We hope that this year has been a joyful one for you and your family, filled with laughter and love. Seems like if you have those, facing the challenges of these times is a bit easier.
Thanks for checking out our family blog. If this is your first time to visit, you probably just received our Christmas card. Welcome to my attempt at keeping family and friends updated on what we are doing, sort of my online version of scrap booking. Check out earlier posts if you are interested in our adventures from the past year, some of which I'll touch on below.Speaking of joy, laughter and challenges, the kids are doing well. As usual,they are keeping us busy (a.k.a. wearing us out). Olivia continued with gymnastics this year, competing at level 5 again and had a pretty good season. The beam is her favorite event and she has started doing back hand-springs on it, which by the way, no parent should be allowed to watch. Last summer, she tried swimming and this fall started Girl Scouts and band. She's playing the oboe, like I did, despite my best efforts to convince her to play something more conventional that does not require expensive reeds. (Special note to my mom, dad and brothers - I am SO SORRY for those early years. Novice oboe practice is, as Jack says, "excruciatingly painful" to listen to!) She continues to do well as a 4th grader at a local, public charter school that focuses on science, technology, engineering and math.
Big changes for Jack this year - he started first grade and is going to school ALL DAY for the first time! Did I mention ALL DAY? He seems to be adjusting well, although I am still wondering when I am going to start having all this extra "free time". It is great having him and Olivia at the same place at the same time for a change. Jack also swam on the summer swim team this year, and I have to say, there really is nothing cuter than watching the 6 & under age group at a swim meet, complete with mini-speedos and goggles. From the belly flops off the blocks to the somewhat unidentifiable strokes being used to navigate 25 yards, it is quite hilarious. This fall he started flag football and Cub Scouts. He loves scouts so much that if we were to continue at his desired pace, he'd reach Eagle Scout, like Brian, by next year! In January, he will begin piano lessons, which we hope is easier on the ears than the oboe. 
As usual, the highlight of our year is always travel, whether it be a family vacation, trips to see the rest of our family or quick getaways for Brian or me. We were fortunate to manage several trips this year including a whirlwind road trip this summer through MI, WI and Chicago to see both my brothers' families, my parents and my nephew. Going back to the Midwest is always fun and the kids love seeing their cousins! 
Since the kids did not start school until late September this year, we also took an unexpected, and quite last minute, trip to the big island of Hawaii. It turned out to be one of our favorite places that we have visited so far. We pretty much had the beaches to ourselves. We surfed, climbed volcanoes, swam with the turtles and lounged, and lounged and lounged... Brian's "boys trip" was to Indy for pre-race week. My "girls trips" were to Boston and NY for the marathons. Brian and I also had the rare chance to travel to Sante Fe, alone, for a long-weekend. In between his meetings, we were able to squeeze in some white water rafting on the Rio Grande, some shopping, gambling and even a salsa cooking class, yum yum! Unfortunately, Brian did also have some "not-so-fun" travel adventures this year, visiting oil & gas prospects in WY, UT, MT, and ND. Before each trip I was careful to make it very clear that no matter what he found - we were not moving to any of those places!
Not much to report with Brian and me. He is back in business with his long-time college buddy, "the other Brian", looking for oil/natural gas properties to purchase and develop. It has been a tough economic climate to accomplish that, but they are still going for it. As I mentioned before, I'm still trying to find all that extra time I thought I'd have when the kids were both in school. Seems that my running, volunteering, and general "mom" activities more than fill my time. Most nights, after dinner, scouting, sports, music, homework, reading and bedtime routines, Brian and I collapse on the couch with a glass of wine, take a deep breath and say, "Whew, another one bites the dust!" Then it starts all over again, but we wouldn't change a thing.
Hope you and your families have a Merry Christmas and an adventurous new year!!!
Cheers,
Terri and Brian
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