January 2010!

Where does the time go? My updates are down from once a month to once a year. I can't believe how fast 2009 went!
Brody started kindergarten and he absolutely loves it! He has already had a girl TELL him he's her boyfriend and she already broke up with him. LOL! His teacher is wonderful. Well, he has three teachers, but his main teacher is the only one that meets with us and we like her a lot. We went to a parent teacher night and all the students and parents took a tour of the school. It was nice to meet the other parents. The PTA had a scrapbook night last Friday and so we went. We had such a good time, I got some scrapbooking done and the kids made crafts with the "baby sitters" that the PTA provided. :) I can't wait for another scrapbook night!
Dave's parents came to visit in late October, We had a great visit with them. Marissa loves her "papa". And loved to read and go on walks with grandma. For Halloween Marissa was a pumpkin and Brody wanted to be Batman again. My mom and Christian came down to go "trick or treating" with us.
Hmm, where to fit the bad news in...lol. Not too bad, it could be worse. We still feel blessed. Our air conditioner went out in August then our heater in October and our washing machine in December. UGH! 2010 will be better. :) Marissa is still doing good with her glasses although she did step on them today and we had to go in for some adjusting. Her eye doctor says she is using her bad eye, but not all the time. He won't look into surgically straightening it until she is older, hoping when she gets older she will understand that she needs to use it.
Dave's brother Roger and his wife Traci had a handsome little baby boy "Joshua Charles Hamilton" born on September 3rd 2009. We are so excited for them! They will be coming here next weekend so we can meet Josh. We can't wait!
David's work had their "kids" Christmas party in December. Marissa jumped in a bounce house for the first time she liked it, but didn't want to let go of my hands (I was reaching over the side). So she just did little bounces for about 5 minutes then she was done. Brody got a ball in the fish bowl so he won a Beta fish. Then they were calling door prize numbers (1 per kid) and Brody won a HUGE bunny. Marissa did not dig sitting on Santa. She cried. We had Christmas with the Oldham's at their church on Dec. 19th. We had a great time, mom brought crafts for the kids, so they were occupied. We had a wonderful dinner then our gift exchange. Then on Christmas morning we had brunch at James and Susy's house and opened gifts with them. Then we stopped by my dad's house and exchanged gifts. Finally we cooked dinner at our house with just us and my mom. BUSY! But wonderful to see everyone.
My very good friend Nickalee(& Galen) had her baby girl "Savanah Elizabeth" on December 5th and was 6lbs 6oz. She is so cute!
We had dinner with our friends Joe and Kristin a couple weeks ago. He made homemade spaghetti and it was soooo good. Then we played a really fun game called five crowns. We had a wonderful visit and plan to have them over for dinner soon.
I talk to Jason about once a week he is doing good and can't wait to get out of Iraq! He says it should be returning near the end of April. Brody prays for him every night. We say our regular prayers, then Brody says, "dear Jesus, please keep my uncle Jason safe in that far away dangerous place where he is protecting our freedom. Amen" so sweet.
Thank you for all the Christmas cards! :)