Thomas Christmas Card: 2013

2012

We hope the year has brought many wonderful new experiences to all of you. We have had a wonderful year full of changes. We are doing well and are so grateful to be back together as a family.

Our old house in Colorado after a storm

This year was the year of the never ending move. In January, with Dave's school financial assistance running out, we decided to move back to Utah. At the same time my dad got news he had been hired by a company in Kansas and would be moving out there for the next several years. We took this as our opportunity to move into my parents home in Stansbury Park, UT. Dave continued to stay in Colorado until June to finish training his replacements for the physics computer cluster. While Dave was in Colorado I homeschooled the kids and unpacked as much as I could which kept me extremely busy.

Our new place in Stansbury Park on Halloween

Once Dave finally got to Utah he spent some time at home before going up to Logan to continue to work on his doctorate and to work for his brother mowing lawns. Finally in September he decided he was tired of living so far away and moved back home. It has been wonderful having him here and by far the best thing that has happened all year. He still isn't done but continues to work slowly on his thesis while also looking for a full time job.

Lily

Lily age 13

Lily really struggled with the move and leaving all her friends in Colorado. Her school class only consisted of about 10 kids for the entire grade and so they were very close. Going to an actual midle school was quite a shock at first but she is finally starting to settle in. She has made several good friends and was in the schools play. She is excited about trying out for the musical this Spring and starting high school in Fall. She is still writing like crazy and has so many wonderful ideas running through her mind. I also love how close she and I became while Dave was gone. My mom was totally right when she said, "It's like giving birth to your best friend".

Isaac age 11

Isaac

Isaac still has several friends in Colorado he misses a lot. He often times will have skype sleepovers where they stay up late playing mine craft or some other silly game. He finally had the courage to meet the boy who lives across the street in the summer and they have been best friends ever since. He is doing very well in school and was still a little upset he got a A- on his last report card. Isaac never enjoyed reading until this year. I bought him the entire Deltora Quest books at the thrift store in Colorado and he has been reading crazy ever since. It is great to see him enjoy something that he thought he'd never like, let alone love.

Joe age 9

Joe

Joe has done wonderfully since the move. He never has liked school very well and did very well during home school. I worried that once he started at his new school he would struggle but he has surprised me again by doing fantastically. He loves his new teacher and treats her with the utmost respect, which is great to see. He currently loves Dr. Who and can tell up pretty much anything there is to know about the world of Dr. Who. He is still very into video games of all kinds and spends a good part of his time researching games and the history behind those games. His favorites are Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario brothers and Pokemon.

Clara age 7

Clara

Clara really missed her class in Colorado when we moved. She loves people and people tend to love her so it was hard to leave them all behind. She immediately made friends with the little boy next door and spent the majority of the next 6 months playing with him. She has done wonderfully back in school and her teacher adores her. She loves to read and has a huge pile of books next to her bed for her to choose from. Clara is still very much a girly girl, just a girly girl who likes to play in mud. She loves frogs, worms, bugs of all kinds and wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up. She just likes to do all these things in a dress.

Becka

Becka has spent the year packing and unpacking as you probably have guessed. She obviously misses her friends in Colorado but loves being near her family and friends again. She is getting healthier but has still had several kidney infections along with her usual Behcets flares. She tried a new medication last year that really helped and is hoping it can be a long term solution to all her health problems. Homeschooling the kids is something she particularly enjoyed and really misses them all while they are in school. Becka has also discovered that she loves to garden. For the first time ever she had a successful vegetable garden and was able to transplant several plants from her mother-in-laws front yard to her own. When not cleaning the house, cooking, sewing, quilting or gardening she likes to crochet while watching Sherlock.

Dave

Dave has been working hard to finish his Doctoral thesis this past year and preparing to leave his computer cluster. Dave had created a computer cluster used by all the high energy physics group at Colorado State over the past several years. Since he knew he was leaving he trained 10 people to replace him and all he did on the computers. His thesis is in high energy cosmic rays and is hoping to finish by this Spring or Summer. In the mean time he is also looking for work as a Linux system admin. Dave loves to read when he gets the chance. He still loves volleyball and tennis and is hoping to find someone to play regularly with. He currently spends most of his time job hunting or reading books on Linux.

We are grateful to be back in Utah and hope this year will bring new opportunities, jobs and health for our entire family. Seasons Greetings to all and we hope we can all see you again very soon!

Here are some other of our favorite things from this year...