Our Christmas Letter....

This will be the first official Christmas letter from the Gaudreaults! Our year in a nutt shell, quit exciting really. In February we made our way to land of sun, fun, culture, cactus, palm tree's and happy people filled with Vitamin D, our home away from home...Arizona. There we enjoyed watching Tristan experience a pool in February, a renaissance festival, seeing and feeling cactus for the first time and running free in the sun. Levi and I completed a 15 mile run in the Desert Series and are hoping to do another one soon.

We lost my wonderful grandma, bless her she was a spit fire. Although she is gone, we are constantly reminded of her. I remember calling her and every phone call lasted exactly 5 minutes......we all miss her a lot.

Our son was dedicated this year by Mike Galeotti. He is a wonderful person, family man, and is devoted to his community. Our family and friends that attended are appreciated every day for being in his life.

Levi started back up at the forest service doing what he loves. We are blessed that he works in a location slow enough to spend a lot of time with Tristan but there's always a catch 22. We miss the overtime pay :). Fire season had one of the slowest starts we've ever experienced and for part of the season he kept him committed on forest. This was very difficult for him, as he has always been heavily involved in fire. That's where my business took off. Since his forest kept him grounded here for a while it allowed me to go out with my company to fight fires.

As I stood in the kitchen of my mothers home making cupcakes, salads and munchies for Tristan's 3rd birthday party I said to myself, "all this prep work for tomorrows party and I will probably get a dispatch." No more than 20 minutes later I received the call. I left the next morning and could not return for 28 days. Levi and my mom threw a awesome party for my little man. We have a tremendous group of friends and family who support Tristan and came to love him on his birthday.

The fire was like any typical assignment, hot days, very cold nights, busy days and slow days. We came home with 7 dogs and the crew made it home safe. Couldn't ask for more. Made new friends, saw old ones and by the end of the assignment Levi was gone as well on a fire. THANK GOD for grandma's. Grandma was now playing the role of mommy to Tristan, enjoying every challenging minute! When I returned a "thank you"was in order and off to the beach we went!

I have cut back on my schedule a lot to allow more time with family, raising Tristan and devoting more time to my company. It has all paid off. Not sure that next year will bring but looking forward to slowing down a bit more. We returned from California a few weeks ago after Levi received a job offer there. After visiting, talking with fire personnel and discussing it amongst ourselves we determined the job offer was not suitable to our family. A decision I know he will not regret. In our few hours there we were spit at, saw Santa on a bicycle in short and 40 degree weather and were told stories of bears ripping trailer doors off there hinges....enough said. We'd love to stay in this area but we really need more overtime. Going from 1200 hours of overtime to 150 is not easy.

Tristan is in gymnastics and loves it! Doing well, I can see some of my spastic movements in him! God bless genetics. He is so proud every time he finishes something and I swear he has a crush on his teacher, even grandma can vouch for that.

All in all, our year has been filled with health, happiness, new adventures and more! We are excited for this next year. Merry Christmas!

What Makes a Mom Smile?

My son is now 3 1/2, time has truly flown by. On a day to day basis I never forget to hug him, kiss him, tell him "I love you", or embrace the person he is becoming. I am not going to make it all sound peachy! Motherhood is challenging, exhausting, time consuming and without end.
Most who know us well will admit my son is a handful. He is a never ending whirlwind of throwing, yelling, laughing, smashing, breaking, and taunting. Through the years he's inherited the name "Captain Chaos" for a reason. Spend 15 minutes with him and you'll instantly see that unless you are a multi-tasking "freak" you will not be able to handle him for long.

Regardless of the day or time of year there are certain things in our house that are constant. As a person with out a child a day goes somewhat like this.... wake up, stretch, relax, coffee, shower, work, coffee, break, off work, gym, dinner, relax, enjoy me time. After you have a child it goes something like this.... "God, do you have to wake me this early, jump out of bed, skip coffee just to make breakfast so your child will not ask for the twentieth time, off to run errands, never get to take a phone call, forget about shopping, getting hair done or running business errands. Make it home for lunch, make two lunches, of course they never want the first one you make. Nap time....what "NO NAP" he yells, kicking and crying to his room......ah peace and quiet. Always on guard in case he tries to climb his dresser to prove a point!

After nap, snack time, convincing my his vitamin is a gummy treat and peanuts are candy. Then back to chaos....trying to fill the day with trips to the park, play dates, constructive play all wrapped around random fits from not getting what he wants. Dinner, "No Dinner" he yells! Bath time fun, as we call it...a bit of peace and quiet while he bangs his tractors in the bathtub making our walls a soaking wet mess. Oh and did I mention trying to prevent him from drinking the same water he randomly pee's in.

This is our chaotic routine, it's ours, and I will admit I love it. Why? Well, at the end of the night he asks me to rock him. He says his prayers, holds my hand, we practice our number 1-10, read a story and he always says in the softest voice he's used all day "momma I love you so much." It makes the day perfect.

Why the Blog ????

Typically around the holidays people send Christmas cards or family letters of great accomplishments, heartache or random news. For us, the Gaudreault's, we send cards. I've noticed through the years that I've gained many friends and acquaintances, wanted to stay in contact with each one of them.

Many friends of mine keep blogs and although I have never been much into reading, I find it enjoyable to follow random thoughts, family news, accomplishments and personal thoughts of all my friends and family who currently Blog. So why not start my own? Welcome and enjoy!