Thanks to some generous Christmas gifts, we were able to take a brief family trip to Waco, Texas. One of the things we learned on the trip is that Waco was originally spelled Hueco after the Indian tribe that once inhabited the region. While there we visited the Cameron Park Zoo, the Dr. Pepper Museum and the Mayborn Children’s Museum, which had a special exhibit about bones. We are grateful for the chance to enjoy a couple of days away from the computer, phone, chores, etc. Just in case some of you are wondering, here is a little update on each of the kids from this past year.

J-11 is now 11 and definitely in the “pre-teen” years. He has grown a lot this year through Scouting and participating in service projects at church. For example, he spent several hours unloading heavy boxes of donated canned food at Mission Arlington and helped with a Christmas party at a local children’s home. He continues to love learning new skills on the computer. Besides developing his own website, he is also helping our children’s pastor with a website and started a blog for his Boy Scout troop.

T-7 is 7 and feeling the pain of being the “middleman.” Nevertheless, he is doing really well in school, especially in math. He has also begun to read chapter books and take “AR” tests at school (Accelerated Reader). One thing Timothy especially enjoyed this year was taking a karate class through an after-school program. His mom was amazed when he started responding with “Yes, ma’am” when asked to do something! He plans to continue taking karate in 2008. As a Cub Scout, he got to be in 2 parades this year, one on the 4th of July and again during the Parade of Lights in December.

C-4 is 4 and a half. Yes, that half is really important, and she will be the first to tell you that. C-4 is learning how to write and spell. One of her favorite words to spell is one we see a lot this time of year—JOY! And C-4 is a real joy to us. She always wants to help around the house, especially with cooking. She would also like to learn to sew (perhaps she can learn from one of her grandmas?) She also loves to spend time cutting, gluing and taping any sort of paper she can get her hands on.