This year - A quick review

I don't do a Christmas Letter, because I blog and am very up to date on it I feel like a letter is not something I need to do.  But I have made a bunch of new friends over the past few months who might want to know what we have been up to, so here it goes:

January - Nathan finally went back to work after 2 weeks off at Open Scan. We rang in the new year and toasted to a year full of fun and suprises and then 5 days later Nathan was laid off.  Literally, Jan 6th Nathan had no job.  Talk about suprises! Hahaha (Its okay to laugh now)  We tried to be supportive and happy that he received an AWESOME severance package but still nervous about what the future held for our family.  We counted in 2009 that Nathan had traveled or been away from the family traveling for a little over 100 days so the first few weeks we did family things together.

February - It was starting to become more real that the job market was a tough one and that a lot of people we knew had lost their jobs also.  Nathan did handyman jobs for extra money and we started to pay debt off in a huge way with the severance money we received.  Valerie went wild with learning Asian cooking and learned a lot of new techniques. Funny how you can do that when your husband is home to corral kids ALL DAY. We also celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary!

March - Scarlett turned 1 and it was such a fun party.  I love how our kids never know the stresses and are just kids. Nathan went on 25 interviews and felt like he needed to go to school.  So that was the path we started to really focus on.  Valerie learned how to sew, thanks to Chrystal and Tara. We also kept ourselves busy by helping friends out babysitting, painting their houses (interior) and doing more side jobs for people.

April - Nathan and Valerie had birthdays, Unemployment kicked in and we were starting to really stress what was going to happen to our family.  Nathan had 3 good jobs call him in for 2nd interviews and they all fell through.  Nathan got a contract offer at Lucent (his first job at 14) and decided to take it. It was lousy pay, no benefits but it was the only thing that paid more than unemployment. This job was to start May 15th.

May - Prepping for Valerie's sister Stephanie's Wedding was fun and nerve wracking all at the same time. Nathan was hoping to get a better job before we left but nothing was panning out.  He was determined to get a better job before we left for California and 1 week before we left he had 4 interviews with companies ALL in the DTC (which is too far) Nothing worked out but 1 person suggested he call RGI, so he did, went in for a quick interview and they called him back before he got home from the interview. Trying not to get our hopes up we just prayed that the 2nd interview would lead to one more interview.  With 3 days until we left for California Nathan got the call that they wanted him to come back and he was offered a job that day. He was a new man!  It was a huge increase from Open Scan, better benefits, better drive, better staff, better job! He took it and then we were worry free on our vacation. Wahoo. Stephanie and Theo were married and the kids got to see everyone they had missed. (Grandma and Grandpa Horn)

June - Nathan loves his job, Valerie loves his commute (15 minutes) Lucas is planning his birthday party, Bridget is turning into a little model trying on all the things Valerie has made her, Scarlett finally grew some hair and teeth.

July - We camped with the Witte's for 4 days in the Springs for 4th of July. The kids got to see fireworks for the first time and it rained the whole time. Lucas turned 4, had an awesome BIKE birthday party and got a 2 wheeler. He announces at Red Robin that he is getting a brother. (We shook our heads no to the waiter) It was a hot summer. Valerie's parents and sister invite just her to California in October.  She buys the round trip ticket for $49 total.  .

August - Hot, Hot, Hot.  Lucas starts Preschool!  His teacher tells us that he is very polite and clean. (he likes to clean) We do many fun little things during the summer time. Nathan starts school himself and after a week is unsure if he can juggle everything.

September - Bridget starts TotSchool. (3 year old co-op with  6 kids from church) She loves it. We get a new niece. Scarlett turns 18 months. Nathan gets a lot of praises at work because he exceeds expectations.

October - We paint the exterior of the house 2x. We go to the OB appointment as a family and find out that we are pregnant...with a GIRL. Find out that we are 22 weeks pregnant, then Valerie hops on a plane to visit family and not only announce a pregnancy but a gender!  Halloween Theme is Pets. Nathan was the Store Keeper, Valerie was a bag of feed and Lucas was a FireDog, Bridget was a Kitty and Scarlett was supposed to be a fish but changed her mind and insisted on being a monkey 2 weeks after Valerie finished making the fish costume.

November - Bridget turns 3. Has a girls only Strawberry Shortcake Party. Lucas was selected to test in a reading program at the school and did swimmingly. He is advanced in Math as well. Bridget is a social butterfly and Scarlett loves to be at home with just Valerie. Nathan gets a promotion and all that comes with it. We are so proud of him.

December - Busy Busy Busy as most Decembers are. Valerie made a lot of presents herself.  We have been healthy most of the year (luckily). It has been unseasonably warm for Colorado as the kids have been able to play in the backyard and go to the park most the the month. Nathan did a great job this semester in school, as of now he has a 4.0 but still waiting on one more final grade.

It has been a whirlwind of a year and full of surprises. I think this New Years we will toast for something else! Hopefully things are still fun and exciting and right now we are just anticipating the birth of #4, our 6th Anniversary and Nathan's 2nd semester of school. Not to mention an awesome summer, ending with Lucas in Kindergarten!!!

We hope this post finds you well and happy.
Love - the Witte's