Year in Review 2022
Year highlights:
Beginning of 2022: 3 kids in braces, Rob as bishop and working as a programmer, Beth recently released from primary (no calling) and homeschooling 2+ kids (managing 5)
Struggles: replaced a car, replaced all pipes in house, replaced several light fixtures, vehicle repairs; Gideon still hates most vegetables and fruits; Seth had a bike accident and got stitches and had a tooth removed
Blessings: new (long-wanted) job, good grades, talents from God, kids who want to be good and serve and help and love seminary, family who loves us and visits to see them, friends who love us, responsibilities to stretch us, educational choice, temple, scriptures, and church leaders who love us, and best of all Jesus
End of 2022: 2 in braces, Rob as technology specialist at church and working as an instructor (and part time programmer), Beth still choir director and homeschooling 3 kids (still managing the same 5) and teaching piano
All year - Seth still is serving in the Idaho Fall Mission, and he's about half way through his service time. He's enjoying the work and getting used to the climate still. :) The girls callings have remained the same all year (Carolyn as class president, Kaitlyn as organist, and Natalie and Alee as counselors in their class presidencies.)
WANT MORE?? Read on for a full list of this year's highlights!
January highlights:
Rob turned 43. The twins turned 15 (old enough to take the driver's permit test). We got some snow.
Rob completed/earned his master's degree in December 2021, so he became much less busy and could just work and started looking for teaching opportunities while we decided how much degree he wants to get. (Taking a break for now at least from the next level.)
February highlights:
Beth turned 40, and we celebrated by visiting my parents/grandma. The girls and I went to see Shen Yun (except Kaitlyn who didn't want to sit through a long performance). Our homeschool co-op took a field trip to a "Battle of Aiken" school day to see civil war time period brought to life. (Gideon got to lock Alee in the jail.) Rob got a riding lawn mower (since our lawn mower is in Idaho for 2 years.) :)
Both twins earned a beginning driver's permit and began practice driving with a parent.
Carolyn loves making little clay creations.
Carolyn made tamales for a Spanish project.
We just love when the tree near the road blooms each spring.
Somewhere around this time, we also had to replace the kids car.
March highlights:
Kaitlyn performed in her first piano competition/audition. (They don't compete against each other but for level/points by their own performance.)
Gideon finally got a much needed haircut.
School for the twins and homeschool for the rest of us continued moving along, and in the midst of "normal" Rob had gall bladder surgery.
She did so well in the audition that she was invited to play in the honors recital, which she'd actually hoped she would NOT be asked to play in. She was quite nervous, but she survived. :)
Alee loves science. Gideon loves messes.
April highlights:
General Conference is always a good weekend for us. We also went to the beach and zoo over spring break (and the twins finally start showing up in more pictures since they were out of school).
End of April means the end of homeschool co-op for spring semester, end of USC strings (violin for Alee), piano recital (for Kaitlyn), prom (for Carolyn). (Her date was cute and they had a lot of fun, but I didn't know if he would want to show up in someone else's newsletter :) - we hosted them and another couple for breakfast dinner at our house before prom).
Of all the sciences Carolyn has done so far, physics has been her best.
Field day/end of co-op celebration
free jam class recital
violin/orchestra concert
farm field trip to pick strawberries (homeschool)
end of Chinese class (calligraphy)
end of art class
Still surviving in ID
Egg dying
Zoo
General Conference weekend
May highlights:
Finally - the 2021-2022 school year ended! Carolyn finished 11th grade, the twins finished their freshman year of high school (see orchestra concert pics for both and a dance recital pic for Kaitlyn), Alee finished 6th grade, and Gideon finished 4K (we started some 5K curriculum this year; we just haven't required bookwork every day).
We got some yard work done (much needed), and with our reptile lover gone, Natalie and I had to manage the little snakes we found. Gideon grew some pumpkin plants (and they did well for a while).
We held a ward talent show, which was successful. I was surprised at how cute/funny Alee's mime act was (she put on with a friend), and Gideon told jokes and got lots of laughs from his admirers (the adults who think he is always hilarious because they don't live with him).
pumpkin plant (which died in late summer)
Summer highlights:
We went to DC to tour the temple (remodeled / open house before rededication), visiting family on the way there and back, Rob had more medical stuff happening, we rearranged the house (and cleaned all the carpets), we finished the deck, Gideon officially began piano lessons (although we only did a few over the summer), we went to the beach, visited more family, went to the zoo, museum, and a friend's house (to see the pigs), played games, and watched movies, all 4 girls went to girls camp and the 3 oldest went to FSY (for the strength of youth) conference, and we all worked on a quilt for Seth's birthday. {In hind sight, I can see why we didn't accomplish all of our summer project goals!}
Gideon turned 5, and he officially began homeschool kindergarten in August. He also finally started liking primary some time this year.
Washington monument
Carolyn was already at camp as a youth camp leader who went up a day early to help set up.
FSY to Georgia
Gideon grew this sunflower from seed
Still loves pigs
Lots of driving lessons...
and online driver training
We all got a red shirt (Gideon's favorite color).
Fall 2022 highlights:
School began for everyone: Rob teaching 3 classes at USC while still managing his old job at half time, Carolyn as a homeschool senior, Kaitlyn and Natalie as sophomores at the local public school, Alee in 7th grade homeschooling, and Gideon homeschooling 5K.
Right as school was starting, we discovered a leak, which turned out to be a massive plumbing job to re-pipe the house (agghh).
Kaitlyn and Beth also started teaching piano lessons (as a job). We have 2 students each (plus the family Beth already teaches). It's a good start and not too overwhelming.
Alee and Natalie played on the girls tennis team at the high school (both JV).
Carolyn continued her favorite work - volunteering at the library. (Most do 1 hour/week during the school year but she's doing 2 hours/week. She wants to study library science in college one day.)
school experiments, projects, and daily activities, finishing the quilt just in time to send to Elder Bailey for his birthday (arriving the week of the first snow in Idaho), homecoming dance (the twins went with a friend group all solos, no dating allowed yet), and normal every day stuff.
Seth turned 20. Also this fall he had a bike wreck and got his first stitches (chin) and "chipped" a tooth (which turned out to be much more than a chip because he had to have that tooth removed).
Alee turned 13, and Carolyn turned 18. (We did not do candles in Carolyn's apple crumble, and she didn't care. Unfortunately, it was a very busy week and weekend with twins performance, so we barely were able to celebrate either "big year" birthday.)
Another house item died (dining light fixture), so we did more house fixes while decorating for Christmas. (We've had quite a few things need repair this year! Still waiting on a dishwasher part to come in as of this week.)
Alee, Carolyn, and Natalie gained some electrical skills, and Rob oversaw the job to make sure we knew what we were doing. (He had to help with one part in one of the bathrooms.) Kaitlyn provided musical entertainment for us.
Alee made a Viking helmet
Halloween this year: Alee teamed up with her cousin to be a modern wizard of oz duo, Gideon was a minecraft pig, Natalie was Ms. Frizzle, and Kaitlyn teamed up with a church friend to be just teenagers in halloween jack-o-lantern shirts/PJs.
Kaitlyn and Natalie performed in the school veteran's day assembly (piano & orchestra)
It feels like someone is constantly performing in something around here! (I love it, and it wearies me sometimes to always have something going on, but I am grateful for the talents they are developing. They can use them for their whole lives to lift others and serve the Lord.)
We visited cousins with baby chicks right after the girls' birthday.
And we collected a pet of our own (I must have lost my mind...)
Gideon brought home a darkling beetle that he's been tending all semester in creature class (started as a superworm), and it is now ours until it dies (in a few months.)
Natalie got her braces off (on Alee's & Carolyn's birthday) - after nearly 3 years in them!
The twins made it into Region Orchestra (of course it had to be the weekend of the other girls' birthday), so we visited around Aiken/Augusta area for the day until the concert.
Thankfully, all the end-of-semester performances are finally over! They are so fun, but the calendar feels stuffed this time of year with 5 kids and four of them playing piano plus a string and other talents, we tend to pile up the events at the end of each semester. (I know, I know...I'll miss it one day.) :)
I know I'll miss their helping hands (like we often miss Seth's strength and height). The 4 girls have become incredibly helpful, especially this year. They all can cook (a little or a lot), manage Gideon, some can drive, and all can clean. In addition to being able to help, they are willing to help!
We hope you have a Merry Christmas!