Since we bowed out of a Christmas letter last year, that
means either a really long letter this year or abstain. I guess you can figure out which one we choose,
I’ll try and keep it short! Life has
been good to us. The kids are happy and
healthy, and we got a dog (yes you heard me right, can you believe we were
talked into that!). It has been a
journey. He is cute and huge and cuddly,
so I guess we’ll keep him.
We continue to love being out west, closer to family and the
great outdoors. We have spent the last
few summers camping, hiking, biking, rafting, and wishing we had a camper. Natalie started to feel guilty last summer as
we spent more time packing, unpacking, and vacationing from our vacations than
actually living a normal life. But it
was summer, and we had few obligations so why not live it up, at least until
the kids schedules start holding us back.
Amanda is now 13! She
loved girl’s camp, likes (as much as one can) middle school, and is very
excited that her birthday fell on turkey day itself this year. She has had a tumultuous year and made a
family record of how many x-rays, Dr visits, and “dad exams” for any one kid in
a year period. She ended up on crutches
on and off again for about 9 months with an ankle injury that would just not
heal. Add to that a broken toe, broken
cheek bone, sprained wrist, hurt knee…I won’t go on. We are hoping for some good karma to keep
her healthy this next year. She has been swimming again for the past
month, plays the oboe in her school band, loves training Skai (the dog) and building
him backyard agility courses, and is happy reading away any spare time that
comes her way.
Maren entered the double digits with her 10th birthday
this year. She is the big reason we
finally caved to get a dog. It was the
only thing on her birthday list for months, all she read about all summer long
(I didn’t know that many books existed for kids to convince their parents of
the benefits of living with dogs), and she saved all her money for a year to
buy supplies etc. To her credit she has
not disappointed and is happy to care for and play with Skai pretty much all
the time. Maren keeps busy practicing
the piano, making crafts, participating in Girls on the Run (man is she fast!),
and playing soccer. She took this fall
off to have more time with our puppy and we were all sad to not watch her
games.
Spencer turned 6 this past spring on the first day of summer
vacation. Not a bad birthday! He is one fun kid with a social schedule to
prove it. He is learning to read quickly
and still loves to spend time building everything with legos. In the past months we have had gondolas, zip
lines, boat ramps, car garages, and lots of ninja structures. He has some of the best ninja moves
around. Spencer lives every day full of
so much gusto it is amazing he doesn’t pop.
Jacob turned four this year.
He is officially grown out of all things toddler and plays with
everything his siblings like, including sharing his brother’s ninja fetish. He is very lost when they are all at school
but lucky for him he gets to spend half of his day at a fabulous preschool (no
kids for 2 hrs 40 min four mornings a week.
It is glorious! ) Jacob has learned how to write his name,
button his own shirts, and his true talent is hamming it up as the
youngest. He knows how to annoy his brother
and sisters, and follow his dad around anywhere and everywhere.
We are grateful for this beautiful time of year and the
chance to reconnect with each of you.
Sending you all love, peace, and the joy and fulfillment that the
teachings of our Savior’s birth and life can bring us.
Love, The Gordon
Family
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