Happy New Year!
Since I’m sitting in front of my computer on December 23rd, two hours from the time we need to leave for the airport, I know that you won’t be receiving this letter until early January. That doesn’t mean that you aren’t in our hearts and prayers this Christmas - just that I’ve completely lost the ability to plan ahead!
We hope your family has had a wonderful year. We miss all of you! Here’s an update on our family:
Sarah (8.5): Sarah is doing really well. This summer we received great news from the cardiologist – her heart defect has completely closed on its own, and there is no need for surgery. What a wonderful blessing! She is in second grade, and spends about half of her day in a mainstream classroom. She’s learning to read, although math continues to be a challenge. Her favorite color is still purple, and her collection of Care Bears is almost complete (that’s a lot of bears) and threatening to take over her room.
Madilyn (4): No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you when you look at the picture of our girls together - Madilyn IS almost the same height as her sister. We lovingly refer to her as “the Amazon”. She’s the size of an average 6 year old. She is definitely taking after Dad. She is the lone extrovert in a family of introverts... she simply doesn’t want to be alone, ever... including 2 am. We’re working on helping her stay in her own bed at night, but it’s a struggle. She continues to want to be a “jumper” when she grows up, and practices constantly. The kid has springs in her legs for sure. She continues to enjoy preschool and swimming lessons.
Family Activities:
Summer went by too quickly for all of us, but we did get in some fun family time on the boat. The girls are still eager to become fishermen, but would rather “adopt” the minnow bait than use it (needless to say, only Gary uses live bait, and very discreetly).
We started the summer with at trip to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. There is a researcher there studying Sarah’s chromosome deletion, so we travelled there on the government’s dime for some testing and exams. We added an extra day onto the trip and visited the National Zoo, which, according to Sarah, is “the panda zoo”. She was so excited to finally see a live panda, so of course, he was sleeping. She yelled at the top of her voice “HEY!! Wake up!”, but he didn’t stir. We compensated by purchasing panda merchandise at the gift shop.
Our family trip was to Hershey, Pennsylvania, which, aside from being the chocolate capital of the USA, is a day trip away from Sesame Place – a Sesame Street themed amusement park. The girls LOVED it. Grandma & Grandpa K met us in Hershey, and parked their RV at a local RV park, providing a fun opportunity for some “sleepovers” at Grandma & Grandpa’s.
It appears that Thanksgiving at the P---’s is becoming a K--- family tradition. For the second year in a row, my entire family (Mom and Dad, sister Karen, brother-in-law Bob, 5 year old N, and 2 year old triplets B, M, and J) made the trek to Minnesota. Sarah actually enjoyed the commotion so much that she begged my sister to leave the triplets with us… multiple times!
Gary is still working at 3M, and will be finishing his two-year training program in summer 06. He begins looking for a new job (still with 3M) in April, and we’re really hoping that he can find an opening in Michigan. We’ve been away from family for too long!
I stay busy with the house, kids, and teaching early morning seminary for the 14 to 18 year olds in our ward. Pretty amazing kids, getting up that early in the morning (class starts at 5:50 am) to learn about the Savior. I learn more from them than they do from me.
Our home has a guest bedroom that we’re always eager to fill, so if you’re looking for a place to escape the summer heat (or if you REALLY like winter) come join us for a few days, weeks, whatever! We’ll leave the light on.
Wishing you peace, joy, and love in the coming year.
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