Merry Christmas!!! We hope this letter finds you happy and healthy and blessed by the Christmas season. Our family has had yet another amazing year in 2012.
The Lt. has been extra busy this year with his Helicopter 
command. I have no complaints though with the long hours as he does come home at some point at night. Another awesome accomplishment for him is that he finished his Masters Degree in Aviation Aeronautical Science with a specialization in Management in May. After a tornado rescheduled the graduation ceremony in June, he was finally able to walk across the stage in November. As we begin the New Year, the Lt. is in the window to start looking for a new set of orders. We pray we will have a set of orders open up for VA so we are not faced with moving across country again so soon.
Marie turned 15years old in 2012 and is still the cheerleader of the house and this season she was able to join the team she dreamed of joining when we got our orders to VA. Location held us back from her joining FAME, but they have just opened up a gym near us. She is currently competing on a level 3 team but we hope to have her move up to level 4 or 5 next season. She would love to compete on the WORLD’s team, and to do that she needs to get her full tumbling. She has a goal, so we will do whatever we can to support her. Marie continues to excel in school in her Sophomore year and her work ethic is amazing! History is still her favorite subject in school and she is starting to enjoy some of the aspects of Chemistry as we dive a bit further in.
Madison just recently turned 12 years old and is the resident 
crafter extraordinaire. She is in the 6th grade this year and her favorite subject is Science. She is especially into Astronomy and Chemistry. I must admit sometimes it is hard to keep up with her knowledge on Astronomy and she is currently saving up to go to Space Camp in January 2014. Madison finished off a great gymnastics season in April 2012 with a personal best of 35.550 (19th AA) at the Level 5 State meet! She is currently training and competing as a Level 6 and at her first meet, Judges Cup, on December 1st she scored 1st on Floor (8.650) and 2nd on Vault (9.100). Wow, way to go Madison, keep up the good work!
Mikayla will turn 10 years old just after the New Year and is in the 4th grade. Mikayla is a great student and I have finally learned that she enjoys and learns best with hands on activities. This season she is competing as a Level 7 gymnast and has gymnastics on her mind 24/7 with dreams of being an Elite gymnast on the National Team along with an Olympic gymnast in 2020. She currently trains 23 hours (her part-time job) a week including her TOPs (Talent Opportunity Program) training. At the Level 5 State meet Mikayla scored a 9.725 on the Uneven Bars, good enough for 1st place and State Champion. She missed the All-Around Champion by 0.10! During the summer we were able to travel to different gyms in our region for her to test for the TOPs team. We went all over VA and to Hills Gymnastics in Maryland, where Olympian Dominique Dawes trained. This year, the cards were not in Mikayla’s favor as she missed the cut-off for the National Test by 11 points. However, she has grown from this experience and is even more fired up about testing in the summer of 2013!
Our newest gymnast and tumbler in the family is Montana who
is 6! She made the Level 4 team this summer and is starting to really grasp and gain her skills. She is also training for TOPs but will not test until she is 7 years old. This year she is doing Kindergarten/First grade work and really enjoys doing her math and science lessons. Even though she is a great reader, she does not enjoy reading. We are working on that :-) We do her schooling in the afternoon after recess, as she is much more focused when she has had the time to play all morning. Montana loves all things cheetah and leopard and to play outside riding her bike and scooter. We look forward to seeing what 2013 brings for her in gymnastics and life!
McKenzie is 3! Can you believe it?! She may be tiny, but do not let that fool you. She thinks she is 5 and can do all the things her sisters can do! Our petite spirited KenzieBug keeps us all on our toes. Her vocabulary is growing exponentially daily and she keeps us laughing at the things she says. She started Tumble Bunny gymnastics in September and loves her time in the gym. Not to be outdone by her sisters, she is currently making up her own floor routine which is the cutest thing ever.
As for me, Jacquelin, I continue to hold the family together with my 
color-coded master schedule and lots of love and patience. In addition to homeschooling the girls, which I love, I have decided to go back to court reporting school. It has been something on my mind do for awhile. I want to finish what I started and now that McKenzie is healthy and things have settled down a bit I feel that now is the time to dive back in. My goal is to re-learn my theory (steno language) and start speed building by the end of May 2013. I hope to be writing at least 100 wpm by this time next year and then enroll into an online court reporting school in January 2014. It will take a lot of hard work and dedication and I know it’s will not always be easy but, God is good and he provides when my energy is low!
That has been our Twenty-twelve in a nutshell! We pray your family has a blessed holiday season and may your hearts be warm with the blessing of Christmas.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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