Ramirez and Anderson Family: January 2013

I have never felt so blessed as I have felt this past year. Babies and colleges and jobs and family have been the focus of our year. The first Christmas with the boys was wonderful. Christmas was busy, fun, and beautiful. The boys loved all the new gifts and all the attention. It is so much fun to have little ones in the family again. They were mesmerized by the Christmas lights, Santa, and ripping open presents. Jayden and Liam are both crawling and walking around furniture. Nothing is safe anymore.We all did Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad Ramirez's and then Christmas morning breakfast at my house. After breakfast everyone went their separate ways to see other family members. We headed to Mel and Jane's for dinner and a movie. I love that part of Christmas...relaxation!

A few weeks before Christmas, Cheri finished her finals and we grabbed Amanda and headed to Chicago for Tara's 40th birthday surprise and a much needed girls' weekend away. It was all organized by Drew and Tara was surprised. For those of you that don't know, Tara is my stepsister but we have been together since she was 4 or 5 and I was 15 or 16 so she is simply my sister now. We were both only children until we became family. We met up with dear friends of Tara's and had a rip roaring Chicago weekend...except my sleepy new moms that didn't want to go out after dinner. We did lunch, did some Christmas shopping, went to a nice dinner and a little dancing, then had breakfast and said our goodbyes. Drew told Tara she was going to Texas. She did not pack for Chicago. Doesn't matter, she didn't mind one bit. We didn't spend much time outside anyway.

New Years was celebrated at Clint and Amanda's with steak and wine. The boys were up for the countdown and we partied with them. They had no idea what was going on but they knew it was fun. I wonder if this will be a tradition for them?

January 3rd Cheri and John headed for Jamaica. Paul and I had Jayden and loved every minute of it. He is such a good little guy. We spent time with Clint, Amanda, Liam, Charlie, Mom, and Mike. Clint and Amanda had been house hunting and found their house. One Saturday we bundled up the babies and went to see it. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a finished basement. Most of it has been updated recently. The best part is it is in a circle that backs up to John and Cheri's circle. It is literally closer to John and Cheri's house than my mailbox is to my house. The boys will be able to play all the time. They will go to the same grade school too!

We all knew John was going to pop the question to Cheri in Jamaica but we didn't know when. I guess he did it the first day and she didn't tell us until she was on her way home. Way to keep us on the edge of our seat Cheri! We were all wondering if she said no! John asked some guy to take their picture on the beach and he got the proposal on film...precious! We don't have wedding details yet but I will keep you posted.

Jonathan moved to Oregon state this summer was not successful in finding a job. He decided to move back to Denver in December and landed a really good job with the hospital he was working for before he left. The only bad part was he could not come home for Christmas and we really missed having him here. Hopefully he will get settled and we can take a trip out to see how he is doing. He is happy to be back in Denver and rock climbing territory. He did not like Oregon and had to travel pretty far to find any good rock climbing. P3 came home for Christmas but it was brief. It was still great to have him here. He left Christmas morning to see the rest of his family in Florida. His sister has moved to Germany and he is planning a trip over there to visit her. P3 is still living in Brooklyn but Jon is trying to talk him into moving to Denver. We will see how that goes.

Charlie and Kortnie are working all the time as usual. We did see them on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Charlie came down when I had Jayden. I haven't had any time to go up there to see them.

Paul and I are still doing great. Paul is still reffing and I am still teaching Zumba, as well as our school jobs. Clint just got hired as the IT guy for Bedford Schools. That means if my computers in my computer lab are broke, Clint is the one who fixes them. Everyone loves him and says he is doing a great job. Clint said he is happy to have a grown up job with benefits now. Him and Amanda are both taking classes, working, raising a baby, and getting ready to move in their new house. I will let you know if Amanda still has any hair left on her head when spring gets here. Nana will have to step in and help. The only thing is Nana is taking a graduate course, is in a fitness challenge at work (which means going to the Y on a regular basis), training for a half marathon, and picked up another day to teach Zumba...not to mention a daughter getting married soon. Nana may be bald come spring too!

I hope everyone had a wonderful start to the new year and may it be blessed with love and happiness!!!
Love Ya,
Cindy