It's been a busy for the Turners! We've taken advantage of our statuses of housewife and professor (with long winter and summer breaks) and spent a good portion of the year traveling or receiving house guests.
In January, we were very pleased to see that it does snow in North Carolina- just not in the quantities we were used to in Wisconsin.
June celebrated her first birthday in February.
She had a birthday party with her cousin Evie, Uncle Jim, and Uncle Kevin, who all have birthdays within 8 days.
We celebrated opening day by watching the Cincinnati Reds take on their minor league affiliate, the Carolina Mudhens. (They lost- in the great Reds tradition.)
We visited Washington D.C. multiple times this year and always found a new place to explore. Here we hiked in a metropark and took in the sights of spring.
In May, we went back to Ohio for a big family party.
Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Seibert celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! Congratulations!
June finally started walking in May and all the Seiberts rented a house on the Outer Banks for a week in May.
And the Coopers took a trip to Hocking Hills in June.
We spent our summer visiting the North Carolina Transportation Museum (a favorite of the little boy who loves trains).
We did our best to stay cool in the sweltering southern heat.
In August, we bid farwell to our tiny house in Winston Salem and moved to Clemson, South Carolina where Brandon accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at the University of Clemson.
Later in August, we bid our PawPaw farewell as he is serving in Iraq with the 16th Engineers Brigade of the Ohio National Guard. We miss him, but we're very proud of his commitment.
We're adjusting to life further south. We live in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and within driving distance of over 30 waterfalls reachable by hike.
And though the summers are intense, the rest of the year is very pleasant.
For Halloween, June was a fairy and Henry decided to be a T-Rex one day before Halloween. Mama did her best to put a costume together on such short notice.
Our new house is great, but we greatly underestimated the amount of leaves we'd have to rake each fall! These two goofballs helped out by constantly losing shoes in the huge piles we raked.
Henry turned four in December.
And he became the proud owner of a big boy bike and is already planning to take the training wheels off.
Henry is very excited about Christmas and is really into the idea of Santa Claus this year. But in true Henry fashion, he refuses to visit Santa and instead insists that "Santa will think about it and just know what to bring." Very practical.
Brandon continues to stay busy with his position at the University. Henry is part of the 4-year-old preschool class at the Day School in Clemson. He goes to school 5 mornings a week and doesn't even look back when we drop him off. June loves visiting the nursery at the gym and is starting to talk. Some of her favorite words are "Car," "Dinosaur," "Sticker," Ow," "Cheese," and "Thank You." She also can produce a very impressive dinosaur roar.
I continue to spend my days trying to mold the kids into productive citizens (or at least keep them from a life of crime). After we drop Henry off at school, June and I go to the gym where I do my best to keep up in the spinning and weight-lifting classes. And June remains the only child who is happy to be dropped off in the playroom, but cries when her mom comes to take her home. (They play Dora there- who can blame her?)
Finally, we're all excited to announce that we're expecting a new baby next August.
We think June will like it because she's very fond of patting babies' heads. Henry is full of questions and wants to know why it all takes so long. But he has learned quickly that "growing a baby takes a lot of sleep" and has been very good at playing by himself so I can get my afternoon nap in. (That's also the reason you're getting your Christmas card half way through January. It takes a lot of naps to grow a baby.)
Finally, we're all excited to announce that we're expecting a new baby next August.
We think June will like it because she's very fond of patting babies' heads. Henry is full of questions and wants to know why it all takes so long. But he has learned quickly that "growing a baby takes a lot of sleep" and has been very good at playing by himself so I can get my afternoon nap in. (That's also the reason you're getting your Christmas card half way through January. It takes a lot of naps to grow a baby.)
If you're interested in seeing more of what we're up to, please visit our blog at:
We hope that you've enjoyed a very merry Christmas and that the coming year proves happy and healthy!
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