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Another year is coming to a close. The Dahl family has enjoyed another fun and active year. Once again we are using this blog in place of our annual holiday letter. We hope you like it. Don’t miss our page of family videos.

Click the play button (twice) to enjoy some Christmas music while reading about the Dahls in 2007. We’ll start with a little Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

A few of the family highlights during 2007 include:

• We added a ski boat to the arsenal of toys out at the cottage.
• We also bought a kid’s dirt bike and small ATV for family fun at the cottage.
• The Newsome Family Reunion was great fun for the 57th year in a row.
• We had a great trip to Cheyenne in August for Gram Neldie’s 80th birthday party.
• On the way back from Cheyenne we once again had fun in the Black Hills.
• The Dahl Family Reunion at Billings park was another good day with relatives.
• We decided to re-create our 2001 Christmas photo (see above).

There are more photos down below in the next four posts. We hope to see you back here again at the end of 2008 for another update from the Dahl Family.

Emma knows what she wants for Christmas (you!).

Emmaline had her eleventh birthday in May just before finishing the 5th grade. That means that she started at the middle school this fall while leaving the rest of the family back in the elementary school. She is doing some new things this year including playing the flute in band class and going to dances with boys (well not “with” them [yet], but they are there and so is she).

In March she was a star at the 5th grade Track-o-rama, placing second in the 75 yard dash and first in the 4-by-200 yard relay. That girl can really run! Who knew? She also displayed her athletic prowess by learning to water ski this summer. Before long she was going all the way around the lake; twice, without falling.

Buying gifts for Emma became much easier early in year when she got her ears pierced. Her earring collection seems to grow at a rapid rate. Emma continues to follow the lead of her little brothers by attending gymnastics lessons. She has progressed rapidly and is just about ready to move up another level to where some of her friends are who have been competing there for quite a bit longer.

Emma does extremely well at school and seems to enjoy the added independence that comes at the middle school. It is a large school with many new kids for her to get to know, especially all those new boys. Poor Emma; she seems to be more than just a little bit boy crazy. Poor mom and dad!!

How about the Carol of the Bells for your listening pleasure? 

Alley Bo turned 9 in April. He got a new bike and a basketball hoop where he loves to play horse or try to shoot baskets while jumping on the trampoline. He is quite a gymnast (“crazy strong” is what his coach says) and loves to do flips and all that other fancy stuff. He has found that there are some similarities between gymnastics and both skateboarding and snowboarding, so now he’s trying to learn how to do fancy things on the boards as well.

During the fall, Alan has enjoyed the after-school Tech Club that his dad organized. He and about 30 more kids show up about every other week for 90 minutes of creative activities on the computer. They’ll also be learning about online safety and a few other essentials. but the main goal is to have fun and stretch their creative muscles a little bit.

Alan was nominated by his 4th grade teacher to participate in the National Young Scholars Program during 2008 for displaying outstanding leadership potential and for early academic excellence. What fun it is to receive a letter addressed to “Master Alan Dahl.”

Quinny thinks the Grinch is scarey.

Quinlan Robert turned 6 in September. The next day he started kindergarten where he goes to school all day long. That pretty much wipes him out. He’s doing great in school and learning so much.

For those of you keeping score at home, starting kindergarten this year means that he is part of the high school class of 2020. Yowser, that’s kind of hard to imagine (for some of us).

Quinny continues to move up to higher levels with his gymnastics lessons. He loves to run and jump and tumble, and we love that he gets to go somewhere else to do some of that rather than just around the house.

Quinn is our champion frog-gigger at the cottage during the summer. After he had about 40-50 of them in their temporary enclosure on the beach he declared, “Catching frogs is my LIFE!!” Just so you know, all frogs are released unharmed, to be hunted and caught again another day.

Quinny loves to play both baseball and tennis. For a little guy he can really hit the ball. He has also shown great aptitude as a boxer using the Wii (video game). He consistently knocks out the larger opponents, including his dad. He is also a fishing fanatic who can really cast that baby out there. Quinny believes that it isn’t the size of the fish that you catch; any size is good as long you catch more than everybody else.

The year started with Rita enjoying Girl Vacation 2007 in Islamorada in the Florida Keys, and is of course looking forward to a repeat performance in January 2008. Rita received a Valentine’s Day gift of a painting of one of our favorite scenes – the whole family fishing on the dock at the cottage at sunset. It was painted by one of our Chinese artist friends, based on a photograph that we took several years earlier.

Rita is President of the Northern Lights Elementary PTA and still serves part-time as Parent Involvement Coordinator at the school as well. She has also filled in during a staff shortage in the special education room and will soon start substitute teaching as well.

Barry made three more trips to Asia in 2007. He returned to Vietnam in March and spent 12 days there working on educational partnerships for his college and state system. He returned to both China and Vietnam in late May and early June for another 12 day trip. In August he was gone for 16 days to Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Korea. Also work related, Barry was elected to the Board of Directors of the Instructional Technology Council representing higher education institutions in ten states. His first board meeting was in Annapolis during July. Barry also enjoyed a trip to Kansas City in May for a conference and was able to see many of the Nab relatives while there.

Barry and Rita each competed in the Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival in August, although they were on different teams. It was a great deal of fun, a little bit competitive, and more than just a little bit tiring.

Hello, and welcome to the year in review for the Dahl Family Blog. The beginning of the year is at the bottom of this page. Scroll down to start there. Otherwise, just take a look any which way you prefer. There are lots of pictures, a few videos, and a couple of highlights mixed in here and there. We hope you enjoy.