Greetings from Sherwood, Oregon! We hope our Christmas blog finds you and your family happy, healthy and well this holiday season. We are experiencing the most severe winter weather we have seen since we moved to Oregon over 5 years ago, and they say it is the worst storm in 40 years. It has been snowing for almost 2 weeks and there is more than a foot of snow and ice on the ground. Church has been canceled 2 weeks in a row, and the kids' school was canceled all last week. Even the kids are sick of the snow! But we are grateful for our warmth, comfort and many, many blessings. We spent one day without electricity and found refuge at a friend's house. We are safe and warm, back in our own house, and enjoying our white Christmas.
Waverly (10) sings in the Sherwood Children's Chorus, performed a solo at this year's Christmas concert, takes piano lessons, is in 5th grade, continues to create unique works of art, and was selected to be on a student committee to create a mural for her school. She and Henry participated in the Sherwood Track Club last spring, and Waverly enjoyed doing the high jump. She also completed a family triathlon and a 5K this year. Waverly is a tremendous help to her parents, and is Alice's favorite babysitter.
Henry (7) played soccer last fall with Taylor as his coach, and they won all but one of their games! (So close!) He loves all sports, and pretty much every video game he's tried. He took pride in completing a 5K with a great time on Thanksgiving and seems to have a real talent for distance running (His mom couldn't be more proud!). He is in 2nd grade and is a super-speller. Henry is a very conscientious student and loves to share his opinions and insights with everyone.
Oscar (5) is attending 2 preschools this year to keep his mind and body busy. He is learning to read and write. He is simply the most hilarious little boy! He loves smiling and laughing and is sure to wiggle his way into the middle of any hug. He also finished the family triathlon and (almost) all on his own power. It was an amazing thing to see the determination and grin on his face as he crossed that finish line.
Alice (20 months) had a big year: she turned 1, learned to walk, and is very tall. She can barely say 2 words together, but she seems to have an unusual ability to mimic her sister's singing. She has great pitch! She is super silly and mischievous and we love her to pieces.Taylor is working to build a nation-wide physicians' email network for his company, Kryptiq. He has traveled to Dallas, Santa Monica, Missouri, Washington, DC, and Seattle this year. As the
Chair of our ward's Activities Committee he has put on some fantastic events which have included his gourmet food. Delicious! Probably the best food ever served in an LDS cultural hall.Sarah serves on the Voices for the Performing Arts Foundation board, sings with the Sherwood Chorale, leads music in Relief Society, helps plan Enrichment meetings, teaches art at school, blogs at suziepetunia.blogspot.com and marathonmommies.blogspot.com, ran the SLC marathon in April and the Newport, OR marathon in May, but spends most days doing the things a mom with four young kids does: feeding the family and trying to keep the house clean. How exciting is that?! It may not be glamorous, but she loves the rare and precious rewards of motherhood.
In other news...
We have been renovating a cottage on the property of a friend of our's in our ward over the last few months. In the next few weeks (as soon as the snow and rain give us a little break!) we will be moving there. It is only about 1/3 of a mile from our current home. We will be renting our house and saving for whatever the future may bring. (Anyone need a place in Sherwood?) :-)We will be using our cell phones as our primary lines, and you can continue to send mail to our current address until we get a PO Box.
We have loved receiving your Christmas greetings this holiday season. We hope you are having a very merry Christmas, and we hope the new year brings you health and happiness.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
The Giles Family
Taylor, Sarah, Waverly, Henry, Oscar and Alice
