Some prosperity, good health and above all, peace! Best wishes for 2014.

It rains today, it is cold, not really winter cold, but dark weather, the time of Christmas and New Year. End of the year, writing the end-year summaries. Time for the seasonal greetings with some pictures this time. Firs the two of us: both 71 years old and we are happy with pretty good health, enough prosperity to enoy life and peace with ourselves, our family and friends and peace in this part of the world. Have a look below.

In 2013 the wives of our sons Floris and Stijn, Irene and even more serious Inge, had to recover from the  health problems experienced while delivering in 2012. The young lady Maud grew steadily, like also more heavy and broadly built Diemer.  Our sons Floris and Stijn had to work very hard in their jobs, besides taking care for the babies (from very early in the morning, 5 am is not an exception for both) This is the style of modern parenthood (probably also the older style, but we have forgotten all these details about the troubles and anguishes during first years of our children and only remember the nice aspects and good outcome.
Paule edited the 90th issue of Steenbrink Times, started in 1992 while we lived in Montreal. It was a uarterly magazine of mutual information for members of our great family. But now more and more members of our generation are growing old and therefore there is less news and so she decided to stop the publication. Thank you for publishing it nearly 22 years!
Karel gave still a HOVO course in the first half ot the year, but after more than six years the series had stopped: the series about beginning, development of Islam until the modern developments had reache hundreds of people, but now it was enough: repetition is not always good. The third volume of the Catholic History of Indonesia was also a long-term project, starting in the early 1990s and for the last volume in 2007. It is now finished as the 3d volume under the title: Catholics in Independent Indonesia. It is still a matter of discussion where it will be published. KITLV has stopped its editing service. Karel was with Gurkan Celik in Utrecht and Johan Leman in Louvain editor for a book on Fethullah Gülenand his influence among European Muslims. I hope that it will be publiehd in 2014.

There was some traveling: to Kent in May together with the older sisters Alice and Edwien; karel went to EUROSEAS in Lisbon, early July; together we went to see Assisi and Perugia (again) in September.  Karel gave some guestlecture in the period 4-13 December, at the UIn of Jakarta and in Kupang to celebrate the birth of ASAKKIA, Association of Christian Islamologists in Indonesia.Alle these events were decribed in some blog stories.

Grand children are very often an interesting duty for us in these years. Paule reads many novels, Karel only when he wants to write about it, like the novels of Ayu Utami for the EUROSEAS Conference. We often walk, swim, try to stay in good condition also by long walks. We thank God for peace and prosperity in our country and many parts of Europe and pray that there may be peace in the whole world.