A Picture Year in Review 9

NOVEMBER 2011:
Colby's Spelling Bee, Soccer, soccer, and more soccer...

DECEMBER 2011:
Taylor and Grandpa singing in the joint LDS/Epiphany of our Lord Christmas Concert, Christmas Card Pictures

A Picture Year in Review 8

OCTOBER 2011:

Field Day, One of my Furniture Restoration Experiments, and Bedroom Makeover

A Picture Year in Review 7

SEPTEMBER 2011:
Temple Trip with the Paternos, Grandparents Day @ School, Labor Day fun with the Wrights @ the Nelsons:), and Halle's field trip to the fire station

A Picture Year in Review 6

More JULY/AUGUST 2011:
Hotel Sleepover for Haleigh's Birthday, Singing with choir at the Astros Game, Camping with Yogi, Corpus Christi Trip before dad starts school, Avalyn getting into my makeup, and Blue Bell Factory Tour

A Picture Year in Review 5

JULY 2011:
Wright Family Reunion (Yes, this is just Jared's immediate family); Family Races, Ripley's Wax Museum, Water fun, Exotic Animal Farm, and more...

A Picture Year in Review 4

JUNE 2011:
Last day of school, My Fair Lady with Mom, Camp Rock 2 at Miller Outdoor Theatre & Zoo Train Ride with friends, LOTS of swim team for Colby, Taylor, & Halle (I only have one picture for some reason though), and Halle's 5th Birthday Party

A Picture Year in Review 3

More APRIL/MAY 2011:
Wright dad's backyard campout, Fun and blackberry picking at Jodie's farm, Easter egg hunt with Wright cousins, Colby's birthday party, and paddle boats/train ride with Avalyn & Halle.

A Picture Year in Review 2

MARCH 2011:
Family Festival with Ryan & Lisa's family, Soccer Begins, Kids Celebrating Colby's Winning T-Shirt Design, & Colorado Trip for Uncle Chuck's MemorialAPRIL 2011:
Hiking with Austin Wright Cousins, Hotel Swimming with Nelson Cousins, My Sister Sara's Rehearsal Dinner & Wedding

A Picture Year in Review

As I began to write my Christmas letter, I looked back through my blog to help me remember what happened this year and realized that I didn't post so many pictures of some of the things we did this year. And so for the next few DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS... I am going to use the pictures we took to post each month's highlights (that I haven't already posted) as a picture year in review. Enjoy!

DEC 2010/JANUARY 2011:
Taylor brakes her thumb falling off her bike, Baking cookies with Aunt Sara & Uncle Tim, Christmas morning, and Minute to Win-It with the Paternos:

FEBRUARY 2011:
Ward Campout, Taylor's Happy 7th Birthday, First Pinewood Derby, and a Hair Cut for Mom:

** Disclaimer: I'm sure I have some of these events placed in the wrong months but they're close enough for me:)

Daddy Daughter Dance

One good thing about Jared never looking at our blog is that he'll never know I posted this video. Unless you tell him. So don't tell him because he'll make me take it off :)

Family Pictures

I'm going to have a tough time choosing a Christmas Card... I love our family pictures this year, particularly the individuals of the kids! I want your opinions on the group picture I should use. Here are several of my favorites...

TEN YEARS!

Time flies when you're having fun!

White Coat Ceremony

Yesterday, Jared was officially welcomed into the dental profession with a white coat ceremony at the dental school. I was so glad I was able to go with him and see him "coated". He starts classes on Monday and will be very busy this semester, taking 25 hours of mostly science courses. Yikes! Our family is very excited for him, however, and we know that these four years are going to go very quickly. Here are a few pictures from the event...

Congratulations Jared! I LOVE YOU!

"Dear Jared,

Congratulations! It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected for acceptance to the 2009 entering class of The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston. You have been selected based upon your excellent qualifications, traits, and attributes. It would be our privilege to welcome you to the Dental Branch family and to the dental profession....

...The administration, faculty, students and staff of the Dental Branch look forward to you joining our family and to celebrating your achievements here at the Dental Branch and in the profession of dentistry.

Sincerely,

Catherine M. Flaitz, D.D.S., M.S.
Dean and Professor"

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't even begin to explain the growth, excitement, and relief that our family is experiencing today.

Jared has been working on the pre-requisites for dental school & studying for the DAT since 2005. He works full-time and of course, has his family on top of this. He has basically studied on his days off and 5 nights a week consistently until 1 or 2 every morning. He applied to dental school last year but did not get in. He has taken the DAT two times and did poorly both times, despite the countless hours of studying. I watched him do well on his practice tests when he took them untimed, but timed - his score would drop 5 points because he just didn't do well with the pressure of a timed test. This year, his application was so strong - but this test score was the one thing (BIG THING) he was lacking. He took it in June and was ready to quit his goal for dental school because he felt he had nothing left to give. But after a few days to clear his thoughts, he decided to try one last time to improve his DAT score for this application cycle (entering class Fall 2009). You have to wait 3 months inbetween test dates - so it was set for September 22nd. Because of the 2 hurricane evacuations, he missed out on 6 of his 8 planned tutoring sessions and then his test date was moved back until the office received power again. Yesterday, so many people fasted for him and I know my kids have prayed for him every day for a long time. Yesterday, Jared put the books away and tried to rest and rely on the Lord instead of relying on his own power. He knew the information, but needed help expressing it on the test without getting overwhelmed by the pressure.

All that to try to explain just how hard he has worked on this test. Going into the test, we both felt at ease, feeling really prepared for a score that was lower than he hoped. We were comfortable with the idea that dentistry may not be the right path for our family & that would be ok. Of course, we hoped that Jared would feel success after all of his work, but knew that if that did not happen - the Lord had a different plan for our family. So he got home at 4:30 and he had brought his academic average score from a 15 to a 19 in just 3 months, scoring a 20 on the perceptual & in the 95th percentile in one of the sections, not far behind that in many of the other sections. It was a real spiritual experience for our family as we felt the hand of the Lord in the final hour of his efforts. I know these scores don't mean anything to you, but to him - it means that he will most likely get into dental school for the Fall 2009 entering class!

We will keep you posted but for now... we get to enjoy having a normal life with Jared home more. Thank you all for everything!! Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!