2012

I love sending out Christmas cards... partly because I love receiving Christmas cards.... but I also enjoy getting to do a recap and reflection of the year in a letter.

As it came time to write our Christmas letter this year, I just didn't want to.  We were having a really crappy couple weeks and it just didn't seem like there was anything good to write about this crazy year. This was largely (or entirely) overly dramatic.  So, here is a recap of 2012.  :)

2012.  A crazy, amazing, truly nutty year.

Owen, just a day or two old

On January 11th, Owen Anthony joined our family.  Our prayer had been for a joyful baby and God definitely answered that prayer.  Owen laughs a lot.  He loves his brothers.  He giggles when Gavin climbs on him or uses his toys to hammer on him... which seems completely counterintuitive.  He is in the not-so-amazing phase where he loves the dishwasher and taking things out the kitchen cupboards.  He loves to climb to the top of the stairs and then squawk for someone to come rescue him and bring him back down.  He also loves trying to get the doors open to the wood burning fireplace and then grabbing for charred pieces of wood.  Ick.

Being his joyful self this spring

Climbing all over Gavin this fall

His grin as he makes his way up the stairs.... again

Always making us laugh

Silly guy - again

Gavin.  He is such a joy.... when he is not making us crazy by just being two.  :)  He enjoys making people laugh.  Running - anywhere.  Jumping - off anything.  Tackling - anyone, anywhere.  Climbing - furniture, toys, you name it.  Shooting - Nerf guns are great.  And yelling. Gavin generally speaks on one of two levels - yelling or whispering.  He is so stinkin' cute.  Everywhere we go, people comment on his cuteness.  He knows it and if someone does not comment on his cuteness, he will at times remind them by saying "me cute".  It is just as much his looks as his silly personality.  He is just fun to be around and makes me smile nearly every day.

He played t-ball this summer on a team
Marty coached.  

Our eldest kiddo, Elijah.  Elijah started kindergarten this year and it has been an amazing experience.  We all love his teacher and his little school.  He is excelling in reading, math and spelling.   He also enjoys helping out at home; he recently helped Marty finish insulating the garage.   He has been studying (as much as a 6 year old can) Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for the past year and also played T-ball this summer.  Each week he looks forward to an afternoon with "Great Aunt Vic" for fun things like tractor time and Angry Birds StarWars (two of his most favorite things combined into one).

Elijah helping Marty in the garage

The craziness.  2012 has been crazy.  The self inflicted craziness came as we remodeled the entire main level of our house.  For a month I cooked our meals in our hallway or master bedroom.  I even threw together a crockpot soup in the master bathroom.  We washed whatever dishes we had in the bathtub.  We ate our meals on a card table in Owen's bedroom.  It was kind of awesome.  More awesome though is the finished project.  :) After the Christmas decorations come down I hope to post some before and after pics.

The non-self inflicted craziness has all been medical.  Aside from Marty, all members of the Stow family have gotten to spend some time in the ER or hospital this year.  I was just there to give birth, so at least one stay was joyous!  :)
* Owen visited the ER for RSV (in March), but thankfully was not admitted.

Elijah during his hospital stay
in April.

* We learned the hard way that when Elijah says he can't breathe he isn't joking.... he went to the ER and was then admitted to the hospital in April.  We are still playing with medications and learning to manage his asthma.

Gavin, post tonsillectomy.

* Gavin: after seeing half a dozen doctors (literally) he was diagnosed with Celiac disease in August.  The poor little buddy also had sleep apnea, so in November he got his tonsils & adenoids out.  The 3 weeks following surgery were so terrible (which is when I decided not to write a Christmas letter), but now he is doing so much better.  His adenoids were blocking 99% of his nasal passage.  CRAZY.  We are still working with a pediatric GI doctor out of Denver to try and help his little tummy feel better and hopefully he will soon be feeling 100%.  :)

My sisters and the Iowa cousins.

Colorado Cousins @ the YMCA in May.

FAMILY: I was lucky enough to get to take the boys to Iowa twice this year.  Once this summer and again during harvest time.  The boys do so well in the car... it is about 13 hours each way.  My parents came our here numerous times throughout the year and my entire family was here over Thanksgiving.  It was fun to get to see them so frequently.  Marty's family lives an hour or less from us, so we still see them frequently throughout the year.  We spent Memorial Day weekend with them up at the YMCA of the Rockies - great little get away. We have especially enjoyed getting to spend more time with his dad this past year.

Fun & Friends:  We love our friends - they are such a God send.  We had some close friends move out East this year which was definitely sad for us.  But we have also been blessed to be back in Fort Collins and reestablishing many friendships we have had for years.  We attended a new church when we moved back... which ultimately dissolved, but also resulted in making some great new friendships.  We did make it out on one camping trip this summer.... and decided we needed to wait another year or so to actually enjoy camping.  :)  We mostly enjoyed just spending time with friends and having dinners with them.  We are blessed.  

Marty and I celebrated 8 years of marriage in February.  Some wonderful friends came to watch the older boys for the night while we spent a night at the hotel where our wedding reception has been held. Marty had the chance to go on a fly-fishing trip to Utah with some friends in the spring.  He continues to work at Advanced Energy and I continue to stay at home with the boys.  We are generally enjoying this crazy, crazy journey of parenting 3 boys.

That is my lengthy summary of 2012.  We are praying for calm and amazing things in 2013.  :)