Merry Christmas 2011!  

Wow, 2011!  It took me forever to get used to writing that and I'm not sure why.  We are all doing fine here
with big news to share--we are having a baby!  We are due in late April 2012 and it is supposed to be a girl. 
We have named her Laura Lynelle Trout.  It will be quite a change in our household; we currently
have our two boys, ages 14 and 10.  We also have an indoor cat now; her official name is Lily but we
call her "Puddy" (as in "Puddy Tat").  Like I said, big changes!  

A few highlights of the year:

--Jonathan went to state math contest in April for the 4th grade problem solving category,
meaning he was one of the top 75 4th graders in Missouri. We were so proud!

--Both boys started Tae Kwon Do classes in March and did well.  Jonathan is still continuing
with the classes and it seems to be his "thing." He loves it!

--Christian played soccer on the Bolivar team in the fall and they had a winning record. 
He worked very hard for three months of practices and games!

--The boys continue to receive all A's and be on the honor roll at their schools. 
They are growing, growing, growing; Christian is proud to say that he is taller than Mommy now.  

I imagine that when we remember 2011, we will certainly remember our trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida!
  We went on May 27 and returned on June 3.  We were able to enjoy all four parks with my parents,
Larry and Judy and also got to celebrate Jonathan's 10th birthday at Disney World. 
It was hot but I think everyone had a lot of fun.  It was good timing, also since next year
we will be a little busy with our new baby :-)  

Below is our picture at Disney's Hollywood Studios on our first full day of vacation.

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas and happy 2012!

Love, Brian, Julie, Christian and Jonathan plus one :-)

Merry Christmas 2010!

Here we are last Christmas (in Kansas at the Trout house ) for our annual picture.
Brian and I haven't changed too much in a year, but the boys, of course, are growing and
changing every day. It is sports, church and school all the time for us around here.
Both boys are straight A students and we are very proud of them both!

Jonathan got glasses in February and is doing very well with them. He played basketball in the winter months,
then flag football in the spring, then baseball in the summer and then finally, tackle football in the fall.
His baseball team went undefeated and won 1st place in the 3rd and 4th YMCA league in Bolivar in July.
He turned 9 in June and started into 4th grade in August. He still loves building things!

Christian got his top braces on in August and will get the bottom ones on at the end of December.
He played basketball in the winter, soccer in the spring and then played on the Bolivar Middle
School soccer team in the fall. He traveled to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama in May for a four day trip.
He is first chair tuba in the Bolivar 7th grade band now and recently made the District Honors Band.
He turned 13 in September and received a cell phone from Grandma and Papa--the dream of all teenagers ;-)

Brian continues to work at A-1 Tool, Inc. and teach 4th grade RAs (Royal Ambassadors) at First Baptist
Church on Wednesday nights. I (Julie) continue to volunteer at the Polk County Genealogical Society where
I am the treasurer and babysit two days a week for a little girl who turned 2 in October. Occasionally I
babysit another little girl, so about once a month I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old in the house all day!
While the girls get along great, it does remind me why my children are almost 4 years apart in age! :-)

We want to wish all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2011!
We think of you everyday and pray for all of you. May God bless you!

Love and prayers, Julie, Brian, Christian and Jonathan "Jonny"

Merry Christmas 2009!

So, no, we don't have a Christmas picture . . . does an Easter picture count?

Or maybe an almost Thanksgiving picture at the Steelers vs. Chiefs game that's a little blurry?

Anyway, I have done an online Christmas letter before but this year it seems more appropriate than ever since most of my correspondence is via the Internet these days. It also has been several years since I have written a letter, so it might take more than a page to catch up! (Just kidding :-)

I joined Facebook this year, even though I resisted it for years, but now I am having so much fun with it. I just love seeing pictures of family, friends (old and new) and their families--to me, it's like getting Christmas letters all year long! I love it! (It's nice to chat back and forth in posts, too, but I'm not too good with the actual "chat" part--I get distracted and leave the page up and someone is trying to chat with me and I'm not there! I'm not ignoring you--I just forgot what I was doing.) It's nice to know a little bit of what's going on with everyone. It's doesn't really tell the whole story, though, does it? (More on that later.)

2009, almost 2010! Wow, I can't believe it. It is crazy! After a couple of crazy years health-wise for me, it seems like I am finally feeling good again. Still not where I would like to be with my weight, but I don't know many who are ;-0 I'll just keep on trying to do better every day. At least I feel like trying, now, whereas I didn't feel like it before. I am still working with the genealogy society here in Polk County--tried to get away from it for a while but just couldn't! Got sucked back in! :-) (I don't really feel that way, just being silly.) Got a chance to do a little bit of genealogy research of my own this summer and updated my web page for the first time in several years. I am also babysitting two days a week for a sweet little girl, age 1; quite a change from boys! We haven't given up our hopes to have another one someday in our family but God is in control of that. I am a teacher in the one year old Sunday School class, so I do manage to get my baby fix in every week with them plus babysitting. :-)

Brian spent the beginning of the year celebrating wins with his favorite sports teams: the Pittsburgh Steelers (professional football) , the North Carolina Tar Heels (college basketball), the Pittsburgh Penguins (professional hockey) and the Los Angeles Lakers (professional basketball). He is still working hard at his job at A-1 Tool, Inc. and he is now helping with RAs at church on Wednesday nights (I think this is his third year helping.) Unfortunately, this year will always be remembered for sadness: Brian's dad Randy Trout passed away on August 4, 2009 after a long battle with cancer. He was a month shy of his 61st birthday. (This is Randy in his front yard.)

Christian is 12 now and in 6th grade (Middle school, eek!) and is doing well. He is now getting ready for YMCA basketball. He is playing the baritone and tuba in band and is getting taller everyday. He loves his video games and computer games and is turning into quite the historian. He enjoys reading about the Civil War and other historical events. He is also showing an interest in his family tree, so I may have found my genealogist for the next generation. Christian is saving his money to go to Space Camp in May with his TAG (Extended Learning) classmates for a field trip (four day field trip!) and he is so excited about it!

Jonathan is 8 and is in 3rd grade at the Intermediate School, so after 7 straight years, we have no children at the Primary School in Bolivar. That was a bit of an adjustment for Mommy but not Jonathan! He is doing well at school--the building was not strange to him since he had been going there once a week since 1st grade for Extended Learning. He is growing and growing (finally) and it seems like I can't find the right pants for him to wear. They are either too long or too short; hardly ever just right. He is still a contraption builder--Legos, K'nex, whatever, he likes to make things all of the time. He is getting ready for YMCA basketball also.

Both boys played flag football in the spring and then baseball this past summer. This fall we took a break from sports to rest on the weekends. :-) We used those weekends to make trips to Kansas to visit Brian's mom and trips to Branson for fun. We also attempted to do some work around the house on the in-between weekends but we didn't always succeed. Somehow it is easier to get things done without the kids "helping" though they did try.

Truthfully, though, we have nothing to complain about. We have a nice house to live in, appropriately warm and cool in the right seasons of the year :-) We are mostly healthy, mostly happy and live in a great town and go to a great school, job, and church. The boys are mostly well-behaved ;-), very smart and fun to be around. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of men they will be someday (not too soon, though; they are still little boys!) The Lord has richly blessed us and there is no reason to gripe about anything. Do we have bills and debts? Yes, of course. Do we have things that are bothering us or making us upset? Yes, like everyone. Compared to some, though, we have it good.

Stop reading now if you don't want to be bothered by my deep thoughts. :-)

So why is it that we gripe about things? I guess that is just human nature. The other day I was so mad because the dog chewed through the Christmas lights on the porch for the FOURTH time in a week! Really? That's what I am spending my time worrying about? How stupid is that? There is so much going on all the time in other's lives that we don't know about. That's where Facebook, etc. doesn't tell the entire story. Most of the time (not all) in Christmas letters or emails or whatever, people still put on a happy face and make things seem like all is well. As I found out recently, that is not the whole story. People are hurting for one reason or another everyday and I am just going along in my little life fussing about mud on the rug and chewed up Christmas lights!

So, my resolution is that from now on, when I see your name on Facebook, or in an email, or in the newspaper, or wherever, I will pray for you right then! I often think about my old classmates and friends when they cross my mind but this is something I can DO for them. Some of you don't believe in the power of prayer and that is fine--but I believe in it! You can say, "Oh, Julie, you are so naive!" but I don't think I am. :-) If something is going on in your life, friend, I would like to know about it but you know what? I don't have to know what is going on to be able to pray for you. Will it make a difference? Only God knows that. I think this is one resolution that I will be able to keep.

I could keep going but I won't. I think that's enough for now. ;-) Feel free to email me to continue the conversation! julie@jwtrout.net If you are reading this letter, just know that I care about you and want you to be happy. Why do I care? Because, first, we are all God's creatures and second, we have a common bond and shared experiences whether it be family, elementary school, middle school, high school, college, genealogy, church, or the fact that I see you everytime I get my car fixed or my hair styled or whatever. However I know you doesn't matter--I will be thinking and praying for you, regardless! Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings and I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2010!

With love and prayers, Julie