End of the Year Summary

• One year ago, we made the decision that Katherine would quit her job and stay home to take care of the family. She turned in her resignation in February, and quit working when school got out in June. Since then, she has been throwing herself into getting our food storage together, and learning how to implement it into our daily use. We have also worked hard to pay off all debts, other than the house.
• Jadyn turned 7 on Valentine's Day. What a grown-up girl she is becoming.
  
• Darin taught summer school to help pay off some debts, and he also spent a lot of the summer doing wood work and making Katherine some monthly decorations to hang on the welcome sign he also made.
• The kids loved swimming all summer, and Jadyn is thinking of going out for the swim team in a few years. Devin tends to swallow a lot of water and often clears the pool by throwing up, but she still has fun.
  
• In July, Devin had a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy due to having huge tonsils and adenoids that impeded her breathing at night. She had a hard time feeling like eating for about 3 weeks afterward, and got really skinny, but once she started eating again, she "plumped up" again. She's still skinny, but not anorexic-looking.
  
• In August Jadyn started 2nd grade, and continues to be Miss Smartypants. Her teacher recommended she be tested for Gifted and Talented, but it's obvious that she's way ahead of her grade level, especially in reading. She is also continuing her piano lessons, and really likes singing -- all day long.
  
• In September, Devin started preschool. While we are very aware of how smart she is, her teachers were not so aware, since she has select mutism, which means that she is too anxious to talk in certain situations. Speaking to adults is very scary for her, and we had to have a meeting with her teachers to discuss how best to meet Devin's needs. Things are improving, and Devin has made lots of progress socially, even though she's only spoken to her teachers by accident. But she is obviously getting more comfortable there.
• In August, our Foreign Exchange Student, Tuyen, arrived. She will be here for the school year, and is mostly adjusting. Not sure if she will ever like the food, since it all seems "weird" to her. She has been making friends, and getting good grades.
• In August, Darin was also given a "new" calling. Before his bone marrow transplant, he was the Ward Executive Secretary, but needed to be released to deal with his health. He was called to that position again for the duration of the Bishop's term.
• Devin turned 5 in November, and is getting to be a big girl. When she's not being stubborn, she can be very helpful. Her favorite thing seems to be helping Mom with laundry.
• For Thanksgiving break, we took a road trip up to Katherine's sister in WA. It was a lot of fun, but all the snow and the bad roads made the drive there and back quite long and scary.
  
• On Nov. 26th, Darin reached an important milestone. Two years following a bone marrow transplant, his type of lymphoma is much less likely to return. That gives us a lot of hope, and we feel truly blessed to have reached this point without any concerns.
• After many years teaching Gospel Doctrine in the ward, Katherine was released. She was subsequently called as a Ward Missionary. Her assignment is to work with the young single adults. There are many in our ward, so she will be kept quite busy making visits. She looks forward to getting to know them better.

Happy New Year to all our friends and family!