December 10, 2003

Dear family & friends,

What a year it has been! God has blessed us and we are thankful for all he has done! The biggest blessing by far is the birth of our daughter Morgen. She is incredible! She is now about 9 weeks old and brings lots of smiles to her mom, dad, and sister. She smiles all the time and is really a very good baby (most of the time). We haven’t traveled much because of the pregnancy and new baby, but we are going to Ireland in January. We have been there once before, but only for a short weekend. We believe the nicest people are in Ireland. They are so friendly, and it is nice that they can speak our language! The area that we are visiting is the southwestern coast and it is beautiful there. They speak the Irish language (Gaelic) in this area. We always thought the Irish language was English, but that’s not so!

We still miss home and can’t wait to get back. We are planning on leaving Germany next fall if everything works out. We will miss Germany greatly and will be visiting often. Our neighbors would never forgive us if we didn’t, plus it will help Katie in maintaining her German. We also plan on traveling a bunch this next year. We will come home probably with only pennies left, but lots of memories we hope!

A note from Mike-

I hope this letter finds you all happy and healthy. I also pray that you know the blessings that God has given each of us. I am so happy to have a family like I have, and I know that they are a gift to be treasured. Things have gone by pretty fast this year, and I think they will be even faster next year. The one thing that never changes about life is that it is always changing. Ours has changed quite a bit over the last few months with Morgen being born. As Morgen states later, she is indeed very cute, and we all think so. We are also very blessed to have our extended family coming over to spend Christmas with us. I think we will all have some great memories from the special time coming up soon.

A note from Samona-

I love this time of year in Germany! The Christmas markets are just amazing… I love the atmosphere. Mike’s family is visiting this Christmas and we are traveling to the Christmas market in Colmar France. It is the only market open past Christmas that is close enough for us, but it looks wonderful! I also love the fact that in Germany it is the “Christkind” that delivers the presents on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus visits on December sixth, and the children are supposed to leave their boots or shoes on the porch. He either fills them with candy & fruit or he fills them with coal (if you’re bad of course). This takes the focus off of Santa and on the birth of Christ for Christmas day!

A note from Katie-

So much to do! I have piano, sewing, AWANA and school!

Although I like them all, it is still stressful. Otherwise everything’s good.

It is SUPER being a big sister. She is really cute. School is good. Every month we change our table partner. This time I am sitting next to Maria. At AWANA I am finishing my first book.

A note from Morgen-

What a place this world is! I love it so far except when mom doesn’t feed me right away. I think my favorite thing is when my mom, dad, or sister hold me and talk to me. I try to talk back, but they don’t seem to understand me. It is frustrating sometimes. We went to some Christmas markets last week. Mom bundled me up in a snowsuit. To tell you the truth, I don’t remember much about them since I slept through both. Our neighbors, the Bernd’s, babysat Katie & I last Saturday, while mom & dad went to a Christmas party. It was fun, but I sure missed mom & dad although I didn’t mention it to anyone. They took real good care of me. Not to have a big head or anything, but I’m pretty sure they think I’m real cute. My daddy was ordained as a deacon a couple of Sunday’s ago. My mom, Katie, & I were real proud to stand with him. I’m glad I was born in time to be there!

We love you all, and wish you a very blessed Christmas and New Year!

The Votaw Family