Christmas Greetings From Our Home to Yours

What a wonderful time of the year, when we're able to reconnect with friends and family and spend some quiet time with those closest to us. We wish each of our friends and all of our family a very Merry Christmas and hope that 2010 holds in store many wonderful things. Happy New Year!

The year in the Freeman home has been relatively quiet, though there are highlights. Most recent is that Emily is now outgrowing both her Occupational and Physical Therapists. She has made such progress and is doing so well that she's actually scored above where her OT can continue to see her at all. And our last visit with our beloved PT, Wendy, has left us down to just a monthly visit. That's from a bi-monthly, which was down from weekly sessions.

Emily is amazing and such a special kid. It hit me Sunday, as Kurt was holding her in church, just how much she brings to our family and just how much, like each of our children, we would miss her if she wasn't with us. I don't mean by dying, I mean by not having had her in the first place. She was not only our surprise pregnancy but out surprise daughter when we thought we were having a son. What a wonderful thing surprises are sometimes!

Nathan is almost three now and the year has brought an explosion of language and understanding. We've gone from just a couple of two-word phrases to him standing next to me as I type, telling me all about the eraser in the shape of a computer he found that Melissa got from school. And now how when babies are stinky, the mommies change them. When they cry. Wouldn't it be fun to crawl into his little mind and see how things work in there!

He's been consistent in asking for "firetrucks" for Christmas. Everything related to firefighters is top-notch in his eyes, which of course couldn't make daddy more pleased. We may have a two generation family of firefighters someday. That would be a privilege. His passion has made it easy to decide what his birthday theme is going to be!

While Nathan is certainly ALL BOY, we didn't know drama in our house until he came. Just keepin' it real here.

Melissa is now 9 and three-quarters (SO much more than 9 1/2 and she would want me to say that). She's in the fifth grade and loves every day she gets to go to school. She sings in the school choir and was just selected to participate in the Elementary Honor Choir. She has a great ear and a strong tone, and loves LOVES to sing! She is also in the Gifted and Talented (G/T) program at school and the advanced Math and Reading classes. She has just recently started to have to study some, which is a little bit of an adjustment, but one that she has taken on pretty well for the most part. Right now Caesar's English is a big thorn in her side, but she'll get there.

**Nathan, back at my side as I write, is wondering if we can have chocolate chips for dinner? And is thinking that he doesn't smell very good and could I check? could I? could I? could I?

Kathryn is just a few days away from being 12. She's a middle-schooler in sixth grade and just the other day we got a phone call from the Vice-Principal, who called to tell us what a good kid Kathryn is and that she works hard and should she ever need anything to please let him know. That's not a call we expect to receive and her eyes were wide when we told her the VP had called (we teased her a little before telling her the reason for his call ~ was there anything she wanted to let us know about??? lol. ).

Kathryn also loves school and is in advanced Language Arts and Math. Her favorite class is Math, and as her science has incorporated some Physics, she has taken to that better than her dad or I ever did. She's planning to switch from music class to band class after Christmas break at the invitation of her teachers, who learned she can read music already and felt she needed more than just regular music. She has something like a 136% in Music class right now. She does every scrap of extra credit the teacher gives.

Kathryn finished great soccer seasons in both the spring and the fall. She got new coaches in the fall that we hope will be with us for a while. We were lucky to get to see her participate in her school's talent show recently and watched her woo the crowd with her performance. She sang the song, "Fireflies" and was blurry on stage as I watched...

Elizabeth is at the High School as a Freshman this year and was so excited to get OUT of Middle School (coincidentally, about as excited as Kathryn was to get IN to that same MS....). She loves having an Introduction to Agriculture class and Select Choir as her electives. Intro to Ag is a prereq to the Equine Science class she wants to take next year.

**Nathan, fresh pant-ed and eating his breakfast, is wondering why none of his sisters are out of bed yet. and could I please get him some more Raisin Bran??

Elizabeth was selected to sing in the Treasure Valley Honor Choir earlier this fall and had an incredible experience. She also attended Girls Camp (a church camp) in the summer and has been busy babysitting as often as people want her, sometimes securing three jobs on a Saturday. She's just been hired to fill a more permanent babysitting position and is busy now every week.

She is a teenage girl ~ loving to be with her friends and to have a "social life". She decided that she was ready for a cell phone a couple of months ago and pays for it herself. I must admit that it's nice to have her just a text away.

**Kathryn is up and just got an earful from Nathan, watching "Super Why", who told her that this is HIS show, not HER show. oy vey!

Elizabeth has been active with the FFA group at school, loves Seminary and is a great big sister and help to her dad and I.

I have been thinking about my theme for the new year (that I've established every year since 2001), and what I've accomplished in 2009 and what resolutions will get carried over (maybe for the umpteenth time) again. While my scrapbooks aren't caught up completely, I have moved forward with them. Fitness is a priority in the new year as the "I just had a baby" or even "I had two babies in two years" no longer feels like a reasonable excuse since Emily is almost 16 months old. sigh.

I have started helping with Melissa's choir at school, accompanying them some and also taking small groups to work on sections of music. I love getting to teach the 16-17 year old girls at church. They are an amazing group of young women, facing the challenges in their lives with a lot of grace and dignity. I'm grateful that my lessons each week are often full of things that I learn from, and that I hope I can pass on as I teach.

I discovered couponing about halfway through the year and love all that that has meant to our family and the chance to really flex my organizing muscles. I have also started my own blog, His Daughter First. I recently had my first post published, which was fun.

Kurt and I went on an AMAZING cruise to Alaska in August. The trip was in honor of his parents' 40th wedding anniversary (though we were on the boat for their 41st). We also used it to celebrate our 15th anniversary, and had an incredible time. We are cruisers for life and look forward to trips to Mexico and Hawaii over the next few years.

Kurt is getting close to his third anniversary with the Boise Fire Department. He considers himself lucky enough to have the best job on the planet and loves going to work every week. He certified to drive this year and gets to "swing up" to driver (from his normal position as hoseman) sometimes. He also just helped the department get through their state EMS inspection and is now evaluating the medical supplies each rig carries and working on a system to make those bags more efficient and better able to meet the needs of the medical personnel who use them.

Kurt started teaching this year at Guardian College, a school that teaches EMT and Paramedic courses. As the school earned its accreditation to offer college credit, Kurt had to certify as a State Instructor. He finished that certification, which will also benefit him at BFD as he teaches courses to the guys there.

**while "Dinosaur Train" is now occupying Nathan, Emily's up and back to bed already as it didn't quite seem like she was really ready to be up. The big girls are up and having breakfast. Things are kinda quiet....what's up with that?

We paused just the other day for an attempt at a family picture. We were lucky enough to catch a couple of good ones, even without a real person behind the camera to keep every one's attention. Below are the results.

Our children: Kathryn, Nathan, Elizabeth, Melissa and Emily

Our Family, December 2009

As the year comes to a close, we wish you a wonderful holiday season and a spectacular 2010!

With Love From,

The Kurt Freeman Family

Kurt & Maryhelen

Elizabeth, Kathryn, Melissa, Nathan and Emily

xoxo