Merry Christmas from the 11 of Us!

Seasons Greetings to you all!

What a year it has been in the Fischer household. The most exciting thing that has happened this year is that Monica is pregnant: again! In April, we hope to add our tenth and last son, Gareth Aidan. Poor Laura wishes we were having a girl, but it seems she is destined to remain the only one.

My year has been wonderfully exciting, working and watching my children grow in their various stages of life. God has blessed me indeed with such an extensive family, though I think things will be difficult next year with Jon, Jacob, Matt, and Laura all out of the house.

Monica has been busy, raising 11 children and staying at home. Although, its not really staying home what with basketball, football, hockey, choir, piano lessons, voice lessons, school, band, baseball, church, and everything else that goes on in a large family full of boys.

Jonathan, 25, is getting married this June, hopefully, to his long-time girlfriend Jessica. He moved back in so that they can work on finding a house for after the wedding, and I must say the twins were loathe to give his room up. He is currently working as a regional manager for Best Buy.

Jacob, 23, started at Pepperdine University this fall after completing his undergraduate studies at GCC. We miss him very much, but he's enjoying the cooler climate and his new friends. We all hope he moves back here when he graduates so that the younger boys can know their second oldest brother.

Matthew, 18, will be graduating from Greenway this year, and enrolling at the University of Arizona in September. Basketball season has started once again, so we won't see him again until February as more than a blur between practices and the gym. He is very excited to get out of the house, and finally saved up enough money to buy himself an old Ford truck, which is now used to help Monica cart children all over town.

Laura, 17, will also be graduating this year, from Northwest Christian High. Dear Laura, our only daughter, has been amazing this year, helping with the little ones and corralling the older ones and helping us as only a daughter can. She hopes to enroll at the University of Washington, and we will miss her dearly. She is still actively involved in choir and various musical theatre productions all around the valley.

The twins, 14, are freshman this year, both at Greenway High School. Being identical and mischievous, they have already manage to get themselves into some fantastic scrapes. Their voices have finally settled, depriving us of our amusement but restoring them their dignity. Seth and Nate are both still the comedians of our family, and we're glad that they are not leaving us for a while yet!

Caleb, 13, is your typical pre-teen boy: obnoxious but still loveable, somewhere deep down. He is completely devoted to his swimming, and we all get to take turns blistering in the heat of all-day swim meets. Though he is only in 7th grade, he is on a mostly high-school team. Still, if he keeps it up, his coach is sure that he could someday make the Olympics.

Gabriel, 10, began to take an interest in singing this year, which thrilled Laura. The house constantly echoes with their melodious harmonies. He is in fifth grade and we have very high hopes for his academic future, as he is helping Caleb with his homework now.

Samuel, 8, lives for his computer games. He is a champion at anything electronic, and Monica and I are slightly worried he will outclass us all too soon! Sammy is devoted to Matthew, and will be very sad when he leaves us next summer, but Tucson isn't all that far away.

Steven, 5, started kindergarten this year, and we thought that our last child had started school, but then we discovered Gareth! Still being the baby, he is usually the center of attention, and very cute, coming home each day to tell everyone everything he learned from his teacher today. On mother's day, he decided to make Monica breakfast in bed, and then spent the next five hours cleaning the kitchen all by himself, shooing everyone away so he could do "Mommy's job for her."

Ten children and counting! How God has blessed us. Continue to pray for Monica as she goes through this final pregnancy, that there will be no more complications. We all hope that you have a wonderful Christmas, a happy new year, and that God will continue to bless your lives.

In His service,

Don Fischer and family (Monica, Jon, Jake, Matt, Laura, Seth, Nate, Caleb, Gabe, Sammy, and Steven.)