Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

Well I didn't get a chance to do Christmas cards this year! If I had, this was the outfits I got for them to wear in the picture. So in lieu of cards or a letter here is our year in review.

Kelton and Jessica - It has been a very long year!! Kel is still working for Lonza and loving it. It is a long commute and a long work day but he enjoys his job and after just over two years we have become accustomed to the rotation of his days. Jessica is now commuting daily to Hartford but not for a job. After much thought and prayer we decided that we needed to seek better learning opportunities for the kids. We ended up entering them in the lottery for the magnet schools. We were blessed to have both kids get into their first choice schools. Now Jessica and the kids wake at 5:30am to get ready to be on the road by 6:30am to get Rowan to school for 7:30 and then Victor to school at 8:30. The kids are in two different schools across town from each other. Crazy but so very worth it!! With two long commutes in the family we had to both have reliable cars with good gas mileage. So we both got new cars!! We love them.

Victor turned 10 this year. Hard to believe how fast time goes. Victor had a great year in school. He was awarded the Superintendents Award, the President's Award for Educational Excellence, and the Citizenship Award. He is still active in the Boy Scouts and earned his Square Knot and his Bear. He also earned quite a few belt loops and pins. He has now started working on his Webelos. With as great as Victor has always done, we were not impressed with the things we had heard about the middle school in our area, or in the things we saw going on in our school district. We decided to look into alternatives and found the magnet schools in Hartford. Victor now attends a school based on Environmental Earth studies. He was very unhappy about going to a school without his buddy Matt but we assured him he would love his new school. What kid could really find fault in a brand new school that has things like it's own planetarium? They have all new equipment and a full curriculum. He is taking the saxophone and sings in chorus. He has made many new friends and is one of the top students of his class. He is trusted to do errands for the principle and was even chosen to be one of the students to give tours of the school during the Official Ribbon Cutting festivities. He has adjusted great, but has a ton more homework than ever! We have a monthly play-date with Matt so all is well. Victor is a warm and sensitive kid with a heart of gold. We are so proud of him!!

Rowan is 6 years old now. Our little peanut is full of energy and spirit. After a full year of full day Kindergarten we knew a limited budgeted school was not for her. She is now in a Performing Arts magnet school and thriving. The standards for basics like reading, writing and math are way higher than what we had locally so she has some growth to make, but the progress that she is making because of the support and tools at her school is amazing to us. She was given the Student of the Month for Academic Excellence. She really enjoys drama and dance class. She has top marks in all the arts classes. She is doing great and loves her school. She still loves animals and really enjoyed going to see Jack Hannah. She really wants a dog of her own. We went to the zoo for a boy scout requirement for Victor and spent much of our time trying to keep her from climbing into the enclosures. She also loves the beach and swimming. She is still attending her weekly gymnastic classes. Some of the things she is advancing to in gym makes her mom wuzzy but she loves it. It was very amusing to us when she came home from school last year and informed us that what ever they called it "that was not gym class". Almost as amusing, is the fact that the girl who sings all the time and even learned how to play the piano this fall, (the shower is a real favorite stage), came home with comments about having a hard time in music class last year. When asked about it she looked us bold faced and said "but it's boring", and after 4 years of school concerts we couldn't disagree with her. Now she comes home from school excited to show what she learned in drama or the latest routine she learned in dance class. She has made a lot of friends and loves school like we hoped she would. We adore her spunk and she says some of the craziest things that leaves us laughing for days. She is a snuggle bug and has a hug for everyone.

We are truly thankful for the two amazing spirits that Heavenly Father has blessed us with. They are our top priority in life. We are very proud to be their parents. They are great kids.

We are thankful for our good friends and wonderful family that supports us. We are thankful for their help and kind words when we need a lift. It has meant that the world to us this past year. Life is full of trials and ups and downs. We are very thankful for our blessings and try hard to learn what is needed for us. We have many things we are hoping for this year. One of them is that all our friends and family will have wonderful year!!