It's a new (used) car!!

This Christmas break Austin and I decided to take a look at the fabulous car deals they were offering on TV. We spent an entire day test driving every car out there, but realized a new car was a little out of our price range. We learned what we liked though, and were able to get a used one for $6000 less. We've had a lot of fun driving it. I'm just happy to have one car less than 10 years old again!!

Our year in review

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Dear Family and Friends,

We had quite the year…here is the month-by-month summary:

January – Austin & Mary had a winter escape to Cancún with Mary’s siblings. The ruins and Xcaret were awesome. The girls all got 5^th disease while we were gone but recovered soon after. Julia was ecstatic to get a small part in her middle school’s production of “High School Musical”.

February – Anna tried her hand at hip-hop and loved it, Eliza swam and tumbled her way to age 6, and Julia did an awesome job with her solo in HSM. We also acquired a cute hamster, which Anna fondly named Listo (means smart/clever in Spanish) — he sadly only lived a couple of months.

March – Austin and Mary’s work was bought out by Bowne & Co, Inc. Austin’s department was left intact, but Mary’s department was completely phased out a few months later (it’s okay if you read on). The girls continued their busy schedule of swimming, gymnastics, hip hop, Girl Scouts, and church activities.

April – Anna did a great job with her violin concert and Reading Olympics while Eliza tried her hand at a new thing — karate.

May – Julia performed with both her choir and band (flute). Anna turned 11 and was able to complete her first novel for printing. Mary & Austin made the 14 year milestone in marriage.

June – Julia and Mom canoed down the Brandywine River to finish off the school year, Austin and Mary had a rendezvous in Boston, and the younger girls enjoyed a week of theater camp while Julia experienced her first year of Girl’s Camp.

July – We had a blast at the Michaud Family Reunion in Maine. Seventeen people and an outhouse were the highlights, as well as many fun memories of swimming, playing games and day trips. We also got to visit Austin’s grandparents, his half sister, Sarah, and the girls’ NY cousins. Two days after our return, Mary started her new job at Delaware County Community College as an office assistant for their newest campus, right behind our house. The hours and commute are perfect…a blessing. Austin’s work also moved 10 miles closer…another blessing with the outrageous gas prices we had.

August – Anna took a class on Manga, Austin and Mary worked hard to get the deck done, and Julia kept busy volunteering at an art camp and going to the beach. We also did our annual excursion to Hershey Park on the one day it rained that month. It made for short lines and we got to try some cool new rides. The girls’ highlight was the parental breakdown to finally allow two kittens in our family: Ronny and FlapJack. Although Mom does not allow them in the house, they sure do try. The girls thoroughly enjoy them!

September – We were able to see Grammy Michaud on her way to her lifetime dream of visiting the Czech Republic (her mother’s homeland). The girls started 1^st, 6^th, and 8^th grades. Eliza scored big as goalie on her soccer team. And we became the proud parents of a teenager, as Julia turned 13.

October – A routine trip to the orthodontist determined that Anna needed to pull four of her stubborn baby teeth to help the adult ones come in. She was a trooper and healed quickly. Mary was able to enjoy a Time Out for Women presentation in Philly…right near where a new temple for our church is announced to be built.

November – A month to be thankful, as we were able to have the opportunity to see all the grandparents. Austin’s dad was here for 3 weeks and Mary’s parents for 10 days. Between work and all the girls’ activities, it was quite the busy month. We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Aunt Heather’s house in NY and came back to a quiet house.

December – Work parties, church parties, school parties, etc. Band concert, orchestra concert, choir concert, etc. Mary & Austin’s birthdays thrown in the mix. But, through all the bustle and chaos of the season, the love and the peace of the Savior still can be felt. We are grateful for His gift to us.

We hope you are doing well this year. We feel blessed and look forward to the coming year.

Love,

The Wrights

Christmas Day

We had a nice quiet Christmas morning. Eliza and Anna were up first to get things moving. They waited patiently while Julia moseyed down the stairs and I got the blueberry muffins in the oven. The girls were quite pleased with their gifts. Santa did a good job!

Julia's highlights were an MP3 video player, several new clothes, and a hair straightener.

Anna was ecstatic to get more Nancy Drew mysteries, a digital voice recorder, and the next Leven Thumps book. She also loved wearing her new nightgown and peace shirt.

Eliza was happy with her Blendy Pens and another Geronimo Stilton Book. She also had fun trying out her new soccer ball and net after lunch. We all had fun playing her Perfection game.

Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve, we had a fun time mixing tradition with some service. We decided as a family to give some gifts this year to a young single mom and her 13 month old daughter. She works twelve hour days to raise money for her daughter's needed back surgery next month. She has no family here, but shows great maturity to make things work. The little girl is the cutest thing ever, and will have to undergo 3 major surgeries in the next year. You would never know, though, because she is always smiling and chatting away. I hope my daughters can learn just a little through this experience the great blessings they have in their life and to appreciate their good health.

The rest of the evening, we prepared the house for "Santa's Arrival". The girls rolled out sugar cookies and decorated them. Eliza made her list and left Santa a note. Then we read Christmas stories and snuggled in for a long winter's nap. This may be the last year of believing in our house, as Eliza did express some skepticism to Santa's existence. She still believes, but you can tell her mind is trying to figure out how he could really be.

Holy Hornets, Batman!

Wasps formed a couple of humongous nests in our trees this summer. We made sure they were dormant before we cut them down. They are really fascinating, with layers and layers and layers of thin paper-like material.

What a sunrise!!

Julia caught this on her way out the door to school one morning...beautiful.

Winter Fun

The girls were so excited when they woke up to a quarter-inch of snow on the ground. You would have thought it snowed four feet. They were out there for two hours playing on the swingset.