Merry Christmas!

Greetings Friends and Family!

Time for the annual Christmas letter.  I’m going to work Tim into this whole Christmas card/letter thing slowly, so no shenanigans this year.  Just a boring old letter.  But don’t you DARE put your letter down because our lives are so fascinating it is worth a read.  (OR just humor me and pretend we are cool.)

So… let’s see.  Well, nothing much happened this year for the girls and I.  I only met the man of my dreams, got engaged, moved to St Charles and the girls switched schools.  But hey - nothing major happened. (insert winky face here)  Quite honestly, 2016 has been a whirlwind and we have so much to talk about!

Tim and I started dating in March.  No, we did not meet on sixthgradeteachers.com, but yes, we are both sixth grade teachers.  And yes, we did meet online. Hey - maybe we should start a teachersonly.com.  Goodness knows only teachers are crazy enough to date other teachers.  Tim also refs basketball, football and volleyball.  I’m sure over the years I have seen him dozens of times and maybe even yelled at him or called him names.  Luckily I didn’t make enough of a butt of myself that he remembers me.  Whew!  However, even as his fiance I’m not afraid to point out when I think he’s not making the right call.  He always seems to have a reply though or a threat to kick me out of the game.  You’d think by now he would have learned that I view threats as a challenge.

The girls and I moved to St Charles to join Taylin, Carter and Tim towards the end of June.  It has been quite a change for everyone.  Tim, Taylin and Carter had to learn to live with a neat freak.  It isn’t easy living with me, especially for a trio of proud collectors.  But they accepted us with open arms, smiles and joy and we are one big, happy and slightly crazy family today.  It took many loads to Salvation Army and Goodwill, and by loads, I mean truck and trailer loads (not trunk full) but we managed to whittle down two households of stuff into one.  Hopefully we won’t be missing anything other than Libby’s copy of the original Pete’s Dragon that she has been whining about.  How was I to know she was emotionally attached to a VCR tape?

My girls had to learn about big families.  We’ve gone from holiday and family gatherings of 12 (including us) to holiday and family gatherings of 30 or more.  We are so blessed to be a part of a fun loving and close family that welcomed us all with open arms.  Carter and Tay have had to learn about horses and the giant time suck that they are.  But so worth it as any of my horse crazy friends and family will understand.

It has been a challenge to have 4 kids all in the upper grades and all so active in activities.  We love it!  Keeps us on our toes and despite synchronizing our schedules/calendars (really Tim - it’s almost 2017, time to ditch the paper calendar), we still have to daily figure out who is going where and how everyone is getting home.  Taylin, Sophie and Carter are currently full swing in their basketball season.  Sophie and Tay are also balancing the start of a JO volleyball season which will carry through until spring.  Sophie, Taylin and Libby all recently performed at the DE musical, The Wizard of Oz.  Thank you to all the friends and family that attended their performances.   Even though we are in the depths of winter now, we know that spring will be here before we know it.  Spring brings track season, softball season, more riding and horse shows and more. Good thing we love busy.  

Libby got her license this year and Carter completed driver’s training so will be driving soon as well.  Good thing to have more chauffeurs to get everyone to and from where they need to go.  Libby has kept busy working at Graham’s Arena and riding and working with our own horses as well.  She also helps out at the Village Square when she can. Tim continues to milk, ref, coach, teach and I’m pretty sure “save the world” might be one of the tasks on his to do list.  We have a pretty high opinion of him at our house.  I’m still teaching at FC and waitressing at the Village.  I’m also quite sure that “picking up of all random things” is one of my job titles, at work and at home.  

For the horse loving folks, we currently have 4 horses, but we can’t say we have a horse of a different color.  We have a bay (Ace), another bay (China), a bay WITH a blanket (Kuzco) and a palomino (Coupe); all under the age of 4.  We do have a couple breeds represented though.  We have a POA (Pony of America), appaloosa, and 2 quarter horses that will also be registered as a palomino and a pinto.  We hope to be ready to hit the SEMSCA show circuit this May and get to as many shows as possible.  Hopefully with less rainouts, rain delays and general mucky mess.  

Well, I am sure there is more I could say, never been at a loss for words myself, but I had better wrap it up before I bore you all to tears (and run out of room). Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our house to yours.  

Tim, Melissa, Libby, Carter, Sophie and Taylin