I hope that everyone had a lovely holiday season and is making a smooth transition back to their normal daily lives. We enjoyed seeing everyone that we were able to connect with over the break, and really missed seeing those of you that we were unable to spend time with and hope that we will meet up again soon. Thank you to everyone that was organized enough to send us cards and photos! I am sorry that I was really not on top of things this year! 2010 really kept us pretty busy and 2011 seems to be off to no slower a start!
Jacob is enjoying being a 6th grader in middle school. He was excited to learn some French and Spanish but it was harder than he expected–he may have his dad’s gift for tongues rather than him mom’s! 
He still plays percussion in the band, played Fall soccer and is continuing with boy scouts and his boys hip hop dance classes, but his real favorite this year has been his new partnering dance class. He is the oldest/tallest/strongest boy in the class, so he can do tricks with his partner that some of the other couples can’t do yet. Despite very little free time he seems to still find time to play with friends, legos, and video games, and maintain good grades at school. He has already recieved two school honors, one for keeping an average above a B, and the other nominated (almost unanimously!) by his teachers and peers as a “Star” for the first quarter.
Elise donated 12 inches of hair to Locks of Love this Summer. She has enjoyed learning the recorder in 4th grade and is beginning to consider her band options for next year. She changed her dance classes this year also and is attending a musical theatre class instead which focuses on dancing, singing, and acting. She was also chosen to be part of a group of students from her school to sing the national anthem at a high school girls’ basketball game. Elise is still a very good student. On Wednesday mornings when the rest of the children get to sleep in for a “late-start day,” Elise gets up early to take part in the nationwide Math Olympiads. She has also discovered, with the help of some friends, several online and video games that feature animals in natural habitats that allow her to play as a wolf or a whale etc. She still runs around on all fours and loves to explore and read about wolves and animals and tell stories of her own. She is excited, now that she has turned ten, to be allowed to stay up with Jacob until 9pm.
Cameron grew some this year and is now actually wearing the clothes made for his age! He follows in many of the footsteps left by his older siblings, but is very much his own little guy! Like his siblings he does well in school–now in 3rd grade, he has some of his good friends in his class that he has not shared a class with since Kindergarten! He has also made some new friends but remains a model student. He received another “Character Award” this year (his third!) from a school-wide drawing of children “caught doing good deeds.” He also played Fall soccer and takes part in cub scouts. Cameron still enjoys his boys only hip hop and tap dance class but has chosen also to join Jacob in the partnering classes newly offered this year. Like his sister, he enjoys reading about wolves, but his favorite things to play are “Link” related. From the “Legend of Zelda” video games he loves not only the video games, but the books and dressing up in his own created costumes and weilding his little sword and sheild and jumping around yelling “ha-e-ya!”
Elena started Kindergarten this year! She loves painting and drawing and brings home several pictures every day! She’s learning to enjoy reading books and writing letters. She continues well with her dance classes, but prefers to dance freely on her own usually while serenading everyone with her mind’s latest hits. As always, there is a constant song in her heart and on her lips. We sometimes call her our “little diva.” Elena is looking forward to being a flowergirl with her cousin Charley in her Aunt Jenny’s wedding on Saturday.
2011 is shaping up to be a full year of weddings and babies and celebrations! As I mentioned, Josh’s sister Jenny is getting married this coming weekend, and Josh’s brother Brian is planning a wedding of his own in June! My friend Kate is planning her wedding for October and my sister is expecting her first child any day now. (We just hope she can hold on until we get back from Jenny’s wedding!) Several friends and relatives are having momentous birthdays this year, Josh’s buddy Chris got his nursing license and just got his first real nursing job, and our friends the Hintzes will be celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary (hopefully in Costa Rica, and hopefully with us)! Anyway, this is just a bit of what we already have going on or planned and it’s still just the first week of January! I do hope to blog more regularly in the coming year, so do please check back often and leave plenty of interesting comments! We love to hear from you!
