Our new blog

Well, we've finally joined blogging! Mainly because I (Robyn) couldn't seem to find time last year to do our annual family newsletter. I know how much I look forward to getting the annual holiday newsletter with pics from friends, so I feel terrible that I didn't get our news out.

Here is a snippet of what happened in 2007. Ian's sister came to visit us in April and Ian's mom came for her visit at the same time. We took them to Taos and around Santa Fe playing tourists ourselves. In July, Robyn & the girls went to stay with her mom in Washington for the month. There was a family reunion to celebrate her grandma's 80th birthday, her 20 year high school reunion & a sibling reunion with her two brother's & sister. The four of them had not been together for about 20 years (all of us in the same room). Samantha had her top two front teeth pulled after knocking them loose in a fall. It's now a year later & the permanent teeth still have not come in, so she's been toothless for the past year. Samantha started 1st grade in the fall and turned 6. Rachael turned 1 in October. In October, we also went to the balloon festival in Albuquerque for the first time. We had to get up very early, heading down there when it was still dark. We were there for the mass ascension in the morning. It was so cool to be able to walk right up to each hot air balloon watching how they got their balloons laid out, filled up & taking off. Our favorite was the new Darth Vader balloon. It was well worth the early morning to be a part of this annual event.

So far for 2008, we traded in the wonderful Toyota Sienna for a Nissan Versa to save on gas. Ian drives the Versa and I drive the Rav4. With Ian's 1 hour commutes to either Los Alamos or Albuquerque, it made more sense for him to drive the Versa with the better gas mileage. Samantha finished 1st grade, getting an award for reading and honor roll. For 2nd grade we're planning to home school. We took 2 weeks in June and did a trial run and it went well. There will definitely be days when she will fly through the lessons and there will also be days when she fights to get through each lesson. I'm excited though to do this. Ian is concerned for me as I will need to keep our days as structured as possible and it won't always be easy with Rachael hanging out with us. I have to find ways to keep her entertained and slightly part of the action and keep Sammy on task. I know it won't always be east, but there is a great support group of homeschoolers here in Santa Fe. Rachael finally has hair. I'll have to remember to post some pics of what Sammy looked like at 5 months with hair and how Rachael looked at 19 months with finally the same amout of hair. They are two totally different girls in every way. Sammy started saying understandable words at 9 / 10 months and Rachael is just starting to say similar words at 21 months. Sammy was never (& still is not) very athletic, whereas Rachael has rhythm, can almost do a somersault by herself and loves to climb. For now, Rachael listens & obeys pretty well, and Sammy doesn't always and loves to question our every request. Samantha was in a dance class this past school year (ballet / tap) and had her year end performance. Her class was a caterpillar for the "Plains of the Sarengeti" performance. They were all very cute!

Ian had a job interview in Montana 3 weeks ago and we're waiting to get the job offer. If the offer is to our liking, we'll be moving - AGAIN! We have been wanting to live anywhere from Spokane, WA to Montana. Our plan is to stay put & finally build our dream home. We have a floor plan (about 1800 sq. ft) that we've had for the past 15 years. We've had lots of time to dream & think about how we want this home to look, etc and the options we want to add.

We're about to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary this next week. It's hard to believe we've been married that long or that we've been together almost 15 years. Time sure does fly.

We've been extremely busy in our back yard getting it ready for a potential sale. Unfortunately, due to the housing market, if & when we do list our home, we might have to accept an offer that is below our payoff to the mortgage company, so please pray for us that God would send a buyer for our asking price. We want to pay off the debt and have enough left for the real estate agent & closing fees. We are going to use a limited service realtor to list the home, but we'll still have to pay the buyer's agent. Here's to hoping the economy will pick back up soon!


Well, that is all I can think of for now. I'll get some photos posted too.

Robyn