Merry Christmas!

Hello, to all our family and friends!
Here's an overview of our 2012 year...

Casey 6 1/2- He's in first grade, and has officially lost both his front teeth, plus a few extras! His favorite animal is still a koala, and wants to plan a trip to Australia!  His favorite color is green and he has definitely let me know what he is wanting for Christmas this year. I have prob received 5 lists so far, and just yesterday, he was writing them down on sticky notes, silly boy!

Both him and his twin brother Camden, are in the same class at school this year and it seems to be going A-OK! It is a challenge however, to get both of them up in the morning. Especially now, that it is actually still dark outside and not to mention a little bit colder out. They are now taking the school bus home after school and I can see it coming from our window! You have to understand something, a bus is not a big deal to the average family, BUT when we have always chosen to send our kids to schools that have been outside the district, we did not have the luxury of a school bus. I was the chauffeur driver, and quite frankly I got a little weary of the multiple trips each day. Now that we are close by, we're loving it!!

                                          Camden & Casey Kindergarten Graduation last May.

Camden 6 1/2- How to describe Camden? Well, he is very "business savvy" and is quite interested in how much things cost, and is very detail oriented. If you have ever seen the show Family Ties (from the 80's), then you know Alex P. Keaton-THAT is Camden. :)

He likes losing teeth, so that he can beef up his wallet. I will say, that even though he only had a dollar and wanted to buy candy with it, he ended up buying Casey a Christmas present. A little sad to see his dollar go, but proud that he bought his brother something with it! Good job buddy!

His favorite animal is still a panda and has quite the collection. His favorite panda is actually a girl panda that he named Rose. Speaking of special things, he still dearly loves his striped blankey that he has had since he was about 2 months old! It's tattered, and torn, but well loved and most definitely will end up in my box of keepsakes........

Mikaila 11- She is our silly girl who can easily cheer you up, by just her laugh!
She entered  middle school this year which means....time to get organized, and complete her assignments on time. She is definitely our social bug,we have to peel her off of FB, and have to keep the boys away too. Shoo, shoo!!
She was on swim team over the summer and this was a first for her, and she loved it! It was cool being able to have the Olympics on and have her enjoy watching Phelps and all of the other talented swimmers! It was a lot of practices early in the morning, and some long meets, but I'm so glad she found something that she truly enjoyed doing.
She just had three friends spend the night last weekend, and let me tell you.....four 6th grade girls out on our trampoline, at night can be a little loud-sorry new neighbors! :) Lots of fun!

Quinn 12- This boy is only 12, but it feels like he's 16 sometimes....the deeper voice, the height, the appetite, the girls, & the sports! Quinn is a very talented, sweet son who will be buying us that cabin up north someday, when Joel and I are old! Right Quinn?

 This is his second year at the middle school and has continued to play his trombone. The band was invited to play at one of the high school's Friday night football games. It was neat to see him play, and Ashleigh down on the field cheering with her cheer team. :) He has a definite sense of fashion and just decided he was going to wear suspenders to school almost everyday, he got other kids to wear them too-I think it's kinda cute. Quite the little trend setter.

This past spring, Quinn played flag football with the city of Buckeye. He really enjoyed it, and felt great when he scored the only touchdown in their last game. Those kind of moments in our childhood, will someday be fondly looked upon.

Ashleigh 17- (as of Dec 20)

Wow, it's crazy that she will be a senior next year, where has the years gone?! Ok, I'll stop!

She is doing great in school this year, she tried out for the cheer team and made J.V. About a month into practicing over the summer, the coach asked her to join the Varsity squad. She of course was thrilled and now cheer has become her second home!

Unfortunately, she had a girl fall and elbow her in the head and she received a concussion from it. So, she has been "out" for the past two months and hasn't been too happy about that. She does still attend practice everyday, even though she can't yet participate. Hopefully, in January she'll be able to be back in full swing!

Over the summer, she studied to get her drivers permit. After much dread, she decided to just go do it and hopefully pass. I was so proud of her when she walked out, with a thumbs up, and on her first attempt too!

If she's not occupied with cheer, it's either with babysitting or her boyfriend. When we all get to do things together as a family, it's so nice!

Mary

Ok,  I will brief those of you who we don't get to see very often. We had been trying to buy a home closer to our kids' school about a year and a half  ago. We had zero luck at trying to sell our existing home and were pretty discouraged that we struck out. However, I was determined to make it happen....seeking advice, lots of phone calls, researching online etc. It wasn't just selling an average home that had equity in it, we were faced with most likely having to short sell it. Is that the worst thing in the world?....No, of course not- plenty of people have been faced with that scenario, gone through it, and have recovered from it.

Our new home, that we love!

Well, so I don't make this story too long......We decided to give it another attempt this past August and were absolutely blessed with finding a cash buyer!  After some hours of negotiation, they gave in to our asking price. We were speechless at the news, that was exactly the kind of buyers we needed! We thank God for this amazing timing....oh yeah, I forgot to add, we started having a new house built prior to knowing for sure that our old house would sell. Talk about just a tad bit of stress that was brewing in our household! Not only were we blessed with the timing of our house selling, our new one being finished, but the record low interest rates! Stressful, yes, but the most wonderful outcome that we could have imagined.

 When life gets to be more than you can handle sometimes,  you just have to step back and look at the things that truly matter-which for me, is my family, I truly have learned this.

A close second, as far as big events in our household, would be me hosting Thanksgiving this year. I say that, because believe it or not, I had never cooked a turkey before and quite frankly I was a little worried about it. Thank goodness for YouTube, they reassured me, it's not a big deal and it will turn out delicious! I also have to thank my lovely sis in law for being the Gibbs turkey hotline. It really isn't bad at all.....it's the not knowing in the beginning that tends to freak you out. Now that I know that it can be done without poisoning everybody and people actually enjoying it, I'll be glad to tackle any future Thanksgiving :)

I still spend my days cleaning the house, visiting the boys at school and volunteering when their teacher needs some extra help. I am in the process of trying to know what I "want in life", meaning a job that is more like a career. I'm anxious to see where my path leads me over the next year. :)

Joel

I think I've saved the best for last, or at least the one who deserves the most recognition. He continues to amaze me with working full time at American Express, and going to school full time online. There's not a whole lot that I can do to ease his load, other than making sure the kids are tucked in at night (which is now only the twins) and maybe asking him if he needs his dress clothes ironed or somthing.

So, I will be soo glad when he's done with school, for his sake.

He currently manages a team in the underwriting department at American Express. He took this role on, this past July and it has been a learning process, but a good move non the less.

In August, he celebrated being 40 years young, he's just as handome as the first day we met-seriously :)

I decided to try and do a little flashback party from the 70's and 80's. Nothing huge, just hopefully a night filled with fun and fond memories for him. We had vintage soda, candy, watched old commercial clips, trivia questions and just a time of sharing and opening gifts.(Oh, and the sub sandwhich was 72 inches long...like the yr he was born) :) yay 1972!

 As we bring our year to an end, we truly hope that you and your family have a very blessed Christmas, and a new year filled with joy and happiness!

So, " A Merry Christmas To All,

And To All A Goodnight!"

Love,

Joel, Mary, Ashleigh, Quinn, Mikaila, Camden & Casey