Sunday, December 14, 2008

McLoughlin Family Christmas Letter 2008 = Lame-o!

Sorry, but my heart just isn’t in the Christmas letter and photo spirit this year. Last year I was kind of disgusting: within days of giving birth I had a family photo (with label on back telling who everyone was), Christmas card, addressed envelope, stamps and Christmas letter for about 100 people/families. We all sat at the dining room table assembling the whole mess.

I don’t know what I was trying to prove.

So our photo and letter will be on the blog this year. If a word is light blue, click on it and it’ll take you to a blog post for more information. The latest pictures of the kids can be found to the right under the "photos" label/tag. Happy looking!

Aron
Aron traveled all summer and then some, but we are thankful he has a job. He found time to make a gorgeous TV stand and FINALLY put up Christmas lights … a project he’s been wanting to get to for 8 years.

Kerrie
I’m working on a bunch of writing projects (online and print), and homeschooling is a blast. I learn new things from a 2nd grade curriculum all the time!!! Every now and then I get to work on my 2006 scrapbooks.

Joel
Joel turned 7 this summer and learned to swim in Phoenix and also learned to ride his bike without training wheels. He had his First Reconciliation at church in November.

Michael
Michael turned 5 this year and is still wise beyond his years. The things that come out of his mouth and the projects he concocts make him seem like a 90-year-old man sometimes.

Callie
At the ripe old age of 3, Callie has discovered Hannah Montana, High School Musical and makeup. She is a bossy little mommy-type, and I have not a clue on Earth where she gets it.

Eva
Eva just turned 1 and is a big 26-pounder crawling around and pulling up on the furniture. She has 3 teeth and likes to say “giggle giggle giggle.”

The Family
This summer we went on a mini-vacation with my dad’s family to Branson, Missouri. We spent a lot of time at the local pools, and recently got a 3-month membership to the indoor pool. In July we got sick of being apart, and we all drove 22 hours to Phoenix for 3 weeks. We were only 5 hours from San Diego, so we drove there each weekend. We go to the zoo, on field trips (dairy farm, museum), visiting family and friends. Aron and I stripped wallpaper in our bedroom and will soon be painting and getting new windows. Our garden yielded … crap, I don’t know. We were gone 3 weeks, and I sort of let it go to pot the rest of the time.

Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this blog and to family, friends and neighbors. I pray you are all healthy and safe and content.

Here is our Christmas photo. My mom gave us this snowman thing, thinking we’d be happy with our family of 5 at the time. So Callie added the baby doll to represent herself. And before you even ask, I will answer your questions. The answers are: yes, we would love to have more kids and no, last time I checked we were not clinically insane.