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Happy Spring! We decided to not send Christmas cards this year since we had so much going on between then and now. So know that you were not forgotten! We just wanted to wait until Spring to send out our yearly update. So here it is!
Since the first of the year a lot has happened for our family. We sold our house in Atwater and moved to Merced. With Brian and I both working in Merced every day we were facing the realization quickly that we were wasting a lot of time driving and a lot of money on gas. So for now we are happily renting a beautiful home less than 5 minutes away from where each of us work. We also now have a pool to enjoy this summer and added an extra bedroom! This definitely comes in handy because we added another member to our family! Our first baby girl, Kayley Bernice, arrived on March 9th 2012!
Brian is still working for UBS Financial Services and is enjoying his job. He’s started teaching the freshman and sophomore Sunday school class at our church on Sundays and is enjoying spending time preparing for his lessons and ministering to the class. Our desire to do foster care has developed into something a little different but just as rewarding. We helped get the Safe Families ministry started at our church and are currently serving as the ministry leads. It is an incredible ministry and we are learning a lot about how to show God’s love and grace to others. Camden and Andersen absolutely adore Brian and want his attention every minute he is home. He’s hoping to get a stand up paddle board soon so he can have a water activity to enjoy here in the Valley. It’s not quite as good as living near the ocean like he did growing up, but it will do for now.
Mary- I am currently on maternity leave and I am enjoying being home. When I go back to school in a few weeks I will only have about a month and a half left of being a preschool teacher. Next year I will take over the position of administrator for the preschool as my sister is moving to Redding in June. I am looking forward to this role at the preschool, but I’m not looking forward to my sister and her family moving four hours north. I know it is what’s best for their family, and at least now we have a beautiful place to visit often. We already have monthly reunions scheduled through October. After Christmas, I took a long break from photography. I’m looking forward to getting started again in May for family and friends. I am loving this stage in my life… Something I always wanted was to be married and have a family, so I guess you could say I feel like we are living the dream, my heart is full!
Camden will be four in May! He has turned out to be quite a social little boy. He loves preschool and can identify all of his letters and sounds. He has also mastered electronics and it’s absolutely shocking how good he is on the Xbox. His favorite games are the Lego games, the newest addition to his collection is Lego Star Wars. He would play all day if we let him so we had to come up with a “crystal” system. He has these little marble-like crystal jewels that he has to spend in order to buy minutes and he can only spend so many at a time. So far it works great! He also loves riding his bike outside and he cannot wait for it to be warm enough to start swimming. He gets to start playing Soccer in the fall on an under 6 team and Brian is hoping to coach. It’s been especially neat to see him and Andersen start playing together more.
Andersen is just about 2 and a half years old. He talks more and more every day. He isn’t nearly as outgoing as Camden, much more reserved. He loves his puzzles, cars and trains and gets his fair share on the iPad and Mobigo. He is such a bright little boy and can count into the teens (not always in order) He also loves playing outside, rain or shine, and he asks us multiple times a day to go out. He’s recently become attached to whatever shirt he is wearing for the day and gets so upset when we change him into anything different. He’s a funny little guy and adds so much to our family. It took him a week or so but he is finally warming up to baby Kayley. He walks around saying “baby baby baby” and smiles when he sees her for the first time each day. He’s even given her a handful of kisses!
Kayley is 10 days old now. It’s already proved to be so fun having a girl! I’m loving all the things that come along with that; pink clothes, bows, tutus… now she just has to grow a little bit so she can fit into all those things! She’s a champ at nursing and has blessed us with much sleep at night. I’m excited to watch her grow and to see what kind of personality she will have.
Well, that’s our yearly update in a few paragraphs. We hope everyone is having a great year so far. To get more regular updates on our family visit our family blog or find us on facebook. Below you can find our most current contact information.
Much Love,
The Gudgels
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