December 2004

Dear family members and friends,

Well Merry Christmas and a Happy 2005 to all of you!!!

2004 has been a GREAT year for us filled with many learning opportunities! Although learning isn't always easy nor fun, knowledge is always a blessing in the end. So what have we learned this year . . .

Tom has added more skills to his long "What He Can Do" list. He can now put in laminate wood flooring since he replaced our ugly kitchen carpet with a beautiful new floor. He can now call himself a GUID (his job working for Indiana University), which means Graphics Usability Interface Designer. Huh? Well, I'm not exactly sure what that means either, but I'm sure it's something good. He was recently called as Ward Executive Secretary in our church, and keeps busy with that. Although music is nothing new to Tom, he continues to gig, tour, and record. We've taken several family trips this year as Tom has had out-of-state performances. He says that each performance is always a learning experience for him.

Camilla spends her days jumping, hopping, twirling, skipping, and doing forward rolls. We think she is learning how to be a dancer/gymnast. Tom and I have enrolled her in dance and gymnastics classes with the hopes that the teachers will direct her energy into useful skills. Camilla has also discovered whistling, friends, preschool, My Little Ponies, and computers. Camilla will be 5 in May and is already getting excited to start kindergarten in the Fall. In my opinion, she is very ready.

Nathan, our 11 year-old, is moving up! He will be 12 in September. That

seems to be such a landmark age to me. He will soon be leaving Primary and elementary school, and heading toward the teen years. Yikes! Nathan has totally passed me up in the know-how's of anything electronic. He can beat me at any Playstation or computer game. Nathan has become quite a good reader and writer. He's very artistic and creative and loves the use of grammar and vocabulary in his writings. He would say he's learned the most this year in soccer! I would say he's become a wonderful, lovable, and thoughtful kid!

Wesley is still the funny one! He brightens my day by all of the funny things he says and does. I love his spontaneity. I think he's discovering how funny he is, too, as his 2nd Grade teacher consistently awards him with –Life Skill tickets” for his sense of humor. One sad thing that Wesley is also learning is that not everyone is nice. He often comes home from school wondering why people are mean to each other. I think that Wesley's sense of humor will help him deal with some of the mean people he will continue to encounter in his life. Another thing he's learning which will help him face mean people is Tae Kwon Do. Wesley has a fabulous teacher. Wes's confidence level has shot up tremendously since we started him in this Martial Art form. He will test for his orange belt on January 7, 2005.

I am also learning Tae Kwon Do and just earned my yellow belt. The Tae Kwon Do lessons that Wes and I take, the gymnastics and preschool classes that Camilla takes, and the soccer that Nathan does are all done at our local YMCA where I started working at the beginning of this year. I started working in the child care where I could take Camilla with me. Then in September, I enrolled Camilla in their preschool program and I switched to the front desk. I just work two 4-hour shifts a week, but LOVE IT! I've learned this year that I can still sing, even along side young, hot, new voice majors at the University (which is a thrill for me). I've learned that I love to teach as I occasionally substitute teach early morning Seminary and do Sharing Time in Primary. Unfortunately, I can't seem to learn how to keep the weight off. Will 2005 be the year for that beastly problem of mine???

Well, I hope you all know how much we love you and are grateful for you. We wish you the very best in this new year. May all of your righteous desires be granted.

Love, The Clarks

June 2004

Hello Everyone,

Summer is just around the corner and I'm sure that you, like us, are making Summer plans, dusting off your swim suits and outdoor grills, and are beginning to run the A/C.

Some of our Summer plans MAY involve buying a small r/v and traveling across the midwest. We would even like to go back east and see the Hill Cumorah pageant. This is in the very beginning planning stages. Also, after winning some free tickets to King's Island Amusement Park in Ohio, we'll be making a trip out there to have some fun!

We recently bought the kids a trampoline for the backyard to keep them entertained after school lets out. Keep your fingers crossed with us that no one kills themselves . . .

If I were to sum up these last few weeks with just five words they'd be: Cicadas, thunderstorms, parties, Taekwondo, Soccer, weight-loss (does that count as one word?), and gigs.

I think anyone who lives in the midwest needs no explanation when it comes to either cicadas or thunderstorms. But for the rest of you, a cicada (I'm not even sure I have the spelling right), is a bug which looks like a cross between a large wasp, a horsefly, and a butterfly. They get as big as 3' long and are NOISY!!! The last time anyone saw a cicada was 17 years ago; then they were dormant until the end of May 2004! We were the lucky winners to experience the infestation of billions of bugs! They crawled out of the ground and flew into the trees where they buzz (a male mating call), and live for about three weeks then die. There are still billions of cicadas everywhere, but we are beginning so see lots of dead ones on the ground. They don't really hurt anything or bite or sting. Their only annoyance is their noise and their poor flying skills. They will fly right into you or land right on you. Picnics are a real pain-there's always several uninvited 'guests'.

As far as thunderstorms go, May is usually the big storm month out here. Once again we were lucky to be missed by the ten or so tornados that came through Indiana last Sunday. The sirens went off, but all we got was a few flashes of lightening and a lot of rain. I love the storms, but I admit to getting a little nervous when the tornado sirens go off.

Camilla just celebrated her fourth birthday! For the first time, we actually planned a fairly large party for her. She requested a Dora, The Explorer party along with a long list of friends to invite. Everything went very well and Camilla felt super special for a day. Besides turning four, Camilla has been taking dancing and gymnastics classes. She is one of the most cheerful and friendly little girls I know.

Wesley is our Taekwondo man! On June 11, he'll be testing for his yellow belt, a big accomplishment! Another big accomplishment is getting baptized. His scheduled baptism is on June 20 which is also Father's Day. Grandpa and Grandma Clark will be able to attend that special event. Although Wesley already turned eight on June 4, he'll be celebrating his birthday on Saturday, June 12, with a Harry Potter theme. And yes, we've already seen the movie!

Nathan, after four years, has decided to turn in the piano for a saxophone. Although Tom has not objected to teaching Nathan the saxophone, he'd like Nathan to continue with the piano. He thinks it will make Nathan a better musician. Nathan really, really, really likes jazz! He also really, really, really likes basketball-so much so that he wants to grow out his hair and wear it in corn rows like all the cool professional players such as Jermaine O'Neil. Nathan's other love is soccer. He usually scores at least one goal each game.

Tom had such a busy gig week last week that he was out every night except Saturday. The money is always nice, but it's also nice to see his face. 'Tis the season . . . Tom and the word 'busy' are usually said together in the same sentence. He stays 'busy' in his ward calling. He stays 'busy' with his gigs. And he stays 'busy' with his full-time job. He still manages to find time for his family and hobbies. And staying true to Tom's nature, everything that he does, he does well!

Just as 'Tom' and 'busy' are usually heard in the same sentence, my name and 'weight-loss' are found in the same sentence. And not always because I've been so successful at it. It's usually because I'm still working at it. I often wonder what I'll have to think about or talk about or even work on after the resurrection! If I already have a perfect body . . . Then what??? There's just got to be other important things to work on that fill my thoughts wouldn't you agree? Some other things I really do think about or are doing are: reading (I've been a thirsty reader lately), working at the YMCA, ward/stake callings, taekwondo, scrapbooking, home remodeling, singing, and wondering what I'm going to be when I grow up. Well that about covers it for now.

We hope all is going well for you and hope to hear from you soon. You continue to be in our thoughts and prayers and are most grateful for our relationship with you.

God bless you, Tom, Michelle, Nathan, Wesley, and Camilla