Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2012

I would say life has been more normal this year, but I guess that would depend on your definition of normal.  We began this year by taking a big leap into the world of homeschooling.  After weighing our options, we decided it would be best to pull Noah out of public school and homeschool him.  It was difficult at first, but we have found a good curriculum and are involved in a homeschool group as well.  Noah seems to really enjoy it and is really fast at math. He is a good big brother and helps us with chores and little projects.  Noah continues to amaze us each day and is very curious about how things work.  He celebrated his 6^th birthday in May and got to celebrate it again at Disney World thanks to Ashley’s cousin Robert getting tickets for us. In other happenings for Noah, he started Cub Scouts this fall and has to do all sorts of fun stuff with that.

Foster has grown up so much this year.  He is now almost completely potty trained and is just a little chatter box. He keeps us going and is definitely more challenging that Noah was.  Foster enjoys being the baby of the family, constantly looking for attention and being silly. He likes playing with Thomas train and anything that his brother is doing.  Foster turned 2 in August and we had a “painting party” which was lots of fun.  Our boys certainly keep us busy and we are very blessed to have them in our lives.

 

 Ashley has kept busy with the boys, volunteering at church and being an Independent Director with Pampered Chef. In March, she had a directors retreat in Tennessee and experienced severe weather in the mountains. She has done $10,000 more in sales this year and has enjoyed getting to meet a lot of new people with her business.  Ashley has also been doing a cooking club once a month at our house, which I am the honorary grill master for.  She rarely has a dull moment at home, but welcomes friends and family anytime!

I am enjoying my job at the vet school which allows me to spend more time with my family.  Currently, I am learning MRI and continue to take on more responsibilities at work.  I have worked with a variety of animals including monkeys, tigers, manatees and many crazy dogs.  In my spare time, I enjoy doing various projects at our house or projects for friends and family.  Most days, I bike to work and get to exercise while I commute six miles to and from work.  I also am thankful to have good benefits that allows for paid leave to spend lots of time with friends and family.

As a family we have enjoyed our many visitors that have stayed with us and we would love to have more people visit in 2013. We have also found a church family we love, Anthem- a Northpoint Strategic Partner, and have enjoyed the friends we have met through our small group.  Looking back over this year, it is hard to believe how fast it went by and how our boys have grown.  Next year, we hope to grow our family through adoption.  We are planning on working with a local agency starting in the spring.

  This has been a good year for us and I feel blessed to have the family and friends we do.  Merry Christmas from the Bolins. We hope to see you soon.