Christmas Update, 2008

Merry Christmas from The Hausams!

We hope that you are all doing well, and enjoying this beautiful season with your family and friends! Here's a little Christmas update from our family! 2008 went by so fast! I feel like I say that every year. It was a year with lots of action!

As many of you know, Jessica (Liz's twin), had brain surgery to remove a benign pituitary tumor in March. We are so thankful to our faithful God and to the talented doctors at The Mayo Clinic! So many of you were praying for her through this scary ordeal, and we are so grateful for your precious prayers. God's arms carried her through! Our joke to each other now is that we are twins, down to the tumor (I had to have a benign pituitary tumor removed 6 years ago). In any case, Jess is now doing great, with just one more surgery to go! This time Jess will be having heart surgery at The Mayo Clinic (St. Mary's) on January 9th to replace a valve and to add a stint (see her blog, under "Family Blogs" for more details :). I know how much she appreciates your prayers, so thank you from all of us! I am so glad that mom and Jess now live in MN, so that we are close enough to help them. It would have been so hard to go through this long distance.

Other SUPER exciting news is that Robert (Liz's brother) and Amy have a son! They arrived home from Russia in August, with sweet Paul (3 years old) in their arms. He's so cute!!!! We can't wait to meet him on December 27th, when they come to visit us for a week. Gracie (4 1/2) is such a good big sister, and is having lots of fun with her little brother. Their story is an amazing story of how God matches up children with families across the world!

Jake (9 1/2) and Luke (7 1/2) are both doing great. They are getting to be so big! They are hoping for LOTS of snow this Christmas. Their cousin, Gracie, is planning on bombarding them with snowballs when she gets here (Amy revealed her plan to me)! They love the seasons, and the fun variety of activities that comes with them. In the winter months, they spend a lot of time playing hockey in the backyard, on Jon's "homemade" ice rink. They go sledding with neighbors, then come in with snowy boots asking for hot cocoa :). It's a very cozy time of year!

We are all loving our new lower level. After 8 years of living in this house, we finally completed the construction of our basement! Jake and Luke were both of HUGE help to Jon (our personal contractor), in this process. It was a great winter project to have. Now that it's done, we spend way too much time watching movies after the kids are in bed.... In July, I tagged along with Jon on a business trip to China. It was an amazing trip, and an incredible country to visit! We spent most of our time in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Other exciting news is that Liz's dad bought a condo here in town! He and Margaret now plan to spend a few months out of the year here in MN, and the rest of their time back home in Norway. We are very excited that we now get to see them more often. The boys love it when they come to visit!

We are looking forward to Jon's parent's arriving on Tuesday 12/9, just in time for the boys' Christmas program at school! We pray that you have a lovely Christmas with your family, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

With love, Jon, Liz, Jake & Luke