Christmas Time Pictures & Newsletter

After finding it difficult to begin this newsletter, I searched Google! Of course I found some rather helpful suggestions. One idea said newsletters should be lighthearted and cheerful but of course there are occasions when one might need to mention the passing of a loved one. So it is with sadness that I begin with the passing of our sweet guinea pig, Brownie, in May! I never thought that I could ever love a member of the rodent family so much but I did. I’ll admit that his death was my fault. I cried like a baby for a good while. At which point Julia interrupted and said “Well can we just go to the party now?” Just last week Samuel brought this up again to Caleb “First you took my loving dog, Lucky, then it was my loving guinea pig, Brownie by letting mom dehydrate him!” That’s it in a nutshell regarding his untimely death and I’ll offer up no other details!

During this Christmas season we will take some time to read our previous newsletters with the kids. This year is special because the boys will read them on their own and before we can blink we know Julia will be at their side as well. They are all growing up so fast and are good little people. We hope you enjoy reading about some of our own memories from this year.

Samuel and Nicholas started first grade this year. Each of their classes did projects in which they drew timelines of their firsts (i.e. first tooth loss, first bike ride). Reminders of this year’s firsts have come to mind. Some of which include jumping off the high dive at the close of swim lessons (I almost couldn’t watch), firing a shotgun (with dad), catching their first fish, and going bird hunting. They are rough and tough little guys who search out grand adventures. After we were done with our pumpkins this year they used them for making up a game of bowling. They rolled them down into “Crocodile Lake” (really the retention pond). The outside is their terrain and if kept away too long you might have a fight on your hand! They truly are like their father in so many ways. I ran across a quote recently it said “Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one."- Anonymous. So yes we felt the longing and just today picked up our sweet lab puppy, her name Hannah Montana Smith! We can only pray this one will survive our home.

Julia started VPK this year and (just about) daily tells me she’s shy. Two years ago I would have never labeled her a “shy” child but I guess we know that growing up is hard to do. She cries “I don’t want to go mommy….I just will miss you so so so so bad!” I hope that it is a while before I’ll need to remind her of a time when she couldn’t stand to leave my side. She is my baby, yes 5 yrs old now, but still my littlest one and as such I want to keep her that way for as long as I can. Julia participated in gymnastics and swimming and enjoyed them both very much. Although her ballet experience was not so fun, the swim coach suggested we put her on a swim team. We just may have found her forte.

I am happy to report that Caleb and I are doing well. We didn’t make our goal of losing the weight. I guess that’s another thing we can continue working at in 2010! So we will recite these simple words to improve our chances. As I wake up from sleep, I pray my diet I may keep, but if temptation makes me slip, I pray today my pants won’t rip. This will keep us motivated in our quest to achieve model like figures for sure. We will also continue to stay busy as husband & wife and father & mother. This year we took separate vacations for a little time away. He went with his guy friends to the mountains and I went for more of the girls retreat style. It was relaxing for both.

I learned this year that there are those who read newsletters and think of them as unnecessary. So I’ll close with this suggestion from a website. In determining whom to send your newsletters to, it read “Know when to quit. If they don't send you a card or newsletter for three years, stop sending them one. You can tell yourself they are too busy to write, but you're fooling yourself, and they are wondering how long it will take you to take the hint. Sometimes it's like driving a dull nail through a thick plank.” Let me just close with saying it takes me a long time to get a hint. I still love getting nice letters and cards in my mailbox rather than just bills or junk mail so I’ll keep my own tradition and you just try to humor me as long as possible.

I pray we may all see and feel the reasons to be joyful during these fleeting days. As for us, we are the happiest when we are safe in the walls of our home with each other. Although there are many of you we have not seen in quite some time (even years), may we extend our love to you during this holiday season. We thank our Heavenly Father each day for blessing us with wonderful family and friends who we cherish. We also thank Him for a loving Savior whose life we wish to emulate.
Merry Christmas everyone! The Smith Family (Caleb, Kim, Samuel (7), Nicholas (7), Julia (4 – will be 5 on Jan. 5th)