Steele Girls; August 2008

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Preston 1 month

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Thousand Islands 2008

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Loved Ones,

Merry Christmas! Where has this year gone? It seems as if it wasn't too long ago and I was writing this letter for 2007. And, I'm sure for many of you, it feels as if you just read it. Time does have a way of moving along... And so here we are again; most of us with work to do, deadlines to meet, dinner to cook, babies to feed, presents to wrap (or in my case, presents to buy), practices to get to, Christmas cards to send, parties to attend, cookies to bake, etc. And if your family is anything like mine, you are also nursing sick kids (and husband) back to health while trying to keep the house at least remotely clean and the laundry under control....so much for heavenly peace!

Well, this year has proven to be a year of blessing for the Steele family. We have lots to thank God for. I'll just give you the highlights.

In February, we celebrated Raegan's 5th birthday. Raegan began Kindergarten this fall and really, really loves it. She is almost heartbroken on the days when school is cancelled. Ryan and I only hope that her zeal for education continues throughout her school career. :) She is extremely social and extremely active; but underneath all of the activity, she is also extremely sensitive and sweet. She takes a Jazz class and a Tap class at the dance academy through our church.

February also sent along a really big surprise. In January I had been talking to my mother-in-law and I told her that I really never wanted to be pregnant again, but if for some reason, I would get pregnant, I was finally to the point where it wouldn't drive me completely over the edge. Apparently God had just been waiting for me to say the word, because one month later I discovered that, indeed, I was pregnant! You may wonder why, after all of our kids and as easily as we seem to reproduce, we were so shocked...well, the previous May, Ryan underwent a certain procedure that is supposed stop these sorts of surprises...hmmmmm....nothing is impossible with God. So, if anyone asks if we're done now, we just tell them that it really is up to God. We have learned that for us, this is a part of our lives that must be surrendered to Him. And what a blessing our BOY has been. Preston Kale arrived October 6, 2008. He has fit right in to our family. We love him very much.

In April, Ryan was given a great job offer at Tween Brands (Limited too and Justice for Girls). The greatest thing, in my opinion, about the job is that his office is literally 1 mile from our house. This is such a welcome change for our family, as we had become more and more accustomed to the hospital keeping Ryan at work for extremely long work hours. Now, even if he is running late, all it takes is 4 minutes and he is home. This also makes him more available for school activities, not to mention dinner at home with our family. What a blessing this has been for our family.

In June, Jenna and Savannah celebrated their 2nd birthday. This past year, they have been nothing but fun! They play well together, talk to each other, look out for each other...and excuse my bias, but they are so darn cute right now. Both of them are still a little bit on the small side (Jenna finally hit 20 pounds a few months ago, and Savannah is just a couple pounds bigger), but they overall are very healthy with no sign of problems with asthma or upper respiratory illness beyond the normal scope of childhood colds.

During the summer, Katelyn and Raegan went to church camp with my mom and dad and had a great time. We also journeyed to upstate New York to our annual Thousand Island vacation. And, then at the beginning of August, Ryan took Katelyn, Raegan and Marin to family camp where he used to go as a kid. I kept my big pregnant stomach at home with the twins during that little excursion.

In August we celebrated Marin's 4th birthday. Marin has been waiting her whole life to turn four! This year, because of her age, she got to join a dance class as well as join Cubbies (Awana club for preschoolers). Marin also goes to preschool 3 afternoons per week; she loves to go to school and is very outgoing and bright. Ryan and I are often amazed at what that kid knows and says. She is also, of all of our children, the most accident prone. Just recently (3 weeks ago), Marin was playing upstairs with her sisters and I heard a big thump and a loud, heart-wrenching scream: The Steele family's first broken bone. And boy was it a doozy...She broke both of the bones in her left arm, one of them almost protruding through the skin. Fortunately, they were able to set it without surgery (although it did require two doses of morphine and a sedative to get the job done.) She actually seemed quite ok with the world at the end the day, when all was said and done. :) Now we just have to monitor, with lots of xrays, whether or not the bones are moving too much. They have slightly, but apparently not enough to warrant surgery....thank goodness!

Katelyn celebrated her 7th birthday in September. She is in first grade and doing very well. She is a very well-rounded, well-adjusted kid. She pretty much likes everyone and likes to do everything, and usually with a happy heart! Along with her sister Raegan, she is also taking both Jazz and Tap classes. Recently Katelyn has really become quite the talker...I find myself telling her that I don't necessarily always need the running commentary about anything and everything she is doing at any given time. Oh boy...I can't wait until she's a teenager.....

In October, Ryan and I also celebrated our 8th anniversary. Although, thanks to Preston, we both were a little drowsy on our date, we are blessed to be able to celebrate a great marriage. We are very happy together.

Overall, Ryan is really doing very well, although his health has been a bit more up and down this year than I prefer. He likes his job "pretty well" (as he would say). I have been busy at home with the kids and the house. Overall, I like being a stay at home mom, although next year (if we don't have another baby) I will (if the Lord wills it) begin persuing something in piano and music again. I really kind of miss it. Together, we attend a small group Bible study and consider many of those people like family to us.

Well, that's about it...thanks for taking the time to allow us to catch up a bit with this letter during this busy season. I do pray that you would find time to truly take in the wonder of Christmas and try to grasp the enormity of the love of God. We really have been truly, truly blessed.

Love,

Ryan, Kayleen, Katelyn, Raegan, Marin, Jenna, Savannah and Preston.

p.s. - feel free to e-mail and/or catch up with us on Facebook. We'd love to hear from you!

Pictures from 2007

Christmas 2007

Dear Loved Ones,

Merry Christmas! I love Christmastime, but I have to admit, this year it kind of snuck up on me. It seems as if our family was just beginning to kind of get into the swing of things with school, church, and extracurricular activity schedules in the fall and then all of a sudden Thanksgiving was over and BAM! My to-do list tripled. And so, in light of the aforementioned list, I've included a slide show of pictures from our adventures this year as well as a (hopefully interesting) letter explaining a few of the highlights. We think of all of you often and fondly. I'm glad you stopped in to say hello! I hope you enjoy...

Probably our biggest piece of news for this year is that we've moved! Not far from where we lived before, but the house is much, much bigger (which we really, really needed). We started our search for a new home right after the turn of the new year last year. Our previous house actually went up for sale in the end of May and sold in August (just in time for us to have Katelyn registered in the new school district) and we moved mid-September. This really was a miracle from God...the housing market in Columbus is awful and we were very anxious to have Katelyn enrolled in the school district where she could grow up in. So the timing of everything was absolutely amazing. We also had some very specific needs our new home needed to fill that proved a bit tricky in finding the perfect fit. The story of it all is a little tedious, so I won't bore you with all of the details, but it is true..."with God all things are possible."

Update on the kiddos:

Katelyn, age 6: Began Kindergarten this year and loves it, although riding the school bus is definitely the greatest part of the whole thing for her. She has also been going to ice-skating classes and has become quite a good skater. Katelyn is happy, loving, and helpful.

Raegan, age 4: Has been enjoying her 2nd year of preschool and is the Family Socialite (2nd only to her Dad, who is the Chief Family Socialite). She takes a dance class at our church and enjoys going to Awana Cubbies as well. Raegan is imaginitive and creative, and very ornery! :)

Marin, age 3: Began her first year at preschool. Her greatest accomplishment this year was potty training herself, while on vacation. Although I still don't understand why she chose then and there, but we went with it and have never looked back. Marin is very bright, talkative, and a bit eccentric. She is runner up for Family Socialite.

Jenna, age 18 mos.: Has begun walking and talking this year. Jenna is snuggly and loves to find her "tickle belly". Her most noticable piece of news is that she and Savannah both contracted RSV (a potentially lifethreatening virus, especially in preemies) in February. We were in the hospital with them 2 nights followed by lots of nebulizer treatments and trips to the pediatrician; and thankfully, they are fine now. She and "Whywa" (Jenna's name for Savannah) kind of just follow each other around and find all kinds of interesting things to do.

Savannah, age 18 mos.: Also has begun walking and talking this year, although she began the walking part much sooner than Jenna. She and Jenna celebrated their first birthday with lots of friends and LOTS of cake frosting in June! She loves her blankie and her big sister Katelyn. Both she and her sister Jenna love to do anything that involves going "bye, bye."

Ryan, age 32: Still working for Nationwide Children's Hospital....he even received a promotion this year to Senior Engineer that put him in charge of building a new data center for the hospital (which took place in June). Ryan also gets #1 Husband of the Year Award, for many reasons, but most notably for planning a surprise cruise to the Caribbean in March (with me, thus the #1 husband). :) One downer for Ryan is that he has been very sick this year, and has lost quite a bit of weight. He seems to be doing much better, and hopefully will be up to more of his normal self now. (I mentioned to the kids that I heard Santa had lost weight this year, and Katelyn said, "Hm, maybe he's been sick!" :) Hmmmm

Kayleen, age 31: Stays at home to take care of her 5 little munchkins and to attempt to "keep" house (kind of an idea I hold a bit loosely nowadays), which is mostly rewarding and sometimes a bit frustrating...either way, definitely worth doing. Ryan and I are involved in a small group Bible study once-a-week, which we really enjoy. Another highlight of my year was taking our annual trip up to The Thousand Islands in upstate NY with several wonderful friends. Much fun and icecream was had by all. (Several pictures included in the slide show from this venture.)

Well, thanks for tuning in for awhile and catching up a bit with us. I'm glad it's Christmas...the other night I was sitting, just enjoying our Christmas tree. Maybe I'm the only one like this, but I think the Christmas tree is kind of the wintertime version of the summertime campfire: it just sort of draws you in, and causes your mind to wander to lots of different places. And as my mind drifted, I got to thinking about Jesus, and how really wonderful it is that He came. The One who spoke the world into existence really, really came. Amazing. And I am so grateful that He did!

Wishing you at least one Holy Wow moment this Christmas,

Ryan, Kayleen, Katelyn, Raegan, Marin, Jenna & Savannah

Please feel free to e-mail (or call); we'd love to talk more!

ryan.steele@gmail.com

kayleen.steele@gmail.com

Jenna(Right) and Savannah(left)