Sasha 2012

Sasha grew up quite a bit in 2012. She did very well in Pre-School, and proved to be a very smart little girl. Although she loved learning, the most important thing to her was her friends, and she had many of them. She loved her dance classes and gymnastics lessons because she got to be with her friends. She proved to be very talented musically, and showed an excellent grasp on rhythm. In her dance classes, she remembered all of the choreography, and did it in perfect time. All of the other girls watched her for help in the performance. Sasha may be more like Shane than any of the other kids because she has his zeal for working hard. She asked for more chores to so at home, and did them very well for such a young child. She is a joyful presence in our lives, and the sparkle in her eyes shows her adventurous and lively spirit.





Shelton 2012

Shelton has kept things interesting, for sure. He was a joy to watch in his first year of Wrestling with the La Jara Takedown Club, not because he won a lot of matches, but because he is such an intense fighter, and never gives up, even though the (older) boys won too easily. He did, however, win his last match, and you would have thought he had just won the Super Bowl for all of his jovial and exuberant cheering. He told me that winning feels a lot better than losing. Shelton also did a great job in T-Ball, but he loved playing soccer the best. When he made his first goal, his victory dance brought out laughter from everyone watching the game. He has such a vibrant and expressive personality, and when he is happy, everyone around him is, too. Shelton discovered YouTube this year, and learned how to find video game tips so that he could get to the final levels in most of his Wii games. Some of his older friends and cousins ask him for help in a level that they are having trouble in, and he will gladly help them get past it. Shelton did very well in school, and his reading skills improved immensely. He told me that he wanted to learn to read better so that he could read the words in his video games. He loves video games. He loves Sonic, Mario, and all of the characters in those games. He even asked us to call him Sonic instead of Shelton, and corrected anyone who didn't comply with his request.

 

Emma 2012

 

 

Why does Emma look so grown-up here? It may be because of her new braces she had put on, but also because she grew up quite a bit in 2012. She began the year in 5th grade, at Manassa Elementary, where she maintained a 4.0 GPA, participated in many GT (Gifted & Talented) classes, and became a Classic Reader. Her extracurricular activities included dance, softball, soccer, piano, and running. She also took Zumba classes with Mom whenever time permitted it. She ended the year in 6th grade, at Centauri Middle School, where she also maintained a 4.0 GPA. She joined the 6th Grade Band, began playing the clarinet, and enjoyed traveling with the band to competitions. Emma is a joy to be around. Her smile is contagious, and her laugh is still as cute as when she was a little girl.

 

 

Jenny 2012

Jenny accomplished many wonderful, challenging things in 2012. With regards to her physical health, she lost much of the weight she hoped to, and finally lowered her body fat percentage to 23.8%, with is the "Fitness" zone. She began teaching Zumba classes as the permanent substitute teacher for both Kim & Krista, the Zumba instructors she takes classes from. Zumba has brought a smile to her face nearly everyday, except for the days she spent recovering from plantar fasciitis, which she most likely developed from favoring her right side while running, as her left hip has FAI with a torn labrum. She has had to tone things down a bit to compensate for these injuries so that she can still exercise and dance as much as she wants to. She began 2012 with a Just Dance semester that ended in a fabulous recital The Princess & The Frog, a Mardi Gras Spectacular! I must add that this Mardi Gras Spectacular was actually one with Mormon standards, but nonetheless, was very fun and fabulous. She incorporated a Flash Mob to the song Dynamite, by Taio Cruz, which included all of the brave audience members in attendance, and the entire cast of the show. The end of 2012 found her preparing for a Winter recital with a dance semester that was spread over the holidays because the Sanford School was to be under construction when we would have been performing in the Spring. Perhaps this is why she stopped blogging? It was a very busy and crazy time. Jenny also spent a lot of time running in 2012. She ran her very first official races with a Mud Run and the annual Adams State Homecoming 5k. While training for these races, she reached some of her fitness goals, as mentioned before, and felt that she was finally back to where she felt comfortable, physically. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving found her in charge of pies for the Sowards Family Thanksgiving feast, and so she ate way too many leftover pumpkin & bourbon chocolate pecan pies. This major sugar indulgence seemed to put her in a funk which she is still trying to pull out of 9 months later. At church, Jenny began the year as Ward Choir Director, which she truly loved. Shortly after performing at Stake Conference, her Ward leaders asked her if she would simultaneously serve as Ward Nursery Leader (and the ONLY Nursery Leader I might add). She served in both of these callings until her husband began serving in the bishopric, then she requested to be released of one of the callings. The ward leaders considered calling her to be the YW President, but instead decided to keep her as the lone Nursery Leader. This calling makes her very happy, as she teaches the most adorable, well-behaved children she has ever seen in Nursery before. No hitters. No biters. No problems. They are the sweetest kids. At home, Jenny was very busy with her adorable, intelligent, amazingly talented children. She had Emma in TONS of dance classes, helped her get started in Pointe Ballet class, and helped her maintain a 4.0 GPA in her first semester of Middle School. Jenny kept Emma in piano throughout the year, and also kept Emma practicing her clarinet for 6th Grade Band. Jenny served as chaperone on many band fieldtrips. Shelton began the year in Wrestling, and ended it in Soccer. In the Summer, he played T-Ball, and Jenny served as the Vice President of Manassa-Romeo Little League, over Fundraising. Sasha also took a lot of dance classes, and gymnastics lessons, and kept Jenny busy as the last kid home with Mom for most of the day, except for when she was at pre-school. Jenny spent a great deal of 2012 in her minivan, driving her kids to and fro, with half of her bumper gone. She is truly a redneck woman.



Shane 2012

Shane was very busy in 2012. He spent 55-72 hpw at Chili's, as a Manager, and received top notch scores on his evaluations, which earned him 2 pay raises throughout the year. His employees love him, and the customers rave about him. I only hear good things from those that he is contact with. At church, he began the year as the Primary Teacher/Guardian of Luke Anderson, an 8-year-old boy in our ward, with down syndrome. He is very violent, and has smacked each of my kids in the face at different times while attending Primary. This is why he needs someone to physically hold him down during Primary each week. Shane loved working with Luke, but it was a very challenging, and discouraging calling for him. In June, Shane was ordained a High Priest and called to be the 2nd Counselor in the Manassa 1st Ward. He serves with his good friends Kirk Jarvies (Bishop) & Joe Horton (1st Counselor). These men work very well together, and love serving in our ward. When Shane was not working, serving at church, doing work around our house, or spending time with his family, he liked to run. He is very good at running both long and short distances, but seems to enjoy his longer runs. He especially likes to race competitively, and has quite a collection of trophies and medals to show for his success. Shane spent a lot of time doing the Insanity workouts with Shawn T. They were buds, and he lost a lot of weight and greatly improved his muscular physique. The videos were his Christmas gift from me in December 2011, so I would say that he did a great job on keeping up with his 2012 New Year's Resolutions. Go Shane!



Sowards Family Pictures

Just before Thanksgiving we had a fun family photo session by a local, amateur photographer, Tandra Dunn. We met at the old, abandoned barn on Main St., in Manassa, next door to where Grandpa Shelton's home was.

Our favorite! The Sowards Family

Emma (11,) Jenny, Sasha (5), Shane, Shelton (7)

 

 The funniest!

 

Another good shot.

(I'm pretty sure that a very young Shane used to shoot his gun here).

 

Jenny & Shane

Looking healthy & happy.

 

Then we ended our session on the tracks of the Cumbers Toltec Railroad, on the Conejos River.

 

I thought this was a very cool spot, but Shelton & Sasha were very nervous that a train would be coming, and Shane did not like crossing the busy highway (which is about as busy as California traffic in a very, very small city, at 3 o'clock in the morning).



General Conference Sunday

As many of you may know, we do not have TV. OK, we have a TV, but we don't have satellite, cable, or even antenna channels. So, we don't get General Conference at our house, unless we watch it on our iPhones or iPods. We did just that during the morning session, but I will admit that we skipped the afternoon session, and went on a family drive, instead. (We can read it later, or watch it online). Our drive took us to the Fox Creek area, near the Conejos River. This is near some land that Shane's Dad, Jim, leases for cows to graze on during the Winter.

Her are the kids, enjoying the scenery.

And here I am with Shane, enjoying our little cuties.

 Emma, Shelton, & Sasha. Respectively.

Shelton laughs as he poses for the camera.

Emma acts like a goofball as she fakes us out. Too funny!

Sasha is also getting goofy with the camera! Don't fall in, Sasha!

I wonder who they get it from? Hmmm...

I love this one.

They found lots of sticks. They pretended that they were canes, like Grandpa Shelton used.

They thought about hand fishing, but the water was too cold.

This is after a long walk, so they are starting to lose their steam.

What a great day!