Here we are again at the end of another busy year. My how time flies! The children are growing at an alarming rate and I can barely keep up. We’ll give you a quick update on each family member.
Isaac is now 6 and in kindergarten. He’s doing great and loves it. He played soccer and tee ball this year and he gets to play basketball with Reese on the 2nd grade team I’m coaching. He seems to enjoy them, he’s quite the little athlete, but he desperately wants to play football. He is obsessed with the game. He plays pretend games of it all the time and even has me draw football fields on paper so he can play a game with X’s and O’s. He’ll always name NFL teams that I have to write in the end zones. It is cute to watch him. He’s always singing his way through the day, loves music, and he likes to dance. He’s such an adorable little character!
Reese will turn 8 in March and is enjoying 2nd grade. He’s a more serious kid than his brother and is always the one teachers use as an example. He’s super smart and likes school. He also played tee ball, soccer, and will begin his first basketball season in January. He is incredibly athletic and he’s got quite a competitive streak. He had his first ER visit just before Halloween for a gashed open forehead. He got 5 stitches and has quite the scar now. Both boys love to read the scriptures each night with the family.
Georgia is 10 now and in 5th grade. She is on the High Honor Roll and has done great in school this year. She joined an after school writing group and does a lot of writing for fun. (A girl after my own heart!) Her teachers have commented on how much she has come out of her shell this year. She really is growing up fast. She asked to join the Eastern Idaho Children’s Choir and has been enjoying that. She played softball this summer and will play basketball again this winter. She’s a great little hitter in softball and shoots pretty well in basketball. It’s so fun to watch her develop her talents! She entered the 4-H open photography contest for our county fair and won a 2nd place ribbon. She also received ribbons in cooking and sewing (a 9 patch pillow).
Megan turned 12 in October and is in 6th grade. She was chosen as the Student Council President at the elementary school. She’s getting some good experience through this. She continues playing softball and basketball, though this year I found her another basketball team to be on, so I am no longer her coach. I just couldn’t manage to coach three teams. I think it’s been a great change for her. She also entered photographs in our county fair and got first place in still life and it went on to win first place at the Eastern Idaho State Fair as well. She also won ribbons for sewing an apron and cooking. She won the Water Awareness poetry contest in our area and chose an overnight safari at our local zoo as her prize. She took her best friend, Ashlyn, with her and they had a great time. She is excited to have entered the Young Women’s program at church and is 1st counselor in the Beehive class. She earned her Faith in God award before graduating from Primary which is quite an accomplishment.
Kaitlin is now 14 and eager to be all grown up. She is old enough to take driver’s ed here, but her dad’s a little hesitant about letting her drive. I’m a little worried too, but realize the benefit of having another driver around during the day. She continues to do well in school and is the 8th grade class secretary and in Jr. Honor’s Society. She played soccer for the Jr. High and on a club team and played on a high school affiliated basketball team. She loves singing in the choir. She sang a solo in the school talent show in the spring. She also entered the fair and received 2nd place in still life for the county and an Honorable Mention at the state fair for her photo. She also received the Patriot’s Pen award from the VFW in a national essay writing contest with the subject “Are you proud of your country?”. She took first in our local post, then first in the district, and will go on to the department (state) level in Boise in January. There were over 850 entries in our district so we are so proud of her! She was also awarded $100, which is quite a hefty sum to her, and she decided to put it into her savings which impressed us even more. She continues to be a natural leader at church and school, and is quite a lovely (and super social) young woman.
Ken is still working in cybersecurity, with a change in his focus though. He is not as involved in the training program they have developed anymore, but is more involved in software development. He is glad of the change, for variety’s sake if nothing else. He has been in the bishopric of our ward for the last two years, but our bishop was just called into the Stake Presidency so we don’t know what Ken will be doing when things get reorganized. I have seen great growth in him these last couple of years and we’re so grateful he’s had this opportunity. He traded in his Mustang for a Corvette earlier this year and has taken every opportunity he can to race it in autocross. He hasn’t flown his RC planes as much this year after one crashed in the river, but he still enjoys it. He still loves to shoot guns, work on cars, and be outdoors. Our family camped for a week near Salmon, Idaho and rafted the river for many of those days and it was a great experience! We loved that we got to be there with part of Ken’s family.
I got to be a bridesmaid in my friend Jenny’s wedding in Albuquerque in June which was a wonderful experience. It was a beautiful wedding, a treasured experience, Ken and I got to spend the better part of a week together (which in itself is a special treat), and then I got to wear a gorgeous purple dress, get my hair and make-up done, have my first mani-pedi, and basically just feel like a princess for a day. What a change of scene from my every day norm! I got to take all the kids to Oregon for a Hamilton family reunion in July and it was AWESOME, other than having to drive all those hours myself. (I can hear Kaitlin now… “See?! If I get my license…”) The kids got to know more of their Hamilton cousins and I got to visit with so much family! Other than that, I’m still plugging away. Still working in the Primary organization at church, still volunteering at the school, still taxiing everyone here, there, and everywhere, still being number one cheerleader at kids’ varying events, still trying to keep the chaos of a large family at bay (and not always succeeding), still learning the ropes of this parenting business (it’s only been 14 years, but I learn something new every day), still stealing minutes here and there to read and escape to a less crazy place, and still being a proud mama of 5 great kids and a happy wife to a great husband. I do have an excuse to slow down here for a few weeks though, since I had knee surgery on Tuesday. They fixed four problems with my left knee (I won’t bore you with the details) so I’ll be on crutches for 6 weeks and hopefully with a little physical therapy my knee will feel as good as new. I’ll continue to coach Reese & Isaac’s and Georgia’s basketball teams and keep up with whatever I can, but I will definitely be in slo-mo for a while. Luckily, we got our family’s trip to Disneyland in right after Thanksgiving so I was able to enjoy that with everyone else. It was a wonderful trip with some wonderful friends and I’m sure we created lots of lasting memories!
Lastly, I would like to express our love to each of you for the part you play or have played in our lives! We love this time of year that reminds us of the best things in life, our Savior, His love, and irreplaceable family and friends. I hope this letter finds you well and happy! May the Lord continue to bless you throughout the coming year!
With Much Love,
Miriam, Ken, Kaitlin, Megan, Georgia, Reese and Isaac Rohde
I've made a number of posts below that share some of the events or things talked about in our letter. If you continue down, you can "see". :o) Be sure to go down far enough to see the girls' awesome 4-H photos.
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