2008 Christmas review

Welcome to our 2008 year end review annual Christmas newsletter.
It's that time of year again, where I attempt to boil down hundreds of thousands of moments and pictures into a few short paragraphs. This year has been a full one: full of challenges, full of laughter, full of everyday craziness, and full of blessings.

I'll fill you in on each of the kiddos as best I can, and then share a few noteworthy events from the year. Here goes . ..

Esther (3)- What can I say? She is getting to be such a big girl, I can't believe she's almost 4. She continually amazes me with how quick she catches onto things. Her favorite thing to do right now is gymnastics, which she has been in since the fall of 2007. In May of this year, she started the big girl class (without parents), so she has had to learn to listen to her teachers instructions. She is now able to walk across the beam and do a toe touch on the trampline.
She started Spanish in September, she goes once a week for an hour and it is amazing already how much she has learned. She also started cubbies at church in September (awanas). She has to learn a verse every week and they sing songs, do crafts, play games and learn about Jesus every week. I am always amazed at how quickly she learns her verse every week. She memorizes things so quickly - she had the entire 23rd psalm memorized when she was 2 1/2.
Besides those things, she loves to run outside, color, and she can put puzzles together as fast as her mom did at her age (which is really fast :). She's also my little cuddler and such a sweetheart.


March 2008 December 2008


These pictures show just how much she has grown up this year.





Luke (1) - He is our little no fear man. He is not afraid of anything - except Santa! I called him my little 19 lb. firecracker earlier this year, but I can't call him that anymore because he's a whopping 20 lbs.
He will jump off of anything, climb up anything, he's a little daredevil.
He loves to run, jump, climb, and scream. Balloons and trains will occupy him for hours, and he can spot a bus a mile away. He is talking more every day, and I can actually understand a few things he says (Esther usually knows if I don't). He is such a little ham, he cracks us up all the time and he is also such a loving little guy. He is stubborn as a mule, but such a mamma's boy.
He had a run in with the campylobacter virus earlier this year, which meant he was sick for over a month, but he has regained his weight and is doing very well now.


The photo on the left was taken in January and the photo on the right was taken in November - how much he's grown! (well, not really grown too much, just got more hair)






The kids love going to the play place at the mall and sliding down the slide together.



As far as highlights this year for our family, we were so fortunate and got to go to Florida for 2 weeks in April and spend some time with Kenneth's family. While we were there Kenneth and I got to go with his brother and wife on a cruise for 5 nights, while Papa and Babi watched the kiddos. We are so blessed to have them watch the kids so we can get away. We also were able to take the kids to the beach - they loved it all, except the water!
In May we got a zoo pass, so we went to the zoo about 3 times during the summer. Both kids loved it and Esther got to ride on a carousel for the very first time. I have never seen such a big smile on her face the entire time!
















In June we took a 3 day family vacation to put-in-bay up on Lake Erie with my mom's entire side of the family - I think there were around 25 of us including 10 kids under 7. We had a blast taking a tour of the island, swimming in the pool, and getting to spend time with family that we don't see too often. Esther even got to pet a snake while we were there.





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The kids and I also got a membership to a waterpark and went about 3 times a week with one of my friends and her kids. It was really good for the kids because when we first started they were scared to death of the water, but by the end of the summer, Esther actually put her face in the water.
In July, Esther got to go to fireworks with daddy. You can see that her hair is so curly when the weather gets humid.

In August, we bought a boat! We actually got lots of use out of it before it got cold. We weren't sure, since we didn't get it until August, but it stayed nice through September this year. We've got a giant tube, a kneeboard, and skis. So there is something for all of us to do. The kids will get in the tube with one of us and I'll kneeboard and Kenneth does it all. We've already had lots of fun and I'm so excited about this coming summer.































We've had a lot of special visits from Kenneth's family this year - his sister, Rebekah, came to visit for 8 days in August. His parents came to visit for 8 days in October, and his brother, Michael, came to visit over Thanksgiving. It was so great to have each one of them come, since we are not able to go down for a holiday this year.


As far as me, besides staying home with the kiddos full time, I've gotten involved with our church quite a bit. I've also gotten back into running this year. I've done about four 5K's, a 10K, a 5 miler and a half marathon. This is the picture from my half marathon in September - I finished 6th out of 165 in my age category with a time of 1:40:26, which beat my goal of 1:45. and now I have a new goal - to do an ironman someday!



Kenneth has been traveling a lot this year with his job, so he hasn't had much time for a lot of other things. But, he is involved in a men's Bible study group and we both man the welcome booth at church every other month.

Well, that's about it for our 2008 - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!