodbye to her friends and family, as her exchange to Austria drew near.

In early August, we drove to Minneapolis to welcome our friend from Japan, Gart, and his son, Gart Jr. It had been many years since we had spent time with them, and we were excited to have this opportunity to have them stay with us for over a week. The day after picking them up at the airport, it was time to drop Ashlyn off at the same airport, to send her on her way to Austria for her year-long exchange. While many tears were shed, we knew she’d be soon having the time of her life in Austria.

In mid-August, we welcomed Simran from India into our home. She is 17 years old and is here on a year-long student exchange through the Rotary Club. This brave young lady had never travelled outside of India before boarding a plane and flying all the way to Wisconsin! Simran will stay with three La Crosse area families, with the Neader family being her first. Before school started, we took Simran on a trip to show her some sights, including Door County, Wisconsin and Mackinac Island, Michigan.

The “International” theme for the year continues into the fall. Our family is a member of the “La Crosse Friends of International Students”, which matches up local families with International students that attend our local college, UW-La Crosse. This fall, we were matched up with two students for the first semester: Mika and Miwa, both from Japan. We enjoyed getting to know them and showing them around the La Crosse area.

Now for a little summary about what each of us is up to: Cameron is 19 years old and is a Freshman at UW-La Crosse. He’s not yet sure about his major, but leaning towards Communications. Cameron continues to enjoy photography, playing piano and singing.

Ashlyn is 16 years old and on a year-long student exchange to Austria. She is living with a host family about 9 miles from Vienna, in a small town of 300 called Seebarn. She attends high school in the nearby city of Korneuburg. Ashlyn is working very hard on improving her German language skills, loves her host family (and Wiener Schnitzel) and is thoroughly enjoying the experience. You can visit Ashlyn’s blog at http://ashlyn.neader.com/

Macy is 13 years old and in 8th grade at Longfellow Middle School. Macy does very well in academics, like her brother and sister. In addition to playing piano, she is really enjoying playing percussion in the school band, and thinks she might like to be a Band Director some day.

Scott continues to stay busy with his web hosting business, QTH.com, and is still very thankful to be able to work from home. In April, Scott traveled on Amtrak (his first train ride in the USA), to attend a cPanel web hosting conference in Chicago. In his spare time, he still enjoys operating ham radio, listening to music and, when the weather allows, driving around in his 1984 Porsche 911.

Laurie continues to stay busy managing the Neader house. The calendar hanging on the refrigerator is always full of events, and she makes sure everyone is where they need to be, while handing all the other tasks necessary to keep up the house. When she finds a moment to relax, Laurie enjoys listening to audio books, reading, keeping in touch with friends via Facebook and feeding the birds.

Well, that’s the 2016 year-in-review. Until next year… Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

Scott, Laurie, Cameron, Ashlyn & Macy Neader