Well I really didn't think I would get a card out this year, but obviously to some of you I did get one out. One problem is that we did not order enough cards though. So I thought I would post some of the pictures that didn't get used on the card here. For those of you with children, you know how difficult it is to get all your kids looking at the camera and smiling. I think I took about 50 pictures and I wasn't even really happy with the one I choose. So here are a few of the other ones and then I will post our letter at the end. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!
Merry Christmas,
We hope this letter finds you all healthy and happy. We have had an enjoyable year and feel very blessed to be where we are right now. Give us a call or come for a visit sometime if you want more details than can be included in this letter. Here goes:
Jennifer has enjoyed this year immensely. All except for that whole turning 30 thing. She had mixed feelings about sending 2 kids off to school this year (Kathryn & Matthew), but has enjoyed a little more flexibility in what she can do during the day. She is volunteering in Kathryn’s class (to make sure they’re not teaching outright socialism yet) and enjoys hearing what Matthew has to say about what he enjoyed each day. She is currently a counselor in the Primary presidency at church and enjoys that as well. She got a week long trip home in this year to see family and I think that may have bought me a little more time before we have to move again.
Derek has had to travel a bit more for work this year. (Notice I said “had to” instead of “got to”. It makes Jen think I don’t enjoy the peace and quiet of a hotel with free cable for a few days every few months). He was given a role with more responsibility at work and is trying to enjoy it although he still prefers to just live in a cave and write computer code (software) without having to manage people. Occasionally Derek thinks he’s ready to quit and form a band due to his skills at Rock Band (it’s a video game), but so far Jen has asked him to continue doing what he enjoys and actually provides money for the family.
Kathryn is 7 this year and is just an absolute privilege to have in the house (most of the time). She comes home from school and almost every day starts out with, “Papa, there’s this girl at school named Alanya…” and then tells me something they did. She is very verbose and I am always asking her “Kathryn, tell me the story in 2 sentences”. Heaven forbid she has to tell on Matthew for something because it could be bedtime before we know what happened, but we will know the exact position of the moon at the time of the incident.
Matthew turned 5 this year and has really started to develop more interest in things other than destruction (although it’s still a favorite pastime). He really likes Kindergarten. For the first month of school when I would ask him what they did at school that day all I got was, “we had snack time and we had recess”. I would have to probe until he remembered that they also had stories and learned something. When Matthew found out I worked at McDonald’s he thought that was so cool and asked me why I don’t work there anymore. Basically, he has a lot more respect for me now.
Anthony is 3 this year and is finally potty trained! Although during the time we were trying to teach him we did have an incident involving Anthony’s wet pants, a puddle not made of water, and a Wal-Mart© floor (yes, I did spend about 2 minutes looking for that copyright symbol so they can’t sue me). He tells me every day that he’s going to “Pender’s house” (that’s Spencer) which is a friend of his. While Jen had flown home to visit earlier this year I had just dropped off Matthew at school and on the way home he told me, “Papa, can you just drop me off at Isaac’s house?” I told him no, but he tried to convince me that “Mama always does that”. He was totally trying to con me at age 3.
Elizabeth (aka Liz, Lizzy, Lizard, and various other names not fit to print) has really started learning this year as she just turned 1. Still no desire to walk, but that girl is going to put Kathryn to shame with the amount of talking she does. Just this morning she was in our bed with us as we were waking up and she heard a noise out in the hallway. She knows Matthew wakes up first of the kids and shouted something like “Mala, woudla dul dat diddle di’ba” at him. Sorry, if there are any typos in that quote. I don’t know what she was saying, but she was definitely trying to address Matthew. She has quite a broad range of expressions and we can all often be entertained just watching her shake her little bottom to some music that she hears (it’s always cute when a little diaper bottom is shaking).
Well, there’s a lot more I could write and you may be asking why I chose to include what I did and I’ll let you know when I figure that out. We miss everyone and hope to see at least some of you soon. Seriously, come for a visit anytime. (Please save me, Jen needs to see family and friends like a drug or she goes crazy and, well, I won’t go into too much detail.) (www.derekfry.net/blog)