Welcome to the high fructose corn sweetener free Wengler 2008 family Christmas newsletter! Below you will find 365 days of laughter, tears, kisses, hugs, bites, guns, baptisms, weddings, bows, karate kicks and most of all love.Viewer discretion is advised.
James is our oldest, he turned 11 this year. We are shocked and amazed that having a son so old means that we are so old.
James continues to love school and has shown us videos on YouTube about how to make plasma in your microwave. We recently increased our homeowner's policy and took out a special rider for "Fires that may have started because your kid is a pyro."
He is a great kid though! We are so proud of his kindness and creativity.
James was Napoleon Dynamite for Halloween. He wore it with honor. (It was one of the proudest days of Dale's life.)
Jacob was baptized this year when he turned eight. It was a very special day.
Dale and Jacob went out to visit Uncle Jim in LA. Jacob got way into it. He can't put that Blackberry down!
Jacob loves giant squids and got to see a real one at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. He was later removed by security guards for trying to break the glass. We are glad he is back from juvenile hall.
Jacob is a fabulous big brother! Here is a perfect example of two special kids that look sweet enough...
..but don't be fooled, they will rock your world and leave you wondering where your wallet has gone and why you can't sleep through the night.
Emma, our one and only girl, is now 6 and she has her Dad wrapped around her finger. She has more than enough spunk (pure bossiness?) to handle 4 brothers.
Emma (a.k.a the Drama Queen) is keeping busy with half-day kindergarden. For those of you wondering what exactly is half-day kindergarden, that usually means putting your coat on, taking your coat off, snack, recess, coat back on, bus and back home.
Emma's highlight this year was when she won a castle at the library. Jahnelle jammed it into our minivan to get it home. It lasted several weeks until it rained and turned to mush.
Christian is now three and has taught us the most valuable rule about being parents: If you try to keep, hold, possess or maintain anything of either sentimental or monetary value you will lose. Don't fight it. You will not have anything nice until they go off to college. Christian has destroyed most of our home and both automobiles, but he is darn cute.
This is a very sweet picture of Christian. Unfortunately this is also the look he makes when he has either poured a drink on my laptop, keyed our car or won a bid for something expensive on eBay.
Here is Christian in Maine. For those of you wondering, Maine is the greatest place on earth. It is commonly referred to as the "literal Garden of Eden." Other than the black flies that have unionized and come in the sizes of Tall, Grande and Venti, we still believe Maine is amazing and hope to return someday (as in June when our tenants leave).
Christian absolutely adores his baby brother and reads on a much higher level. OK, maybe not "reads", but he's awfully good at making it up.
Camden, our sweetest most adorable baby, turned 1 this year.
Camden is just cute. He has learned the ways of the Wengler home - if you crawl around the floor you will find something edible.
Camden does not like being indoors or away from others. He is prone to fits of rage when he doesn't get his way. He has made threats that he has followed through on, such as the time he told us he would soil his diaper if gas prices didn't go down. That went on forever. Thank goodness prices have dropped.
Money has been tight this year and Dale and Camden have taken to bathing at the local water park. FYI, for those considering this option, early morning hours are less likely to involve the local authorities.
Dale had a great meeting with Governor Baldacci of Maine. Christmas Letter Version: Dale is very important and is in constant contact with Gov. Baldacci about pressing Maine issues. They are Best Friends Forever. Reality version: This was a photo opp. at a conference and he couldn't pick Dale out of a line up of two people with name tags on. The only VIP Dale knows is the 1998 hot dog eating champion of Hampton County, Nebraska.
Perhaps the highlight of the year was Dale being able to baptize his brother. It was a great day in Los Angeles that he will never forget.
Dale continues to cling to his guns and religion. Chainsaws as well.
We had a sweet 80's party this year! We had Nintendo, Rubik's Cubes, Light Bright, Depeche Mode, lots of big hair and jelly bracelets.
This summer Dale got to marry his sister (to her fiance!) in Massachusetts. It was a great wedding and we welcome Danny into our family!
Here is Dale doing a back spin at our friend's wedding. He claims to be putting on his shazzille. The fashion and dance police later showed up and took him off.
We went to Massachusetts and Maine for a summer vacation! We spent time with friends and family, loving every minute of it. Dale was kicking it old school with some traditional Kung Fu with a hint of Feng Shui. Jacob was close behind. We didn't want to, but we basically scared off everyone at the YMCA. They told us to "simmer down."
Dale conducted an experiment that was recently published in several major scientific journals. If you feed five kids 64 ounces of cherry or orange slurpee each, the adults will lose their minds in approximately 13 minutes.
The two wonderful women that I like to call my wife and daughter. They typically don't fight those labels. Jahnelle stays busy feeding, clothing, and cleaning the rest of us!
Jahnelle is now 32 and looking better every day. Time has been her friend. I blame her love of archery on Jane Austen, though she claims it started much earlier with C.S. Lewis and Robin McKinley.
We all went to D.C. to visit Jahnelle's brother and his family. Mike finished his Ph.D. and is now teaching biology and chemistry at the Naval Academy. Dale went to one of his lectures and had to correct him several times about DNA rynobulication chromosomes and their polarity replication cycles. He will get it right with time and until he does Dale refuses to acknowledge him as a doctor of anything. (Camden is actually in the backpack-he is camera shy. It is not because we accidently left him at one of the museums...)
We have been married for 12 crazy years. This has been a difficult year for our family in some regards, but it has also brought us much closer and helped us realize what we cherish most in this life: faith, family and friends. Our walls have unsolicited drawings, the minivan is a health hazard and we both cannot remember sleeping through the night. We have had friends and family members pass on and others suffer from accidents and serious health issues. Through all of this we have done our best to be grateful to the Creator of this beautiful world and for family and friends that mean more to us than a simple Christmas card could ever convey.
May God bless you and yours,
Dale and Jahnelle Wengler
317-663-7749
Find us on facebook as well.
And just when you thought you were done, here are more pictures of just generally cute kids that make our life crazy, yet blissfully happy.
James continues to love school and has shown us videos on YouTube about how to make plasma in your microwave. We recently increased our homeowner's policy and took out a special rider for "Fires that may have started because your kid is a pyro."
He is a great kid though! We are so proud of his kindness and creativity.
James was Napoleon Dynamite for Halloween. He wore it with honor. (It was one of the proudest days of Dale's life.)
Jacob was baptized this year when he turned eight. It was a very special day.
Dale and Jacob went out to visit Uncle Jim in LA. Jacob got way into it. He can't put that Blackberry down!
Jacob loves giant squids and got to see a real one at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. He was later removed by security guards for trying to break the glass. We are glad he is back from juvenile hall.
Jacob is a fabulous big brother! Here is a perfect example of two special kids that look sweet enough...
..but don't be fooled, they will rock your world and leave you wondering where your wallet has gone and why you can't sleep through the night.
Emma, our one and only girl, is now 6 and she has her Dad wrapped around her finger. She has more than enough spunk (pure bossiness?) to handle 4 brothers.
Emma (a.k.a the Drama Queen) is keeping busy with half-day kindergarden. For those of you wondering what exactly is half-day kindergarden, that usually means putting your coat on, taking your coat off, snack, recess, coat back on, bus and back home.
Emma's highlight this year was when she won a castle at the library. Jahnelle jammed it into our minivan to get it home. It lasted several weeks until it rained and turned to mush.
Christian is now three and has taught us the most valuable rule about being parents: If you try to keep, hold, possess or maintain anything of either sentimental or monetary value you will lose. Don't fight it. You will not have anything nice until they go off to college. Christian has destroyed most of our home and both automobiles, but he is darn cute.
This is a very sweet picture of Christian. Unfortunately this is also the look he makes when he has either poured a drink on my laptop, keyed our car or won a bid for something expensive on eBay.
Here is Christian in Maine. For those of you wondering, Maine is the greatest place on earth. It is commonly referred to as the "literal Garden of Eden." Other than the black flies that have unionized and come in the sizes of Tall, Grande and Venti, we still believe Maine is amazing and hope to return someday (as in June when our tenants leave).
Christian absolutely adores his baby brother and reads on a much higher level. OK, maybe not "reads", but he's awfully good at making it up.
Camden, our sweetest most adorable baby, turned 1 this year.
Camden is just cute. He has learned the ways of the Wengler home - if you crawl around the floor you will find something edible.
Camden does not like being indoors or away from others. He is prone to fits of rage when he doesn't get his way. He has made threats that he has followed through on, such as the time he told us he would soil his diaper if gas prices didn't go down. That went on forever. Thank goodness prices have dropped.
Money has been tight this year and Dale and Camden have taken to bathing at the local water park. FYI, for those considering this option, early morning hours are less likely to involve the local authorities.
Dale had a great meeting with Governor Baldacci of Maine. Christmas Letter Version: Dale is very important and is in constant contact with Gov. Baldacci about pressing Maine issues. They are Best Friends Forever. Reality version: This was a photo opp. at a conference and he couldn't pick Dale out of a line up of two people with name tags on. The only VIP Dale knows is the 1998 hot dog eating champion of Hampton County, Nebraska.
Perhaps the highlight of the year was Dale being able to baptize his brother. It was a great day in Los Angeles that he will never forget.
Dale continues to cling to his guns and religion. Chainsaws as well.
We had a sweet 80's party this year! We had Nintendo, Rubik's Cubes, Light Bright, Depeche Mode, lots of big hair and jelly bracelets.
This summer Dale got to marry his sister (to her fiance!) in Massachusetts. It was a great wedding and we welcome Danny into our family!
Here is Dale doing a back spin at our friend's wedding. He claims to be putting on his shazzille. The fashion and dance police later showed up and took him off.
We went to Massachusetts and Maine for a summer vacation! We spent time with friends and family, loving every minute of it. Dale was kicking it old school with some traditional Kung Fu with a hint of Feng Shui. Jacob was close behind. We didn't want to, but we basically scared off everyone at the YMCA. They told us to "simmer down."
Dale conducted an experiment that was recently published in several major scientific journals. If you feed five kids 64 ounces of cherry or orange slurpee each, the adults will lose their minds in approximately 13 minutes.
The two wonderful women that I like to call my wife and daughter. They typically don't fight those labels. Jahnelle stays busy feeding, clothing, and cleaning the rest of us!
Jahnelle is now 32 and looking better every day. Time has been her friend. I blame her love of archery on Jane Austen, though she claims it started much earlier with C.S. Lewis and Robin McKinley.
We all went to D.C. to visit Jahnelle's brother and his family. Mike finished his Ph.D. and is now teaching biology and chemistry at the Naval Academy. Dale went to one of his lectures and had to correct him several times about DNA rynobulication chromosomes and their polarity replication cycles. He will get it right with time and until he does Dale refuses to acknowledge him as a doctor of anything. (Camden is actually in the backpack-he is camera shy. It is not because we accidently left him at one of the museums...)
We have been married for 12 crazy years. This has been a difficult year for our family in some regards, but it has also brought us much closer and helped us realize what we cherish most in this life: faith, family and friends. Our walls have unsolicited drawings, the minivan is a health hazard and we both cannot remember sleeping through the night. We have had friends and family members pass on and others suffer from accidents and serious health issues. Through all of this we have done our best to be grateful to the Creator of this beautiful world and for family and friends that mean more to us than a simple Christmas card could ever convey.
May God bless you and yours,
Dale and Jahnelle Wengler
317-663-7749
Find us on facebook as well.
And just when you thought you were done, here are more pictures of just generally cute kids that make our life crazy, yet blissfully happy.
Another masterpiece. Thank you Dale and Jahnelle. Merry Christmas! Jennifer Morgan
ReplyDeleteWow, Dale, I would take my hat off to you (if I had a hat). I look forward to your letters all year, waiting for the thrill of living vicariously through your witty prose and dazzling photography. I wish we could have come to your 80s party--we dress like that every day, so it wouldn't have been a problem at all. We miss you guys a lot, especially just after we read about your adventures.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about your family. I just disvcovered this BLOG site and was starting up my own site when I got your email. I am proud to be your first follower.
ReplyDeleteFun letter and wonderful family, Wenglers! We love and miss you.
ReplyDeleteMatt & Lori
I'm sitting in Panera in Bowling Green, Kentucky laughing so loud I believe the management may be calling the local authorities. Since you are regularly in situations such as this I may need you to come help.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas! Talk to you soon,
Scott Kelly
Thank you so much for including us in your life and your past years events. Looking forward to knowing your family even better in 2009. Your blog is so humerous and loving at the same time. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteLove your Backyard Neighbors :)
Hello from the east coast "cuzins"! We love you guys so much. Liz has a plan cooked up to get you back east, so hold on to your hats! Until then, Merry Christmas to our favorite family.
ReplyDeleteWith much love,
The Edwards Fam
PS - LOVE those pool shots... :)
Awwww...we miss you guys. Want to come to North Carolina for a spell?
ReplyDeleteJahnelle, I love your newsletter. It is amazing, you are amazing, your hair is amazing and your eyes are like pools of spring water on a somewhat hazy and humid day in an inner city where they have pools of spring water. Your skin tone is also really good. Good as in a summer peach that is ripe, but not too ripe, or then it is soft and smelly like a rotten apple or in this case a rotten peach. Also your nose is cute as a button. A good sturdy button, not the crappy kind you find made in sweatshops where the workers don't get breaks or personal days so they can go to the country and play in pools of spring water. The kind of button people take pride in making. The kind that lasts a long time and when it stops working, the government will bail you out with a billions dollars. If I had a billion dollars I would make buttons and sell them with your picture as the button model. It would read something like this "try our buttons, she has a cute nose doesn't she?"
ReplyDeleteYou and me baby, button billionaires!
You two are hilarious!!! I would buy those buttons as cute as Jahnelle's nose... and I would have cute clothes...
ReplyDelete