Merry Christmas 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas! We love each of you, and we pray daily for those of you whom we know are going through a hard time right now. We hope that you will feel the peace and healing of our Savior as you celebrate his birth. Here is an update on our family:

Jared (37) has had a busy year. In addition to working full time and serving as the first counselor in our ward bishopric, he spent many hours studying for the DAT and filling our applications to dental school. He is now looking forward to starting at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona in August of 2018. Despite his busy schedule, Jared takes time to read to the kids each night (This year he read The Beyonders series, The Book of Three, The Hobbit, and now The Lord of the Rings). He also does science experiments, rockets, volcanoes, and other Tinkercrate projects with the kids.

Mary (38) I was happy to welcome baby Brooklyn into our family in March. I had a difficult recovery from the c-section and pregnancy, but thanks for some physical therapy and starting a finning class at the YMCA, I am doing much better. I am grateful for the blessing of being able to stay home with my sweet kids. I am busy each day with homeschooling and other mom duties. It was hard to have my sister move back to Utah this summer, but on the plus side it's forced me to get out of my comfort zone and develop new friendships. I enjoy my calling as a primary teacher. In my free time I love reading and discussing books with Jared.

Abigail (11) has grown a lot this year in many ways. Not only is she several inches taller, but she is becoming more helpful and responsible. She also outgrew her piano teacher who told us that Abby needed someone more advanced, so in September she began studying with a concert pianist and we are pleased with her progress. Abby loves making clothes and things for her doll, building with LEGOs, sewing, and reading. She works hard at gymnastics and is a speedy swimmer.

Madeline (10) is happiest doing things. Each day she is up early working and checking off things on her homeschool task list. She is usually finished by lunch time, after which she designs and builds things with LEGOs, draws pictures, does extra piano practice, or works on sewing and craft projects. She loves bike riding and swimming, and was excited to finally master the back handspring in gymnastics.

Nathan (8) was excited to be baptized this year. He likes riding his bike and has improved a lot at swimming and gymnastics. He enjoys reading, LEGOs, Star Wars, and Cub Scouts, but his biggest  obsession is dogs. He draws pictures of them and pours over dog books from the library. We explained that we can't one in our current rental house, and we probably won't be able to afford one until after Jared finishes dental school, so he is doing his best to wait patiently. In the meantime I told him that a baby sister is a lot like a dog--they roll around on the floor, slobber on you, and love you unconditionally.

Thomas (would be 5)  We miss our sweet angel boy and think of him often.

Audrey (3) is full of enthusiasm and always wants something fun to do. She is proud of being a big girl and thinks she can now do anything her older siblings can. She enjoys preschool time with mom and storytime at the library. Audrey likes books, dressing up, and dancing (turning in circles). She was mostly potty trained before Brooklyn was born, but now she is only interested in trying during sacrament meeting or after bedtime. We call her "our little bag lady" because she finds bags and fills them full of her treasures and drags them around the house.

Brooklyn (9 months) is our little red headed leprechaun born on St. Patrick's day. We are completely charmed by her sweet cuddles, smiles, and laughter. Brooky (Audrey came up with the nickname and it stuck) likes sitting up and playing with toys, but doesn't seem interested in crawling. She says a few words like momma, dadda, and babba (for baby dolls and her reflection). She is a momma's girl who is happiest in my arms. We feel lucky to have her in our family.

Since we had grandparents come to us (for Brooklyn's baby blessing and Nathan's baptism), we spent the year close to home exploring Texas. In February we visited Marble Falls with Mary's parents. In August we took another trip with them to New Braunfels where the kids enjoyed visiting Schlitterbahn and Landa Park. At the end of August Jared and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary with a trip to South Padre Island (with kids in tow since Brooklyn is still nursing). We got to see dolphins and sea turtles, and enjoyed a beautiful beach with nice, warm (84 F) water. Unfortunately our visit was cut short when we had to evacuate for Hurricane Harvey. In October we thought it might finally be cool enough to attempt camping at Davy Crockett National Forest, but it was so hot we ended up sleeping on top of our sleeping bags! We still had a great time, and we look forward to more camping this spring.

It's been a busy but wonderful year for our family and we look forward to our new adventures in 2018.  We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and we wish you and your family the best in the coming year.

Love,

The Collett Family