Christmas Letter 2008

After much anticipation, I'm sure, I am finally getting to our Christmas letter. My sincerest apologies if you came here numerous times in hopes to find the Christmas letter only to see it wasn't here. I hope that some of my other recent posts have provided entertainment and been informative to you on our lives over the past couple weeks. This past week has been especialy exciting with Christmas, of course, but then the snow adding an extra bit of excitement. Before I get into the letter, I want to share a family photo we took on Christmas at my sister's while the snow was really coming down.

So on with the letter. I hope that this letter finds you all well. It has been a crazy year with all the financial issues and the presidential election, but I pray that you are all healthy, happy and hopeful for the coming year. At least gas prices have come down significantly. =)

We have been so blessed that Dale has a very good job and has actually been extremely busy at work. The commute is still a pain, and unfortunately, the project that kept him closer to home one or two days a week is wrapping up, so some of those quick trips home won't be an option anymore. For the most part, though, he enjoys it. He is still playing indoor soccer and also was an assistant coach for Justin's soccer team this fall. Fortunately, I wasn't teaching an aerobics class Saturday mornings anymore, so he wasn't solely responsible for getting all the kids to soccer every Saturday.

I am still teaching fitness classes during the week and also started the year with a new fitness venture. In March, I started training for the Portland Marathon with my friend, Heather, who had already had one marathon under her belt. I'm not sure why I did this because I've never particularly liked running, but completing a marathon has always been a goal of mine. I was progressing pretty well starting from 3 miles and adding about a mile each week, and was actually starting to enjoy running, but after reaching about 8 miles, I started having knee problems that despite many trips to the chiropractor and physical therapist, did not resolve. I stuck it out though for a few months and did complete the Helvetia Half Marathon in June running 13.1 miles in just over 2 hours. It was actually an awesome run, and I'm glad that I at least had that accomplishment. I tried a few times after that to run again, but my knee pretty much bothers me all the time now, so I don't know that anymore running is in my future. I am still scrapbooking and actually made it on a design team this year for Scrapdango. What this basically means for those of you who have know idea about scrapbook design teams is that I get a kit each month that I get to work with and upload my creations to the site and help promote them. It's been great fun, and I work with an awesome bunch of women that I only know online, but it's amazing the friendships you can develop in cyberspace. I have been published in many online magazines this year and still hope to be published in a major print magazine sometime soon.

Hannah will be 8 (going on 18) in just under a month from now, and is in 2nd grade. She had a little bit of a rough start again at school this year, but has settled in well now. I think she just has a hard time transitioning each year, but once she gets used to it, she does great. She has really blossomed with her reading and is above grade level in that. She also does very well in all her other subjects with her highest marks coming in music where she has an "exceptional aptitude to music" according to her music teacher. I think we need to be getting her into piano or guitar lessons soon. She did ballet again at the beginning of the year with a recital in June in which she did great, but after that she was done with ballet. Over the summer we did 2 straight weeks of daily swim lessons and she can swim pretty well now and wanted to be in the water as much as possible, which unfortuanately wasn't very often this summer. This fall, she played soccer again with her friend, Maya, and was with the same coach as last year on an all-girl team in a coed league. Their team didn't fare so well most weeks, but Hannah had fun (or so she says). She also joined a Brownie troop this year and has really been enjoying the friendships and activities that go along with that. Next up, I think we're going to sign up for hip hop dance lessons.

Justin will be 6 in less than 2 weeks and joined his sister at the elementary school in Kindergarten. He is doing extremely well. He has a wonderful teacher and loves spending time with his friends. He is always such a popular little boy. He has started learning the building blocks to reading. He is not quite getting it, and we need to work more at home, but I know he'll be reading before we know it. He also took swimming lessons this summer and really came a long way. He isn't swimming laps across the pool yet, but he definitely enjoys the water much more and doesn't care about getting his face wet like he used to. He also played soccer this fall with our friend, Denton, as his coach and Daddy as assistant coach. He did awesome this season and even scored two goals. He is extremely good at defending the ball and has excellent ball control, and once he gets the aggressiveness, I know he will score many more goals. I have no doubt, that he will be an extremely talented little soccer player in the future. He wants to start doing karate, but also with all this snow we've been having, has gained a big interest in snowboarding. Unfortunately, his mother and father don't ski or snowboard. Someday, we'll have to get him up there on the mountain.

Owen is 2-1/2 and full of boundless energy. I'm surprised that there isn't a permanent rut in the floor between the toyroom and the family room (through the kitchen) where he and his brother contstantly run back and forth. He has such a personality and has become quite the communicator over the past year. He can speak very well and just cracks us up sometimes with the things he says. He is a very sweet, polite, loving little boy who also has an evil side that brings with it 2 year old tantrums. Thankfully they usually don't last too long. He can entertain himself very well by just sitting and playing with his cars and trucks or his latest obsession, animals--he got a whole zoo of plastic ones for Christmas. He often can be found running around with a Power Ranger mask on as well--he even rode the whole way to church with one on the other day. Thankfully he didn't throw one of his tantrums and insist on wearing it in church. Unbelievably, it is almost time for us to sign him up for preschool for the coming fall. I can't imagine him going off to school right now, but I know he'll change dramatically in the next 9 months.

Dale and I celebrated a dozen years of marriage in August. In some ways, it seems like the years have flown by, but other times, I can't remember us even being apart. We celebrated by going to the coast in Newport, OR for a weekend while Grandma Judi stayed with the kids. It was a very peaceful, relaxing and beautiful weekend and a great way to celebrate a dozen years.

As for the family activities over the year, we didn't take any big trips on a plane anywhere. We did our usual trip up to our friends' cabin on Snoqualmie Pass in WA to spend a long weekend in the snow. It was great except for when Hannah got hit in the head with a snow shovel and we had to ride a snowmobile out to the car to then drive her to the emergency room for stitches in the nearest town. We will be going back up there in about 3 weeks, and I think we'll keep the kids away from the snow shovels.

In the summer we went to Sunriver, OR again with our friends, the Davisons, but we extended our trip from a long weekend last summer to a full week. It was just the right amount of time to be able to take in many of the activities they have there and still be able to relax. The kids mainly just wanted to spend everyday at the pool or in the hot tub at the house we rented, but we also got in a float trip down the river (for a large portion of which Owen threw one of those aforementioned tantrums), hiking around the lava fields at Lava Butte (where Owen threw another tantrum when we tried to get a family picture), and horseback riding for the moms and daughters (Owen stayed with dad). It was fun, and the kids are already asking if we're going back there this summer. I think it may become a regular family vacation.

Well it's late, and I want to get this wrapped up before New Year's, so I'm going to leave you all. I pray that you all have a safe and happy New Year's and many blessings for the year to come.

I leave you with a slideshow of some of the highlights of the year.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

and all through the house, there is quiet except for Dale and I clicking on the keys of our computer keyboards. I'm really not going to try to make this a big rhyming thing. It's 1:30 in the morning (so technically it's Christmas), and I just don't have the clarity I need for rhyming right now. We've been busily wrapping gifts, which we saved all for the end. It actually wasn't as bad as I'd feared, but it is late, and we need to get ourselves off to bed. The kids are NOT going to let me sleep in tomorrow. Nor do I want to. I'm always excited to see how excited the kids get.

It has been an interesting Christmas Eve. We went to the Christmas Eve family service at our church at 4:00--the later one was cancelled due to all the snow. Then we went to Burger King to pick up food to bring home. I can't believe we had BK on Christmas Eve. Usually we have friends come over, and our friends, the Goves, were going to come over, but again, the weather issues squashed those plans. It seemed kinda lonely, but the kids frosted cookies, which I hadn't gotten around to until today. I had been complaining about Hannah and Justin having frosting in their hair, and then Owen, for some reason, saw the need to run his knife covered in green frosting across his forehead and bangs. I guess he wanted to fit in. He went into the tub, and Hannah joined him. Then they watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, we put cookies out for Santa and off they went to bed, so "Santa" could get to work.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Ours will be a joyous Christmas as always I'm sure, and it will also be a White Christmas!!! The first in this area since 1938 they say. The kids have really been enjoying this Winter Wonderland. I'll be kinda bummed when it's over, but it has made things a little difficult for people.

Well I didn't want to make this long. I'm sorry that there is still no official family Christmas letter. I will work on that soon, but for now I want to wish Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

from our family to yours!

Winter Wonderland

The local news cracks me up whenever we have winter storms like we've had the past week. They take it so seriously and give it some intense name like Arctic Blast 2008. Last week, I just kept getting irritated because they were predicting all this snow, but we never really got much. We would get an inch or so, but then it would either blow away or melt away. The kids never even got a chance to play in it. The one day that there was enough snow to play in, they had school, and by the time they were home, the snow was pretty much gone. We did miss a couple days of school, but there really wasn't much problem on those days. Our school district's policy is apparently No Snow: No school, Snow: School, and see what all the other districts around you are doing and do the complete opposite. Most schools around here missed at least 4 days. I guess we'll be the lucky ones who don't have to spend two more days in school before summer vacation can start.

So yes, as far as last week, it was pretty much an annoyance more than anything, and there was a lot of bitter cold and wind. It wasn't too much fun. But then they predicted our biggest storm with the most snow for this past weekend, and this time, they didn't disappoint. Over the weekend, we got over a foot of snow. There was also a layer of freezing rain in there, but it wasn't too bad--at least not for us. And even though it is cold, there is no wind, so it is pretty nice outside. It truly is a Winter Wonderland right now. We have been able to go out sledding for 3 days now, and I'm sure we will today and for as long as the snow sticks around. We have the perfect sledding hill behind us on the school grounds. About half the neighborhood is usually up there, but there is plenty of room, and the kids have a great time sledding with all the neighborhood friends. If the weather has made getting around for people difficult, last night was NOT an indication. We went out to dinner at Olive Garden, and it was packed there. It didn't help that Red Robin and Spaghetti Factory nearby were both closed. They missed out on the number of people with cabin fever just wanting to get out to do something. Sorry to our friends, the Goves, that did not manage to get into Olive Garden to eat after already checking at RR and SF. Hopefully you found somewhere to eat. :)

They are calling for another bout of snow to come in tomorrow on Christmas Eve. For the first time since 1938, we will most likely have a White Christmas. I am really glad that we didn't plan to go to Indiana for Christmas this year because the airport is a mess right now. Dale's parents are coming in Christmas Day, and I really hope they don't have problems getting here. It will definitely be a very special Christmas.

Owen is never too excited to get in his snow gear. He likes it for a brief time, but then just wants to come in.

Dale bringing the kids home after their 2nd time out for the day.

A good portion of the neighborhood comes out to play.

Christmas Letter?

If you are coming here to view my Christmas letter that I told you to on your Christmas card, please come back later. It is not done yet, and it is now 1:34 AM, and I am going to bed. I have lots more photos of our snow storm too.

Brrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!

We are having a little arctic winter chill, and it's not even officially winter yet. They were predicting very cold temps. and snow for the weekend, and for once the weathermen got it right. It started snowing yesterday morning we discovered as Hannah ran into our bedroom gleefully yelling, "It's snowing." She and Justin got all bundled up to go outside, although it didn't last too long because along with this snowstorm came extremely cold temperatures and wind that made if feel even colder. They were out for maybe 20 minutes and then came in for hot chocolate. Justin actually got bundled up a second time and went out to play for awhile, but then he was done. Owen was all excited too and wanted to go outside, but when I tried to get his snow pants on, he threw one of his 2 year old tantrums, which have become fairly common. I said he couldn't go out if he didn't put on his snow pants. His response was, "I have an idea. Play toys." and he quickly ran into the toy room, content to just stay inside and play with his animals, cars, trucks and trains.

Most of the snow is gone now--just a little frozen on the grass, but the bitter cold is still here and will remain all week long. Today the high temp. is 27 deg., and with windchill it feels like 12 deg. The low tonight will be in the teens--hope our pipes are strong. It's supposed to be similar tomorrow and then warm up slightly on Wed. when an even larger snowstorm is supposed to come through. Perhaps the kids will actually get to miss school then. They were very irritated this morning when I woke them up to tell them school was not cancelled or late. Vancouver was the only town in the whole greater Portland metro/SW Washington area that had school today. I was surprised. It usually doesn't take much for our district to cancel school. I guess it's less that they'll have to make up in the summer, and it's almost Christmas break anyway.

I am finally recovering from a bad cold that I had all last week. It started a week ago Saturday, and I finally felt somewhat better by last Friday, but am still getting over it. It hindered my Christmas preparations. I had hoped to be done with all my Christmas shopping by now, but I still have a little more to do, although not too bad. We just adopted a family through the Salvation Army along with my sisters and my mom, so we still need to get some stuff for them. We will be helping out a single mom and her 7 year old daughter who live with the grandmother. This is something I've wanted to do for years now but just never got around to it. I just want to help others because we are so blessed beyond what we need. Especially in these trying financial times, there are so many who are in need, and we want to help bring a little joy to this family for Christmas.

I will leave you with pictures of the kids out in the snow and some pics of Zoolights at the Oregon Zoo. Thankfully, we went last week (although traffic and parking were a nightmare) because it would be way too cold to go now. The lights were great as usual, but the highlight was seeing the new baby elephant. He was born a few months ago, but we hadn't made it over to see him yet. He is very cute.

Cousins in front of some lights--Owen would not pose with them

Owen especially liked seeing the baby elephant

Catch-up

Once again, I'm playing catch-up on the blog. The past couple days I have had a huge pain in the neck--literally. I was fine Sunday morning and then as soon as I walked into Justin's Sunday school class where I was going to help out, my neck and shoulder seized up. The idea of working with 20-30 5/6 year olds must've been more than my neck/shoulder could handle. It was killing me for 2 days, and sitting at a computer for any length was almost unbearable. I'm feeling better today, although now am sitting with ice and heat packs.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We had dinner at our house. My mom and my brother and sisters and all the sister/brother in-laws and cousins came over. We've grown into quite the family, and it's always a full house when we're all together. We also had tons of food as usual and didn't even begin to eat a majority of it. Our staples are of course, turkey (I roasted one and my mom did a smoked turkey breast), stuffing, mashed potatoes, Sara's sweet potato praline casserole, green bean casserole, Marcie's fruit salad, rolls and you can't forget the jellied cranberry sauce out of a can. Then of course after stuffing yourself on that, there's dessert. No one was actually very hungry for dessert, although Hannah did eat two pieces of Grandma's upside down pumpkin pie. It was a great day with the family, and even though it's always kinda crazy during the day, and I don't take a lot of time to really stop and think about what I'm thankful for then, as I reflect on it after all the craziness, I realize how totally blessed we are. I am so grateful to the Lord for everything that he has provided us even beyond what we need.

Gathered around the food to pray

All of us together

The kids made little oreo turkeys, which they promptly ate.

After cleaning up from Thanksgiving, it was time for the next holiday adventure and getting a Christmas tree. After missing a year or two with our friends, the Goves, we reinstated the annual Christmas tree hunt with them. We went to a tree farm to find the "perfect" tree. It turned out to be a great day. It was foggy, but that provided a cool backdrop to the hillside full of trees. Thankfully, it wasn't raining like it was horribly last year when we found our tree and cut it down in record time. We found a tree really close to the car, which Dale was thankful for, because I usually like to wander all over the hillside to find a tree that he has to carry quite a ways to the car. Dale got the tree set up that night, and then the onslaught of nonstop begging to decorate the tree by Hannah and Justin began. We did decorate the tree Monday night and did more decorating last night. Right now, the house looks like a Christmas store exploded in it. I love having the decorations up, but I really dislike the process of putting them up. I will be glad when it's up and the half dozen rubbermaid tubs that store the decorations are put back out in the garage. Here are some pics from getting our tree. I will have to post pics of the decorated tree later.

Hope you all are getting in the Christmas spirit and enjoying this last month of 2008.

This is Owen's new smile

Hannah and Gabby inspecting a little tree

Justin and Owen heading off to find a tree

All the young Lough/Gove kids with the exception of Owen

The Lough family and our tree