Christmas Greetings....

Friends, Family, and all those in-between,

The time is upon us, once again, to send good tidings of great joy to all people. Well, not all people, just the ones we want to send a bit of Christmas cheer to…
If you live in Michigan and are getting this, a little cheer is probably much needed. Unemployment at almost 10%, a housing market that has fallen and can’t get up, and a winter that makes you wonder why the heck you never moved someplace warm. Why didn’t you, anyway? If you live someplace with a better climate, I’d like to say Merry Christmas, followed by a giant, slobbery raspberry (especially you Hippie).

2008 has been another interesting year for the Shawl Family. Daddy still works for CVS, and is currently running the store in Brooklyn (yes, that’s a city in Michigan). Mommy got a job as the director of the before/after school program at Daniel’s school. Daniel is now in a toothless first-grader, Abby is our strong-willed mini-woman (wonder where she got that from Potter Clan), and all is well in our little neck of the woods. Read more if you like, or just put this wherever you put the rest of you Christmas cards. For those who need more…

Abigayle is ornery, feisty, and defiant, but is balanced out with cuteness, politeness, and a sweetness that is going to be trouble for many years to come. If not for her lack of hand-eye coordination, she would already be completely self-reliant, which is good and bad, depending on the day. She’ll eat almost everything, loves weird things like broccoli and carrots, and still drinks milk like there won’t be any left tomorrow. Her favorite, though, is chocolate. She even went as far as calling chocolate “my best friend”. She introduced herself to her Uncle Greg as “Princess Abby”, which returns me to earlier point that she is going to be trouble for years to come.

Daniel is still the most talkative kid I’ve ever met. As a 1st Grader, he reads at a 3rd grade level, has been doing multiplication in his head, and has rudimentary logic skills (way off base sometimes, scary at others). He loves his Nintendo WII, but is sad that he doesn’t get to play as much as he would like (every waking moment). He has also found his fathers biting sarcasm. One day, Daddy was picking on him, and when asked why he thought Daddy would say such a thing, “Because he thinks he’s funny.” He also got to go to his first Metal concert when Dad took him to see Demon Hunter. Ask him about it sometime…

So there you have it, a year in a nutshell. If you want to hear more, call us. If we don’t answer it’s because we have caller ID. To everyone, we want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (not happy holidays, that’s just plain dumb).

Peace on earth and in your home,
Dan, Liz, Daniel & Abby Shawl