Family Christmas Update 2009

I can hardly believe a year has gone by since our last family update. Every year at Christmas I enjoy taking the time to just sit back and reflect on the year that has passed. The children grow so quickly and change a lot in just 12 short months. This year has been full to say the least.

The biggest news in our family is the addition of two more Redelspergers! Tana and Grey moved in with us on June 2nd, and it has been a joy having them here. Tana is a student at Sacramento City College, as well as working two jobs! She keeps us fully stocked in Starbucks coffee, and has an extremely contagious laugh! Grey is three years old and we love having him join in all our family fun. He likes to work outside in the yard with Uncle Aaron, as well as listening to stories. Our "little" family of seven is snug as can be in our quaint three bedroom home, and we feel the blessings of being near family daily.
Aaron's been a busy man this year. In addition to being an amazing husband and father, and full time youth minister at the Cordova Church of Christ, he also completed three of his classes towards his masters degree. He took wisdom literature, church planting and beginning Hebrew. He also completed a yard transformation in our back yard during his "stay-caytion" this summer. The difference is incredible and the kids love having a play area complete with playground cover! Aaron is also still leading the mgroup ministry.

I, Amy, have been busy keeping up with now four children day to day. Between kindergarden drop off and pick up, story time at the library, teaching in the pre-school co-op and my regular "homemaking" activities, I don't see too much time to myself. When I do however, I've most recently enjoyed blogging! I not only have our family blog, but also a blog on being a homemaker. I take such encouragement from the blogs of others that I read regularly, and I have personally enjoyed the process of being refined as a writer. I I hope to improve my writing, as I enjoy it immensely.

Grace is officially a kindergartner! She is a part of the FLES (Foreign Language in Elementary Schools) program. Her teacher Ms. Yoly is fantastic and Grace has already learned so much in both Spanish and English. When I asked her for her favorite word in Spanish she said "Um, my favorite word is circulo!" (Which means circle)

This fall they had their annual Jog-a-thon to raise money for their classroom. Each child was supposed to run as many laps around the kindergarten playground as they could with people giving money per lap. Many children in her class ran about ten laps. Thankfully they let people make a flat rate donation because Grace ran a total of 53 laps!!!! There were only a couple students that ran more laps than Grace.

Another big accomplishment for Grace this fall, was getting a "cougar award". They have a code they call the cougar R.O.A.R. (Responsible, On task, Always safe, & Respectful) She was chosen as a student who showed great respect. We were very proud.

Our little Noraa continues to crack us up every day. (Her antics remind me so much of her father it's uncanny.) She's constantly making up songs, and amusing us with her sweet little sayings! I think one of my favorites is when she chuckles "Ha, Ha, Ha, I joked ya!"

She started pre-school this year, and really enjoys her time with her "pre-school friends". When asked what she likes most about preschool she will say "I like show and tell!" I'm very proud of her and the way she has paid close attention to all that we've taught. Her favorite lessons so far are the lessons we taught on animals.

Sammy, is 15 months old and has recently started walking. With this new found skill he has also found a desire to climb anything he can! Recently I caught him pushing a kid sized chair across the kitchen, and climbing up in order to reach an item he found interesting! I've got to watch him like a hawk! His favorite words are "Mama , Dada, and Ball". He also says things like "Buh-ball" (basket ball)! What a boy. When his father comes home from work he warms us all with his exuberant exclamation of "DahEE!" In addition to trying everything we ask him to say, he has a number of signs that he uses to communicate when he can't say the word.

I never knew one Mama's heart could hold so much love! My three children bless me so much and teach me lessons I could not learn without them.

We hope all is well with you and yours this Christmas season. Thank you for reading our Christmas update. Please feel free to leave us a comment letting us know how your family is doing, we would love to hear from you!