Showing posts with label Christmas letter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas letter. Show all posts
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
2010 Christmas Newsletter
Dear Friends and Family,
Here's a quick update on what our family has been up to this year.
C is currently in the second grade. She absolutely adores her teacher, and it appears the feelings are mutual. Her teacher is a great advocate for C and has been very helpful to us in trying to get extra assistance that will help her succeed both socially and academically. We are so proud of her and the progress she has been making. C is very artistic and has great vision. What to us is just boxes and bottles in the recycle bin, she sees nativity scenes and bird houses. It never ceases to amaze us what projects she is able to dream up and bring to life.
M is excited to be at the big kid school this year where she is in morning kindergarten. She loves school and her teacher, who somehow manages to exude calmness amidst a bunch of boisterous five year olds. M also played soccer this fall. Once she scored her first goal she was hooked! She is a great player and is so much fun to watch – she plays more aggressively than many of the other kids her age, plus she's bigger than most of them too. Her coach had to remind her that she can't go bowling over everyone around her and she eventually struck just the right balance. She is looking forward to doing soccer again in the spring.
This fall we found that there is a horse riding scout troop that meets literally right around the corner from our house. So the girls are now officially part of the boy scout organization, even though the rest of the scouts in their troop are all girls too. They are loving learning how to ride the horses, and enjoy helping to feed and groom them also. I've never spent much time around horses, so I'm having fun with the interaction and learning a lot as well.
This summer we ended up taking a last minute road trip. My youngest brother's wife died suddenly and unexpectedly in July, so the very next day the girls and I hopped in the van and drove to Utah. P joined us a few days later. While the circumstances were sad, it was still nice to spend time with so many family members that we don't often see. From Utah we drove to Arizona for the second funeral, and Nikki's final resting place. The girls were so good during both services and while logging so many hours in the car that we decided to reward them by stopping at Disneyland on the way home. Although I never would have chosen to visit Disneyland during the peak tourist season, we still had a great time – spending two days at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure.
I did lose my job this year as anticipated. My last day of work was in late May, which is when the office closed, although I got paid thru late July – so as far as losing a job goes, I fared better than many others. I have yet to find a new part time job that meets our family's needs, but for now it's nice to be home when M gets out of school at 10:45am, and it also allows me to volunteer in both classrooms every week, which I haven't been able to do in the past. It was also nice to not have to worry about taking time off when I had to leave so quickly this summer. So far I am enjoying my freedom, but I would like to go back to work if I can find the right fit.
P continues to keep as busy as ever. Although cars aren't selling real well right now, he still has restaurant repairs, scouting trips, planning church activities and never ending paperwork to occupy his time.
We look forward to the new year and hope for great things. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and that 2011 brings the best for you!
Love,
P, Me, C & M
Sunday, December 27, 2009
2009 Family newsletter
Dear Friends and Family,
I’m trying something new with the newsletter this year – most of you will be reading it online on either my (neglected) blog or Facebook. I apologize that I am behind, as usual, in getting this out. And I guess when you consider that I didn’t even get cards or a newsletter sent out to anyone in 2008, this is grossly overdue!
Last December turned out to be quite an unusual month for us. To start it off, we took our first big family vacation since having children – we spent a week in Maui with my parents to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary! It was a wonderful time to be there, and we hope to be able to go again, hopefully in the not too distant future.
When we returned home we were soon met a series of snow storms, leaving us with an unprecedented three weeks of snow on the ground – which is something of a Christmas miracle in and of itself for us here. Although I can tell you that it felt less than miraculous at the time, with practically everything canceled for an extended period of time. The kids sure enjoyed it though, and it was fun to get some good use out of our sleds. I can tell you that having snow on the ground last year set some pretty unrealistic expectations for the kids of what Christmas is supposed to be like. C was downhearted all of Christmas Day this year because it just didn’t feel like Christmas to her without snow.
Click here to see our photos from last December & read more about our trip. And here to see more snow photos.
On December 31st, it was with a heavy heart that P and his parents closed down their restaurant in Dundee. It had been losing money for quite some time and with no hope of economic improvement expected in the near future, they made the difficult decision to lock the doors. On top of that, they’ve been disheartened by the fact that some key employees had been stealing from them for some time, but lacked solid enough evidence for law officials to pursue charges. While it has been a difficult time dealing with all the ramifications of closing the business, it has ultimately taken a lot of stress off of P which has been a positive change in his life.
In 2009 we have felt that we have been greatly blessed despite the tumultuous times. P continues to sell enough cars to cash his paychecks, and I survived two rounds of layoffs at work. In a year in which we’ve lost three neighbors on our little cul-de-sac to bank foreclosures, we are immensely thankful that we have a comfortable home, warm clothes and plentiful food. More than that, we are grateful for a happy marriage, two wonderful children, a loving, supportive extended family, and caring friends.
This year we were fortunate to be able to take another family vacation. We’ve long wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise and this year the prices were down enough that it became a reality! We went with P’s sister (and her family) and his parents. I had been thinking that a cruise would really be the perfect family vacation, and this proved to be true! The girls loved swimming every day and playing with their cousins. For the parents it was relaxing, and we loved the sightseeing.
In September we added a new member to our family – a dachshund mix that we named Bailey. He came from the humane society and is 1-2 years old. He has been a great addition as he gets along with all human, canine and feline companions in our home.
This year the tooth fairy has become a regular visitor at our house. C lost her first tooth in February and is down six teeth now. M lost her first tooth in November and is currently down two. Although M’s new teeth were already above the gum line when she lost her baby teeth, we worry a bit that she will loosen up teeth that aren’t ready to come out yet just so she can collect the money for them.
The fall brought big changes for C as she started first grade in a new school. Every new school year is challenging, but this year was even more so as she went from a teacher-student ratio of 1-9 to 1-27. She is making good progress with the help of her caring teacher and a wonderful support team at the school. She also has a new friend that moved in up the street, and I think that friendship has really done a lot to help C.
M is in her final year of preschool this year. She loves going to school three days a week and seeing her friends. Mondays are her favorite days because they are “Molly days.” Since I work a full day on Mondays, she goes home with Molly for a few hours until P picks her up. She is a real social butterfly and loves to give out hugs – making her a favorite among the older women at church.
We are thankful every day for the opportunity to be parents to our special girls, and we are ever mindful of the many ways we are blessed. We look forward to 2010 and are hopeful for positive changes. We recently learned that I will be losing my job sometime next year – most likely in the second quarter. I’ve been with my company for 13 years and it’s hard to imagine what life will be like, but I do know that life will go on, and I have faith that somehow it will be even better!
We thank you all for your love and friendship, and wish you the very best for the new year!
Love,
The Mod Quad
PS - check back because I'm working on picking out and editing photos from July forward, including Alaska. I'm hoping to get them posted in the next week.
I’m trying something new with the newsletter this year – most of you will be reading it online on either my (neglected) blog or Facebook. I apologize that I am behind, as usual, in getting this out. And I guess when you consider that I didn’t even get cards or a newsletter sent out to anyone in 2008, this is grossly overdue!
Last December turned out to be quite an unusual month for us. To start it off, we took our first big family vacation since having children – we spent a week in Maui with my parents to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary! It was a wonderful time to be there, and we hope to be able to go again, hopefully in the not too distant future.
When we returned home we were soon met a series of snow storms, leaving us with an unprecedented three weeks of snow on the ground – which is something of a Christmas miracle in and of itself for us here. Although I can tell you that it felt less than miraculous at the time, with practically everything canceled for an extended period of time. The kids sure enjoyed it though, and it was fun to get some good use out of our sleds. I can tell you that having snow on the ground last year set some pretty unrealistic expectations for the kids of what Christmas is supposed to be like. C was downhearted all of Christmas Day this year because it just didn’t feel like Christmas to her without snow.
Click here to see our photos from last December & read more about our trip. And here to see more snow photos.
On December 31st, it was with a heavy heart that P and his parents closed down their restaurant in Dundee. It had been losing money for quite some time and with no hope of economic improvement expected in the near future, they made the difficult decision to lock the doors. On top of that, they’ve been disheartened by the fact that some key employees had been stealing from them for some time, but lacked solid enough evidence for law officials to pursue charges. While it has been a difficult time dealing with all the ramifications of closing the business, it has ultimately taken a lot of stress off of P which has been a positive change in his life.
In 2009 we have felt that we have been greatly blessed despite the tumultuous times. P continues to sell enough cars to cash his paychecks, and I survived two rounds of layoffs at work. In a year in which we’ve lost three neighbors on our little cul-de-sac to bank foreclosures, we are immensely thankful that we have a comfortable home, warm clothes and plentiful food. More than that, we are grateful for a happy marriage, two wonderful children, a loving, supportive extended family, and caring friends.
This year we were fortunate to be able to take another family vacation. We’ve long wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise and this year the prices were down enough that it became a reality! We went with P’s sister (and her family) and his parents. I had been thinking that a cruise would really be the perfect family vacation, and this proved to be true! The girls loved swimming every day and playing with their cousins. For the parents it was relaxing, and we loved the sightseeing.
In September we added a new member to our family – a dachshund mix that we named Bailey. He came from the humane society and is 1-2 years old. He has been a great addition as he gets along with all human, canine and feline companions in our home.
This year the tooth fairy has become a regular visitor at our house. C lost her first tooth in February and is down six teeth now. M lost her first tooth in November and is currently down two. Although M’s new teeth were already above the gum line when she lost her baby teeth, we worry a bit that she will loosen up teeth that aren’t ready to come out yet just so she can collect the money for them.
The fall brought big changes for C as she started first grade in a new school. Every new school year is challenging, but this year was even more so as she went from a teacher-student ratio of 1-9 to 1-27. She is making good progress with the help of her caring teacher and a wonderful support team at the school. She also has a new friend that moved in up the street, and I think that friendship has really done a lot to help C.
M is in her final year of preschool this year. She loves going to school three days a week and seeing her friends. Mondays are her favorite days because they are “Molly days.” Since I work a full day on Mondays, she goes home with Molly for a few hours until P picks her up. She is a real social butterfly and loves to give out hugs – making her a favorite among the older women at church.
We are thankful every day for the opportunity to be parents to our special girls, and we are ever mindful of the many ways we are blessed. We look forward to 2010 and are hopeful for positive changes. We recently learned that I will be losing my job sometime next year – most likely in the second quarter. I’ve been with my company for 13 years and it’s hard to imagine what life will be like, but I do know that life will go on, and I have faith that somehow it will be even better!
We thank you all for your love and friendship, and wish you the very best for the new year!
Love,
The Mod Quad
PS - check back because I'm working on picking out and editing photos from July forward, including Alaska. I'm hoping to get them posted in the next week.
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