Abby

We adopted Abby yesterday. She is an adorable, playful, 12 week old lab/pointer. She is under 10 pounds right now and shouldn't get larger than 30-40 pounds. Time will tell. She is primarily Matthew's dog, but our whole family is definitely loving her and spoiling her...

Halloween

This year we stayed home-no trunk-or-treat for us.

We ended up handing out candy to the trick or treaters that came to our neighborhood. Our neighborhood was incredibly insane with cars and people. There were traffic jams coming in and out and solid cars lining the streets. It was really surreal. I guess people from all over come to our neighborhood because it is safe and well lit. It was kind of exciting though really. Made for a fun night.

We had some neighbors over for dinner-pulled pork burritos in homemade tortillas-before filling up on junk.

Bethany went out in the neighborhood with a group of her friends. She was dressed as a storybook beauty in a 'dorthy' costume. Matthew went across the street with his friends. They went to a kids party for hot dogs before coming back to hand out candy and go trick or treating. He didn't want to dress up this year, so he just wore his ninja mask. He gave all his candy away and came home empty handed (fine by me). Niko dressed up as a knight and handed out candy with us. He went out with Mike and I up and down a few streets. It ended up being a very enjoyable night.

Thursday morning was a tough morning ot get out of bed. But we managed to get everyone to school and all had a great day.

We ended up carving pumpkins later in the week, just for the fun of it.

Advocare

Mike and I have started to sell Advocare. We mainly signed up for the discount, but if you are interested in the product let us know.

It is the only performance product allowed on the floors of certian compititions just because of it's quality and integrity. There's a reason why there is so much attention on it right now.

Ending October

Finishing out October-
So after a Rx'ed inhaler with albuterol, Niko's cough greatly improved.

Bethany had her first Science Olympiad state tournament.  She recieved one ribbon in one of the events she participated in. Her team as a whole brought in several ribbons. They all did well and have a lot to work on before the next tournament in January.

All three of the kids finished up their first quarter of the school year.

Bethany got all A's and made the Principal's List with her 4.25 GPA. The trick is keeping it up there for the semester grades. She is doing great though.
Niko is doing well too. He is working hard. He can work harder in some areas, but we are proud of his effort nontheless.
Matthew is in the same boat. They are both improving and learning and working hard, but sometimes lose focus in the day to day.

Matthew and I have walked to/from school a couple times and it has been a lot of fun...aside from dodging the giant grasshoppers along the side of the road.

Niko had his fall festival at school. His class was in charge of all the activities with very little adult involvement. They did a fantastic job with the game booths. It was a fun night of activity. Love how Skyview is such a family environment. Love that everyone is on the same page and so involved.

By the way, the colors around town are amazing! We've been using our fireplace and loving the fall weather. So cozy!

Fall

Getting back into the swing of things around here, although things never seem to be consistant around here. No sooner did we get back to school and Niko has short days all week because of conferences. Next week the other two have early out for conferences...Which means 1st quarter is down in the books! Hooray...Niko's conference went awesome.

This week was also busy with rehersals for the Christmas play.

Niko has a wicked cough.

Matthew has been wearing the same socks all week and stinks lol

Bethany was on the music commity for the 80's dance this week.

Matthew has a reputation in our neighborhood for racing the elderly folks on their bikes and winning.

Niko can't wait to fish this weekend.

Bethany has been working hard towards saving money for her Catelina trip coming up in the
spring.

Mike is enjoying time in California with his dad and Popo

Mike and I both have been getting our asses whipped in Crossfit the past few weeks.

Mike passed two of his classes this past week.

I Aced my mid-term in my computer class.

They are tearing up the parking lot at Bethany's school and it's a big headache to pick up and drop off.

Matthew had a detention on Thursday for messing around in the bathroom with his friends. They had to scrub toilets and wash desks for an hour.

Leaves are changing.

Had my first TIP shift and didn't get a call.

Mike has been crazy busy at work lately and the next wave is here...

Pinterest is worse than facebook, i have concluded.

Fall Break 2012

Backside of a recent sunset

It was a quiet fall break...somewhat...this year.

When the momma doesn't have fall break then it's a little more difficult to have a completely free week.

Bethany's BFF was in Seattle this week, so she made herself busy at the library meeting up with some of her other friends. She went on an overnight campout with the youth group at church. They had a fun time playing games, hiking, campfires, etc...

This week our street has come alive with kids! We've lived here over a year and no sign of anyone under the age of 50 (kinda kidding) but seriously, no kids, with the exception of level 10 gymnast next door and her state championship soccor brother-a pair that is too busy training to have time for neighborhood friendships. So Matthew started playing with the two kids in the house diagnal to us. They play outside for hours on end. This week 2 more kids (one Bethany's age, one Matthew's age) came out of the woodwork. They're part-time parent lives down the street. Being that we are in the cul-d-sac, they congregate in the safe net in front of our house. So fun to see the street come alive.

Matthew is finishing out his week with grandma and grandpa. I'm sure he's having a great time.

Early this week Bethany and I auditioned for some parts in the Miracle on 34th street with the playhouse downtown. We got a call back to do speaking rolls of "Pedestrians" We are pretty excited! It'll be a busy holiday season, but so fun to ahve this opportunity with Bethany!

Niko came along with me to school again this week. I think he likes pretending to be a college student :) Today Niko and I got up super early to make sure we got him a free fishing pole at "Cops and Bobbers" It ended up being such a fun morning fishing with the 'cops' Niko caught a rainbow trout, they had all their toys to explore-SWAT unit, mobile command unit, helecoptor, etc-then some face painting, raffles, balloons, bbq luch...it was really a ton of fun.

The temps have droped to take us straight into autumn. Dropped below freezing last night and we thought it was a great time to get the fire place lit. yay!

niko's fish

We also had a big semi pull into our driveway on Thursday and deliver a very special package. Grandma and Grandpa DiValerios piano. I know our family will make many fun and happy memories around it, as has been done in years past.

I love taking the same class as Bethany! We are literally on the same page about SOMETHING haha...We are both taking Beginning Algebra. We both had a test last week and we both missed one point. Cracks me up! Also, one of her good friends at school is the daughter of my professor...small town, I guess.

Niko has had a good week off so far. He still needs to get a move on with his sarcophagus, but I'm partly to blame in that he cannot drive himself to the store. But he has it all planned out. He came to school with me today and had a blast going to college for a day :) I liked having him there with me too.

Matthew had a week of "who the heck is this kid" two weeks ago. Last week we started Monday with the principle. This week we started with praise notes from his teachers regarding his behavior. Great that he's on the right track. Sometimes he just needs to be reminded who he is...he is awesome!

Bethany had her choir concert this week. It was so fun. They really chose some good songs and I'm sure Mike and I embarrassed her pretty good as we bee-bopped in our seats. She also participated in the White Table assembly today at school singing several songs to support the event.

Tonight I graduated from my TIP training. I am kind of scared and excited to start up with a shift. See how it goes. Very excited to get into the community and be there for a neighbor.

Fall Break starts tomorrow for the other two kiddos. Looking forward to a fun week ahead.

Receiving badge and certificate for TIP

Bethany performing at BMMS

picture slideshow

A DVD slideshow I've been working on...testing it out here

Another slideshow by Smilebox

So if I keep this writing up, we are bound to have some boring, mundane posts in here once and a while. I think today might be one of them...

Lazy Sunday after such a busy Saturday. Started the day with a peaceful, quiet walk with Niko. The weather has been absolutely lovely! upper 40's-50's in the morning, then 70's 80's for highs. Just perfect. Mike got caught up on some sleep and then later work, work, work. Niko and Matthew met the new kitties across the street. I did some baking for this week, worked on some homework...nothing too exciting.

Bethany started her own blog yesterday on wordpress. Kind of jealous. I really like wordpress and if I hadn't been blogging here for so many years, I would definitely make the switch. She's such a great writer that I know that it will be a good read and fun for her.

Read a couple chapters of the Hardy Boys to the boys before bed. They are really interested in those books, honestly, I am too. Such fun stories. Then I watched PBS' new series Call the Midwife. Soo good! Then got to watch episode 3 of season 3 of Downton Abby!! Yay.

That was pretty much a day.

National Public Lands Day-Grand Canyon

Yesterday was a National Public Lands Day and the Grand Canyon was participating in free entrance into to park. So the five if us went up to enjoy it. It was a perfectly beautiful day.

The kids hadn't been there since May of 2006. Matthew was too young too remember. I posted some flashback photos from that day.

This trip we rode the shuttle to some of the points you could only get to by shuttle. It was stunning and beautiful. It is so amazing that God created such a breathtaking place and formed it into the earth just for our enjoyment and to testify to how magnificent He is. And what an amazing blessing that it is right in our backyard! 

We came home across a Forest Road and were able to see more wildlife and a spectacular sunset. It was a great day!

The family in 2006

Six years later-funny how we still posed almost exactly the same

Matthew kept saying "I fall-I die" I think he was saying this when this photo was taken lol

On the shuttle 

Bright Angel trail. So cool to see it from up high

Begining again...

No better place to start back up than today.

Matthew went to see a movie with his class tonight. It was a pretty special treat to go out by himself with Mike and meet all his classmates at the movie theater. At that age dads are a pretty cool deal-yeah, moms cool too, but dad? when dad joins in that rocks like you wouldn't believe! They saw Hotel Transylvania. He's also asked for a little brother at least 3 times in the past 2 weeks. Sometimes you've got to tell a kid no! :) He's also informed us that he calls a girl in his class "Cupcake" because she likes cupcakes. We tried to explain to him that it sounds a little 'familiar' but I don't think he really understood. ("hey there, cupcake, wanna play?"uh...yeah, nice) Matthew is a pretty cool kid. He keeps us on our toes and reminds us constantly of what matters.

Bethany performed at the Yavapai County Fair today with her choir group at school. They got to see the rest of the fair while they were there and made a day out of their field trip. Can't wait to hear them sing next Tuesday. She had a really good volleyball season this year until she hurt her ankle at one of the games. By the time it healed it was too close to the end of the season to get back on the court. Now she's gearing up for basketball and softball for the remainder of the year. She is always so busy, but so efficient with her school stuff. She just made National Junior Honors Society as well and is doing well in all of her honors classes. They are finally challenging her enough.

Today was the first day of Niko's fall break. He gets not one but two weeks off! So excited about the break. He has some pretty fun and creative projects that we as a family get to work on over the break as well. His class has been studying ancient Egypt so we are making a sarcophagus unique to our family. He presented a report in front of his class this past week and did very well. He has been doing well learning how to play the sax.

We all love Niko's school so much. Matthew is on the waiting list to get in. He may make the switch mid-year if they have an opening, or get in next year. Niko has a positive attitude about Matthew joining him at the school. It's a pretty small school and often likened to a 'family' atmosphere in the way they function and face day to day celebrations and challenges. The website is here if you care to read more about it.

I am so excited to be done with some training that I've been doing the past several weeks for a volunteer organization I will be participating with in the community. It is pretty intense but very rewarding and 'make a difference' kind of stuff. Can't wait to get started out on the field

Mike has been crazy busy with work. So many fun opportunities coming up...some possibly involving a passport! So very excited for him to be blessed with the opportunities that fall on him...and us as a family.

Both Mike and I both are taking college classes this semester as well. Mike is finishing up his Fire Science degree. I am starting a new degree path and taking 11 credits of classes towards my business degree...until I change my mind again. Fire Science was so much more fun and exciting than computer and business classes...hmmm....oh well, must take practical route sometimes over fun route...

We are headed to the Grand Canyon tomorrow with the kids. Looking forward to a great day.

The weather has been absolutely fabulous. I so love the Fall. It's one of my four favorite times of the year. It's hard not to appreciate the beauty in each and every season. We love our community here so much. We are so blessed. Love looking up at the stars every night. Love the magnificent sunrises and sunsets every day. The sky is so BIG here, so expansive. Love seeing the herds of pronghorn everyday we take the kids to school or go to the market. Love the cool evenings, even in the summer. Love living in a neighborhood full of retired, active older people who take their dogs or each other for walks every day and are constantly out reminding us younger folks what being a neighbor is all about-love, love, love that we're blessed with so many 'grandparents' surrounding us. Oh, do I have plans for this holiday season! Love our amazing friends/acquaintances we hang out with at our gym-genuine people that remind us constantly as well of what community is.

"God loves the people you hate more than you love the people you love" - Gary Kinnaman

PBR in Prescott

The last weekend of April PBR came to town. It was the touring team. Great riders, good fun. Some friends from Gilbert came up and went with us. We sat right over the chutes. It was interesting to see them feed the bulls through and work the fences...

Matthew eating his HUGE shaved ice-yummy!

The group :)

Bethany and her friend, Shyla

Awe!

LOVE all the white hats...

Spring Photos

Photos from this Spring...

Snow storm on March 18th

Bethany's 13th Birthday!!

Bethany's band concert with BMHS

Popo's 60th birthday March 22nd

Trying to eat healthy

April snow

Our bunny that lives under the shed was happy to be out

Our backyard!!

Mother's Day

Matthew's school music performance

Easter Photos

This year the 'Easter Bunny' hid eggs in the back yard instead of the baskets...

After a morning of hanging around the house, we headed down the mountain to Popo and Nana's. Love spending time with the family. We did something different this year and went out to eat. It was nice to have time to spend together visiting. Kids had fun hunting, playing, and talking about common shows that they watch (so funny)

School is wrapping up for the Clesceri household. Another end to another busy school year. They just keep going by. Soon we will say so-long to 7th, 5th, and 2d grades.

We pretty much missed posting about Spring this year. I will take some time to share some random pictures about random things we did and saw this spring.

Spring in Prescott was amazing! Beautiful! Just like every other season here so far. Can't believe we've been here almost a year. We got some late snow and it was amazing to see how in a matter of days, the sleepy, dull colors of winter all of a sudden were replaced by the bright, colorful freshness of Spring.

Love watching many different birds that inhabit our yard. They all got new colors for Spring as well. Beautiful red, yellow, blue, orange feathers to impress their mates. Needing to get a good bird book so I know what kinds they are.

We all have been spending our Saturdays in the yard, cleaning up what winter left behind. It's been fun to see the transformation. We got one of our fountains running and it is such a treat to sit out and hear the relaxing sound of water.

Centipede count is at 2 so far...assuming it will grow, but just one of the things to keep our eyes open for and keep us on our toes.

Bethany is getting all the details of her classes for next year ironed out. She will most likely be taking honors classes and then journalism and performance choir. She has also been starting to sing with the worship band at church on Wednesday nights. She is definitely looking forward to being done with 7th grade. She participated in a couple band concerts this spring as well, doing one solo and then another concert having the opportunity to play with the high school band again. She is practicing for the talent show this Monday singing a song with one of her friends.

Niko is very ready to be done with school. He has been busy working on several projects to get his lessons completed. One big one he's been working on is a huge report on The New Deal. He has finally finished it and did very well on it. He will be going to Skyview School in Prescott next year. There were three spots open for next year and he got one of them. He is very excited. We are really confident that this school will be a great fit for him and a good environment for him to learn in.

Matthew has been doing a report on polar bears the past few weeks. His teacher said that she has never seen a class so excited about this project. He also had a fun performance last week with his school; kind of an end of the year thing for music. He still struggles with his behavior at school, more so just not being quiet and playing too rough and running where and when he's not supposed to, things he knows he shouldn't be doing but keeps doing them anyway...Academically he has been a champ! He is amazing with spelling. He practices those words and gets 90-100% every week. Same with his math facts. He has a great memory. Definitely one of his strong points. He too is looking forward to this summer, especially because his birthday is coming up!

Mike and I have been continuing to work out at Crossfit Prescott. We love the people we work out with and the trainers. Great group of people. Mike feels himself getting stronger and his work in the gym shows it. We have also been in the process of teaching a parenting class online (Parents for Life). We are by no means expert parents, but we really have been blessed by the information and love teaching and sharing it with other people. We love the online dynamic too. Completely different than doing classes in person, but it has it's advantages as well.

We are ALL looking forward to this summer. Our little town is going to be booming with chaos and overloaded with people as it celebrates Arizona's 100th birthday. For some reason, being one of the oldest small towns in the state, people love to come here to visit the past...The 4th of July is always a crazy week but this year it will be even more crazy. No worries though for us. We have a couple trips planned to avoid all the ruckus. Wedding coming up and then off to Idaho for several weeks to visit with family. Yay!!

Crazy things have been happening around the Clesceri house. Change is always on the horizon...and usually when you think that things are ready to settle down and become familiar. Watch out!!

More to come on this soon...

When you jump for joy, beware that no one moves the ground from beneath your feet.

-Stanislaw Lec

Matthew's Smile

Tomorrow's a big day for Mister Matthew!

Following in his brother's footsteps, the ortho work on his mouth will begin. Spacers go on tomorrow afternoon. Next week the expander contraption goes in...Whee! how fun this ride will be.

Although his narrow palate is not as pronounced as Niko's, it's pretty much the same. He has four teeth that are hiding out up in his gums that are fighting each other to come down in a space that is not big enough for even one of them....which is why he does not have eye teeth right now. So before they become impacted, they are going to give them the room they need. With Niko, he had lost one of his front teeth prematurely and it allowed these other teeth to drop, but forced that one in front to have a mind of it's own....

I am going to go stock up on the smoothie ingredients now :)

February

Well, we missed the boat for February, that's for sure. Now we find ourselves, not only IN march, but already halfway through it. Yep, it's going to be one of those years isn't it?

Febrary began with us basking in the sun on the beaches of Hawaii! Can you believe it! It was so beautiful and so fun and so absolutely heavenly-literally a taste of paradise. It was even more of a pleasure to share it with some amazing, absolutely cherished human beings-My dad, Kristi, Sarah, Dave, Brad, Jamie, Amber, Jesse, Greg, Jenn, Ava, and Ginger...and Bethany, Nikolas, Matthew, and Mike...You want to just absorbed every moment of it and hold it forever and ever.

So we got back home and hit the ground running. Basketball games, school, etc. Busy, busy. But God blessed us with so much beauty around our own home here in Arizona to appreciate where we are just as much. It was warm for a good week at home with temps in the 70's...very nice indeed.

Valentines was pretty uneventful. Mike was on shift, that kids and I had our traditional make your own pizzas eaten at a finely decorated table. It was fun and special.

Just after the middle of the month, Ava, our niece went in for another surgery. She had some bumps recovering, but was able to make it home after a week of recovering in the hospital. She is a champion. Her willingness and cooperation and determination is just as much a part of her recovery as anything else, and she is alwasy ready to get it done. She is my hero and an inspiration for sure!

Matthew had his Suesical Musical towards the end of the month. The second grade class performed some songs and they did a fantastic job. So fun.

We went right onto March watching Bethany do her flute solo for band. She did a great job as did everyone else who performed. Lots of talent.

And now the kids are already on Spring Break. That quick, really! We got some snow last week, but it looks like spring is here. Our trees are sprouting their new leaves and the quails have been out on our fence scouting their mates...

Change is on the horizon.

We've been busy with work outs and Crossfit, basketball, keeping the kids on their schedules and looking for extra work...Fun times here at the clesceri house.

One Month Down...

january is such a crazy busy month. Wonder if it's a sign of things to come, or if we're just getting a year's worth of stuff done in one month?

School is back in full swing. Niko finished out the semester and is starting this semester with a new teacher. He actually worked with her for his speech classes so that makes the transition easier. Even though it's a virtual school, the teachers still make such a big difference. He will still be working with his old teacher and classmates in live lessons.

The boys have begun basketball with the YMCA. It has already been so awesome for them to learn a little bit about the game and see them catch on so quickly. Matthew is very assertive-suprise, suprise. But he is doing well listening to the coaches directions. Niko is a little timid...make that a lot timid. The first game he played with his hands in his pockets-or tried to lol. He had a smile on his face the whole time though. At practice this week he was a little more assertive and loosened up a little bit more. Fun to watch them.

We took a trip down to Tucson this past weekend. We visited with some friends. It was so nice to get caught up. We played cards, made some good food, played Mexican Train, ate the good food, stayed up late, went to church in the morning, saw a lot more friends that we miss, recieved the Word, then repeated all that again...then we decided to stay another night. Monday we visited with some more fabulous friends. So good to be with people we love!! Sad that we missed seeing everyone though. Have to make another trip for sure.

Now we're gearing up for a 6 mo home inspection from our landlords-oh joy!

Mike is heading to California this weekend to visit with his grandfather. Then Tuesday he and Niko are off to fly the friendly skies....We will follow on Friday.

And then January will be over-Can you believe it?!

Twenty-Twelve

Welcome to a new year, 2012! We had a very fun, challanging, life changing, eventful 2011. We are looking forward to 2012 and the new adventures and challanges we will face.

Hopefully we'll be better about sharing them with you here...better than we have been the past few months.

Recap 2011

Since we no longer do Christmas letters at the end of the year, I thought we would do a quick recap on this wild and crazy year we just finished.

As we thought back, we remembered many things that seemed like such a long time ago, but in reality were just a few short months ago.

January began one of the best years in a long time. Mike took a crazy step when we decided that he should leave his job at Results Direct and start focusing more on his contract jobs. He began working from home again and we were flooded with work. He had to turn down jobs because he just didn't have the time to do them. Amazing when we take a step of faith that God asks us to, that He blesses beyond imagine. The kids were starting their second semester-Bethany and Niko at Ironwood Elementry, Matthew at home with ACA. It was also the month that I decided to finally resign officially from the Mesa Fire Connectors program. Sad day! It was in January that we also prayerfully made the decision as a family to begin preparing for our move to Prescott.

In February the kids kept busy with school activities. Niko had a concert/play with his class and Bethany was busy with Honor Band playing her flute. Her and Mike also went to a fun Father/Daughter dance at school. We got a visit from Mike's mom that month also. We got a special behind the scenes tour of the Tucson Zoo with our brother-in-law's sister, Lacy, and we also took Nana to a fun show at the Gaslight Theater. We were blessed with beautiful sunsets and our first snow in Tucson right out our door. So fun for the kids.

In March I began working out with Mike at CrossFit Northwest. Mike also started working as a reserve with Avra Valley Fire in addition to his contract jobs. Luke and Carol came down for a visit to celebrate Luke and Bethany's birthdays. And we all went on a field trip with Matthew to the Bontanical Gardens in Phoenix. It was also the month that drama in the apartments began to heat up. Our car got egged and we began to be harassed by the ghetto kids both at home and at the school. It became clearer that our time at the apartments was ending soon. Bethany celebrated her 12th birthday.

April was a busy month seeing family. We celebrated easter in Phoenix with Mike's dad, finally getting to meet our sweet niece, Mackenzie. We also met the DiValerios in Phoenix on a separate trip and enjoyed a fabulous weekend at a resort there. Fun times in the pool and playing around with them. We made a quick trip to San Diego to visit my Dad who was down from ID. A treat to celebrate my Nana's birthday with her while we were there too. And then I was also able to get out to Vegas for a DiValerio girls weekend. Always fun and this time we kicked it off by watching the Royal Wedding...The kids also started CrossFit that month too. We went to a cool vintage air show. And Niko and I had a mother/son night at the school.

May was a month of recovery and preparation for our move. We began finalizing our living arrangements in Prescott as the school year came to a close. Mother's day we headed to Chiriaco National Monument to soak up some of Southern Arizona's beauty before it was further away. I also got to make a trip with the Biddle gals to Cannon Beach OR. It was great to spend time with my dad and Kristi and my sister's. The retreat in OR was a blast and the speaker was very insightful. I got to see Brad's new house in Portland and even squeezed in breakfast with Mike's mom and sisters and met our nephew Parker! Bethany also had her belated birthday party with her friends at the Gaslight Theater. One of her friends gave her a parakeet for a gift. She named it Poppy Popcorn.

June started with the chaos of moving. And a day after it started, Mike was able to escape for a few days up to Idaho and visit his Mom and family up there. He had a great time with them celebrating birthdays and visiting. We continued moving throughout the month. Biggest news of the year happened this month also. Mike got hired with the Prescott Fire Department! Mike went to CA for father's day with his dad and visited his grandfather. The kids and I kept busy with all the fun summer small town activities of Prescott-swimming, festivals, hikes-and also our trips to and from Tucson. We got all moved in before Mike got busy with his new job with the fire department. Still had to get the apartment ship-shape for inspection by the end of July though.

July was filled with more summer fun. More swimming, hiking, playing. We had our taste of 4th of July in Prescott. It was so fun-parades, rodeos, the fire departments hose cart races and bucket brigade. Also had the fire departments Luau/volleyball tournament. Luke and Carol came up for Matthews 8th birthday. We had a picnic at Goldwater Lake and enjoyed the company. Niko got his braces off in July and we finally finished up with the apartment and were able to seal up our business in Tucson. Because Mike had been so busy with work, we were glad to squeeze a camping trip in too. It rained the whole time, but we survived. Speaking of rain. It rained A LOT during the summer. Love the clouds and the rain. SO beautiful.

The summer fun slowed down in August when school started. Bethany entered junior high, matthew went to the neighborhood school and Niko started back at ACA. We still made time for lots of hiking though. They rain let up a bit and it got quite a bit warmer, but still loved the cool nights. I celebrated my 34th birthday in August and Mike and I took a trip to Seattle to play and spend some time with the DiValerios. Bethany started the process of trying out of volleyball, but tweaked her knee and ended up on crutches.

In September the weather began to cool. The kids started with swim lessons to prepare for swim team at the YMCA. We took some family day trips to enjoy northern Arizona, going to Sedona and Jerome and a field trip with Niko to Flagstaff. Bethany played with the high school marching band at a football game. Mike started working out with CrossFit Prescott. We also headed to CA for Kevin DiValerios wedding. We spent some time at Mike's work, STAR Education in Culver City seeing all the animals there. We also went to Knotts Berry Farm with the kids while we were there too and spent some good family time with relatives.

October was another recoup month. The kids had a week off of school. We relaxed and took a break from schedules. We took a couple hikes and enjoyed to cool fall weather. Matthew got an award for perfect attendance at school. And the boys started going to Royal Rangers again. We found a great church to be a part of and I joined Mike and started back up with CrossFit Prescott. I headed to Vegas for a quick weekend of wedding planning and PBR. And we finished the month with a fun Trunk-or-treat on Halloween. Bethany was a nerdy pirate, Niko was a knight, and Matthew was a ninja yet again.

November the fall colors were in high kabang everywhere. We got our first snow and it encouraged the leaves to die out and fall. Winter was upon us. Mike and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. We went to dinner at the Brewery, watched the light parade downtown, then went to a hockey game here in town. We celebrated Thanksgiving in Phoenix and had a great time seeing Randy and Holley from Chicago and seeing Jennifer and her family. On November 28th, Mike's grandfather DiValerio passed away. He will be missed, but passed on a true legacy to his family.

December was busy, busy with holiday activities. It was fun experiencing Christmas in Prescott and as members of the fire department family. Mike celebrated his 37th birthday and Niko celebrated his 11th birthday. Bethany made a trip down to Tucson with my mom and met up with my Aunt Gail who was visiting from Northern CA. After Christmas we headed to CA for Grandpops funeral services. We had a nice visit with everyone that came out.

Throughout the year Mike and I taught a marriage class, were part of two parenting classes, and took training for the pre-marital class as well. We stay involved with our marriage and family ministry of 2=1 and remained blessed by it.

Looking back through the year we can create a list of the events and happenings, but what fails to resonate through it is the Hand of God that directed us through the year. I am in awe and amazed by how much He loves us and protects us and cares about us. We took many steps of faith this year, leaps out of a boat, and he was there every time to meet us. Action was required on our part, but He deserves credit for all of it. Such grace and provision. Praise be to God for the mighty and wondrous things He has done in us, for us, and through us this year!