*Started the year off being ordained to the office of Deacon and performing his first proxy baptisms for the dead on January 6th!
*A/B Honor Student and won 5th Place at the UIL Oral Reading District Competition
*Continued to get stronger in bowling and crossed the 100 threshold for his weekly average and bowled at the State competition in Ft. Worth in June.
*Went to tennis camp in the summer--he wants to learn more about the sport so he and Calvin can play together.
*Went to Young Men camp at Cloudcroft, NM in July.
*Loved white water rafting and rock climbing in the Smoky Mountains.
*Started Tae-Kwon-Do lessons.
*Big brother, Cooper, taught him how to play Magic The Gathering and loved playing it with Cooper and the missionaries on P-days.
*Was the proud holder of the Navy flag in his last Veteran's Day school program to honor his Grandpa Lee who was in the Navy.
*Has started eating a few more protein sources: garlic lemon tilapia, crispy baked chicken thighs, and cheese sticks.
*Enjoys writing stories, doing Just Dance, watching Anime, reading Wings of Fire, and can't wait to be a year older so he can finally watch PG-13 movies with the rest of the family.
*He is a sweet boy with a tender heart, who is turning into a wonderful young man. He's even had several gospel discussions with peers at school and gave a Book of Mormon to his friend, Justice, when he started asking JJ questions about the church.
Calvin (15)
*Loves his tennis. After spending 2+ hours practicing after school, he often wants to go back to the courts to rally with teammates. He goes through racket strings every month it seems! Won multiple medals in his JV tennis tournaments--2nd Place Boys Doubles, 1st Place Consolation Singles, 1st Place Boys Doubles, District 1st Place Boys Doubles. As a sophomore, he is #4 on the Varsity Boys Tennis team. They were Area Champs in October.
*Still rocking the bowling at youth leagues every Saturday in Lubbock. He dropped the High School bowling team because he made the varsity tennis team and worried about the two conflicting. Even though he only gets to practice bowling once a week--when he's at bowling league--he bowled his first 750 three game series--an average 250 per game. Now he's chasing 800. He entered the Youth City Tournament in Lubbock in April and took 1st Place Doubles and 1st Place Team. He also won the Theory vs. Skill tournament in July by 3 pins and won a $60 scholarship.
*He's a member of the Stake Youth Leader Council. We drive him up to Lubbock once a month or so on Sundays so he can join these meetings in person. He helps discuss the needs of the youth in the stake and plans dances, activities, and Young Men camp.
*His grades are on the upward trajectory. :) They vastly improved when he started his sophomore year. His favorite subjects have been biology and health--the latter being because of the teacher.
*He still enjoys singing and even more so now that he's in the Varsity Choir with kids who take it seriously. (He's below and to the left of the guy in the Santa hat in the middle. :)
*He was gifted a very nice Canon camera from Jake for his birthday and has found a lot of joy in photography. Calvin loves to storm chase with his older brothers and capture those storm photographs.
*Got his drivers permit this summer and is actually a really good driver. But unless he gets his modules done on the computer, the only thing he'll be driving is his bike. It's really nice that, even with a permit, he can drive TO or FROM Lubbock (or both) to bowling league on the weekends with me in the passenger seat because that provides me an extra hour and a half to three hours to get some school or church stuff done in the car. Yay!
*Like most teenage boys, Calvin has a bottomless pit for a stomach. I used to be a little annoyed that he'd make macaroni and cheese or bake a couple handfuls of chicken nuggets 30-45 minutes before dinner. But I've learned that he can still manage to eat dinner with the family and maybe his "pre-meal" will make our dinner portions go a little bit farther for the rest of us. He does, however, struggle to keep the weight on. He's nothing but a thin rail of skin, bones, and lean muscle. He wants to be bigger, of course.
*Loves his brothers from other mothers. We're very grateful for his circle of friends.
*Just this summer, Calvin has struggled with very painful cystic acne on his face, shoulders, and back. We tried everything we could, including antibiotics and essential oils, to help resolve this issue before resorting to a very strong, controlled med called Accutane. But it was just too much and too deep and he started breaking out in hives from the antibiotics. Once we exhausted all other measures, Calvin saw a dermatologist in Lubbock in December. After looking at him for less than two minutes, she asked, "Have you heard of Accutane?" Yes, yes we have. We're hoping to avoid scarring on his face and this drug can definitely help with that. But it will dry him out completely and he has to be extremely careful in the sun, among other side effects. I'm not crazy about the idea. But I don't want Calvin to be in pain or feel embarrassed by his acne. So we decided to go ahead and do it. He has to have fasting bloodwork done every month, to monitor his liver function, and has to be seen monthly in Lubbock. A 3 hour roundtrip drive for a 10 minute check. But hopefully Calvin will start to see some success with it.
*He attended FSY (For Strength of Youth) conference in Canyon, TX for the first time this summer. He doesn't know many of the youth in our stake since we're pretty isolated in our branch and I worried about how his experience would be. As it turned out, his roommate was the one young man in the stake he is friends with. Such a blessing. I reached out by text near the end of the week to say hi and hope it was going well. When he responded, he just gushed that it was the most incredible experience he's ever had. I couldn't believe my eyes and reread the message a couple of times. It was a real turning point for him and his testimony.
*Calvin is very strong spiritually. He understands things on a deep level, knows how to teach and ask questions, and has acted on his many desires to share the gospel with his friends. He likes to laugh a lot. We love seeing his beautiful smile and the kind way he interacts with his siblings. And kudos to him for having enough confidence to ask his own mom to dance in front of all his peers.
Karcyn (17)
*Started using a CPAP in January for her mild sleep apnea. It helped a little. Not as much as we hoped and expected.
*In March, she got her first job at Dominos on her 17th birthday. She enjoyed it, but it became super fast paced and she is not that way, so she quit six weeks later. (Cooper said it was super fast even for him and he was just a driver and has worked at Whataburger before). It was a good first job, though we didn't expect her to work during school, so we weren't sad when she quit.
*Went to her Junior Prom with her friend and admirer, Skyler Martinez. He is a respectful young man and treats Karcyn very well, for which we are grateful.
*Honored as the "Most Improved Algebra 2" student of the year. She was in the honors class and it did not come easily or naturally, but she didn't give up. She went to after school tutorials often and really wrestled with this class. But it all paid off and her teacher, Mr. Nana, recognized her efforts.
*Honored as the "Newcomer of the Year" by her debate class. This was her first year in debate and she grabbed the bull by the horns. She learned a lot, came out of her shell, and walked away with a 4th place medal in DX (domestic extemporaneous).
*Continues to plug away at school and work on the many stories that she writes. They are mostly fan fiction stories based off video games. She is so good about sharing her ideas and including JJ in the writing process.
*Babysat a little over the summer and also loved our white water rafting experience in Tennessee. She was excited to attend FSY, even without knowing her roommate or anyone at the beginning of the week. But when it was over, she walked away with her well spiritually filled and new friends.
*Karcyn is our happy, creative, pure-in-heart, wouldn't-hurt-a-flea girl. She is constantly designing or developing art projects with materials from scratch. She also loves to make videos put to music and is really good at it. We're proud of Karcyn's strong testimony and faith in Christ. She bears her testimony in church often and makes touching connections between her every day experiences and her relationship with the Savior.
Cooper (21)
*Started out the year working at Dominos as a driver and making sometimes $400 a week in tips alone! He's the reason Karcyn got her job there. :) He worked in this position for a couple months until the drama got to him and he left. He then secured a job working at O'Reilly. This was a much better fit for him. He worked there for several months until management drove away the bulk of the good employees.
*Is always up for playing airsoft with his buddies.
*Was approved for and finally got the long awaited Dupixent shots to help control his allergies and chronic sinus infections on top of sinus polyps. These two shots cost over $3,000 a month. We are SO grateful that there was a "coupon" that covered whatever our insurance did not! Plus, it went toward our high deductible which was fulfilled for the year by April. This is a huge blessing of being full tithe payers! The Dupixent has been life changing for Cooper. He can now go outside and be near cats without flaring up and being miserable for the next two months.
*Found great joy in attending several different comic-cons throughout the region--getting several signed posters and signatures in his autograph book from anime voice actors for himself, but also for his siblings. Those posters are not cheap!! The sibling reactions are worth it, though.
*Continued to sleep at Grandma Hough's down the road and but spent his days/nights at our house. When he wasn't working, he was very helpful at giving our kids rides to different places when we were unavailable, for which we are most grateful.
*Still loves bowling, but just can't get to the alley in Lubbock due to time (180 miles round trip) and money constraints. Which is extremely unfortunate, because he is really good at it.
*Stayed in Snyder and "Rolo-sat" for us while we were in Gatlinburg, TN this summer. He even offered to fix the dilapidated back gate door on our fence, complete with new hinges and latch. He did an awesome job!
*Continued to struggle with his sleep patterns for the better part of the year, but even still there are some symptoms he was exhibiting that just didn't jive with narcolepsy. After a LOT of trial and error and speaking with our primary care provider, we were able to get Cooper retested for narcolepsy in November. And plot twist--he does not have it. He didn't go into REM at all during any of his daytime naps. (He hit REM twice during his naps in 5 minutes or less with the first sleep study and that was the minimum requirement for a narcolepsy diagnosis.) So yay!--this was big news. On the one hand, a major relief for Cooper. But on the other hand, now we need to help him figure out how to get a healthy sleep pattern dialed in. He's been suffering with this for sooo long.
*Applied to several jobs in Snyder for many months with no success. Our neighbor said that her co-worker's young adult son was also struggling to find work. We just reminded Cooper that clearly the Lord is closing doors that aren't right for him and he isn't meant to work in Snyder. And we don't want him to. Snyder has nothing offer him. His goal is to leave Snyder, but he's not ready to tackle the college thing yet, which means he needs capital to venture out on his own. It goes without saying, 2023 was a tough road for Cooper, but we believe better things are around the corner for him.
*Finally (finally!!) got to attend a Dallas Cowboys game with Jared. He was supposed to go in 2020, but, you know, Covid. They couldn't go in 2021 because we moved and then he was serving his mission. It took until Dec. 30, 2023 to make it work. But they had a blast...and the Cowboys won!
Jake (23) & Trina (24)
*Announced they were pregnant with their first baby in February!
*Jake continued to storm chase whenever he had the chance. Which included taking an elective credit to travel to Tornado Alley for a couple weeks with a group to chase tornadoes. This mama was super jealous! They caught two tornadoes on camera.
*Two weeks before Trina's due date, Jake fell about 20 feet during bouldering practice (rock climbing without ropes) and busted his ankle. (While it was an awful injury with even worse timing, he's lucky it was just his ankle.) He couldn't drive and needed surgery, so I extended my trip in September an extra week and a half to help them during surgery.
*Both worked very hard at full-time school and Jake also held a part-time job with Enviroguard (pest control) as a customer service agent.
*Little Thomas Oliver arrived just before midnight on Sun. Sept. 17th by C-section (one day before Grandma was flying home!) He weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 21 inches long. He went into the ICU for a few days after that to make sure he was keeping his food down. After being discharged, he has done so well!
*Drove out to spend Thanksgiving with their Snyder family and blessed Thomas in our home that Sunday.
Jenn (46)
*Accepted a principal's request to teach 4th grade math/science from January to May when a teacher resigned at Christmas break. I enjoyed it, but the majority of the students never really accepted or trusted me, so it was a constant battle to just teach, let alone try and do some fun things. I'm very grateful for my partner teacher, Elizabeth Hermosillo. She had my back and was extremely supportive.
*Took several trips before the end of July.
March: Peoria, Arizona for a much needed getaway with Jared; visited my parents who drove down and my sister Shell's family who lives about 15-20 minutes away.
June: Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a rejuvenating week with the family in the beautiful Smoky Mountains where my sister, Kelly, joined us.
June: Tulsa, Oklahoma to receive a trunk that belonged to my great-grandmother Cooper who had long, auburn hair like me. My mother-in-law, Karole, came along and we stayed overnight in Stillwater with her sister, Stacy, and her husband, Mike. We had a fantastic time!
July: Ruidoso, New Mexico in a mountain cabin while Jared worked on a medical CME. Did some shopping and horseback riding during his breaks.
*Taught 8th grade science for my niece, Emma, while she was on maternity leave the entire month of August.
*Took three more trips (one in the states, and two out of the country) within 7 weeks.
September: Southern Utah for 2 1/2 weeks waiting for my first grandbaby's arrival, visiting with Jake and Trina and lots of awesome solo time with my parents! (Since I was born, I've never had my parents just to myself... it was really special!) And I unexpectedly got to attend the St. George Temple Open House the morning it was open to the public.
September: (two days after getting back from Utah) Aruba with Jared for his 50th birthday :), barely dodging Hurricane Ophelia on our way down. So many fun highlights including reeling in my own barracuda on a fishing charter and eating it later that night! Delish!
October: (one week after coming home from Aruba) Scotland with my parents and sister, Shell, and brother-in-law, Shawn. Holy amazing!! I highly recommend Edinburgh, Scotland and visiting the highlands, too!
Kudos to Jared for being uber supportive and holding down the fort while I was away from home for so long.
*A week after returning home from my fall trips, I substituted in another maternity leave position (4th grade math, of course :) from October 30th to December 22nd and had a blast.
*Unexpectedly released as Primary President at the end of October (thought I had at least 3 more years to go!) and called as the 2nd Sunday Relief Society instructor and branch temple/family history consultant.
*Was offered another full-time job teaching 4th grade science and social studies in a three-teacher team/pod (with 60 students, instead of 40) beginning in January. The teacher actually "resigned" while I was covering the maternity leave in 4th grade math. Fortunately, they left me in math to finish that job and called subs in for the last couple of weeks of the semester. As luck would have it, my previous partner teacher, Elizabeth, would be my team reading teacher, and Melissa Sorrells, my math mentor from the teaching job at the beginning of the year, would be my team math teacher. So I definitely hit the jackpot in the partner teacher department!
*Thrilled to be "Eema" to baby Thomas.
Jared (50)
*Spent the first half of the year working with his brother, Kevin, in the internal medicine clinic. Without meaning to, Jared was beginning to build his own practice, mostly because he speaks Spanish.
*Accepted the hospital's request to begin working at the Walk-In (Urgent Care) clinic when the physician there retired the end of June.
*Was thrilled when we could replace the small, gross, dilapidated metal shed in the backyard.
*July through September: split his days working full-time at the internal med office and extra time at the walk-in clinic while the hospital looked for Jared's replacement at Kevin's office. It was a CRAZY few months for him. There were some weeks he'd work 11 straight days out of 12 or 13. He's now back to the working every other weekend (Friday through Sunday), but he's 3 minutes from home, so it's very palatable.
*This picture was taken the day we PAID OFF HIS $57,000 PRIVATE LOAN at a variable interest rate (7.25% at pay off) 13.5 years ahead of schedule the middle of June. Yay us!! Only one more school loan to go!
*Hit the big 5-0 on September 25th! And he did it on the beaches of Aruba! I can think of worse places to celebrate your birthday. :) Lost his second wedding band, not once, but twice on the same day in Aruba. Where it remains to this day. Our guide was even kind enough to retrace our snorkel path, but the currents were so strong and constantly changing the ocean floor, that it was futile.
*Hired someone to replace the dilapidated back fence with the extra money he got from working an egregious amount of overtime hours covering both clinics.
*Still Elders Quorum President. Loves working with the young elders in our branch and feeding them, too.
*Fished a couple times in local lakes this year.
*Got Covid for the second time in almost 4 years on Thanksgiving Day.
*Is very happy to be "Papa" to Thomas.
OUR FAMILY (29)
*Got updated family pictures taken the beginning of January.
*My parents and sister, Shell, and brother-in-law, Shawn, pulled off an EPIC surprise visit the middle of April when they showed up on our doorstep with Shawn looking for a place to stay. :) It was the first time my kids had met their Uncle Shawn!
*Went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to visit the Smoky Mountains for our summer vacation! So blessed to have Aunt Kelly join us!!
*At the end of August (almost 18 months after moving into our house), we finally got most of our pictures up on the wall.
*LOTS of trips to the temple together and sometimes with cousins!
*Enjoys having Jared as the ward mission leader because the young missionaries are over at our house often to interact, teach, and share messages with us. We try not to let them leave without food!
*Jake, Trina, and Thomas came to Snyder to spend Thanksgiving and an early Christmas with us. A first-time meeting Thomas for everyone except me! Thomas was also blessed that Sunday.
*Santa's gift to the family: Tickets to see Ryan Hamilton LIVE in Austin! He delivered as always!! Then we got to serve others by visiting the red Giving Machines in San Antonio. Such an awesome opportunity!
