Brian has had the opportunity to teach Abby's primary class at church this year which has been "fun" and very entertaining for him. I believe Abby has enjoyed it too. Brian is still working at Allosource but recently instead of working on spinal bone grafts he has been working on joint replacements.
I (Sarah) am still enjoying being a stay at home mom. I stay busy with play groups, book clubs, blogging (sorta), trying to get Ginny ready for Kindergarten next year and trying to keep my very busy Tag safe from injury. I've been the ward chorister since March. I really like picking out the music for sacrament meeting, it gives me a level of control that I love. I'll get back to you on how I feel about the actual conducting part....
Abby is 6, is in First grade and is such a little smarty pants. She is reading short chapter books and still loves to be read too. She got a book order from school and circled every other item. She believes that she's going to get all of it for Christmas despite my telling her otherwise. Abby is still taking dance this year but decided to take a break from ballet and is doing "mini-poms" don't ask me what that is- it doesn't look like cheer leading. She has also developed an interest in science. She has informed us that she wants to be a geologist when she grows up and she asked for a telescope for her birthday (I know she's aiming for the stars and the dirt, weird).
Ginny is 4 and is the family clown which I'm sure will translate into class clown once she's in a classroom. She keeps us laughing whether on purpose or not and definitely has way too much attitude. Ginny is very expressive, often it's not so much what she says as the face she is making while she says it. She is the only girl in her sunbeam class (at church) and I'm pretty sure that's the way she likes it. She is a girl of simple tastes- all she asked for for Christmas is a really big stuffed animal snake. Okey-dokey. We can do that. She wants to take karate so we're looking into getting her started with that.
Tag is 1 and will be entering nursery (our churches version of day care during meetings) in February and I can't wait. He is so busy! His favorite things are to throw objects into the toilet or down the stairs, open the fridge and throw heavy items out of it and climbing anything and everything. He found a snake in the backyard and stepped on a Rocky Mountain Tick in the same day. He also loves music and is quite the little dancer. He does not understand when we are upset with him (usually for throwing things) and just smiles all the more.
We've also had some fun adventures this year. We are still living with my brother Michael and his 4 children (Damien (almost 12), Tailynn (10), Emma (7) & Carson (5). The kids love it. I am so glad that we can have this experience. I hope that my kids can look back on it and feel how lucky they were to live with their cousins for a time. We are learning a lot about ourselves, about patience and about communication too.
We all went to South Dakota over Spring Break and visited Mt. Rushmore. There are also two caves in the area (Wind Cave and Jewel Cave) which are National sites and we visited each of them as well. On the way home we drove through Wyoming and stopped by Devil's Tower (of "Close Encounters" fame). I think this may have been everyone's favorite stop. There were large boulders every where and we all climbed around and had a blast.
In July all of us went to New Hampshire to visit my parents and my sister Elizabeth and her 4 boys who moved there this past year. We had so much fun, as always, swimming at Lake Winnipesauke. My parents live right on the lake and it is one of the most beautiful spots in the world. Our kids had swimming lessons at Gilford beach just like I did as a child... memories! We went on our traditional hike up Mt. Major gathering enough blueberries to make a pie. It was great to have Brian's cousin Jeremy and his cute family stop by and visit us for a couple of days too. We went to the ocean for a day and my sister took bunches of cute pictures.
My dad's family was having a reunion in Maryland this summer so all 18 of us packed up and drove down. We stopped at Gettysburg and Antietam and made a stop in Washington D.C. as well. Our day in D.C. (we walked everywhere) was so hot- it was 105 with a heat index of 120 (due to the humidity) we were all dying. I was very grateful for air conditioning in Ford's Theater (where Lincoln was shot) and the Smithsonian. But the highlight of the trip was visiting family in Maryland. There were people that I hadn't seen in many years and it was great to see all of them. We also visited the farm my dad grew up on and the ancestral Rudy farm which is now owned by a relative of my mom's, go figure! (pictured below with all of the grand kids except Tag who was asleep in the car)
My kids and I stopped in Utah on the way home and visited our friends and family that we've been missing so much while in Colorado. We are truly blessed with so many good friends and the best families in the world (in our opinion)! We hope you are all healthy and happy and that you have a wonderful Christmas Season. We have a lot to look forward to this coming year...Scroll down
Including a new addition due May 28!!!
Sarah, got your Christmas card today. Thank you! It's beautiful. Glad your family has had a year for the books. Just had to tell you, my due date for #4 is May 30th. We continue to have simultaneous pregnancies:) This will be even more fun if we get to live close by one another again. Think of the playdates! Merry Christmas.
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