I have been so behind on all my presents I am making that I haven't even mailed out the Christmas newsletter yet! So some of you are getting this via the blog.......SORRY! This is the exact same copy everyone without email/internet is getting.....anyhow, here it goes:
December 2009
Dear family and friends,
Most of you follow our lives on our blog. www.kevinandamylords.blogspot.com. For those of you that don’t, there is the address. Feel free to take a peek at our lives and here are a few highlights our family has had this past year.
We had a great summer! We started by going down to Encinitas, CA for a week. We could see the ocean out our window and played there frequently. Daniel isn’t allowed to play in any water but well chlorinated pools and the ocean. So we are grateful to a good friend and her sister who paid for our room down there! We LOVED it and can’t wait to go back and play some more. We have some other great friends that let us come over to their personal pool frequently this summer and play. We did not lack for want of water play this summer.
Our next fun summer trip was to Utah. We went over a few days early to stay with my sister’s family. We went to the Oquirrah Temple Open House. We were introduced to fondue by my sister and have become fondue addicts! We then had a Lords’ Family reunion. It was a lot of fun! We pulled up and there was an inflatable water slide…..need I say more? No, I don’t, but I will…..games, playing at a park and an amazing community pool! FUN!
The highlight of our year easily was Daniel’s Make-A-Wish. Picked up in a limo, flown to Salt Lake City, rental van waiting, Hilton hotel, zoo tickets, shopping spree at Deseret Book and 1 ½ hours with the prophet…..Thomas S Monson! AMAZING! He is a prophet! He is kind, gentle, loving, a story teller, funny, just plain amazing and everything you ever imagined him to be! We had an amazing time and Daniel and Sammy still pray to “see President Monson again and ride on the airplane”. If you would like to read about this, check out the beginning few entries of November on our blog.
Samuel & Daniel turn 4 on the 23rd. Can’t believe how big they are getting! Daniel is almost 16 months post transplant. He has caught up and passed Sammy in weight by 4 pounds and is about 1 inch taller. He has never been the ‘big’ brother! He has had 3 biopsies this year. The last one being in October. He results came back that there was no signs of rejection, no Prograf toxicity and we were able to wean him off the NG tube that gave him his nightly liquids. We are less than 2 weeks off the tube and it’s pretty exciting! Daniel and Sammy are really fun to watch play. They are into their animals! They each have a little back pack they load and unload all day long! Sammy is still our “Hammy Sammy’. Always trying to make people laugh. Our favorite thing he does is get this serious, loving voice and say, “I love you so much!” It melts your heart!
Nathan turns 6 in January. He started kindergarten this year and has a really good teacher! His speech is coming along really well and we think it is because he is learning to read. He is really trying harder and harder to pronounce things. Nathan is really caring and helps a lot around the house. He is a great helper and ‘picker-upper’ (as he calls it). Vacuuming is his favorite job! He’s a keeper!
Bryce is 7 and in 2nd grade. Bryce is still our passionate boy. (I wonder how many years in a row I have said that.) He is a really good student and loves to go, go, go! Bryce is very artistic and is often trailing paper and drawings all over the house.
Comptyn is 8 and in 3rd grade. He was baptized in June by his father. It was a wonderful day! He also started Cub Scouts. He is already done with his Wolf and is excited to work on some electives. Comptyn is in GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) at school and is LOVING it! Comptyn still loves to help a lot and is an avid reader!
Ryan is 9 and in 4th grade. He still does really good in school and enjoys GATE, too. Wednesday are his and Comptyn’s favorite days of the week! Ryan just completed his Bear in scouts and has earned a few arrows already. Ryan is joining 4H because we have just gotten 8 chickens! We have some Banties, Leg Horns and Road Island Reds. He is really excited! Actually all the kids are! They finally have a pet, they say. I am just excited to get eggs!
Kevin was ‘forced transferred’ from the Junior High Principal to the High School Principal this year. He was sad to leave the Jr. High. The HS has been a challenge and the first month was really, really hard on him! But things are getting better and running smoother. He is 2 ½ years into being Bishop and also still working on his dissertation for his doctorate. STILL! With all these other time requirements, he has little time left over to write! We are hoping May 2010 to graduate.
I am still just doing mom and wife things! My home based business is doing well. Grateful for that! I have been taking voice lessons for a few months now. I have a great teacher! She is very patient with me. . I had my first solo at our Christmas recital……everyone else was very nice and said it went well. I hope my nerves don’t get the best of me so much at the spring recital! I have been reading most of the books for our book club this year. I made a New Year’s Resolution to read Miracle of Forgiveness, Jesus the Christ and Christ The New Testament. I am on the last book and have a few more weeks to finish it. They have been my 3 favorite books for 2009. They are amazing books! They have helped my knowledge, testimony and love for my Savior grow.
How grateful we are to have that knowledge, testimony and love for our Savior! We know that He is the source of all our blessings. May these holidays be happy and safe for you and your family. We also hope that 2010 will be filled with many blessings. May 2010 be a wonderful year for you and your family!
Love
The Lords’ Family
Kevin, Amy, Ryan, Comptyn, Bryce, Nathan, Daniel, Samuel
amylords@gmail.com
