Merry Christmas 2012!

December 2012 Dear family and friends, The time has come once again to celebrate the Christmas season and reflect on the blessings we have received over the past year. It seems like Christmas came a bit early to our house this year. Our tree is up and our house is decorated, and it is only December 2. The past year has brought many blessings to our family. Toby has continued his teaching job in Vancouver and is loving it. Toby is on his fifth year of teaching and is excited that his orchestra program continues to grow each year. Sometimes he feels like he is living the dream but never wakes up. He also excited that our own kids are now old enough for him to teach violin and cello to each day. Juliette continues teaching online for Ashford University, as well as teaching ESL classes part time at nearby Marylhurst University. She gets to help out in Ben and Nate’s classes at school one morning a week and loves it. Juliette continues running and is looking forward to running the Hood to Coast Relay race next August. She did not run any races this year. In her free time, she dabbles in playing the guitar and ukulele. Benjamin, 6, is now in first grade and is doing well. This school year he has played soccer and basketball, and he has loved both sports. He has many friends at his school and is doing well both socially and academically. Ben’s hobbies include doing legos and drawing (he is an amazing artist). Ben and Nate both continue to take an advanced gymnastics class at the Little Gym. Nathan, now 5, started all-day kindergarten this fall and is loving it. While he may be one of the shortest kids in his class, he is also one of the brightest and most enthusiastic. Nate loves reading, bike riding, and doing legos, and he also loves playing with his sister. Nate played soccer for the first time this fall and had a great season. Nate also loves dancing and hopes to start back in ballet next summer. Mary is now 3 and a half (she corrects you if you call her three), and she is one tough cookie. She started preschool this fall and looks forward to it the two mornings a week that she goes. This summer she learned her letters and sounds, and she is now reaading Bob books. She loves Barbies, princesses, and Care Bears. She takes a dance class at the Little Gym where she learns ballet, tap, and gymnastics. She and Nate got to watch the Nutcracker for the first time this year and loved it. We enjoyed two trips to California this year. In May we drove down to see Toby’s sister Elizabeth graduate from college and Juliette’s brother Rob graduate from college. Then in July we enjoyed a longer vacation and spent time visiting Toby’s dad in Shell Beach and camping with family at Sequoia National Park. We also visited Seattle one weekend in June. This summer we did a lot of projects on our house. We replaced our dining room carpet with laminate flooring, and also painted every room and hallway inside our house. Since our walls were all previously white, having more color in the house has made a big difference. Next year we’ll work on painting outdoors. In other news, Toby was called to be the executive secretary for our ward, while Juliette is still serving as a ward missionary. Our biggest frustration of the year was having to put so much money into repairing our cars, but at least we don’t have car payments. Soon enough we will have to buy newer vehicles, but we are postponing it as long as we can. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year. May the Lord bless you and your family with peace and joy throughout the new year. Love, Toby, Juliette, Ben, Nate, and Mary Weston

Halloween 2012

We had a fun Halloween -- on Saturday we went to our Ward's Trunk or treat. Then on Halloween we went to the Oregon City Swimming Pool for their Swamp Swim. Nate on first place in the costume contest as the cutest and won a free birthday party at the pool! It was tons of fun.

Easter 2012

For Easter we had several East egg hunts, we decorated eggs, and had a lot of fun. The weather finally cooperated so we could actually be outdoors for the holiday. Mary wore her new Easter dress to church.

March madness

March was a busy month for us -- between Ben and Mary's birthdays and Spring Break, hosting exchange students, etc. we were swamped. Here are highlights from Mary and Ben's birthdays.

Christmas letter 2011

December 2011

Dear friends and family,
The year 2011 has been full of adventures for our family. The nice part about 2011 is that many things have also stayed the same – so it was not a year of major life changes. We are still living in the same home, still working at the same jobs, and we are still in our same ward.

Toby has kept busy with his job teaching middle school orchestra in Vancouver, WA. He had a brief scare this spring when he received a rift notice saying he might not be hired back for the following school year. However, in June he was hired back and he was able to return to his position in the fall. One of his teaching highlights happened in November when his 8th grade students had the opportunity to perform in the lobby of the Arlene Schweitzer Concert hall just before watching the Oregon Symphony concert. Toby also teaches an after-school strings enrichment class to students in grades 1-4, and in his spare time is teaching our own kids to play the violin.

Juliette is currently teaching for Ashford University (in their online department). In addition, she continues teaching part time at Marylhurst University for their ESL department. One of Juliette’s highlights for 2011 was running the Newport Marathon in June with Toby. We had a great time training together and enjoyed the race very much. Juliette also ran Hood to Coast for her second year.

Benjamin, now 5, started kindergarten this fall and is really loving school. Whenever he is asked how his day was at school, he responds “Awesome.” He has made lots of friends and enjoys all the routines and activities at Sunset Primary School. Outside of school, Ben’s favorite hobbies include building with Legos, running, riding bikes, and doing art projects. This fall Ben played on his first soccer team – and had a blast.

Nathan, now 4, has learned to read this year – and is working hard to catch up to Ben academically. Both Nate and Ben learned how to ride their bikes without training wheels this year, took swimming lessons, and also began learning karate. Nate can’t wait to start kindergarten next year. Until then, he is attending Oregon City Preschool for his second year and is loving it. Whenever Juliette parent helps for Nate’s class, Mary gets to come along, which she loves, too.

Mary turned 2 this year and has grown up tremendously. She talks up a storm and has fallen in love with princesses, Barbies, and ballerinas. She still goes to her weekly gymnastics class and is looking forward to switching to a dance class once she turns 3. She loves to wear her leotard and tutu to gymnastics class each week. She also enjoys going to playgroup on Wednesdays and weekly playdates with her friends.

As a family we did not do a lot of traveling this year, preferring, instead, to stay close to home and enjoy the beauty of Oregon. We took a trip to Seattle in February for a few days and enjoyed seeing the city. This summer we spent a lot of time at the Oregon Coast. We also enjoyed camping at Silver Falls State Park, just 1 ½ hours from Portland. While there we made a point of hiking to see each of the eight waterfalls – and we enjoyed them all. At church, Toby is in the elder’s quorum presidency, and Juliette is the primary pianist and a ward missionary.

We have felt especially blessed by the Lord for the many ways we have been taken care of during the last year. We look forward to the adventures that 2012 will bring. May you and your family enjoy a peaceful holiday season and may you celebrate, with us, the reason for the season – the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

With love,
Toby, Juliette, Benjamin, Nathan, and Mary Weston

Trip to Sauvie Island

On Sat. Oct. 1 we went on an outing to Sauvie Island to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. The kids had a lot of fun navigating the maze and checking out all the things to do on the farm. They went for a ride on the cow-train and even visited the hen house. It was a lot of fun.

Camping trip to Silver Falls

We camped at Silver Falls State Park (in Oregon) July 5-8. We had a wonderful time seeing all the waterfalls (and hiking more than 8 miles total). The campground was lovely and the weather was perfect. We made some new friends at the campground and enjoyed getting back to nature.