Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014!

It has been a blessed year for our family, and we hope you have found blessings to count as well. We welcomed our seventh son into the family on March 1st!

Clayton (10 months) is such a joy, as all our baby boys have been. He is well loved by all his brothers and is loving being mobile. He always has a ready audience that claps and smiles for him, and he claps, smiles and “talks” right back. He is pure joy!

Bentley (4 years) is loving preschool, trains, and Jake and the Neverland pirates. He is a great bigger brother and loves to giggle with Clayton. He loves to color, paint and create, and is very particular and patient in any task he undertakes. He’s always the last to finish eating, and will sit for a good 30-45 minutes as he carefully colors or paints a project. He has great persistence! We can’t wait to see what talents continue to develop in him as he grows!

Michael (8 years) was baptized this year and is such a sweet boy. He loves to draw, paint, color, and writing cursive is his favorite subject. He insists that all his schoolwork is to be done in his best cursive, and goes to work to do it well. He also loves playing the piano and playing chess. He placed second in the school chess tournament for the second year in a row! He also placed 2nd in a Mathnasium Trimathlon this fall. Michael shows great persistence, brightness and creativity. We love him!

Seth (10 ½ years) is also a chess master. He placed first in the aforementioned chess tournament, also two years running. He also loves to play the piano, has mastered some difficult pieces, and is working on a fancy Pachelbel Canon for the piano. Seth is also still loving soccer and played on a season-winning team this fall, which was a lot of fun. Seth loves math, and placed 3rd in his grade in the Mathnasium Trimathalon. Seth is always willing to help out, and is often the first to get his jobs done. We sure love having his positive attitude and peacemaking skills around here!

Jordan (13) is a middle school master. He’s ace-ing all his honors classes, and making it look easy. He has mastered several difficult piano pieces, and is getting to be a great sightreader. He is a natural with children and babies. I sometimes call him my baby-whisperer. Jordan has served in his deacon quorum presidency, and continues to honor his priesthood responsibilities, serving the sacrament each week, and being a good friend to all the fellow young men. We are so proud of the spiritual strength he brings to the family!

Chandler (15 ½) is conquering high school like a pro. As a sophomore, he’s got a heavy load with AP, honors and pre-calculus classes (and is ace-ing all of them), and has plans to beef up his schedule even more next year with 3 AP classes, all math and science (his strengths, for sure)! On top of this, he is swimming with the Men’s Varsity swim team again, and arises early each morning for seminary starting bright and early at 6am. He continues with cello in the philharmonic orchestra as well. Chandler has well-outgrown his mother, and is almost on par with his dad. We’re replacing his clothes every 3 months it seems! Chandler also fulfills his priesthood duties as Teachers quorum secretary and priesthood chorister. We love the enthusiasm and humor Chandler keeps going around here!

Andrew (almost 18) is an amazing young man. He continues to ace his classes, and is also busy with the swim team with Chandler, and early morning seminary. Andrew has a great gift of persistence. We see no sign of senioritis (yet!) as he takes his studies quite seriously. He is taking AP Chemistry this year and more than once has been the highest scorer on an exam. Science is definitely Andrew’s strength and love. He has plans to attend BYU and serve a mission in the next year or two (he’s still deciding which one the Lord wants him to do first). Andrew also plays the cello with the philharmonic orchestra. Having Andrew around is like having a third parent - he is always willing to help out with kids, work, cleaning...whatever we need. We are so grateful for the great example Andrew is, and the help he provides around here. Wherever he is next year, he is sure going to be missed!

Sherie dressed up to attend a Downton
Abbey season 5 premier event

Sherie Clayton and Bentley on the train

Sherie (40) is busy busy busy. She is now serving as Activity Days leader. It’s fun doing girlie things with a bunch of girls! She had a great time doing chess club at the kids’ elementary school last spring and this fall/winter. Having another baby has been a tiring, but rewarding experience. Nothing like the joy a baby brings to a family!

Greg ready for pioneer trek

Greg and his bear

Greg (43) had a fun adventure early in the summer this year. He went on a bear hunt with his brother, dad, uncle and nephew in northern Idaho. This was a first for him! He was one of three in his group to get a bear! Pretty exciting stuff. Greg and Sherie celebrated 20 years of marriage this last May! Hard to believe it’s been that long. We also celebrated Sherie’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. We were able to fly to Utah with just Clayton for a few days to celebrate with them. We also enjoyed attending a mission reunion in Louisville Kentucky in late June. Greg continues to serve as stake YM president.

Clayton, Seth, Michael, Bentley riding the train

Visiting the Detroit Zoo

We had a fun summer this year - not as much “whole family” travelling as last year, as there was a baby this year. Andrew and Chandler went on a canoeing high adventure in late June. In July, Sherie took the younger four on a mini-vacation to Detroit while Andrew and Chandler recovered at home from getting their wisdom teeth removed (and Jordan would have been at scout camp, but got ill). In Detroit we went to the Zoo, visited the temple, went to an indoor trampoline park, and rode a real steam engine. It was a blast! In late July, Greg, Andrew and Chandler participated in a Pioneer Trek re-enactment. Sherie had a good time sewing some pioneer clothes for them in the weeks leading up to it. In August, Greg took Andrew, Chandler, and 8 other young men who earned their Eagles on an Eagle Reward trip. They went to Washington DC by way of Cedar Point amusement park, a water-rafting adventure, and a high-speed go-cart track. The rest of the time, we relaxed at the neighbor’s pool and soaked in the summer fun.

Eagle Scouts in front of the White House

We wish you all a Merry Christmas! We love hearing from each of you at this time of year!

Love,

Greg, Sherie, Andrew, Chandler, Jordan, Seth, Michael, Bentley and Clayton

Merry Christmas 2013

Hello loved ones, near and far! We send you Christmas Greetings, and wish you a Happy New Year. Here’s what’s been going on in our family this year.

The first big news that many of you may already know, is that we are expecting BOY NUMBER SEVEN! He is due on March 1st, and his big brothers are very excited to welcome him into the family. Mom is trying to hold back time and enjoy getting done what she can before baby arrives. But the uncomfortable last days of pregnancy will surely change that soon enough, and we’ll be counting down the days!

Bentley

Bentley (3 ½) is our talkative, adventurous boy! When he talks, he wants to get out everything in his mind without interruption, and with a stomp of his foot and some stuttering, will start over if necessary. He loves to giggle away his bumps and falls and is all boy with running, jumping, throwing and even head-ramming (right into mom!). We’ve learned through sad experience that if Bentley does not get all his boy energy out during the day, it will come out at night, sometimes in the form of way-too-late nights. Mom is usually his playground, while she’s “trying” to sleep - she’s his centerpoint for teeter-totter, her legs are the slide, and any part of her he can balance on is his jump-off point. The giggles are priceless!

Michael

Michael (7) is into science experimenting, reading, and writing. His birthday party this year was a Mad Science party with a lot of fun experiments. He continues to write great stories with a lot of personality in them. His turtles are growing (!) and he loves to talk to them, “show” them things, feed them, and inform mom of their latest habits and activity. Last Christmas day, he sadly awakened his parents to inform them that he “knew what Santa was going to bring him” - a new turtle, because one of his turtles had died that very morning! Fortunately, he bucked up about it real grown-up like, and is happy with the two that are doing well. Michael is taking piano lessons, and took some tennis lessons this fall. He is looking forward to being baptized next year!

Seth

Seth (9 ½) is doing so well in 4th grade. He takes responsibility for his work and projects, and is always eager to “get his stuff done” so he can be free! Soccer is still his FAVORITE sport, and he is so sad when the seasons end. He played both Spring and Fall this year; his best positions are defender and goalie - many games were saved by Seth’s efforts! He continues to do well in piano, and is also on target in cub scouts. Chess is also a favorite - he’s always looking for someone new to beat, and he’s looking forward to being in chess club at the elementary school at the beginning of next year with his mom. Seth’s contagious smile and laugh are a joy to have around!

Jordan

Jordan (12) is now a Deacon in the Priesthood and passes the sacrament every week that we’re on time to church! He is also serving in the Deacon’s Quorum Presidency and fulfills his responsibilities with honor. He is doing really well in Scouting - he’s earned enough merit badges to be a Star Rank or beyond - he’s just working on the last few First Class requirements so he can move on. He attended Scout Camp for the first time and earned 5 merit badges, 4 of them required ones! He also took a few horseback riding lessons over the summer. Jordan did something this fall that no one else in the family has done yet - he was in a musical at the middle school! He played the part of Ado Annie’s father in “Oklahoma!” The music and his singing has been filling the home for the last several weeks. He also continues to play the cello in orchestra, and the piano at home and orchestra. His music reading skills are really taking off!

Chandler

Chandler (14 ½) is a Teacher in the Priesthood now, and this summer enjoyed youth conference, EFY, and youth dances for the first time! He also went on a high adventure camp to Pictured Rocks with Andrew and his cousin Adam. They biked, hiked, and kayaked all over. The week preceding that, he and Andrew went on a difficult hiking expedition at Philmont, where he ascended from 6,000 to 12,000 feet in just a few days. It was a busy summer! Chandler has also completed his Eagle Project and is working on the last couple merit badges - we will be having a court of honor for him in the very near future! He continues to enjoy piano on the side, but is focusing his efforts on the cello in the high school orchestra. He is also on the high school swim team, and has been faithfully arising for 6am seminary every day! Believe it or not, his grades are still near perfect. He is living his freshman year to it’s fullest!

Andrew

Andrew (almost 17) is a Priest at church, and blesses the sacrament nearly every week. He is also licensed to drive! What a relief this is for mom - he drives himself and Chandler to seminary, then the seminary kids to school, home from school or swim practices, to swim meets and so on! Mom has so much free time now! - well, at least a little more. Andrew also went to youth conference, Philmont, Pictured Rocks, and EFY. This year they attended EFY in Provo. It was an awesome experience - one they both want to repeat every year if possible! Andrew continues to play the cello in the high school Philharmonic Orchestra, and is on the swim team again. The days are long during swim season, with early morning seminary and swim practice after school. But Andrew is dedicated and is still excelling in his grades, even with AP English on the roster this year (definitely not his favorite subject, but he’s doing well!). He’s looking forward to having one or two AP Science classes next year instead - science is still his favorite! We are trying to enjoy these last couple years with Andrew before he goes on his mission - but time is flying too fast!

Greg continues to serve as Stake YM President. He participated as Scribe at Woodbadge this year - it was quite the dedication of time. He also continues to be the inventive breadwinner at IBM (over 300 patents!), and still manages to be an awesome father and husband. There are many nights he is up late cleaning the kitchen so Sherie can have a clean start in the morning.

Sherie continues to serve in the RS Presidency. She got to attend her scrapbooking retreat in the fall again. She is enjoying her second trimester, is grateful that the first wasn’t as bad as it could have been, and is gearing up for the third. She is truly grateful for the opportunity to have another child come into the family! Some days, it seems crazy and impossible, but with the Lord’s help, she somehow makes it through each day.

Our family did receive some sad news this summer. Sherie’s brother, Dan, passed away from a brain tumor in late June. She was grateful she had the opportunity to see him one last time in early June, while he was still able to communicate - though it was limited, there were some special moments exchanged that she will treasure. She was grateful to be able to fly out for the funeral just days before Philmont started.

The family had a very busy summer. We were blessed to enjoy a lot of great trips. We started with a Memorial Day weekend getaway to Mackinaw City and Island with our good friends the Merkleys. As mentioned previously, Greg, Andrew and Chandler spent a couple of days near the Detroit temple for youth conference, then the family had the opportunity to attend Philmont in New Mexico. This is the largest Boy Scout Ranch in the world (around 100,000 acres!) and is used by boys and leaders for high adventures, training, and so on. The LDS church uses it two weeks out of the year to do LDS-Scouting specific leadership training. The whole family is invited and everyone gets to do fun activities with kids their age. This year was special - it was the 100 year anniversary of the LDS-BSA relationship, 75 year anniversary of Philmont, and 50 year anniversary of LDS-Philmont training! Andrew and Chandler separated from us the first day and went on a week-long backpacking trip in the mountains, while the rest of us enjoyed the training, classes, and activities. It was an unforgettable week!

The family also got to go to Utah in August. Andrew and Chandler flew out early to attend EFY, while Jordan was at scout camp, then the rest of us drove out. We stayed with family for 10 days and enjoyed seeing friends and family. Then we went to Aspen Grove Family Camp for a week-long reunion with Greg’s side of the family. It was a blast!

We send our love to each of you, near and far! Know that you are in our hearts, thoughts and prayers, even when our face to face time is few and far between!

Love,

Greg, Sherie, Andrew, Chandler, Jordan, Seth, Michael, Bentley, and Number Seven!

The family at Aspen Grove

Merry Christmas 2012!

We send our love and greetings to our loved ones far and near. We hope this is a beautiful Christmas season for you! Here is a report on our family in 2012:

Andrew (almost 16) has finished his Eagle Project (YAY!) and  we are anticipating his Eagle Court of Honor in the coming weeks. We are proud of him sticking through this difficult task! This summer he went to Isle Royale for a seven-day backpacking scout camp - his dad was able to attend, and can attest that it was a difficult physical accomplishment! He also got to attend EFY in Kirtland, Ohio and had a great experience there. He is doing well in school, continues to get himself up for early morning Seminary, and is a very kind young man. At church, Andrew has been serving as Teachers Quorum President this year. He also has his learners permit - any day now, and I’ll have someone to serve as mom’s errand runner! Hurrah! Andrew is also on the high school boys’ swim team. With early morning seminary before school, and swim practice after school, this boy is gone for 12 hours a day! What a hard worker. One of the greatest things Andrew does that always makes my day - he is very thankful to those around him, whether it's for good food, help with homework, or clean clothes.


Chandler (13 1/2) is also moving rapidly through Scouts. He just earned his Life, and is on target to accomplish his goal of earning his Eagle before his 14th birthday. He continues to excel academically, and is taking a break from orchestra to take studio art (he wanted to do both, but had to choose). Chandler is still playing the piano, and plays for Priesthood at church. He is also serving in the Deacons Quorum Presidency at church. This last spring, Chandler was on the middle school’s boys swim team, and is looking forward to doing that again this year. Chandler was our travelling boy this year. In addition to a family trip to Chicago, he went to New York to visit his cousin, visited Isle Royale for a seven-day backpacking scout camp, went to Kirtland, Ohio to drop off Andrew and see some sites, and travelled to Utah with his mom and Andrew at the end of the summer. We almost even made it to Washington, DC - but had to change our plans because of Hurricane Sandy. Hopefully we’ll make it there early next year! We love Chandler’s drive to excel and his contagious positive attitude.

Jordan (11) is in Middle School now and is doing fantastic. He has really caught onto taking responsibility for his homework, and likes to please his teachers. Jordan has taken up the cello this year (he did violin last year) in orchestra, and also continues piano lessons - he is really making amazing progress on his piano! He often sits down to play/practice without being told, and his mom loves it! Jordan loves to help take care of Bentley, and is an adoring older brother. He is taking tennis lessons with his cousin Ben, and is having a great time! It may be the sport he decides to really go for. But he also loves to swim like his brothers, so who knows - he may follow in their footsteps as well. Jordan is now in scouts as an 11-year-old and has already earned his first two merit badges. We love Jordan and his independent spirit, especially when he puts it to great use!

Seth (8) was baptized this year by his dad. It was very special! Seth has really stepped things up in the responsibility department - he is a whole new boy! He gets up on his own, gets dressed, gets his lunch and snack put together, and is usually sitting at the computer all ready when his mom gets home from taking Andrew to seminary! Seth is in Chess Club again (which his Mom heads up at the school) and has a lot of fun with his friends there. He is also continuing piano lessons. Seth is now a wolf in cub scouts (yep, that’s four boy/cub scouts we’ve got now!) and is making great progress. Seth continued to play soccer this last spring, but took a break in the fall (well, maybe it’d be more accurate to say his parents took a break!). He’s looking forward to playing again in the spring, and his parents are looking forward to the physical outlet it will give him! We love Seth’s contagious laugh and boundless energy.

Michael (6) is in love with turtles. He had the surprise of his life on his birthday this fall, when he got THREE REAL LIVE TURTLES!! They are baby red-eared sliders. He loves to talk to them, feed them every day, and report on their swimming and basking habits. It has been a lot of fun to watch. Michael also loves to draw pictures and make little books, stories and mazes. He is all about the details and exhibits a lot of patience. He lost his first tooth a few weeks ago, and had a lot of fun writing a letter to the tooth fairy with instructions about how his tooth would be in a little box next to his pillow. Michael is such a fun buddy to have around - he takes everything very seriously, and is a joy to have a conversation with! At church a couple of weeks ago, after singing the sacrament hymn about Jesus dying on the cross at Calvary, he looked up at me and said, “Mom! That actually happened! That was real!”

Bentley (2 1/2) is forging his way into the family at full speed! He considers himself just as much a Boss as any of his brothers, and makes it known! His vocabulary is increasing, potty training is in the works, the crib is away, and the toddler bed is out. Note to the world: toddler beds and night owls are a bad combination. Bentley has had several all-nighters (as far as we can tell - he's awake playing in his room when we crash, and he's already up when we get up in the morning!) My favorite word that comes out of Bentley’s mouth is “Okay!” He says it with such a cute little lilt, and it comes out the same, whether I’m asking him to put something away, find his shoes, or go to time-out. “Okay!” and off he runs with full determination. He has such a fun giggle, and is so full of life! What a joy to have around.

Sherie is still serving in the Relief Society Presidency as first counselor. Life is one crazy day after another, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. She enjoyed a scrapbooking weekend this fall. In the summer she enjoyed taking and picking up Andrew in Kirtland, Ohio and seeing a few of the sites there with Chandler on the drop-off trip, and Jordan on the pick-up trip. At the end of the summer, just she, Andrew and Chandler had a fun visit to Utah, where they visited family and friends, attended Education Week at BYU, and did a little touristing in SLC.

Greg is blessed to continue to work for IBM. He has now submitted nearly 300 patents to the USPO through work. He was recently called as the Stake Young Men’s President at church; this will be a great calling with all the boys we have in, and coming into YM. He manages to balance work, church, family, and wife just perfectly. He is Sherie’s rock - she doesn’t know how she’d do it without him!

We had only one family trip this year that involved the entire family, and that was to Chicago during the summer, but, as mentioned above, much of our other travels were split with different people at different times. We feel blessed that we were able to experience so much this year.

We send our love to all our friends and family! We love you, and miss those that are far away geographically, but not far from our hearts!

Love,
Greg, Sherie, Andrew, Chandler, Jordan, Seth, Michael, and Bentley

Enjoying the moments

I'm so glad Bentley made me stop gardening today and jump on the trampoline with him. Gorgeous!!

Andrew's Orchestra Concert

Ahhhh, the month of May. The month of concerts and recitals! Tonight it was Andrew's turn. Heritage High School Concert Orchestra. Looking sharp Andrew! (and sounding great too!)

Children's Museum

Bentley and his cousin Logan went to the Saginaw Children's Museum with Grandma and me. They loved the trains, water, balls, fish, and cars. True boys.

Jordan the Violinist

Jordan played in his first strings concert. He is stand partners with one of his best friends, Conner. This concert was actually a pleasure to listen to. When it comes to first year string players, that's pretty amazing.