Ruiz Review 20th Edition

Hello Friends,

Our humble little family began writing and sharing the “Ruiz Review” 20 years ago as a way of reflecting on the year and sharing with our family and close friends. Our Review has since evolved to sharing with all of you and having my son, Samuel, who is now 17 years old, share in his own words and from his lens.

I’ve already shared the things I learned in 2024 in last month’s letter. In addition to that, the highlights for Rob and me were surrounded by events and activities. As Rob said, “Wow, we do lots of stuff!” :-) Everything from our adventurous and short-lived 20th anniversary trip to Antigua to Samuel getting his driver’s license (boy, has our life completely changed!) to creating unforgettable memories as a family celebrating special occasions in our beloved San Francisco for Rob’s birthday, Mother’s Day and spending a day playing “tourists” (just the 3 of us)!

We also enjoyed watching Samuel’s multiple guitar performances, including his 1st gig at a local restaurant in Downtown Danville. He even earned a creative scholarship for his musical talent! We also loved watching him race during cross country and track seasons (he is an avid runner and has fallen in love with the sport). We are humbled and so grateful for Samuel’s deepening relationship with our Lord and his love of worshiping God through music. We attended our fair share of concerts & comedy acts, The Marley Brothers & Jerry Seinfeld being our favorites of the year.

We were grateful to continue some of our favorite family traditions including watching the Blue Angels and,my personal favorite, watching the final sunset of the year at Sam’s Chowder House on New Year’s Eve. Professionally we were humbled and blessed to receive the “Best Realtor” award through both the San Mateo and Danville Area Chambers of Commerce Community Awards. Thank you for your continued support, encouragement and referrals - we’re incredibly grateful to serve you all and to call you our friends. We cherish the time we get to spend with our parents as we make it a priority to have “family day” with Rob’s parents and attend church together. I also hold dear the special time I get to spend with my parents going to the City to have lunch and watch plays together!

Lastly, Rob & I enjoyed a few short trips throughout the year … from food & wine pairings in beautiful Napa Valley, to a relaxing time away in Carmel, Santa Cruz and a family road trip to Magic Mountain after hosting Christmas at our place for family and friends (a first for us - it was SO much fun)!

My heart is overflowing with gratitude as I share all of these wonderful memories with you. And, now, you get to hear from my son and his perspective on the past year …

2024 has brought countless highs and lows, but God has remained my Rock. I’ve been working at Forward Motion Sports in Danville for just over a year now, and I absolutely love my job. It’s a blessing to do something I love as a first job, and I’m quite grateful for the opportunity to work at FMS and sell running shoes. I’ve also had my driver’s license for just about a year. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to drive as it has made my life and my parents’ lives significantly easier. Junior year has been a fruitful but stressful year. I finished semester one with a 4.0 GPA and honestly, it wasn’t worth the time or stress. While school is important, I was at a point where I was idolizing it, and halfway through finals I just let go of all the worries that I wouldn’t get a 4.0 because my value does not come from my grades. For the first time in my life, I realized that my value comes from who I am in Christ and nothing else. Running has also been a huge gift in my life and something I’ve leaned into this year. I found out the hard way that big mileage jumps don’t work out too well, as I got tendonitis in my left knee for the last ⅓ of the cross-country season. While this was unfortunate, I was very pleased with my season, and I’m stoked for track season. And, of course, playing guitar has been quite the journey this year. This year I truly found the sound I was looking for, and leaning into that has been a huge blessing. I play electric guitar for my school’s jazz band and also play it for my school’s worship team. Berean (my school) and Mission (my church) have played a huge role in my walk with God this year, and I have been blessed with many mentors in my life and lifelong friends who I can always go to. The biggest takeaway from this year, specifically in my walk with God has been that my value is in Him and Him alone. God is immutable and eternal. Everything in this life fails, but God never does. Learning to find my value in Him has brought me a joy greater than any other in this world because I know who I am and I know what Christ has promised me. Happy New Year! - Samuel Ruiz

If you're getting this letter please know that you are loved by us. We are grateful to know you and blessed to have crossed paths with you in this lifetime.

From our humble little family to yours we wish you a year filled with new adventures, fears overcome, dreams realized, unexpected opportunities, bridges gapped, bucket list items checked off, exponential growth, sweet surprises and an overflowing abundance of joy!

Love & blessings,

Rica