December 2005

Dear family members and friends,

Happy Holidays Everyone! This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love everything about Christmas! I bet I'm not the only one feels that way.

Well as this year draws to a close, I'm beginning to refl

ect on the years' highlights. I guess our biggest highlight was the

birth of our 4th child, Heather Sonya Clark. She surprised us not once, but twice, by first deciding to enter our family without us planning on it, then coming a month early. She joined our family on October 10, weighing in at 5 lbs. 5 oz., 17.5” long. She's beautiful, healthy, and a good baby (as if babies could be bad.)

Another highlight was having visitors come to Indiana to see the new baby. My sister, Cherie, came in November and Tom's parents came at the beginning of December for Heather's blessing. We even got our first snowfall of the season-about 8 inches-while Tom's parents were here. The kids' school closed and we all went sledding! Well, not all of us went sledding. Some of us just watched . . .

Nathan's 12th birthday was a real highlight. He had a Napoleon Dynamite themed party. It was really fun. He was later ordained a deacon at church and has graduated to the Young Men's program. He loves hanging out with the teenage boys and participating in all of their sports programs and wild and crazy youth activities. Nathan started playing the alto saxophone in the community Star of Indiana Band. He has a Christmas concert with them on December 21. We're all looking forward to attending that. Nathan's a great kid, a great soccer player, and a wonderful big brother to Heather.

Halloween was probably one of Wesley's highlights of the year. Wesley LOVES to dress up and act out characters. Halloween is, of course, the official day to do that. He was Darth Vader this year. He practiced getting the breathing just right several weeks in advance. By the time Halloween came, I think he thought he WAS Darth Vader! Wes continues to take Taekwondo, make us laugh, and quote from Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

A real highlight this year was redecorating Camilla's room-and completing it! Tom tried very hard to redo it according to Camilla's specifications. She wanted a “garden room” with flowers, clouds, picket fences, bunnies, etc. and to make sure there was room for Heather, too. Tom was successfully able to pull it off. It looks beautiful! Camilla has a definite mind of her own with a whole lot of “girly-girl” mixed with “tomboy” and a hint of spunk! She even got in trouble at school for spitting on a boy who kept teasing her. I had to tell her that was naughty, but inside I was really applauding her for fighting back! That's my girl! Camilla loves to draw, dance, and to jump!

I'm not sure if Tom would consider turning 40 a highlight or not, but it's definitely worth noting. We weren't able to make a big “to-do” over it, though. Because Heather was born by C-section 12 days before Tom's birthday, I wasn't up for a huge party. We made a cake and played games as a family. I would certainly like to surprise him someday with a big celebration just to celebrate his life and the wonderful person he is! Tom continues to gig, design, travel, play daddy, cook delicious pizza, remodel the home, edit movies, and sometimes he sleeps.

Well, my personal highlights are watching my family interact each day. I guess I've been richly blessed because I've had many highlights this year. I hope I've adequately been able to share a few with you through photos and letters. It's been a good year.

I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Holiday and that the Lord's choicest blessings shower you in the New Year.

Much love, Tom, Michelle, Nathan, Wesley, Camilla, and Heather

Summer 2005

Summers in Bloomington, Indiana can be summarized in one word- HOT! They are especially so to someone who is six months pregnant. Each day I grow more and more pregnant and grow more and more grateful for air conditioning. I am also most grateful for swimming pools. I often feel like an oversized beach ball bobbing around in the cool water, but oh, the relief! Swimming pools are the only place where I can feel both weightless and cool at the same time-that’s what I call heaven.

Besides airconditioning and swimming pools, I have thoroughly enjoyed traveling this summer. We have had the unique opportunity to spend time on the west coast with our extended family members and friends. I say this is unique because flying with the family is outrageously expensive and driving is both time consuming and unbearable. But we bit the bullet and drove to Cannon Beach, Oregon for a Croft family reunion. We drove nearly two days straight-a record for us-and the kids did remarkably well in the car (thanks to the DVD player.) While in Cannon Beach, the kids enjoyed boogie boarding with their cousins at the beach, visiting with grandparents, spending time with aunts and uncles whom they barely know, and best of all trying to compete with their cousin Steven in Dance Dance Revolution. (Nathan is still determined to be as good as Steven someday). Of course, I loved the swimming pool best of all.

The West Coast trip also included a trip to Seattle to visit our friend, Amy Stephens Chen that included a trip to the beach. We also got to visit Brent, Trina, and their three girls and 11 pets in beautiful Crescent City. This also included a trip to the beach. We got a chance to visit Klamath Falls where Tom has a number of relatives. (No beach in Klamath.) We eventually made it down to Hughson where there is no beach, but an absolutely refreshing swimming pool. That’s where most of our time was spent. The great thing about Hughson was that all family members wanted to spend time in the pool as well-a great way to socialize, I think! Upon leaving Hughson, California and heading back to Indiana, we decided to make an overnight stay in Utah. We took the kids to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and then went on to visit my 98 year-old Grandma. She is an amazing lady who still manages to cook several course meals, walks to church without a cane, keeps up in her garden, knows the names of all her great-great grandchildren, and keeps her house immaculately clean. I’m sixty years younger than her and don’t have half her energy or sharpness of mind. Although there were no beaches or swimming pools, I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Utah. Overall, our trip out West was wonderful. It was so good to see everyone. We loved the hospitality, the conversation, the sightseeing, the fabulous cooking and enjoyment of the kids’ interaction. We hope to do another trip before the next decade rolls around.

Just a quick update for you on our family:

Tom still divides his time between church work, computer work, music work, and "home" work. As usual, "Mr. Perfectionist" is always in high demand. His motto has always been, "If I can’t do it right, I won’t do it at all". So of course, everyone wants him for the job because they know he’ll get it done right. As usual, I, along with

everyone else, have a waiting list of projects for Tom to complete whenever he has time . . .. Most of the projects are home remodeling projects. I wish they could be done yesterday, but I know he’ll eventually get there and it’ll be worth the wait.

Camilla is starting kindergarten this year. I remember looking forward to this day about a year ago. I thought, "Wow, all my kids will be in school this year. What does that mean for me? Should I go back to school and finish my degree, or go back to work full time . . ." But now that we’ve got baby #4 on the way, that changes everything. Even so, as the day draws closer for Camilla to join her brothers in riding the school bus to school everyday, I’m getting a little nervous for her. I already know I’ll get emotional watching the school bus drive away on the first day of school. Then I’ll wish that I could chase after the bus and be a fly on the wall in her classroom all day-such a mix of emotions. I’ve done this same kind of thing with the boys and I’m sure it will be no different with Camilla. I’m sure she’ll be just fine because she seems very ready for this new adventure in her life, even if I’m not sure I am. Besides beginning kindergarten, she’ll begin dance lessons again this Fall and is looking forward to playing with her many friends who’ve been away for the summer.

Wesley is still waiting to perform the play that he’s written called, "Hamster Adventures". It’s a spoof on Star Wars with hamsters that play all the roles. He wrote it last year with the idea that all his classmates would be the hamsters in the play and perform it at the end of the school year. Unfortunately, the teacher’s assistant who was helping Wes put the play together had to finish the school year earlier than expected. The play never happened. We’re hoping to pull it together this coming school year (3rd grade). Besides being a playwright, Wesley spends a lot of time trying to make people laugh and is enjoying cub scouts. He took a summer break from Taekwondo and is anxious to start again this Fall.

Nathan will be turning twelve in September and is entering the 6th grade. He’s looking forward to playing the saxophone in a local band. He still really enjoys sports, doing chores to earn money, and being the man of the house when Tom is away. He and I had a race recently to see who could read the 6th Harry Potter book the quickest. He won by a few days. I’m glad for his recent desire to read. He can always be found in his bed late at night with his nose in a book-I’m trying to decide if I should tell him to turn out the light, or encourage the reading.

Well, that’s about it! I think the next update that we will have will be when the baby is born. Knowing Tom, he’ll whip up an amazing website just for her. Or perhaps, he’ll just add another page to the one we already have. Regardless, we’ll let you know when the big event happens---probably around Halloween.

We love you all and are so grateful for you!

Love, The Clarks