Kaufman Family Christmas 2007 eNewsletter

As some of you may know, we usually send out a family newsletter with our Christmas cards. Unfortunately this year, I not only ran out of time, but realized that I could save a few trees by just doing it this way. So, for those of you that have been wondering how our year went, this is for you!

2007 has been a great year for our family. In January, we finally moved from the 1 bedroom apartment we were in into a 2 bedroom apartment. This move was long overdue, and very much needed. And it was probably the easiest move we've ever made, considering all we did was go from one building to one just across the way. Later, the kids and I spent all of April, and then July and August in Tacoma, WA, having lots of fun with friends and family, which included a Walton Family Reunion in Alberta, and a visit to Dean and Stephanie's home in Montana. After arriving back in Fresno, we were able to find a really nice rental house in Biola, CA, which is just a few miles west of NW Fresno. With this move came a new ward, and we are so grateful for all the awesome people we've met so far! Next we got to have Gramma Sylvia Gibbs stay with us for Thanksgiving, and then Grampa Wes Kaufman came to visit for Christmas! We are so glad that we finally have the space to have family come and stay with us.

Steve has continued to work at his two jobs this year, but again has found some time to spend indulging his interests. One fun outing we enjoyed was a trip to Pismo Beach for the Father's Day Classic Car Show.



He also got hang out with his "car buddies" quite a bit over the summer while the kids and I were in Washington. They even made it to the Lowrider Nationals in Bakersfield, which was quite interesting, he says. But out of all that has happened, the one thing he loved the most was moving into our current home, which finally gave him garages that he could use to work on car improvements, of which he's done lots already. One fun thing he's done to his car so far was to install air ride suspension, which allows him adjust the ride height with the flip of a switch. He's also enjoyed getting involved in the local Lowrider scene and getting to know more about that aspect of car culture, of which he's only ever read about in magazines.


I, Andrea, have continued to teach Brooklyn through our home-based charter school here in California. I started the year as the 3rd counselor in the Sierra Ward Relief Society, and so spent lots of time getting to know the wonderful women in that ward. I'm currently trying to get to know all the children as the 1st counselor in the Kerman Ward Primary. I loved being able to spend lots of time in Washington where I got to take advantage of all the free babysitting I wanted! :) I even got lots of scrapbooking done, which is always a good thing! I'm loving all the space in our new home, and even enjoyed finally being able to decorate for the holidays. I also recently became a huge fan of the library, and have being devouring unread books at an alarming rate. And the best thing about that is, I didn't even have to find room for more bookshelves. :)

Brooklyn has done an amazing job at learning all the things she's been taught this past year in school. Although, she's been a tad obsessed with the Ancient Egyptians ever since our first history lesson about them, and checks out as many books from the library as she can find. She even chose to dress up as Cleopatra for Halloween, and asked Santa for an Egyptian nightgown and an Egyptian CD ROM for Christmas. She's excited to learn about new things in the coming year, and is looking forward to starting piano lessons, now that we have a keyboard to practice on. She is also excited for her 8th birthday in September, because then she'll be able to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She continues to be a great example for Noah, and is always mothering him, and explaining how things are. She even lets him help her play her computer games, and it makes us so proud to see the beautiful, caring young lady she's becoming. We love her so much, and are so grateful for her strong spirit in our family.

Noah has continued to grow in size and energy this year. :) He's learned to do so many things for himself that he won't even let mommy help him anymore. Except for that all-important potty training thing. :) His daily life is still full of cars, trains, helicopters, and movies. He's constantly racing through the house, and of course, he's always the winner. :) He likes to "read like Sister", and practice his ABC's and 123's. He also loves being outside where he can ride his trike, and play in the dirt. He's still mommy's cute, cuddly, snuggy-bug, and as he's our last baby, we're not in much of a hurry for him to grow up. And although, he's very much BOY and THREE, his happy, smiley, energetic spirit is just what we love about him most!

Thank you to all those that have sent us Christmas cards and newsletters this year. We love hearing and seeing how each of you and your families are doing, and hope we will at some time hear from the rest of you!

We hope everyone's Christmas and New Year are full of happiness and love!

Love from ~Steve, Andrea, Brooklyn, and Noah Kaufman


Brooklyn - 7 years old - September 2007


Noah - 3 years old - June 2007

All I want for Christmas . . .

It's a good thing I already have my two front teeth so I can finally want something else for Christmas. Unfortunately, what I want this year doesn't come easy. And it's not something Santa can give me. I have to do it myself.

Two words. Potty. Training.

Not me, of course, but my wonderful 3 year old. Yup, I'm going to spend my Christmas vacation (from teaching Brooklyn, that is) teaching Noah when and how to use the potty. I'm actually kind of excited. (Did I really just write that?) I've been thinking about starting it now for quite awhile. In fact, about a month ago we stopped letting Noah have a water sippy in bed, in preparation for, hopefully, staying dry at night. We had lots of fun decorating his new potty seat with Lightning McQueen stickers. And I bought a pack of incentive stickers that have cars, boats, planes, buses, and trains on them, and Noah is ever so excited to put them on his chart whenever he sits on the potty.

So, today was Day 1. All I can say is. . . he sure knows how to "go" whenever he's NOT on the potty! We've got that part down cold! All he needs to do now is the OPPOSITE of that and we'll be set!

So, here's hoping the next few weeks find us both still alive and kicking. Well, except without the kicking part. :)

Oh, and my REAL Christmas post is coming up next.