It's time for my annual blog post! It's also going to be my Christmas newsletter. Sadly, that's the best I can manage.
What a year! Here is our top 10 happenings for 2013:
1. Arthur went from being a baby to being a toddler. Wow, he grew a lot. He started walking and talking and getting into everything! Of course he is adorable, bright, and fastidious. He even cleans up after himself (sort of).
2. Alex can read! Happy day! Alex is in first grade and his reading skills have improved tremendously. He loves science, Star Wars, Legos and anything humorous. He takes after his daddy quite a bit.
3. We learned a lot more about Quinn. Our sweet little Quinn is in preschool and loves it. His craniofacial medical team convinced us to get genetic testing done on him. Frankly, now I wish we had done it sooner. We found out that he has a genetic condition called 22Q deletion syndrome. A tiny piece of one of his chromosome is missing. This explains the cleft palate and various other problems. We are extremely lucky because so many kids with this syndrome have much more severe medical problems including heart problems, seizures, and immune problems. But it does help explain a lot about Quinn. He is still sweet, affectionate and obsessed with Star Wars and light sabors. Everyday he is a new character :-)
4. Employma is gaining momentum! Erin and his family are launching a business that will match employers and job seekers like never before. Job boards and traditional recruiting suck. There, I said it. But in all truth Employma will do it better, faster and cheaper. Everyone wins. It has been a crazy year trying to make ends meet and start a business. It's not for the faint of heart.
5. We traveled. A little. Although the DeSpain family lakehouse is gone we still managed to get the gang together several time this year. Memorial day, 4th of July, baptisms and Thanksgiving brought Erin's family together. We also managed to get to Utah this summer. We had lots fun this summer and the kids even got to have swimming lessons thanks to Grandma T. Erin traveled the most this year though. He went to Orlando and Nashville for business. Ironically, he doesn't really like traveling.
6. Two special grandparents passed away. In March my Oma passed away. She was a special lady. One of the best cooks I know. She was crafty before it was hip. We miss her a lot. Although I couldn't make it to the funeral, I was able to see her shortly before she passed away. In the summer Erin's grandfather passed away suddenly. Erin enjoyed calling his grandfather in Colorado and talking politics and philosophy. We are thankful for the chances we had to visit him over the past 11 years.
7. My grandfather remarried. That might surprise some folks, but my grandpa was quite lonely. My grandmother had been in a steady decline over the past year. He married a very nice lady, who is originally from Cuba. My grandfather is quite the linguist and speaks German and Spanish (self taught).
8. I cooked and baked a lot. I enjoy the culinary arts. Most of the time. I also enjoy good food. By virtue of starting a business and being broke that meant we ate out a lot less. And even when we did eat out it was not at many fancy places. I got a lot of help from the Food Network Magazine. With forays into intricate lasagna, rolls, cheesecake, and even gluten free food. I think we eat pretty well at our house. Lest I give you the wrong idea, not all of my efforts pay off. But I don't give up. Not often anyway.
9. Erin got his patent. After a couple of years of writing, submitting, resubmitting and defending the patent was finally granted this fall. I know it sounds like a lot of time, but in terms of a patent it was actually pretty fast. That was one of our miracles this year. If you want to know what this patent will do see #4.
10. We learned it's the little things that make life good. Playing chase with your kids. A tasty meal. Watching fireflies. So many good things in life that don't cost much. Don't get me wrong, I miss some luxuries like new cars, vacations, new clothes and such, but I've learned that you can live without them. Gratitude and humility are the antidotes to pride and envy. I've got a lot to be thankful for.
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