January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!

Computer agony! I just lost a long entry and now I'm not too thrilled to begin anew...but yes, you are worth it, so I'll press on! (Yes, I know I should work in Word or something else...)

We had a very nice Christmas, with just enough joy and just enough relaxation. Hannah's favorite gifts were her very own digital camera and a Playmobil hospital. I should have chosen a camera with a rechargeable battery--this girl likes to take pictures!

Katie's winter break from college has been filled with doctor's visits to complete her Peace Corps paperwork. She has been offered a nomination to work in Special Education the Mid-East, and we are very excited for her! Kate also has found time to visit with friends and spend plenty of time with Hannah.
(photo by Hannah)

Chris is spending the week with friends in North Carolina, so he missed our big party last night! We have a history of hosting a "New Year's @ Nine" family party. Everyone arrives about 7:00, but we move the clocks three hours ahead and celebrate "midnight" with crazy hats and noisemakers. Everyone can get home to put kids to bed at a reasonable time and nobody is on the road when the crazy people are driving. This year we were a little ambitious...we were expecting 47 people! And 27 of them were kids!! I never took a complete headcount, but I think we were only one person shy.


Our house has had a revolving door of guests for the past two weeks. It's been fun to see family and friends. We've also had a longer-term guest--a tiny two year-old girl with Down syndrome. We are providing respite care for her and it is a joy! She is a delightful baby, crawling, cruising, and starting to talk and use sign language. She's about the size of a 10 month old. I'd love to post her picture, but really don't think I should, so here is a series of pictures that don't show her face but do show how cute she is!

Time for Jammies.

I think I can do this myself.

Somehow I don't think this is quite right...

Ahh! Much better!
Look at that little snowman on the bum--could it be any cuter?

Wishing you wonderful blessings in the New Year!

2 comments:

Natalie said...

Your little houseguest is adorable--even if we can't see her face!

And. . .I love Playmobil!

TheThingsIdTellYou said...

What a beautiful family you have! I've just discovered your blog (goodness, now I can't even work out where from, *blush*. I clicked on a link somewhere.

You must be so incredibly proud to have raised an amazing woman like Kate! I hope it works out for her.