I'm not gonna lie, 2013 was pretty great year.
A little update for ya'll.
Ellie:
We kicked off 2013 with Ellie's ninth birthday. Nine! Ellie likes most
things that nine year old girls like. Crafting, singing along to her iPod,
reading [for hours], and spending time with friends. She graduated from
the third grade in May with a gigantic smile on her face, claiming it
to be her best year ever! [And it was.] She spent her summer helping
out with preschool day camps, [and she is a killer little assistant],
swimming, doing Zumba at the local recreation center, and most importantly, riding horses.
Ellie's
love for all things equestrian quadruples every time she hops on a
horse, I swear. In August she decided that she wanted to take a break
from English riding, and give Western a try. Best. Decision. Of her
life. While English gave her incredible form, discipline, strength and
grace, it turns out that Western is WAY more fun. Riding POA's
bareback and jumping logs in an open pasture, that is where her heart
is, and we couldn't be happier for her to have found something she loves
so fiercely.
In
the fall Ellie started Fourth Grade, her fifth year in the Spanish
Immersion Program, and she is flourishing. She's knocking out long
division and her Spanish has really taken off. Listening to her
communicate with her peers and teachers, and the no-big-deal way that
she interprets her school reports and papers for her dad and I, it is
seriously beautiful. We are so proud of her.
Ellie
continues to be a stellar big sister. Jonas thinks that everything she
does is larger than the moon and Piper snuggles her every night until
she falls asleep. It must be such an overwhelming responsibility for
Ellie, to have so much love and admiration all up in her face all the
time.
Jonas:
Oh Jonas. In addition to growing even more handsome than we ever
thought possible, Jo also wrapped up Kindergarten in May and
started First Grade in the fall. The transition to all day school was a
little difficult for him. He really missed his mornings at home with
Grammy and Piper and it took him a few weeks to adjust to the "hours and
hours and hours" that make up The First Grade. He is enrolled in the
Spanish Immersion program too, and this second language business is
coming along really swell for him. I can't say that he loves school,
but he is in the top group of his class, loves to read, and his teachers
tell us that he has awesome printing penmanship. [And Ryan said it
couldn't be done!] While he seems to just tolerate classroom time, he
LIVES for recess. His stories over the dinner table are "recess this"
and "recess that". I think that means that he is just a typical six year
old boy, and we love hearing his daily recaps.
Over
the summer Jonas found his 'thing'. [We've been searching.]
Skateboarding! Who knew? [Ryan] We enrolled him in the month long city
skateboarding camp at the start of the summer, bought him a board,
wrapped him in bubble wrap [I kid, I only WANTED to do that.] and in
June began what ended up becoming our entire summer at the skate park.
Jonas hopped on his board and took off. Long story short, after the
city class ended we snagged the best private skate coach [in the world]
and Jo skated his little heart out until the day before school started
back up in the fall. He can't wait to get going again in the spring.
Jonas
continues to have the best sense of humor. He's comedic timing is
something you just can't learn, and he keeps things lighthearted and
silly in our home. In response to a question about the girls at school
he told us, "This girl at school always says hi to me and smiles at me
right up close to my face. I just close my eyes until she goes away."
And then, he winked at us.
Piper: Piper! How do I wrap up such a developmentally busy year in just a couple of paragraphs? [See Instagram
Feed?] Piper is a busy body. She seriously never stops. She has been
this way pretty much since birth, but she's kicked up the intensity in
the last year. Her activity level is no joke.
She
loves everything Mickey and Minnie Mouse, reading, coloring, painting,
going for rides in the car, dancing, bossing people around, climbing on
things she shouldn't, counting [she counts everything], treats of any
kind [especially "butter" cookies], talking on the phone, snuggling late
at night in an attempt to keep you from putting her to bed, being
outside, and clementine oranges. She hates wearing her winter coat,
having her face wet even for a second, church, and going poop on the
potty. She communicates more like a three year old than a recently
turned two year old. [Read: She never stops talking.] She refers to herself as "My" rather than I, so that's pretty cute.
Piper
is absolutely a breath of fresh air. It's like when she was born, she
breathed a second wind for life into her dad and I, and she just keeps
bellowing us as she grows. We are grateful for her sweet and sassy
little self every day. No really, Ryan and I look at each other several
times a day and say things like, "Man, I just love our happy little
Lou." It's sickeningly sweet, I hear you.
Ryan:
Ryan continues to work hard for our family. You guys, he is just
really really good at taking care of us. Don't think for a second that
we don't know how lucky we are.
Ryan
keeps us all laughing
[wonder no more where Jonas gets his sense of humor], he makes sure that
his wife isn't taking life so seriously all the time, builds Lego
masterpieces with Jonas, lets Piper feed him pretend food from her
kitchen and shove tea cups in his face repeatedly, teaches Ellie how to
cook things like scones and banana bread, and packs lunches for
Ellie and Jonas before he heads off to work each day.
The biggest deal to go down for Ryan this year was an awesome job change. Ryan left Blendtec in June to work for a company called Wavetronix. To sum it all up, we are incredibly grateful for a Heavenly Father [and mindful friends] who knows our needs and blesses our family.
Morgan:
Me? Well, I'm still doing the preschool teaching thing. It continues
to be a pretty great gig, and it blesses me in so many ways.
I
think I've reached that stage of motherhood that I've been warned
about, where the majority of my days are filled with homework and
driving kids from activity to activity. But you know, I can't say that I
hate it as much as I thought I would. My kids are active and happy,
and learning and growing, and that means we're doing something right.
The guy at the gas station drive thru may have my ratio request of Diet Coke to Cherry Syrup to Pebbled Ice memorized and perfected, but hey.
For
me, 2013 will be remembered as the year I decided to get [really]
physically active again. I spent my Summer and Fall hiking, and it
turns out my flame for the outdoors just needed a little wind blown in
its direction. I've got serious plans to hike all over Utah in 2014.
It's going to be awesome.
This
Christmas season finds us Thomas' hanging on, grateful for each other,
and grateful for you, our family and friends. May you have very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Because we love you,
Ryan, Morgan, Ellie, Jonas, and Piper Lou.