Our Christmas letter...

(I included some pics from on the letter that i mailed out to a few close friends and relatives.)

The A’s had another busy year in 2008!

B is 13 now, yes, that’s right, I am now mother of a teenager! B is taking guitar lessons and still bowling. He also loves to draw. He is on the computer, watching TV, playing video games, and hanging out with friends.

D is in Kindergarten. He played T-ball and soccer this year. He prefers soccer. In the spring he started riding a two-wheeler bike like he already knew how. It was nice not having to run behind him holding on to the seat, promising not to let go…for days and days. D loves Star Wars and Lego's. D likes to draw, swim, and play video games. D also had a few friends come for sleepovers which he thinks is the coolest thing ever.

H has started preschool! Although she is very independent at home, she is very shy at school. H also played soccer this year. She is only 3 and not old enough to play soccer here in town. So she played for M (the next town over) like D did last year. She loves riding her big bike (with training wheels). H loves to swim, color, ride horses, care for her baby dolls and watch Shrek.

We made a trip to Ohio for my brother D’s wedding. It was a great time! I am glad to see K join our family. We also had fun playing ghosts in the graveyard and having fires in our backyard making smores. We also went to the County Fair like every year.

This year we had a foreign exchange student for one month during the summer. Kazuki is a 12-year-old soccer player from Japan. It was a great experience. We took him camping, fishing, downtown Chicago on the train, a boat ride down Chicago river, Millennium Park to see the bean, miniature golfing, bowling, go-carting, a Chicago Fire soccer game, to West Beach, Brookfield zoo, and had a lot of fun hanging out here…baseball, riding bikes, fishing down the street, swimming in our pool. Thanks to my mom for helping out and paying for some of these fun days!!

In March we heard from the orphanage in Haiti that W’s brother had moved into the orphanage. We had only a couple days to decide if we wanted to also adopt him, keeping these two siblings together. After discussing that we didn’t have the money for his adoption, we decided yes…that YES we would also adopt little L. The money is not all paid at once and we will figure it out somehow. How could we not? In April my mother and I went to Haiti. My mother met W for the first time, and we both met L for the first time. We just can’t wait to get these kids home!! W just turned 6 and L 4.

A’s Home Improvements has D (hubby) working, but it is slowing down. I am down to only watching one little girl part time, but am back working Friday and Saturday nights at ******. I have also recently started a blog for our family. It’s an easier way to scrap booking. Each year you can get your blog printed and bound. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to journal your everyday life. So, if you ever want to pop in and see what we are up to…it’s www.crazyfunfamilyofseven.blogspot.com ! We hope you all have safe and happy holidays. With Love, ********************

My dad took the kids "Christmas pics"...