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Baker’s Holiday Newsletter A Year (or more) In Review

What a Year It Has Been! (with some highlights from 2011 too!)

We heard from many of you last year and we were told you went to your mailboxes every day looking for the exclusive Baker Holiday Newsletter. Each day you walked away with the feeling of disappointment overcoming you. Like Santa’s gifts beneath the tree, you have grown to look for this newsletter each year. And last year…nothing!

There really is a simple explanation. At the end of November last year, we signed the contract for our new house! Between painting and cleaning and painting and boxing things up and painting….you get the idea, we were exhausted and just had no time to send out our normal holiday letter.

That said…here is the 2012 edition of our family newsletter. You will get updates about the kids, Jen and Chad, as well as some photos from the year (or more) gone by! We hope you enjoy and we wish you and yours a very Happy Holiday!

W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

We Moved! As you may have already heard, we

moved to a new, larger home in January 2012. The house has more space in the interior and is a stand-

alone home, so no more being directly connected to the neighbors’ house.

We have a larger yard for the kids to play in and Ella has loved the fact we are on a cul-de-sac where she can run

and play without fear of cars.

Our new address, for those who may not have it yet, is:

998 Redbud Court York, PA 17404

Don’t forget to change your Christmas card lists!

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The Kids Both Ella and AJ are growing up so fast.

In 2012 Ella turned 6 in March and Anderson turned 3 in October.

Ella Marie Baker Ella started kindergarten in 2011 and 1st grade in 2012. In both grades she went for the full day of school and has done remarkably well. Just a few weeks ago we received a progress report from her teacher stating she should be reading at a level 4 right now and a level 16 by the end of the school year in June. Ella is already at a 14!

Ambassador Baker In 2012, Ella was selected to serve as the ambassador for the American Diabetes Association walk we do each year. This meant she spoke at various events, appeared in the commercials and helped kick things off the day of the walk.

Anderson Jacob Baker AJ started pre-school in September 2012 at Shiloh UCC, the same place Ella went. He has adapted well and LOVES his class. AJ has made many new friends and is always excited to go to class on Wednesday and Friday. AJ has definitely hit his threes as his temper is stronger and he knows how to push all the buttons!

Diagnosis #2 The other thing that kept us on our toes at the end of 2011 was AJ being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Despite the extremely low odds he would be Diabetic too, our little guy now shares a lot more with his big sister! He has adapted well, though, and is even now on an insulin pump! As of October, AJ started wearing a pump, just like Ella. He is doing extremely well with his new routine and keeps plugging along!

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The Big Trip of 2012: The Bakers Go to Washington D.C.

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After dinner nearby, we boarded the Metro and went back to Silver Spring. Ella and AJ had another first, their first overnight stay in a hotel!

On Saturday, we jumped back on the Metro and met The Moyers at the National Zoo. We spent the entire day checking out the different animals and we even had the chance to see the pandas and a goofy looking orangutan. We again picnicked in a grassy area at the zoo. We all had a great day.

Once we finished at the zoo, we crammed into a very, VERY crowded Metro (thanks O’s and Nats for playing in DC!), headed back to the hotel and made our way back to PA.

Buster Brown We gave him the best gift for his 11th birthday…

A NEW HOUSE!

Buster Brown is doing well. We moved in to the new house on his 11th birthday and, for an old boy, he did well adjusting…minus his own form of protesting!

Buster has continued to be the best dog with the kids and he is still continues to be our gentle giant. He has had a few flare ups of his acid reflux, but overall is going strong!

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Given the fact we purchased the new house this year, a week at the beach, our normal vacation, just wasn’t in the cards. So, in May, the entire family went to Washington DC for two days. We began our trip, leaving Friday morning and checking in to a hotel in Silver Spring. Ella and AJ rode the Metro for the first time to the heart of DC. We began our day in DC by picnicking on the Mall just outside of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, our first stop of the day. After lunch, we gathered our things and went to the museum where we all enjoyed the insects exhibit, the dinosaur bones and of course, the elephant in the main lobby.

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But What About Mom & Dad Stay at Home Mom Extraordinaire Jen has continued to work hard as a stay at home mom, as well as a freelance writer. Over the course of the last year, she has had several articles published in SMART magazine, the York Daily Record, publications from Penn State Hershey Medical and more. This is on top of her full time work as super mom!

Politics, Politics, Politics Chad is still very active with the Democratic Party as the Communications Director for the York County Party and as a State Committee member. In May he was able to meet Governor Rendell and in September was able to see Vice President Joe Biden up close. Chad emceed several of the party’s events this year as

well.

Back to School…Kinda. Jen has spent a lot of time in school the last few years. Whether it is helping at a party at AJ’s preschool or assisting Ella and her friends with kid writing at the elementary school, Jen stays very busy helping the teachers at both schools. She has become a strong parent volunteer and a familiar face in the classroom.

Daddy Graduated! Since we missed sending out a newsletter last year, we missed telling you Chad completed his Masters Degree last December. We traveled to Shippensburg and the entire family cheered on Daddy as he walked and received his degree. It was a great chance for the family to get together and celebrate!

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The Baker’s 2012 In Photos