Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Christmas is over and 2009 begins in a few days. Although our decorations are packed, I have yet to take your cards down from our wall. I feel horrible that I didn’t send out Christmas cards this year. I intended to send out cards early, but I didn’t because we never got a family picture taken. Then, my plan was to send out New Year’s cards, but we still didn’t have a family picture. I considered not sending any greetings at all this year. But when I looked at our wall of cards, I realized how blessed we are to have so many people love us. I can’t let another year go by without letting you all know how much we love and appreciate you.

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It’s hard to believe that it’s already 2009. I read somewhere that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you are to the end, the faster it goes. 2008 seems like a blur!

Joey is in his last year of middle school. He enjoys his classes and made the honor roll. The school had an evening program at the Center for Performing Arts to recognize every student on the honor roll. It was very much like a graduation ceremony except without the caps and gowns. Joey has really worked hard to get good grades. We are very proud of him. He’s been very active in sports also. Right now he is playing competitive soccer in our youth athletic association. The Inferno will be playing every weekend in January with a tournament over the long MLK weekend. He’s done a great job on the team, and his coach always has great things to say about him. Joey volunteers at our church in the children’s program and is active in the youth group. He and Mike went to Lake Placid this summer for a fabulous weekend retreat.

Mike volunteers in our church doing the audio/video for the seniors’ service. He is also an assistant in the children’s church. Mike started middle school this year. Sixth grade is such a big change. Mike has advanced math this year and the amount of homework is unreal. It’s getting to the point that I can’t offer much help anymore. Luckily, he is a quick learner and doesn’t ask for much help anyhow. His school participates in a program where all of the students read the same book as a school project. This year, the book was Peak. It was centered on the characters climb of Mt. Everest. The school had a game show type challenge. Mike helped his team win and will be rewarded by participating in a rock climbing event the first week back from break. Yep, school is much different now.

Kristina is in third grade and loves school. Because Florida law has reduced the class sizes over the last few years, Kristina only has 13 kids in her class. She is “best friends” with them all, and made presents for each of them for Christmas. She loves crafts, reading, and counting money. One of her teachers told her she would make a good accountant. This fall she was a cheerleader in our youth athletic association. At the end of the season they participated in a dance exhibition which we posted to YouTube. She loves dancing and singing, and leads worship in our children’s church. This year Santa left our family a keyboard. Kristina is learning several songs. She also does a great job playing Guitar Hero.

Jake is doing very well in Kindergarten. He reads everything! His class participates in a program where kids track the books they read each month. When they have recorded 10 books, they return it to their teacher to receive a coupon from Pizza Hut for a personal pizza. Jake comes home with the page and tries to read all 10 before he goes to bed. This fall he played flag football and really enjoyed himself. Around the house, he plays with the big kids and is able to keep up with them pretty well. We enjoy his sense of humor and his loving spirit. Jake makes friends no matter where he goes and is eager to introduce himself to everyone he meets. He received a certificate from his teacher saying that he was funny. He says he was born to be a comedian.

Lloyd is still doing carpentry work. The slump in the housing market has slowed down business somewhat, but he has been blessed to have work regardless. Lloyd has worked hard this year to finish remodeling the house. Once we do the kitchen and master bathroom, he will have remodeled every room in the house. He’s been busy outside too. This year he purchased two cows, and fenced in a large area for them to stay. He’s added more landscaping to include a flag pole and several plants. This year he has also poured a great deal of concrete around the house. One large area is for a basketball court, and a larger area is for his garage.

I’m still working for the American Cancer Society. It has been a real blessing to work from home, especially when our gas prices were over $4 a gallon. This year I’ve been working on social networking opportunities to create cancer awareness. I’ve also been able to use these web sites to connect with family, friends, coworkers, and classmates. This summer our family spent 3 weeks in Omaha surrounding my 25 year class reunion. We made a trip to Mt. Rushmore as well. Along with work, I still volunteer as the director for our children’s ministry at church. We have recently moved to a local elementary school to grow our membership. We are planning on building a new church within the next few years. The teaching and administrative work keeps me very busy.

In 2009, we are looking forward to another blessed year. This summer we may take our vacation in New York around Lloyd’s 30 year class reunion. Hopefully gas prices will remain low. We are also committing this year to being healthier and more ecologically responsible. We have started recycling and are exploring different was to keep ourselves and the planet healthy. And, of course, we will continue to pray for all of you.