Merry Christmas from the Crabtrees!
Another year come and gone… Family highlights for 2009 included a 3,623 mile road trip to Bear Lake, UT (Family Reunion), Salt Lake City, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland, then back home to Seattle – Konrad joined for the UT and Phoenix stops the rest was Ashlee and girls and her mom. We also had a great time camping with friends a couple times. Here’s the obligatory paragraph on each family member:
Allison (4) – Alli is in her second year at preschool and thinks she has the best teacher in the world. She’s excited to have homework every week like her big sisters and looking forward to her first outside of the house activity with a tap and ballet class soon. She’s been quick to pick up that the most important time to behave is when her sisters are getting in trouble for not – and to remind everyone of it so that she gets proper credit.
Samantha (6) – Sam is in first grade and entering the world of reading, albeit somewhat reluctantly. She reads very well, just not always willingly. Math seems to be her forte. She is at the age where more complex concepts are starting to click – its fun to watch her learn! This year she took a break from soccer (but vows to pick it back up next year) to focus on her swimming career. She passed off three levels and can now swim across the pool while side-breathing. Next up: gymnastics, where she can hopefully expend some of her abundant energy on some different apparatuses besides her dad.
Kimberlynn (9) – Kimber is in third grade and continues to rack up AR reading points at record pace. She played soccer and scored her first goal ever (next year we’ll work on scoring one for her own team). She also did swimming, dance and theatre, volleyball, and started taking piano lessons. How many more years until she can driver herself to all of these activities?? The funny thing is that we always have tried to limit the number of activities that our girls do so they don’t become overscheduled… The different activities have been good for Kimber so that she can learn that not being able to do something perfectly the first time isn’t a good reason to give up!
Ashlee (30) – Ashlee is enjoying her bon bons and soap operas lifestyle of a stay at home mom. Luckily she is able to fill some of her spare time by teaching preschool with 12 students 4 days a week, volunteering in the girls’ classrooms, shuttling the girls to their activities, and being Primary President for the 3-11 year old kids at our church. She was so sad when the church volleyball season ended that she decided to start playing on a rec team starting in January (maybe I should have saved that for the 2010 newsletter…)
Konrad (32) – Konrad is still selling software to hospitals for the same company. The year started out with a lot of travel but slowed considerably after June. He is adjusting back to the life of a commuter, working in the Bellevue office rather than from home, and is still trying to adjust to losing 1.5-2 hours a day in the car. This year brought just a couple of new “phases” – P90X workouts and a 2-month trial of polyphasic sleeping. Otherwise basketball, volleyball, and being Ward Mission Leader at church keep him busy.
We feel so blessed as a family and hope your Holidays are filled with joy as we reflect on the birth of the Savior.
Until next year,
~the Crabtrees
