Dear Family & Friends,
Merry Christmas! We thought it would be a good idea to sit down and write some thoughts of what transpired over the course of this year in preparation of writing this letter. In a matter of minutes, we had a gone from January to December and listed the major events of the year. A lot happened in 2008 and it was nice to think back and recognize the many blessings we received.
In January, Jordan started the evening MBA program at the University of Michigan and has been taking classes non-stop for the past 12 months. He is usually gone at least 2 nights a week, and it feels like more with all of his papers, group projects and homework. Between work and school, it is hard to find time for family; however, we have somehow managed to do quite a lot given these time constraints.
Chandra has been busy with the boys ever since they arrived last year, but has managed to find time to pick up some additional hobbies during her “spare” time. Her favorite past time has been to sew. She is just learning, but is having fun with each new thing she has learned in the process.
In April, we took advantage of Jordan’s two week break between semesters to go on a trip to Florida with his twin brother and family. The eight of us started the trip off by taking it easy for a few days at Cocoa Beach. This was the first time Ayden and Gavin ever saw the ocean, and obviously they won’t remember it; which is a good thing because of the high winds, sand pelting them in the face, and the shock of the cold water that Jordan tried to make them fearless of. We really enjoyed the walks on the beach with our boys and the R&R.
We spent the second half of the trip in Orlando going to Universal Studios and Sea World. We couldn’t go on too many rides because of the boys, but we got to see a lot of shows. Chandra even participated in one of them – Fear Factor - where she got to drink a shake made of raw fish, bugs, etc. She tried to talk Jordan into volunteering, but he knew better. If you ask Chandra, she will tell you that “fear is obviously a factor for Jordan”. All in all, it was a great way to escape the cold winter weather of Michigan for a week.
One of the greatest moments of 2008 occurred on July 3rd when the adoption was finalized. After almost a year waiting with lots of paperwork and home visits, it was finally official! It was a long wait, but the boys were worth it. What a wonderful day that was. Travis and Kassie came to the court to be a part of this special day; it is nice to have family close by, especially to share moments and days like this. We celebrated that 4th of July weekend by taking the boys on their first camping trip, along with Travis and family. We got through the night, had a great time, but we’re looking forward to next summer when they are a little older.
August was a busy month for us. We were getting sealed to our boys in the Salt Lake Temple, Chandra had a baby blessing and baptism to go to in Boise, and Jordan’s sister was getting married in Bountiful. We also had a trip to Lagoon with the Simmons family and a trip to Bear Lake with the Smith family. It was a busy month! Chandra headed out to Boise – it was just her and the boys. Her dad met her at the airport and described her as one of those workers who pushes a cart full of merchandise alongside a parade with the load that she was carrying. She was pushing a double stroller carrying Ayden, carry-ons and a car seat with Gavin on her back (in a backpack) while trying to feed them McDonald’s after a long flight. Jordan came out to join the family a week later.
The sealing was such a wonderful day for us. It was a busy and hectic day, but we felt the spirit so strongly as they wheeled our boys in on little white strollers dressed all in white. After the ceremony, they handed us our boys who then wrapped their little arms around us, it was such great feeling to know that we were now sealed as a family for eternity. The day was even more special because of all our family and friends who came out to be a part of this special day. After the temple, we all headed to Bountiful for the boy’s baby blessings.
We got back to Michigan just in time to move out of our apartment and into a home that we were able to rent. It is so nice to actually have some space and a real backyard. We were starting to get claustrophobic in our apartment, especially with all the good deals Chandra would come home with from the Mom-to-Mom sales.
Ayden and Gavin have been growing up so fast and have such contrasting personalities. Gavin is an avid reader and “pointer”. His favorite words lately have been “look” and “uh-oh”. Ayden is our wild man. We’ve never seen so much energy and excitement from one little boy, especially when food is present. They both say “kitty cat” and get big smiles on their faces when they see Rocky or Trixy. Unfortunately, the cats don’t share the same appreciation for the boys. One noise or movement from the boys, and Rocky and Trixy are running for dear life. Even thought the cats need some space, we are still one big happy family of six.
We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family to share the wonderful and joyous moments in our lives. We hope everyone has a great holiday and the spirit of the Christmas season will be with all of you.
Love,
Jordan, Chandra, Ayden, Gavin, Rocky & Trixy
This year seemed to be a busy year!! I am hoping any projects I decide to do I'll have planned out months in advance.Before Leaving for Boise my friend invited me to go eat breakfast with Santa at this cute little Jungle play place. It was a lot of fun and the boys had there first encounter with Santa. I was surprised by the boys reactions. Ayden is usually very open to people, he can approach them, but they can not touch him until he is comfortable around them. But even then if he is picked up by someone he doesn't know it takes him a couple minutes before he freaks out. Not with Santa, man, he wanted nothing to do with him. And every time he saw him even if he wasn't close by he'd start to cry and run to me. I think I scared him for life, or maybe a couple of weeks. anyone who had a beard like Santa after that freaked him out. Gavin on the other hand seemed timid, but sat on his lap just fine. That is not my little Gavin, especially when he is in a new area with new people he clings to me, but he sat just fine on Santa. It was a lot of fun, I think they really enjoyed playing there. It was just a pain in the but to get out of the door on time to make the breakfast start time.
We spent Christmas with my family this year and traveled out to Boise. Our flights were filled with delays, but we made it Christmas Eve as planned and the boys did as well as two little 15 month old boys could do. For the most part we were proud of our little
On Christmas moring they woke up bright and early at 5:30, we knew we could count on them!=) My little brother and his wife, daughter, and their cute new little bull dog stayed the night at my parents house with us, which was really nice to have them there Christmas morning. It was nice to have a more relaxed morning than most Christmas's I have had. We had breakfast first, cornbeef hash, eggs, and english muffins (a Simmons tradition). The boys seemed to like it, hopefully that doesn't change because the tradition sure won't change as some of our in-laws have realized! =) My brothers dog had to stay in it's carrier because it is not fully potty trained, but the boys loved it, as long as it was in the case.
There was a dog at the airport that was a little Chihuahua and it was so well mannered. The boys would walk up to it and pet it and touch it's nose and it would just sit there as good as could be. Theboys through a fit whenever I pulled them away from it. So, I think they were a little shock when my brothers dog was a little more active.
Here are some pictures of our Christmas Morning...
The boys opeing up their Christmas lifesaver(gummies) books- another Simmons tradition
This was so funny, Ayden and Teagan were just laughing at each other
The toys Jordan never had---he was enjoying playing with the boys toys
Jordan sharing his favorite chocolates and water with the boys- he had the Christmas Spirit =)
The boys helping clean up
So they can have some more play time!!
The Chaos begins!!! The next day is when my sister was coming into town so that is when we were going to have our "Christmas Dinner". With 18 kids and 12 adults it gets pretty packed!!
But we sure do enjoy being all together......
Aunt Michelle teaching the boys to speed read
After this bath the boys came home and would freak out if they had to get in the tub. They hate getting their hair washed and we have this big cup thing that is ment to help keep water out of their face while rinsing the shampo/conditioner out and it does a pretty good job and holds alot of water so it gets it out pretty quick. We didn't have that at my parents house, but we did have dinky cups and the boys did not like that! They were in the tub with their cousin, teagan, and when they were freking out when we washed there hair, she didn't know what to do, so she started crying to.....what fun times!!
This fist photo is just so funny, Ayden freaking out and Teagan trying to put Gavin's binki in his mouth- kids will be kids right?!!
My sister-in-law wanted a picture with Teagan in the middle and the boys on each side and this one on the right is what we got.
The boys also had a chance to go hookie bobbin for the first time. This was something I gre up doing and plan on keeping up on that tradition. The boys were both wanting to be with me, so whoever wasn't was crying. Gavin went with his unle craig because Jordan didn't have snow pants with him and once we started going the crying stopped. We had to hold our hands over their faces so snow didn't spray on them. Hopefully this didn't scare them to much andwhen they get older they'll appreciate it!! I am sure my little dare devils will handle it just fine though!
They were fine as as long as they were with mom or dad...
Gavin was sporting his cousins pink gloves like a MAN!
Aunt Michelle was nice and pulled all three of us on the sled!
It was a short, but actively full time spent in Boise, we had a great Christmas and were grateful for the time we spent with family and friends.
1 comment:
Ya, that's so embarrasing!! Can you take that off please!! :)
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