Good-bye to 2012

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas. Once again, we didn't send out holiday greetings. I wanted to. Unfortunately, we are in a similar situation as last year...unemployment is here again for the Chief, and every dime is very closely accounted for. So, sending cards just didn't make it on the budget this year.

I'll include the pics of my darling boys that I would have sent, had cards gone out...




Seth, our baby. He turned 7 this month! He is loving first grade. He is also getting skinny. He is a picky eater, but in a desperate attempt to get him to eat, we let him eat whatever he wants: marshmallows and wheat thins are probably his two favorite things! He love Jr. Jazz Basketball and flying his R/C Helicopter.



 

Noah will turn 11 next month. He is still our all american athlete. He played football this fall, and he is currently playing Jr. Jazz Basketball. He is a really good student. He had a traumatic experience this summer, getting attacked by a neighbor's dog. He endured many stitches after getting bit and scratched in 5 different areas of his body. He fortunately still loves dogs, but is weary of big, unknown dogs, especially rottweilers.

 

 My McKay is 13...a teenager. He got a phone for his birthday, which he pays for each month. He is way into Minecraft. He is working on his Scouts, though his mom wishes he would be a bit more dedicated with it. He is kind to his brothers, and very responsible. He surprised himself with how much he is enjoying choir in the 7th grade, though he refuses to think about singing in the Ward choir at church. He is never without his I-pod.

 

 

I'm working both jobs. It is a challenge at times, trying to juggle work, kids, chores, grocery shopping, friendships, and my newest church calling. I was asked in the October to be the President of the Relief Society in my ward, which is the local women's organization at church. It means that I've been able to get to know a lot of my neighbors a lot better, and been able to serve others, which has helped me to now focus on stressful things we are dealing with here at home.

 

The Chief has been unemployed since November 9th. He has had a few interviews, and has another coming this week. I appreciate how diligent he is in looking for work.

 

Despite the situation, we still went through with going to Arizona for Thanksgiving. We had reserved our condo down in Tucson the year prior, and we were able to go and spend the week with my sister, Heidi, and her family. It was a really fun, relaxing time for our family. Tucson is really a neat place.

 

Since September, the Chief's brother, Tom, has been living with us. The Chief loves having his brother here. I'm really outnumbered now by testosterone! Its a good thing I enjoy sports too!

 

We are hopeful that this coming year will see new employment in the near future. We also hope that we will be able to travel to NY as a family. It has been too long since the boys have spent time at their grandparents' home with my siblings there at home. I miss visiting home too!

 

If I don't write very often, it is because I'm going, going, going. I figure that like learning to play the piano, writing a blog regularly will happen sometime!

 

In the meantime, from our family to yours...

Happy New Year!

May 2013 be a year filled with love, joy, and good health!

 

Love,

Gretchen and the Skelly family