Hello New Year!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We enjoyed a great week together relaxing and visiting with family. The kids, as usual, made out very well this Christmas and have been enjoying their new Wii complements of Pa-Pa! Other "hits" for the girls were clothes and girlie stuff. Ryan loves his new ball pit, Go Bucks recliner, and baseball stuff. Bill and I didn't really exchange much - just some fun stocking stuffers and then got each other new furniture for the office and $ towards a new computer.
Amist all the craziness of the season, we were reminded once again of the true meaning of the Season - we arrived at my moms for Christmas and were suprised with our favorite gift! BABY ALEXIS was able to come home for Christmas late Christmas Eve. She is holding her own. She will be going to Cleveland Clinic early January and they are hopeful that all necessary treatment can be done outpatient. What an unbelieveable answer to prayer. She still has a long road ahead of her but we KNOW that God is GOOD - all the time!
We now look forward to the new year and anticipate a great year. I (Amy) am looking for a part-time evening/weekend position to start slowly transitioning to working a traditional job again. My hope is to be in a counseling firm when Ryan starts Pre-K in 3 years. We are praying that the perfect job presents itself to give me more diversity on my resume!
Bill has been insanely busy at work but in this economy it is a BLESSING, not a curse! We are grateful for the Christian based company for which he works and are praying that God will continue to pour out his blessings on it!
Our kids are busy, busy, busy with school and such. We pray that this next year we will be able to get some quality time away with them away from the stresses of schedules, work, and school. We trust God to continue to bless them with health and happiness!
May God pour out His richest blessings on all of our family and friends as well. Happy New Year!

2008 Merry Meads Christmas QUIZ

Merry Christmas!
Typically we send out a lengthy Christmas letter each year but this year, we decided to take advantage of technology and post on our family Blog. So instead of a blah, blah letter that could potentially bore you to tears, here is a quick peek at 2008 with the Mead's in the form of a QUIZ! And if you score an 'A' you get a set of Ginsu Knives! (Not really - just making sure you are paying attention!)

Q - What grades are the kids in?
A - Katie is in 6th, Karissa is in 2nd, and Ryan is at "mommy-school". Katie and Karissa attend
Liberty Benton (Go Eagles!).

Q - What is Ryan's favorite sport?
A - Hard to tell - he's excelled at everything athletic so far! (We aren't sure who he inherited the
athlete gene from - it's a mystery to us!)

Q - Where did the Mead's vacation this year?
A - Orlando, Florida! And we had a BLAST!

Q - What were our favorite summer camping trips?
A - Our family reunions, of course, in Pennsylvania and Ohio!

Q - What are mom and dad up to?
A - Bill is entering his 2nd year at K&W and counts it a blessing to be able to work with so many
exceptional people! Amy is still doing a private preschool and runs around shuttling the kids to
and from activities. She's still plugging away at her Masters in Counseling as well.

Q - What new sports were added to the family itinerary this year?
A - Jump Rope Team - Katie made her school squad and Basketball - Karissa starts in January!

Q - What do the Mead's like to do in their spare time?
A - Ryan is obsessed with shooting hoops with daddy and enjoys playing with cousin Grant and his
best friend, Reagan. Karissa likes to ride her bike, scooter, roller blades (you get the picture)
all over the neighborhood. Katie has the busiest social life and is usually with a friend or 2.
Amy likes to scrapbook and Bill enjoys taking rides on his (finally!) fixed up "vintage"
motorcycle!

Q - What have we learned this year?
A - God's timing is PERFECT, even when we can't see it and life is going to fast to not slow down
and cherish every moment!

Q - What is our Christmas prayer for you this year?
A - May you have LOVE - to share with those you love; JOY - no matter what your situation;
and PEACE - that passes all understanding!

Love, Joy, and Peace for 2009,
The Mead's
Bill, Amy, Katie, Karissa, Ryan, and Casper the dog

P.S. CHECK BACK ON OUR BLOG THROUGHOUT THE YEAR! WE UPDATE OFTEN AND TRY TO POST PHOTOS DURING THE YEAR! MAKE OUR BLOG ONE OF OUR FAVORITES AND STOP BY TO SAY HI EVERY NOW AND THEN!

I (Amy) am once again directing the kids Christmas musical at church. Katie is in it - she has a speaking part and 2 solos and Karissa is saying a Bible verse and has a trio she is singing in. I can't tell you what a relief it is to me that all 3 of my kids can sing. I don't know what I would do with a tone-deaf kid! So rehearsals have been going pretty well but now it's crunch time! I always get really nervous about this time. We only have 3 rehearsals left and a ton of kids informed me on Sunday that they would not be there on Saturday. AHHHH! We have about 45 kids in it this year which is a good number. It will go well, I'm sure. I just always panic about it not being "perfect" - but when you're working with kids I don't think that is really 100% possible! I'll post pictures of the girls after the performance on the 14th!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.....

I LOVE Christmas. It's just all the prep work that I'm not all that crazy about! It takes me a week, on and off again, to get the house done. Every year I swear that I'm going to put it all up earlier so I can enjoy it longer, but then we get to the end of the 1st week in December and it's still not all done. Admitedly, I do have issues with procrastinating and taking on too much alone but......it does eventually get done.
Which leads me to my story from last night. I went outside to hang garland on our front porch rail. I started that project and then got sidetracked (hmmm, wonder where my kids get thier ADHD from??) by the giant bulbs that haven't gotten hung on the porch for the last 2 seasons. So I drug out the ladder, hammer, nails....and hauled myself up to hang them. Bill had told me he would do it but he's been working til LATE recently so I just couldn't wait. I hung the first few and stepped back to admire the beauty - it looked great. I then pulled the ladder over to hang the next set and ...... WHACK ......the hammer which I had laid on the top of the ladder, and forgotten about, landed right on my head. After the initial feeling of dizzyness wore off, I checked myself for blood dripping off my head. There was none. So I spent the next minute or 2 telling myself how stupid I am. I am such a clutz! No harm done except for 2 HUGE goose-eggs on my head and a bit of a headache last night.
I told Bill last night that I was going to climb out on the roof tonight to hang the rest of the icicle lights since he's been getting home so late. He forbid me! He was cracking up and said the last thing we need is a clutz up on the rooftop! Not funny.....

My Baby Niece

My sister Cheries baby, Alexis Mae was born with a heart defect that was not caught until she was 19 days old. Now after undergoing a tricky open heart surgery she has developed seizures and has not been able to wean off the vent yet. It has been a gruling week for everyone. Thank God for some friends - mostly neighbors - who have helped out with the twins, meals, etc. It's at times like this that you really do discover who your true friends are.....people who do nice things for no glory for themselves. We've had e-mails from all over the world of people who are praying for her. Keep praying as she fights so hard and pray for Jon and Cherie as they are exhausted.

Our house is 7 years old and we need a new roof already. We lost some small sections off the back this past weekend with the monsoon winds so we had my uncle come take a look. Our warranty is void because they were not installed correctly (thanks to the builders for that one!) and the vents in our roof are not even vented - they are for looks only. Dag-on-it! So now, we have to replace it ourselves. Not enough damage from the storm to be able to claim it but a deffective roof that needs to be replaced or we risk it getting damaged more or worse yet, not have it pass inspection should be ever go to sell - not like that is even a remote option in the economy in our area at this point......Bless my uncle though - he is slow with construction right now and is willing to pretty much eat at the labor expense and do it at a huge savings. When he's busy he has a full crew so he can't cut much. This will hurt the budget for a while but what can you do? Winter is coming and the winters here are NASTY - it isn't going to heal itself!

My itinerary for this week is nothing but non-stop running! I'm working every day this week and probably won't get an afternoon off. Hollys little guy is sick and she is my sub so I can get away 1-2 afternoons a week but that probably won't happen this week. Monday is Sylvan with Karissa, Tuesday is piano for both the girls followed by jump-rope team at school (who knew ...... it's a school sport!), Wednesday is Sylvan for Karissa and French Club for Katie followed by a mad dash to church for me to do worship team and lead choir practice this week, Thursday is clarinet for Katie and gymnastics for Karissa, and Friday we have a birthday party to go to. Saturday......I have not a clue but most likely, sitting down will not be on the schedule. Oh, and how could I forget.....I also have a masters class on Thursday...which I am very far behind in .......gee, I wonder why!
I asked my parents this weekend if the running ever gets better.....when the kids get older. Dad just shook his head and laughed.....not really the response I was hoping for.