We are back! We're in Clovis again to stay for a long-long time now... Hopefully. Caralee is enrolled in community college currently and is hoping to be at Fresno State next year sometime to work on her Business/Accounting degree. Lucas and Violet are blessed to be at home in their own beds and are loving being watched by their cousin Chelsy twice a week. Lucas is talking and learning more and more everyday as he prepares for preschool in the fall. Violet is taking just a few steps at a time this week and will hopefully be walking unassisted before we all know it. NO MORE DIRTY HANDS from crawling around on the church carpet! Yuck!
See you all around town. :)
WARD WIDE WEB
Jackson has had a great January. He kicked off the year right by participating in our annual Polar Bear Plunge! New Year's Day is the day to find several crazy kids jumping in the pool in our backyard. Jackson decided to join them, but only up to his shins. He's not that crazy. :)
Jackson also got to spend some good quality time with his cousin Bella in January. Bella got a new baby sister this month! Welcome baby Clare to Thomas and Amy's family!! Bella stayed with us for a few days while the new parents were busy at the hospital. Jackson got a taste of what life might be like with a younger sibling.
Lizzie turned the ripe old age of 7! She celebrated with a spa party with some of her girl cousins.
It was all about the Squinkies this year. These teeny tiny toys are all the rage right now. Lizzie scored a bunch of Squinkies to start her collection. She is definitely 7 going on 13! Check out her sassy pose after opening gifts!
Logan is a busy busy boy these days. He is a champion wrestler, participates in Destination Imagination, skis, and goes to cub scouts once a week. This week they got to visit the only Flat Track Racing Museum in the world (it's right here in our city!). Logan had a great time checking out over 100 racing bikes.
Trevor is also a busy boy. He played basketball last season, is on the Destination Imagination team again this year, sings in choir (in the picture below, he's singing at the groundbreaking for a new elementary school - 2nd row from the top, far right), goes to 11 year old scouts, and balances his schoolwork beautifully. He got straight A's for the first time ever! He was so proud of himself - and so was his teacher. Trevor was also honored with the Student of the Quarter Award because of his outstanding performance and progress in his class.
Jennifer had a blast planning Lizzie's spa party. The girls were pampered with chocolate masks, foot massages, and made their own bath salts. Our bathroom was transformed into a relaxing spa with music and candles and stacks and stacks of white towels! Jennifer also just finished pulling off her first Relief Society Meeting (formerly known as "Enrichment"). The ladies were treated to a Mexican Cruise complete with hand massages and a fun salsa bar for refreshments.
Jeremy got to play the butler for Lizzie's spa party. He hammed it up real good - "Leland" was his butler name. The girls loved having their own personal servant who delivered goodies, facial supplies, and warm towels.
Jeremy's big project at work this month was planning and carrying out the annual awards ceremony at his school. His school is full of over-achieving students. And to award all the kids that made the honor roll was to essentially throw a party for the ENTIRE school. 600 kids + parents and grandparents = 1500 chairs, a slide show, several big-whig speakers, decorations, and refreshments. It was a set-up and take-down process that spanned several days to complete. The ceremony was a success and Jeremy slept very well when it was all over.
Daily Duran
Our big January news is the birth of Clare Elizabeth Duran on January 20. She came in to the world nice and early in the morning weighing 8 lbs. It was quite a day and night of labor for Amy. She ended up not dropping so we chose to do cesarean after all that labor. This would allow Amy to be awake rather than under full sedation which might have happened in the event it went to an emergency cesarean. Bella is loving her new sister and tries to hold her, kiss her, and love her all the time. Amy’s parents have been at our house for the last two weeks helping us with everything. It has been a lot of fun and very tiresome at the same time. Clare is eating well and we can’t wait for her to start sleeping through the night.
WARD WIDE WEB
Jackson has had a great January. He kicked off the year right by participating in our annual Polar Bear Plunge! New Year's Day is the day to find several crazy kids jumping in the pool in our backyard. Jackson decided to join them, but only up to his shins. He's not that crazy. :)
Jackson also got to spend some good quality time with his cousin Bella in January. Bella got a new baby sister this month! Welcome baby Clare to Thomas and Amy's family!! Bella stayed with us for a few days while the new parents were busy at the hospital. Jackson got a taste of what life might be like with a younger sibling.
Lizzie turned the ripe old age of 7! She celebrated with a spa party with some of her girl cousins.
It was all about the Squinkies this year. These teeny tiny toys are all the rage right now. Lizzie scored a bunch of Squinkies to start her collection. She is definitely 7 going on 13! Check out her sassy pose after opening gifts!
Logan is a busy busy boy these days. He is a champion wrestler, participates in Destination Imagination, skis, and goes to cub scouts once a week. This week they got to visit the only Flat Track Racing Museum in the world (it's right here in our city!). Logan had a great time checking out over 100 racing bikes.
Trevor is also a busy boy. He played basketball last season, is on the Destination Imagination team again this year, sings in choir (in the picture below, he's singing at the groundbreaking for a new elementary school - 2nd row from the top, far right), goes to 11 year old scouts, and balances his schoolwork beautifully. He got straight A's for the first time ever! He was so proud of himself - and so was his teacher. Trevor was also honored with the Student of the Quarter Award because of his outstanding performance and progress in his class.
Jennifer had a blast planning Lizzie's spa party. The girls were pampered with chocolate masks, foot massages, and made their own bath salts. Our bathroom was transformed into a relaxing spa with music and candles and stacks and stacks of white towels! Jennifer also just finished pulling off her first Relief Society Meeting (formerly known as "Enrichment"). The ladies were treated to a Mexican Cruise complete with hand massages and a fun salsa bar for refreshments.
Jeremy got to play the butler for Lizzie's spa party. He hammed it up real good - "Leland" was his butler name. The girls loved having their own personal servant who delivered goodies, facial supplies, and warm towels.
Jeremy's big project at work this month was planning and carrying out the annual awards ceremony at his school. His school is full of over-achieving students. And to award all the kids that made the honor roll was to essentially throw a party for the ENTIRE school. 600 kids + parents and grandparents = 1500 chairs, a slide show, several big-whig speakers, decorations, and refreshments. It was a set-up and take-down process that spanned several days to complete. The ceremony was a success and Jeremy slept very well when it was all over.
