Merry Christmas to Everyone,

Another addition this year – Mary and Adam brought Owen William Arko into the world last March.  He is crawling now, and is beginning to play with us instead of as a solo act.  His big sister, Lainey (now 4), visits us often for sleep-overs.  We can't wait for Owen to join her.  She is in dance and loves to sing.  She brought tears to my eyes the first time she sang Taylor Swift's "Love Story" to me -- without a flaw -- by heart.

The triplets (Paige, Kylan, and Brenden pictured left to right) will be two years old in May.  They are also not quite ready for over-night visits, but we spend a lot of time visiting them.  They are developing three very different personalities.  Paige is the dancer, and is very thoughtful in her activities -- don't bother her when she is concentrating on an activity.  Brenden is the ball player, and will go along with the group.  Look out for Kylan.  She is very active, and will find adventure everywhere.  You can hear her instigating activity as she runs into a room and calls, "Brenden, let's go".  

Sunday evening is dinner at our house.  Four high chairs and nine sitting at the table make this quite an event.  It's good that we converted the living room into a dinning room a few years ago.  We could not have fit this group into the old dinning room (now our sitting/wine room).

Adam sold out his partnership in the flooring company and is now a deputy sheriff for Sarpy County.  He is excited about the job -- he should do very well.  The cognac import business is growing, and Matt & partner are expanding into some European wines and Russian vodkas.  Still a side job for now.

Carisa gets a few teaching (sub) opportunities, when Wendy is available to watch the kids.  She is looking into job sharing with another teacher next year.  That should give her opportunity to get out, and still spend time with the triplets.  I'm very proud of the dedication that all of the kids have given to our grandchildren. 

Jenna has been a great help for Carisa when she is not working.  Now that she is earning spending money (working at T. J. Maxx), she is starting to realize the real cost of things that she had taken for granted.

Wendy and I entertain grandkids whenever possible and especially enjoy weekends when we get to visit with Zac (now in high school, and traveling much on the hockey team).  We did get to take another vacation to California this last fall.  This time we did the north coast from Bodega Bay to Fort Bragg.  There are some really great trips to be had in California -- this was another favorite.

Merry Christmas, and best wishes for a great year.  We hope to have an opportunity to visit each of you in the near future.

Steve, Wendy and Jenna