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Family News: Christmas 2004 Edition

[This should have been the 2002 Kibat Family Christmas letter. It might have been the 2003 Kibat Family Christmas Letter. Glenda wanted it to be the 2004 Kibat Family Get - It - To - Em - By - Thanksgiving - So - They - Have - Time - To - Get - Us - Back - On - Their - Christmas - Card - List Letter. Well, here we are, just under three weeks before Christmas, so I guess it's the cumulative 2004 Kibat Family Christmas Letter. Wow, how to recap three years of our lives?]

When last we updated you on Dan, he was a happy, well-adjusted 1st grader. Now, he's a fourth grader, just as happy and just as well-adjusted. He excels in all his classes, and earned the right to a solo in his school's winter concert this year. His musical talents aren't limited only to singing. He has a natural aptitude for piano and sails through his lessons. Baseball and soccer occupy his time during the summer and he starts his second season of basketball in January. Cub Scouts keep him hopping--he's a 'first year Webelo', which means less than two years before he becomes a Boy Scout. We'll celebrate his 10th birthday in February.

Natalie is only two short, short years from adulthood. In the last letter, she had just turned thirteen. Now, she's sixteen and recently got her driver's license. She, too, continues with piano lessons, and now has easily surpassed her dad in skill and proficiency on the ivories. Her strong subjects in school, where she consistently maintains a 'high-B' average, are literature and writing. She's very active in our church, both with the high school program that meets every Sunday evening, and helping with a Wednesday night program for sixth graders.

Interestingly enough, in the last letter, Glenda had just completed knee surgery and, in a week or so, will do so again. She pushed things just a little bit too hard this summer and we're all looking forward to seeing her fully mobile again. She's working for a healthcare services company, and splits her busy work day between two school programs--one serving younger kids with autism, the other preparing 18-21 year-olds with disabilities for entry into the post-school world. Her stories at the dinner table vary from outrageously funny, to heartwarming and sometimes heart-rending. But throughout them all is the abundant love and concern she has for each and everyone one of the kids in her care. In addition to her role as the family chauffer, she's been busy as the 'wreath mom' for the Cub Scout's annual holiday greenery sale, leader of her ladies bible study group, and is producing our church's 3rd - 5th grade musical that will take place next year. She's still active in her investment group, but has temporarily 'hung up her apron' so far as Pampered Chef activities are concerned.

You may recall we'd purchased a lake home with two other families in northwestern Wisconsin. Earlier this year we decided this just wasn't for us, and we sold our share. With the new-found time we filled our summer with camping trips, fishing, trips to Washington, DC and a host of other activities. We'll always miss 'the lake', but it's not nearly as difficult a transition as we thought it might be.

In years past we've mentioned our cat, Quincy. He's alive and well, but in 2003 he gained a new feline playmate answering to the name of 'Bailey'. Having two cats in the house has almost been as big a transition as having two kids!

Well, there you have it, the Kibat Family 2002 Christmas / 2003 Christmas / 2004 Thanksgiving / 2004 Christmas Letter.

But, as I think about it, it's a lot simpler than that. It's really just a thanks-giving letter. God has seen fit to endow us with many blessings -- material, emotional and spiritual. And for that, we are eternally grateful. From each of us--Dan, Natalie, Glenda and Mike--may each one of you come to see your lives as similarly blessed.

The Kibat's
 www.visi.com/~kibatme

Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. 

Psalms 100: 1-5

The Kibat Kids

Mike and Glenda

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