Christmas Letter 2011

(I can't figure out how to edit the bottom border of this pic of Bradley and Santa but I love that I still have one little enough to sit on his lap. He is holding a letter to Santa because he didn't want to talk to him :)

Dearest family and friends,
This year in an effort to simplify things around here, I determined I was not going to send out letters and cards, simplify shopping and gifts and keep baking to a minimum. The result, I hoped, was to enjoy more of this time of year and focus a little better on our Savior. So far, it seems to be working. I still have a tiny bit of guilt; I love getting so many cards, updates and treats from all of our family and friends and have done the above mentioned things to the maximum extent for the better part of 18 years. So, here is my Christmas blog post combined with a letter in an effort to ameliorate that tiny bit of guilt (does that ever really happen for moms???).

I'm still not sure what to make of 2011. So much of it was not captured on our blog, much less in photographs as I am not a photographer and find myself actively participating in our events more than capturing them. We also had lots of challenges yet are extremely thankful they weren't anything too serious; just enough to do some growing and learning I suppose. So, here we go...

Nate finished school (once again). He earned his administration credentials at WSU so spent most of the summer wrapping that up and hoping and applying for any vice principal jobs that opened in the area. When Richland School District had a major turnover in administration at the end of the school year we were so excited; things were falling in to place. Unfortunately, state and local education budget cuts (we all know who to thank for that) changed the outcome completely and the district ultimately decided to eliminate a vice principal position at each middle school. Presently, Nate is in his SECOND year as an admin intern and still teaches Spanish. It has been okay. He also teaches Elder's Quoroum at church as well as Jared's 13 year-old Sunday School class. He enjoys "old man basketball" at the church on Tuesday nights and any chance he gets to go see EWU play football.

After about 10 years of having more work than she knew what to do with, Mara became kind of obselete as a medical transcriptionist since both offices she was working for switched to electronic/template type record keeping. While it was fun to have a break, we had a few mishaps with transmissions and our heat pump this year and let's face it--adding a teenage driver gets expensive as well. Finding it was a little harder than she thought to find something else while still having a preschooler at home, she finally was hired in the fall by a transcription company out of Texas. She loves the work but just wishes the pay cut wasn't cut in half. Regardless, it seems to be going well. She really enjoyed training for and completing her first triatholon in July but did find that being on the swimming team in high school offers no advantage for swiming in an open, unseasonably cold and a swift-current river. Other than that, the rest of the race went well. She just started her second year serving as Primary President and also her second year as Carmichael Middle School PTA secretary.

Amanda continues to be a whirlwind of social activity, beauty, drama and fun. Turning 16 has been good to her; she drives a lot, dates a lot and now works a lot. Apparently, she became quite marketable once she received her driver's license. She spends several days a week babysitting, running errands and cleaning for a few families in the ward; it works really well. It was a huge letdown for her to be cut from the school volleyball team (politics in high school sports are alive and well in case you were wondering) but she handled it well and is looking forward to track season (winter workouts have already started) since she had a solid performance at districts and came close to qualifying for regionals this last spring. A big highlight was attending EFY in Provo, UT during the summer. She also attended a youth pioneer trek and had a great experience even though it was common knowledge that her parents told her she could get get her driver's license if she went.

Jared grew the most this year and is now taller than Amanda. He continued to love playing football, basketball and baseball and we loved watching all of it. His AAU team went a year straight winning each tournament they entered and only recently lost a tournament championship game in triple OT (and some would say poor refereeing). He attended Gonzaga basketball camp this summer with his team but had to sit out the last part due to a concussion--not from playing ball but from playing tag in the dorms. Fortunately, he recovered because he went straight to scout camp from there. His school basketball team (largely comprised of his AAU team) also went undefeated. He and Mara had had some priceless one-on-one time when they drove to Utah to pick up the EFY kids and visited Boise State and several sites in Utah he had not seen since he was about seven years old. Jared and his scout troup also earned their cycling merit badge, completing it by a campout combined with a 50-mile ride from North Idaho back into Washington. He crashed and got hurt during that one too but nothing serious. He still maintains straight As and is enjoying being the top grade at middle school. He also earned good money working with his dad this summer doing lawns, as Amanda found that dating was more fun than working with her dad. Until she ran out of money, that is.

Megan is in fifth grade and too young and too sweet to be going to middle school next year but we are not sure what we can do about that. She still loves and participates in soccer and piano. She recently started playing the violin for orchestra at school. She continues with her picky eating habits and short temper but like I said she is still sweet, too. Most of the time she has her nose in a book and is the only child we have had to take books away from for punishment when she does not do what she is supposed to do. We hope no teachers are reading this. She had a special birthday this year celebrated in Washington, D.C. with a day for her and her doll at the newly opened American Girl store there.

Bradley is a bright spark in our family. We have a long list of his quotables that keep the family laughing. He started preschool and really likes it (and one girl in particular that he mentions quite often). He also played coach pitch for the first time and was in heaven but asked where the locker rooms were upon arriving for his first practice. He has an active imagination and continues to boss the rest of the family around--we have to be solider's in his army, players on his football team or criminals for his police department--depending on the week. He also has learned several of his favorite songs on the piano and is pretty good at picking notes out on his own.

We enjoyed having Mara's sister and her family move back into town and also enjoyed an awesome vacation in Outer Banks, N.C. with them before they moved. We also spent a lot of time on the river and did a little camping. In addition, we had some family changes this year that will take some adjusting to but overall we feel blessed and grateful for all that we have in our lives and that we having wonderful and loving friends and family. We are especially grateful for our Savior and hope that we continue to become more like Him as we learn and grow together as a family.

Merry Christmas!!!