The holiday season - our family holiday update

The time has come again to wish everyone a very happy holiday season and thank everyone for their friendships.  As we get Christmas cards from great friends, it makes us feel a little guilty for not send cards out but here's our online version to share with all.  If you want to view pictures, I have posted them at our Holiday update site

With four boys under the age of 6, life gets pretty busy.  In fact our lives revolve around our boys and their activities and their friends and special holidays. But amidst this business, we would wouldn't change a thing.

Robbie just turned 6 and he is in grade 1 loving school.  In fact, just today we talked about his last day at school and he was sad that school was ending.  He's got some great friends in the neighborhood and is just the perfect big brother.  If there is one word to describe him it would be 'special'.  He is caring and considerate, athletic and determined to succeed at whatever he does.  We are very proud of Robbie and his accomplishments and he's only 6.

Connor has had an interesting year because his role in the family has shifted from Robbie's little brother to Jason and Brandon's best friend.  Connor, now at the age of 4 has taken on the role of big brother and is doing a phenomenal job at it.  The word to describe Connor is creative.  He loves to play make-believe and create fun and interesting games with his brothers.  He is very artistic and will color, draw, cut and create things any chance he gets.  We built a craft room for Liz in our house but Connor has definitely assumed ownership of that room.

Jason is two and half but turning 10.  Having two older brothers has definitely advanced our little JJ.  Jason does not officially go to school but he often spends time in Connor's pre-school.  All the kids love him and if it wasn't for his size, you would swear he was 4 like all the other kids.  The word to describe Jason is 'sooooooooooo cute!"  OK that's two words but we often look at each other as parents and giggle about how cute he is.  In terms of activities, he is athletic like Robbie and loves crafts like Connor so it will be interesting to see where his passions develop as he gets a little older.

And then there's Brandon (aka Brando).  But to the brother's he's known as Brandy.  Brandon's word is 'perfect'.  Truly perfect.  God really was looking out for us when he gave us Brandon.  From the day he was born, he came out smiling and giggling and is nothing but joy in our lives.  When anyone is having a bad day, all they have to do is get near Brandon and he changes everything.  Brandon is now just over a year old and he's starting to walk and talk and communicate in his own special way.  He has truly made having four kids easier than we ever thought.

Liz is the mother of 4 boys and the princess in our house of testosterone.  She is amazing in so many ways but everyone knows that she lives for her family.  She is the calm voice in the house and she makes raising four kids look effortless.  This past year, Liz has found a passion outside of her family - running.  She ran a 10K race with Carmen and is planning to run a half marathon in the not too distant future.  She's found some great running partners and takes any chance she can to strap on the shoes and hit the paths. 

And then there's Jim.  Everyone seems to be bewildered by what Jim is up to these days.  Is he retired or retarded?  Is he working or pretending to work?  After taking some time off, he is back to work as a professional speaker talking about money, investing, retirement and life.  He has been working hard on developing new products including books, software, DVDs, CDs and is excited about getting back to work (if you can call it that).  You can check out his brand new website JimYih.com and see what he is up to these days.  Drop him a line . . . he would love to hear from you.

All in all, 2009 was a great year.  We moved into our new house and have settled into a really good routine.  we love our house, we love our friends, we love the neighborhood and our neighbors and quite frankly we just love life!  We hope you enjoy the pictures.  We just put together a family calendar and these are the pictures we used to summarize our year. 

From our hearts to yours,
love, peace and happiness

The Yihs
Jim, Liz, Robbie, Connor, Jason and Brandon