Holiday Greetings from the Gruenbaums!! WOW!! One percent of our way through the 21st Century!!! We can’t believe it has gone so fast! We trust God has given you another blessed year….but enough with the formalities, we are here to catch you up.

Special late breaking news…..a daughter was delivered to the Gruenbaums on June 7th at 6:36 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs. 5 oz. and we called her Abigail Marie. She is also known as Abba-Dabba-Doo, The Abernator, Abigirl, Grabby Abby, Abs, and Baby doll, but NOT princess. Abigail is a biblical name that means “source of joy”; it fits her perfectly. She has a ready smile, but none are bigger than the post-diaper changing smiles. Oh, yeah…she also has pretty good lungs.

Besides Abby, the boys continue to be an incredible joy. They are still going to the same parochial school, and are really enjoying their year. Timmy (the drama boy) and Jeffy (the stinker) are a perfect influence on each other. And, as crazy as they drive us, they are both “special gifts from God”. Timmy loves kindergarten and continues to be a sponge that absorbs all the knowledge he can. Jeffy really enjoys preschool. He would rather have fun than learn, and he is a very tenderhearted, sweet boy. They are good big brothers to Abby.

As usual, Andy had a very active year. Qwest is where he began the year, but he’s ending the year at the company where he completed his final MBA project. At this company, AVV.com, Andy is managing 10 people, and multiple projects while attempting to implement some structure in a small company. In his free time, he fits in a couple of investment clubs, a wide variety of church activities (including teaching the kindergarten Sunday School class), and the reading of a few business, computer, and mind reading magazines.

Judy has been with Bank One for almost 7 years. She was off work for 4 ½ wonderful months including some time before the baby arrived due to some kidney problems. She has been trying to work a few days from home during the week and have Abby in daycare only 3 days a week. Most recently she had the opportunity of being called for jury service. She was the foreman (woman) of the jury which convicted a man of rape of a 9 year old boy. It was a difficult, but interesting experience. In her freetime (HA!) she likes to rest.

The garden conveniently provided some family time this year. Between the fruit (raspberries and LOTS of strawberries) and vegetables (tomatoes, zucchini but still NO corn success), we spent many evenings (and occasionally early mornings) canning and freezing the crops. Fortunately, the boys are becoming much more proficient on the mower, so we will have fewer saplings to replace this year.

The family was fortunate to have two vacations this year: Rat World (Disney) and Country Music’s Eastern Home (Gatlinburg). The boys loved the swimming …..Is this sounding like last year’s letter? Well, we took the SAME trips this year. The dates and attendees varied slightly, but other than that, it was just good to have the family time.

May God bless your lives in the coming year!!

The Gruenbaums