Merry Christmas!!

Yes it is that time of year again!  And this blog post will be up serving as our Christmas "letter".

So lets see.... we've had quite a year.  As usual....

It started right off with a bang.

Darren was laid off in February from HDR Inc.  He spent the next 6 months working his contacts and picking up some contract work.  That was a difficult time for us to be sure....

BUT...

 It opened doors and allowed God to work his magic and led to Darren being offered the Director of Design Technology job at Lionakis in Sacramento California.  By all rights this was Darren's dream job and he had been training his entire career for it.  This was IT.  After much thought & prayer we were convinced that Sacramento was by far the road we needed to go down.  So... off we went!

It was hard to leave our family and friends behind but when you are pretty sure God is telling you to do something or go somewhere... you go.  So we had to say a lot of good byes.

This is our Portland family. These people have been our angels.  They have gotten us through the past 8 years w/ 3 babies.... many broken bones, several houses, and jobs.  We miss them terribly.  We are thankful for cheap SW & Alaska flights.

We have had a great time so far in Sacramento. 

The boys visiting the Capital building.

These are the Parmans.  We met Sally WAY back in San Diego days (2000-2003).  She married John.  Then when we moved to Portland, they moved to Sacramento.  They are our ready  made family friends and we love and cherish them.  Even if they live WAY out in Folsom. (haha) 

Fall in Sacramento is stunning.  Winter has been pretty good too.  In fact the weather here so far pretty much delivers.  We are super happy with all the sun.  

Quick update on the boys

Jack has recovered perfectly from his fall out of the window.  Read more about that HERE if you care to.  

He is actually measuring taller than either of his brothers at similar ages.  He did have a tonsillectomy this year.  And since it, he's been much healthier.  Here he is "recovering".

Jack started preschool this year.  He has "school" Tuesday & Thursday mornings mainly so I can volunteer in the older boys classes.  He LOVES it.  We are learning he is quite the charmer.  He has somehow managed to get all the little boys to hunt for his favorite car first thing so he can have it.  They just want to make him happy. He SHINES when he is happy.  We all love Jack's little smile.

 Calvin also had a brief hospital stay with rotovirus.  But he's all better now!

He learned how to ride a bike with NO training wheels this summer!

Still the charmer.

He's doing great in Kindergarten - getting top "marks".  He is learning to read & sound out bigger words which is super exciting.  This is his big buddy (3rd grader)

And Oscar.  Oscar is doing great... at everything.  He loves school (2nd grade), loves his hobbies, LOVES to read, loves to play, love lots of stuff.  A typical kid I suppose... only we think he's exceptional.  

He just turned 8.  He had a TaeKwonDo party.  And what a party it was.  

He's quite a kid.  Funny.  Hard working.  Intelligent.  Kind. 

Speaking of TaeKwonDo....now all 5 of us are taking classes.  Yup, that's right.  ALL of us.

So I guess that about covers our year.  We are all healthy and happy.  Darren and I slimmed down a bit - I am finally back to my pre-pregnancy size (for the 1st time since getting pregnant w/ Oscar).  So that adds to the healthy and happy part.   

So if you find your self in the Sacramento area ever.. please come and say hi.  

You have a friendly place to go!  

Happy Holidays.  Merry Christmas and; Happy New Year!