Well to bring you up to date with the ValentinoFamily...

This year started out like all the other years slow and not too eventful.
By the end of January, James, our son was released from Prison and came home to live with us. Our quiet house soon was busy again. I longed for the days of just John, Me and the girly's. We drove and picked him up in Missoula which is a 2.5 hour drive from here.He looked well and happy but exhausted as he had to take a bus from Deerlodge Montana that day. He was very glad to see us. It had been a long road for him he was in Prison just shy of 2 years. He also had a new daughter to meet and learn how to be a daddy to and take care of. So off we were to Tot Training 101. He is doing very well and adjusting to being on his own and taking care of Aroura and he loves her to pieces. Well along came the girl friend. By March he had a girl he was seeing and brought her home to meet us. Her name is Amanda and she is very good to James and the baby. She misses Aroura when she is home with her Mommy in Libby. Amanda is an outspoken gal and has a big heart. She is very nice and we love her. James is happy with her so that is very important.

Aroura is now 2 and is a doll!! She still is slim in the hair department but i guess Hannah takes over for her. Aroura is starting to talk and calls me Mumm-Mumm and Gramma when she feels like it. She is very stubborn like her daddy was, and most of the time she is a good listener to gramma and easy to have with me. John and i love the time we get with her. We have her for sleepovers often.The girls love to mother her and spoil her but that too is easy to do.

Paco (or Johnny) as we know him as is also doing very good. He lives with his buddy Garrett and Garretts' girlfriend and their baby in a house here. He and Garrett have been buddies since they were young. Paco has always been single since high school and we always knew he would just find the right girl at the right time. Well it happened earlier this year. He works at the Blue Cow car wash and next door to it is a coffee house. The girls in the coffee house sent a balloon over to the car wash with no names but 2 phone numbers on it. Well Paco called them and hooked up with Bailey. She is 20 and a sweetheart. She compliments him very well. They are pretty cute together. She now works at the Wells Fargo Bank here and we see them frequently.

Hope is doing great .She turned 13 in August this year. My how time flies by. She ran on the track team this year and absolutely loved it. She is on a break from surgeries and we don't need to see her panel of Craniofacial Doctors for 2 years!!! Whoo-Hoo!!!!!She has a 3.8 gpa in school and is very dedicated worker and loves school, reading, drawing, horses,and is very talented. Our Christmas card this year was drawn by her. It is her own creation. She is into this new cartooning called Anime. They look asian to me but what do i know. I think she is very talented. She has blossomed this year into a lovely young lady. She is getting more comfortable in her own skin and likes the way she looks. She still does not like to listen to mom or dad but i guess we call her normal!!!

AnnaGrayce is also growing into her own little person. She is now 8, and doing great. She does a paper route with Hope and they enjoy having some money to spend. Grayce is definitely the saver of the 2. And she enjoys rubbing that fact in to Hope. She loves school, her reading is wonderful and her math skills are far above average. Her teachers all adore her. She loves to help others even when she is not asked to. She is very energetic and loving to others. She is still very tiny but i think she will always be that way. She was diagnosed with Asthma last year and we have finally found a combination of drugs to help her with that. I have it so i know how frustrating it can be. She is also allergic to Milk products so she has gotten very good about it all. She had her Christmas Program at school last week and was a Suzy Snowflake and the announcer at the end of the program and she had it all memorized and did wonderful with it. She is definitely at ease on a stage and i think she has found her passion. So look for her name in lights in the future!!!

Well John and i are doing fine. This year has been trying for us with my health but i am doing much better now. Johns work is slowing up and has time off for Christmas but he is still employed.

For those of you who did not hear, Rebecca and husband Claude made us proud grand parents again on October2,2008 with the birth of their daughter Hannah Elizabeth . She weighed in at 7lb2oz and 20 in long. She has lots of hair Joshua the proud big brother has made the adjustment now and is very proud of his sister. He likes to share his big passion with her, BOOKS. He is now 17 months old and quite the helper. We are very proud of them and think their kids are the cutest in the world!! We have enclosed a few photo's of them.

We hope you all have a blessed Christmas and New Year!!!!
We wish you all the best in the year to come. May God Bless you all and remember He is the reason for the Season!!!
Love
The Valentino's
John, Tami, Hope and AnnaGrayce