Dear Family & Friends,
Happy Holidays! This year has been full of ups and downs. We've enjoyed plenty of family time together. We've also had our trials and losses and certainly wish for a more uplifting and exciting 2010! We hope you all have had a wonderful year!
In a month, Brady will be 5 years old. He's in his second year of pre-school and doing very well. It took him a little while to figure out how to sound words out but we are happy to say he's starting to read and he's loving it quite a bit! Next year he'll be in Kindergarten and can hardly wait! Brady got to play t-ball and soccer this year. He enjoyed both but we think his interests are more into baseball. He enjoys his toys cars, playing any video game, Spongebob Squarepants, trains and lots of art projects. Brady is almost in year 3 of dealing with Type 1 Diabetes. He's doing really well and communicating better when he has high or low glucose levels. This coming year will be focusing on teaching him how to test himself in preparation for Kindergarten. After almost 3 years we think we're finally getting the hang of this disease. It still sucks to have to deal with it at all but things could be so much worse. We feel blessed that Type 1 Diabetes is a manageable disease and Brady can look forward to living a long, wonderful life.
Elise is almost 8 years old. She is in the 2nd grade and seems to be at the top of her class. She's very smart and full of various interests. She loves doing art, crafts and reading more than anything else. This year she started taking piano lessons and has done exceptionally well, earning "Masters Basket" every week. We're amazed at how quickly she seems to be learning and understanding how to play piano. She also played machine-pitch baseball and soccer. While she seemed to enjoy both, we're thinking she loves soccer over baseball. We've learned throughout her life, Elise does things in her own time--it's hard sometimes but does us no good to push her. She decided this was the year to learn how to swim and ride her bike without training wheels. She didn't want us to stand by her and only accepted a few little tips. When she finally figured both out she was quite proud of herself. Elise is certainly growing up! She's usually very sweet and loving but can push her limits and find herself in trouble, which she doesn't handle too well. In 2010, Elise will be old enough to be baptized. She's very excited about this decision! Mom and dad are very excited too and have spent a lot of time reflecting on how time has flown on by and how incredibly blessed we are to have such wonderful children.Audra has had a whirlwind of a year! She discovered many of her strengths and weaknesses and realized it was time to work on improving herself. She's battled with weight almost all her life and tried almost every program available. She found a program that works well for her and, to date, has dropped 25 pounds. She's taking a break for the holiday season but will be starting up
again come January. With the weight loss and improved attitude she feels her health and well-being has improved and it's been a wonderful feeling. She's still working as a massage therapist in a chiropractic office but this coming year will probably be her last. Audra has enjoyed strengthening relationships with friends and serving others. She got to participate, with other family members, in doing a tree for the Festival of Trees this year. She considers the opportunity to do so very touching and an honor.
Nathan decided to get in shape this year. He fixed up his bike and discovered how much he enjoys all the many bike trails we have in our little town. Up until the cold hit, he was able to ride almost every day and dropped some weight too. He got to coach Brady's soccer team this year. He's never coached soccer before but he really seemed to enjoy it and he did a great job working with a bunch of crazy 4 & 5 year-olds. We're blessed Nate still has a job even though there have been some troubles with the company he works for. We hope he'll be able to keep his job and continue to enjoy the peace and security but we're also cautious and trying to prepare ourselves for whatever might come. Nate is also hoping he can continue to work from home--in his pajamas!For our travels we enjoyed going to Disney World, Bear Lake, UT and Lake Powell. We had a great time in every spot! We look forward to wonderful things happening in 2010, including the celebration of 10 years of wedded bliss! Here's wishing you a very Happy New Year and an amazing 2010! May you be blessed and create happy memories!
Love, Nathan, Audra, Elise & Brady Armstrong
