2008

Dear friends,

Year 2008 is ending tonight. We wish everyone a happy, peaceful, and prosperous 2009!
新年好！祝大家迎来一个快乐，祥和，成功的一年！

Katie has been growing so quickly, physcically and mentally. Katie is a 5 ft (153 cm) tall 4th grader. I love to tease with her and make friends with her. She has managed her time very well since I went to law school, despite of the larger amount of homework and more time in activities. Katie got accepted into the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program and became a leader and popular student in the group of 4th and 5th grades students. Katie's idea to become a popular girl is to be nice, smart, having some humor, and wearing Aeropostle :-) Katie is also recognized as one of the best students in Chinese school. Here is a list of her extra-curriculum activities:
Piano: Junior B winner of MMTA (Minnesota Music Teacher Association) honor concert; SPPTA (St. Paul Piano Teacher Association) honor awardee (only one student is selected for the age group each time)（弹琴）: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjMyODEwNTI=.html, http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDEyNzQ2MTY=.html.
Skating: Third place in ISI 2 (Ice Skating Institute), and Forth place in ISI 4（滑冰）: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTgwNjY4NDg=.html
Drawing: First Prize in Minnesota Art Exhibition dedicated to Olympics 2008. Third Prize in Minnesota State Fair.

Minkai and Minda were held for another year to go to Kindergarten. They got to play one more year! One of Minkai's favorate activities is doing math. Minda is also a big helper at school, just like Katie. According to Katie, Minda is sassy, which means that she usually does not compromise and talks to people in a bossy way. Minkai and Minda have become good friends at home. They chatted with each other, played with each other, and fell to sleep hand-in-hand. On the other side, they have different friends group at school. They have been enjoying little gym, piano, swimming, and skating. The twins' skin condition is much better, but they are still super sensitive. However, Minda's athma has become more frequent. Life is always a challenge.

Fuming has spent a lot of time teaching Minkai and Minda piano and swimming. Here is his and the twins' accomplishments （旻恺与旻达）: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjMxMzgxNzI=.html, http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDE5MTE3MTY=.html

More detail stories were posted on my blog（博客）: http://xchuang.blogspot.com/

I have been working very hard to fit my schedule for family, study, and work. I have been trained well when Minkai and Minda were babies, so life is actually easier to me as I get my sleep! Fuming is much more involved in kids' activities and house works. Eventually, we got to relax at Los Cabos in Mexico （拉斯卡波丝）: http://photoshow.comcast.net/xchuang/2008

I really like one sentence in Minkai & Minda's Thanksgiving song, "I am thankful for to be me."

Be thankful and keep in touch, my friends.

Xiao/Christina

Los Cabos

Christmas Piano

Minkai & Minda: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjMxMzgxNzI=.html
Katie: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjMxNDEyNDg=.html

Katie Skating for ISI 4