Thursday, January 1, 2009

Feliz Ano Neuvo!!!

Happy New Year……or…. Feliz Ano Neuvo!!!!

I just can’t seem to be timely enough to get a Christmas letter out, so a New Year’s letter it will be! And, what a year it has been for the Kollstedt’s!!

Matt finally got a full time permanent position in the Fairfield City School District! And he got the ideal job he’s been patiently waiting for…6th grade science at the Intermediate building!! He is loving it!

Cindy hasn’t had any changes with her job. She had a busy year of travel though with 4 trips to Guatemala! Each trip strengthening the bonds with Isaac and Cristian and each trip very different with wonderful memories she will cherish forever!

Jimmi & Sasha made a huge move this year, literally! In June they moved from Indianapolis to Phoenix and are loving it! He lives near his dad, which is great for them. Sasha is working in a Veterinary Internal Medicine office. Jimmi is now tattooing full time and is very happy! Jimmi even tattooed Matt this year!

Jordan is 18 and a senior this year! I can’t believe we have another son graduating! He is doing very well academically. He also had a great soccer season! His soccer has been a huge part of our life and will be missed. He plans on going to college but is uncertain where that will be yet, however we think it will be close to home J

Jackson is 14 and is in the 8th grade. He was very busy with baseball this year, and has now decided to go back to soccer! That is our favorite sport to watch our boys play, so we’re happy! He got his braces put on a few weeks ago and just had oral surgery.

The biggest change for the Kollstedt family is that we FINALLY brought home Isaac and Cristian from Guatemala! They came home on November 7th and are officially US Citizens! 15 very long months of waiting and they are finally home! Isaac is 14 and in 7th grade for now. Next year we may be bumping him up to 9th grade?? Cristian is 13 and is in 6th grade in the same building as Matt! School is going well, but homework proves to be very challenging at times. They are adjusting so well to being in the States! God’s plans certainly are perfect….we are all so happy to be in one house! (now if we could just get Jimmi to move back to Ohio!) It really has been a fairly easy transition for what we were expecting J Both boys are playing soccer and both are in the band. Isaac plays the trombone and also just joined the Jazz Ensemble, and Cristian plays the flute. Isaac’s English is great (he never shut’s up! LOL!) and it is remarkable how quickly Cristian is learning English!

The Kollstedt Zoo is still rather large! We still have our Scottish Terrier Molly, and 5 cats…Simba, Francie, Alpine, Bella & Riley. We recently had a very difficult week and had to put Mae to sleep the day after Christmas L

The household is VERY busy with 4 teenage boys! I think we are on the go from the time we wake until the time we go to bed! Keeping up with the busy schedule of work, school, sports, church, homework, housework and laundry is CRAZY! We are expecting that 2009 will be an exciting year with many “firsts” to look forward to!

We just want to thank all of our family and friends for the prayers and support we have received in bringing our boys home! We hope you have a very happy 2009!

Love,
Matt, Cindy, Jordan, Jackson, Isaac & Cristian




Posted by Picasa

No comments: