Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays to all!

I wanted to start this and go chronologically, but somehow my brain doesn't remember more than a couple of months back. Oh, wait, now I remember. :)

We had just moved into our new house last January. And we're still settling in! Boxes everywhere and still buying more things. Ah, the American dream.

The kids had to switch schools when we moved. That was a major bummer for Jackson as he was in 5th grade and had attended that same elementary school since kindergarden. (or do you spell that with a "t"?) Now the kids are in 6th grade (middle school), 4th grade, and 1st grade. Everyone is doing well, although to be quite honest, I would say Jackson and Grayson are capable of doing better if they just applied themselves more. Not that they aren't great students, but I have to admit I'm envious of those earlier days of straight As. Middle school was a bit of a transition for Jackson, but he's gotten into his groove.

Grayson has a ton of friends (our 4th grader). He's even doing his science fair project as a group effort with 2 friends. Unfortunately, his asthma has been quite severe, and he's going to have sinus surgery at the end of the month. He's also started allergy shots because he's allergic to so many things. However, the 1 thing he's not allergic to are dogs, or at least not our dog - a miniature schnauzer, who doesn't shed. That was lucky. I don't know what we would have done if the doctors had told us we had to get rid of Boo.

Hudson is thriving in 1st grade. He's still pretty shy, but just the other day, he was clowning around at his class holiday party. At home, he's gregarious and very much an attention getter. He definitely has a mischevious side too. He played t-ball this past spring/summer. That was the first organized sport he has participated in (and he's 6). We were glad that he shed some of his shyness to join the team. Unlike Jackson and Grayson, though, he's not into soccer. And much to my dismay, none of them are into playing football. However, Jackson does watch the Cowboy games with me. He might even run track next year.

Jackson wins the title of injurious kid of the year. He spent September in a boot and a cast for achilles tendonitis in his right heel. One week after he got the cast off, he broke his left arm. Fractured and dislocated. He is finally getting the cast off this week.

Ben has travelled around the world, literally, this year. He's been to Europe (Switzerland) and Asia (Thailand). Then we both (along with Ben's parents) went to Italy in November. We toured Venice, Florence, and Rome (with a day trip to Pompeii). What an amazing time! I'm ready to go back too. My mom stayed here with the kids.

The holidays started out a little rough for me as I found out I lost my aunt. This came almost a year exactly after losing my father. And the 6-year anniversary of my step dad's death was in there too. But we had a good Thanksgiving, and Christmas should be great. Also, Ben's brother got married in early December. That was a fun time, held here in Dallas. Now all the kids in Ben's family are married. That makes his parents' house quite full at gatherings.

My mom is engaged to Melvin, her sweetie of 2 years. No date set yet, but she is living with him in northern Arkansas 90% of the year.

Me, well, I don't know how I stay busy, but I do. Doctors visits, voluteering at the kids' schools, band concerts, classroom plays, Internet browsing, Facebook sharing, and more. I was working at the Tae Kwon Do school 2 nights a week, but I quit when school started this fall. Too much going on to be gone even just those 2 nights.

One last interesting tidbit is that I know the kid who is going to be playing the lead in the new Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action movie. Pretty cool, I think.

Hope you have had a safe and healthy year. We're trudging along just like everyone else ... with a few bumps along the way. Happy New Year!

Love,
Kim & family