Holiday Letter 2009

I can’t believe it’s that time of year again. It feels like I just wrote one of these yesterday and I don’t even think I wrote one last year. 2009 has been a busy and well traveled year for us. We seem to always be on the go…I have yet to figure out whether that is a good or bad thing ;).

As far as travels go…I have dragged our family all over it seems. We started out 2009 at an amazing villa in Mexico. I took both the boys up north in February…they can both ski now. I don’t remember doing anything in March, I am sure we ventured somewhere…Chicago is always easy :). We went to Florida in April and did the Disney thing...Aspen adores all the princesses. May is always busy…house boating in KY AND Memorial weekend traditions must be kept. We took the RV to Wisconsin Dells in June. Some of our family from Vegas came for a visit in July and we ventured over to the windy city.

We always end the summer with our BIG RV trip in August. This year we made our way to Niagara Falls. We were gone for over two weeks. We have had some of the most amazing family trips together RVing…it’s an experience like none other. We slow down a bit in September and October with the start of a new school year. But we always go on one last camping trip in September. October is probably the only month that I really like to stay put. It is by far my FAVORITE month in Michigan. All the leaves are changing and the air feels so crisp and clean. I still keep us busy on the weekends visiting all the apple orchards and pumpkin patches. We also traveled up to Traverse City this past October to enjoy some Halloween fun at Great Wolf Lodge.

November was our next busiest travel month after August. We spent the week of Thanksgiving in a cabin up in the Smokey Mountains. We decided to be adventurous this time and travel by car. It was a ten hour road trip and the kids were fantastic. Don’t get me wrong, they WERE ready to get out of the car the last hour going both directions ;). We cheated a little too…we stopped over night both ways. Marc and I also went to the Bahamas for my birthday. We head back there with the kids on Dec. 27th to experience Atlantis.

Marc (32) has had an exciting year. Everything is looking on the up and up. His fitness center has made a HUGE turn around (he just took it over last summer) annd the sports bar and Ice arena are “getting there” as he would say. His game, Heroes of Newerth (HON), is off to an amazing start and it’s still just in the closed beta stage. He has gone through some amazing personal growth the past few months as well. He continues to grow as an amazing person and fill those around him with inspiration.
Heather (30) turned the big 30 this year. That was an adventure in itself. Marc took me and two other couples to Sandals to celebrate. It was probably one of the best vacation experiences of my life. I had such a great time with our company…everything was PERFECT. Being with family and friends from Las Vegas DID make me a little homesick though…sometimes I wish Vegas wasn’t Vegas.

I would like to think that I am continuing to grow as a mother. I really tried to put a lot on my plate this year and create a nice balance between motherhood and school. I really wanted to graduate next summer BUT that will NOT be happening. I have decided to take next semester off and try to relax a little. I just really want to focus on being a good AND happy mom.

Blake (7) is a handful these days. When do those “tween” years start anyway? He is at that stage where he thinks he knows everything already AND probably hates me most days. He IS doing great at school though. He appears to really LOVE second grade…he always looks happy at school. He is already learning things that I have to honestly admit that I don’t know myself (he recently learned all the ear and eye parts) and he can write in cursive. His favorite pastime is playing video games…he is basically a mini Marc in EVERY way.

Nicholas (6) always has a smile on his face…well even HE has his moments. He continues to be my “easy” one. I get so many compliments on his sweet disposition at school…he is always lending a hand. He is becoming such a great little reader too. He LOVES to practice spelling new words. Actually, he is always eager to learn. But Nicholas is also my little homebody…he doesn’t always enjoy “my” adventurous spirit. Sometimes the poor boy just wants to be home ;).

Aspen (3) started preschool this year. She had a really rough start but you would NEVER know it by the way she acts now. Even her teachers are amazed at how much she has blossomed during the past few months. Aspen definitely keeps me on my toes. I never know what the day is going to bring, rays of beautiful sunshine or the thunderstorm of ALL thunderstorms. Just last Tuesday I had to drag her out of Kohls kicking and screaming. On Friday, however, she was a dream at the mall (and we were in one store for over an hour).

I almost forgot to mention our new additions. Blake got a Chinese Water Dragon for his birthday. His name is Scale, although we don’t really know whether he is a male or female. We also adopted a new kitty this fall. Her name is Jasmine. She gets plenty of attention from the family…the kids ADORE her. We brought her home to fill the loss in our hearts that we had from losing Biggles. When we got back from our big RV trip he wasn’t home to great us. We still don’t know what happened to him. Both he and Oreo are ten years old. Oreo is still around and just starting to accept Jazz as part of the family. I’m sorry I can’t seem to keep these letters short, they may even be getting longer each year ;). I started a blog this summer. It always has our latest adventure and LOTS of pictures of the kids. Unfortunately, I am really behind on it right now. I probably have at least 20 drafts waiting to be posted. After the holidays I should be able to put more time and effort into it. I hope you had a fantastic year and this finds your family doing well. Merry Christmas!!!