And if you're seeing this and wondering why you didn't get a card, feel free to message me if you want one. In the past I've put a copy of it on here, but I'm just a little lazy for that this year.
Barthlome
Family Newsletter - Christmas 2016
Hello, Family
& Friends!
It’s been another year
already, and it has flown by! I slacked off on the family newsletter writing
last year, so I’m trying to do better now. In this last year, we have mainly been
enjoying Utah and being closer to our extended family. Caleb has had the chance
to show us many of the favorite places and sights he grew up around here in the
Ogden area, and we’ve all been loving it. He also likes to give me a hard time over
the fact that we visited our Idaho families more often than we did anyone in
Utah over the year. We were visiting every 2-8 weeks, and I loved every bit of
it, although our visits will be much more spaced out in the future. Outside of
the multiple trips to and from Nampa, we also met up in Twin Falls this summer
with my mom’s family to camp at Banbury hot springs to do a mini-Durrant
family reunion, and we did our first kid-free night away at Anniversary Inn in
Boise around Easter.
Caleb is still a
Server Administrator working for a company that has an IT contract at Dugway
Proving Grounds, a military installation 30+ minutes west of Tooele. This has
left him with a very, very long commute of 2 hours each way. He has been a
little worn out by it, but fortunately he works 4/10’s and gets a three-day
weekend to recoup. We are considering keeping employment options open to
changes this next year, since the time away from family is rough. There’s no
plan currently, though. In his spare time, he’s been working on some
certifications to expand his IT knowledge and qualifications, and enjoys
hanging out with his friends from younger years.
I (Rebecca) am still
plodding along on my way towards my bachelors in Marriage & Family Studies.
I’m getting ready to begin my final year of my undergrad, and I’m looking
forward to having that accomplishment completed. I am currently the Relief
Society pianist at church, and I’m enjoying getting to spend more time playing
the piano between all my other responsibilities. I recently started helping out
a neighbor family getting their son to and from school on some weekdays, and
Connor thinks their son is the coolest! College classes and transporting kids
to and from school eats up the majority of my time, but I’ve also enjoyed
planning two baby showers for my siblings and making decorations for them, as
well as making cute little baby headbands whenever there is mention of a
loved-one expecting a baby girl. This last spring I joined a gym and volunteer
there 2 hours a week so my kids have free childcare whenever I want. All of
this has kept me busy, but my husband is supportive of me doing whatever I need
to in order to feel like life is a happy thing.
Connor, who is now
5-years-old, started Kindergarten this fall and is loving it! He had previously
done two years of special-education preschool, so he felt very prepared to be
at school each day, and gets some OT and speech therapy while there. On top of
starting Kindergarten, he also started playing soccer. He has informed us he
never wants to stop! We enjoyed getting to take him to weekly practices and
games and seeing him learn and grow with his teammates. This summer he got to
do swimming lessons, which he loved, although there were a few meltdowns over
the water being too cold. My kids (unfortunately) had no idea water isn’t
bathwater warm in pools all the time like it was in AZ. He is such a quick
learner, has keen attention for details, and constantly helps his younger
siblings do things I can’t figure out (usually technology-based). He’s become
my favorite big helper this year and is growing up quicker than I can believe!
Evelynn is
three-years-old and is a fireball of energy and sass! She has a glare that can
stop you in your tracks, but is so affectionate if you worm your way in to her
heart. She started dance this Fall, which she’s been begging for since last
spring, and it is her favorite thing in the world. She is in a combo class –
ballet/jazz/tap, and is looking forward to her very first recital this next
spring. She adores her baby dolls, dress-ups, “pretties”, as long as it’s
girly--she loves it. She will be graduating from Nursery to Sunbeams and we are
hopeful I will be a smooth transition. At the end of April, she had her tonsils
and adenoids taken out. In June, she caught pneumonia. Thankfully she has
recovered well from both experiences and is just as stubborn, silly, and helpful as she ever was before.
Liam turned 1 this
summer and we threw a big “Wild One” party for him. He is my quietest by far,
and oh so snuggly! But in recent weeks we’ve discovered a strain of mischief in
him. He climbs like a monkey, and I’m always having to pull him off of things.
He communicates in the clearest ways, and is so curious about the world around
him. This year he was very sick in February and June and was wheezing for weeks
on end. It was a very stressful time for us, and his doctor believes he
probably has Asthma. He now has a very cute nebulizer and breathing treatments
we have to give him whenever he starts up the wheezing. In June, he caught
several influenza viruses, one of which was parainfluenza III. We are hopeful
for a healthier year next year with our littlest guy!
We’ve had the chance
to visit many of you over this last year and it has been wonderful! It’s often
hard to live away from our loved ones, but we truly do think of you often.
Much love to you all this Christmas, and may your
New Year’s be glorious, too.
- - The
Barthlome Family
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