Dear Friends and Family,
Once again, the holiday season is upon us. With that said, it means I have to write my holiday letter. I always said I wasn’t going to write this generic letter, however this is the 3rd year I have written and I actually enjoy it. It makes me slow down for just a few minutes out of the year and reflect on where our family has been and what we have done throughout the year!
To start the year off in January, our daughter turned 1. We celebrated the occasion in Horseshoe Bend and it was an amazing event (that she will never remember J). All the family was there and it was a very nice get together. Thanks to everyone who came! This year, we didn’t have too many travel adventures! We only went down to Boise a few times, which isn’t nearly enough. We did get down to Orofino a lot for weekend trips, which is always fun.
Our most memorable trip down to southern Idaho was our 4th of July camping trip. We had the most amazing time down there for 9 days! We camped and ate and ate, and ate some more!! Haha. The guys did salmon fish and we ended up bringing lots of fish home. George’s parents and brother and his family came up so we had all the kids together for a week. They really enjoyed each others company and Kiersten learned a lot from her cousin Carson, like how to fill her shoes with dirt and SOOO many great facial expressions. We had the luxury of staying in the camper that we bought last year, while the others stayed in tents! This year we went camping a lot and next year we hope to go even more! I could spend every weekend in the camper out of the city if we didn’t have anything else to do!!
In September we had a great time heading to Orofino for the LumberJack Days and County Fair. I have only been back during fair days once since high school graduation so it was something that I was looking forward to and also looking forward to taking Kiersten too. Kiersten got to ride many rides, the carousel was her favorite, and she got to see all the barn animals. She liked the cows the best and was scared of the snorting pigs!
On to some not so memorable events… In June Kiersten had to have surgery to put ear tubes in. She has had a ton of ear infections, and the tubes were such a blessing, however it was hard for her because she didn’t know what we were doing to her, and George and I felt horrible. With that said, just this last week we had to go back to the ear doctor for her 6 month checkup and found out that her left ear tube has already fallen out! I’m hoping that she will not have to have it again, but the odds I think are against us since she has allergies and she already has fluid behind her eardrum. We will see with time. Another slightly difficult time this year was when we moved her into a toddler bed in August. She loved it because she could get out of it anytime she wanted. At first it was hard to keep her in it but after the first few horrific nights she has become accustom to her new bed. She has now become an early morning person though, and I am not too fond of that.
I can’t write a letter without talking about hunting season. George had a great hunting season. He was down in Tensed almost every weekend. The camper became his weekend Home. He enjoyed every minute of it, although he didn’t get a deer. He did however go to Riggins with all the guys for one week, and he shot a bull elk down there. It must not have been very big, because has never bragged about it or showed me the horns. Either way it gave him plenty of GUY time. While George was gone hunting most weekends I stayed home with Kiersten and took up a long lost hobby of mine. I re-taught myself how to crochet again. I decided that I would start selling my crochet hats and it has become a busy little online business/hobby. It’s been a great thing to keep me busy, and George really liked it as well. Since I didn’t complain as much as normal about how much he was gone.
Beyond all those fun PLAY things we did throughout the year, we still have to work. George is still with Boise Cascade and really enjoys it. He took on selling a new product this year and has been traveling for work a bit more. He takes week trips into Montana every few months and he also got to visit Reno for 3 days this year. I am still working at Kootenai Medical Center, and I also really enjoy my job. I took on a new role at the hospital in the middle of this year, It is called Admit and Discharge Nurse. So I see patients when they first come into the hospital and get them settled in and I also help patients discharge out of the hospital on the day they go home. I really enjoy it because it isn’t as stressful as working the floor but I still get to do patient care and most of all get to visit with patients.
This year has been a busy year between work and play and watching Kiersten grow up. We have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and I hope you have enjoyed yours as well. We are looking forward to what 2010 has to bring us and we want to wish your family a Happy Holidays! Take care and we hope to hear from each and every one of you throughout this next year.
Happy Holidays,
The Drakes
