This is the fourth year of our writing an annual family newsletter and two things have become clear to me. One, we might start getting it done before Christmas when the kids are grown and gone (at which point we'll have a lot less to write about.) And two, this definitely gets me off the scrapbooking hook. We can pass along our holiday greetings and our children can have an annual snapshot of their childhood that doesn't involve my using pretty paper and glue sticks. Woo hoo!

Mike is 18. This spring, he and I were able to go on a five-day "broaden-our-horizons-on teeny-tiny-budget" trip to Puerto Rico. We had a lot of fun on our rainforest adventure! He and Mark received the Sacrament of Confirmation at St. Mary's in early May. Mike graduated from high school at the end of May, worked all summer as a youth counselor at the YMCA, and then started at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, where he majors in Mathematics. Mike has done a great job adjusting to dorm life and college coursework. He plays in Wabash's Brass Ensemble and also the Woodwind Quintet. Working as an intern at the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County provides him with a little spending money. The kids miss their big brother when he is away at college, but it has been nice to have him back home for winter break. We are so proud of him!

Mark is 16, and he got his driver's license in June. He is a Sophomore at Lafayette Jeff, and he's really interested in his science classes, particularly Zoology and Environmental Science. Mark and Mike continued to play competitive paintball as Team "Serious Business" in local tournaments. Mark also established himself as the family raccoon-trapper. He caught and released seven of them this spring thus saving me from a certain felony conviction for discharging a firearm within city limits. He was promoted to camp counselor and worked out at the YMCA's Straight Arrow Day Camp again this summer. He was given his official camp name, "Twig". At the end of the summer, he enjoyed the "Adventure Camp" trip to Nashville with the camp staff. As an after-school job, he works for the Y as a youth counselor in their childcare program.

Mitch is 9. Every morning he rides his bike down the block to Happy Hollow School, where he is a 4th grader. He took piano lessons through the summer and then switched to voice lessons this fall. Thanks to some strong support from our Pastor and Music Director, we organized a new Children's Choir at St. Mary's. Mitch really enjoys music and was excited to be selected to participate in "Circle the State with Song", a statewide choir organization. The Pinewood Derby and multiple outings to Camp Cary were highlights in his second year in Cub Scouts... excuse me, Webelos. We are looking forward to seeing him play basketball, which starts in January. Mitch's songs and fun-loving nature brighten our days.

Lenny is 3. She enjoyed going to camp at Straight Arrow for the first time this summer. She also started pre-school at St. Mary's this fall and loves it! Lenny is making new friends to play with and has picked up some important skills like using scissors and sharing the sparkly shoes in the dress-up drawer. She took ballet lessons at the YMCA this fall and was delighted to have a good reason to skip around on her toes. Michael got two tickets to the Nutcracker so Lenny and I are looking forward to a special outing next weekend. We're going to dress up and go out for tea and make a regular girlie day of it. We had "spa day" for Mother's Day. She is also my special helper in the kitchen. She is especially good at kneading bread and using the electric mixer.

Lilly turned 2 in October. So much has happened with her in the past year! She went from crawling to running in the blink of an eye. Lilly sleeps in a big girl bed now and tries to go potty like her big sister. She is very smart and opinionated. She's also a big help in the garden; she picks at least as many red tomatoes as she does green. She loves to swing. She helped Michael keep a close eye on this year's hop harvest and we're still unearthing the gourds she stockpiled around the house. She is developing her own unique fashion sense. Michael and I have learned that some things, like Halloween socks in June or church dresses on a Tuesday afternoon, just aren't worth arguing about!

John Thomas Witt joined our family on August 29th. He was an easy delivery and very healthy baby. Mike and his Aunt Laura became his godparents at his baptism in October. We are not sleeping as much as we might like, but "Baby John" is just so darn fun it's hard to be upset. He's recently discovered he has hands, and we're learning how to get him giggling. John immediately fit in with his siblings, and he gets a lot of love and attention from everyone.

Michael finished his first year on the tenure track at Purdue, garnering some sponsorship for his research. Travels took him to California, Georgia, Colorado, Texas, Washington--and a memorable week in Paris during the French public transit strike that shut down the city. Michael was named as an "Emerging Leader" for 2008 by the American Libraries Association. He has a great new group this year at Shreve Hall, where he continues as a faculty fellow. It's hard to believe that this was his fifth year on the Board at the YMCA, too. All of these things are great, but they are extracurricular to our family life and its everyday blessings. The annual Father's Day camping trip at Shades. Conducting bathtime. John's birth and enjoying some time off for paternity leave, our family reunion at Clark Lake, and Christmas. Football games, both at Purdue and in the backyard. Building forts in the living room. Playing in the leaves. Living the good life, you know?

I have kept busy with the normal stuff and in general, just enjoying my mom time. I'm very grateful to Michael every day when he goes off to work so I can stay home. Our business had a great start-up year; I fulfilled the first-year business plan and got to work for some really great people. Michael and the boys have really been supportive; it's really been a whole family operation. I've also gotten to do some really fun cakes. The garden was an adventure this year. Mitch insisted on growing our Halloween pumpkins this year and I'm glad he did. They took over completely and it was a lot of fun! I'm really geeking out on my composting operation. We've stayed busy with church activities. I also had fun taking a pottery class in the spring and I'm also learning to weave. So far, it has resulted in quite a few lopsided bowls and ugly table runners, but I'm still working at it and getting better! We organized a block party in our neighborhood and learned that we have some really awesome neighbors. Michael and I vinted our first wine, a Reisling, which Michael named "Baby John's Whine". It wasn't exactly award-winning, but it was drinkable. Next up, a red! I finished out the year with some sewing and knitting projects.

2007 has been good to us. A lot of work! A lot of play! A lot of love! We are so happy and so blessed. Thank you for sharing in this life with us!

Love,

Rachel, Michael, Mike, Mark, Mitch, Lenny, Lilly, and Baby John