Somebody's been naughty

Last night, Christmas Eve, while Santa was busy downstairs filling stockings and putting presents under the tree, someone was stirring upstairs, and she was up to no good! Michelle was upstairs getting into my 24 hour lipstick. You know, the kind that won't come off for 24 hours, that stains your lips until finally your lips have sloughed off the skin that was dyed red. I ran upstairs and found that she had covered her right arm and half of her face with the stuff. Luckily she stopped there. THere was none on the beige carpet, or the white bedspread or even the linoleum. Just skin, but let me tell you, that stuff is impossible to get off. I have given her several baths, but can't get it off at all. We did have a little luck with a foot sander that I have, but couldn't use that on her face. I just hope it's gone by Sunday.

Lucky for her Santa still came. It was actually kind of funny because she was so upset when she realized it wouldn't come off. Kid's are so funny.

Christmas letter

Obviously, I'm going to be very late getting out our Christmas card this year. For those that I don't have recent addresses for and just so I can say I got my christmas card to someone on time, here is our annual Christmas letter:

Dear family and friends,

Is it just me or does each year seem to get busier and busier? I really was going to get this out earlier, but I was waiting to hear where we would be moving in June and that just set me back far enough that this little note won’t get to you before Christmas. Well, hope it was great anyway! We are still in Mountain Home, ID but just learned that we will be moving in June. Justin got word that he was given permission to do a military sponsored civilian fellowship in developmental pediatrics. He is really excited. He was accepted into programs at Boston Medical Center, Yale, and Stanford. So we will be moving to one of these areas. I think we are choosing Yale, so Connecticut here we come! We are all really excited to move. It will put us close to my brother Matt in New York and my sister Maia in New Jersey. Also, a lot of Justin’s family lives in the Washington DC area so it will be nice to visit them also. We also learned this month that we are expecting number 6 in July, so this summer will be really busy.

Here is the run down on what we are all up to:

Justin: He is one of two pediatricians here on base. As if that didn’t keep him busy enough, he finished and turned in a research paper this summer and will be presenting it at a medical conference this spring. He was also just informed that he will be advanced to the rank of major in the next few months. In his spare time he has been taking guitar lessons and is really starting to sound pretty good. In the ward he is both an advisor in the High Priests group leadership and Den leader over the wolves and bears. It has been a fun calling for him and keeps him on his toes.

Megan: I am young women’s president in my ward. It is a super fun calling but a lot of work. I am really enjoying it. Other than that I have been keeping busy canning for the first time, as well as cleaning, babysitting, gardening, sewing, reading, taxi driving, cooking, and cleaning some more. I really enjoy being at home with my kids. It has been a fun year.

Joey: He just turned 10 which according to the handbook they give you when you move into base housing means he can stay “home alone for up to 12 hours”. He’s never been alone for 12 hours, but we have both enjoyed leaving him at home while I run the other kids to sports, girl scouts, etc. He is in 4^th grade and has picked up football as one of his hobbies this year.

John: He will be 9 in Feb. He is just the same zany kid he always has been. He loves music and can be found bouncing to the beat while playing the piano or singing. He loves babies too. When I babysit for friends he is always a good helper and loves to take care of the little guys. He and Joey still play together a bunch. They were on the same soccer team in the fall and are signing up for the same basketball team after Christmas.

Samantha: She’s in 1^st grade and is reading up a storm. It is so fun to see it all click. She is in ballet and girl scouts and has lots of friends. She is just really fun and good.

Nathan: Is still a ball of fire. He will be 5 in April. I can’t believe he will be going to kindergarten next year. I don’t know how he will manage to stay in his seat all day, as I’m sure they have all day kindergarten in Connecticut. It will be a big change for him. He is doing joy school this year and really likes it. There are 6 other boys and one girl in his class. Teaching them is exhausting as they are all high energy boys (except the girl who is super girly). The other moms all say he is great at their houses. He is super sweet and I can definitely see that he is maturing. He plays really well with Michelle.

Michelle: She decided a few weeks ago that she would start potty training. I’ve never had a child do such a good job with that. Usually it takes a full 6 months to a year of blood, sweat and tears to get my kids potty trained, but she is doing great! She has already made it through 2 weeks in underwear with only a handful of accidents. I’m so happy! She is still my animal lover and constantly climbs on the dog. Her speech is getting really clear and it is fun to hear what she has to tell me. She is just really sweet.

Well, that about sums it up about us. You can get more updates on us at my blog megsrowberry.blogspot.com. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. I am so humbled when I think of Mary giving birth in a stable and laying her son in a manger. I am so grateful for her sacrifice and even more for the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. May we remember the reason for the season.

Love,

The Rowberry family

Megan, Justin, Joey, John, Samantha, Nathan and Michelle