Christmas 2012
To our dear friends and family (gush!):
Each year when I sit down to author this letter, I feel a
little surprised that an entire year has already passed us by. I find myself
anxiously weighing the achievements, events, trips, and day-to-day activities
that have defined our year, hoping to best capture what makes us, well, us. And I’m supposed to fit it on one
page, like some sort of resume to our friends and family, and how am I really
supposed to tell you all about us in one short page?!?! I’ll do my best;
margins will be pushed to the verge of printing limits, and it’s going to be
size 9 font so put on your glasses, but no promises! I’m pretty sure this year
was just too awesome to stuff onto one page…
We’ll start with the head honcho around here: Me! That
was a joke. We’ll start with Allen. He’s still working at NIF (National
Ignition Facility) at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (if you’ve ever seen Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, then
you’ll have actually seen the blue prints of the facility) as the lead vacuum-systems
manager in charge of engineering and operations. Not as in Hoover type vacuum,
but “create-space-like-conditions” vacuum. He’s done well there, and is an
excellent engineer as far as I can tell. He’s currently serving as the 11-year
old Scout leader at church with a good group of kids. It’s been a pretty decent
excuse to do boy things since he’s not allowed much of that with all of us
girls here at home. He’s taken Lexi out camping and hiking this year; they are
peas in a pod (literally, ‘cause she has to sleep with him to stay warm at
night) and have the “best-day-ever” every time they venture out. Allen is
pretty much super dad volleying between the domestic desires of 3 girls with his
baking cookies, creating crafts, playing princesses, and then seamlessly moving
on to teaching the girls to lay sprinkler lines, plant the garden, run
electrical wires, and use tools while he makes our backyard the dream-scape
we’ve always wanted. He’s thoroughly enjoyed being near his family and has gone
to quite a few ball games with his brothers, dad, and my dad, too. The Riddle
boys also got together for what we wives lovingly call “the annual death march”
and happily hiked in the snow and rain from mountain to beach in a couple of
short days. Some say torture, others say vacation!
Alexis is in first grade, and loving every minute. She’s
an eager student, and hasn’t found a thing about school she doesn’t completely
love. Last May, she starred in the local theater’s production of “Annie” as one
of the chorus children. She was the youngest actor involved, and took to it
like a duck to water. She has zero stage fright, and handled hours of rehearsal
like a pro at a young 6 years old. She participated in her school choir, and is
taking private piano lessons, too. She played soccer again this year, and while
she sticks with it without complaining, I think she mostly does it because I’m
her coach. Our team did well, and she improved a lot as a player. She’s going
to give gymnastics a try in January. Her favorite past time is hanging out with
her Dad. She’s his shadow, willingly soaking up all that he teaches her from
the scriptures, to drawing, to yard work and so on. She has finally mastered
the art of riding a two-wheeled bike. She’s thrilled with the freedom that
comes with her added mobility. Lexi is a fun girl who is usually happy,
helpful, and pretty easy to be around. She is definitely a great example to her
sisters, carefully guiding them at every turn, and we are grateful for that –
even when they aren’t!
Oh, Addie. My dear Addie. Ms. Addie-tude. She’s all that
a 4-year-old girl can be. She’s charming, comical, endearing, irrational,
emotional, stubborn, independent, confident yet incredibly insecure, and pretty
much a total train wreck. Ok, so that might be a slight exaggeration. But,
seriously, she’s a complex little person. Addie has a considerable amount of
intensity in her little body. She’s also very competitive. She’s been
practicing soccer with our team a bit and can almost outplay girls twice her
age by pure determination alone. She’s in preschool, and a great little
student. She is a mostly-loving sister to both Lexi and Emily. She is
affectionate, and tries to help if someone is hurt or upset. She’s very eager
to be with babies and children younger than herself and sees her role as the
little mother as very important. Her favorite place to be is outdoors riding
her scooter, bike, or helping Allen with chores. Addie has the gift of being
passionate, and has a lot of energy to spare so we’re tossing her into
gymnastics, too. I’m pretty sure she’ll either take the place by storm or have
a raging fit because she can’t compete with the 16 year olds. Either way, she’s
bound to learn something.
Little Emily will be turning 3 in April. Emily is, for
the most part, a pretty happy little girl. But, if she hits her wall, it’s like
a head-on collision at 75 mph. Just after her 2nd birthday, Emily
was diagnosed with a motor speech disorder called Speech Apraxia. In real
people speak: she has a brain disorder that stops her brain from telling her
mouth how to work the right way. She won’t ever outgrow it, but with consistent
therapy, she’ll attend regular school and live a normal life. We’ve been in
therapy for 6 months, 3 days a week, and she’s made significant improvement
with her verbal expression. Her delay is limited to only her speech, and in
every other regard, she’s off the charts and doing great! She’s an engaged,
intelligent, feisty, dramatic, lovable 2 year old. She loves puzzles and
anything else that requires concentration. She’s helpful with her Dad, but
often prefers to stay with me in the house. If I’m in the kitchen, she’s right
there next to me “elping”. She properly tortures her sisters, as any youngest
sibling should do.
As for me, I’m enjoying the slow-paced lifestyle that
comes with raising three kids under 7 while being blissfully pregnant with our
fourth. BAH! Tell me you didn’t buy that for a second! I’m up to my ears in
raising these kids, but what else would I be doing that’s of any worth anyhow?
We are, indeed, pregnant with our fourth girl. No, Allen isn’t mourning, and
clothed in sackcloth and ashes. The baby is due March 2nd, 2013. By
some strange alignment of the stars and destiny, I’m back at giving riding
lessons. I do love working with youth riders and am completely at home in the
barn. In January of last year I went with Alexis to the “Annie” auditions, and
ended up being cast as “Grace”, Daddy Warbuck’s secretary. I’d never done such
a thing (as in never sung a day in MY LIFE), and was a little horrified at the
thought, but I accepted the offer. There was dancing and singing and all manner
of jazz hands involved, but what a great time we had! Shortly after that, I got
myself knocked up. As trite as that sounds, having this fourth person come to
our family is a real blessing. We are excited to see just who is going to
joining us. I absolutely love living near my friends and our family and enjoy
being kept busy by the good things in life.
As a family, we traveled to Disneyland with my dad, known
affectionately as Grandpa Bob. Over the summer, a good portion of Allen’s
extended family made their way West for their vacations (and a few with some
family obligations…) so those of us who were familiar got to catch up, and
those of us who’d never met got to meet and make new friends. We’ve spent a lot
of time with family doing normal things like celebrating birthdays, seeing
Grandma and Papa on Sunday nights, attending the baptisms and blessings of family
and friends, working in the yard, going to the beach, taking lots of day trips
to see the wonders of the area, and so forth. Our lives are full with the
things that make us happy and leave us feeling fulfilled. All in all, we’re
quite possibly the most average family around, but we find meaning in our time
together and doing what makes us, well, us.
May each and every one of you find the same comfort and
satisfaction in all that makes you who you are, ties you to your loved ones,
and matters to you most. Have a wonderful Holiday season and banner year in
2013!
Allen and Traci Riddle
