Christmas Letter

Brooks Family Christmas Letter 2011

Dear Family and Friends!

We have had another eventful year, as I'm sure everyone has experienced. If you've been keeping up on our blog, you know most of the happenings in our household. We have moved, again. We are no longer in North Carolina. Trevor applied for one job this year because it was such a good fit for his career goals and at a university. When he got asked to come in for an interview, we figured it wouldn't hurt for him to at least go to the interview. We weren't paying for it anyway. When he got the job offer, I knew he was going to take it right away. He kept saying he wasn't sure because we had just bought a house and moved so much the last three years that he didn't want to do that again. BUT, he really wanted this job, so we moved the end of July. We sold our house (because of our wonderful realtor friend) in three weeks (not with papers signed) and packed up. We were in Utah visiting family when we got the offer on the house. We were staying in Utah for a month, so I had one month when we got home to finalize the sale of the house (including repairs and such) and get the house packed up and cleaned. It was quite the month. I'm so glad I don't get sick with pregnancy because it would have made it so much harder to get everything ready to go. I'm a little sad to say that I was not very happy and helpful about moving. I knew it was the right decision, but I was really tired of packing and moving (especially across states). I was probably really grumpy during a lot of our last month in North Carolina.
After we got to our new home, I was much happier and took setbacks (like our first offer on a house falling through) a lot better. We found a great house that I love and this area is great. We have things like Bountiful Baskets and a Co-op where I can get cheap, but great quality fruit and veggies. We also have tons of fun mini-vacations within a four to six hour radius. Now, on to each member of our family....

Trevor loves his new job. He sometimes feels a bit overwhelmed thinking about making tenure. But, I have total faith in him. He always worried about things more than necessary, but it keeps him motivated to do things early and avoid procrastinating. His boss is wonderful. I've only met him once and spoken on the phone a handful of times, but he really cares about his department and those he hires. Trevor is a Stake Clerk and co-teaches the 12 & 13 year-old youth with me. He's never been in a clerking calling before, so this calling is interesting for him. He enjoys getting to know the stake presidency. He's learning a lot from them. It was wierd to be called up to the stake center (which is only 40 minutes away!) before we even really got to sit down and talk with the bishop in our ward. This was one of the first times Trevor has been called before I have been given a calling. Most of Trevor's time has been spent at the stake center or at work. He had a crazy schedule this semester and we didn't get to see him as much as we're used to, but we found ways to distract ourselves from his absence. Next semester won't be quite as crazy. He will be teaching on post (which, for those of you who aren't military, is the impossible-to-enter-without-proper-identification-and-reason base for the military). It's just a shame we can't shop at their cheap commissary (for those of you who aren't military - grocery store). ;)

I am staying at home with our now three children. Zander was born the beginning of December. He's a sweet baby. Things are incredibly busy right now, but I have Trevor home a bunch for the break. That's why anything is getting done. I have finished the first draft of "The Book." I have sent it off to a couple friends for review. After I make some edits from their suggestions and write a cover letter, it will be off to a publisher (we'll see if they'll publish it ;). This project has been going on for 2 1/2 years. I'm so happy to finally be seeing a product from all this work. Trevor said a Nashville community college will be coming to our city, so I am looking forward to that and hoping I can work as an adjunct professor. By the time it is built, Azure will be in school and Zander should be old enough that I can work for a few hours teaching. I love academics and would love to teach again. I am serving as the 12 & 13 year old Sunday School teacher with Trevor. The youth in this ward really struggle and the bishop wants couples teaching the youth. He wants them to have an example of what they are working toward in their lives - a temple marraige. It's nice to have a teaching calling again. I haven't taught youth as much as primary, but I'm learning how to respond to them.

Kyler is loving school still. His teacher said he's the best in the class at "stretching out words." That means trying to spell them phonetically. He's also reading a lot. I can't believe how many words he can read in books now. We've started reading Arthur chapter books to him. He liked the Boxcar Children book, which surprised me. It was really long compared with the other ones we've read. He loves math, too. He's learning to count by 1's, 5's (thanks to Grandmommy), and 10's. He has learned about coins and their value and telling time by the o'clock. It amazes me how fast he learns. I'm excited to have the break with him and go over some things in his kindergarten pencil-pal book just to see what he knows already. I really don't like full day kindergarten, but we've all adjusted okay.

Azure is enjoying being a big sister. She loves to sing and read. She finds the strangest books at the library and I end up reading them 50 times before we take it back. Some of them are really cute books and others are just strange. Oh well, whatever floats her boat ;) She loves to have me read a book a few times. Then, she'll "read" it to me. I also catch her "reading" the book on her own a lot. She memorizes books incredibly quickly. Kids just pick things up fast. She also likes to listen to Kyler's chapter books. I don't know how much she listens, but she sits with us the whole time. She knows about 1/3 of the alphabet. I keep working on it with her, but don't push it too much. She likes to learn things at her own pace. She knows a lot of the sounds with the letters because Kyler works on sounds a lot. It's fun to watch her learn with him. She still loves her babies, but the toys that get the most use are the Playmobil ones. She loves the little house and babies.

Zander is our biggest baby. He's also been the calmest. He despises the binky. Trevor and I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. So far it hasn't been a problem. He doesn't cry much and usually only cries when he's hungry, we've woken him up, or his tummy seems to be bothering him. He's so alert. He loves his visual stimulation blanket and lights (of course). He doesn't cry on his tummy. In fact, he seems to like it. I couldn't believe it. The other two screamed when we tried tummy time. He loves it. The visual stimulation blanket totally motivates him to get his head up.

That's our family in a nutshell! We hope your year is blessed, bright, and happy. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
the Brooks'