Four Little Monkies Jumping on the Bed.....

I decided to post our Christmas letter and some current pictures to most of our family (and some friends that may check back to this blog every now and then). If you're really wanting a picture to put on the fridge, then I'll mail you one :) I know all my parents have requested one, and honestly I've been trying since August to get all my boys to be in a picture together without one of them making a funny face or moving-I tried again the other night and kinda got one, not frame worthy, but at least they're all in it!

What a long, strange year it’s been…

January—we started this year excited to see the realization of a 3-year pursuit come true. Jody started recruit training for the Bellevue Fire Department. After all the classes, volunteering, and constant testing, it appeared to have all paid off. He lasted all of 7 weeks before being sent packing along with one other recruit. Unbelievably disappointing to say the least.

February—this month has fewer days than the others.

March—Stacie turned 33. To celebrate this (and all the unexpected free time Jody had) she decides to jumpstart a long overdue dream of becoming a photographer. Evidently not only does life take Visa but so do the folks that sell really expensive cameras and lenses and flashes and memory cards and website templates and can you tell how supportive her husband is when he doesn’t have a job?!

April—question: what do you do if you lose your job, don’t work for a month, and decide to start a new business? Go to Maui, of course! We took Gavin (almost 1 at the time) to Maui for 8 days. We hadn’t been back since we left in February of 1999. We stayed at a decent place and caught up with old friends. Jody read “Atlas Shrugged.” It has over 1200 pages. He read them all. Stacie took pictures of Gavin eating sand.

May—Jody ran the inaugural Tacoma marathon. This was not a good idea. Luca breaks his arm jumping off the trampoline in the backyard. There’s a play by play account of the whole event at http://wilkinscreative.com/ if you’re interested.

June—the 3rd of June is one of the most popular dates mentioned in popular music songs. I bet you’re already humming “Desiree” in your head before you finish this sentence.

July—Stacie gets referrals (Thanks Troy and Jana!) to do 2 weddings. She buys Jody a camera of his own and asks him to come. This cheers him up a great deal. His pictures are blurry and their “styles are totally different” she says.

August—Jody turns 36, Caleb turns 8. With Luca (6 on July 12), they throw a 3-way combo birthday party at the Super Jump Party Zone. They each invite 3 friends and the friends’ families.

September—morn, we danced until the night became a brand new day. Two lovers playing scenes from some romantic play. September mornings still can make me feel this way.

October—for Halloween, Caleb was Obi Wan, Luca was a SWAT team member, Atticus was Venom, and Gavin was a frog.

November— this is crazy: the really nice neighbor that sold us the trampoline a couple years ago offered us his house. No lie. He’s a cabinet maker and he remodeled this house at the end of our street. Stacie went and looked and came back smiling

December—we are preoccupied with the idea of moving. We look forward to a new year in a new house with a growing new business. Merry Christmas- The Wilkins

Catching Up!

ok, so the focus was on Caleb,but the look on Gavin's face is just too sweet. Caleb was kissing on him.

sorry about the picture not being rotated, these are straight out of the camera and I haven't touched the folder yet...

He loved the sand, he was actually eating it! His squinty eyes say it all!
Ok, I am way behind on this blog. I've attempted to make an update, but get side tracked trying to create a different look to it, but then frustrated that what's in my mind and with the limits of this blog, I can't seem to create. Plus, I noticed that when I upload pics using Picasa, it freaks out and doesn't work all the time, so now I will go back and try to fix those pictures again. But before that I'd like to post some of our trip to Maui and of Gavin's first birthday.

Jody and I spent 8 days in Maui (with Gavin) in the beginning of April. We had a great time, arguing, making-up, sleeping in (sort of) lounging and visiting a few old friends we made when we lived there in 1998.

Gavin turned 1 year on April 21st, 2007. He took his first steps in Maui a week before his birthday, but is just now liking to get around on his own. Everyday he takes a bigger challenge getting around by foot, but still crawling is much faster! :)

We also had the first time experience of one of our boys breaking a bone! Luca was running away from Jody during a game of family ball tag, jumped off the trampoline to land on his left elbow. He was such a brave and strong boy through it all. He only has to have the cast on for 4 weeks, which will be up late next week! He has learned to tie his shoes, put on a shirt and button his pants with the use of nearly one hand! :) He said the first thing he wants to do is ride his bike, when the cast comes off.

Jody and I are excited to start our photography business. Sounds so formal saying "business" but I'm thrilled with the whole process. We have been given a gift put right in our laps by our friend from college. She and her husband have had a wonderful and quite successful photography business grow in the last 4 1/2 years. Something of a gift to them as well, that grew unexpectedly, and through some heart aches. Her story is very tender and inspiring.

They have asked us to shadow them through this wedding season, in hopes of becoming one of their associate teams.

As most of my friends and family know, photography has been a long time hobby of mine and a hobby that would one day turn into a full time job. Being a stay at home mommy since 1999, the last few years I have spent thinking of something that would allow me to be creative and produce something that I enjoyed. Photography is that for me and starting the business side of it feels good, like the timing of my motivation and willingness to take a risk are merging at the same time! Jody's up for it too, by the way. Over our 13 years of marriage, he's been the one to suggest, encourage and support whatever it took for me to feel happy and healthy!

So in the next couple of months we hope to have a website up, business cards and our name out there....stacielee photography! Jody suggested me using my maiden name.

And if all goes well, we are working on building a new two car garage that will allow us to have an office above the garage (Jody could then work from home everyday), and a studio unit that will triple as a place to welcome visitors a place to stay, an extra room to entertain, and a photography studio. It will have a small kitchen, bathroom/walk in closet and then the main room, opening up to our backyard.

How are they doing all this you wonder? Me too, believe me.....I've learned that you have to try to find out. We're going one step at a time, deciding if we can do the next step with the creative resources we can come up with. We're selling stuff we don't need, including the truck. We're hoping that things will come along with photography, too. It won't bring in a ton over night, but over the next few years I hope we'll be able to depend on it.

Whew, that was a lot of catching up!

Oh-so much joy to you all! Stacie