New Year's Card/Overview of 2014

I just sent the following out to friends and family whose email I had handy. But as I'm sure I've missed many people including the wonderful people who care enough to read this blog, I thought I'd post our "New Years Card" here as well.

Happy New Year!

Here's a quick overview of 2014 for our family followed by a photo collage that captures a few hightlights.

Travel. Adventures, and Special Occasions:

• Great Power of Moms planning trip/family get-away cruise to Mexico in February 
• Amazing trip to Bali in March with my parents and siblings and spouses - and no kids except one perfect little baby. We've been planning and looking forward to this for years and it was just perfect! 
• Two great trips to Southern California in May and November for two family weddings (niece Rachel and nephew James) and to meet a new niece and spend time with siblings from both sides of our family there 
• A few trips to the Loosli farm in Idaho (4th of July parade, snowmobiling, waterskiing, riding around on tractors, enjoying games and laughter with people we love) 
• July at Bear Lake with all the Eyres 
• Ogden Temple Dedication in September 
• Beautiful day trip to the Spiral Jetty 
• Saren's baby sister Charity's big beautiful wedding in October 
• Fall Break camping trip to Arches National Park 
• Lots of hiking and skiing and walks and bike rides (all the kids are now excellent skiiers - with the exception of Ashton who's an excellent snowboarder) 

Jared's main activities:

• conducting great scripture study sessions in the mornings with the kids and tucking kids in bed with lots of tickles at the end of the day 
• fixing and upgrading stuff around the house (he's an amazing handyman) and keeping somehow keeping his '97 Mountaineer going 
• counseling, directing and providing welfare help as Bishop of our ward (congregation) 
• still directing projects at Tire Company Solutions in Salt Lake (spends almost 2 hours a day commuting and usually has jump into ward duties after a quick family dinner each evening, but never complains!) 
• skiing, running and hiking whenever he can squeeze it in 
• is amazingly patient with his crazy wife and rambunctious kids and is the most selfless and helpful man alive 

Saren's main activities: 

• getting kids where they need to be, overseeing homework and housework, making the most of teaching moments, and really enjoying these great kids (when they're not driving her crazy) 
• planning neighborhood events - Make a Difference Day trash clean-up, Easter egg hunt, 4th annual Halloween dinner and parade,8th annual Children for Children fundraiser concert at Christmas (plus she helped the school revamp their parent participation this year) 
• hiking every week with friends - no matter the weather, running a few times a week, needs those endorphens! 
• helps run the children's program at church and has lots of little friends thanks to that 
• still co-directing Power of Moms which now offers a top-rated podcast and great new resources all the time to it's audience of hundreds of thousands of moms around the world 

Ashton:

• After a bit of a rocky year last year (Ashton fully admits that "old Ashton" was really a pain with his grumpiness and moodiness), "New Ashton" has a great year! 
• really enjoyed playing volleyball on the school team again this year 
• decided to become a serious guitar player and practices all the time - now has over 150 songs in his reperatoire and made good money playing for tips at the Farmer's Market during the summer, plays for all family events 
• started a little bread-making business with a friend 
• got his first 4.0 in school 
• got up and got himself to his new 7am seminary class on his bike all fall (We offered to pay him $1/day to get himself there on time - and it worked! 
• "Old Ashton" makes a comeback now and again, but mostly, we're really enjoying this suddenly-so-tall and mature and fun son of ours. 

Isaac:

• did a great job on the school Cross Country team again this year, even though he struggled with allergies and asthma which we finally got diagnosed 
• super friend to all the little boys in the neighborhood who love having nerf wars with him 
• enjoys being on Student Council at school and has lots of great friends (most of them girls, as it turns out), is working hard to get the grades he wants 
• always up for hard work (helped sand down and paint our porches and do many other household projects this year), and is super good at mowing the lawn 
• loved soccer camp last summer and has been putting his skills to work as a junior coach for the new neighborhood soccer league for little kids 
• fighting off the grumpy stage Ashton went through last year - 13 seems to be a hard age for Loosli boys - but mostly, he's still the kind, helpful, solid, hardworking boy we know and love 

Eliza:

• still loves dancing with Virgina Tanner Dance, participated in a couple recitals this year and is a beautiful dancer 
• joined Junior Junior League (for girls ages 10-16) and has loved volunteering at community events and learning more about our community in the company of great friends 
• joined the Cross Country team at school and became a really great runner - was one of the few on the team to go to State 
• still loves art and is always creating something new and beautiful 
• enjoying playing violin and can play most anything by ear 
• has started babysitting for other families and is SO good with little kids 
• such a fun, smart, tough, adventurous, sweet and helpful girl - with a decent dose of drama and emotion thrown in there 

Oliver and Silas (we try to treat them as individuals and they are still doing so many of the same activities and like the same things so it works best to group them here!)

• first year in different classes at school - amazing how well they do together or apart - either way is just totally fine for them 
• loving legos - they can't get enough and are so good at quickly building really complex things and making up their own cool stuff 
• great helpers to their dad on all his household projects 
• loving stuffed animals - the older boys think they're getting too old for their love of all things fluffy and cute - but they're devoted to their furry friends! 
• playing soccer (Isaac helps coach) 
• great readers - when they aren't bouncing off the walls and running around like crazy outside, they've got their noses in a book. Silas finished the Harry Potter series this year and Oliver finished the Percy Jackson series 
• still working on their "r's" in speech therapy - getting better and better!
• Oliver is learning drums (and is really good!) 
• Silas is really into cooking and can make lots of treats and meals really well on his own 
• still the most loving and sweet guys around, and still have boundless energy and enthusiasm 

We hope 2015 brings you beauty and learning and joy!

Love, Saren, Jared, Ashton, Isaac, Eliza, Oliver and Silas