I wish that I was able to send out a Christmas card to everyone that has stopped by my blog over the years, but since I can’t I thought that I would share our Christmas letter and some of the most recent family pictures we had taken.

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends! I am always amazed at how quickly time has passed when I find myself here once again sharing about our year!

Isaac, now 20, is in his second year of college. He switched his major after his first year and is now living in Sioux Falls with my parents. They enjoy having him there while he attends classes through the University Center and SDSU. He is working at the Hy-Vee pharmacy in Sioux Falls and he plans to continue working and focusing on his general courses through next year. After that, maybe Pharmacy school….we will see where God leads him!

Gabriel is officially a teenager and is in the seventh grade. This past year he has grown several inches and is now the proud wearer of glasses and braces! He is in an upper level math course this year and doing well. It is a lot of hard work, but he has grown in knowledge already, and it is exciting to see that continue. He is involved in jazz band again this year and they recently started their practices. Last year, because of his hard work, he earned a solo at the All City Jazz concert!

Elijah is seven and in the first grade at Parkside Elementary. He likes his teacher Mrs. Peterson and enjoys being in her class! He has become a wonderful reader and we are amazed at how much he has grown since the start of last year! He currently has four loose teeth that mom really wants to pull out for him!

Karlena is so very ready to turn six on the 20^th of December and is in kindergarten at Parkside this year. She loves school and her teacher Ms. Austin! And she enjoys seeing her older brother in the lunch room or on the playground each day! She continues to love all things horses and has declared that when she is Isaac’s age she will buy one of her own and ride it to school. We fully support her and her dream! If anyone can do that, she can!

Dominic and I continue to work together at Legal Estate Planning Solutions, and we are grateful for each and every client we have had the privilege to work with in both Minnesota and South Dakota. We were invited to participate in a leadership and discipleship class through church earlier this fall and we spend each Monday night with others from our church learning and growing in our faith!

Our prayer for each of you this coming Christmas season would be that you be filled with an understanding and gratitude for the gift that Jesus is for us! In this time of what seems like increasing darkness in our country and our world, we, as believers, can hopefully be a light of peace and hope to others. Merry Christmas!

Love, Dominic, Kristin, Isaac, Gabriel, Elijah and Karlena Smith

Since Christmas is over and I finally have a moment to write, I wanted to share the Christmas letter that we sent out this year! 🙂 I hope you all had a wonderful time with family and wish you a Happy New Year!

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I have to be honest, I was beginning to think that this Christmas letter wasn’t going to happen this year. I don’t know that I have ever waited this long! It seems crazy to think that another year is coming to a close. How has it gone so fast?!

Isaac turned 18 a few weeks ago and is in his final year of high school. He is excited to be done and move on to his next phase of adulthood! We have toured a couple of different colleges and he is leaning towards SDSU and likely studying pharmacy. We are confident that he will succeed wherever he decides to go!

Gabriel, now 11, made the transition to middle school this year and is in the 5th grade. He has joined the band and is playing the Alto Sax. He has a natural talent and is learning lots of new songs. His favorite part of the year was camping with his Grandpa Johnson and fishing on our vacation to the Black Hills!

Elijah is 5 and is in full time preschool this year. He loves school and always comes home with fun stories to share. He wants to do everything and anything that Gabriel is doing! It is nice that they get along so well. I hope it continues!

Karlena will be 4 in a few weeks and started preschool herself this year. She attends 2 mornings a week and wishes it were more. She loves school! She is involved in dance and has an hour class every Tuesday afternoon. The have their first recital next week so we will finally get to see her progress! Karlena is obsessed with horses and wants to ride again as soon as the weather warms up! She got to ride twice this summer and it is all she talks about.

In July we added a new puppy to our family! Her name is Sydney and she is an Australian Shepherd. She is a very loving dog and wants to always be around us. She has been a fun addition to our family, even if she did chew a hole in our recliner!

Dominic and I continue to run Legal Estate Planning Solutions together and even have had Becky, Dominic’s mom, working with us part time since March! We continue to be blessed by this community and the clients we have the opportunity to work with.

We are looking forward to some time with our extended families this Christmas season and hope to enjoy some rest and relaxation as well! Our prayer is that you would be surrounded by God’s peace this season and would celebrate the Savior’s birth with thankfulness! Many blessings to you as this year comes to a close and we enter 2015!

Love, Dominic, Kristin, Isaac, Gabriel, Elijah and Karlena Smith