As usual, the year has come and gone and it has went by so fast! We had a hard time even remembering this year's events, so we decided to go month by month and find the highlights.
January-G.J. and Gavin both celebrated their birthdays. G.J. is still busy with his stake calling and work. Vernal City is getting a whole new building, so he has been busy with the plans for that. Gavin turned 6 years old. He is still our tiny little guy, but we think he is finally over the 35 lb. mark! He loves Nintendo, making forts out of blankets and whatever he can find, and is a little our tender hearted boy. He is doing great in the 1st grade and is reading quite well!
February-Disneyland!!! Need we say more? It was our first vacation as a family-sort of…we left Kayler home with Kandice’s Mom. Hallie and Gavin had SO much fun, and it is definitely something we look forward to doing again when Kayler is older so we can take him too.
March-Was Kandice’s Birthday. Her main wish was for springtime to come early, but due to true Utah/Vernal fashion, it was still very very cold! She is still doing the Mini class Relief Society Meetings. Her biggest project of the year was putting together a Ward Cookbook.
April- Was a very hard month due to the loss of Kandice’s Grandma Bowthorpe. They were extremely close. She has a lot of very happy memories, and we know that she is in a better place.
May-Our sweet little Kayler turned 3. He is making great improvements with his Asperger’s Syndrome. He is doing much better at church, home, and his specialized preschool. There is still a lot of learning/growing to take place, but we feel so blessed to have his special spirit in our home.
June-We were so happy to have Summer here, but it was a strange month and rained almost every day! When the sun finally came out, so did the swimming, trips to the park, mountains, etc. We love the warm summer months here at our house!
July- Was a very busy month with Family Reunions, Cousins visiting, Summertime activities, Camping….you name it, we tried to pack it in before school time!
August-We (G.J. and Kandice) were able to take a trip clear to Sheffield, Massachusetts to the Autism Treatment Center of America. Both of our parents took care of the kids, even taking them to their first days of school. It was a week of intense training, counseling, and learning how to make Kayler’s life and the lives of our family better while dealing with Autism. We learned wonderful things and met a lot of wonderful people from 11 different countries who had the same struggles as we do. It has definitely helped, and we are so grateful to everyone who made it possible for us to go.
September-Our Hallie turned 9 years old. She has had a great year. She is still doing well in school in the 3rd grade. She got braces this fall. She is still in piano and is learning quickly. We can’t believe what a sweet young lady she is turning into!
October and November-Were actually very quiet non-eventful months. We just thoroughly enjoyed the fall time weather while it lasted! We had a great Halloween and Thanksgiving as well.
December- We have had quite the eventful December thus far. It started with Kayler’s swallowing a penny and requiring surgery at Primary Children’s Hospital to retrieve it. It has also been frigid cold. The past few mornings we put the kids on the bus with the temperature reading -11…..It is going to be a long cold winter!
Our kids are SO excited for Christmas, this is definitely a fun age, and makes this season all the more fun.
So, there you have it, our year in a nutshell. We have continued to be blessed by the Lord’s tender mercies. We feel grateful that we have been kept safe, healthy, happy, and together in a wonderful home. We hope that all of you reading this letter will be touched by the true meaning of Christmas, and may the Lord bless you with health, happiness, and safety. We Love You!
Sincerely-G.J., Kandice, Hallie, Gavin, and Kayler Searle
5 comments:
I love the family picture and what a great idea! I might just do the same thing!
Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!
You've had quite an eventful year! Your picture is so cute! Kristi does an amazing job! She took some pictures for us back in October. I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas!!
What a year! Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as well!
Merry Christmas to you too!
Wow, I am behind on my blog reading. Love the pic and i loved reading about your very eventful year.
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