It’s hard to believe how busy we can get with things and forget things like getting updates on the blog here for you to see. The cabinets in the kitchen had the photos cleared that we received from friends and family at this time last year. The blank cabinets are kind of a change and almost depressing as we miss those photos of friends and family that have been there all year, but it does remind me that new ones will be arriving (and have started already actually). That also means ours have started and will go out soon to our friends and family and along with them the reminder that instead of an annual letter of goings on in our house, we’ll simply point friends and family to this spot on the internet to keep up with what is going on in our family. (Now if we could just remember to pause a few moments every now and then to add entries for what is going on.)
I find myself still busy with work most generally. Junior/Senior High often means long hours of working on the basics along with paperwork for the state and then getting to watch all of those students participate in activities such as athletics and fine arts. Unfortunately, it does mean missing out on my own kid’s activities sometimes, but fortunately I’ve got some great folks that I work with that help me out when they can so I don’t miss out on too much. Even more fortunately, I have a fabulous wife that is amazing when it comes to keeping us all on track at our activites. In my “spare” time I still keep busy being secretary for the fire department and president of the Avon Businessmen’s Association.
Jody continues to enjoy her work at Checkrow Church. She’s got some changes on the horizon there as we hire an associate pastor, but the couple that are coming in for the job are some great people and we are all very excited about the possibilities. As I said above she is also a master at keeping us all on track and where we need to be. I’m not sure how she does it, but does so amazingly. In addition to that, she has started to pursue one of her passions again which is photography by starting up her own photography service, PhotosByJo.
The kids all keep busy as well. Robert has gone through some changes in his life in deciding that some things were just not for him such as basketball. However, he still remains active in politics by serving on student council again this year and also helping youngsters through Awana. He does such a good job with younger kids. Thomas remains busy enjoying scouts while excelling at school. Jaclyn is still busy with scouts and also excelling at her academics. Ben, well, Ben is Ben. 🙂 He continues to discplay his unbelievable talent with puzzles and enjoys his movies especially Blue’s Clues and Barney with an occassional Veggie Tales thrown in. His vocabulary skills are progressing rapidly and he remains VERY active which becomes a bit of a challenge as we enter this time of year. Ali remains his trusty side-kick in watching movies with him and enjoying seeing any of her older siblings. She’s become quite a hugger as well these days. She is also starting to follow her brother and take an interest in puzzles. The kids have also started their first “non-pet” livestock project. The big three have all gone in together to start a small flock of chickens. They are hoping to start selling fresh eggs this spring.
Unfortunately we realize this time of year that we have very busy lives, and don’t make the time for great time with friends and family. We’re still at that point where travel is not necessarily as easy as it is in other stages of our lives, but we’re hoping to transition into that easier stage here soon (although we’ve found finding hotel accomodations for 7 is not necessarily standard). We hope that this update finds all of our family and friends enjoying the love we send your way and the job of this holiday season. We also hope you take a little time this time of year to reflect on the past year and make the changes necessary in your life to create the life you want, and not just slip through day to day in trying to make a living.