From our house to yours....

Dear friends and family,

My mom had a really great idea and asked me to write a Christmas letter to include with our Christmas cards this year!  Silly lady forgot and mailed them out before I got the letter done!  Those of you who know her well know that she tends to like doing things early as not to wait until the very last minute, so it was an honest mistake. Besides, some of you may not get an actual card from us. Don't worry, I'm sure my mom still thinks that you're important, but you can only order cards in sets of 50 or 75! I don't think we even KNOW 75 people. If you want to make sure you get one, just send her one and then she'll be guilted into sending you one too. I use this tactic on her all the time and it totally works!

So, I have to say that it's been a great year for me.  I'm in second grade and I love school and my teacher so much! Mrs B knows that I love to play school at home, so she's been sending me home with ALL of her extra papers that we don't use.  My mom must like playing school when I'm not around, because she seems to take them when I'm not looking! She even made a special place for her students to turn in papers...it's a blue bin that has three arrows in the shape of a triangle. Her students must not be that good though, because most of the time their work isn't even done!

This year I played soccer in the spring and fall leagues and had a lot of fun. I made some new friends and I think that I'll keep playing.  My team really needs me since I'm pretty much one of the best players on the team. I can tell that it makes my mom really happy when I say that, because she gets a big smile on her face and almost laughs. She's really proud of me for trying so hard.

Another big thing that happened this year is that I lost eight teeth in six months!  As you can see in the picture, I look a little bit like a hockey player or a jack-o-lantern, but they are starting to grow in.  Apples are my favorite food and it's been a little challenging to figure out how to eat them and some other foods.

This year we took a family vacation down to Utah with my Mormor and Morfar and Auntie, Mikey, Bennie and Brookie.  We had a lot of fun and got to go to Lagoon, which is an amusement park.  I loved all the kid rides and even did a big roller coaster with my mom.  I was super scared during the ride and making terrified faces, so my mom thought I was mad at her.  But, when we got to the end I turned to her and said "That. Was. Awesome!!!"  But, I decided not to go on anymore big rides.  One was enough. We also went to a cool Dinosaur Park and a huge Children's Museum.

My mom still works with computers for her job at MobileDataforce and has been there for 5 years now.  Sometimes when I'm not listening in the morning and taking my time, she reminds me that it's very important that she keeps her job so that we can have the things that we need. She likes to tell herself that it's me that always makes us late, but I can tell you right now that she's just as guilty.

She also met a really great guy in February. His name is Greg and I absolutely adore him. When I met him and found out that he likes Boise State, I was SO relieved!  He even took us to a football game this year and we got my mom to wear a BSU shirt.  She and I made a deal...she said she'll cheer for the Broncos if I cheer for the Vandals.  She's still waiting for me to fulfill my part of the bargain, but I think that not trash talking the Vandals should be enough!

He is super nice to my mom and makes her very happy. He doesn't have any kids of his own, but he treats me like I'm his! I think part of it is because he's just a big kid.  He plays with me and makes me laugh all the time and we play funny tricks on my mom. 

Well, that about wraps things up for this year. My mom said to make sure to let you all know that we're so thankful for all of you.  To be honest, I'm not sure who most of you even are, but if my mom thinks your special, then so do I!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!   

Love, 

Hailee and Kari