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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Another year has come and gone already and what a year it has been! I’m not going to rehash all the major events that happened in this country since last Christmas (I’ll leave that to CNN & VH1) but I’d be happy to give you a rundown of the Molzer Family’s major events for 2008.

Medically speaking, we’ve had a great year; no surgeries or hospital stays in 2008 (Yea!). Though it took a while, Cainan recovered from his disastrous tonsillectomy he had last year at exactly this time. He has continued to grow and amazes us everyday. He’s so tall and looks very much like a little boy these days and not our jolly little toddler from just a year ago. He talks up a storm and, while his vocabulary and communication skills have hugely improved, it’s still very difficult to actually understand his words. He’s working on that though; he’s very motivated to be understood and pretty patient about repeating himself and/or incorporating signs until we get what he’s saying. He’s continuing in pre-school and he loves, loves, loves it! This will be his last year for pre-school as he’ll moving into Kindergarten next year!

Asher has had a very eventful year. We’ve always known he was a sensitive kid but we learned earlier this year that there’s actually a “disorder” and treatment for kids like him who are really sensitive; it’s called Sensory Integration Dysfunction. He’s been seeing an occupational therapist since June and what a huge difference it has made in all our lives. He’s so much calmer and less fearful of things. He can relax a lot easier and we’ve learned how to give him the kind of attention he needs to make progress. He’s such a delight and sweetheart! He also started pre-school this year and attends the same class as Cainan. It was really a blessing that he could attend with his brother as this allowed him to make a smooth transition and enjoy the classroom experience. He’s more willing to try anything if he sees Cainan do it first. Cainan even participates in Asher’s therapy for that very reason, so that’s helped a lot.

Both the boys are so much fun! Joe and Heather are really enjoying their time with them through these toddler days. We recently got back from a family trip to Disneyland (in case our Christmas card didn’t give that away). That was at the

beginning of November and the boys still talk about Disneyland every day. They will talk your ear off about all they saw and did. It was a great family vacation and we had tons of fun! We have lots of pictures linked to our website at www.molzerfamily.com.

Moving on to Joe…he is still working with SkyWest as a supervisor but hoping to make a transition to another opportunity soon. In the spring he hired an instructor to teach him to drive big rigs and he obtained his CDL in an amazingly short time! He hopes to operate large equipment for BLM or similar work. He will be very excited to take a break from the customer service business for a little while.

Heather is still with the police department. She was able to attend a great training this year on Forensic Video Analysis and hopes to continue next year with more training. In July she and the boys were in two car accidents, a week apart. The second was a drunk driver who fled the scene (later caught). Thankfully, there were no major injuries (Praise the Lord!). The boys are fine (other than a brief fear of car rides). Heather has a herniated disk in her neck and may have to have surgery in the next year or so. She’s still recovering but doing very well!

God is so good! We had a wonderful, blessed year! We hope you all had a great year, too. We wish the best for you and your family in the next!

Joe, Heather, Cainan and Asher

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Another year has come and gone already and what a year it has been! I’m not going to rehash all the major events that happened in this country since last Christmas (I’ll leave that to CNN & VH1) but I’d be happy to give you a rundown of the Molzer Family’s major events for 2008.

Medically speaking, we’ve had a great year; no surgeries or hospital stays in 2008 (Yea!). Though it took a while, Cainan recovered from his disastrous tonsillectomy he had last year at exactly this time. He has continued to grow and amazes us everyday. He’s so tall and looks very much like a little boy these days and not our jolly little toddler from just a year ago. He talks up a storm and, while his vocabulary and communication skills have hugely improved, it’s still very difficult to actually understand his words. He’s working on that though; he’s very motivated to be understood and pretty patient about repeating himself and/or incorporating signs until we get what he’s saying. He’s continuing in pre-school and he loves, loves, loves it! This will be his last year for pre-school as he’ll moving into Kindergarten next year!

Asher has had a very eventful year. We’ve always known he was a sensitive kid but we learned earlier this year that there’s actually a “disorder” and treatment for kids like him who are really sensitive; it’s called Sensory Integration Dysfunction. He’s been seeing an occupational therapist since June and what a huge difference it has made in all our lives. He’s so much calmer and less fearful of things. He can relax a lot easier and we’ve learned how to give him the kind of attention he needs to make progress. He’s such a delight and sweetheart! He also started pre-school this year and attends the same class as Cainan. It was really a blessing that he could attend with his brother as this allowed him to make a smooth transition and enjoy the classroom experience. He’s more willing to try anything if he sees Cainan do it first. Cainan even participates in Asher’s therapy for that very reason, so that’s helped a lot.

Both the boys are so much fun! Joe and Heather are really enjoying their time with them through these toddler days. We recently got back from a family trip to Disneyland (in case our Christmas card didn’t give that away). That was at the

beginning of November and the boys still talk about Disneyland every day. They will talk your ear off about all they saw and did. It was a great family vacation and we had tons of fun! We have lots of pictures linked to our website at www.molzerfamily.com.

Moving on to Joe…he is still working with SkyWest as a supervisor but hoping to make a transition to another opportunity soon. In the spring he hired an instructor to teach him to drive big rigs and he obtained his CDL in an amazingly short time! He hopes to operate large equipment for BLM or similar work. He will be very excited to take a break from the customer service business for a little while.

Heather is still with the police department. She was able to attend a great training this year on Forensic Video Analysis and hopes to continue next year with more training. In July she and the boys were in two car accidents, a week apart. The second was a drunk driver who fled the scene (later caught). Thankfully, there were no major injuries (Praise the Lord!). The boys are fine (other than a brief fear of car rides). Heather has a herniated disk in her neck and may have to have surgery in the next year or so. She’s still recovering but doing very well!

God is so good! We had a wonderful, blessed year! We hope you all had a great year, too. We wish the best for you and your family in the next!

Joe, Heather, Cainan and Asher

xmas1

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Another year has come and gone already and what a year it has been! I’m not going to rehash all the major events that happened in this country since last Christmas (I’ll leave that to CNN & VH1) but I’d be happy to give you a rundown of the Molzer Family’s major events for 2008.

Medically speaking, we’ve had a great year; no surgeries or hospital stays in 2008 (Yea!). Though it took a while, Cainan recovered from his disastrous tonsillectomy he had last year at exactly this time. He has continued to grow and amazes us everyday. He’s so tall and looks very much like a little boy these days and not our jolly little toddler from just a year ago. He talks up a storm and, while his vocabulary and communication skills have hugely improved, it’s still very difficult to actually understand his words. He’s working on that though; he’s very motivated to be understood and pretty patient about repeating himself and/or incorporating signs until we get what he’s saying. He’s continuing in pre-school and he loves, loves, loves it! This will be his last year for pre-school as he’ll moving into Kindergarten next year!

Asher has had a very eventful year. We’ve always known he was a sensitive kid but we learned earlier this year that there’s actually a “disorder” and treatment for kids like him who are really sensitive; it’s called Sensory Integration Dysfunction. He’s been seeing an occupational therapist since June and what a huge difference it has made in all our lives. He’s so much calmer and less fearful of things. He can relax a lot easier and we’ve learned how to give him the kind of attention he needs to make progress. He’s such a delight and sweetheart! He also started pre-school this year and attends the same class as Cainan. It was really a blessing that he could attend with his brother as this allowed him to make a smooth transition and enjoy the classroom experience. He’s more willing to try anything if he sees Cainan do it first. Cainan even participates in Asher’s therapy for that very reason, so that’s helped a lot.

Both the boys are so much fun! Joe and Heather are really enjoying their time with them through these toddler days. We recently got back from a family trip to Disneyland (in case our Christmas card didn’t give that away). That was at the

beginning of November and the boys still talk about Disneyland every day. They will talk your ear off about all they saw and did. It was a great family vacation and we had tons of fun! We have lots of pictures linked to our website at www.molzerfamily.com.

Moving on to Joe…he is still working with SkyWest as a supervisor but hoping to make a transition to another opportunity soon. In the spring he hired an instructor to teach him to drive big rigs and he obtained his CDL in an amazingly short time! He hopes to operate large equipment for BLM or similar work. He will be very excited to take a break from the customer service business for a little while.

Heather is still with the police department. She was able to attend a great training this year on Forensic Video Analysis and hopes to continue next year with more training. In July she and the boys were in two car accidents, a week apart. The second was a drunk driver who fled the scene (later caught). Thankfully, there were no major injuries (Praise the Lord!). The boys are fine (other than a brief fear of car rides). Heather has a herniated disk in her neck and may have to have surgery in the next year or so. She’s still recovering but doing very well!

God is so good! We had a wonderful, blessed year! We hope you all had a great year, too. We wish the best for you and your family in the next!

Joe, Heather, Cainan and Asher

xmas3

Entry for December 15, 2008

Okay, I promised myself I would not let a month go by between posts but look what’s happened! My last entry was a summary of our trip to Disneyland in early November, now it’s just 10 days ‘til Christmas! My only excuse is that we’ve been tremendously busy and nothing huge has happened to blog about.

We had a wonderful, uneventful Thanksgiving with family. Everyone got along and dinner was great. The boys loved playing with their cousins and as far as I could tell, there were no underlying tensions between the adults. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be together and visit.

We’ve been going non-stop with work, school for the boys, therapy appointments, meetings with teachers, church, Christmas shopping, etc. It seems like every minute is packed these days. I’ve been trying to preemptively prepare for New Years at Running Y. This is our largest and longest event yet. I believe I’ll be taking care of 17 people for five days. That’s a lot of cooking and organizing. I’ve already got four of the main meals prepped and frozen—that took me almost an entire weekend. I’ve been working on lists and lists of things to organize: who’s staying in which bedroom and which chalet; what to bring for us; what to bring for the boys; grocery lists of things to buy; lists of already prepared food to bring; ahhhh! It’s a lot, but I love it, too. I like being able to provide a great time for so many.

The boys are enthralled with the season and the weather. They’re very excited about Christmas this year as they’re both old enough to understand most of the concepts. They’re looking forward to Santa Claus bringing them presents. Everyday they ask me if today is Christmas. Asher has also made the connection that Jesus’ birthday and Christmas are one and the same and he uses the terms interchangeably. Cainan will ask if today is Christmas and Asher will ask if today is Jesus’ birthday. They want to have cake and open presents to celebrate his birthday.

Asher is such a sponge! He amazes me, not only with what he retains, but with his ability to make abstract conclusions from that information. When we were talking about Jesus’ birthday he told me yesterday that Jesus made the snow on the ground and Jesus can get rid of the monsters in their room (of course, there aren’t monsters but it helps him to know if there were, Jesus is bigger and stronger than them); he knows Jesus loves him and takes care of him.

Just this morning, as we were carefully driving to the babysitter’s house I was explaining that we have to go slow because of the snow. I told them it’s very cold and slick like ice. Then Asher tuned up and said in his little two year old voice, “Yah. We have to put salt on it so it won’t be swippery.” I’m sure, at some point, Joe or I mentioned that salt helps melt ice—the fact that he not only remembered that obscure information but was able to connect it with the snow being slippery like ice just blew me away. That boy is soooo smart! He comes up with something like that daily and I just can’t get over it most of the time.

It’s so nice to realize that, though we’re busy, we all happy and healthy. I’m grateful that none of us has been terribly ill. The boys haven’t even had colds this year—a big change from last year! We’ve had no surgeries, no hospital stays, very few medical appointments. It’s been such a relief.

I will go ahead an make another entry with our Christmas letter. Our cards and letters are on their way. In case you can’t wait or for some reason you subscribe to our blog but I don’t have your address, you can read the letter here. And I’ll try not to let another month go by between posts!

Entry for December 15, 2008

Okay, I promised myself I would not let a month go by between posts but look what’s happened! My last entry was a summary of our trip to Disneyland in early November, now it’s just 10 days ‘til Christmas! My only excuse is that we’ve been tremendously busy and nothing huge has happened to blog about.

We had a wonderful, uneventful Thanksgiving with family. Everyone got along and dinner was great. The boys loved playing with their cousins and as far as I could tell, there were no underlying tensions between the adults. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be together and visit.

We’ve been going non-stop with work, school for the boys, therapy appointments, meetings with teachers, church, Christmas shopping, etc. It seems like every minute is packed these days. I’ve been trying to preemptively prepare for New Years at Running Y. This is our largest and longest event yet. I believe I’ll be taking care of 17 people for five days. That’s a lot of cooking and organizing. I’ve already got four of the main meals prepped and frozen—that took me almost an entire weekend. I’ve been working on lists and lists of things to organize: who’s staying in which bedroom and which chalet; what to bring for us; what to bring for the boys; grocery lists of things to buy; lists of already prepared food to bring; ahhhh! It’s a lot, but I love it, too. I like being able to provide a great time for so many.

The boys are enthralled with the season and the weather. They’re very excited about Christmas this year as they’re both old enough to understand most of the concepts. They’re looking forward to Santa Claus bringing them presents. Everyday they ask me if today is Christmas. Asher has also made the connection that Jesus’ birthday and Christmas are one and the same and he uses the terms interchangeably. Cainan will ask if today is Christmas and Asher will ask if today is Jesus’ birthday. They want to have cake and open presents to celebrate his birthday.

Asher is such a sponge! He amazes me, not only with what he retains, but with his ability to make abstract conclusions from that information. When we were talking about Jesus’ birthday he told me yesterday that Jesus made the snow on the ground and Jesus can get rid of the monsters in their room (of course, there aren’t monsters but it helps him to know if there were, Jesus is bigger and stronger than them); he knows Jesus loves him and takes care of him.

Just this morning, as we were carefully driving to the babysitter’s house I was explaining that we have to go slow because of the snow. I told them it’s very cold and slick like ice. Then Asher tuned up and said in his little two year old voice, “Yah. We have to put salt on it so it won’t be swippery.” I’m sure, at some point, Joe or I mentioned that salt helps melt ice—the fact that he not only remembered that obscure information but was able to connect it with the snow being slippery like ice just blew me away. That boy is soooo smart! He comes up with something like that daily and I just can’t get over it most of the time.

It’s so nice to realize that, though we’re busy, we all happy and healthy. I’m grateful that none of us has been terribly ill. The boys haven’t even had colds this year—a big change from last year! We’ve had no surgeries, no hospital stays, very few medical appointments. It’s been such a relief.

I will go ahead an make another entry with our Christmas letter. Our cards and letters are on their way. In case you can’t wait or for some reason you subscribe to our blog but I don’t have your address, you can read the letter here. And I’ll try not to let another month go by between posts!

Entry for December 15, 2008

Okay, I promised myself I would not let a month go by between posts but look what’s happened! My last entry was a summary of our trip to Disneyland in early November, now it’s just 10 days ‘til Christmas! My only excuse is that we’ve been tremendously busy and nothing huge has happened to blog about.

We had a wonderful, uneventful Thanksgiving with family. Everyone got along and dinner was great. The boys loved playing with their cousins and as far as I could tell, there were no underlying tensions between the adults. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be together and visit.

We’ve been going non-stop with work, school for the boys, therapy appointments, meetings with teachers, church, Christmas shopping, etc. It seems like every minute is packed these days. I’ve been trying to preemptively prepare for New Years at Running Y. This is our largest and longest event yet. I believe I’ll be taking care of 17 people for five days. That’s a lot of cooking and organizing. I’ve already got four of the main meals prepped and frozen—that took me almost an entire weekend. I’ve been working on lists and lists of things to organize: who’s staying in which bedroom and which chalet; what to bring for us; what to bring for the boys; grocery lists of things to buy; lists of already prepared food to bring; ahhhh! It’s a lot, but I love it, too. I like being able to provide a great time for so many.

The boys are enthralled with the season and the weather. They’re very excited about Christmas this year as they’re both old enough to understand most of the concepts. They’re looking forward to Santa Claus bringing them presents. Everyday they ask me if today is Christmas. Asher has also made the connection that Jesus’ birthday and Christmas are one and the same and he uses the terms interchangeably. Cainan will ask if today is Christmas and Asher will ask if today is Jesus’ birthday. They want to have cake and open presents to celebrate his birthday.

Asher is such a sponge! He amazes me, not only with what he retains, but with his ability to make abstract conclusions from that information. When we were talking about Jesus’ birthday he told me yesterday that Jesus made the snow on the ground and Jesus can get rid of the monsters in their room (of course, there aren’t monsters but it helps him to know if there were, Jesus is bigger and stronger than them); he knows Jesus loves him and takes care of him.

Just this morning, as we were carefully driving to the babysitter’s house I was explaining that we have to go slow because of the snow. I told them it’s very cold and slick like ice. Then Asher tuned up and said in his little two year old voice, “Yah. We have to put salt on it so it won’t be swippery.” I’m sure, at some point, Joe or I mentioned that salt helps melt ice—the fact that he not only remembered that obscure information but was able to connect it with the snow being slippery like ice just blew me away. That boy is soooo smart! He comes up with something like that daily and I just can’t get over it most of the time.

It’s so nice to realize that, though we’re busy, we all happy and healthy. I’m grateful that none of us has been terribly ill. The boys haven’t even had colds this year—a big change from last year! We’ve had no surgeries, no hospital stays, very few medical appointments. It’s been such a relief.

I will go ahead an make another entry with our Christmas letter. Our cards and letters are on their way. In case you can’t wait or for some reason you subscribe to our blog but I don’t have your address, you can read the letter here. And I’ll try not to let another month go by between posts!