Roy-R-Joy: Christmas Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family:

This year was a full one! We have been blessed (and tried!) in many ways and we want to share a few of our experiences with you.

In April, a month after making our final payment to the hospital for Gavin’s broken left femur, we were shocked when he fractured his RIGHT femur after a fall in our house.

I won’t go through the details again, so if you haven’t heard this story you can read it here, then here. Needless to say, that was a very difficult time for our family but we are happy to report that Gavin had his final checkup with OHSU’s orthopedic department this month and his leg looks great!

Speaking of OHSU, we decided to take Gavin to a pediatric eye specialist a few months ago to see if we could get more answers about his vision. It turns out that, even with his glasses, he was seeing 20/500 out of his lazy eye. So that means without correction his eye is over two times worse than legal blindness. Again, we have good news to report…after wearing much stronger glasses and patching for an hour a day for three months, the eye doctor was shocked at how much his eye has straightened out. And his corrected vision is now 20/100 - VAST improvement!

Other than his somewhat frequent need for medical attention, Gavin has had a great year. He will be celebrating his fourth birthday this month! He absolutely LOVES to talk and he says something to make us smile every day. He loves to play with toys, sing, watch movies, read books, and wants to learn about anything and everything – especially when it comes to animals.

Jaynee has grown so much this year – she will be turning two in March. She likes to sing, play with dolls, cuddle, and use the potty (although she’s far from being potty trained). She is really starting to take off with talking – some of her favorite words are: hot chocolate, pillow pet, potty, milk, brother, and sunshine. She gives WONDERFUL hugs that can easily make anyone's day a little brighter.

I had Jared snap a quick picture for this newsletter and this is the final result. I cut my hair and donated it a while back but, as you can see, it's still Jaynee's favorite plaything.

I am nearing the end of my masters coursework through Eastern Oregon University. I am waiting to hear if my proposal is ready for submission, and hope to start my research after the first of the year. I have also gained momentum in couponing this year and have enjoyed the opportunity to save our family some money (I am always looking for more couponing buddies, by the way!). I continue to serve in the Primary organization of our church and I also work as a substitute teacher on occasion, both of which I really enjoy.

Jared continues to work for Les Schwab and is currently in the busy season. It has been an interesting experience for him to get to know a whole new group of people after transferring to this store last year and he has been able to make some friends there. Jared loves playing with the kids in his spare time, especially so that I can have some mommy time in the evening! In addition, he continues to serve in the Young Men organization of our church.

Did you notice that there weren’t very many “spare time” activities listed for me and Jared? That would be due to the fact that in the late summer we became homeowners again.

It isn't moving day without a moving box fort!!

We feel very blessed to be able to own a home in The Dalles…something that we hadn’t thought possible due to the prices being much higher than where we came from and the fact that we weren’t “first time buyers.” If you want to read the whole story of our home buying experience, you can find it here.
We have spent most of our spare time working on remodeling the bathroom (thanks to much help from my sister-in-law’s father!) and doing some much-needed wallpaper removal and painting in other rooms of the house. I am long overdue in creating a "welcome to our home" post complete with a "virtual tour" and before/after pictures. For now, a few teasers...