Hi all,

This is our formal christmas letter to everyone. Like I mentioned in the previous post, you’ll be getting your cards in the mail soon but here is where you’ll read about what we’ve been up to.

The beginning of the year started off great. We ran the Tough Mudder in January and were absolutely blown away. It was probably the most challenging race I’ve ever run in my life and that’s saying a lot since I was a hurdler and cross country runner throughout my high school days. Of course it’s like comparing apples and oranges, but still. It was loads of fun even though I got hypothermia and almost died in the medical tent. (Not really…but that’s what it felt like.) January also started my 7 week Border Patrol Citizens Academy. That was a real eye opening experience. I met some amazing people who have become more than just instructors and peers, but friends as well. Tommy has signed up for the 2013 January class which he’ll be starting here shortly so we’ll keep you posted on that!

In March we started taking trips out to Hueco Tanks to work on some projects that we had been itching to try for a year. I wasn’t able to send my nemesis, Roughage, since I boogered up my ankle on our final trip out there. It really sucked – that injury also kept me out of the Mudder race we signed up for in July while visiting Holly and Scott in Vermont. Like the stubborn ox that I am, I never went to the Dr. to see what exactly happened. It must have been something pretty bad though, because it still gives me fits out of the blue to this day. True, it’s only been 6 months, but based on the symptoms, it should have healed in 2 months. Granted, I never really gave it a chance since I started climbing 4 days after without a shoe and walking on it even though it was really painful. I tried crutches for about a week but realized they were totally cramping my style…especially while trying to carry around a baby and corral a toddler. The moral of the story is to go to the Dr. if you have an ankle injury that keeps you off your feet and is swollen and bruised for a good 2 weeks. Don’t be dumbass like me. =)

In May we celebrated Henry’s 4th birthday. What a little boy he has become! I think Will has had a huge impact on him. He’s still attending preschool 4 days a week and loves spending time with his friends and teachers. We will more than likely hold him back a year so he can start Kindergarten when he’s 6 instead of 5. When having a parent/teacher conference with his teachers, the principal said if he could have his way, he would hold all boys back for a year (haha) so we’re pretty confident in our decision. He’s brilliantly book smart, but he still needs some time to mature and understand concepts as well as improve on his speech. I think the extra year will give him plenty of time to catch up in those areas. Other than his schooling, he’s showing a real interest in the planets and space right now. He pours over space books and is constantly schooling us on the planets and nebula’s. We’re also pround of what a polite little gentleman he’s become. While grocery shopping in Target one day, a lady came up to us and asked if he was our little boy. We said “yes” and she said “Well, I just wanted to tell you he moved out of my way and said “sorry” and “excuse me…” She then said “Yay parents!” and started clapping for us. Ha ha! That was pretty cool. We have always strived to make sure our children have manners and it looks like our efforts have paid off. Now…Will is another story – but we’ll get to him in a minute.

We also wandered into crazy territory in May and started a little company called CrimpDaddy Climbing. I was looking for a chalk pot online one day but the one I wanted was out of stock, so Tommy suggested that I just make one. The madness began after that and I was feverishly working away on my sewing machine trying to create a cool and functional chalk pot. (For those of you who don’t know, it’s a larger bag made for holding chalk when you boulder.) It was really stressful but a lot of fun. It was difficult to find the time to do any of it since I was at home with the boys and they always let me know when I wasn’t paying enough attention to them. One of the gals that works in the bouldering gym suggested I try and sell them there and amazingly enough, Jay, the owner, bought up 18 of my bags and buckets and sold them in his store. (I think there are still some left! haha) We’re taking a little break from it right now, however, just because I’m burned out and we need to really sit down and figure out some solid paths to follow. I convinced Tommy that we needed a bigger sewing machine for the kinds of things we want to create so we bought an industrial sized monster that’s now sitting in our guest room. It’s a beast!!! I can’t wait to get some time to play around on it. Anyway, we have been taking baby steps with this whole endeavor. We’ll keep you updated with our progress!

At the beginning of July, we took our big 2 week trip out to see Holly and Scott in VT. What a great time! It was absolutely beautiful and we spent a few of those days down in Rhode Island visiting my dads side of the family.  My Aunts, Uncles and Grandma finally got to meet the boys and they all loved them. We hadn’t seen them in such a long time and it was wonderful to catch up and visit. The kids did really good on both the flight out and back. We were so grateful since that was the part of the trip we were least looking forward to. It was hard to return to Tucson and the unbearable heat. While up there, we got the East coast bug and decided that we wanted to move up there to be closer to Holly and Scott and experience something other than the southwest. Tom applied for some jobs, but nothing ever panned out. We were bummed of course, but after the recent election, it turned out that it was actually for the better. I think our place is down here…not necessarily in this city, but down in this part of the country. We have some plans we’re trying to set in motion, but it may be a while before they become realized. In the meantime, we’re going to put our heads down and endure and hope an opportunity comes our way.

We celebrated Williams first birthday in August and have watched him sprout up like a weed ever since. He has taken up Henry’s mantle of The Terror and reigns with chubby fist and peircing shreik. He’s become a very vindictive little boy and is just starting to understand the meaning of the word “No.” We’ve said “Bad baby!” to him so many times, he now says it all on his own when he does something bad. It’s pretty funny actually. He loves following Henry around and leaving messes wherever he goes. If he has something that he shouldn’t or something that you want, he’ll turn and run away and throw it as hard as he can so you can’t get to it. He’s also turned into a parrot…and repeats everything he hears…and yes, even the bad words. He’s very strong willed and insists on doing everything himself…even throwing fits if we try to feed him now. He wants to do it all on his own and has a very independent streak that will hopefully serve him well in the future. We’ll see. In the meantime, he’s been butting heads with mommy and making my life somewhat miserable at times. He is of course an adorable little boy when he wants to be but that seems to depend on the wane of the moon sometimes. My mom constantly teases me about Will being my “sweet angel.” Yeah, what the heck happened!!? =)

Things were pretty quiet from September to November and then we all started getting sick. Henry brought home a flu that passed to everyone and it’s been like a groundhog day ever since. We can’t seem to come up for air. I’m hoping that this break from school and work will give us a reprieve…but it’s only been a few days since Will was recently sick so we’ll have to wait and see.