Robertson Christmas Newsletter 2013

Dear Friends and Family:

The biggest news of 2013 is that on Dec. 22, we adopted a son, whom we named Spencer David. He was born in Jupiter, FL on Friday, Dec. 20 at 4:34 a.m., healthy, at 6 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 inches with strawberry blond hair. A wonderful young lady we knew back when we lived in Florida had called us in May, (just 2 months after we finished our adoption home study,) and told us she was pregnant and had selected us as adoptive parents. We were cautiously thrilled, and kept in constant contact with her until we drove down to Florida Dec. 18. We should have paperwork to leave the state around the New Year. We will finalize the adoption in a few months, and look forward to continued contact with her & her family. He is our most wonderful Christmas present.

Impromtu family picture on Christmas Eve at our
Homewood Suites Hotel in Jupiter, FL.
Spencer is five days old, and we are thrilled
to have him and enjoy a warm holiday.

This year we didn't travel much, partly to save up 2 weeks of vacation time for the adoption. My family cancelled our summer reunion, due to unplanned reunions at the funerals of our Grandma Bosen and Grandpa Eyring in the spring, and the coming births of two new nephews in October. My parents visited us in May, and we met in Denver for my brother's wedding in November, so I've seen my family a lot.

My grandma Bosen gave me her organizing gene and sewing legacy. Jessica  came with me to Utah.	I loved seeing my Eyring  grandparents' house and hearing stories of  California.	My brother Jeff married a smart, cheerful Chinese student, Ellen, on a beautiful fall day in Denver.

My dad and mom with Jessica and Dave in Natural Bridge Caverns, VA.

Spencer has four new boy cousins: two on the Eyring side, and two on the Robertson side. Three amigos both ways!

Dave's job is going well; he installed 6 new test stands for Flowserve. He likes his assistant and all the capital they throw at him. He flew to Austin in August for his yearly Labview training, and he and all his siblings met in San Antonio in June for his Dad's 60th birthday surprise. He ran a 4-miler, swims and plays racquetball with his friends every week, and made his first pilgrimage to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. He really enjoys his 500 sq. ft. wood shop and all of the free hardwood Virginia can produce.

Dave used his job skills and equipment to time the local Pinewood Derby Race. Everyone was impressed with the automatic timing and margins measured in .0001 seconds.

Dave uses his new sawdust collection system with his table saw. About a third of the shop is shown here.

Dave's dad, mom, niece, and brother outside the Alamo in June. They also went to Sea World - San Antonio.

In February we went to Washington D.C. We spent almost 2 days at the Air and Space, and I taught Jessica how to use the phrase "It's cold enough to freeze your lips off!"

Jessica is 3 1/2, has a head of hair down to her elbows, and loves cats and singing. This year she was potty-trained, corrected all of her mispronunciations, learned to use a mouse and navigate computer games, and sprouted up into size 5T clothes without gaining any weight. She is taking Joy School again, since she is still too young for preschool; (I like to joke that she flunked her first year.) She can be very charming and very demanding. She loves gardening, drawing, play-acting with her toys, and our neighbor's kids.

Our cat Smokey is sometimes tolerant of Jessica's love, but sometimes uses his sharp ends to assist his escape.

Jessica's third year included declaring her independence in every area from cooking to gardening.

Jessica plays on a library computer.

For her 3rd birthday, Jessica asked for a kitty party, and we invited a whole litter of girls.

We share backyards with our Mormon neighbors, which now includes a swingset, trampoline, climbing dome, 2 swings, a sandpit, two gardens, and lots of dirt.

I was happy to start teaching another year of Joy School in rotation with another great group of moms. I worked in my vegetable garden, which was full of big successes and big failures. For church I taught children, organized a quilting project, and was music director for the Christmas play. We arranged our house so I have a craft space, I attended scrapbook groups, failed to find much tennis to play, and happily prepared for a new baby.

Jessica was the youngest of 5 in the '12-'13 Joy School. I learned the same curriculum when I was a toddler.

Jessica is the tallest of 7 in the '13-'14 Joy School class.

Our garden produced lots of lettuce, radishes, zucchini & yellow squash, basil & cilantro, sunflowers, and marigolds. Because of my inexperience and a bad batch of manure, we didn't enjoy tomatoes, peas, pumpkins, peppers, melons, or onions.

Lots of church ladies & kids came together to make quilts for a family whose house burned down. This is a strip quilt, done with scrap fabric in sections, in which the back is quilt as the front pieces are sewn together. Theoretically, it's faster.

Our Lynchburg 3-ward "Brassernacle Orchestra", including Dave on trombone far left, who played for an original, 2-night play 'Picture A Christmas'. I choose music, coordinated the 3-ward children's choir with percussion, arranged violin & flute parts, a double quartet choir, and a few solos. It was a lot of work, but I justified if I did this, I wouldn't have to make cookie plates for anyone. In my defense I was smart enough to say 'no' to being director.

We are still enjoying Lynchburg, VA. Not the hilly terrain or cold weather; but the seasons, conservative town, the YMCA, and nature, including Shenandoah National Park. We are renting a new house from great landlords, and our church congregation is full of young friendly families.

Standing in front of Natural Bridge, VA. There is a highway going over the top; apparently George Washington hiked through once.

A Jessica in her natural habitat: water, at Doyles River Falls in Shenandoah National Park in May.

Three families joined us for our Easter Sunday dinner.

Four families celebrated Pioneer Day with us in July by pulling pseudo-handcarts from one house to another through the trees. The kids pretended to cry when a doll "died", and we played stick pull, "shot" stuffed animals, and ended with scones.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
Dave, Liz, Jessica, Spencer, and Smokey