Now that it's March I figure I should include the Christmas Letter:
I‘d like to introduce myself to those of you who haven’t heard of me yet: My name is Father Fred and I live at 632 Thomas Ave, Ft. Leavenworth, KS. This also happens to be the same house in which the Carlton Family resides. I have lived here slightly longer though, since 1875. They moved in last August. This of course means it is MY HOUSE and I periodically remind them of this. As I move about the place, I catch bits of conversations and tend to read over Mary’s shoulder while she’s on Facebook, so I feel justified in writing the Christmas Letter this year.
The year apparently started off with a bang as Charlie and Mary began to prepare for their move to Latvia. They stocked up on winter clothes for everyone at the after-holiday sales and Mary began tracking her food purchases on a chart so they would know how many boxes of Mac-n-Cheese they would need to survive 3 years in a foreign land.
The family got mentally and materially prepared for this major move to the other side of the world when low and behold, Charlie found out (through a fluke) in February that they had been denied the move back in September. This was great news as Charlie had been taking Latvian for 6 months at that point. What a marketable language that is! Also, Mary had decided to embrace the move as her Lenten Sacrifice and NOW what was she supposed to do????
So plans changed, some items were returned, food lists went in the garbage and Charlie began to look for another job. After possibilities like Charlie going alone for 18 months or deploying for 12, Mary was thrilled to hear that there was a job (in the United States where they speak English) at Ft. Leavenworth for Charlie to be a “Red Team Instructor.”
Mary sponsored 4 acts at the St. Ann Variety Show in the spring. One each for the girls’ classes and one in which the 3 girls & Baby Charlie sang “Brother for Sale” by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen. I’m guessing they had no buyers as Baby Charlie is still with the family!
Because they were now moving in July and not September, the summer plans were rearranged. The family drove down to Disney right after school let out and spent a VERY, VERY HOT 7 days at Disney World. There was also a VERY, VERY LONG 45 minutes one day when Baby Charlie got lost. They spent one day with Cousin Katie & her daughter Lily there. From what I hear, Lily and Baby Charlie have a loving relationship with a lot of hair pulling and punching involved.
Then, Charlie came to Kansas to find a house and start work, while Mary took the kids to the annual “Last Hurrah” trip to Topsail Beach, NC. Luckily, Cousin Hannah rode with them half way to the beach and Mary had a nanny so she wasn’t on her own. Charlie flew into NC on Friday for a short 36hrs in the sand and they started their cross country trek on Sunday.
The trip itself wasn’t too eventful; unless of course you count the hotel in St. Louis that happened to be across the street from an arena where the Jonas Brothers were playing that night. Oops! Good Daddy that he was, Charlie found a friendly scalper and took the 4 oldest while Sawyer and Mary went to bed early.
(I had a whole paragraph written about the kids getting Swine Flu the day after they arrived in Kansas. It was exciting news back then, but now that everyone and their brother have had H1N1…it landed on the cutting room floor.) Instead, I’ll tell you that Tali (5th), Josie (4th), Lyra (2nd) and Charlie (K) all attend Eisenhower Elementary School. Mary & Baby Charlie took a two-week vacation to VA in September for him to enroll in Kindergarten at St. Ann. This was b/c he didn’t make the cut-off date for Kindergarten in Kansas and Mary was that desperate to get him into school full-time. The school district will transfer a student into Kindergarten if he has gone at least 2 weeks in another state. How cool is that? Plus, Mary got to see all her friends, do lunch, and see how life might be with one child. WOW, I’m sort of surprised she returned to Kansas! Sawyer goes to Bradley Elementary School for Special Ed Preschool and the Child Development Center Preschool to encourage socialization, although “the Sauce” is talking up a storm and enjoys showing us all how smart he is on HIS TERMS!
Once in Leavenworth, the family moved into MY HOUSE. They love it b/c it’s big, I love them b/c they’re Catholic and have LOTS of kids! They don’t bother me too much, but the crying can get a little annoying. I like to let them know I’m around by opening drawers and the dryer doors. I turn out lights and have also been known to change the temperature in the house. The family has smelled smoke in the fireplace even though they are cemented closed, but I have yet to appear in any pictures or “bless” the children by sprinkling water on them as legends say. I’m waiting for them to decorate the tree to see if they notice when I rearrange the ornaments!
Charlie leaves on January 2nd for a 6-month deployment in Iraq. Please don’t worry about Mary and the kids as I’ll be here watching over them… Mwahahahaha!!!!
Merry Christmas~
Father Fred, Charlie, Mary, Tali, Josie, Lyra
Baby Charlie & Saucey
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