Merry Christmas from the Tysons

My husband put us on a tight budget for Christmas this year, therefore, I mailed out no Christmas cards. We gave cards to our friend here but I did want to share with those around the world that have impacted our lives. So I decided I would post a blog and send a link to all the friends. I write in this all year so you can keep up with us here and on facebook. A while back I upgraded my camera again so I still take millions of pictures.

2008 was a very difficult year for me. My oldest daughter decided to spend her first year out of high school in Argentina. Argentina is closer to Antarctica than it is to the United States. She was a long way from home and not very good about keeping in touch. She actually left in Sept 2007, but she was returning in December and all was kind of new. When she left in January, that was a different story. She left Saturday night and Sunday I had to leave the church service because I couldn't stop crying. She had a wonderful experience but it was tough on mom and consequently on the rest of the family. Briana returned a grown-up with a heart for serving the Lord. She will take classes at FCCJ in January and is applying to Flagler College. Right now she wants to major in Spanish and travel. She finally got her license and is driving, if you can believe it, a truck. Those of you that knew Bro. Miller, think of his green Mazda truck and there you have it. Andrea calls it the ghetto truck. But is runs and is reliable. She has been working in the middle school as a sub and hall monitor in the afternoon. She has a nanny job 2 days a week. It is great to see the Lord meet all her needs. She returned from Argentina with with $10 in her bank account and now she has more than she needs. I can hardly believe it was 20 years ago that we brought her home in a stocking on Christmas Eve. Pray for Briana as she makes those decisions that we all made at her age.Briana loaded and heading to the airport for Argentina

This is Briana when she returned from her year in Argentina.

Andrea turned 17 in October. She also got her license, BEFORE Briana. She has her own car, Esther, a 2000 Bonneville. She is still quite the tennis player. She played this year at Ed White. It was an experience to say the least. They don't play much tennis in the public schools, especially on the west side. She made all conference and went to state for the second year in a row. She was a blessing to the team and a testimony to the girls. One of the girls even came to church with her. She will be able to play at Trinity again this year, but her year at Ed White matured her and I think she is mentally a tougher tennis player. She began dual enrollment at FCCJ this year. She is only taking one high school class. She works 20 hours a week and plays tennis 15 hours a week. She still does well in school. She is working to go with the teens to Africa next May. They are going to work with the Aldermans, helping JJ get the camp going. We are very proud of Andrea.

Andrea and her team after she won the singles district title

Andrea working out at tennis camp.

Joanna is working diligently in school for the first year of her life. She has always been apathetic at best about school. This year she works independently and has all A's. She likes working with computers. She is taking a Web design class and is doing very well with it. Her sisters call her Hacker. She has been doing step aerobics and kick boxing. If any of you know her, you know that this is quite an improvement. She has never liked exercise but we have always encouraged her to stay active. She goes every week to class and has made friends with all the ladies. It is a great experience for her. She completed her discipleship requirements and will get to go skiing with the youth group next week, her first time.The girls doing their favorite thing, taking pictures with the dogs.

Krista is still Krista. She is also working better in school. She still struggles in some areas. She entered the youth group this year. She has jumped in with both feet. She loves it. She also earned the right to go on the ski trip. The discipleship was difficult this year, especially for her. It is a very good program and she has done well. This year her tennis game has improved. She will play her first real tennis season this year. She has grown 5 inches this year and is still growing. She gets taller but doesn't gain any weight. She has a border collie that she has taught to play basketball, soccer and tennis. He loves any sport with a ball. She practices her serve in the driveway and Lucy gets it for her. It is a little slobbery but Krista doesn't care. This dog was rescued by one of our friends that is a dog catcher. She had been in a kennel for about two weeks and had difficulty walking so I called her Loonis. We are so glad we have her and she has been a friend to Krista. Krista has gone through a few obsessions the last two years, the first being Pirates of the Carri bean, the latest is 24. Her dog is the continuous obsession.


Jimmy has preached in Spanish several times this year. He is doing well with his Spanish, me, not so well. Jimmy's favorite saying is People do what they want to do which is oh so true of my spanish. I have started subbing this year and it has been interesting. I have been working mostly with young children. Jimmy spent alot of the year rebuilding and 86 celica. It still has issues but he hopes to have it on the road soon. It was originally intended for Briana, but after seeing her driving skills, we decided she would never be able to drive a stick.

We send warmest wishes to all our friends. Have a very Merry Christmas.