Christmas Letter

I want to get a Tivo for my life. How I'd love to be able to pause the great moments of the past year and be able to savor them even more. It's been a really good year for the Michaelites. This is a term my brothers and I coined to distiguish my wife and kids from the 4 other clans of Taylors.
Eve is just plain silly. She loves animals and she's growing like a little weed. She typically wakes up in a very good mood and proceeds to transform into her favorite animal for a few hours. This girl loves any and all animals and it wouldn't suprise me at all if she became a vet.
Noah is my little analitical thinker and scientist. The class they put him in this year has been a true blessing for him. He was struggling with his reading last year but he has made up all that ground and is gaining speed. Considering how much he was struggling last years its really a joy to help him with his homework. Next week we're headed to the planetarium with his cub scout den. He love science and cub scouts so I'm really looking forward to attending that with him.
Rachel is growing up far too fast for me. She's becoming quite a little lady. In spite of the glasses and the braces her smile and positive attitude radiate to everyone around her. She is still a compulsive writer. I think next year we'll give her the task of writing the Christmas letter. She has expressed interest in setting up her own blog to share her stories. I'll sit down and help her with that soon.
Aaron is doing well and enjoying being a Boy Scout. He's still being home schooled and making some progress there. He enjoys playing computer games and riding his bike and scooter. He is enjoying his new responsabilty as a deacon at church.
I'm still engineering for BellSouth until they become ATT. In all likelyhood the only affect the buyout will have on my job is that I'll have somebody else's name on my shirt. I've been drafted as the Scoutmaster of our Ward's troop. I enjoy spending time with the scouts but the planning is an awful lot of work.
On a personal note I'm still continuing my "quest for truth". I've been reading compulsively and updating my blog as often as I get a chance. It's been a great outlet for me to focus my thoughts and ideas.
Our big project for this year has been a major overhaul of our home. The 1977 structure was in pretty good shape but had been neglected by us and previous owners for far too long. We've been working everyday after work and Papa Dennis has been working his butt off for months to help us get the house repaired. We've made some great changes and fixed a great deal of serious problems. We're looking forward to living in a home without sheetrock dust everywhere but that still looks to be a few weeks away.
As I write this it is the eve of Victoria's and my 17th wedding anniversary. The single best descision I have ever made in my life was to ask her to marry me. She has kept me grounded and given me focus. In my personal stuggles she has been more supportive than I could have ever planned for. I admire her efforts with the children. She sells herself far to short but she is an amazing mother. Our kids have never gone to school without a warm meal in their tummy and they have never gone to bed without at least a chapter of a book and prayer. When she's not acting as a chauffer, teacher, nurse, financial planner, general contractor, or wife she spends her time scrapbooking. How she manages to fit all these tasks into each day will always amaze me. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful that she still thinks I'm worth hanging around.
This time between Thanksgiving and Christmas always makes me step back and look at my life as objectively as I can to see how blessed I really am and take stock of what action I need to take to make my life even better. I have a long way to go but I feel that things are headed in the right direction. So as long as I don't have the option to Tivo my life I am comforted by the fact that it seems to be getting better and better each year.
I wish you all peace on earth and goodwill t'ward all.