2008 Year in Review...

Dear Family and Friends,
We hope this letter finds you safe and well. Things at our house run much the same from day to day but since many of you are far away, here's an update on our family. We had a lot of "firsts" and sweet memories this year. Mara Noelle joined our family in December, 2007. Every day since has been filled with more joy and love than we ever thought possible. In June, she learned to crawl and began cutting teeth. She said her first word in August, which was, "hi." She has since added, "Aidan, mama, dada, kitty, dog, yes and this." She points at what she wants and says,"this?" She is a big head nodder. When you ask her questions, she typically nods her head and says, "yes." If the answer is no, she simply turns away or throws whatever you offer her on the floor. She is small for her age at only seventeen pounds and 25 inches. That's alright with us though as we love having a cuddly little baby around. She does not walk yet, so her petite size makes Mommy's life a little easier. What Mara lacks in size, she makes up in personality. We frequently find her chasing the cat around. She adores Pizza Kitty. She also loves our dog, Toast, though he is sometimes too rough for her. Nothing really gets Mara down for long. She is relatively quiet and content almost all of the time...as long as Mommy is around. She is Mommy's baby for sure.

Aidan is moving right along in school. He's now in the first grade and is doing very well. We cannot spell things out in front of him anymore as he can read and spell now. He likes school and is very social. This year Aidan also started Cub Scouts. He is a Tiger Cub and Daddy is the Den Leader. They have a great time going to Scouts every week. He will be getting his Bobcat badge at pack meeting this month. Aidan typically stays with his Uncle Tom after family get togethers in Indiana. After Thanksgiving, he learned that he loves ginger ale...so he drank an entire pack of it. Yes, uncles are much more fun than parents. He is going back over Spring Break and can hardly wait. Aidan absolutely adores his baby sister. He always wants her to come in to his school so he can show her to his classmates. When we went in for the Harvest Party, Mommy was passing out juice boxes and noticed the stroller was empty. As she looked around, she saw Aidan sitting at his desk with Mara on his lap, feeding her cookies. The look of pride on his face was unmistakable. They have a very special bond. Aidan's goal in life is now to be a daddy.

Ryan is much more introverted, but is coming out of his shell a lot more lately. He likes to help Mommy cook, especially if it's macaroni and cheese, eggs or grilled cheese. Those items and chocolate milk are the staples of Ryan's diet. He loves to make speeches to himself in the mirror. He also loves to play with his shadow. He puts on little shows for himself with a mirror or with his shadow on the dining room wall. His imagination is precious. He loves to play the Wii with the family and is also pretty good at UNO when he feels like playing by the rules. He also absolutely loves going to Scouts with Aidan and Daddy every week. He's not old enough to be an official member of the den, but that doesn't stop him. He currently wants to be a fire fighter and a world traveler when he grows up. This year, he had a part in the Primary Program at church. He was supposed to say what he liked to do with his family. We practiced at home and he said that he liked to go on a hike with his family. Well, when the day of the program came, he stood up at the microphone and said, "Well, I like to have grilled cheese and a snack with my family." The funny part was that he was not shy in the slightest.

Ammon is still working for Bonbright but is now delivering in the Oxford area. It's a lot of driving but it's certainly a better neighborhood than he was in before. He seems to really enjoy being Aidan's den leader for Cub Scouts. They went caroling last week at the VA nursing home and next week they will be going to Brookhaven nursing home to carol and hand out cards before the Pack Meeting/Christmas party. For the last couple of years, he's been doing odd jobs on the side, particularly plumbing jobs. He's got quite the customer base these days and word of mouth is the best advertising. He loves to play the XBox 360 online with his friends. They're currently into Call of Duty World at War, so if any of you play, look up dragonfaris.

I am enjoying staying at home with the kids, though it can sometimes be overwhelming. The school levy passed this year so bussing will be reinstated on December 23...just in time for Christmas break. That will be a big relief since Aidan has had to be dropped off and picked up every day for the last 2 years. It will be nice to let Ryan and Mara sleep and just get Aidan out the door to the bus stop. This winter or spring, I plan to go back to school. I plan to finish my teaching degree. It may take awhile to finish as I'm not able to go full time, but the end result will be worth the effort. I'm also starting back to cello lessons with my old teacher, Linda Katz. This is very exciting for me as I miss playing. My goal is to get back into musical shape and then audition for the Miami Valley Orchestra. We'll see how that goes. I'm still incredibly nervous when it comes to things like auditions, but after having kids I am confident that I have endured greater public humiliation than a missed note.

In October, we welcomed a new member to our family. His name is Toast. We adopted him from the animal shelter and he is quite a charmer. Of course, he chews up anything he can get his mouth on and can be a bit of a pest, but he livens things up a lot. He insists that Pizza the cat should play with him. Pizza is not amused. Toast has an aversion to climbing more than 4 steps, however, so if Pizza can just make it past the landing and onto the staircase, he's safe. At the end of the day Pizza does get his revenge. Toast is put in his cage for the night and Pizza gets to go upstairs and sleep in the bed with Mommy. You can see the expression on his face change from aprehension to smugness as he sees Toast go into the cage at night.

Now that you're up to speed on things around here, tell us about yourselves. We hope that your Holidays are peaceful and memorable. We wish you joy and happiness in the new year.

Love always,
Ammon, Michelle, Aidan, Ryan, Mara, Pizza and Toast