In the fall, I always take pictures of the boys for their yearly milestones. This year was more rushed with the time constraints of our busy life, (namely the vertigo I came home with from all that snorkeling! Thankfully that passed within a month or so and all is well.) but it got accomplished. John's mom helped me with David's senior pictures while she was here when we were in Cabo. So some of the images you will see include ones I took as well as ones she took of him. These are just the highlights. Over a hundred were snapped! The younger boys also have pics, but theirs were standard for the year and didn't number nearly as highly. In the slide show you'll also get to see the Christmas family images we never did send out in the Christmas cards which are still sitting unopened on top of the refrigerator.... Sorry about that!
But since we're talking about Christmas, how about that last slide show? Might as well see us in our Christmas morning best! Since we had no boxes to speak of, each kid got one huge box that contained all their gifts. DJ ended up with basically a new wardrobe for work. Zach's big gifts included ski boots and a leather jacket. Alex got a laptop John refurbished and was thrilled (though he has since contracted many viruses and it's not functioning. OOps!). On with the show!
Beyond that, The Artist Formerly Known as Zach (who now prefers the name Jason over what we have always called him) is playing clarinet in concert band at Centennial High where he also takes acting. He really enjoys it and seems to be taking to it as easily as he does everything else that requires physical coordination... So jealous of that gift of his!
We finally got our first snow a couple of weeks ago. It was close to 8 inches, which quickly melted within a day due to temps rising. We were quite disappointed to say the least, especially since we haven't had any snow since!
Lastly, just Thursday Alex started at a real public school, citing he wanted to get ahead in math and couldn't do it without the change to Lowell-Scott across the street. He knows he wants to become an architectural engineer and it will require lots of math. We applauded him for his forward thinking and withdrew him from Connections Academy (the online school) and enrolled him at the jr. high all in the same day (Wednesday). He has been enjoying it but also hates the early schedule!
So that's as up to date as I can make things in a nutshell! Hopefully we can all get on some online chat soon and speak in person. I'm sure we all have a lot of catching up to do!
Love you all tons!
