THE FIRST OFFICIAL CAVANAGH CHRISTMAS LETTER

Dear Friends and Family, It’s been so long since we’ve seen a lot of you. I decided that maybe now would be a good time to write a family letter. We’ve had a great year. Austin keeps reminding us that the end of the world is December 21! So I’d better get this letter done quickly! Austin is our oldest son. He will be fifteen in January. He is our only child that doesn’t really like playing sports. In July he shocked Tom and I by saying he wanted to join the water polo team at the High School!!!! We almost fainted. We kept asking why he would want to do this? Water polo is a very aggressive game. Long story short, he survived hell week and endured the whole season. Yeah for Austin! At the end of the season they timed all the frosh/soph team for swimming. Austin came in first! Austin has also started watching the Patriots play. He wears his jersey and hat for every game. He loves to jab his dad when the Patriots win. In his free time, Austin loves to play any type of war games (which makes his mother a little worried!). Brandon is our middle son who just turned 12. He loves to play and watch sports. For the last five years, he has been playing basketball. He has improved a lot and is getting really tall. He has had to learn how to be more aggressive in playing. Brandon is an excellent student at school and got on the Principals list. Brandon is also starting to like music and always walks around with his ipod. Tom is corrupting him with his rock music. Since Brandon just turned 12, he was ordained a Deacon and got the priesthood. In his free time he loves to go to the skate park and ride his scooter, or shoot some hoop. For his birthday, he got a guitar. So now he and Payton are starting guitar lessons. Payton is our baby. He turned nine in May. Since he was little, he’s been our daredevil. Anything exciting or thrilling and he’s there to experience it. Several Christmases in a row he has asked Santa for a motorcycle. Last year Santa brought a doodle bug (mini motorcycle). It sufficed his motorcycle urges for a while. But he soon discovered that it couldn’t go as fast as he wanted or do any jumps. Crazy boy. Payton played baseball two years in a row and said it was boring. So last year Tom forced him to play again. He knew that Payton had a talent for it. The coach was really impressed with him. He ended up getting an 800 batting average. So obviously Payton is Tom’s favorite because he plays baseball! Payton seems to have a lot of girls interested in him. Last year he had to get his friend to be his body guard at recess so the girls would stop chasing him. Brandon and Payton do sit-ups and push-ups every night to make sure they can have a “six pack”. This trimester, Payton was voted to be president in his fourth grade class. This year has gone by fast for me. I am currently a stay at home mom. I keep busy cleaning up after my crazy boys. I also drive around all day taking everyone to where they need to be. I am grateful for being able to raise my children and enjoy their childhood. I help in their classrooms every week. However, Tom told me that it’s not cool for boys to have their moms help. I am sad that they are growing up! I don’t want it to happen too fast. I also keep busy with church. I am over the 14-15 year old girls. Since I didn’t have any daughters of my own, I get to adopt them! Things I enjoy doing are four-wheeling, paper crafts, being outdoors, gardening, and spending time with the family. Last year I got a kindle. Now that the kids are a little older, I’ve been able to start reading for fun! I’ve never really read for a hobby. I guess Twilight has inspired me to read more! Tom has been working at HMC Architects for nineteen years. His company has been good to him. They are feeling the effects of the recession but holding on. Tom currently is on the board of directors. He is great at his job. He is a finance guy and can calculate any number in his head. He also is busy at church. He is the cubmaster and High Priest instructor. Tom enjoys playing baseball woodbat league. He is in the 25 and older division. He can keep up with all those youngin’s! He also loves to watch NFL games even though the Rams stink! He also likes to go to the movies with the boys and go four wheeling. We hope you are all well this season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love, the Cavanagh’s