Hello friends and family that we love!
It has been a few years since you have heard from us, so we thought we would send you a holiday greeting and a little update on our family as this year ends.
Our oldest boy, Tyler, is a big boy of 8 ½ years! He is a great reader. You will always find a book in his hand. He has recently read the entire Persey Jackson series (are his newest favorite), and is currently reading the Narnia series (Mom and Dad’s favorite). Tyler works hard at school and seems to thrive in all subjects, but has a natural talent for drawing. Tyler is a true thinker. He notices things about people and has a strong desire to understand everything around him. He loves helping people. He wants to be a Herpetologist when he grows up (a person who studies reptiles, snakes, and amphibians). He has learned much about them already from all his reading. He loves to ride his bike and play sports. He has become a cub scout this year and loves all the things he is learning. He has already earned his Bobcat and Tiger badges and 2 arrows! Tyler loves to play games. We find him often playing 5 crowns, Kings in the corner, chess, and banana grams. His cousins have also introduced him recently to Pokémon, so he is asking for a deck of cards for Christmas. Tyler is a very loving boy and a giver. We couldn't ask for a better big brother for our other 3 boys.
Justin is 6 yrs old and does everything with enthusiasm and excitement! He has a very fun loving personality. He loves to laugh and be extremely silly. He has an incredible imagination, which makes even the wildest things seem real in his mind. He loves to pretend he is a monkey, or a frog, or HEROES. His favorite heroes are Superman and Buzzlightyear. Justin's emotions are a huge open book, where you never have to guess whether he is happy or sad. You always know with Justin. He loves playing with legos, bionicles, and hero factory. He loves to dance and has a great singing voice. Justin is in 1st grade this year and loves to read! He is already reading chapter books, and he just learned to read this last year! He also likes recess and math. Both Justin and Tyler recently received their “Math Blasters” award, which is the highest math achievement awarded at their school! We have seen Justin mature a great deal this year. He has become a very responsible boy, and works really hard to do the right things. He is really great at helping people and making friends! Justin loves everybody and is great at giving compliments.
3rd in line and 3 years old is Caleb! He is a very fast learner and very smart. He was crawling at 4 months old and has been extremely active ever since! If we took a tally of which one of us was winning in the battle of smarts, Caleb or Mom and Dad. Caleb wins, just about every time! He truly thinks he is 8 yrs old and can do anything his big brothers can. He is also very determined to get what he wants and has a great sense of routine and order. If things are different or hard, he finds a way to resolve it. Caleb really likes puzzles, games, and coloring pictures. He also loves music! He will often play the piano and sing songs to us or himself. It is his job to direct the music during Family Home Evening, and he loves it. Caleb has learned his colors, shapes, and counting this year, and is working on his letters and numbers. He has also learned to go potty! ( YEAH!) Mommy and Caleb have really enjoyed their one-on-one time since school started (when the big boys are at school) and have been doing lots of fun things together. We even take a kids exercise class a couple days a week at the local community center. Caleb is a very HAPPY, FRIENDLY, and LOVING boy. He is great at giving kisses and making people feel special.
We are so happy to have 4 boys! Logan was born in October 2009. He is a fun and sweet boy. We love his beautiful big shining eyes that glisten when he smiles. He loves attention, which he never is short of around our home. His favorite is mommy, although his older brother, Tyler, is a close second. He is now 14 months old and has not learned to walk yet. Who knows, it may not happen till he is 18 months! Until then, I imagine him still speed crawling to follow us around. He seems to be always happy (again, as long as someone pays attention to him). Although he is getting better at playing on his own, and has discovered the fun of getting into cupboards, drawers, or reaching onto the table to find treasures and make messes. He is quite good at making messes, and smiling really cute when mommy finds him in them. Logan loves games like peek-a-boo, and chase (others chase him, as he crawls around), in which he laughs with delight. He also loves his bottle, but the funny part is he rarely holds it with his hands. He likes to bite it with his teeth and suck all the air out so he can drag the bottle underneath him while he crawls around and plays. He is a busy and happy boy. We love him so much!
I love getting to stay home with my boys when they are young and watch them grow! It is hard sometimes, when I realize how old they are getting, but exciting to see them accomplishing so much, and making so many good choices. I am so proud of them! I stay busy being mom and taking care of all that needs to be done in our home. Some days I wonder what I’ve gotten done that day, but I still keep trying to check things off my “to do” list. Most lately, I have been trying to learn how to feed my family in a more healthy way. I have been trying lots of new recipes and taking more trips to the produce market. I have also learned to love to be more active, and have put regular exercise closer to the top of my priority list. It is amazing the difference it makes in how I feel! I am excited about all the things I have learned and my smaller waist line!
Jim has also worked really hard, and has lost over 40 lbs since August! He makes the big sacrifice to get up extra early, so that he can accomplish all that he needs to. Jim is currently teaching at Highland Arts Elementary school. It is a great school! He is teaching Math and Reading to 6th graders. He is doing such a great job and learning more all of the time. The students think he is the “cool” teacher! Jim loves that we now send our 2 boys to school with him, so he gets to see them a lot more often. The boys give him hugs or wave to him from across the school. And they get to play in Dad’s classroom after they have finished their homework when school is over. It is fun for all three of them! We feel so blessed that he has a good job! Jim was recently called to be 2nd counselor in our wards bishopric at church. It requires much more of his time and service, but it is really wonderful for him to have the opportunity to grow close to so many wonderful people in our neighborhood. He is serving very selflessly and lovingly. I am very proud of him. It is also a great growing experience for him.
Some of the fun things our family has done lately are:
We took a big trip to Colorado this summer to visit Grandma and Grandpa, where we did fishing, camping, hiking, elk watching, chipmunk feeding, and picnicking and games.
Jim and I just teamed together in our first Triathlon in October.
Tyler and Justin both performed in a youth musical theater play of “Alice in Wonderland”. Tyler was Tweedle Dum and Justin was a Rock Lobster.
We got to visit family in Utah and visit Temple square in Salt Lake.
We went camping 6 times this last summer (well the boys and Dad did 6, I only did 4)
We have explored much of the hiking areas around our home with the boys. We have found it to be a great family activity and good exercise!
The boys try to keep creepy crawlies (bugs, frogs, crickets, crawdads) quite often in our home, and mommy has learned to say, “The bugs need to stay with their own family in their own home”. However we have still managed to keep our pet snake in my room these last 2 years!
Both Caleb and Justin got glasses to see better, but neither of them wear them very much.
Tyler was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in March
Our boys participated in little league baseball last season and will be doing it again this next year. Justin really liked sliding to all the bases, and Tyler became a pretty good catcher.
Jim and I got to visit our friends in HAWAII in March!! We LOVED it! SO beautiful! We especially loved playing at the beach, watching the whales and turtles, and hiking to the waterfall and lighthouse!
We are so very blessed to experience so many great things in our life and to have so many people we love and love us! We very much hope you find peace and joy in your holiday celebrations. We are so grateful to know of our Saviors birth, and to remember Jesus’ miraculous life of service, love, and sacrifice. We know it is because of Jesus Christ, we can find peace and hope in these troubled times, and look forward to a life forever as a family! It brings us so much comfort to know that Jesus knows us individually, and loves us, and has a plan for us to grow from our life’s experiences. We are trying to learn every day. Thanks to all of you who teach us and are our loving examples!
Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!
With love,
The Cook family (Jim, Brooke, Tyler, Justin, Caleb, and Logan)
No comments:
Post a Comment