Dear Leah,

Today you made it into your last year of single digits. In so many ways, you are so very grown up. Yet, in so many other ways, you still have the innocence and spirit of the sweet little Leah that we all fell in love with many years ago. Though we've watched you grow and change, many things about you have stayed the same.

You are still the kindest and most thoughtful child we've ever known. Your heart for others is one of your best qualities. It is almost impossible to think of a moment when you've put yourself before others. The joy that you gain from serving and loving others is contagious. Sometimes it's to a fault (like when your teachers told us at conferences that they have to constantly remind you to worry about yourself and not others)! But you, sweet girl, just can't help it and that's okay. God placed a heart of gold inside of you and He's going to use that for great things!

You still have an imagination that we hope never goes away. You are incredibly creative. With just a piece of paper, scissors, and glue, there's no telling what you'll come up with. You were shocked to be selected to have an art project that you made at school permanently hung in the hallway, but we weren't. When it comes time to play, which is still your favorite pastime, your imagination takes you to great lengths. Your school room is the scene for hours of "teaching" and your baby dolls are still like members of our family that get brought far away on vacations or down the road to the store (which, not surprisingly, embarrasses the heck out of Caleb). You are all in when you play, and it still doesn't take more than a few minutes for you to make a gigantic mess in the midst of your intense playing. We only wish that with age you'd be more agreeable to cleaning up those messes. Maybe next year?!?

You are still as fierce and determined as ever. Not much knocks you down. Apparently, that includes actual sickness, because you proudly accepted a perfect attendance award last year in school! Last winter you gave cheerleading a try and you loved it so much that you took it a step further and signed up for a tumbling class this fall. After just one session and lots and lots of tumbling practice in the basement, you mastered your back walkover and got moved into the advanced tumbling class. Now, you are persistently practicing to get a flip flop. You spent the second half of this past year adjusting to life with orthodontics and barely complained once about it. You had two giant metal pieces placed in your mouth that have altered your speech a bit and kept you from some yummy things (like chewing gum). Yet, not once did you make a big deal about it. Another added piece of the puzzle this year was the diagnoses of a mild hearing loss in your left ear. You sat through numerous audiograms and doctors appointments. At school, you had to start wearing a discreet hearing piece that helps to amplify the teacher's voice. Through it all, you haven't had a single negative thing to say about it. There will be some uphill battles with this, but we know you won't let it keep you down!

So, as we head into another year, we wish for you nothing but continued joy and blessings. Our hope is that you continue to grow up, but never lose sight of the beautiful girl you are both inside and out. You make us SO proud to call you our daughter. We love you more than you could ever comprehend!

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

Christmas 2018

It's hard to believe another Christmas season has come and gone. We had a busy, but memorable month that was filled with lots of fun. It is so wonderful to see traditions that continue year after year. As the kids are getting older, they are recognizing the value of those traditions and it adds to the excitement and anticipation of this season.

The kids always look forward to the return of our elf, Sturmie, at the beginning of December. They also love that he brings new PJs for them each year.

Shopping for 25 cent gifts at Nana Pam's church continues to be a favorite Christmas tradition. Each year, the kids get some really great (and, often hilarious) gifts!

We try to squeeze in some fun with friends and neighbors. This year, we traded out gingerbread house making for a night of fun minute-to-win-it type games with friends. We started with a sock exchange for the kids and ended with some serious competition among the kids and adults! We also hosted our annual neighbor scavenger hunt and had a blast with that.

The kids were excited to know that Santa was visiting Grandpa and Grandma's neighborhood with the fire department. We waited for quite awhile in the cold, but it was worth it to see Santa!

Caleb's 4-H group participated in Wreaths Across America. It was a gorgeous day and the cemetery was jam packed with volunteers, but we enjoyed getting to be a part of the experience.

I hosted our coffee group's ornament exchange. We ate tons of yummy treats and had a lot of fun. Several of us got together a couple weeks later for our annual cookie baking day, which was also a blast! 

I got to enjoy my last first grade gingerbread house event. Joel was definitely the most meticulous and creative of the three. This boy loves to build and create!

Lamont cookie day was a ton of fun, as always!

Christmas with the Blooms (where we open those 25 cent gifts) was a blast!

We had a delicious brunch with Santa :)

The moment these kiddos wait all month for....Christmas morning! Caleb got a snowboard, gravitrax, and a game. Leah got rollerblades, a REAL cash register, and craft supplies. Joel got a marble tower kit, balloon animal kit, and a circuit building set.

  

Christmas with the Lamonts was hosted at my cousin's house this year and it was wonderful. The kids played for hours and we loved getting to hang out, eat yummy food, do our gift exchange, and play games.

5th Grade Geography Bee

At conferences, Caleb's teacher informed us that her nickname for Caleb is Calebopedia! I guess it shouldn't surprise us, then, that he got to represent his class at the geography bee this year. The funny thing is that he didn't even tell us. His teacher emailed me a couple days after he was selected (the class takes a written test and the student with the highest score gets to represent his/her class). We were excited for him, and he claimed that he was shocked that he beat a few of his "really smart" classmates....it's great that he's humble, but this kiddo just doesn't realize that he's got one heck of a brain!

The morning of the bee, he looked at us and said, "Well, this is just another chance for Micah (one of his best friends) to show off how smart he is". We assured him that he would do well and we were just proud of him for making it into the bee. It was so encouraging to watch as his entire class cheered him on the whole time (his teacher even had them make posters). Caleb and Micah were neck and neck the entire time, and he ended up only losing by ONE QUESTION! Caleb was devastated, but eventually calmed down and realized that he should be quite proud of himself.

Caleb's First Band Concert

When you hear the phrase "first band concert", there is usually a bit of a preconceived notion that it will be a total disaster. We were pleasantly surprised that after only a few months of band, Caleb and his fellow musician friends did a great job! It's hard to accept the fact that our little boy looks and acts way too grown up, but it really is a joy to watch him take on new adventures like this one. While I like to refer to him as "our little drummer boy", nothing about him is little and being a percussion player doesn't mean he only plays the drums. In fact, he impressed us with his knowledge of quite a few different percussion instruments.

Goodbye

Goodbyes are never easy, but some of the hardest ones are the ones we have to say to our beloved pets. For quite a long time, people kept saying that Chesney was getting too old and in the words of Tyler, she looked "miserable". Personally, I couldn't justify putting her down when she was still eating, had moments of being her normal spunky self, and she just didn't seem ready yet. I kept hoping for a clear cut sign. Making the decision to put a dog down is definitely not easy, but it is much easier when you can truly sense that they are in pain. Though it was tough to see, Chesney gave us that clarity and in a matter of two days, she went downhill very quickly. She stopped eating, was barely able to walk, and wouldn't even show interest in her most favorite of all things - bananas! Tyler was the true hero of the situation and drove her the vet (on his lap!!!) to have her put to sleep. I couldn't find the strength to go with, but am so thankful that he did and followed through on his promise to not leave her side for a second. Our family will never be the same without her and we are so thankful for 13 years with our Chesney. She joined our family many moons ago when it was just the two of us and she was the center of attention. She gave us a run for our money (literally) with all of her allergy and health issues, but she was totally worth it. She was loyal to the end and loved our three kids like they were her own babies. We will miss so much about her, but are happy to know that she's no longer in any pain.