Our Journey

Dear Friends and Family, 

Merry Christmas!  We are thankful to be able to write about another year of what has been going in the household.  First and foremost, we thank God for a year with no major illnesses or accidents and we thank Him for his provision for our family.  

Anna continues to be an excellent student in school.  She is in junior high now (yikes!) and loves the challenge of her classes.  We have a little joke that she lives for extra credit...it brings her joy to achieve highly.  The little school the kids go to goes up to eighth grade, so she has not had to transition to a new school yet, which is nice for everyone.  She has developed some sweet friendships over the years that I believe will last a lifetime.  Anna stopped doing ballet after the summer because it was becoming quite time-consuming and she wanted to do other activities like soccer and horse back riding. She also is loving her church activities and youth group. (Now that the kids are older, I could write an entire page on each of them...but I won’t!)

Ryan is doing very well in school also.  He’s getting over the fact that he is in advanced math now so he actually has to work at math instead of cruising through.  It has been so sweet to watch Rich work with Ryan...he’s so patient.  Ryan loves karate and is considered an “upper rank” now which means that he can lead the stretching exercises some of the time.  His goal is to become a black belt, which have  no doubt he will achieve.  Ryan is really into sports/race cars and I’m amazed at how much information he knows about them.  He also enjoys racing r/c cars with his dad.  There is so much more to say about Ryan, he is such a passionate, compassionate, and sensitive soul.  Oh, how I love that boy!

Sara, Sara, Sara.  She continues to wear “baby of the family” well.  The older two often complain that she is spoiled.  The truth is, I think they all are!  However, the birth order is the way it is...  Sara is going to preschool 3 days per week and is thriving.  She goes to the same school as Anna and Ryan and she loves it!  I am in awe at the level of care her teachers give not just her, but all of the students in her class.  It has been a blessing I only dreamed of when she was a baby.  Sara uses her arms and hands more and more, but can do many more things with her toes than she can her hands.  As I write, she sits beside me cutting paper, gluing, and writing letters and drawing people...with her feet.  As each year passes, I worry less and less about her future.  She continues to show us that she is going to be fine.

Rich and I are doing well.  I am in my 10th year as a school psychologist.  I also picked up photography a little more this year, though I still feel that I have soooo long to go before I finally capture the “perfect” shot.  I got a little fancy and made a website.  I can’t explain the joy that photography brings me; I certainly feel like it’s a gift from God to bring Him glory.  Rich still loves REI.  He recently became endorsed so that if a promotion opportunity arises, he will be eligible to apply.  He is very good at what he does.  We continue to take RV trips, mainly down to San Diego, when we can sneak away.

I thought our year encompassed more than one picture, so I made a slideshow.  It starts with our trip to the snow last winter.  It was Sara’s first trip, and she loved it!  She also thought it tasted quite good!  During the summer, my mom and the kids’ cousin, Ashlyn, came to visit for a while--definitely a highlight of the year!  We finished off 2011 by taking the kids to “Journey to Bethlehem” which was also a great experience.  Mixed in are some of my studio photography trials.  The song I chose for the slideshow is called “Peace Is Here.”  There were many, many days in 2011 when peace was certainly not here, with kids fighting, mom and dad yelling, and the stress that is immanent in any family, but at the end of most days and certainly at the end of this year, we can truly say “peace is here.”  Not because of anything that we have done, but because the Lord’s mercy and grace has been made new each day...it is He who carries us.  

May God bless you and yours in 2012. 

Love, Rich, Lori, Anna, Ryan, and Sara