2008 Christmas Letter

December 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family! We hope this letter finds you happy and healthy. This has been an eventful year full of blessings and challenges for us. It is hard to believe that our little boy is 7 years old already! He is about 55lbs of wild strength and energy. We pray that our muscles and backs continue to keep up with him! Sam’s loving hugs, smiles and laughter keep our hearts full and happy each day!

The beginning of 2008 started out with a month long stay in the hospital for Sam. He spent part of the time at Avera Mckennan Hospital and the rest of the time at Children’s Care Hospital. He had an infection that needed to be treated with IV antibiotics three times a day. While he was in the hospital, we remodeled our upstairs bedrooms to make Sam his very own suite. We combined two bedrooms into one and put in a raised bathtub, sink and swing for Sam. His new room has provided us with more space and made it much easier for us to lift him in and out of the tub!

In June, Sam began attending school at Children’s Care Hospital and School. We are so thankful for the wonderful staff of people working with him! His school day begins at 9:00 and ends at 3:30. He is doing great in school and is even learning how to use the big boy potty! He also made his first appearance as a ringbearer in July when our friend Kelsey got married! He was so handsome and performed amazingly well!
Listening to music, reading books and swimming are still his favorite activities. He loves lots of attention!

October brought Jeff ‘s 11th anniversary at the Trane Company. He continues to work in sales and we are thankful for the flexibility that his job allows. In August he had an opportunity to go to a Dude Ranch in Wyoming for work and had a great time complete with cowboy boots and horseback riding! My volunteer activities keep me busy during the day while Sam is in school. I enjoy speaking and advocating about Special Education issues. This year I had an opportunity to speak at USD and present at the GreenSTAR Symposium for SD Achieve.

At this time of year we reflect on all of the blessings God has given us. Our strong family ties and close friends offer us great strength, smiles, love and laughter on days that we need it the most. We look toward 2009 and pray for Sam’s continued good health and happiness. Thanks so much to our family, friends, teachers, therapists, nurses and doctors for making a difference in Sam’s life. You are all so important to us. We wish you a Merry Christmas and much joy in the up coming new year!

God Bless,
The Horstmeyers