10. Isaac and I flew to Colorado in January to visit my sisters in Boulder. We spent the week hiking, rock climbing, swimming, shopping, watching movies and taking Isaac to the Denver Aquarium. While we were having a blast in Boulder, Gary’s company took him to Las Vegas for the World of Concrete Convention (he had a blast as well!).
9. Our little baby boy (well not so little anymore) turned one in March. We celebrated with family in Sheldon and even though he had a double ear infection he thoroughly enjoyed his cake and opening his presents. He began walking at 13 months and he has been non-stop since. We joke all the time that he is our Curious George because he’s always climbing or investigating something.
8. Gary turned 30! My best friend and I threw a double 30th birthday bash for Gary and her husband; friends joined us at their house for dinner, cake and ice cream. He continuously tells me that “once you hit 30 it’s all down hill;” he’s always got some sort of ache or pain lately. I think it’s his job, he thinks it’s his age :). Either way he has left me no hope in looking forward to turning 30!
7. Isaac enjoyed his first trip to the zoo! He had just learned to walk so he was more interested in all this space he had to roam around rather than looking at all the animals. We still had a fun time, but he was more interested in the animals the second time we took him to the zoo this summer.
6. Branson, Missouri was our vacation spot this summer. We spent the week with Gary’s family (33 of us total!) at Aunt’s Creek Resort. It was a hot week so most of the week was spent on the water-- boating, swimming, skiing, wakeboarding, tubing and cliff jumping. Isaac had a great time playing with all of his cousins and Gary and I enjoyed the extra help in keeping him entertained!
5. In September, we attended my 10 year high school reunion in Sheldon. My class had dinner together at a restaurant and then had a bon fire at Hill’s Park. It was fun to reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time.
4. This fall we had fun taking Isaac to the Center Grove apple orchard and trick or treating for the first time. At the Orchard he thought it was so funny to feed the goats; he chuckled the whole time and he loved to eat the apples fresh from the tree. He also enjoyed riding the train with his friend Ashley. Isaac dressed as Curious George this year for Halloween, we are biased but we thought he made the cutest little monkey! We went trick-or-treating with good friends of ours, so all together we had a monkey, a cow girl and an Indian…they were definitely a hit with other trick-or-treaters!
3. Gary still enjoys his work and the company he is with. I still love this time that I have to be able to be home with Isaac and raise him. People ask me all the time why I stay home, wouldn't I rather go back to work, don't you get bored, and what do you do all day? Well there's lots of reasons I stay home with Isaac, I wouldn't even dream of going back to work right now, no I don't get bored...everyday goes too fast as it is, and I teach, train/correct/discipline and play with my child all day. I still enjoy teaching fitness classes a couple times a week!
2. At 20 months, Isaac is walking, running, climbing and talking. We are having so much fun watching him grow and learn so many new things. He loves playing with his “frucs” (trucks/tractors) and he is very much like his daddy, he enjoys building with his blocks and legos. Most of what he says is complete jibberish but his favorite words so far are: oh-no, no, baby, ba-bye, moe-moo, (milk & water) stinky ooh-ooh (pee-yew), qwah-qwah (what a duck says) and shoes. I taught Isaac baby sign language so he will also sign a lot of things that he wants which is very helpful. He knows most animal sounds and will make most of them and most recently he has added poo-poo to his list of words. I’m hopeful this means he will potty train early and quickly :) (fingers are crossed)! Isaac continues to be quite the lover and gives us lots of cuddles and kisses.
1. Even though this hasn’t officially happened yet we know it will be a highlight of our year. My family is spending Christmas in Colorado this year; everyone will be together…Gary, Isaac and I, mom, dad, my sisters and their boyfriends and my aunt and uncle. We haven’t all been together for Christmas since 2004 so we are really looking forward to this time with my family. We plan on spending the week skiing, snowmobiling, snow-shoeing, as well as many other things. Most importantly I’m just looking forward to us all being together and enjoying family traditions that are special to our family.
There has been much to reflect on this past year and we have so many things to be thankful for. Like so many of you there have also been many trials this past year that we are looking forward to leaving in 2008 and hope don’t follow into 2009. We are grateful to God for keeping us in His Grace; we have seen His presence in so many ways this year. Our prayer for all of you is that, more than physical or material blessings and abundance, you would grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, the world’s only Savior. We hope you have a blessed Christmas and New Year.
In Love,
Gary, Jess & Isaac
