Christmas Newsletter 2016
Merry
Christmas from our family to yours!
It has been many years since we put together a newsletter,
so we thought we’d give it a shot and see how it goes. 2016 has been a busy
year for us all!
The biggest news for our family
from this year would have to be Rob’s
job change. He was at DMB and Associates for 11 years and left there July 1st.
We are grateful for the generous severance package he received from them that
allowed him to be a man of leisure for the entire month of July. This afforded
him the chance to travel (California, Seattle/Washington state, Blue Ridge
Reservoir camping with the Scouts, and hiking The Narrows at Zion, just to name
a few) and enjoy the last month of summer with the kids before they headed back
to school in early August. Once the kids buckled down, so did he, and he began
his job search in earnest. Thanks to his two awesome recruiters, opportunities
came, some sooner than he had hoped, and on August 29th, he began
his new job as a Senior Financial Analyst for Shea Homes. His commute is
exactly the same (his new job is two buildings down from his old one), but so
far, so good. He likes the company and the people he works with and for and is
happy there. It was truly a great blessing in our lives and we are grateful for
it and for his hard work in providing for our little family. His employment
wasn’t the only job change he saw this year. He also got a new calling at
church, one that he will happily tell you is the very best calling out there,
Deacon’s Quorum Advisor, working with the 12 and 13 year old boys. He loves it!
We have an amazing group of boys and they all have so much fun together. They
camp, they work, they play – it’s awesome. And he gets to enjoy all this fun
right along with Josh, so that makes it extra fun. In his spare time, he still
loves cooking (ask him about his birthday smoker), spending time with friends,
and learning all he can about geopolitics. Yup. Geopolitics. For real. He loves
it. Ask him about that too, assuming you have hours to spend listening ;)
Shannen. What to say about her? Honestly, not a lot to report
there. And not in a bad way, just in a “she doesn’t really do much” kind of
way. All that you read and will read about the family? Just assume she’s there
in the background in some sort of supporting role or another, a position she is
more than satisfied with. She plays dedicated Uber driver to the kids and their
friends, hates waking up at 6:30 every morning and wishes that high school wasn’t
so darn early. She is currently 2nd Counselor in the Primary
presidency and loves that, minus the whole “being over Cub Scouts” thing
(Primary is the Sunday school for kids aged 18 months - 12 years). And yes, in
her free time, she is still that weird one that watches Korean (and other
Asian) TV, though she no longer blogs about it (that dream died late last
year). Her only wish is that she had someone here local to watch them with and
who would drive down to see Korean movies with her so she didn’t feel so darn
lonely all the time in her “hobby”. Her social life has tanked in recent months
and so she spends more time at home now, but she’s okay with that, because
she’s having a lot of fun being the mom of teenagers and all that that entails.
Honestly, though it may not sound like it here, her life is full and happy and
she is perfectly content. But, it’s boring to write about, so we’ll just move
right along.
Riley. 15 years old and a sophomore this year at Willow Canyon High
School. She is in year two of the Cambridge Program at school which basically
translates into “she’s really smart and works her butt off”. She had the
exciting opportunity to travel to Sao Paulo, Brasil for two weeks this summer
in order to visit her Aunt KaLee and Uncle Neal who had been living there for
Uncle Neal’s job. She was accompanied by her grandmother and Uncle Jordan on
this adventure and, despite initial trepidation and nerves, absolutely loved
it. There were so many experiences she had, and too many favorites to even begin
listing, but I can tell you some of the highlights included time spent at the
beach town of Guaraja as well as seeing the Olympic torch pass by on its way to
Rio. She would argue this, but it’s become apparent over the past year or so
that she has an aptitude for language much like her father (and unlike her
mother). Her next travel goal is Ireland and/or Korea. Speaking of Korea, she
had a brief stint in Taekwondo this year, but her kicking and punching days
ended when her shoulder decided to no longer play along. Hopefully after some
time and physical therapy, she might be able to get back into some sport of
some kind, but until then, she is enjoying spending her time with activities
like anime, book, and media clubs. Or reading psychology books for fun,
whatever. She loves video games, anime, reading, and listening to the musical, Hamilton, among other things. She has
become quite adept in the kitchen as well. And, if that wasn’t enough, she
should be getting her driver’s permit right about the time that this newsletter
goes out. She’s growing up so fast! We’re already talking colleges and things
like PSATs. It’s crazy and a bit unreal, but fun!
Josh. 13 and in 8th grade this year, happy to be back at
his old school after spending 7th grade trying out the new charter
school in town. The charter was great and all, but the friends were back at the
old school, so Mom and Dad finally relented and let him go back for his final
year there. He has become Mr. Social this year, roaming the neighborhood with
friends, hopping from house to house. After hosting, on average, 3-4 teenage
boys every day this summer, it became apparent that we might need a bigger
house and/or a pool sooner rather than later. I loved every second of every day
having the house stuffed to the rafters with teens, but yeah, not a lot of
space to hang out and not a lot of entertainment options to be had. No plans as
of yet to move, it’s just in the talking/casual searching phase. We had
actually thought we’d be moving to Mesa in late spring for work, but then Rob
was laid off instead, which made the kids very happy indeed as they had no
desire to uproot themselves and leave these friends behind. When he’s not at
school or hanging with buddies (or texting girls incessantly), Josh can be
found at Taekwondo. He’s going into his fourth year at his dojang. He’s been a
black belt since May 2015 and is about halfway to his second degree black belt
at this point. He volunteers as a student instructor once a week and is
learning great leadership skills doing that. He holds the honor of being the
oldest student there, not in actual age, but in time there as a student. Last
November we switched from the Surprise location down to the Goodyear one (about
15-20 min away), and have been happy with the change, despite the additional
drive time. Class is three days a week, so when you add that to YM/Scouts on
Wednesday nights, suddenly you get a boy with a very full schedule. Josh loves
being in Scouts. He loves camping and all that adventurous “boy stuff”. He’s
spent much of 2016 collecting things like pocket knives, throwing knives, and
other assorted weaponry in addition to skate boards. You will almost never see
this kid just sitting around being lazy – he’s always on the move! Like his big
sister, he’s also growing up so fast that it makes your head spin. He’s even
hit a bit of a growth spurt this year, finally surpassing Riley in height over
the summer. He can pound food down like no other. Good thing he also likes this
whole cooking thing like father and sister because he’ll need that if he keeps
eating the way he does.
And that just about sums us and
our comings and goings of 2016 up. Life for our little family is (mostly) quiet
but good. We stay busy while still trying to stay sane and not overdo it. After
all, it’s all about balance, right? ;) We hope that this letter finds you all
in good health and spirits. Please know of our love for each one of you. May
your holidays and the new year bring you many wonderful and joyous happenings
and blessings.
Always,
Us