Happy Holidays! As Christmas nears at the Klau House in Naperville, we wanted to get you all caught up on what we're doing in the #2 city to raise a family. (Anyone have dirt on Fort Collins, Colorado? We'd like to be #1 next year, and wouldn't mind a little insurance...)

First things first: apparently, putting a web address on last year's card wasn't obvious enough to indicate that we put our Christmas letter online. From what we can tell, very few of you actually read the letter last year. So in case you missed it, why don't you click on over to last year's letter and find out what we did last year. Go on, we'll wait!

Welcome back. Now here we are, a whole year later. ;)

Ricky

Ricky's now 6 years old, enjoying first grade, and one smart cookie. He's a voracious reader - not only reading any kid's book he can get his hands on, but he also tries to sneak a chapter of Harry Potter in when he thinks we're not looking. Ricky and I started Tiger Cubs this fall - this is the entry into Cub Scouts - which has been a ton of fun Dad/son time. He's getting very good at chess, thanks to a once a week chess club at school... he even gave his Grandpa a run for his money this summer at the beach! The Tooth Fairy has made a frequent appearance at our house, though she's getting a little anxious about the loose front tooth that seems to hang by the thinnest of threads. Ricky played league soccer last spring and this fall, and while he enjoyed it, he made sure we knew that T-Ball was his favorite. His love of baseball was no doubt influenced by an April trip to Wrigley Field with Robby, me, Uncle Kevin and cousin Maggie, where we got to see a rare Cubs win (by future hall-of-famer Greg Maddux, too!).

Robby

Following in his brother's footsteps, Robby took karate this fall. In addition to coming in third in his first tournament (you can watch the proceedings here), he also tested for - and earned - his yellow belt. Robby's eager to continue the classes, and he's already strategizing about how to move up in the next tournament. In addition to attending Creative Preschool four mornings a week (where his teachers tell us that he's not only doing really well and learning quickly, but is a joy to have in class), Robby's also recently accelerated his speech therapy sessions by joining a twice weekly phonological class at the school district in prep for kindergarten next year. Over the summer, Robby (and Ricky) went to science camp at Morton Arboretum and had a blast.

Becca

As quickly as Ricky's losing teeth, our happy and high-energy toddler is growing them. Becca's rapidly adding words to her repertoire, though most of what we hear is Maaaaaaamaaaaaaaa! (She is quite fond of "EIEIO", however, and finds plenty of situations in which it's apparently the perfect statement.) Chairs, tables and the dog exist for one purpose in Becca's world: to provide leverage to pull up, look around, survey the room, then fall back down. Demonstrating unnerving confidence, she attacks stairs with abandon (both up and down) and rarely waits for the action to come to her. She turned one in October, and loves her big brothers almost as much as they adore her.

Last, but not least...

Robin and I had a great year. Our highlight was a brief trip to Prague - I spoke at a conference and we spent a long weekend being tourists. It was our first trip alone since we had the kids, so that made it particularly noteworthy. We squeezed a lot into just a few days, and can't wait to go back. Prague's a remarkable city, and thanks to the group hosting us, we had a magical evening at the Prague Castle. We got a private tour of the castle, including parts of the castle closed to the public - then had dinner with the other conference attendees in a state dining room, where we were entertained by a seven piece orchestra and two opera soloists. It's safe to say that it was an evening - and a trip - we won't ever forget. (If you're interested, pictures of the trip are here.)

Back in March, Robin had a big birthday... but I've been told that I'm not supposed to talk about it. *cough* forty *cough* Still quite young at heart, Robin puts her full energies into raising all three kids. And as busy as I feel at work, my days are nothing compared to the dropoffs, pickups, naps, pickups, playdates, library visits, doctor visits, practices, dropoffs and, well, you get the picture. Our Odyssey is well-traveled, and I'm as lucky as the kids are to have Robin be so committed to raising such great kids.

Prague wasn't our only time as adults this year - another highlight was hosting a house concert for our friend, Paul Curreri. (For the few of you who we haven't told: buy Paul's albums. Go see him perform. You won't be sorry. If there's any justice in the world - and certainly November's election suggests there might be - Paul will be ridiculously famous a few years from now.) Paul was in town to open a music festival, and we were lucky to have him spend a night with us. Those of you who got to watch him know what a special evening it was... hopefully we'll get to do it again the next time he's in town.

We got back east to see family (and friends) three separate times: in May to help Robin's Dad celebrate his 65th birthday, in August to spend summer vacation with my parents and then Robin's parents, and then again in October for my law school's 10th reunion.

I remain very busy at FeedBurner, where we've grown by leaps and bounds over the last year. (I write about FeedBurner from time to time on my blog; feel free to head over there for more on what we're up to.) Getting to be the assistant coach for Ricky's t-ball team was a great time, and helping out in Robby's karate class helped me see just how hard Robby worked. Both were gifts.

We hope you've had a terrific year, and we'd love to hear from you. Please - if you find yourself passing through Chicago, Naperville's not that far away. You're always welcome.

Peace,

Rick, Robin, Ricky, Robby & Becca
1416 Oswego Road
Naperville, IL 60540
family@rklau.com