Christmas Letter 2012

                                                                                                            Christmas 2012

     Merry Christmas everyone!  We hope all is well with you.  If you are like us, the days are

jammed packed with activities and rarely do we find time to sit.  I personally can't wait for

Christmas break to do just that.

     The year of 2012 was all about Dominica's senior year and what a great finish to a

wonderful high school career!  Her basketball team was undefeated in conference awarding them

of course with conference champs.  Dominica received the most valuable player award in the

conference.  She had a great season and continues to play basketball at William Woods

University.  After basketball at Bevier, she finished with track where once again she made it to

state in the 100 meter hurdles.  This year she captured 4th place even though most of the season

she had an injury.  It was a wonderful experience for her and she is so thankful to all her loyal

followers!  We are all anxious to watch her compete, especially in indoor track, at the college

level as well! Graduation was a bit hectic since it was on the same night as the state track meet. 

But with mom curling her hair after a quick sponge bath in the car she looked beautiful.  At the

ceremony she received the Mary Evans Rowland PEO scholarship and the John R. Amedei

scholarship to go along with her scholarships from William Woods.  After her first semester at

Woods she is making straight A's while having two practices each day.  She is one determined

kid!

     I honestly can not keep up with Dominica's pace, nor do I want to do so.  I am much

happier at home swimming, watching TV, and pondering, while sitting in my yard.  On occasion

I get the chance to write my thoughts down.  I wrote an article for the Catholic Missourian that

was published in May.  I was super excited to finally reach a personal goal of mine. 

Unfortunately, due to the loss of two historical buildings in Bevier, I had a second article

published in the Macon Chronicle Herald.  I of course also have a support group who have

helped me along the way.  Hopefully we will continue to work together.  I really want to write

professionally one day.  In the meantime I'm a junior at BHS and manage to make A's as

well.  I love learning and being in the school setting!  Writing is my lifeline to the world so I will

continue to improve and maybe dreams will come true.  If you are interested, my English teacher,

mentor, and good friend, Gayla Pappenfoht has designed a blog for me.  The address is

antoniowhoiam.blogspot.com.   Enjoy!

     My mom continues aiding for me at school but with Dominica in college she has had the

chance to participate in activities she hasn't done since we were small children.  She recently was

a part of two shows for Carousel, our local theatre group.  She enjoys that family of friends and

says she is so happy to be a part of them again.  She gave up coaching to be able to follow

Dominica's games in college.  She has only missed two games so you can imagine how much she

has been on the road, mostly by herself driving 2 to 3 hours one way.  I know she wouldn't miss

it for the world.  She is a basketball fanatic.  That obsession is one of the reasons her team,

Dominica's team, received conference champs and 2nd in district.  She was also given the honor

of being chosen conference coach of the year at the end of the season.  She was thrilled to have 

the opportunity to coach for 9 years, but now on to other loves, like the theatre.  As for what she

does for our family and me personally - we can't tell you how much she is needed and admired.    
Speaking of admiration, the word is spoken often in my head when I think of my dad.  This

past year has been very difficult for him and he seems to complain very little.  His grandparents

were both in the nursing home and daddy visited with them almost every night.  Sadly, Pa died

this last November, and my dad handled all the funeral arrangements knowing Pa would have

wanted him to take care of everything.  Noni, still in the nursing home, loves to see daddy on his

nightly visits.  He recently took a break and went to Vegas for a few days with a group of

pharmacists.  He had a great time and came home with more money than he went with.  He

didn't tell me this, but I believe Pa was with him celebrating.  I think daddy said once that he,

Noni, and Pa went to Vegas together many years ago.  So this was daddy's time of

remembrance of great times with the man that meant a great deal to him.  All this attention he

has given his grandparents has not forced him to slight on any of us.  He continues to be there for

all of his family in any capacity and I truly admire the generosity he shows, whether it be

monetary or just his time, without complaint.

     Daddy is not the only one to find time for fun this past year.  Mom, Dominica, and I went to

Chicago by train with the school art club and that was amazing!  More info on that trip on my

blog, if you are interested.  In the summer we went with the Fiquet's to the east coast.  We went

to Washington DC, the outer banks, and ended with Myrtle Beach.  It was so much fun and i

am looking forward to next summer's trip.  Maybe next summer we will go to the mountains! I

hope.

     Sorry, I didn't  mean for this letter to be so long, but remember I told you I love to write! 

However, the  word count on my iPad is at 4,350 characters and counting and I still have three

200 word count journals due in English, so I need to quit.  Until next year----

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

                                           

From the Prokups!

Jamie, Janet, Dominica, and Antonio

Our dogs-  Eddie, Sparky, Blondie, and Minga

And cat, Jeannie