Martha and I are beginning to get caught up in the Web 2.0 world. We recently joined Facebook, where it's been fun to see so many friends and family and see what they're up to.This year, I think we've gotten more electronic Christmas cards than ones we've gotten through the snail mail. They are all fun to see and to begin to get caught up with what is happening with everyone during the past year. Technology is certainly making it easier to play the fly on the wall and see what everyone is up to.
The highlights of this year have been:
The birth of Carolyn Joy Garvin on May 31, 2008. The details are in the photo, but Carolyn was a joy for a number of reasons. First, she was a welcome addition to our family. Just ask her "big sissy," Jessica, who has been wanting a sister for years.Second, it meant Martha was able to get off bed rest which she had been on for 8 weeks. Martha was going stir crazy despite the support and love she had been getting from her family and church. (Again, a thousand thanks!)
Finally, Carolyn was the closest we have come to a full-term baby. While 5lb 13oz may still be on the smallish side, she was twice the birth-weight of her oldest brother, Benjamin--and more than a pound bigger than Jessica or Joshua.
Partly due to the fact that Carolyn has acid reflux and has been getting cereal in her formula since she was about four weeks, she has been getting bigger and bigger. She now weighs ~19lbs and is in the 60th percentile (in weight AND height). This is big news for her traditionally little family.
Joshua turned 8 this year and was baptized the same weekend Carolyn was blessed. We had held off on the blessing so that Grandma and Grandpa Garvin could be here for both. They are still living in the Seattle area with the rest of Steve's family.Joshua and Jessica are both in 3rd grade. They are in different classes and have different challenges to surmount. Joshua is actually being a big support to Jessica, who is now beginning to take off in her reading ability.
Benjamin is in 7th grade and entered the realms of teenager-dom. As always, he's been a hard worker and a big help to his family. The biggest difference we've seen in Benjamin since becoming a teenager is his appetite. It's not uncommon to hear from people at activities indicate they were amazed to see how much he can pack into his small frame. He is slowly inching up to the same height as his parents. And there is some indication that he may surpass them in height. (Not a big accomplishment considering how "tall" his parents are.)
Martha just finished her first semester at AB Tech completing the prerequisites she needs in order to enter a master's program in occupational therapy. She took an Anatomy & Physiology class--which is infamous for being an incredibly challenging course--and a general Psychology class. She was able to do pretty well in both classes, especially considering how much she has on her plate at home with four kids.
Steve is working as an accountant, which he has been doing for several years now. This year, though, he left Nypro and started working for Thermo Fisher Scientific, which is a bigger company. He misses the smaller environment but is happy to be gaining some new experiences and furthering his career.
On a closing note, we have made it a family tradition since moving to Asheville, NC to visit the Gingerbread Competition at the Grove Park Inn each year. This year, the children decided they wanted to create a family entry. (Jessica has been entering each year as part of her church group.) We didn't actually finish the creation until tonight. They each had made a gingerbread house at Grandma Colliers, but the castle was their own invention.More Christmas photos can be seen on Google's Picasa.
