40 years old

I felt the love from so many on my birthday and enjoyed all the birthday wishes. I spent the day at home with kids, getting things done around the house, and the evening with friends at the Barlow basketball games—exactly where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I ended the day with my favorite cake (thanks to Mom!) and watching “I Love Lucy” with Greg and all four kids. I think I’m going to like 40. :-)  I leave in 2 weeks to head to Disneyland with Jane for three days. Can't wait!

Joel 4.0

Joel earned a 4.0 for the first trimester of 7th grade, and I was able to go to the Success Celebration at his school for students on the honor roll and their parents.  I've been to several of these for Kari and for Joel last year, but this one was different because it was only for students on the honor roll and all the grades were together. Joel does a great job of keeping on top of his assignments and earning good grades, and it was great to see so many of his friends having academic success, as well. The kids just liked getting out of class and having juice and cookies. :-)

Joel's 13th Birthday

It was a friend party year for Joel, and he requested a party at a gym where he could play sports with his friends. So, we brought pizza and ice cream to Mt. Hood Athletic Club, and he and 12 friends played dodge ball, basketball, and field hockey for an hour and half after they ate and did presents. They had a blast! It was fun for us to watch them play and enjoy running around together.

Later that night we had family over to celebrate with Joel. Got it all in on one day, his actual birthday. :-)

Sledding

We ventured up Mt. Hood to play in the snow on New Year's Day again this year. It was a gorgeous day. A bit of an icy drive, but we didn't have to put chains on. No one got hurt, and we had a great time enjoying the snow and the clear day. 

Christmas Letter

December 19, 2018

Hi!

Just a brief, little update on what we’re up to these days. Our lives continue to be full of work, school, sports, and church activities/serving. We’re grateful for all these blessings.

Greg--Just returned from a week-long business trip to Japan, where he got to experience new places, new foods, and a different culture while building bridges with his Japanese colleagues. He brought back interesting gifts and treats for us to try. He enjoyed all the sushi and Japanese food...except the raw cow stomach--that he did not enjoy!

Andrea--Spending most days of the week subbing at the kids’ schools and most of the rest of the time driving the kids everywhere and trying (mostly successfully) to keep track of the nutty schedule. Thank goodness for Google Calendar!

Kari--Just turned 15 years old and got her driver’s permit on her birthday. Her first year of high school is going well so far--cross country was a new sport for her this fall and a great experience. She continues to play the piano and clarinet and loves to be with her friends. Her favorite classes so far are Culinary Arts, Spanish, and Honors English. We see less of her these days for sure! She’s a busy girl. She’ll play tennis in the spring.

Joel--Turns 13 in January and is rockin’ the 7th grade. Right now he’s playing on his school’s basketball team AND the competitive basketball team he’s played on for the last 3 years. Last year was a character-building year for him (and his parents), but this year is already shaping up to be a better experience all-around. He worked hard on his skills over the summer! He’s playing the trombone again, too. Basketball, youth group, and homework leave little free time for this kid.

Aubrey--Is 10 years old, turning 11 in February. She’s in her last year of elementary school and is happy to be part of the leadership team at school. She is in her second year of piano lessons. She also just started playing on a competitive basketball team that Greg is assist-coaching. Lots to learn this year!

Grant--8 ½ years old and thriving in 2nd grade. Grant is spending a lot of his time at his siblings basketball games these days and looking forward to playing in his own, come January. He loves playing with our neighbor friends (all the kids do--we have some pretty great neighbors!) and being where the people are.

Never a dull moment around here. This is a crazy, hectic, wonderful season of life we’re in, and we feel it breezing by way too quickly. We’re trying to soak up the time we have with all four kids home with us. We continue to be stretched and grown as we parent these four kiddos God has entrusted to us. Thankful we don’t have to go it alone. “I Need Thee Every Hour” is a song that accurately reflects the way we feel about life these days and, really, should remember always. Thankful for our Savior!

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!

Winter Break

It sure was nice to have some down time with our family and not be running to practices and games and activities. We played games at home, relaxed, did some organizing, and enjoyed not having a hectic schedule.

A few days after Christmas,  Kari, Ken, and Kylee had a Survivor marathon. They had a goal of watching an entire season of Survivor in one day. It took some perseverance, but they did it. They finished at 9:30pm. They were pretty sick of it by the end. :) They started out at the Wilsons, went to the Langley's at lunch, and came to our house at dinner time. Mission accomplished!

For Kari's birthday, we redecorated her room, new paint and all. It went from blue to gray with lavender and yellow accents. It came together very nicely. She's happy! Her room has now been three colors--bright pink, light blue, and gray. I think that's the last time we'll paint it for a long while.

Christmas Puzzles

With school getting out so late for Christmas break this year (last day was Dec 21), we didn't feel like we had much time to prepare or enjoy the season before Christmas. It finally felt like Christmas when we busted out a puzzle and turned on White Christmas. We completed several puzzles this Christmas season. It's something I really enjoy, and I'm glad the kids are getting into it, too. In the last couple years, I started buying one 1,000 piece Christmas puzzle each year to work on during the break. This year we completed that one quickly and put together two older ones we had from previous years, as well. Then Great Grandpa and Grandma gave us a puzzle for Christmas. We got it done within a day!

Christmas 2018

We spent Christmas Eve with the Arnolds and Christmas Day at our house with the Moffats. I forgot to take any photos Christmas Eve, so no record of time spent with that side of the family. Oops! Lots of photos of Moffat Christmas. We were all together for three days. Ryan and Michelle drove over Christmas Day and spent two nights at our house. It was a really good time together. I was sick with a sinus infection (got antibiotics on Christmas Eve), so that was a bummer for me, but I slogged through and everyone helped with food and everything, so I didn't have to do much, which was nice.

On Christmas night, we drove to the light place we discovered last year, Aspen Meadows. It was a great way to end the day.

Christmas Program

Aubrey and Grant read Bible verses in the Christmas program this year. So cute. I made our family sit for a photos before church. It wasn't the most pleasant experience (Grant had the wrong pants on and didn't like his shoes), but I got my photo and documented us ready for church on Christmas Sunday.