You better take off your solar eclipse glasses because we are about to throw some serious shade (sorry, Roy is taking his responsibility to embarrass his tweenage daughter very seriously). In 2017, we decided to break our trend and not move. We have thrown away the moving boxes and officially declared ourselves North Carolina residents.
Abby found a new passion this year starring as JoJo in her school play Seussical the Musical. She loved everything about it. Abby also discovered that the only thing she liked about Rec League basketball was being with her friends and that her father likes to complain about driving all over the county for a children’s rec game. Starting 4th grade, she did decide to step out of her comfort zone and participate in Math Olympiad this Fall. While not as natural a talent as reading and writing, she is quickly learning to see numbers in the world around her.
Sam’s discovered a love for art and has been enjoying his weekly art class. He dutifully educates his art teacher and classmates on the finer points of the Loch Ness monster and other cryptids (complete with clay renderings to fill their nightmares later). Sam also tried basketball and came to the same conclusion as Abby, along with learning how to laugh at himself. Sam continues to thrive in 2nd grade and enjoys his new teacher and classmates. Sam has developed a love of reading and especially enjoys Captain Underpants, scary animals, and heroes and villains.
Lydia is officially a Kindergartener and desires all the world to know it. Our little supernova has quickly wrapped everyone at school around her little finger and absolutely loves school (that is, once her parents have dragged her out of bed each morning). Lydia loves reading and aims to catch up with her siblings in ability as quickly as possible. Lydia is learning piano, as are her older siblings. She loves to write her own songs. She loves to create games for Andrew and relishes being a big sister. Lydia loves to sing, dance, and act and is always ready to put on a show for any audience.
Andrew has come out of his shell in 2017. He spends his days telling jokes to his mother and teasing her as much as possible. Andrew decided he wanted Minion underwear early in 2017 and is now potty-trained. Andrew also took advantage of our “Trick or Treat” sign to learn his ABCs. He misses his siblings during the week but manages to still have a great time. He has started telling stories, jokes, teasing people, singing, playing independently, and loves to make people laugh.
Because life simply could not stay the same for a whole additional year, Michelle announced she was pregnant in the middle of 2017. We will welcome Nora Grace Zwahlen early February 2018. Along with managing pregnancy, working on house improvements, and shuttling kids, Michelle spends her time volunteering at the school and helping out with teaching and planning activities for the teenage girls in our church congregation. As an added bonus, Roy gets reminded on a daily basis exactly why he decided to not be a teenager forever.
Roy is settling in at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and has managed to travel less than his prior job. However, he did make it to China for two times this year and visited the home of the pandas in Chengdu. Roy also enjoyed his leadership training at the Disney Institute, complete with park tours, iron chef competition, and photo-op with Mickey Mouse. Roy’s work highlight of the year was when he managed to earn what he is sure is the Dean’s first academic fist bump (it’s the same as a regular fist bump but just feels oddly out of place in the ivory tower). Roy continues to volunteer as the Bishop’s secretary at church (yeah, that’s a head scratcher for us too… have you seen his handwriting?). Beyond work, Roy spent time carting the family across the United States to Utah for two family reunions and to Myrtle Beach this Fall for some much-needed downtime, where the big kids learned to body surf and everyone enjoyed trying to create the world’s biggest sand castle.
We hope our letter finds you and your family well and that you enjoy the peace of this holiday season.
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