Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christmas Letter 2011

Hey everyone,

Yet another year has come and gone, as they always seem to do. Unfortunately, this year had been a hard one for us, both financially and emotionally. However, there have been many rays of sunshine amidst the gloom, and family and friends have been a great help to us. We’ve really appreciated it, so thank you!

Seth has been hit the hardest around here. His bankruptcy practice has slowed down drastically over the past 12 months. Apparently, most people who can file have, and everyone else is so poor that bankruptcy actually won’t help. We are hoping that things will pick up once the economy does, but in the mean time, he is looking at additional sources of income, from expanding his practice to include consumer protection cases to doing Japanese translation for law firms and other legal contract work that’s available. Job aside, he has been able to spend a lot of time with the family.

Misty has had a full year. Along with homeschooling the kids, she was able to do seasonal, part time work grading statewide standardized tests for 3rd-11th grade reading comprehension and math. She also started working on finishing the basement. She has been able to complete enough to do some wall boarding and hopes to have the walls and ceilings done by next summer. Misty also discovered she was pregnant last June, then miscarried at 10 weeks along. A couple months later, she was pregnant again, this time with twins. Unfortunately, at 9 ½ weeks, she lost one. The surviving baby is alive and well, happily kicking and dancing away. He/she is expected to make an appearance around mid June next year.

Sierra, who is now 9 ½ and full of ideas, is doing well. She’s learning long multiplication and division in math, reading longer chapter books, and creating her own books on the computer. She is also taking, and doing very well in, Guitar and Musical Theatre at Options (once a week public school for the homeschooled). She will be performing the part of Toulouse, the little grey kitten from the Disney version, in their production of Aristocrats this coming spring.

Bailey is now 7 and has finally lost her first two teeth. She’s so proud! She has graduated to reading chapters, and is currently on the Disney Fairy books. Her artistic abilities have flourished in photography, drawing, and sculpting, and will soon be giving her older sister a run for her money. At Options, among other things, she has been learning Spanish and a lot about animals, weather, and cultures.

Blake, our 5 year-old giant, still maintains the cleanest room in the house. That boy likes things to be just so! He started doing preschool work this year and loves writing his letters and numbers, drawing shapes, and doing dot to dots and mazes. “Use your fingers, Blake, not your fist!” His imagination has flourished as well as he plays pretend with his sisters and toys, and he also seems to have an artistic streak along with his acute spatial awareness.

Casper, our cat, somehow hurt his hip earlier this year, but it is slowly healing. Lately, he has discovered that he doesn’t like snow, so to alleviate his boredom when he’s trapped inside, he will lie down in the middle of the hall or kitchen to bat at anything that crosses his path. What a silly cat!

Yes, we’ve had lots of sunshine amid the gloom. We hope that you’ve had sunshine too. Happy Holidays, and may your new year be bright!

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