The Sjoblom family in 2008

This year has had many new challenges and victories. In October 2007 we found out that our baby was going to be born with a cleft lip and palate. This started much research into a subject we knew little about. We found many parent support groups online, as well as local contacts. We were glad that we were able to find out four months before she was born, and by the time she was due, we could hardly wait to see what our special baby was going to be like. There is tons more to the story, but that is what her page is for.

I had gotten Abigail and Jayson their own digital cameras for Christmas, and they have been turning into fairly good photographers. They are getting the basics like keeping fingers off the lens and flash, and keeping the camera level. I have been trying to teach them to take pictures of people and not just toys, walls, chairs, and such. Abigail has discovered the joys of self-photography. We have many pictures of her making all kinds of faces at the camera. In February, my sister Anna officially adopted two children she had been foster parenting. Although our children were too young to understand the significance of the event, it was exciting to see it finally happen.

In March, Iva's mom and sister Leah came up to help us take care of our newborn Bethany and the rest of the house. They were a big help because Bethany was very time consuming with her feedings. We had explained Bethany's cleft to the kids before she was born, and had even showed them pictures that we had found online. We were anxious the first time we introduced them to Bethany, but they took to her right away. They asked if it hurt her, but they accepted her as she was and ignored the cleft completely. While Iva's sister was here, she was able to help Iva with a lot of things like playing with the kids outside, cleaning out the chicken coop, and picking out a new cat (we haven't always had the best success with cats). Their choice in the cat was just perfect for our puppy. Our dog is a Lab mix and very playful. I have never seen a cat and dog play as well as they have. They will actually wrestle with each other like you would expect a couple of dogs to do. If Curly (our dog) gets too frisky with Dandy (our cat), Dandy will just give him a few swats and put him in his place. After a while, Dandy will initiate more horseplay with Curly.

May was exciting because my sister Anna married a married a close friend of mine named Michael Albert. In August Bethany had her first surgery at the Shriners Hospital in Portland, Oregon.

The rest of the summer went fast. Before we knew it, there was snow on the ground, and here we are in the middle of another winter. I hope you enjoyed this, and will share your year with us.