Ammon

Yo what up family! Happy 2012!

Here's an update on the Gilbert's: December was a fun-filled holiday month for us, kick-starting with putting up plenty of Christmas decorations in the front yard and lights on the side of the house. Weather wise, December was a very mild month in Seattle, which was nice not to have to deal with the craziness of snow, or the freezing cold, or anything like that.

Finn is having fun going to pre-school three days a week and Harper is having fun in her first year at pre-school once a week. Finn's also been getting his soccer skills sharpened with soccer class once a week, and in October/November, got back into swimming lessons. Swim lessons will kick-start again soon for Finn as well as Harper (this will be her first stab at swim lessons), getting ready for the summer time fun of pools, swimming, and water.

My job's going fine and dandy at Microsoft, busy as ever but more or less fun and enjoyable. Angela's enjoying being home with the kiddos, taking them on play dates, to school, on field trips, and everything else she manages to pack into the day. Just like the cheesy movie, I don't know how she does it.

In January Harper celebrated her 2nd birthday, which was a blast and a half. She's getting to be quite the thrill-seeking adventurer of the family, jumping off the furniture, wrestling with Finn, and holding her own when it comes to playing with the older kids. She definitely keeps us on our toes, but cracks us up in the process. Hard to believe she's already 2! Pretty nuts.

Mom and Steve came to visit for the first week of January, going to soccer practice, and celebrating Harper's birthday and Christmas all at the same time. The kid's had fun playing with their grandparents and I had fun having built-in babysitters and going out to the movies, a luxury I rarely get a chance to partake in these days.

Today we got over 3 inches of snow with the promise to have even more snow dumped on us as the week goes on. It's been fun playing in the snow--but driving, commuting, or having to do anything outside the home (or the front yard) is not so fun. People here still don't know how to drive in the snow and believe it or not, the front wheel drive awesomeness of our mini-van
doesn't handle all that well in adverse road conditions either. Ah, how we're missing our old 4WD!

Hope everyone is doing well. Happy New Year and a belated holiday season!
Love, Ammon, Angela, Finn, and Harper