Christmas Newsletter :: 2009
Posted in 1 :: Joe, 2 :: Julie, 3 :: Jared Jerome, 4 :: Joshua Josiah, 5 :: Alicia Marie, 6 :: Amanda Rose, Post Count on 12/25/2009 08:00 am by JulieMerry Christmas everyone!
I hope that 2009 has treated everyone well?! We’re all doing fine and dandy over here in our neck of the woods… We’re still enjoying our country living out here in Molalla… Though I have to admit that I did question it a bit when there was a cougar sighting in one of our neighbor’s yards in September. It took me a while, but I finally was able to start breathing again, though I am still nervous about letting the kids play outside. *lol*
We’ve been keeping pretty busy lately… Joe’s still driving truck for OBRC (they renamed Crinc this last January), and he’s also working for a Safeway gas station on the weekends. Sometimes working 7 days a week can take a toll on him, so he requests a weekend off every now and then, so he can get some sleep. Poor guy!
The kids and I are still home schooling. Things have been going really well. We had the older three tested in May, and they are all testing 3-4 years above their grade level. We are so proud of them for working so hard! … Last year they talked about maybe wanting to try public school, but one by one they all changed their minds. They just don’t like the idea of being in school all day. *lol*
Jared and Josh have joined a junior bowling league… Who knew that they would love bowling so much?! *lol* … They are really, really enjoying it, and want to go bowling All. The. Time. They have league games on Saturday, and we take them to Cosmic Bowl at least every other Friday evening. Jared has become obsessed, and talks about bowling practically non-stop. They even go onto YouTube and look at videos with bowling tips and things. So funny! (and so cute!) … Jared will be 12 next month, and Josh just turned 10.
As for Alicia, she has always loved drawing, coloring, and anything crafty, and she seems to have a talent for it. So we were able to find her an drawing class in town, which meets every Tuesday. Her teacher, Jay, it great, and a very good artist himself. Alicia is learning a lot, and is loving it! (Alicia is now 8 years old)
Last year Amanda was taking ballet classes through the Molalla Community Schools, but they stopped doing those kind of programs. Luckily for us, a new dance studio opened up last March, called Dolce Dance (that’s actually where Alicia’s drawing class is too). So this fall we signed Amanda up for ballet there, and she loves it. Her new teacher, Claudine, is really wonderful with the girls and seems to have a soft spot for our little Pixie-girl. :) She has a recital coming up on the 18th, and we can’t wait to see it.:) (Amanda is 6 years old now… My baby is growing up! *sob*)
Joe gets 3 vacations a year now, so we spent a lot of time in our trailer this summer. :) … In August we spent a week camping at Detroit Lake, which is our favorite campsite… In June we took the kids on a road trip/camping trip through Oregon, and we visited a bunch of animal parks. We visited the Wildlife Safari, Wildlife Images, the Sea Lion Caves, the West Coast Game Park, and the Oregon Coast Aquarium… As well as a few other non-animal stops. It was an exhausting week, but it was also quite fun! We even stopped off in Roseburg so I could show the kids my old stomping grounds, as well as my favorite park, and while we were at the beach, we spent an afternoon at Sunset Bay state park, where we would go when I was a girl. It was so nice to see it again!
Well, I suppose I’ve jabbered on long enough… Here’s wishing you all a very Merry CHRISTmas! Hope 2010 brings you nothing but happiness!
Love to you all!
Joe, Julie, Jared, Josh, Alicia, and Amanda
(and the cats, Cuddles and Buddy, too!)
