Okay! Okay! A Christmas Note!

Okay! Okay! I know there are a number of families lookin' for our "Christmas letter" since all you got from us this year was a picture card. What can I say? I don't feel like writin' nuttin' and that's just the flat out truth. Let me give an update on the kids and Clint since they are all that is really important anyway. I got the pleasure of seeing Clint speechless for the first time in years last week. He was awarded the honor of ER Provider of the year! (The 1st PA to be awarded the honor over a Physician, 30 providers to choose from). I can honestly say that he deserves it and I am so proud of him. Erika continues to be our straight A animal. She told me last month that she is working on getting a scholarship to Vanderbilt. (She's 10 by the way). She said it was a very good school and not too far from home. (I like the way she thinks!) She still plays soccer, and is still learning how to play the piano. So much has been asked of her this last half of the year, and she has stepped up to the challenges we have all faced with her usual sweet, loving nature, and her typical ability to truly grasp the depth of situations so far above her years. She has never been anything but a blessing to us and I hope to someday deserve the honor of being her Mama. Kail is growing like a mad thing (his 5-year-old-foot is way more than half the length of mine)! His loving, expressive personality is a joyous salve to our hearts day in and day out. He eats, sleeps, and drinks anything Star Wars, and continues to have an imagination unlike anything I have ever seen. He is still the first one to wake up in the morning, and still comes and climbs in our bed and wakes us up with smiles and kisses. He is our resident comedian, and is definately (as he so well puts it) "ilarious!" Jackson has made the most miraculous steps this year. I do not use the word miraculous lightly. We have walked a long, hard road with him and find tremendous joy in watching his spirit heal and progress. Nothing can describe the experience of witnessing the first time he allowed himself to truly love and show it, and to witness him do it more and more frequently. He still has a rough road ahead, but we continue to feel such hope and joy in his progress. His talent for drawing continues to develop and he can build almost anything with legos. All in all, we're making it. I know I have expressed it often this past year to many of you, but I once again find my heart pleading to tell you how much we love and appreciate you. How grateful we are for the tender ways the Lord cares for our hearts, for you who he has put into our lives and who bring us such support and love and friendship. I will even go out on a limb to say that through the trials of this year I have grown to no longer just believe that anything can be achieved/borne/endured/healed with Christ, I know it to be so. I hope that you will each feel His tenderness and mercy during this season that we celebrate Him. May God bless all of you! We love you, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!