Friday, January 04, 2008

THE Christmas Letter 2007

Merry Christmas… well, at this point it’s more like Happy New Year! Here I sit on December 19th and we’re just beginning the process of recapping the year. It’s so exhausting this time of year you would think we’d learn and start at Thanksgiving. Nope! Not us… but, our excuse this time is that we’re waiting on our family photo. We’re celebrating with the Wallace clan on the 22nd and will take a great group shot that will insert here. That’s our excuse. This year we’ve watched the children grow by leaps and bounds. Bennett is now 7, in 1st grade and astounds us with his knowledge.There is nothing secret anymore. No more spelling certain words. No more private emails. Jenny was telling a friend that he was doing really well with his reading and was working on a 4th grade book and he yells from his room (where he’s supposed to be sleeping) “5th Grade!”. Little rat! Math… now that’s a different story. It kills his mother that he can’t grasp basic subtraction. She shall relax and give him time. She will. She will. He was able to take a trip to PA to visit Aunt Lara’s family in February. They had tons of snow, played in a snow fort, went sledding, and did all kinds of fun things with the cousins. He also played our first extracurricular sport this spring… soccer! We’re planning on doing that again next spring and letting Maggie join in on the running of the crazy masses. Maggie started kindergarten in August and just turned 6. She has the same teacher Bennett had last year and is doing much better than we ever imagined. She is completely opposite of him and it’s pretty entertaining. She really isn’t concerned about actual learning… but she must look good and wear some sort of PINK each day. She has made a few friends, buys her lunch every day (which Bennett still won’t do), loves riding the bus in the afternoons so she can network, and occasionally gets into trouble. She moves her card and carries on with her day. No remorse, no fear. Ruth turned 4 this fall and thinks she’s the queen. She runs the show while the older two are at school. She reasons beyond her years and is doing well with her writing and recognition of letters. She is so ready for higher learning. We never wanted to send the other two off to school but she is ready this year. We can’t imagine what next year will be like. We’re going to have to be diligent with her workbooks to keep her mind turning. She is all about being a Princess. She and her friend Amelia dress up together every week and dance through the house. She also took a special trip to PA with Aunt Lara. She stayed 2 weeks and had a big time. Grandpa flew up to bring her home and the two of them are like peas in a pod. She has him wrapped! Lydia turned 2 this summer and I say it constantly to her “you are SO TWO!” She’s the most challenging 2 year old we’ve had. I know we’ve created most of it since she’s the baby and gets away with way more than the other 3 ever thought of. She yells at the other kids and they give in to her because it’s easier and quieter that way. They are learning to be thoughtful. She’s learning that screaming reaps rewards. Great! She is still very much like Maggie and will one day be potty trained and nice to her siblings! One of my yearly friends said “what?? No new Davidson this year?” Nope! We finally have a 2 year old and no infant in the cradle. I do believe we are completed. God may tell us otherwise one day but for now, we’re done.
In March we lost two friends the same week, Ruth’s 3 year old friend Emily and Jenny’s Aunt Verna. It was a rough week for all of us. We miss them both. We took a family trip to PA for spring break in April with the Rose’s and had a wee bit of snow to send us back home. We visited the Hartman’s in VA on our way home. We also went to Amazement Square in Lynchburg… highly recommended for kids if you’re driving that direction. In May, we went camping with our Sunday school and had a great time. School was out and Bennett went off to camp the next week. It took some serious Daddy convincing to let him go but with all our camp connections we finally got the OK. He had the BEST week ever. Waya for life! Feel free to sign up at
www.strongrockcamp.com and drop our name as a reference! We are good friends with the owner/operators and office staff and have the highest confidence in their abilities. Highly recommended for kids finished with kindergarten! We’re trying to again convince Daddy to let him return and take Maggie too. Jenny started a new part-time charge nurse position in the NICU in June. It’s one week of charge and then one week of staff at the bedside. It’s a good mix since 100% Charge Nurse is bad for the brain! The summer brought about weekly library story hours, VBS, weddings, birthday parties, and the Peachtree Road Race. Jenny did the Peachtree!! Woo Hoo! For those of you non-Georgians, the Peachtree is THE road race on July 4th. A group of girlfriends were motivated to get out and run so we did. Jenny would like to make it an annual event if work will allow it. We also had a celebration weekend with Jenny’s family and cousins from TN, IN, TX, PA, & GA (enough initials?). We had such a good time all packed in together that we’re going to do it again next summer in TN. Once school started back up we started running again. Field trips, class activities, weekly playgroup, weekly caregroup dinners, doctors, dentists, concerts and shows, Blue Man Group with work friends, White Christmas at the Fox, Annie on stage with the kids, camping trips to Tellico, dance party in the basement, trips to Griffin, church musical, walks in Gainesville for work. Whew. Maybe we should slow down a bit!
Aunt Leslie had surgery and started treatment for cancer in July. She’s 3 months from being finished and is doing remarkably well in our eyes. Read about her at
www.muchles.com or www.bovinetheology.com
Curtis is working hard finishing up a couple of houses and has begun a small cabin development with his friend Chad. He still works diligently on his Jeep and takes trips to Tellico to make sure it still functions properly on the trail. Jenny still works 3 days at the hospital and the days off are filled with big kid school and little girl play. She’s involved in the PTO and tries to help in both classrooms each month as time allows. By the time Lydia is done there (May 2013) they will be ready to see the Davidson’s go! We just finished a great Christmas with all the families. All of Jenny’s came to Cleveland for the weekend. (see photoà)
We also spent time with Curtis’ family and enjoyed visiting with his sister’s family and Grandparents.
Alright, this must end. It’s January 4th, we already put the Christmas décor away and I still haven’t finished this letter. You can read all you want and see many more pictures at
www.davidsonupdate.blogspot.com Email us at cnjd@alltel.net and call us at 706-865-7021. We’re IN with Verizon (C) 7069690607 (J) 7708536693
Have a happy, healthy blessed 2008.
Curtis, Jenny, Bennett, Maggie, Ruth, Lydia… Bucky and Kit-
Kat

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