Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Christmas Newsletter 2009

Not to have a year in our family without babies… in January we welcomed C & R’s baby boy and on November 18th we welcomed our third child, a baby daughter.  She is named after K & J’s grandmothers.  Let’s see who will have a baby in 2010!!!

The boys anticipated DD’s arrival with much excitement throughout K’s pregnancy and just love their little sister.

DS1 turned 5 in July and moved from Junior Kindergarten to Senior Kindergarten this year as we continued to homeschool.  His reading skills continue to improve as well as his interest in math and sciences.  DS2 turned 3 in November and loves to participate in our lessons and do his own seat work.  Both the boys started AWANA this Fall and have memorized several Bible verses through this program.  They enjoy interacting with their peers in this setting as well as during Sunday School at our church.  Our local homeschool group has also given us the opportunity to take them to the Zoo, on a “Pumpkin Tour”, to a “Life at the Longhouse” educational program, and to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum).

This year K transferred from a branch at the East end of M to a smaller one at the West end, shaving a bit of time off the commute and also placing her in a position to do more reference work.  She has completed ¾ of her Masters of Information Sciences degree and has 5 credits left to complete when she returns to her studies at the end of her maternity leave.

J did a HUGE amount of work on our new home in the year we’ve been there – he replaced all the old windows (10 in all), did lots of rewiring, built himself an office, built a brand new bedroom from scratch, and even put in a second bathroom!  He was also asked by two people to work on special projects for their homes so his skills are being put to very good use outside of his work at H.D.

In July we billeted an international student for the 5th year and since September we have had the pleasure of hosting a lovely young lady from Japan.  She is here for the school year so is with us until June 2010.  August found us at World’s End State Park in Pennsylvania for our annual vacation with J’s family.

Sadly, this year also included a tragic loss to our family.  On July 24th K’s brother-in-law S was in a motorcycle accident just blocks from home and died instantly.  Please keep K's sister S and her daughters R and J in prayer this Christmas season.

Wishing you every blessing for the new year!