It's that time of year again...sorry I have missed the past 2 years, things have been and are ALWAYS BUSY around here. It is funny, but with the many friends that have blogs and Facebook updates, I
thought these Christmas letters are almost "a thing of the past." But, I have had many requests from people that have missed our updates, so here we go...
2012 Family News
Steve is still flying for Southwest and still in the right seat as a first officer. He is commuting to Houston by choice to get better vacation weeks and monthly schedules. For the first time in 5 years, he is off and HOME every weekend. There is no time to rest, as we are always BUSY with sports and family activities. But, it is incredibly awesome knowing that he will be home while the kids are not in school! After 20+ years in the military, he officially retired from the Air Force in June . This feels a little strange, as the military (Army, then Air Force) has been a part of his life since 1988. He ran a full marathon at Cowtown in 2011 as a bucket list item, but says he'll never run one again. He is now running half-marathons to help keep in shape. He just completed his 5th half-marathon and has already signed up for two more next year.
Shannon...I am still teaching part time at the kids' school. I usually sub 2-3 days a week, but still enjoy long-term assignments for teachers that have babies. I just started a job in P.E. and in February I will go right into teaching fourth grade language arts. Since this is our last year to all be in the same building, we are enjoying walking to school together each day and having no transportation/child care issues. Not sure yet what next year will look like since middle school currently starts at 9:20 (almost 2 hours after elementary!) We still have our Girl Scout troop and this is our 5th year together. Our girls are starting to take over more and plan activities. While this is hard for me to let them make all the choices, I can see their leadership skills and confidence growing...which is really what it is all about. I have really started running this year. Last Sunday, I ran my first half-marathon (13.1 miles)!!! Finished at a 12:01 per mile pace. I enjoyed it and have already signed up for the Princess half-marathon at Disney World in February, and The Wounded Warrior half-marathon in Dallas in June.
Sarah, 10, continues to do great in school and is involved in many extracurricular activities. She got braces in January and should wear them until next summer. As a 5th grader, she is the treasurer for student council and in the drama club (yes, she's quite the queen ;) ) Sarah accepted Christ as her Savior at church camp this summer and was baptized in November! She tried gymnastics this spring and played volleyball this fall for the 4th season. This season she finally figured out the overhand serve! She also participates in jiu-jitsu and Girl Scouts. She just completed the requirements for the Bronze Award which is one of the three highest awards a Girl Scout can earn. Each girl in our troop has spent 20 hours volunteering at the Humane Society or doing projects that will benefit the animals. (The Gold award is the equivalent to Eagle Scout). Now, the only problem with volunteering there is that each week Sarah tries to convince us to bring home a new kitten or puppy!
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| Baptism November 4, 2012 |
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| Visiting the State Fair and the 100th anniversary exhibit |
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| GS camping at Steven's Ranch |
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| Prairie Girl in school play |
We still have our black cat, Oreo, and in June, we adopted a grey kitten, Tiger, from the Humane Society. Two cats are enough for us! We also have 2 hermit crabs named Camry and Bowser. They were fun at first, but now the kids are little bored with them. **Disclaimer for Oreo's picture...our cat does have 2 eyes, but the people at Walmart cropped the card too much on the left side of the card and I am too "green" to have them reprinted.
Shane, 7, is doing great in 2nd grade. He is a great reader and loves, loves, loves playing outside, throwing a football, riding his bike and playing with his friends. Shane plays baseball in the spring and flag football in the fall. He also does jiu-jitsu and is currently working toward his third belt. He loves all things Skylanders and enjoys the action figures as much as playing with them on the Wii. He also enjoys playing the piano; he teaches himself songs by watching videos on YouTube. His skill and creativity astound us! He is also in the drama club at school and is about to perform in a basketball dribbling show during half time at a high school game. He started Cub Scouts last year and is now working on the Wolf badge. We have had fun participating in many family events like the camporee, pine wood derby, Blue and Gold banquet, etc. Steve is getting to do scouts for the first time, and we are proud to continue the Neisler scouting tradition.
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| Shane's favorite part of the Camporee was holding the snakes! |
Joint effort Blue & Gold Banquet cake
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| Go Bobcats Royal -- Game at Dr. Pepper stadium |
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| 1st real concert -- Motley Crue / Kiss |
We like to use our Southwest benefits here and there to visit new places. We have recently reconnected with Steve's half-sister and her family (thank you facebook) and in 2011 we enjoyed visiting them in San Diego. Legoland is a favorite for our kids and they LOVED Star Wars miniland.
While visiting Washington this summer, we got to see beautiful Mt. Rainier again and enjoyed hiking all around the National Park. We enjoyed showing Sarah the house where we once lived and the hospital where she was born! You can't beat the 75 degree weather of Seattle!!
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| "Holding up" Mt. St. Helens |
2002
2012
We hope that this letter finds you and your family well. We enjoy catching up with each of you either through facebook or the cards/letters that you also send! Praying for a safe and happy 2013.
Love, The Sprowls Family
2002
2012
