Christmas Letter 2011

Merry Christmas!! I can actually write that this year since this is not the Fields Family New Year’s Update :). 2011 was a roller-coaster of a year for us, but we have been able to finally slow down and enjoy this season as a family and for that I am grateful.

Our little “buddy buddy”, Garison, turned 2 in September. With that brought the end of all things baby in the Fields house. This was definitely a high point for Mommy & Daddy – all the kids can now talk and we feel like our family is finally moving in a forward direction. Little G is our charmer with his blond hair and blue eyes. He can cut his eyes just right and finagle way too much out of this mama. He is still enjoying preschool and pretty much wants to be on top of whatever anyone else is doing. Big Trucks, Lightening McQueen, Beyblades and whatever Kara & Levi are playing with are the toys of choice.





Princess Kara turned 4 in October and is all things girl. She has been in this dress/skirt phase for the better part of the year and is all about anything Disney Princess. We recently moved her to her own room and it has been fun to decorate it up all girly. Preschool is the highlight of her week and we are thankful for all the friends she has made there. After rockin’ her first dance recital in May, she was excited to get to do ballet and tap this fall.




In May, Levi graduated from preschool (complete with cap and gown) and headed off to Kindergarten in the fall. I was a lot less emotional than I thought I would be, but we still miss having him around the house. He turned 6 in October and is one of the most even-keeled children I know. We have been so pleased at how he has tackled school and have enjoyed watching him play soccer and basketball this year. Lego’s, Star Wars, Nintendo DS and Phineas and Ferb have been the favorites around here. And much to Garet’s delight, the training wheels came off the bike!



2011 was a huge year for me! After I had Levi in 2005, I decided that I wanted to do a triathlon. Life and babies happened and I never could quite make it work. So, this was the year I finally got to cross that one off my list! I was able to complete 2 sprints and look forward to training for an Olympic next year. I also just completed my first half marathon to keep myself conditioned, but I quickly decided that straight running is not for me :). Also, after a two year hiatus from the work-force, I started back to work in August and it has been wonderful! I work part time at the small engineering firm Garet works at (our offices are next door!) as their cost accountant. I am absolutely loving it and am thrilled to work for such an amazing company.

Garet is still doing all of his engineering “stuff”. His roles at work changed a bit this year and he has been on the road some, but it is not nearly as frequent as it was and for that I am grateful. I consider his greatest accomplishment this year to be a total gut and remodel of our kitchen. This is not a job for the faint at heart and he did an AMAZING job! He also found time to hit the trails on his mountain bike, celebrate our anniversary (11 years!) weekend by running the sprint tri with me and coaching Levi’s soccer and basketball teams.

This year will forever be marked in our lives with the passing of our nephew, Isaac, on July 12th. Obviously there have been a lot of tough days and moments, but we are confident that we will see him again someday. Thank you all for your prayers and support for my brother, sister-in-law and family as we walked down a very difficult road.

For the first time in our married life, travel has not been a big part of our year. Garison was the only person to get a new state when we traveled to Michigan to visit Garet’s sister and then to Cincinnati, OH for a few days in March. In OH, we mostly hung out at the Great Wolf Lodge and LOVED it! My mom turned 60 in April and my dad, brother & I pulled off the best surprise ever in the Smokey Mountains to celebrate her birthday. We had a nice relaxing few days hiking, shopping and exploring. My mom, the kids and I also stole away for a few days to one of our favorite amusement parks – Holiday World – in Santa Claus, IN. So much fun!

In July, Garet and I flew to MD for the funeral and then immediately drove down to Orange Beach with Garet’s parents for a much needed week to just decompress. I am always amazed at how God knows exactly what I need to calm my soul – we had beautiful weather and sweet family time together. We also spent the weekend at the annual Hurter Reunion on the farm in KY. It is a good place to be reminded that we can get away from technology for a couple of days and just enjoy being outside together! Garet’s work travel took him to NM, CA, HI and FL this year and I spent a few days in MD to help with my nephew, so I guess we still got to see some of the country. Never fear, I’m ready to hit the road in 2012 :)!

If nothing else, this year has taught me that life is too short. That means different things to different people, but to me it has meant hugging my kids a few more times and to be fully present in their lives, spending quality time with Garet and remembering that this life is not all there is…”For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”.

Christmas Letter 2010

Happy Holidays from the Fields! Another year has come and gone and the only word I can think of to describe the year 2010 for us was CRAZY! If I had known in January what all this year would entail, I would probably have asked for a body double!

Our big news is that we moved in November! Ever since we got the surprising news that Garison was on the way in early 2009, we have looked on and off for a house with a little more room. In typical Fields fashion, we decided to stop looking but then found one more house…. We saw the house and made a low ball contingency offer. They rejected and we walked away. Five days later they decided to take our deal which meant we had a house to sell – immediately! We got the house on the market, it sold in 2 weeks and the new owners needed to move in 3 weeks. All that to say, the entire process from start to finish took only 6 weeks!! Saying good-bye to the old house was bittersweet – it was our first home and the one we brought all 3 babies home to – tears were shed! God was really looking out for us during that time though because I still don’t know how we did it all. We have lots of projects in the works, but we are thankful to have a little more space to spread out into.

Levi turned five in October and I still can’t believe I’ve been a parent that long. We are entering the next phase of parenting him as a “kid” and it is so nice to have a child that can do everything on his own :). Levi played soccer this fall and we had a great experience with our first organized sports – I know that there are lots to come in our future! His passions are lego’s, wii, anything star wars, drawing and playing with his buddies from school.

Kara is our middle child in every sense of the word. Turning three in October, she is our little entertainer and makes up the best stories when she isn’t singing every song she has ever heard. She started dance in the fall and I can’t wait to see her first recital in the spring. School is the highlight of her week and she is very much a people person. She adores princesses, books, dollhouses and anything pink or purple.

This has been a big year for Garison. Since he started the year as an infant who slept all the time and ended the year as a walking, babbling ball of energy, I think it is safe to say that he changed the most :). Little g turned one in September and decided at that point that he was ready to hold his own with his big brother and sister. He is the only blonde in the family and his smile can light up a room. He is an official momma’s boy and as my baby, I find it hard not to oblige him :).

For the first time in many years, I spent my entire year unemployed and I absolutely loved it! Of course, my life is anything but slow with three kids five and under! I keep telling myself to cherish these days, but if I’m honest, I am very ready to have the kids a little older :). “Hobby” isn’t really a word we use right now, but I do have the gym as an outlet as well as leading a woman’s life group with a friend.

Garet celebrated his first anniversary at Troy7 in September and we love the benefits of working for a small company. I’m thankful everyday that he only traveled twice – TWO times - this entire year. If you knew how often he was gone before, you would know how happy this made me. He also lead a life group for most of the year and tries to hit the trails on his mountain bike when he can. Of course, his new “hobby” is remodeling a house :).

Our lives would not be complete without travel and this year was no exception. We rang in the new year in Chattanooga for a small family get-away and then later that month we finally got a chance to take the kids to The Plains for the AU/KY basketball game. I’ll let Garet tell you who he cheered for :). In May, we had the BEST trip to DisneyWorld. People thought we were crazy for taking a 4, 2 and 8 month old, but the kids were fantastic and we enjoyed some sweet time with my brother’s family and my mom. We can’t wait to go back in the future!

My dad’s mom died in June and I flew out to California for the service. She was my last remaining grandparent and it was difficult to say good-bye to an entire generation in my life, but it was wonderful to spend time with my family out there that I don’t get to see as often. We also got a chance to go to Kentucky for the annual Hurter Reunion at the Farm. We stopped by Mammoth Cave on the way home so the kids could get another stamp in their National Parks Books.

On August 12^th, Garet and I celebrated our 10^th wedding anniversary which is a little hard to understand considering we are still 25 ;). We took a FABULOUS trip to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun and it was just what we needed. It was so fun to be free of responsibility and just have fun together. Garet really is my best friend and I am so thankful to have him as my man.

Less than a week later, the entire family boarded a plane to Maryland to spend a long weekend with my brother and family in Maryland. We try to do different things every time we go up and this time were fortunate to go to a Cubs/Nationals game, spend the day in DC and hang out with my cousins and their families.

All that to say, I guess our year was pretty typical for us – I love that we live life to the fullest and adventures abound. God is good – all the time. We continually thank Him for our health and provision and especially at this time of year for the gift of His Son, Jesus.

Hotel Fields

Let's forget for a moment that I have only blogged once in 3 months, I've been sick for 5 days and have 3 kids, age 4 and under. I really should be sleeping since I have absolutely no free time these days, but here I sit about to blog about a random thing that has been floating around in my head the last 24 hours.

Last night, Levi set up an elaborate "hotel" for all of our stuffed animals. If there is one thing our kids are obsessed with, it is stuffed animals. I'm sure we have well over 100, but I've never counted. His sleeping bag is in the middle, because we let him sleep in the "hotel" as well last night.This is the "bunkhouse" portion of the hotel:
Dora and "Happy Turtles" were lucky enough to score the penthouse suite. When Levi & Kara passed out breakfast the next morning, they got a lot of the food."Flopsey" on the other hand was all alone and did not get any breakfast :(.

The reason he set up the "hotel" was because we had been talking about the hotel for our upcoming trip to Disney. I honestly believe he is just as excited about staying in the hotel as he is about going to Disney. For what it is worth, he comes by it honestly - I LOVE hotels. So much so, that I have been known to get a hotel in the very city I live in because everything is just better away from your house (at least in short spurts).

Side note: We recently stayed at a hotel for the first time with 3 kids. Did you know that not all hotels can accommodate 5 people (even when one is a baby?!?). We had to settle for our third choice after the first two didn't work out!

Anyway, I got to thinking...what are some of my favorite hotels and why. Here are a few I came up with:

1. The first hotel I thought of was Henderson's Wharf Hotel in the Fells Point area of Baltimore, MD. My brother had recently moved to College Park and after a visit with him, we drove up to Baltimore to celebrate our 5th Anniversary (and it was a babymoon as Levi was only 2 months from birth). I remember we paid around $200 for the room and I nearly fell over when we checked in. I like a nice place, but I'm also a cheapskate. :) But this place was beautiful - absolutely gorgeous. It was also the first time I had stayed somewhere that provided robes. It was a delightful experience.
2. The second one I thought of was not necessarily a hotel, but an overnight "experience". When G and I went to Europe in 2004, we decided we wanted to stay at every type of hotel possible from a nice place to a serious dump, to a B&B, a hostel to places in between and finally, on a train! We took an overnight train from Paris to Berlin in a four person sleeping car. We shared a room with a single guy (I think he was a college student) and I slept much better than expected.
3. The Opryland Hotel at Christmas. Since Garet's sister lives in Nashville, we have gone to the Opryland Hotel several times at Christmas - gorgeous! Well, in 2008, I was having a particularly stressful time (I believe Garet had been on travel several weeks) and I just wanted to get away. We decided I needed a hotel stay, so we packed the kids up and went to Opryland for the weekend. What a difference staying in the hotel made the experience!
4. The Summerhouse at Litchfield Beach, SC. This is actually where we stayed for part of our honeymoon, but a few years ago, they completely redid it and added a lazy river and crazy water area for kids. We took the kids in 2008 and it could not have been a more perfect place to stay. We loved it - the kids loved it - and Levi still talks about it. We can't wait to go back someday.
5. Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, HI. While I'm not a fan of Honolulu itself, we had a great time at this hotel. Thanks to Garet's Hilton Points (read: free), we stayed here a couple of nights before heading to Kauai. Just a couple of days ago, Levi was talking about the penguins there. Part of the reason I really liked this hotel was that it was low season and they upgraded us to a HUGE corner room, so that helped, but the area was so beautiful and relaxing...until you walked outside to Honolulu :).
6. The West Winds Lodge in Rudioso, NM. I had to include this place, because it was where I spent my absolute favorite vacation of all times. There was nothing amazing about this place - it didn't even have a TV I don't think. It was very simple and it was a great place to lay my head after a great day of skiing. Sometimes simple is the best.

I have a couple of Honorable Mentions: Chad's beach house in FL (great college memories!), Anywhere G and I have camped in our own tent, a house we rented in Asheville, NC in the mountains with my family, our hotel overlooking the St. Louis Arch, and all the houses we have stayed in with our Life Group at the beach.

I am sure there are more that I am forgetting, but those are the ones I can think of for today. On another side note, I also like to collect pens from every hotel I go to. Anyone who has ever been in one of our Life Groups can attest to the ridiculous amount of pens (memories) I own.

Christmas Letter 2009

Merry Christmas!! I just reread our Christmas Letter for 2008 and had to laugh a little at this line I wrote: "we are thankful to be out of the baby stage and looking forward to a (hopefully) less dramatic year in 2009". Wow, little did I know...

In case this is the first you have heard from us since last year, we got the surprise of a lifetime in January - we were pregnant! And let me tell you, we still have no idea how. I'll be honest, at the time, it was very difficult. When we announced it in February, I blogged about some of those feelings here.

Fast forward to 9/16, and we welcomed Garison John into our family and can I tell you that I just love him to pieces! He is exactly what our family needed. I probably baby him way too much and the sheer fact that I have so enjoyed this baby phase with him is a testament to God's grace. He is a BIG boy - he's the first of my three with rolls on the legs and it is so cute!! He couldn't be a better baby and at 3 months now is flashing the cutest smiles around. He takes his brother & sister's rough housing in stride and I can't wait to see the three of them together this next year. I wrote to him on his birth-day and also was able to document the details of that day.

Kara turned two in October and, I know I'm biased, is one beautiful little girl. She is the life of a party (which she refers to as "Happy Turtles"???) and will no doubt be a leader in some capacity. However, Garison's arrival has been a tough one on her and we've had to work through some issues. Garet has always said that she was "born a middle child", so please pray for us as we help her reach her full potential. She is also talking up a storm now and loves, loves, loves Dora and school. (related: Kara at two)

Levi turned four in October and I about had a mid-life crisis when I realized just how big he is getting. The toddler years are long gone and he is a full blown "kid". Sometimes it is hard to believe that though when we have discussions that could easily be between two adults. He is a very smart little guy and has been a huge help to us during this family transition time. His current passions are the Wii and Legos. (related: Levi at four)

We like to lump all major changes in our family into as short a time period as possible, and so in September (one week before Garison was born), Garet said good-bye to his job of 9 years at TSI and went over to work for his former boss at Troy7. Troy7 is a small company and Garet has really enjoyed his new work environment. The biggest perk? Little to no travel! This was the primary reason for the switch - with a third child on the way, Garet decided that he was just gone to much. His travel schedule for the first half of the year was brutal and since September, we have had him home every single night :). I thought I would miss the travel perks, but having Garet home has been just compensation. He still does much of the same things (I think) and it was a seamless transition. We have been very blessed. Garet still enjoys riding his bike(s) and his latest hobby has been model rocketry.
As if a baby and a job change for Garet wasn't enough, I stepped down from my job in September too! Realistically, I knew that working with 3 kids was going to be an extreme challenge for me and I just didn't need to go there. After 3 months as a stay at home mom, I can officially say that it has been one of the best decisions of my life. Working in ministry with two kids was much more difficult than just focusing on three kids at home. My mind is in one place now and I've been surprisingly relaxed. I honestly don't have time for much these days, but I have gotten really into couponing - who knew it could be so much fun! It feeds my desire to stay organized, work with budgets and money and shop! I am also now back at the gym and am hoping to hit some fitness goals next year since I am hopefully done being pregnant!

My pregnancy with Garison went really well (I was worried after my nightmare pregnancy with Kara) except for a little drama in the end. It was tiring with a 1 and 3 year old, but we have some wonderful friends and family that helped out. Because I felt good, we were able to go on a couple of trips this year. Kara and I flew up to Maryland to see my brother and his wife in February and we headed south to the beach in May with Garet's parents. Garet and I also got a weekend away to celebrate our friend Carmen's birthday at the lake. I've long said that vacations are my love language and I feel so full when I travel. Every year, we try to go one place that we have never been to as a family. This year, we headed to Santa Claus, IN and St. Louis, MO (arch, zoo & city museum) in August and had a fabulous time - there is so much to see in this amazing world!

If there is one thing I have learned this year, it is that God will provide - not always how we expect or the way we wish, but he is faithful. Through every surprising and major step we took this year, God provided. As we enter this Christmas season, we are reminded of the provision God gave so many years ago in the form of a baby.

"For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord"

Love,
Alison, Garet, Levi, Kara & Garison

Vacation - Day 5 - City Museum, Metropolis & Home

Because of the meltdown on Friday, we ended up staying in St. Louis most of the day on Sunday. Our first stop for lunch was at Union Station (nice, but not a "must-see"), then we headed over to City Museum.

Words can not describe City Museum - it is honestly something I think people just have to experience. It is like nothing I have ever been to. We had several people tell us to go and I am so glad we did. Despite having "museum" in the name, there is really nothing "museum" about it. Garet commented that he couldn't believe a place like this existed in this day and age with people being so worried about safety. Instead of trying to explain it, let me just show you.

Our first stop was "The Roof". There was an old Ferris Wheel at the very top. This was the first time Garet had ever ridden a Ferris Wheel.

You could also go down a few large concrete slides...

...walk across the water....
...and get in an old bus that was suspended 13 stories over the ground below. This I did not like.
At this point we are thinking, "What in the world is downstairs?!?!". Well, I'll show you.

Outside, they had a large ball pit for children of all ages...
...and a massive maze of wire tunnels, slides and abandoned airplanes that were suspended through the air. Here are Levi & Garet climbing one such tunnel:
Inside there was a little train that took the kids through a tunnel of recycled materials...
...and an indoor skate park that you don't skate on. That door in the back led to a pitch-black maze that the kids and Garet went through.
This video is in the "skate park" room. The video doesn't show just how steep that side was that Levi was going down...it was probably 10 feet straight down. Who comes up with this stuff?


I want to insert here that if you preferred not to take the stairs inside, there were slides from floor to floor. I really wish I would have gotten a picture of this, but I never did.

Garet and Levi had a great time on the outside tunnels, but they really liked the bottom floor as well. It was called the "cave" area and I seriously don't know how people don't get lost in there. There were several entrances to the "caves" and here is just one example:You might be wondering what Kara and I were doing during all of this. I obviously could not crawl through a small tunnel and I wasn't about to let Kara loose or we would have lost her. So, we stuck with the preschool area (again, no picture) and hanging out in the less enclosed areas of the caves.
We ended up staying most of the day at this place. The ideal age for kids is probably elementary school age, but there was no shortage of things for all of us to do. Garet is still talking about it.

After all the excitement, we decided to go ahead and make the drive all the way home despite getting in late. The trip went amazingly smooth because the kids were so worn out that they slept a lot. We also got a new DVD set for the car that will let the kids watch their own shows, so Kara watched Dora about 500 times while Levi watched Transformers (the animated one :). I think that helped a lot.

On the way home, we drove right through Metropolis, IL. Garet came here a lot as a child and so we couldn't stop being tourists yet...
Levi refused a picture, but Kara sure wanted to be Superman:
What would I have done if we hadn't stopped :)??
Well, I think that will be the last of our travels for 2009. I'm so thankful that we got to go somewhere new this year. Garet and I have kept it up for 9 years now and I hope we never stop!

Vacation - Day 4 - St. Louis Arch & Zoo

Day 4 proved to be much better than the previous day and we hit the ground running with a return visit to the arch. Levi got a digital camera for Christmas and had a blast taking pictures everywhere we went. Hopefully I'll get around to posting our trip from his viewpoint - he got some really good pictures.They had a large scale in the waiting area to go up in the arch. The kids enjoyed seeing who was heavier. I told them that Daddy and I (& Garison) would not be participating :).

So, our family had to fit in this pod with two other adults...hmmmm....

On the way up I think the kids were trying to figure out exactly what was going on (you can also see Levi's black eye really clearly here - the result of a CARS car accident):

I was really proud of the kids at the top, they climbed right up to look out...

I on the other hand did not enjoy this view straight down...

I preferred to look out at the city.

Here we are at the top!

Yes, I am a tourist.

After we went up in the arch, we drove across town to head to the St. Louis Zoo. The Zoo is actually free, although we bought the pass that let us have unlimited train rides - I was 8 months pregnant after all :). The train was the absolute highlight of the zoo - I think the kids could have ridden it all day.

It might have been Mommy's favorite part too with the cool breeze...

I got a FLIP video camera and I must say that I LOVE it. So easy to use and fun too. I'll spare you the other video's, but wanted to include at least one:

Levi loves Tigers (as any good Auburn Fan should), so we couldn't pass them by:

This picture is only funny because Garet climbed through this tunnel, but what you can't see is there is a glass window in the middle with snakes in it. Kinda freaky.

I knew hippos lived in water, but I never realized how fast they swam. I could have watched these guys for a long time. It was amazing to watch!

I've never really been a "zoo" person, but I have to admit that I had a really good time at this zoo. The first hour we were there was a little stressful, but then the kids relaxed and we ended up staying all the way until closing. A good family memory indeed.