Christmas Letter--2013 in Review

This year has kept the whole family busy.  We’ve been doing the usual things we do every year, but it’s been so much fun.  We’ve had the kids in basketball, scouts for Tyler, girls achievement days (or whatever it’s called these days) for Hailey, YW for Kim, work and E.Q for Trevor, house building, moving (ourselves and others), running for the girls in their “running club” and the 2^nd annual half marathon for Kim (with her sister, Amanda), ortho appointments for Tyler (poor kid), Redneck fishing for a romantic getaway, family visits and family reunions, piano for the girls and school.  Time flies when you’re having fun!

Trevor’s highlights of this year are going on several hunting trips whenever he can find a few days to take off work.  He picked us up a sweet (really used) fishing boat and it had its debut at our Redneck fishing tournament in August.  It worked perfectly and only took a few months and some good scrubbing to rid it of the fish smell. We took it out a few times to a lake to take the kids tubing, as it turns out it pulls us up on a ski, too!  We sure love this man—he works so hard for our family and we love it when he gets to play hard, too!

Kim’s highlights this year are building a house (having it built, rather).  It was a lot of fun to be able to see the whole process start to (almost) finish.  It’s a good thing Trevor has good taste.  As I tell a lot of people, all the really good ideas were his.  It’s true, all the things I love the most about our house he came up with.  We had awesome contractor(s) that made everything run as smoothly as possible.  I don’t know why everyone says building is hard on a marriage.  Maybe Trevor and I are on the same page when it comes to what we want in a house.  J I ran in my second half marathon with my sister, Amanda.  I beat my last year’s time by a lot, so I was excited.  I stay home with the kids and fill in at the office once in awhile. 

Tyler turned 10 this year.  And as I mentioned earlier, he has joined the ranks of the orthodontic patients. He only has an expander and brackets on four teeth so it’s really not that “in depth” yet.  He’s already not very excited to have a full set of brackets in a couple years. He’s such a good kid and really likes school, basketball, swimming, friends and scouts. He has some amazing double jointed abilities with his thumbs.  It’s gross. 

Hailey just turned 9.  She loves school and really likes her teacher.  She has been loving origami lately. She’s been teaching all her friends at school and church how to fold paper into all sorts of creative shapes.  She and Ashley are such cute sisters and are always coming up with dances to show the family.  They were both in running club this year and ran in their summer 5K.  She started piano lessons a couple months ago and is really doing well and loves it.  She NEVER complains about having to practice.  This must have come from Trevor’s side of the family…

Ashley can’t wait for her 8^th birthday.  Just 6 short months away J  She’s so excited to be baptized and loves going to church. Bless her heart.  She’s such a fun loving little girl and so happy.  She loves to read and wants a LOT of books for Christmas.  I LOVE that she wants books for Christmas. She’s such a good helper with Jason and really gets along well with everyone.  She also likes piano lessons and she’s excited for basketball to start again.

Jason is 5 soon. He’s going to preschool again this year and likes it much more than last year. He seems to be learning a lot and likes seeing his friends each “school day”.  He’s got attitude and can hold his own with his brothers and sisters…also school and church teachers…they have the patience of saints.  He’s also the most loving little boy anyone could ask for.  He often wants to sit and “cuddle” with me and he tells me all the time how much he loves me.  He says to me on the days he doesn’t have school: “Yay, I can hang out with you all day!”

We are so grateful for our Savior’s birth and atoning sacrifice.  We count our blessings every day and are so thankful for our family and friends and the opportunities we have.  Thank you so much for blessing us with your friendships.  We love and miss you all so much!