Dear Friends and Family,
Hello everyone! I hope you are all
doing well. Our motto for the year was “Gettin’ Clean in 2014,” which seemed so
promising back in January. Getting clean was intended to mean all kinds of
things: The kids had some work to
do with the level of respect in their language; the house all too often looked
like a minor hurricane had swirled through several rooms; and, you know, we
have quite a few children whose personal grooming habits could use some renewed
focus. So how’d that whole motto go? Well, some days were better than others
and occasionally (understatement alert) it still looks more than a bit disheveled
in the kids’ rooms, but we made some progress. And in a positive development, we
can keep the same motto through 2019 thanks to the rhyme, so I guess there’s
still some time. (No more rhymes now, I mean it. Anybody want a peanut?)
Jessica maintained her Renaissance
woman status this year (Huzzah!), using
her varied talents to run a tight ship around the house while also running a
pair of half marathons, and to craft her blogs while also blogging about her
crafts. (See what I did there?) She continues to live up to her life’s mantra that she’d
rather be busy than bored, and – in addition – has taken on Daisy Troop
leading, Book Club hosting, and ornament exchanging, while also serving in the
children’s organization at church.
To round things out, and keep her sane, she did some traveling this year
as well. First, to Utah in the
spring for a younger sister’s wedding, and then to Cancun this summer, where we
celebrated our 10th anniversary a couple of years late. Highlights of that trip included the
beach, the weather, the sites, and a hilarious run-in with an incredibly drunk
Peruvian woman. Paradise indeed.
Personally, I had a pretty big year—but
enough about my waistline. Hey-oh! Anywho, I kicked off the year with a BHC ski
trip reunion in Utah. If you don’t know what BHC stands for, it’s probably for
the best. But it was great to meet up with old friends and I’m grateful I
survived the skiing. Helmets work, even rentals. A few months later, I doubled
down on crazy and entered a Spartan Race. The tagline for that race is “You’ll
know at the finish line.” Here’s what I knew at the finish line: running 4.5
miles through a bunch of mud and obstacles and having to do 120 burpees is a
shockingly exhausting way to spend a morning. I’m no genius, but I feel like I
maybe could have surmised that before the race. No matter, I’m a glutton for
punishment and intend on doing it again in May 2015. Here’s to hoping I do more
than 2 weeks of training this time around!
Our firstborn in the wilderness, Ethan,
is now a 6th grader and has gone clubbing quite a bit this year.
Before you start to question our parenting abilities (yeah, yeah, I know that
ship sailed long ago), please note that the clubs he frequents are his school’s
Running Club and Magic Club. Abraca-what? That’s right, a magic club. He is now
able to stab a dollar bill with a pen (Shazam!), make a rope straight as a rod
(Presto!), make coins disappear (Voila!), and has high hopes for a budding
magic career. He enjoyed running a
couple of 5Ks this year and thankfully continues to do very well in school. Which is awesome in case the whole
magic thing doesn’t work out.
As for Grace, it finally happened. She
experienced nirvana this summer when we got a dog. And while the nirvana was
short-lived because the dog—a delightful Goldendoodle named Friday that belongs
to our friends—only stayed for a week or so, it was so great to see how excited
Grace was to play with and take care of a dog in person. To her credit, she was
amazing with Friday. And if Jessica and I weren’t such Grinches, perhaps
there’s a chance we might actually consider maybe thinking about possibly
potentially bringing a dog into the picture full-time. And that wishy-washy
commitment is as far as we’ll go for now. Grace picked up crutches late this
year, and while you may ask why she got the crutches, Grace is more of a “why
not” kid, so there’s really no point in asking. She doesn’t need the crutches,
medically speaking, but I’m quite sure she doesn’t care what any of us think.
Sophie made her triumphant, but
thankfully brief, return to the hospital this year thanks to a predictable
piggyback accident with Grace. Witnesses at the scene of the crime gave
conflicting accounts, so who knows what really happened? But at least she
didn’t actually break her foot, and the good folks at the hospital quickly sent
her on her way. As for everyday life, she’s practically BFFs with the school
nurse, who patiently helps her with maladies both real and imagined, and has made
an actual, real BFF in the
neighborhood, who calls so often that every time the phone rings after school
we yell for Sophie without even looking at the number. Sophie also ran her first 5K this fall with
Grace, who ran two 5Ks this year herself (pre-crutches), and was kind enough to
run it with her. But in the most important news, we’re delighted that Sophie
turns eight in February and is planning on getting baptized.
Who’s next? Ah yes, we’ve come to Jane.
I know those delightful nuns from “The Sound of Music” tried to solve a problem
like Maria, but we’ve got our very own moonbeam to try and hold in our hand. Read
the lyrics to that song and you’ll get a sense of what it’s like to experience
Jane. To be clear, we wouldn’t have our little flibbertigibbet any other way. She
continues to follow in the lofty footsteps of Grace when it comes to being
unpredictable, but certainly has her own unique spirit. She loves kindergarten and
Girl Scouts and rainbows, and makes up one half of the dynamic (destructive?)
duo with her little brother, which brings us to …
Alex, our little preschooler. Enamored?
Infatuated? Obsessed? I’m not entirely sure what word best describes Alex’s
true feelings for superheroes, but any one of those will likely do the trick. We’re
not positive as to what started the love, but it is an all-consuming passion. Whether playing with action figures of
his own, or watching YouTube videos of others
playing with their action figures (because yeah, that’s a thing), he keeps
himself – and us – constantly entertained. Especially when he randomly throws his superhero moves and
sound effects into everyday life.
All-in-all, he enjoys the spoils of being the youngest child and the
associated clichés that go along with the title. A rough life, indeed!
We are so thankful at this time of year
for our family, as well as our friends – old and new. We are blessed well
beyond anything we deserve and wish all of you nothing but the best. Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
Scott, Jessica, Ethan (11), Grace (10),
Sophie (7), Jane (5), and Alex (3)
