Christmas 2009

It seems like every year this post starts the same way, with amazement that another year has just flown by before we knew it. Well, it's the same thing this year. We have had a very busy year filled with a lot of fun.

Dennis is still working for Time Warner Cable in one of their corporate offices. He celebrated 17 years with the company this year. Before he knows it he will have been there for 20 years! That is a long time to work for the same company. His work keeps him plenty busy with an occasional work trip. This year he traveled back to some of our old stomping ground in Southern California. While he was there he had the opportunity to frequent some of our favorite restaurants and visit some of our friends. I wish that the girls and I were able to make the trip with him. Maybe next time. Dennis has taken up toying around with some photography. Since we purchased a new camera we captured some great nature pictures on some of our outings. There are also some amazing ones from our times watching airplanes land and take off at the airport. He has really enjoyed taking pictures this year.

Dennis and I also celebrated our 17th anniversary. We keep saying that one of these years we'll plan and actually take a nice long over do vacation/2nd honeymoon. I'm hoping that we'll actually get to follow through on that for our 20th anniversary. It is even crazier to think that we have actually been together as a couple for 19 years already. Our life together has been and I'm sure will continue to be a great adventure.

Elizabeth started Kindergarten this year. The school she attends, River Gate Elementary, was just built over the summer, so she is the first Kindergarten class in it. I was not sure how she would do on the bus, but she really enjoys riding it. She loves being a Kinder-gator! Their mascot is a Gator so they have dubbed the Kindergartners the Kinder-gators. She has daily homework and is suppose to read every night. It has been amazing to watch her go from not being able to read at the beginning of the year to reading many words now. They have even started writing short sentences. She's even caught on to a few of the words that Dennis and I find ourselves spelling out instead of saying. It won't be long before we are unable to do that at all. She continues to see a speech teacher two times of week through the school system. Her progress has slowed, but we're still working hard on it. From what I understand, the carry-over to everyday conversation is the most difficult part.

Katherine has started attending Good Shepherd United Methodist Church's (GSUMC) preschool this year. She is in the 2 year-olds class. She attends preschool three days a week for four hours. It really is no surprise that she had zero hesitation about going to school. She's was ready to join in Elizabeth's class last year. Much like her sister, she absolutely loves school. Although, she has had a couple of trips to the directors office for biting and throwing fits. She may be small but don't try to push her around. She's one tough cookie. I believe that is in the past though. She has been having fun with all of the different activities that they do in their day. It is hard to believe that she will be turning 3 in a few weeks.

I'm still staying at home with the girls. I have been subbing at GSUMC preschool and that has really been a lot of fun. I have subbed three times thus far. Once in each age group. I was most nervous about subbing in the two year-olds room, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. I think the three year-olds were the most challenging group for me. I am looking forward to continuing subbing throughout the rest of the school year. I also continue to serve at church in the nursery and in handling the nursery laundry. I sometimes wonder how I was able to complete all of the household duties while working full time. As many of you know, I've taken up running. I ran in a 3K, a few 5K runs and a 4 Mile MS Walk. I have taken a break from running for a bit while I recover from having bursitis in my hip. Thankfully, it is nothing serious. I'm hoping to get back into the running routine in January. One of my running buddies already has a couple of runs lined up for us in the early part of the year with a half marathon being the goal. Who knows....maybe I'll even manage a full marathon. I am hoping that the bursitis will not flare up again.

Our big summer vacation was a two week trip to Oregon. It is one of posts that I am behind on writing. Dennis and I were so glad that the class of '89 let us join in some of the fun of their class reunion. There were many friends that we had not seen in years there. It was a lot of fun and has us looking forward to my 20th class reunion this year. The girls had a lot of fun with my Mom and Dennis' parents while we were there. It was fun to take Elizabeth & Katherine to visit the horse barn where I spent many many hours. I think they found the Young's dogs to be more interesting than the horses. They got to pet llama's, feed ducks and throw a Frisbee for a dog at Barb Mills place. Elizabeth loved going out on the 4-wheeler with Daddy! Katherine would rather play in the sand. They enjoyed playing at the school playground almost every evening. Both girls enjoyed being on Grandpa Royal's boat. They had a blast picking blueberries at Grandma Sue's and climbing the Frambes' Grandparent's plum tree. Elizabeth is one seafood loving girl. That girl can put away some crab and oysters. Dennis & Royal did not catch a keepable Salmon the entire time we were there. That was a little disappointing for all of us. I really enjoyed running outside for a change and running on the beach. Dennis and I were even able to spend a night away from the kids. That was very nice. I'm certain that there is much that I'm failing to mention as the entire 2 weeks was filled with many adventures. Overall, it was a wonderful visit.

This year was a great year. We are looking forward to many more adventures in 2010. You can check out many of this years adventures in the blog archives. We hope that all is well with you and your family. May you have a blessed Christmas and new year!