Merry Christmas

Well another year has gone by, crazy huh? Another year in San Antonio Tx. Not that we don't like it here, we just want to see what else is out there. We are still living on base, but we moved to another unit because of renovations. We like living on base , it is quiet and my commute to work is five mins and that is with the morning rush. So here is the updown on everyone for the year.

Marcus - Boy oh Boy oh Boy, is he ever a boy. He is a lot of fun even though it takes a little bribing to get him to change his underwear. He started the year off in pre-kinder and was having a good time. Right before Thanksgiving Emily decided to pull the kids out and home school them. I think he enjoys it more becasue hegets more of a challenge. Marcus has become the comedian in the family, you never know what is going to come out of his mouth and when it does it is hilarious. There was one time we were playing a game for family home evening that involved acting out animals. The animals that he came up with and acted out was the funniest thing ever. Marcus loves his hot wheels cars and monster trucks.

Annabella - We went through a rough year with her. There were things that we had to work through to help her behavior; however, now at the end of the year she has gotten much better and is much more enjoyable to be around. We are grateful that we were able find out what was going on and able to help her through it. It is an ever changing process and all we can say is "can't wait for the teenage years." Part of the problem was schoolso that is when Emily decided to try homeschooling and it has made a world of difference in a lot of ways. Before, she would be so shy and self conscious that she would not vounteer for anything. Now she was raising her hand in and wants to do talks in primary. It was been wonderful. Not where she needs to be totally but from where she was at a few months ago she has come a long way. Annabella has lost so many teeth this year I can't even keep count. She hates to lose her teeth, so bad that she freaks out completely. But when it is out she's all better. Crazy funny. Annabella loves her dolls and teddy bears and she has a great imagination when it comes to drawing and art. I think she is going to be an artsy fartsy girl.

Emily - Emily had a rough year with her health. The year started off with a couple of trips to the emergency room with pain in her chest. The ER docs said she was not dying so they sent her home and followed up with the military docs. They could not figure out what was going on and they poked and prodded and agter many specialists, nobody could figure out what was going on. It had gotten so bad that she could not function to take care of the kids even so that we had to have friends take the kids in the morning and after school till I got off of work and then I would have to come home and take care of everyting from dinner to laundry to everything. Not that I am complaining but that is how bad it had gotten with how she was feeling. We are eternally gratefull to all our friends that helped with watching the kids and meals. Thank you. After some time on doctor was able to get her on a med that took the pain away, but it never answered the question on what was causing the pain and still today we don't know, we just know that the pain is goine and life was getting somewhat back to normal. After our three week road trip to Washington her back and hip doctor called and said she is going to need minor back surgery. So she went in got it done and is slowly recovering from that. The doc was also able to give her a coupel of shots in the hip to correct some issures that had risen. So over all she is haning in there. She takes it day to day, some days she feels fine and others not so well. She takes it in strides. Other than the health issures that has really kept her from doing a lot she has really dedicated herself to helping Annabella through the issures she ahs been having and taking care of the rest of us. She such a great mom and wife, we are lucky to have her.

Derek - As for me, I am just going along taking care of Emily when she is not feeling well and the kids and so forth. Iam three classes away from finishing my degree in Homeland Security. I cannot wait till it is over. Work is going well I ahve been blessed with great leadershopa nd suprevisors to train me and mold me into a great Airman. I was also bless with a promotion, which comes if February. (Emily is writing now) We, Emily and the Kids, are grateful to have great husband and dad in our lives! Derek took an Airman Leadership course this summer and earned two out of three awards for academic achievement and leadership! He truly earned those awards!

Well Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope everone has a great holiday season and a great new year.

Take care,

The Ramos'