Merry
Christmas
God has provided for us in many special ways; in
April we will welcome our third baby girl!
Mary is the sweetest little two and half year old we
could ask for! She loves to be read to
and is a cuddle bug. Mary is also an
artist and enjoys painting, coloring and creating with Play-Doh. She adores her big sister and often asks when
she will be getting off the school bus.
Mary is a great helper in the kitchen and likes to wash the fruit and
vegetables for me. Plus Mary doesn’t let
me unload the dishwasher by myself and helps by handing me everything. Mary loves it when we stay and volunteer in
Emily’s classroom and is so grown up. We
often hear “me do it” and are amazed at what she can do.
Emily started kindergarten this fall at North Creek
in Chelsea. She loves her class and is
thriving. As her teacher Mrs. Lantis said,
“Emily is a delight to have in class!
She is willing to try anything.”
Emily also enjoys playing soccer, t-ball and riding her bike. In April she won her first tractor pull and
has embraced her mom’s farm roots. Jim
and Emily completed a 15-mile bike race in July with Emily on the tag along and
I would imagine many more races to come.
Emily loves being a big sister and has many questions about the new baby
coming in April such as “how does she breath in there, can she hear me and does
she have hair?”
I love teaching part-time at Adrian College. This semester I taught two sections of
Business and Professional Communications and took on advising. I have about 12 advisees, which I meet with
to help select which classes they should take and advise them on their career. I’ve been frequenting a group in Ann Arbor
called LA2M, which is a marketing education group and attended my second search
engine-marketing conference at Eastern Michigan University last month. I enjoy learning about digital marketing and
helped plan the first Social Media Small Business Workshop at Adrian College
last June. The Sun Towels business
(suntowels.com) I help had our best summer yet and we continue to grow too. This past summer I played women’s sand
doubles (volleyball) in Ann Arbor where the college athletes in the league
continuously challenged me and helped me stay in shape. I’ve been attending Faithful Fitness three
days a week, which is such a blessing, and I hope to workout until the end of
the pregnancy. Most importantly I love
being home with our girls every day!
This year Jim spent more time doing what he loves which
is mountain biking, skiing, camping and hunting. In June Jim and our friend Luman rode with
many pro/elite racers over 9,000 feet of elevation gain through an intense
single track in Michigan’s Manistee National Forest and the Big-M Ski
area. They found victory in surviving the
100-mile mountain bike race and crossing the finish line at the Lumberjack 100.
In January he had fun teaching Emily how
to ski at Boyne Mountain and in August he talked me into a camping trip. The camping trip exceeded my expectations and
we had such a wonderful time at Petoskey State Park; the girls loved Lake
Michigan! Jim cooked the best meals
around the campfire and we relished the sand, seashells and waves. This fall Jim was promoted and moved into a
new position at Consumers Energy. He is
now a program manger in marketing on energy efficiency programs. It’s the perfect fit for Jim, as you will see
with his I Geek photo (this is a program the Chelsea library sponsored). Although Jim didn’t get a deer this year, he
still liked hunting on our 10 acres and my parent’s farm in Ann Arbor.
Christmas arrived early as we put in a new geo-thermal
furnace this week. We appreciate living in
the country; our huge garden and we hope to have berries and apples this
summer.
Have a wonderful Christmas and may God bless your
2013.
Jim, Beth, Emily (5.5), Mary (2.5) & Lucy (our
yellow lab)
Here is the front of our Christmas card from 2012:
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