Another year in Florida for our family. We moved out of the "banana mansion", so nicknamed for it's yellow color and size. As Jessica said when we moved in, "This place looks like a drug lord lives here." And we are still pretty certain, that at one point in time, that was likely the case... We now live just up the road, so to speak, from there in a more modest home with lovely jungle surroundings. Best of all, it put us in the school district so that Stephen and Lars could go to the same high school this year, it left Madelyn in the same school, in fact we are within walking distance of her middle school and we got to stay in the same ward. Great stuff all the way round!
Brooke came home from serving a successful mission in Rosario, Argentina in March. She loved her mission and Randy and I were able to fly down and get her. We had an eventful trip: we lost luggage, were rerouted due to a strike, got lost ourselves, met and visited amazing people, ate interesting things (and some not-so-interesting things), Randy found his driving "home" (he loved the lunacy and fit right in on the roads), and got to see Brooke in a new light (she loved and was loved by the people there). It was an amazing trip! Since her return, she attended a semester at BYUI, transferred to BYU-SLC, got a job waitressing, totaled her car (she was unhurt, gratefully) and moved to Provo, where she will be attending BYU this winter, the job even transferred her to another store so she didn't have to job hunt again. She returns to Utah tomorrow and will be sorely missed!
Jess lived with us for the first few months of the year, earned her EMT, came to love Florida and all it has to offer and just enjoyed being at home for a while. We loved having her here. She returned to the West with Brooke in April. She, however, was returning to work on the Green and Colorado Rivers in Moab for another eventful season as a White Water River Guide. She really loves her job. She mountain biked, camped and climbed all over on her off days and loved her time there. She transferred to UVU in Orem and enjoyed her semester there, living with other river guides and rediscovered her love for cooking. She is back home for another break with us and will be taking online courses and working while here, in addition to putting in time at a local climbing gym. We love having her with us again.
Stephen decided he really needed classroom structure (a decision he needed to come to on his own) and that he wanted to be a real Senior in high school. This after a year of being an internet student, of sorts. He learned a lot about himself and really honed his guitar skills and is even discovering the piano, on his own terms (he never was very big on piano lessons when he was little) and is quite an amazing musician. He earned his Eagle in scouting and returned to traditional school at the high school Lars was already attending. He has made many new friends and gotten involved on the wrestling team, which he has enjoyed (we are currently hoping to get a waiver from FHSAA so that he can actually wrestle competitively as he is a 5th year high school student, he is very good and really wants to get out there and compete at meets). He will be starting a job with a friend of ours that tunes and rebuilds pianos to be player pianos, using a revolutionary product that he helped design, using ipods no less. Stephen is pretty excited about that and completing his Senior year.
Lars is a Junior in the International Baccalaureate program at his high school, it is rigorous and demanding and he threatens to quit about once a month. I always just tell him it is his choice and he then mulls it over and says he wants to stay in. He is the captain of the wrestling team at his high school and has a 17-1 record so far this season, he really does love wrestling. He is a unique wrestler at 6'5" weighing 191. He is long, skinny and really strong. It is a lot of fun to watch him wrestle. He is weighing college options at this time and is leaning heavily towards one of the military academies. He plans to spend a week this summer at West Point's leadership camp for high school students. He and Stephen are quite popular with all the girls around here and they get invited to stuff all over the area by kids from church. They are a pair of real socialites in their own right...
Madelyn is in 8th grade and is involved in the choir at her school. She absolutely loves singing and tried out for and was accepted in the Advanced Choir at her school. She also qualified for State Choir through the competition process and is very excited to be in that this coming spring. She has become an avid reader, she has always enjoyed reading, but this year she has really gotten hooked. She has become a HUGE Harry Potter fan in the process and blew through all the volumes this past fall. She loves her friends and hanging out with them, going to the mall, etc. She is also a big fan of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. She and I absolutely love, love, love riding the roller coasters and have taken advantage of the annual passes we have there doing exactly that! She is already mulling over the direction of study she will pursue in high school and looking forward to that. (I am just in shock that she is already to that point! Where does the time go?)
Randy and I have had a great year, all things considered. We picked up Brooke, as noted, survived septic tank problems (really ugly in a 6500 sf house), attended girls camp and high adventure with the Priests (respectively), served as trek parents for our Stake Youth Conference (can I get a 'holla' from the Goble family?!), moved, sailed the Gulf Intercoastal with friends, I took the kids on a trek of a different type as we criss-crossed the country visiting friends and family over the summer with Randy joining us off and on, then settled down in our new place and stayed busy with work and church throughout all the craziness of the year. We are also grateful to report that we are healthy and happy.
Looking back, there were good times, bad times, funny times, annoying times, but all in all it was far more good than not and a great year when all was said and done. I am grateful for all the family and friends that we have seen, visited with, kept in touch with (thank you facebook and blogs) and been grateful for as a part of our lives. The gospel remains central in our lives throughout all of this and we are grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope the past year has been a good one for all of you too!
