Christmas 2008Season’s Greetings! I can’t believe another year is coming to a close… How is that possible??!! I hope this letter finds you in the holiday spirit! It has been another blessed year in the Martin household, even though cancer has struck our family again. This time the victim was our 10 ½ year old dog Sydney. His cancer spread quickly and we had to put him to sleep last week. Our home has just not been the same without him and he will be truly missed.
On a lighter note, Jeff is going on his third year as president of Jamsill, Inc. He also has a new love in his life… In January, we bought a sand rail (some might call it a dune buggy) and a 28ft toy hauler/camp trailer. It has been fun spending time at the Oregon sand dunes. We are quite comfortable in our trailer too! Jeff has still been finishing up the remodel/rebuild on our house. With every weekend project, the house getting closer to completion!
Hailey is now in 1st grade. She will turn 7 on January 19th. We just got her report card and had a conference with her teacher. Hailey had an excellent report with mostly Es (for excellent) on her report card! Her teacher told us she is at a 2nd grade level on most subjects (including reading) and wanted to make sure she continues to be challenged so that she doesn’t get bored. Hailey has received 6 awards already this year, including “Student of the Month” and an academic award for “Outstanding User of Class Time”. Hailey’s favorite thing right now is Harry Potter. She and I read all 7 books this year! Hailey can really relate to Hermione’s character – Miss Smarty-pants! We are so proud of the beautiful, creative, talented young lady she has become! Like any almost 7-year-old girl, she loves rainbows, sparkles, butterflies, unicorns and horses too. She keeps asking us when she can get a horse… Jeff and I just aren’t ready for such a huge commitment!
Pete just turned 5 on December 8th. He has been off treatment for two years now and is three years from his Pineoblastoma diagnosis. We were back at St. Jude in June and he received his 10th no evidence of disease report! We are scheduled to return to Memphis again for another checkup on the 30th & 31st of this month. Please be sure to keep Pete in your prayers for another excellent report. I will update his website as soon as we hear from the doctor www.caringbridge.org/visit/petermartin
Pete continues to enjoy preschool (he goes M,W&F), even though his girlfriend Kelsey is now in Kindergarten… It is so cute to hear him talk about her! He says that he loves her and is going to marry her and was wondering the other day if she wants kids (he certainly does). Pete keeps getting stronger everyday and is growing leaps and bounds. He is almost as big as Hailey and is bigger than most of the boys in Hailey’s 1st grade class. He loves riding his bike (with training wheels). The other day, we took the kids down to the bike path and Pete actually rode about 1-½ miles! This is huge for him, considering a year and a half ago he was barely walking! Pete has learned to write his name and loves reading books, playing with his cars, watching movies and making art. He is such an outgoing, positive, sweet and smart boy. We are privileged to be the parents of two extraordinary children!
And as for me, I am also still working at Jamsill. With both kids in school now, I am able to go to the office more often and am working less from home. It’s nice to get out of the house and have a change of scenery. In my 33 years, I have acquired many titles – daughter, sister, student, burger restaurant counter girl, girlfriend, college student, receptionist, wife, business manager, mother (in chronological order, not in order of importance). And now, beginning next month, I will take on the title of non-traditional student. That’s right, I’m going back to school! With a lot of hard work, several years and some luck too, hopefully I will earn the new title “Registered Nurse”. Wish me luck!
May you have good fortune in the New Year!
Kellei, Jeff, Hailey and Pete
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