CHRISTMAS LETTER 2009

Happy December everyone!!!!
Hard to believe another year has passed. Time truly does seem to go by much quicker with each passing year. We are going to give you a quick run down of this years happenings in hopes to tell you about our lives. Enjoy!!

JANUARY: This month started out ringing in the New Year in Indiana with Rebecca's family. After the new year was properly rung in we drove back to Texas (where it was warm). After being home a short while we received word that Neal's grandmother has passed away. So we flew back to Indiana for a short trip to be with family as we gave Gramma Fox her final goodbye.

FEBRUARY: The second month of the year also brought us the second death in our family for the year. Rebecca's grandmother passed away. So once again we headed to Indiana to be with the other side of the family as we said goodbye. The year started off with a lot of sadness but it gets better.... keep reading.

MARCH: We continued to watch Camden and Owen play soccer. Neal helped to coach Camden's team. Both boys seemed to enjoy it as well as their best cheerleader Emma. In March we took a trip to Alabama to have the kids tested to see if they would be accepted into the school we wanted them to go to. They all got in and we are so thankful for that!! It is very nice to have all the kids at the same school.

APRIL: This month was filled with Jesus and Easter eggs.

MAY: Rebecca's sister came for a long weekend to go on a scrap booking retreat. We stayed up all night and got a lot of our pages done! I am blessed to have such a great sister. This month also ended another school year. Camden was happy to be a third grader. (once he finishes a grade he automatically starts telling everyone he is in the next grade). This month also started the goodbyes for us. We had to say goodbye to some great friends that we had met through both schools and Neal began slowing down at work, saying see ya to some fellow pilots.

JUNE: The craziness of moving was this month. We were able to rent out our house to a nice couple so we did not have to go through selling the house which is a bonus ( I think ). But we still had to get organized for our move. On June 28th we arrived to ALABAMA!!! June 29th our household goods arrived and we were unpacking. Neal's mom came to watch the kids while we unpacked. It was the fastest we have ever been able to unpack and I recommend to everyone moving with kids..... have someone there to play with the kids during unpacking. It is a treat for everyone involved!!!

JULY: We headed down to Florida for our first beach trip. Neal's mom went with us and we met Neal's brother Dan and his family there. It was such a fun trip, but it was over way too quick. Camden and Owen learned to boogie board and Emma learned to build big sandcastles with her daddy. July was also the month that we decided God was leading us to embryo adoption so we sent in our initial application and got our home study going.

AUGUST: We started off the month by driving to Indiana to pick up our niece and nephew and brought them back to Alabama with us. The kids has a great time swimming and playing with their cousins for a week. The kids also started at their new school. Owen and Emma missed the cut off so they are in K-4 and Camden is in 3rd grade. Camden had a rough start with handwriting. They do not teach in Wichita Falls public schools until 3rd grade and here they expected him to know it already and to be writing everything in cursive. Neal also started his classes for his Air Force masters degree. He will be completing a masters in one year while in Alabama and he will be finishing his other masters degree that he had already started in March. GO NEAL!!!

SEPTEMBER: This month Owen and Emma turned 5!!! Makes us sad to see them grow up. Rebecca also started taking some on line classes (since everyone else was in school, she felt left out). Not sure what she is going to do with those classes yet, but we will see. This month also brought t-ball into our lives as well as horse back riding and a new gymnastics gym. Owen started playing t-ball, Camden began horse back riding lessons and Emma is continuing her gymnastics. September also started bingo with the elderly. Our church needed someone to take over the nursing home ministry. So we volunteered. As a family, we go once a month to a nursing home, give out hugs, hold a hand and play some serious bingo!!! We love it!

OCTOBER: We started out the month by taking a trip to Atlanta. It was a present for Owen and Emma's fifth birthday as well as Camden's 9th!! We toured the coca cola museum and went to Medieval Times dinner show and the Atlanta aquarium as well!! The next weekend we took our first family camping trip. Tent and all!!!!!! We had so much fun, we will be doing again it the spring. We ended the month with trick or treating. Camden was Harry Potter, Owen was a night and Emma was Snow White.

NOVEMBER: Rebecca's dad came for a visit at the beginning of the month. Her mom had to work. We love having visitors, anyone else want to come? We also drove to Indiana for Thanksgiving. It was the first Indiana Thanksgiving since Camden was 1 month old!!!! I guess we were due there......

DECEMBER: We anxiously await word on our future embryos. We have been blessed with adopting one already. We plan to attempt to transfer him or her to Rebecca in January or February. Meanwhile we wait for God's timing. We will be heading to Indiana for Christmas the week before hand. We will be back in Alabama for Santa's gifts and the New Year.

Remember we will be moving next summer. Date and Place to be determined!!! We will be updating with adoption news and family news and hopefully pictures.

We love you all dearly!!!
~Rebecca and Neal (Camden, Owen and Emma too)