A Pastor began directing the attention of a Sunday School Class to a heaping pile sitting atop a table. "Everything in this pile," he informed them, "are things that remind us of Christmas and fill our hearts with happiness." On the very top of the pile was an ornament and a piece of tinsel. "These remind us of the Christmas tree." Right below them in the pile was a candy cane. "Who can celebrate Christmas without these?" he wondered with a smile.

As he held up each item, the children shouted out what it was: mistletoe, Christmas cookies, a toy Santa, reindeer, a snowman, tree lights, Christmas candles, colorful wrapping paper, ribbons and bows, presents of various sizes, toy elves, a wreath, and a picture of carolers. There was even a little sleigh with bells attached to it. "Jingle Bells," the children shouted excitedly.

When the Pastor neared the bottom of the pile, he put his hand over his mouth in mocked surprise, and exclaimed, "Will you look at this? What do we have here?" As the children swarmed around the table, the Pastor stepped to the side so they all could see. There on the very bottom of the pile, the very last object to be seen, was a miniature baby Jesus in a manger. It had been buried beneath all the other items. "What do you think of this?" asked the Pastor. "Should the baby Jesus have been on the bottom of the pile like this?" "No," they replied. "He should have been on the top!" "But why?" the Pastor wanted to know. "Because Christmas is Jesus' birthday!" they chimed in unison.

The Pastor explained. "Children, all of the things in this pile don't really have anything to do with the real meaning of Christmas, Jesus' birthday. They are holiday customs that many Christians and nonChristians use at Christmas time, but they are just customs. There is nothing wrong with using these things, in fact they can be a lot of fun. But we need to be careful that we don't pay so much attention to these holiday customs, that they bury baby Jesus, and cause us to not think of him as much, or maybe forget him altogether. For without baby Jesus our Savior, there is no Christmas, no matter how many holiday customs we have. The real joy and happiness of Christmas, is that Jesus Christ our Savior has been born for us." Without him, these other things are nothing. Right?" "Right," the children shouted.

How about you? In our family we strive to keep our Lord Jesus in the forefront of the season. We are not always as successful as we would like, but that is our goal.

Christopher (Chris) -Our oldest son, turned 18 years old in May, he is still attending Miller High School in Reseda, his hearing aids are helping if we can just continue to work at not losing one, the Lord has been faithful and each time it has been found. This year Chris began to signing lots of papers and things, and it is GREAT to see his smile as he is reminded it is because he is 18 years old. This was also his first year to vote which he took great pride in. Chris still loves Music, going on the Computer and playing his drum, along with basketball and riding his bike.

Charles - not oldest but tallest "Tall Boy" graduated from Osborne Christian School and before he graduated was already working part-time at Newroads, working 25 hours a week, shortly after graduation he went to working 40 hours a week and has also done several days of over time. He is continuing to work on getting comfortable enough to go for his Driver’s License. His love is still computers.

Curtis - became a teenager of 13 years old at the very beginning of the year, his year has been a blessing, starting out with the same teacher he had last year "Teacher Roz" at West Valley Special Ed who truly has a gift with each child, I am thankful that she and I are able to stay in touch via e-mail. Curtis’ school graduation was in June and was a Special time with tears. He then began attending school with brother Chris which was a nice feeling for Dad and I as Chris is protective of Curtis. His summer school was more of a time to see where he would best fit in, and the Lord answered prayer as this year he has a very special teacher "Jamie", also a Christian, what a blessing. Curtis is communicating better continuing with sign and some bringing us where his needs may be. He has added juice and chocolate milk to his eating and now the blender is producing many new concoctions of taste which he is tolerating, this is a " Praise." Toileting is getting so much better "Praise" with only a few accidents and these are getting further apart also.

Charlotte - now 12 ½, is a precious young lady, very sensitive, what a gift in art she has. We are working at focusing and moving through 7^th grade, this is a difficult time for focusing and schoolwork, many changes. She is accepting of others and loves her Sunday School Class and the Choir Group she is in at Church "Kingdom Kids", they will be performing a skit at Christmas time with Sunday School and singing program with Kingdom Kids. Reading is a favorite past time, along with T-shirt paint, art. Oh and Computers also!

Candace- now 12 and growing into a beautiful young lady also is involved in both the Sunday School and Kingdom Kids, she really has a gift of singing and dancing and loves to join in, practice and perform. Candace also is a VCR sing a long/dance-a-long addict. She also enjoys Ma and Pa Kettle, Shirley Temple, It’s a Wonderful Life, Sound of Music and some of the older and more moral movies. She handles the movie changing like a Pro!

Caleb- hard to believe will be turning 10 years old in December. Caleb is beginning to understand more and has also been blessed with a special teacher "Teacher Ce Ce" this year. Caleb is still non-verbal and we are still praying the Lord will open his vocal chords for voice or his hands for sign, this is the most difficult times. The times we enjoy the most are his giggly moments when he is full of giggles and his shining eyes and smile. He is still in diapers with no real concept of potty training. It is difficult, needing 4 hands or more just to change him at times. Other times it means just accepting the problems and cleaning the floor mess up later.

Cora - also dealing with being non-verbal is amazing as far as surprising us with the things she is well aware of, she remembers where she has hidden a cup or if her dangly sock or bonnet is in the dryer, she will go out front with one of us and stand by the dryer if we go in the garage. She loves to go on walks, sometimes staying fully awake , other times taking a nap, the only time she sleeps, bed late and up early, is a non-stop little one, now 7 years old and even walks laps through the house. One of our main goals being able to sit still and pay attention with more eye contact. Prayers are still needed to merge Cora back into a Sunday School class. She, along with Curtis, have not been attending church now for quite a long time. I’m sure they would both enjoy it if we could find a teacher that had the calling to start a ministry to do this.

Camille - sensitive, also very independent guess we could say not obedient at all times. Just a day or two before her 6^th Birthday she lost both front teeth so is at an adorable stage. She loves to follow after her sisters by dancing, singing and dress up is a favorite. Camille also enjoys dolly’s which she is very gentle with. She is being very gentle with our newest blessing "Carter Nehemiah". She is able to verbalize some things and sign others which is a big help.

Connor Lee – Just turned age 4 years old, those years have flown, he is loving to color, during schooling he is zooming along almost able to say the full pledge of allegiance, knows his colors, counting, etc. Also beginning to enjoy some time on the computer. Loves to be outside and loves to have all his sisters join him. Connor Lee also enjoys walks. We also include sign language in schooling and he also remembers several of the signs.

Claire Vanessa – going to turn 3 in December, full curiosity, anything within reach she feels she must knock over. Claire has been able to pick up some sign language and is also using some words. Her precious smile as "Baby Girl" lights the room. She recently about a month before we were blessed with Carter Nehemiah began to get out of her crib on her own, perhaps the middle of September, so now if we are sleeping soundly, most of the little ones can sneak out for a few minutes, having the run of the house, we have found pies from the fridge which have been used for fingerprinting and sensory play, butter rubbed on themselves and on the floor, people minus clothing that should be on themselves, plastic bags scattered on the floor, along with loaves of bread with big bites out of the plastic bag. It is amazing what they can get into in 30 seconds to 1 minute. Claire is beginning to get the idea where to color so it is now 50% on paper and 50% on the table or body.

Carter Nehemiah – "Our newest precious blessing", at the time of this writing he is between 7 and 8 weeks old and has gone from 6 pounds 12 ounces to about 10 pounds. He is loved by each of his brothers and sisters, seeming to have many little mothers and fathers, although little ones such as Claire and Connor Lee at times feel he should be bothered and woke up. Still feeding usually 2x during the night after midnight, we are thankful he seems to enjoy the swings during schooling time. Carter attended Church for his second week last Sunday and seemed to enjoy both Sunday school and Service. He is developing his own little preplanned personality, and has a cute little frown along with a smile and seems to now be even making sounds and almost a little giggle, could it be our imagination? Guess he thinks Mommy has a funny face….

This year has seen much stress. We give "Praise to God" and prayer warriors for bringing us through each situation, whether sickness, schooling, ISP schooling, adoption, open and closed doors and disappointments and legal situations. At this writing the flu and sore throat (bacterial) have been in our home for almost a week. 10 loads of laundry today! We are taking ½ day or less at a time some of these days. Carol’s dad is doing well, although his knees set him further back then he would like. He is learning as I (Carol) am a little here and a little there on the computer. Mom’s diabetes is affecting many areas, it is hard to see as she wants to do so much, but as most of us, we get slower and everything else keeps moving faster. Mom is still trying to help with the special Grma and Grpa visits which the kids love. We were blessed with a visit from Charlies mom which the grand kids loved, for a nice 5 days. As always, prayer is the greatest need.

We thank each of your for your caring, friendship, love, prayers and support during times of ups and downs, prayers are one thing we can all use. May each of you be blessed during this time we set aside to Give honor to Jesus on the celebration of "His Birthday." God bless, Love, Charlie, Carol, Chris, Charles, Curtis, Charlotte, Candace, Caleb, Cora, Camille, Connor Lee, Claire Vanessa and Carter Nehemiah.