2011 Christmas Letter

2011 has been quite the year.  It was so hard to choose only a couple of pictures to represent what we've done.  I'll start with what the kids have been doing, because, frankly, they are what have been keeping us busy!

Jacob Michael (Jake)

He's 12 and half now, and in his first year of middle school. He's 5'6, 98 lbs and wears a size 11 shoe.  He's going to take after his name-sake, my dad, and will be a tall one.  He's very much into sports, we're not sure where that comes from and seems to have some talent at it.  He started a program called Sea Cadets which is a young-navy kind of thing.  And....yup, girls seem to be in the picture, but he plays his cards close to his chest.  I hear about it from the girl's little brother who visits the school nurse (at the school where I work).....gotta love working for the same school district your kids go to.

 Here's Jake doing an 'exercise'.  Not only do Sea Cadets help the boys get prepared for military service later, they also do community service.  This time they helped put the Easter Seals camp to sleep for the winter.  He's loving it and moving up in the ranks quickly.  He's seriously thinking about joining the Navy when he grows up.  We're stressing that he needs to go to college first and join as an officer, like his Uncle, Jose.

 Basketball, kind of an obvious choice for such a tall kiddo.  He really likes it.

 He joined track at school and had a good time.  Those long legs were ideal for hurdles...although the little guy next to him, beat him (he's on Jake's baseball team too and that kid gets to first base before his ball gets to outfield, he's quick)

 Jake's baseball team made it to the championship game this summer.  They won every game during the play-offs, but lost the championship game so came in second for the league.  They did great. Jake's favorite position is third base, and he like to pitch once in awhile too.

He's our funny, well-liked, easy-going kid.  He'll still give us hugs and kisses when none of his friends are around and once in awhile will even choose to spend time with us over his friends (but not often).

Isaac Gabriel (Isaac)
He's also going to be a tall one, he's 9 and 3 months, he's the youngest in his class and about a head taller then most of the kiddos.  He's 5 ft tall and 120 pounds (mostly muscle, you should see the thighs and chest on this kid) and wears a 6 1/2 shoe.  He's good at sports too, but enjoys solo sports over team sports.

 One of Isaac's favorite sports is Karate.  He's quickly moved up to a purple belt this year.  He's been able to compete in two tournaments and brought home first place in his "Kata" and second in sparring both times.

 During the summer he swims.  He's been doing this a couple of years and that upper body strength helps him get to the other end pretty quickly.  He's working on getting his dive and strokes down and is hoping to grow some gills....

They started a club at his school for lego Robots.  The kids program the robots to do certain tasks.  They also had to come up with a solution to keep food safe.  Then they compete with other teams.  They actually qualified during the first competition and went to state where they were in the running for rookie team of the year.  This is right up Isaac's alley and it's something he and dad can do together too.  (Isaac is very much his father's child).

Isaac is also a funny boy who makes us laugh all the time.  His conversations run from discussing splitting atoms and pulling his finger kind of jokes.  He's super smart, moves up a grade in math and argues with us all the time....to the point where he now starts an argument with, "Mom, I'm not arguing with you, I just want to discuss why I think it should be....."

This year

besides going to a myriad of sporting events we had a chance to go to Hawaii for Jason's cousin's wedding.  One of our best vacations ever!

And, in case you were wondering, Jason and I also have a life...well sort of.  Jason's working at Perficient, and has been there eleven years.  

I quit my job as a dialysis nurse (being on call, beepers going off at 2 in the morning, driving to Denver Health during a blizzard and working 20+ hours a day -- all too hard on a family) and took a job as a school nurse.  The job itself is interesting and the hours are perfect to help raise our two active boys.  It's the best of both worlds (although I do have a soft spot for dialysis, it was a lot of fun and really interesting!).  I'm almost done with my Master's in Nursing (next April!). Not sure yet what I'll do with that, but I know for sure I'm going to take time off before deciding.

All in all we've been very blessed, we have two such great boys, live in a great neighborhood, everyone is happy and healthy.

Our prayer for you all is that you too find yourselves in good health and are happy.

Have a wonderful and blessed holiday!

Love,

The Zimmers

Jason, Tracey, Jake and Isaac