Our first annual Christmas letter

Dear Family and Friends,

2009 has been a very busy year for our household! Josh and I are both full time college students, he is pursuing a degree in criminal justice and I am completing my premed requirements and working on my bachelor's degree. Josh is still working in the IT department at the bank and is also BubTar’s cub scout leader. In my spare time I'm volunteering at the children's hospital and at the kids' school. When I can squeeze it in, I also do some advocacy work for children's healthcare reform. I have had the privilege of traveling to New York City, Washington DC, and our state Capitol to share our story, and we have been featured in a magazine, newspapers, and on local television. Between work, school, and the kids, we are on the go all the time it seems!

BubTar switched schools this year for second grade and although he misses his best friend quite a bit, he is doing very well at his new school! He has made straight A's all year and is being recommended for the Gifted and Talented program. He is also involved in Cub Scouts and sold over $1100 worth of popcorn this year, a goal he set for himself, more than twice as much as anyone else in his pack. He's already planning for something bigger next year! He loves to learn about science and he almost always has his nose in a book. We would go to the bookstore every day if it were up to him! He is reading at fifth grade level and is known to consume entire novels in a single sitting. He has big plans to be a writer/engineer/magician/ventriloquist when he grows up.

KayTar has had the most wonderful year! Last November she had a feeding tube placed and had her tonsils and adenoids removed, and since then we have been amazed at the improvements in her growth, development, and overall health! Last school year she had missed over 50% of her days in the first semester and this year, I can count her absences on my fingers. She has only been hospitalized once this year and her neurological episodes seem to have tapered off now that her nutrition has improved so much. She has gained 6.5 pounds and grown 4.5 inches this year. She attends school half-days in the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities, in a classroom with both normally developing children and high-functioning, developmentally delayed children and is doing wonderfully. We just had an ARD meeting to create new goals for her because she has already achieved all of her goals for the year! Her teachers are confident that she will be mainstreamed for Kindergarten next year. She, too, is a big reader and can read nearly anything we put in front of her. She is an aspiring actress, singer, and comedienne and can be found acting, singing, and cracking jokes any day of the week. She has a magnetic personality and makes an impression everywhere we go.


We have had a very blessed year and we hope the same is true for all of you!

Merry Christmas,
The 'Tars