November 2009
Our Family Newsletter
Special events in our family’s life
• Jacob learned to swim, turned 5, and started kindergarten.
• Ally turned 10, won a bicycle from the Library’s summer reading program for reading hundreds of books, started Intermediate school, and continued on here 2nd year of playing the viola.
• John’s handyman business celebrated its first year. Created a website that really helped let us reach out to customers (www.thehandychap.com)
Crouton joined the household, November 2009
Farewell to 2009
I have been planning to start a family newsletter for about 2 years now. What has kept me from writing one? Laziness is the first reason, of course. Writing a newsletter is a big commitment and I just didn’t think that I would have the time to keep up with it. A newsletter is something that I would think is a project to be worked on throughout the year; as milestones are met and events happen. This wouldn’t be something that one would start writing at the end of the year and finish in one sitting (hmmmm).
My second reason was that I didn’t know what to write about. Other people travel the world, have big parties to celebrate life’s events, or get some kind of award or something worth talking about. But for us, life is pretty uneventful. What could really be interesting about our life that is worth writing a newsletter about?
So, why am I starting a newsletter now? It’s not because we traveled the world, had an extravagant party, or won a major achievement award. It’s also not because, by some stroke of good luck, that our life got super interesting either. I decided to start our family newsletter because as I reminisce about the things, people, and events that touched our family this year, I realize that our life is something that is worth celebrating and talking about.
Here, I start, although on sort of an impulse and unplanned. Here, I write, although perhaps to finish this newsletter in one sitting. Here, I look back on the events of the year. This is a recap our life in 2009 and what it meant to us.
“For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.”
-Victor Frankl
Saying Goodbye
We bid farewell to our beloved Nanay, April 2009
April 2009 was a sad time for our family as we said goodbye to my beloved grandmother, our Nanay, Esperanza.
We were fortunate enough to have been able to visit her in the
Nanay has always been there for her family and has even helped raise her grandchildren, as well as some of there great-grandchildren. We miss you Nanay.
Welcoming New Family Members
Welcome Likha, May 2009
My cousin and her husband welcomed their new baby boy, Likha in May 2009. Although Likha is very far away, we have followed his milestones and watched him grow through Facebook updates by his proud parents.
Vacations and Home Improvements
3.5 Billion year old moon rock, National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC
Jakey at the Virginia Air and Space Museum
VA Vacation
We went on a family vacation in August 2009! Visited Busch Gardens, Water Country USA, ,Colonial Williamsburg, and VA Air and Space Museum in Williamsburg, VA; US Marines Museum in Quantico, VA; and National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Driveway
We got the driveway widened and properly paved. We have wanted to get this done for the past 4 years since we moved into the house!
New Office
We moved the home office to the ‘old’ craft room. We now have a desk for John to take care of the handyman business paperwork and a desk for me to work at on the days that I work from home.
Updates on Ally
Ally's 10th Birthday, March 2009
The Big One-Oh
Went to brunch at a nice restaurant for Ally's 10th birthday. The cost for children under 10 was half the price of an adult meal. She did officially turn 10 a couple of hours before brunch- turning a milestone birthday also officially started costing more money!
Junior Bridesmaid
Ally was truly honored to be appointed as the Junior Bridesmaid at John’s cousin’s wedding. This was a highlight for Ally and she looked absolutely beautiful at the wedding in November.
Contact Lenses
In preparation for Christina and Greg’s wedding and also to help her see better for tennis lessons, Ally got her first contact lenses in October.
Updates on Jakey
Vertykes graduation, June 2009
Kindergarten, October 2009
Jakey the Fish
Jacob finally learned to swim without floaties at Mommom and Pop’s pool. He was also jumping off the diving board into 10-ft. deep water as he got more confident with his swimming.
Vertykes Graduation
Jacob graduated from Preschool at Vertykes in June 2009. He received the Mr. Energetic award. Jacob stayed at Vertykes in the summer and left in August. He was pretty sad about leaving his old school and missed his friends very much. Jacob and I used to have hot chocolate and sometimes breakfast together at work before I dropped him off at Vertykes. Moving out of Vertykes also meant the end of our hot chocolate-in-the-mornings routine.
Kindergarten
Jacob started kindergarten at his new school in August 2009. He had a rough start as he missed all his friends from Vertykes and came to the conclusion that he doesn’t like doing school work.
Updates on John
The Handy Chap
John’s handyman business celebrated its first year. He has been able to get the website together with the help of his network contact. The website has helped a great deal with getting his information out there and also having the business recognized by Google and Yahoo on internet searches.
Updates on Dorothy
Expensive Tick
I got bit by a deer tick from doing yard work. Panicked about getting Lyme disease, I made the big mistake of going to the emergency room instead of just going to the regular doctor. Who knew that a stupid little tick could cost so much time waiting at the ER and money for the part that is not covered by insurance?
Payroll Book Updates
I am very grateful to be chosen by a colleague to help her with updating a payroll reference publication for the 2010 edition. It was a lot of work and research but I really enjoyed this experience.
A special message from our family
Ally and Jakey on Christina and Greg's wedding day, November 2009
It is amazing to see all the changes and milestones in just one year. Looking back at the events of 2009, we are deeply saddened by the loss of my grandmother, happy about the new members of our family, and thankful for all the things that happened this year that added to the meaning of our life as a family.
Although life is not always perfect and things don’t always go smoothly, we all get through the rough times and enjoy the good times. We can look back and see the significance of it all. The things that occur in our daily lives are like seasonings to our meal- they just add a little more flavor. You can add too much or too little flavoring but in the end, you just learn from it all and you just make different choices for the next year. Insanity, after all, is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. So we’ll add a little bit of this and a little more of that and see what other crazy things we can get ourselves into in 2010!
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