Family Newsletter...sorry if you get this a million times

Dear Friends and Family,

We are going electronic this year trying to make it easier and I'm still late! Life is too crazy and I apologize for not making it to the post office.

2008 has been quite a year for us! We have seen many miracles and blessings in our family this year. As with every year we’ve had our ups and downs but this year seems to have been the most rollercoaster like. We are still in Springfield, MO but in March we moved into a duplex to give us a little more space. We really love it. We are within a stones throw to two of Daniel’s siblings and their families. It is so great to be by family and to have cousins for our boys to play with.

We started off the year with news that our family would be growing some more. Ephraim Knowlton (we call him Knowlton or Knowly) was born September 26, 2008. He is such a sweet addition to our family! The poor little boy has been sick since he was born it seems like. He has been to the doctor many times for RSV, a respiratory virus very common in infants. He seems to finally be getting better so we’ll keep our fingers crossed. Other than a crazy cough he’s a very happy baby. His smile is so sweet and he’s starting to make the cute baby noises. Knowly loves the bath tub and is a very good sleeper and we’re very grateful for that!

Nathan (19 months) has had a very productive year! All of his major milestones have happened this year. He learned to crawl, walk, and talk this year! He’s very good at doing his animal sounds, he knows almost all of them. If you ask him what a football says he’ll put his arms up in the air and yell, “TOUCH DOWN!” and he’ll do a little happy dance. He can almost count to 10 and knows some of his colors and most of his shapes. He is a very smart little boy. He loves to help his little brother by giving him his binky or giving him kisses. He is so fun to watch grow! He is our little buddy.

Daniel stays very busy right now. He is in the nursing program at Missouri State University and will finish in May of 2010. This semester has been really hard but he made it through with 2 A’s and 2 B’s so he’s doing well. He is also the President of the Young Men’s group (ages 12-18) at church. He really enjoys working with the boys and teaching them how to do things that are beneficial to their future. They go on campouts, learn about careers, work on physical fitness and other things. As if he isn’t busy enough, Daniel works about two blocks from our house at Cox North Hospital as an ER tech. He loves working there. He is learning so much and loves all of the action. He is very good at balancing everything and making time for his family. He’s a great dad for our boys and a wonderful husband.

I (Meagan) have had a year of growing and learning. I got my cosmetology license in January and worked a few hours a week as a make-up artist at Merle Norman Cosmetics for my mother-in-law. I love being a mom! My boys are so sweet. I love teaching Nathan new tricks. Two weeks after Knowlton was born I woke up and couldn’t see out of my right eye. When I got in to see the eye specialist he told me that my retina had detached. They went in and surgically put it back together. It was a 3+ hour surgery but they were able to do it with great success. As some of you may know I’ve struggled with eye problems my whole life and have always known this would be a possibility one day and now it’s happened. A few weeks after the surgery for my right eye I had cataract surgery on my left eye. After two months of being blind they did a final laser treatment to my left eye and I am finally seeing great, probably better than I ever have. I have one more surgery in February for my right eye to remove the silicone oil that has been holding the retina in place while it heals and then I should be seeing GREAT! I can't wait! Modern technology is quite amazing! The Lord has blessed us greatly. I’ve seen His hand in my life so much these last few months.

Life Is so good for us and we hope it’s the same for each of you. We wish you all the best for this Christmas season and as we start the New Year. May the Lord bless you all.

Much love,

The Fergusons

Daniel, Meagan, Nathan, and Knowlton

Nathan's new toy phone! Maybe he won't use mine now!

Knowly's Christmas Moose "Bruce the Moose"