Travis (now 16) started the New Year off with a crack – two, in fact, in his wrist – due to a New Year’s Eve late-night sledding accident. So, needless to say, his golf game was hampered until early March. In the spring he played on the Sandia JV golf team and did really well; his coach encouraged him to sign up for the Jr. PGA Sun Country Tour, which plays at courses in NM over the summer. He played in 4 tournaments and came in 2nd place at San Juan Country Club (Farmington) and New Mexico Tech (Soccoro); he also hit his 2nd hole in one in July. Over the summer, he worked for Trey’s family at Cervantes Food Products helping prep veggies for the salsa and chile sauces, taking inventory, labeling jars, etc (while playing golf and lifting for football every day). This year, he is a Junior at Sandia and is doing very well; he earned an academic letter and has a GPA of 3.55. Football season was busy this year, since Travis was playing both JV and Varsity; he had a very successful season on both teams. He scored 5 touchdowns for the JV team and had one touchdown and several first downs on the Varsity team. At his football banquet, he earned his football letter, an All District/All Academic award and an award for “Most Improved Offensive Player of the Year.” Travis is a outstanding young man and is an excellent example to his younger brother and sisters. We have our differences – he is a teenager, after all, and we are just lame parents – but we are really proud of him, nonetheless.
Andrew (14) is doing equally well and keeps us all in stitches; he is very witty! He has really gotten into guitar and convinced us to buy him a “better” guitar for his birthday in October (that translates into ‘more expensive’). He has taught himself how to play by looking up music online and has even written some of his own music. His buddy down the street plays the drums and they are a lot of fun to watch when they are willing to put on a mini-concert. Andrew was on the track team at Madison over the spring and he made a full go of it. The first meet came and I asked him which events he was competing in and he informed me that he was in “all of them.” He signed up for every running event they had and he was one tired puppy by the end! Subsequent meets he learned to just sign up for one or two events. He played his final year of little league in the spring and football in the fall. Unfortunately, he got his ring finger on his left hand caught in the jersey of an opponent during his first football game – the opponent, jersey and finger went one direction and Andrew went another direction and someone landed on them in between – breaking Andrew’s finger. We didn’t think it was that bad, until we went to the hand specialist who informed us that Andrew would have to have surgery ASAP or lose the mobility of his finger. Fortunately, it was non-invasive surgery (they didn’t make a single cut) with just some pins holding the bone in place. He was in a cast for most of the football season and finally couldn’t take it anymore – he played one game with it wrapped up (cast and all) and then the cast came off, he waited one more week, and played the last 3 games of the season. It is hard to believe that he will be starting high school next year, and will start driving shortly thereafter!
Bella (9) will turn 10 on New Year’s Eve and is in the 4th grade and is doing terrific in school. She is still in gymnastics and doing well, growing and learning new things, but has no desire to compete in this area. She is in her second year of band, playing the flute. She had a fun time last year and seems to enjoy it, but doesn’t like the practicing part. She wants to play in the Jazz Band at Madison in a couple of years. She is on the student council this year and enjoys going from classroom to classroom and visiting with kids from all grades (hm, wonder where she gets that). This summer she took swimming lessons at Sue Dotson’s (where Paige was attending school) and Sue is convinced that Bella will be an Olympic diver – she is a natural and has beautiful form. Bella is a super helper at home around the house and often does her brother’s chores so they won’t get in trouble. Unfortunately, they are not always equally nice to her and like to torment her. But she is learning to hold her own with them. She has a very sunny personality and is rarely in a bad mood…I’m sure that will be changing soon.
Paige (5) had a big year – she started Kindergarten and has started reading, writing, adding, spelling…all those fun things. BUT, let’s just say it wasn’t all she thought it was going to be and she had a hard time adjusting – she was begging to go back to Sue Dotson’s by day one of school. Probably one of the biggest adjustments for her was not having hot lunch everyday, as she was accustomed to when she was at Sue’s house. On the second day of school, I picked her up from school and she informed me that the ‘nice’ lunch lady had given her pizza for lunch, and it came with salad and chocolate milk. I told her that she has to pay to eat those lunches and we didn’t give her money, to which she informed me that she didn’t need money because you can just “charge it.” Now, there are two words you don’t want your five year old saying! By week 2 of school, she had “charged” lunch every day (even though we were sending her with lunch). So, she has negotiated – how, I don’t know – that she will buy lunch every other day. She loves to swim and has now decided she wants to be on a swim team…somewhere. She also started dance classes in September, they are before school, and can often be seen in the grocery store aisle or in the middle of Target…busting a move and putting on a show; she has great rhythm and loves to perform! It is fun watching her grow and learn new things, but I think for me, the really fun part is watching Trey experience all the “firsts” as a father, so I try to let him experience these to the fullest (wink, wink).
Speaking of Trey…he spent most of the summer studying for his Series 65 license test, which he passed with flying colors, while working full-time and attending ball games 2 days a week. We celebrated with a trip to Miami and Orlando (paid for by New York Life) in August and had a great, well-deserved vacation playing golf and laying on the beach - just the two of us. In October, after much praying and weighing, Trey decided to start his own business with a long-time associate of his and is now doing business as Lobo Wealth Strategies (http://www.lobowealthstrategies.com/). After only a few months of business, it has proven to be a very wise decision and the business is flourishing and he is busier than ever. He also enjoyed a few hunting trips this past year and he and Travis will be leaving for Kansas on December 27th for pheasant hunting. He played ‘landscape architect’ (since we couldn’t get any professional landscapers to show up – and I’m not kidding) and spearheaded the family project of finishing our backyard this past 18 months and has patiently worked around everyone’s baseball, golf and football seasons to get it done – it is beautiful – and we all love spending time out there, especially in the fall, with a roaring fire going and the Lobo game on the radio.
As for me, I am still a taxi service, but less so now that Travis has a car. I finally got my clearance and was recently promoted at Sandia National Labs – the work is fascinating to me, but not near as much fun as raising a family. My parents often call and can’t reach me at home…after their visit this summer, I think they understand why I am rarely at home. It is so important to me to attend the boys games and support the girls in their activities – I’ve even been given a golf lesson or two by my resident “golf pro.” And the girls still actually like to spend time with me at the pool or even just running errands. In June, I joined a “running team” (more of a dare of sorts) with Trey’s cousins and we started running. I always said the only place I would ever run was to a shoe sale or if someone was chasing me, but that has changed, I actually (gulp) enjoy it? My goal was to run the 5k in the Duke City Marathon, which I did. I am now working to improve my time for next year – although my running teammates seem to have other ideas (Missy!). Andrew, with his 'track wisdom', informed me (as I was passed out on the lawn from my sprint up the street), that I was supposed to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. I quickly told him, through my gasps, that this was a nice concept but I could not possibly get enough air in through my nose - I just had to "suck wind" through my mouth and get as much air as possible. I am happy to say that I am still running 2 miles a few times a week and can breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth... :)
It has been a memorable year for us, not without trials and struggles, but we have been very blessed. We are grateful for the men and women who fight and sacrifice on our behalf so that we can live lives of freedom. And we are particularly grateful for the birth and death of our Savior and for His hand in all things. We hope that you and your families will take time to remember the “Christ” in Christmas this year. Many blessings to you in the New Year!
Feliz Navidad,
Trey, alicia, Travis, Andrew, Bella & Paige
1 comment:
Didn't want your blog to be commetless! Nicely done...keeping up with the Finley's was fun!
Kristin
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