Can it be the end of January already?

Oh my goodness! I can't believe the month has flown by so quickly! Since it's been awhile, I'll give you some quick updates:

Christmas was wonderful in Iowa. I don't think I will ever take having my family close for granted again. It was so nice to spend Christmas Eve with mom, my sisters and their families. Norma didn't come home b/c she had just been here in August. Otherwise, everyone and everyone's kids were at moms house. What a crowd we were. The funny thing for me to observe was how much the cousins are starting to look alike as they become adults! Angie & Abby look like they could have been sisters instead of daughters of sisters who are 10 years apart in age! Christmas day was spent with Bob's family at his brother Jim's house. Again, it was a fun time with all the kinfolk, except for Dan :-(, sitting around and enjoying each other's company.

New Year's Eve we left for Branson with our van packed from stem to stern with as much of Angie's earthly belongings she thought she might need in the next few months. Yes, it was time to take our little girl off to college. The hardest part was realizing that this chapter of our life with her is complete, and she's off writing her own life story as she starts her adult life. I'm glad she waited until she was 20 to go, any earlier and I don't think she would have done as well. I'm also glad she waited on College of the Ozarks to get her name to the top of the list. We truly believe this is the very best place in the world for her to get an education. She is LOVING every minute of it. She works at the Keeter Center in the "pantry" making desserts and salads for the restaurant. It's mostly evenings, and every other weekend. She will be coming home the end of March for spring break. And then we will go see her over Easter. She's counting down the weeks until break. She was gone almost a whole month before she got a bad case of homesickness. Not bad, eh? She is definitely ready to spread her wings and fly!

Matt has been wrestling this winter. He's not the best wrestler on the team, but I have to give it to him for at least trying and sticking out the season. He goes back and forth as to whether or not he'll go out again next year. The biggest news from Matt is his semester report card. Not one F and not one D. Mostly B's (yes, I said B as in beautiful!) and a few C's. Yes, the move has been worth it!

Katey just keeps growing. She is very interested in boy's, much to her parent's chagrin. It's always amazing to me how the same 2 people can produce 4 completely different offspring! Although she is not much like Angie was at this age, she is a joy to have around, as long as she stays away from the boys. I whisper in her ear on a regular basis "Boys are bad until you are 16......" She just sighs and shakes her head. Somehow I don't think she believes me! It doesn't help that she gets more and more beautiful as the days go by. She is still struggling with some of her math classes, but I think that she is improving in her education overall. Her ITBS tests show that she is at 7th grade 4th month, which is exactly where she was when she took them! And she's at the 55 percentile, which means she's pretty average overall. I'll take average any day, wouldn't you?

Lauren just keeps getting smarter and smarter. She is a little sponge that soaks up every single thing that is said and done around her. Very little gets past her. She's reading chapter books, loves Junie B. Jones and her adventures! She's excellent at describing her days, with interesting words. Many nights I just love to listen to her go on and on about what has happened that day. And then, some days I just say "LAUREN!! Are you talking to say something, or are you talking just to hear yourself talk??" She's also really great at entertaining herself for a couple of hours at a time. Her imagination is endless. For all of you who said that she would bring me joy, you were right! ;-)

That's about enough for tonight. I'll attempt to be more faithful in posting now that January is almost past......2006 is well on it's way and I feel like I'm chasing after it already! :-)

Take care and drop me a line!

di