Christmas Newsletter 2014

It has been another busy year for the Royer family.  Unfortunately, none of it has been documented on this blog so you can't peruse our archives for details like you've been able to in years past.

We're sure that many of you will be scanning this newsletter for explanation of the extra person on our Christmas card this year, so we decided to start with that news so it's easy for you to find.  :)  After much thought, discussion, fasting, and prayer, we decided to become certified foster parents in a child-specific arrangement.   We are hoping that we will be able to adopt this little one into our forever family.   It has been a whirlwind to say the least - we made the decision the weekend of Halloween and our new family member arrived in our home the Monday before Thanksgiving.  In order to respect privacy, we've decided not to share any information about our new family member on this blog, including identifying information or photos.  If you would like to hear the story behind this part of our family's journey, feel free to contact us and we will share as much as we are able to at this point.

Jaynee, our almost-five-year-old, continues to be our little firecracker of sunshine.  We found out in January that Jaynee needs glasses and she wears them like a champ.  She has had a recent growth spurt - we measured her this week and realized that she has grown over two inches since September!  After taking a year off following her year of "toddler school," Jaynee started preschool this past fall and is looking forward to full-day kindergarten next year.  Jaynee lives her life to a self-performed soundtrack; she absolutely loves to sing and even sang a duet with Gavin in front of our congregation at church.  Jaynee started dance last fall and had her very first recital this spring; she is taking lessons from my former dance teacher, so it has been fun to watch her follow in my footsteps.  Besides dance, Jaynee loves books, helping mom, playing outside, and filling any kind of bag with treasures of all sorts.

This picture is SO Gavin!  He is in first grade this year and his teacher has said that her heart melts when he looks over the top of his glasses at her.  We're sure his eye doctor would not be so pleased; Gavin continues to go into the Casey Eye Institute for check-ups every two to three months.  At his most recent eye exam, his weaker eye was measured at almost 20/35.  Those of you who have been keeping up on that portion of our journey know what a huge deal that is!  We WILL have a party when we get to 20/20, so stay tuned!  Gavin turned seven this month and is growing into such a kind and thoughtful little boy.  He continues to be our little scientist; he loves learning about animals and tells everyone that he is going to be a biologist when he grows up.  He played tee ball this year and is looking forward to playing in the coach pitch league next year.

Jared continues to work hard at Les Schwab.  So hard, in fact, that his body has started to protest; he just recently had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus.  As in the past, Jared has one school day off every week, so he always has something fun planned for his special time with the kiddos.  I hope he doesn't get too bored when all three of them are in school for the whole day next year! 

I continue to work full time as a special education teacher.  My gluten-free diet has kept me aura-free for over a year, and I have felt like a whole new person!  With any spare time I get caught up on housework and spend time with the kids.  When I have longer stretches of time (summer break, etc.), I still like to coupon, crochet, play the piano and work outside.

There really isn't much for Jared and I to report individually, because we consider "our" news the family news:

We enjoyed sharing my parents' season tickets to the Timbers and attended several matches this year.  Gavin and Jaynee love to join in the chanting and eat cotton candy.

In addition to helping us with soccer tickets, my parents also let us use their fifth wheel for a week-long camping adventure at Fort Stevens State Park on the coast.  It was a very wet week, but we ventured up and down the coast for sightseeing, food, and fun.  We especially enjoyed exploring on our bikes as well as seeing the fort and shipwreck for the first time.

This summer we adopted a two year-old Airedale/German Shepherd named CeCe.  As you can see from this hilarious picture, she is an inside dog and the kids love her.  We have been very pleased by what a mild-mannered dog she is.

We took a bit of a break from home improvements due to a long story (it was actually going to be "Long Story #2" in my blog updates, but I never made it past long story number one).  Anyway, our deck project is still unfinished but we just recently found out that we will be able to finish it after getting our retroactive building permit.  Since I'm always looking for a reason to have a party, we will probably have a party when this ordeal is finally over. 

So that was 2014 in a nutshell!  We know that all of the blessings that we received this year have been provided by a loving Father in Heaven.  More than any other year since our family has begun, we have felt His guiding hand in our lives as we laughed, worked, served, played, cried, and prayed through this year.  For that we are truly grateful.

We wish you joy and peace in 2015.