Sunday, November 22, 2009

Xmas newsletter from Butler Family 2008

Our biggest news this year is our home robbery April 28. They busted in through the basement garage door. They took all our jewelry except for our wedding rings (took our class rings, a watch Tom had gotten from his father, etc.), camcorder, camera (thankfully Max & Lisa had the good camera on a fieldtrip that day.), computer (had just gotten a new one), and lots of miscellaneous items. There is nothing like realizing someone has touched so much stuff in your house or trying to sleep knowing someone stood right next to the bed and went through your nightstand. Thankfully they were long gone when we got home. Then, as the boys put it, we were "robbed" again by the replacement company our insurance uses. We got a check within 2 weeks for the items we elected to either not replace or replace ourselves. THe items the replacement company replaced for us took 6 weeks and numerous phone calls to finally arrive. The boys (and yes, Lisa) were rather irate to be without a computer for so long.
The next biggest news is that Lisa sold her resale store, her last day was May 31. She had the summer off, relaxing and catching up at home. The boys enjoyed not being cooped up in the store all summer while Lisa worked!! In the fall Lisa started working as a substitute teacher for the school district the boys attend. It was a little slow at first but she is now working steadily. She's decided she likes the lower elementary the best as the older kids (especially high school) tend to be rather obnoxious to subs. The boys love that they get to come straight home from school now, instead of having to go to Mom's store until it closed like in years past.
Max is now if fourth grade and Logan is in second. Last year Max was one of four 3rd graders out of about 60 selected to participate in the math bowl. We were a little suprised as he's not a mathematical genius, but very proud. He really enjoyed it, even though none of the kids from his school got a medal. Both boys also got good citizen awards for their classes last year. They are both getting tall-Max is over 5' now & Logan is about a head shorter. They are both acting more and more like teenagers every day, developing attitudes and such.
Lisa tried her hand at a craft show this fall (mainly as the PTO had the show and she didn't want to work concessions all day!) She used a lot of her "Extra" scrapbook stuff to make notebooks and such. She did fairly well at the show but decided it'll be her first and last one. It's too much effort for too little return.
Tom has worked for LEarfiled Communications in Jefferson City for over a year now. He manages the computer networks and really enjoys it. We didnt' care for the long commute when gas prices were so high-thank goodness they've come back down. Lisa is still active in the PArent Teacher Organization at the boys' school and on the board with the local amublance district. Her term expires in April and she's not running for re-election. Between her meetings and various school and church activities it seems like we're always on the go.
We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a great 2009.
Tom, Lisa, Max, and Logan Butler

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