Friday, December 5, 2008

McDaid Holiday Letter 2008


Hey, friends! Thanks for stopping by! Here is our family letter and some pictures.

McDaid Family 2008 Recap

Mark
Mark is still gainfully employed as a Programmer in the IT Department at Austin Regional Clinic. With a full year under his belt, he feels pretty comfortable at his job. Recently, he has been working with the doctors and nurses in the clinics getting a paperless prescription system going. At home, he always has some project to do. This summer, he replaced the timing belt on our car and is always doing some kind of house maintenance job, like fixing the washing machine or garbage disposal. This year, he has diligently worked out at the YMCA and is in great shape! He also is helping Riley complete a marathon (in segments)!
Shelley
I am always busy doing something, and this year was no exception! I am still teaching preschool at First Baptist. This school year, we’ve had lots of challenges, but we’re doing okay. I am also taking care of 2 brothers after school this year who play really well with my boys. I too enjoy working out at the Y, but I don’t get to go as often as I’d like. I am the Finance and Membership Coordinator for MOPS this year. We are excitedly anticipating a new MOPS group starting in 2009! I am still passionate about crafting and enjoy stamping and digital scrapbooking. I get to go on my first scrapping retreat in January!
Riley
Riley graduated from kindergarten this spring, and started first grade this fall. First grade presented a new challenge: being separated from your best friends from your kindergarten class. It’s taken some adjustment, but he is making new friends. He is reading, doing math and learning how to be a good citizen, thanks to his wonderful teacher! Riley is also active at church and participated in his first Pinewood Derby race this fall. In his free time, he likes to play on the computer, play outside or play with his race cars.
Tyler
Tyler is a very active 3 year old. He is very compassionate and loving. He has a whole bed full of stuffed animals that he has adopted or acquired. They are his babies, and he takes good care of them. He is also devoted to his mommy, but does well when he is at school or at church. He potty trained very quickly and easily over the summer while mom and dad were on vacation. His favorite things are candy, Curious George and trains. Oh, and he was an adorable Wall-E for Halloween!
Family
We’ve had fun this year as a family. It is nice that both boys are old enough to go and do meaningful things. We’ve gotten to go to a few races this year, although not as many, since Cameron didn’t race much. We did get to go to our first Monster Truck show, which was fun. We also enjoyed going to several Round Rock Express baseball games. We learned that berm seating is actually better than seats in the stands! We are still enjoying our church. We have gotten connected in an adult Sunday School class, and Mark and I enjoy doing Wednesday evening Bible study. We also co-led 2 rounds of Financial Peace University this year.
The absolute highlight of this year, though, had to be Mark’s and my 10 year anniversary trip! We got to be away for 10 days, driving to Florida to go to a NASCAR race at Daytona International Speedway and then going on a 4 night Bahama cruise. It was awesome! We went to Nassau, CocoCay and Key West. The weather was wonderful, and we enjoyed lounging, swimming in the ocean and sightseeing. While we were gone, the boys stayed with Grandpa and Grandma and went to VBS at their church.

It has been a fun year, full of memories and milestones. We are still plugging away at building our savings. It was so exciting to pay cash for our anniversary trip, and to know we wouldn’t have to worry about bills when it was over.
God has continued to bless us. I am excited and hopeful as my children are beginning to know and understand God as they grow. They ask many questions, and we try to answer them all! I am looking forward to sharing the Christmas story with them this season. I think it really may take shape for them this year!
I pray that each one of you, family and friends, would enjoy the wonder and true meaning of the Christmas season. May you be blessed in 2009!

Love, the McDaids












1 comment:

Rose said...

Great recap, Shelley. Unbelievable that I actually had to read it to see what your family is doing. Have to change that. :) Love you, girl!