Christmas Letter 2008

Well, I'm giving this a try this year. It is my New Year's resolution to try to keep in better contact with friends and family and I thought a blog might help. That way if you really want to know what is going on in our life you can came and check it out at anytime -- provided I keep up the posts!

We have truly been blessed this year. The greatest blessing was the addition of Annalise Alta Levin on June 3, 2008. She came into this world as a calm baby and continues to have a calming effect on us all. If I'm feeling stressed, all I have to do is sit down and hold her and everything else melts away with one of her beautiful smiles. She is our bald beauty and a carbon copy of her brother and sister other than her blue eyes. The blue eyes were a little bit of a surprise but we were expecting a baldy. Bella commented before Annalise was born that if she had hair she would just cut it off. I don't think she could have handled having a baby sister with more hair than her! Annalise is 6 months old this month and her newest tricks are eating more baby food, starting to sit up and giggling with pure joy when she is tickled. She loves to talk with her brother and sister and they shower her with attention.

Keeten turned 5 in August and started Transitional Kindergarten this fall; He absolutely loves it. They are getting ready for their Christmas program and according to him it is the event of the year. He continues to love music, performing, and coming up with new creations. He is always in the process of planning some big production. Then he and I go through the dance of how much chaos I can stand that go along with his creations and him wanting his way. He likes to watch Curious George but I always kind of dread it because I know he will want to try to recreate something he saw on the show! He played t-ball this last spring and soccer this fall. We were very lucky to be on two great teams with super parents and nice boys. Keeten really enjoyed both seasons and is already looking forward to when he can play again. It was fun to watch the kids as they improved over the season.

What can I say about Bella? She makes us smile on a daily basis with her Bellaisms as we call them. The girl has been given the gift of gab and you are never real sure of what will come out next. One day after her gymnastics we were leaving, and she saw the Weinersnitzel across the road and declared that God and Jesus told her that we were suppose to go eat hot dogs! I think she thought if it was an order from God and Jesus that I might just take her. Anyway, she turned 3 in May and started preschool two days a week this fall; She wishes she was going everyday like Keeten. She is still enjoying going to gymnastics once a week as well.

Everything is about the same with Trav and I. He celebrated his 5 year anniversary with DRS Infrared Technologies and continues to like the challenges this job presents. I feel very fortunate that I can continue to be at home with the kiddos and remain somewhat sane at the same time.

We hope that this holiday seasons find you and yours healthy and happy. Merry Christmas!

Check back often for new news. It is my goal to try to post something at least once a week -- we will see how this goes.