Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE NIHISER FAMILY!

I decided that I was going to do something "outside" the box. Traditionally folks send Christmas cards and letters around Christmas, this year I'm sending a New Year's letter! So for those of you in the blog-o-sphere  here is this year's letter, you can pretend that you just went to the mailbox and retrieved it!

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope this finds you well! Boy have we been busy! A recap of our year, I was offered a promotion within my company. I couldn't be happier. I have successfully now worked in all of the claims departments throughout State Farm. (I don't know if that is a good thing or not. :) Josey turned 2 and I can hardly believe she's almost 3!!! Where does the time go? Josh and I attended : "A Weekend to Remember" which is a Family Life Marriage Retreat! It was amazing... There are still things that I reflect on from that weekend, so much that Josh and I have decided to attend once again. When we first arrived and they pooled the audience and there were couples there that had been attending for thirty odd years, I'll be honest, I thought they were crazy. I couldn't see how people could use this more than once... Boy was I wrong!

In March Josh was laid off from his job which made us realize the effects of the economy, but we've made do. Shortly after his lay off he took off to Great Lakes, IL for additional military training. I stayed back and ran the ship at home only to be put on bedrest in May. The big girls finished Kindergarten and Second Grade. We also decided in April that for the following school year that we were going to switch school districts, ours was going through a lot of financial ruin based on our state legislature cuts and we just wanted to ensure the BEST education for our girls. We considered homeschooling full time, however if Josh ended up going back to work then we didn't know if we could keep it up.

Sera bug turned 4... which also meant that my grandpa had been gone for 4 years (he passed 11 days after Sera was born) My family often thinks that Sera channels my grandpas spirit, and while we really don't believe in all that, there are definitely things she says and does that make us question... for example the time that she said grandpa was out in the back yard watching us... While I know its her vivid imagination, it still lightens your heart to know that she is so pure an free!

In July we welcomed Baby Lybertei (Liberty) into our family. She is such a joy. I can't believe that she's almost 6 months old already! Where does the time go? Josh wasn't able to be home for the birth so my mom was in the OR with me. "Lil T" as daddy calls her is definitely her daddy's girl (they all are really)! She looks just like her dad and grins ear to ear when she sees him!

August brought the girls back to school, in a new school, making new friends. They have adjusted really well, and while we don't necessarily agree with all of the teaching practices, we have faith in the teachers!

September brought a roller coaster of emotion. Drea began getting really ill after Labor Day. After several days with a 104 fever that wouldn't quit, nausea, vomitting and what not it was time to take action. I loaded her up and took her to the ER... much to our disliking they ran no tests and did nothing. They told us she was having migraines...now I'm no doctor, but I do know that migraines do not cause a fever that high for 5 days. We left and the following morning made an appt with our doc who diagnosed her with a sinus infection, while I wasn't completely satisfied I took the RX and hoped that maybe she would get better... She got worse so we decided to take her to Children's Hospital, while the wait was long, the quality of care was amazing! She went through extensive testing, IV's, meds, XRays, spinal taps, and on and on and on... Final diagnosis was Lacrosse Encephalitis and Aeseptic Menengitis... Thank you local hospital for dismissing my childs symptoms in which she nearly died, not from the encephalitis, but from the extreme dehydration that she was experiencing. (sorry about the rant, just stating a point!) After spending nearly a week in the hospital with no insurance (TRICARE has been a mess!) our jubilent 8 year old was back to normal! Sadly enough she spent her 8th birthday in the hospital. She was a real trooper!

September also meant that I would be leaving my babies for the first time in 5 months. It was the hardest day ever! With that being said, if all works out hopefully soon I can become a stay a home mommy!

November has brought Josh the opportunity to work on temporary orders at the reserve center, it also opened the opportunity to work as full-time support... He filed his paperwork, and as with anything with the military, now we wait! :) (PRAYERS REQUESTED!) This has reminded me PRAY HARD, ALL things in HIS time!

Finally December hit, who knew it could come so fast?!?!?! Payge turned 7, and we celebrated at the zoo. The three oldest girls have been taking Tae Kwon Do for the past several months, Drea has advanced so well that she tested for her yellow belt and earned, she also earned the 2010 Spirit Award! We are so proud of her. The oldest three are also dancing, and we inherited a violin and piano which we hope to start lessons here soon.

We've seen a couple moderate snow storms and frigid temps for the past month. It is sad that 2K10 has come and gone so quickly, but that means that 2K11 is here and it's time to face it and all of it's glory!

So with that we say to you: DEU 6:5  Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul ,
and with all your strength.

May you have a blessed and prosperous 2K11.

God Bless,

Amanda, Josh, Ondrianna (Drea), Payge, Sera, Josalynne (Josey), and Lybertei Jaimz (Lil T) Nihiser