Sunday, January 20, 2019

2018 Knowlton Christmas Letter



Laura started kindergarten and turned six. She loves school and really excels at it. Her favorite color is gold. Her best friend is Marielle. Her favorite parts of 2018 were going to Medieval times with Kiki and Joel, seeing Phantom of the Opera with the family, and petting the horses during our weekend trip to Tyler, TX. Her favorite thing is her family. Her favorite food is sushi and her favorite drink is Pepsi, which she “mixes with sugar, which makes it taste super good.”


Eva turned eight and got baptized. She is in second grade and in the gifted and talented program for the third year. Her best friend is Mia. Her favorite colors are pink, orange, and blue. Her favorite parts of 2018 were going to see Phantom of the Opera, and going on vacation to Tyler, TX and Gulf Shores, AL. She also loved going to Golden Corral. Her favorite foods are sushi and Chinese food. She also loves soda and candy. Her favorite things are her pets and her family.

Jack turned 11 and started middle school. He is in sixth grade. His favorite class was science (until his science teacher retired). It is now lunch. His best friends are Josh, Alex, Javier, and Preston. His favorite parts of 2018 were his old science teacher, going on vacation with the family, and dog sitting for the Livingstons. He also really enjoyed going camping with his dad, Bret, Jake, and sometimes Drew. He loves Marvel and Percy Jackson and playing Dungeons and Dragons. He wants to be a chef and loves cooking, although he says he is now leaning towards being a teacher. 

Beth just barely turned 13. She is in seventh grade. Her favorite class is ELA (English) because they “always do such fun projects”. Her best friends are Ashley, Kirsten, and Chloe. Her favorite parts of 2018 were going to Phantom of the Opera, starting seventh grade, and the Harry Potter birthday party she held for her twelfth birthday. Her favorite things are pizza and books, especially Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. She also enjoys superhero films, both Marvel and DC. Her favorite superheroes are Supergirl and Spiderman. 

Kylie turned 14 and started high school. Her favorite class is ASL (American Sign Language) because she really likes the teacher and the subject. Her best friends are Megan and Sydnie. She says she doesn’t know what her favorite parts of 2018 were, but the vacations were fun, starting high school was cool, and going to Phantom of the Opera was cool. Her favorite food is green olives. Her favorite things are anime and Dungeons and Dragons. 

Megan turned 16 and is a junior in high school. She has been practicing driving in parking lots, but hasn’t gotten her permit or license yet. Her favorite class is Interior Design because she got an architect ruler and now can draft house plans. She also enjoys working with color schemes. She plans to major in Residential Interior Design when she starts college. Her best friend is Kylie. Her favorite parts of 2018 were going to Nauvoo with her church group and going on vacation to Gulf Shores, AL. Her favorite things are interior design, architecture, drawing, and having quiet time alone in her room because it’s peaceful. Her favorite food is French Dip sandwiches. Her favorite color is mint green.

Laney turned 40 this year and got a stamp in her passport for the first time when she and Rob went to the Cayman Islands, where she fulfilled her childhood dream of swimming with dolphins. She became a published author in January when In Tandem by Mark Bird (available on Amazon) was published as she co-wrote a chapter in the book. She got fully licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in January and she became business partners with her former supervisor (Mark) in March. She and Mark co-founded the Institute for Connection and Recovery (ICR), a training program for therapists that certifies clinicians in the model of therapy she and Mark created. She and Mark presented at the TAMFT (state-wide MFT) conference in February and the ACA (largest international organization for mental health counselors in the world) conference in April. ICR had it’s first training in September. She started her PhD program in October. Interspersed with that, she had surgery on her heart in March and multiple injections in her spine throughout the year due to a herniated disc.

Rob continues to work at Fidelity. He loved the vacations we went on this year, especially learning to drive on the left side of the road in the Cayman Islands. He enjoyed going camping several times this year with Jack and friends. He loves being the primary character for the kids because it’s wonderful to watch them learn and grow. He feels like he missed a lot of the older kids’ childhood experiences because of his work schedule and is really enjoying getting to connect with them now. He loves getting to support Laney in her career and watching her succeed. He’s decided he closely connects to Dennis Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher’s husband) because he enjoys playing the behind the scenes support role to Laney.


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