December 2013 Dear Family and friends,

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. (Psalm 90:1)

We pray your family is blessed during this Advent Season of preparation for our ord!s coming and that the love of our dear Savior fills your hearts this "hristmas# $nce again, %e %rite you from a ne% address but this time it should be a bit more permanent& After a blessed year spent at St& 'ary!s "athedral in (aylord, '), *%here %e came to +no%, love and no% miss the %arm, thoughtful and generous people of the parish,, the ord apparently had a ne% home in mind for us& -he Diocese of (reen .ay hired /hil to coordinate their efforts aimed at 10132 year olds3 so, in late April, %e moved to a short1term home in (reen .ay and /hil began %or+ 'ay 1st& )n 4une, our old Stevens /oint home finally sold, %hich allo%ed us to buy a more permanent residence in (reen .ay this past $ctober *after a summer of searching,& For those +eeping trac+, that brings the tally to 5 different residences in the past year and a half *6 for /hil,& We!re not planning on moving again anytime soon# Some of this year!s highlights have been the appro7& 180 inches of sno% %e had in (aylord *the +ids are eager for similar amounts in (reen .ay#,, 4eremy and (enevieve!s %edding, visits %ith (randma, (reat (randma and (randpa, Aunt 4enny coming to stay %ith us, summer s%im lessons, %atching /ac+ers training camp, -otus -uus, being as+ed to present the (ifts at the Assumption Day 'ass to "ardinal (eorge at the Shrine of $ur ady of (ood 9elp, ittle Flo%ers, .lue :nights, and the ;oy of settling into (reen .ay and being close once again to friends and family in Wisconsin& We remain grateful for the many graces %e have received from both the ord and the people %e!ve been privileged to encounter and continue to en;oy the <;oyful chaos= of family life %ith small children& William> ?o% @ years old and in 2nd grade ;ust made his 1st Aeconciliation on Dec& @th and %ill be receiving 9is First "ommunion on 'ay 8th& 9e continues to love building things, and being creative& 9e %rote a design for a trailer for his bi+e that he and dad are in the midst of building& William is a great big brother and has been a huge help during all the moves and traveling& 'iriam> $ur 5 year old is in +indergarten but is doing some 1st grade %or+Bshe %ants to learn everything her big brother is& )t!s a ;oy %atching her %ith baby -homas, %hom she tries to +eep out of trouble, as %ell as regularly bringing ;oy and smiles to everyone she encounters& She had her first ballet lessons this past summer and loved them& She is a great help to mom around the house& u+e> At 3 years old, %ants to read li+e his older siblings and +no%s all of his letters and most of the sounds they ma+e& 9e loves puCCles and is perhaps our most introspective child& For better or %orse he!s the one closest to -homas! siCe and therefore the one the baby tries to tac+le and abuse %ith the greatest freDuency& A very loving boy, and the one %ho is guaranteed to fall asleep for his nap if he!s in Dad!s arms in the early afternoon& *)t!s li+e cloc+%or+,& -homas> $ur 1 year old is easily our most rough and tumble boy& 9e mastered %al+ing at 10 months and is on to running and has the bumps and bruises to sho% for his fearless personality& 9e en;oys playing football %ith Dad and his siblings& )f there!s %restling in the living room, he!s right there& 9e also li+es dancing %ith Aunt 4enny, chasing after his siblings, %ashing the dishes *don!t dare try to do them %ithout his help if he!s in the room,, s%eeping, and vacuuming& /atty has %eathered the adventureEchaos of living in so many residences and living out of bo7es, perpetually in transition& She!s been able to create a <home= %herever %e!ve been& ?onetheless, she is thrilled to have a permanent place for our 9omeschool, and <a place for everything=& -he love and ;oy found in the home is a direct result of her presence and the love and peace she radiates& 9er intellectual gifts are also being put to good use in her teaching of children at our parish and assisting in various diocesan pro;ects li+e curriculum development and boo+ revie%s& /hil feels very blessed to be in (reen .ay& )nstead of %or+ing %ith one parish, he no% gets to %or+ %ith 15@ throughout the Diocese& 9e!s very much en;oyed traveling around the diocese, meeting people, teaching, evangeliCing, offering parishes support and giving presentations& 'any of the pro;ects and teachings he has previously done at a parish level, including A")A, he!s no% doing on a diocesan level& An added per+ is being able to see ambeau Field every day from his %or+& 'ostly though, he!s incredibly grateful for the blessings of family and faith and the opportunity to do %or+ he loves& 'erry "hristmas and 'ay (od bless your family in the ?e% Fear# Phil, Patty, William, Miriam, Luke and Thomas Lawson