Babs' Blog and the NEW Kelly Report!: December 2011

Once again, one of the wonderful by-products of sending our Holiday cards with our blog address is that it forces me to write something! I have "Blog" on my "to-do" list every day, and somehow it just keeps slipping down the list... till these cards get put in the mail that is! So many wonderful things have happened this year, and the desire to document & share is there, but we just keep moving forward to the next happy moment too quickly to stop, take the time and write it down! At least facebook has enabled some of this moment-by-moment sharing, and its been great keeping up with a lot of you through that means as well. But there is nothing like good 'ol fashion letters...storytelling... sharing our reflection of lifes' goings on. I will do my best to give you a little taste of our year...

First of all, I have to say that I was sooo excited to finally get a photo of all five of us to send for our card this year - yay! For the past 3 years, the boys have been tough to nail down, but somehow I rounded them all up one recent morning and we had some fun taking a bunch of family pix. For some of you far-away family & friends, this is the first time you've seen them in several years, and I am sure you are astonished at how much they have grown, yes?! They are certainly grown men now and as you can see, just slightly taller than their dad!

So we started off our year by having to make a much dreaded move. The wonderful home we had rented for the previous 5 years was included in a tear down project of other homes & apartment buildings around it, and the building permit deadline was coming up, so we and several of the neighbors around us had to be out by Jan 31st. We really loved our home & where we live, so it was a bit depressing to have to leave especially knowing the house would be torn down. We of course wanted to stay local, especially as Kelly had started school, so we were lucky that we did find a place that accommodated us...just one block away! I was not too excited about this house at first - it was old, run down, and had some funky add-ons, colors and decor... but the pluses outweighed the negatives, including being almost the same in rent, and still so close to where we were, and available right when we needed it, so we took it. It didn't take us long to settle in and transform it into a cozy home, and we have come to really like our funky little Leucadia shack now :-)

Just before our move in January, Willie took off on a trip to Asia for what ended up being about 7 months. He started his journey in India, then ventured to Thailand, then back to India before heading home. Quite an experience for him! Once home, he rented a place with some friends just a few blocks from us. He took a couple more trips to Northern California with friends (James went along on one too), then landed back here again in late summer to complete his training to be a yoga instructor. He is currently instructing at a local women's rehab center. He plans to be here through the holidays, but is planning to take off again on his next adventure to Mexico with some other colleagues to start a destination wellness spa that focuses on health & healing. (I'm sure he has a much more accurate description...I'll share the brochure when we get it!)

James is living here at home with us still and has been taking college courses as well as working with Gary on some jobs to make some extra money. As we all read about every day, jobs are hard to come by, and this has really hit home for James as he has put in a bunch of applications, but has not had much luck. He is taking more courses this coming year and will keep doing some soul searching on what he wants to do next. Hopefully the job market will get a little better next year. He plays a lot of tennis and goes hiking often with his friends. Like Willie, James has become a vegan, and has learned a lot about food and healthier cooking. He is a good influence on us!. We love still having him at home with us - Kelly just adores her older brothers and they spend a lot of time together visiting or playing around. We also like having the built-in babysitter for an occasional night out too!

Kelly has continued to grow, blossom, amaze and inspire us! We had her in swimming for almost a year, but decided to take a break early this year, so instead she took cheerleading. At first she was a little fidgety and uncoordinated, but by the last few weeks, she was getting some of the moves down and was totally into it. She also had a week of "hip-hop camp" for spring break which I believe may have solidified her love for dancing. She's a natural and I expect they'll be more of that in her future! She graduated from Kindergarten in June, and I think I cried as much that last day as her first day! Also in June she had her "Olivia the pig" themed 6th birthday party here in our backyard, complete with jumpy, pin-the-tail-on-the-pig, musical chairs, and a pig pinata. We all had a blast! We stayed local over the summer, so she had a lot of beach time, playdates, and trips to Legoland, which is practically our backyard. Kelly became a big 1st grader in mid-August. Now being on the main campus of her little school with all the other kids, she was a little more apprehensive than she'd ever been before, so it took us took us a few weeks to get the routine down and to "cut the cord" again, which was hard. Now she loves it and is pretty comfortable with her new realm. She's started to form some very close friendships with her classmates and with other girls that are in her Girl Scout Daisies Group, which has been going on all year as well. We received her first report card a couple weeks ago which had high marks in all subjects and citizenship. She loves loves LOVES to read, and is constantly surprising us by reading books at 2nd & 3rd grade level! She definitely keeps us all busy, laughing, and on our toes!

Gary's business was pretty steady again this year. He had a couple of bigger-than-usual subcontracted jobs that took him north to Pasadena and LA, each taking 2-3 weeks to complete. These larger contracts allowed him to relax a little more in between and take some much deserved and desired time off. He took a quick weekend trip to Vegas in the Spring with his friend Andrew, but other than that has stayed close to home this year enjoying all our little town has to offer. He spent a lot of time developing a little plot of land in our back yard into a wonderfully producing garden. We had 20 lb pumpkins growing by mid-August! As well as tomatoes, beans, guavas, rhubarb, and strawberries. He's increased the size of it recently and has big plans for this spring. After months of research and contemplation, in September, he made a very large purchase, which has benefitted us all...a 47" flat screen TV- Woo-hoo! Football season has never been better, and he has enjoyed hosting barbeques and gatherings here almost every Sunday since.(and Mondays....and Thursdays!).

I am still managing the Carlsbad branch of Century 21 Award, and still loving it. My branch made huge strides this year, producing more transactions with less agents than the year before. I am so grateful to work with such a progressive company and smart, ambitious, caring agents. I have learned so much and enjoyed our team's journey in working hard to turn things around this year. I believe 2012 can and will be another positive year for us, and I look forward to growing the office, adding more great agents to the team and to continuing to help people with all aspects of real estate, which I believe will eventually help in turning around our economy. Although I didn't take any big vacations this year, I did take a few mini-weekender or 3-day trips here and there. But mostly, I too stayed "local" this year. Most of my "me" time (when I was able to get it!) I spent visiting friends, old & new. Through Kelly and her school activities, I have met some great moms that live in our area. I see them at our ladies' bunco group, Daisy meetings, playdates, school functions etc. I've really enjoyed meeting and getting to know some great new friends this year, as well as enjoying time and adventures with my "older" friends and family too.

Even though there were a lot of wonderful little things that happened this year, it was still a pretty laid back year for us all, nothing terribly crazy and exciting I guess....just enjoying all that we have with the ones we love most and feeling content and grateful for the simplicity of it all.

We are thankful to everyone of you who touch our lives making it that much better, and we wish you a beautiful holiday and happy and prosperous new year!!!

With Much Love,

Gary, Kim,

Willie, James & Kelly