Our Christmas Letter or Year in Review

I never got around to sending out Christmas cards this year so you will all have to settle with our year in review.

This year seems to have flown by really fast. I just got used to writing 2009 and now I will have another whole year to get 2010 in my head. To catch everyone up on our family's doings we will start with Matthew.

Matthew turned eight this year and was really excited to get baptized by Aaron in August. He is in third grade and loves it. He loves riding the bus every day and seeing his friends at school. He stays busy with piano lessons and even had his first piano recital a few weeks ago. We had a small scare with him back in April when he had an asthma exacerbation and had to be taken by ambulance from the pediatrician's office to the hospital. Thankfully, we have had no other problems like that since. He always keeps things interesting at our house.

Josh is in first grade and loves it. He loves having lunch at school every day. He also is keeping busy with piano lessons and had his first recital a couple weeks ago with Matthew. He did try out karate for a bit, but it just wasn't a good fit. He did get up to a yellow belt before he decided he'd had enough. He loves playing with friends and continues to be very thoughtful and helpful to me and his brothers. He's a sweet guy.

Daniel is my buddy throughout the day. He is patiently waiting until it is his turn to start school which won't happen until the fall. In the fall he will start with preschool because he missed the cutoff of for kindergarten since he has such a late birthday. He keeps me company throughout the day and chatters to me about anything and everything all day long. He loves playing with friends and stays busy with karate. Daniel likes karate and is all the way up to an orange belt. He loves playing with and making Sarah laugh. He is our comic relief. He keeps things exciting.

Sarah has had lots of firsts this year. She took her first step and she said her first word "Uh-Oh". She doesn't have much else to say at the moment, but she is definitely strong willed. She loves to climb. She has had a few falls because of the climbing, but even if she falls she climbs right back up again. She loves taking showers, being part of the action and playing with Daniel during the day.

As for Aaron he still continues working up on base as an Electrical Engineer. He really enjoys working on an Amphibious Assault Vehicle for the Marines. He believes he has the best calling at church as the Membership Clerk. He loves spending time together as a family and between work and family he stays pretty busy.

As for me we are expecting baby #5 around the end of April or beginning of May. I still can't believe it, but my tummy is getting bigger to let me know it is happening sooner than later. I still am a stay-at-home mom and things stay pretty busy for me at home with four and a half children. I continue to be the nursery leader at church and am one of those weird people that actually enjoy that calling. I have been able to take a few classes to get out of the house throughout the year including and interesting Belly Dancing class. I was able to update my house with the help of my sister-in-law Jill during the summer. It was a big project, but I am glad it finally got done.

One of the big highlights of our year was our trip to Disneyland and the beach earlier in the summer. It was a very fun family vacation and hopefully gave our kids some fun and lasting memories. We hope 2010 will be as good as 2009. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.