2008 in review

Dear Friends and family members,

2008 has been a busy year. I was kind of thinking that maybe we weren’t going to get around to getting out a Christmas letter this year. We are still living in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and love the Midwest, despite ice storms and flooding. Here’s a quick rundown of our year.

Emilie

Emilie turned 2 in February and enjoyed starting pre-school at the Center for Child Studies in September. She is full of personality and brings us great joy. Her best friends are Jay and Jacob and she’ll say I want to see my Jacob (at school) or my Jay her other friend who moved away. She loves dancing and is still very much attached to that left thumb. She also enjoys chasing the cat around the house.

Hyrum

Hyrum turned 7 in April. He started 2nd grade in August and he enjoys reading although he says recess is his favorite subject and then lunch. He loves cub scouts and took 2nd for the tiger scouts in the pinewood derby and took first out of the whole pack for the Raingutter Regatta. I actually helped him make the boat so I was pretty amazed he won also! He played soccer this Fall and their team won the season. Hyrum even contributed a goal. He started piano lessons this year and had his first recital. He also loved being on swim team and competing in all the different strokes.

Reed

Reed turned 11 on Thanksgiving day. He graduated from 4th grade at Alma Schrader in the Spring. He was honored with a special Pride of Missouri Award for the virtue of Knowledge. Of the entire 4th grade, 15 students were chosen for 15 different virtues that they exemplified. Reed also took 1st place in the long jump at a city track meet which qualified him for the state Hershey’s track and field meet where he took 6th place with a jump of 6 feet 11 1/2 inches. He is our athletic one and enjoyed both indoor and outdoor soccer. He also loved being on swim team and took 1st place in the 50m Breastroke at the Championship meet. He started 5th grade this Fall and was chosen to be in Shere Khan (an African music ensemble), and Math Olympiad (where they spend time exploring math in more depth). Recently, he earned his Arrow of Light award and all the Webelos awards that were possible. He crossed over to boy scouts soon after. He is becoming quite skilled on the piano.

Mallory

Mallory turned 13 this past summer. She enjoyed being in the Wizard of Oz play at the Jr. High this past Spring. She was a Munchkin, an Emerald City Citizen, and a Jitterbug. She started 8th grade this past Fall and is the 1st chair in cello and plays the piano for the Jazz Band at the Jr. High. She loves both! She continues to be a reader selector for the Truman Award Nominees. She decided after a trip to St. Louis to see the Body Works display at the Science Center that she probably won’t pursue a career in the medical field. She is our busy child: helped build a house for Habitat for Humanity and now claims she will never build a house (now it is sure to happen!), swam and competed with swim team all summer, ran for the Cross Country team at the Jr. High taking 9th place in the conference meet.

Brynda

Brynda feels like she is a taxi driver, a chef, a Laundromat and dishwasher combo package, always tired and probably crazy too! I was called to be the Relief Society President (the leader of the women’s organization in our church at the local level). That keeps me quite busy. I guess I wasn’t busy enough with 4 kids at 4 different schools! However, I do see many blessings come into our lives as I serve in this capacity. I enjoy reading (when I should be sleeping) and playing board games although lately I have become quite good at losing every game I play. I guess I need to quit being so competitive. I arranged for a new roof to be put on our house and for our big trees to be removed before they end up on our house someday. I love watching my kids grow and having fun together as a family. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do!

Kevin after Halloween Party in Camouflage

Kevin stays very busy with work as a professor at Southeast Missouri State University. He served on the commencement committee, on the search committees for faculty members and the Director for Online Education at Southeast, as an advisor to the student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, on the college council, on the Faculty Honors Council, and as a faculty senator this past year. He also presented a paper at a conference in Reno, Nevada and had two papers accepted for publication. He served as the Elders’ Quorum President at church until I received my calling in October. Now he teaches the missionary prep class and serves as the financial clerk at church. He submitted his tenure and promotion dossier in November. He should hear back late in the spring. He enjoys our treadmill after a long day at work and spending time on the computer with our boys.

We love you, we miss you, please keep in touch. I hope to see as many people as possible at my 20 year high school reunion this summer and at my Filipino family reunion in Hawaii this September. Hard to believe I’m ¼ Filipino.

Love,

The Dicksons (Kevin*Brynda*Mallory*Reed*Hyrum*Emilie)