In an effort to save some paper (OK, it's probably more because we're lazy) we decided to put our Christmas letter here on the blog.
Early in the year we took the girls down to Puerto Vallarta for a family vacation. We met Phil's parents AND Katie's parents down there, so it truly was a vacation with family! When we got home we bought a minivan to accommodate our soon-to-be expanded family. Katie immediately tested it out with a road-trip to see friends and family in Illinois.
Later in the year we caught a C-17 to San Diego for a weekend visit. Katie was 34 weeks pregnant, but we managed to see Sea World and the San Diego Zoo as well as visit with some of Phil's family while we were there.
Of course, the kids just keep growing up. Claire had her first dance recital in May. She expresses her creativity with her fashion statements and drawings. She can write all of her letters in upper- and lower-case and can read just about any 3- or 4-letter words she sees. She still takes horse riding lessons, dance lessons, and swim lessons and has really bloomed as the boss -er, I mean- oldest sister of the bunch.
Madeline (aka Maddie) definitely changed from "toddler" to "preschooler" this year. She still sucks her thumb and twirls her hair like she always has. But now she's doing big-girl activities like horse lessons, dance lessons, and swim lessons with her sister and she has started preschool too. She's always looking for a way to make us laugh and is particularly fond of her little brother.
Which brings us to Colin, who joined us this July. We managed to get Colin baptized at our parents' parish in Illinois, where his two sisters were also baptized, via another C-17 space-A trip. His first plane ride was on his daddy's airplane! He is such a sweet baby. He smiles often, loves snuggles and tickles, and absolutely adores his big sisters. He is now 5 months old and sitting up, eating baby food, rolling over, cooing, giggling, and doing all of the things that cute babies do. We really feel blessed to have all three of these little people in our lives. They're so fun!
Katie is still busy at home with the kids, running them to and from their activities. She's the "room mom" for Maddie's preschool class and tries to be active in the spouse's group on base. Phil keeps busy at work and still flies about once a week. He also finds the time to be the president of the parish council at our church. He is able to come home for lunch so often that the girls ask about him when he is unable to make it.
We've had a lot of fun visiting with family this year. Katie's parents have come to Oklahoma 3 times this year (bless you, Mom and Dad!!!) and Phil's parents even brought out Phil's grandmothers with them for a visit to our house (bless you too!). We had a wonderful time with them. The girls in particular enjoyed playing "chickenfoot" dominoes with their Great-Grandma's.
Later in the year we caught a C-17 to San Diego for a weekend visit. Katie was 34 weeks pregnant, but we managed to see Sea World and the San Diego Zoo as well as visit with some of Phil's family while we were there.
Of course, the kids just keep growing up. Claire had her first dance recital in May. She expresses her creativity with her fashion statements and drawings. She can write all of her letters in upper- and lower-case and can read just about any 3- or 4-letter words she sees. She still takes horse riding lessons, dance lessons, and swim lessons and has really bloomed as the boss -er, I mean- oldest sister of the bunch.
Madeline (aka Maddie) definitely changed from "toddler" to "preschooler" this year. She still sucks her thumb and twirls her hair like she always has. But now she's doing big-girl activities like horse lessons, dance lessons, and swim lessons with her sister and she has started preschool too. She's always looking for a way to make us laugh and is particularly fond of her little brother.
Which brings us to Colin, who joined us this July. We managed to get Colin baptized at our parents' parish in Illinois, where his two sisters were also baptized, via another C-17 space-A trip. His first plane ride was on his daddy's airplane! He is such a sweet baby. He smiles often, loves snuggles and tickles, and absolutely adores his big sisters. He is now 5 months old and sitting up, eating baby food, rolling over, cooing, giggling, and doing all of the things that cute babies do. We really feel blessed to have all three of these little people in our lives. They're so fun!
Katie is still busy at home with the kids, running them to and from their activities. She's the "room mom" for Maddie's preschool class and tries to be active in the spouse's group on base. Phil keeps busy at work and still flies about once a week. He also finds the time to be the president of the parish council at our church. He is able to come home for lunch so often that the girls ask about him when he is unable to make it.
We've had a lot of fun visiting with family this year. Katie's parents have come to Oklahoma 3 times this year (bless you, Mom and Dad!!!) and Phil's parents even brought out Phil's grandmothers with them for a visit to our house (bless you too!). We had a wonderful time with them. The girls in particular enjoyed playing "chickenfoot" dominoes with their Great-Grandma's.
We finished out the year with a trip to the happiest place on Earth: Disney World. We had a wonderful time there, but did receive some really sad news: Phil's Grandma Millie had passed. We will miss her so much and are so grateful to have had that visit with her at our house.
We're pretty sure we just celebrated our last Christmas in Altus. We'll miss it when we leave, but are excited to move to New Jersey this coming May. We hope everyone reading this has had a wonderful Christmas as we look forward to 2010!
We're pretty sure we just celebrated our last Christmas in Altus. We'll miss it when we leave, but are excited to move to New Jersey this coming May. We hope everyone reading this has had a wonderful Christmas as we look forward to 2010!
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