Christmas Letters Past:

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

   Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Tennessee!!  We hope you are surrounded by love and family.  We appreciate the relationships we have with each of you and count ourselves truly blessed to have you all be a part of our lives.

   For those we don't see as often as we would wish, we will sum up our year.  (and if you ask why Tennessee I can use one word... the Army)

   After graduating (Woo-Hoo!!!) from Dental School in April/May, Boyd spent a couple months training with the Army in San Antonio Texas while Kat and kids spent the time in Arizona visiting family.  Then after a short but long 4 hour drive, in which Kat drove her first FULLY packed Uhaul 14 footer and Boyd drove the FULLY packed 26 footer with our packed truck in tow, and several MONTHS of unpacking and organizing, we have finally found ourselves at home in Clarksville Tennessee.

  Thus far Boyd feels blessed to have been assigned to a clinic with a great commander who likes to teach and allows the young dentists at his clinic to practice a broad range of general dentistry instead of only the drill and fill stuff.  He also started “moonlighting” (working part-time) at a local dental office where he gets to work on kids, do whatever he feels comfortable doing, and get some private practice experience. Needless to say, he is happy as a bug in a rug.

  Aimee has been in preschool and is going to be 5 on her next birthday (in March) which she loves to tell everyone, along with the fact they will be invited to her birthday party... She is growing up and is starting to jump in and help or get dressed before mommy even asks. 

  Tyler is as curious as ever, especially if it involves climbing.  He climbs in and on and over anything he can.  His other favorite activity is to do whatever Aimee is doing which sometimes she loves and other times …... well, he just loves her so much! 

  Kat is enjoying both her new neighborhood and church friends and especially her new house and beautiful kitchen, where she has been having lots and lots of game nights lately. As always, she is grateful that she can be a full-time homemaker and Mommy!  

  As with any change in life, there comes with it moments of happiness and sadness and while we were sad (VERY sad L) to leave our friends in Kentucky, Clarksville has brought us lots of happy moments with our new friends and neighbors and our little cul-de-sac environment.  It is a great place to live, work, and play (lots and lots J). Most importantly, we are ever grateful for the knowledge of the restored gospel that allows us to know that families can be together forever and friendships preserved throughout eternity all because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ, whose birthday we celebrate during this holiday season.  Again we wish you a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays and the best of everything in life to come your way during this next year.

Love,

The Newsome Family

 Christmas 2013

Another year has gone by, and my how the time did fly!!!  Nevertheless, we have felt an abundance of love from our Savior, family and friends.

Quick Blips for 2013

Boyd is working and growing in skill and understanding of the Dental Field.  The army is providing valuable experiences and combined with moonlighting at CDC he is gaining lots of practice!

Kat is finishing her salad master dinners and will have completed her goal of 30 in a year.  She loves the interaction with other adults and the valuable home time daddy gets with Aimee and Tyler!!

Aimee started school and has loved it!  Her teacher goes to our ward and keeps us updated on her progress.  She is growing up so fast, and has begun reading and writing and doing simple adding and subtracting…

Tyler is talking more and doing more “self do it” as he says… He climbs in and under and over and around anything that stands still long enough for him to try…and a few things that don’t like the neighbor’s dogs. J

As a family we ventured to Utah for a family reunion and cousin time!  We also went camping at Lake Barkley in Kentucky with friends, enjoyed several visits with our great friends from dental school and game nights and parties with our newer friends here. We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with Kat’s Aunt and Cousins and to start our Christmas holiday we went to a pretty amazing ICE exhibit of Frosty the snowman and the Nativity (everything carved in ice!)…  And MOST IMPORTANTLY this year we learned to look forward to May 5 when we expect a new baby girl!!!  Aimee predicted a girl and that her name would be Carly… she was right about a girl… we shall see about Carly.

We love and miss all our friends and family and look forward to visits over the coming year!

Love,

Boyd, Kat, Aimee and Tyler

Christmas 2014

Season's Greeting from the Newsome Family!!!

Highlights of 2014:

Family: Spring was all about birthdays, Summer about swimming and sunshine, Fall about planning for and taking our trip to the Jekyll Island (beach) and Disney World, and Winter about coming together as family..

Individually--

  Aimee: turned 6 and is growing into such a little lady!  she lost 3 teeth between christmases, is such a help with her siblings and mom couldn't live without her…

  Tyler: turned 3 and is so fun!  He is learning how to tease his sisters and is so loving underneath it all…

  Carlee: joined our family in her own unique style (thus her name) and is a daily blessing and joy.  Her smiles and coos light up our lives!

  Boyd: turned … is completing his time commitment with the Army and is busy trying to plan the future...

  Kat: is hanging in there and marveling at the privilege and blessing to be a wife and mother to this crew! 

We have felt the blessings of the Lord in our lives and know He Lives!!! Grateful for this time of year to celebrate his birth and to reflect on the years past and to come...

Wishing y'all the best for 2015!

Christmas 2015... to be written

catching up

Rather than try to tell everything that has happened over the last 5 years, I will give a summary followed by the christmas letters over the years.  Once done, I hope to start with a little more regularity to update and add pictures... we shall see how that transpires. For now:

Boyd finished Dental school on the Army's HPSP (health professional scholarship program) then was transferred to Clarksville Tennessee where he worked on Fort Campbell for 3 years.  He did all he could to continue learning through moonlighting, CE courses and taking up opportunities to practice whatever dental skills he could in extension of his work in the clinic.  He also served in many capacities  in the ward in Clarksville (Ward Mission leader, Elders Quorum pres., 2nd Counselor in Bishopric to name a few).

I made many new friends and enjoyed visits from Lexington Friends (Mark and Misty Goodman and Family, Barton and Emily and Family)!  Game nights with Doug and Amber MacArthur (neighbors too!),  Dave and Nina Smith, Isaac and Leanne Seabourne, Trevor and Cherry Brooks, and others were highlights of our stay.  We LOVED living in our Cul-De-Sac, the MacArthurs and Linda and Drew McCowen, Jared and Erin Porritt, Thom and Jamie Berhane, Carol Myer... all helped create a community feel for the few years we lived close.  We discovered the families in the Army tend to welcome and knit together as communities quickly and to support each other as best they can.  We also enjoyed the visits to our cousins in McMinnville TN, Aunt Darlene and her children (Justin and Kim, Brian and Roseanne especially) always went out of their way to welcome us and spend time with us.  The last Christmas season we spent there I gave a lot of my time to the Festival of the Nativity with the help of Suzy Sizemore and Rosemary Klein.  During our time there I also worked a small side job of presenting Salad Master Dinners (selling to those who desired to buy).  But as always my most important job was wife and mother.  The birth of Carlee Lynn was a highlight for my years in Tennessee.  Due to various reasons, we decided to deliver in Nashville at Vanderbilt.  The drive in 45 minutes, and the time from 1st contraction to delivery was 40 min... the first moments of Carlee's life were in the front seat of our Kia Sedona Van, and while Boyd drove, I had the most amazing experience of delivering my own baby (and I was SO grateful to let the doctor and midwife help finish and check us all out as we arrived at the hospital 4 minutes after Carlee arrived here.

Aimee went to Kindergarten and the public school and made many friends.  She then stayed home with me for first grade and we discovered the joys and hardships of homeschool.  We overall loved the experience and she herself grew in knowledge and was a joy to have home and to watch her grow.

Tyler plays all day, and loved to go to the neighbors to find someone to play with.  He also loved to tag along behind Aimee, Bryce and Brady, Amira and anyone else who came over to play.

Our move to Rio Rancho New Mexico happened June 2015.  Boyd bought a Practice and is devoting countless hours to learning how to run a practice on top of continuing to provide excellent Dental care.

Below find the Christmas letters from the few years past...

Our family letter for 2010.

Boyd just finished his hardest year of dental school. He says he has experienced a higher level of stress (long-term) wise than he has ever experienced and he is still alive

- yeah! I am so glad that part is over with - at least both he and I hope so.

He is becoming more and more like a dentist and it is kind of awesome to watch him evolve as he learns the information and skills of the dental world. What made the year so hard? Really big, tough classes at the beginning of the year with clinic mixed in, written boards during the summer (which he studied all summer for-- and of course passed), then another semester of tough classes plus a LOT more clinic/lab work. So we (especially Boyd) really appreciated the 2 weeks of christmas break and

look forward hopefully to lighter semesters ahead (comparatively) with more clinic work and less book work. Ironically, just as he gets a lightened stress load, at least he thinks so :), soon comes a new baby BOY - due around May 1st and we're very excited!!

Kat is busy with projects at home, playing with and teaching Aimee, keeping house and home somewhat in order, putting together family videos and trying to find or make allergy free foods. We have learned that it is not uncommon for pregnant women to develop allergies.

Aimee is growing so much. She is definitley a toddler, almost a preschooler.Her

memory is growing and her ability to play with others and play imagination is growing. She loves to sing and talk on the phone and “work” like mommy and daddy. She is also learning that manners matter and says please and thank you so well (most of the time). She loves cousins and Papa’s (grandpas--anyone’s grandpa) and she loves playing with our next door neighbors Peter, Ian and baby Meda. She has recently been using her stuffed animals as babies, wrapping them in blankets, putting them to sleep, changing diapers, feeding them (sharing her food). She will be ready for her new baby brother come May 1st.

The Highlights of our year have been Boyd passing his boards, visiting with cousins and relatives in Arizona, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and riding the pony with Grandma LueDean at the Kentucky Horse Park and again with Papa Bob at Evans Orchard.

We wish you all a happy year!!

A Few Highlights from last year...

A photo review of our year.

Aimee's First Snow Experience (these are during an ice storm that hit at the beginning of the year.) Aimee loved eating the snow.

Aimee discovers the piano which becomes one of her favorite "toys."

Daddy joins the Army's Health Professional Scholarship Program. This means the Army pays all school-related costs for 3 years in exchange for 3 years of professional service after school. It will be an adventure, and we have good company as several of Boyd's school friends are also in the program.

Spring showers! Aimee's first rain play (with daddy close by!)

Spring Trips:

A spring trip to Kat's parents. While there, we visited the Chihuly (sp?) glass exhibit at the desert botanical garden with Grandma. Truly amazing, this is the second exhibit I have seen by him and I was equally impressed. Any more opportunities to see his work and I will be there!

Aimee loves her 'Grandma-great' who she played with all visit. Aimee would go into her room and play all the music-box books Grandma-great keeps in a box of toys especially for visiting grand and great-grand children. We LOVE to be there and get to know our grandma's.

Visiting Great-Granny Bessie and Aunts Yvonne, Sherril, and Geri. Such Gracious hospitality everytime we visit. Aimee is so loved!!!

Summer (July) trips:

Fishing and picnic with Cousins Mac and Zoe and Granny Bets. 4th of July festival and soccer game with Granny Bets.

Spending a weekend with Papa Bob and cousins. We went to a

park and to a couple acquariums. We love to watch the fish

The most exciting moment of this summer was Aimee's decision to start walking (after watching her younger cousin Zoe running around, Aimee just up and started walking!) In fact,

the same night she started walking she tried chasing Mac and Zoe across the floor. Aimee loved playing with her cousins! Thank you Zoe for the great example!!!

A special trip with Aunt Julina and cousins to Ikea!! woo-whoo for shopping! and then to the

mall to ride the Merry-Go-Round. Another first for Aimee.

Finishing up the July travel craziness with an extended Kat family reunion. This is Aimee taking on the pinata. Yes, she does know what to do with that stick!

Back home again, playing with neighbors Peter and Ian on the sprinkler mat. Water is SO much fun!

Daddy's dental school friends love to go rock climbing, and invited us to join. We discovered a sport we can do together without any competition or difference in abilities effecting the fun of the adventure! Aimee took right to it too and actually tried climbing (with us helping her of course!) Next summer we may need to get a harness for her... She also learned how to do 'knuckles' after a high five. Thanks Travis and Nate for the good memories!!! Looking forward to more. --check out those shoes, size 2 1/2. She is so cute!

Aimee discovers the fun of fall leaves. Compliments to the lawn mower guy for making such a big pile to play in!!! The pile was as tall as Peter, our next door neighbor shown in this picture.

Daddy gets to go hunting, he has talked about wanting to get a deer (for preparedness sake, to have the skill in case it ever becomes a necessity) and now he has done it. He has told me since that the experience wasn't quite as thrilling when he saw something alive and beautiful taken down so easily. I think this will become a "only when absolutely necessary" activity. Turns out neither of us have a taste for venison, though his friends who were kind enough to take him out had a way of preparing it with horseradish sauce and a cherry glaze on top that made it palatable. We have since heard that deer jerky is actually really good. So maybe we will have to try some before writting it off altogether.

And to finish off the memorable events of 2009, we celebrated Thanksgiving with Grandma's, Grandpa, Uncles and Aunts, and best of all... Cousins!!! in Kat's immediate family. A wonderfully warm (though not quite warm enough to use the pool although a few cousins took a polar dive on a dare...) After Thanksgiving, Grandma and Grandpa were gracious enough to celebrate an early Christmas with Michelle and Dave, and Aimee and I before Aimee and I came home to spend 2 deliciously relaxed weeks with daddy for our very 1st Christmas at home (we got video footage of the experience but not any pictures that I could find.) We look forward to future Christmas's at home. Aimee loved to open the paper and boxes, though I think next year she will be a bit more aware of the 'special' nature of the holiday.

And that is our 2009 year.

2009 in quick summary

Beginning and End of 2009

Quick summary of 2009:

Boyd studied

Kat worked on video projects for family and watched Aimee grow

Aimee worked on growing up.

in a few more details...

Boyd has been working hard in school to learn what he needs to know to be a good dentist and loves to look in Aimee's mouth to see what teeth are growing in, to floss Aimee's teeth and to

make sure I am brushing her teeth at least 3 times a day (of course when I am in control of the tooth brush she gets her 1 nightly brushing...) He also wants to check my teeth out every now and then, seeing how my teeth line up, trying to see how much my grinding has effected my bite, pointing out the different names of different teeth, telling me to floss

more... he is going to be a great dentist!!! He practices what he will be preaching too, becuase he very regularly flosses and brushes his own teeth! Aside from teeth, he is very good to get friends together and play games or have dinner. We are very blessed with great neighbors and friends!!

[He isn't going to like this picture... : ) but then he shouldn't let me do all the updating...]

I have all of my families old video footage that his been digitized and that is all mixed up. So I have been putting together movies of individuals using this footage. It is very rewarding in a creative outlet sense, it does take a lot of time though. I mostly take care of Aimee which is the most rewarding job!! I am amazed at how different taking care of my own daughter is from babysitting or from watching parenting from a sideline...the sideline position sometimes seems easier because there are very few in the moment emotions involved! I never understood the "pick your battles" until I had Aimee crawling all over the chairs and table--I chose the battle of 'no climbing on the table' and left the chairs issue alone (within safety bounds of course).

Aimee is definitely growing up! She understands SO MUCH! from night night time (when she will cuddle with her blanket) to outside (when she will get her jacket and shoes). She is using more and more words... nigh-nigh, bath, bubble, cup, eat, moo, meow, daddy, jammies, jacket,

popcorn, drink, cheese, please, thank-you, dog, yellow, plane, car, truck, one, two, three ... and she is repeating words so well. She has the cutest smile with a dimple in one cheek. She discovered swimming in the summer and loved it, her bath times are more fun now especially when bubbles are involved. She has learned how to take off her clothes and many mornings I have gone in and found everything (including clothes and diaper!) thrown out of the crib. I am glad she isn't persistant about keeping her clothes off, she just likes to take them off every once in a while!!! She has been learning how to play with other kids and we are working on sharing which is a very tricky skill to learn. She has especially loved playing with her cousins!!! She has been a great traveler, going out west on airplanes several times. She loves to play peek-a-boo with other passengers. (side note-- I have seen so many good people who have jumped in to help me with folding/unfolding stroller, carrying the car seat on the plane, smile and play with Aimee ... as I have traveled alone with Aimee. I am so grateful to all of the friendly faces and people in life!!) Aimee has been a joy and blessing in so many ways and life is beautiful with her around.

So there is a quick idea of what 2009 has been like. Next post will include memorable moments from the last year with a few more pictures. Then on to 2010.

The leaves came down (fall) and Aimee played

Christmas came and Aimee dressed up, and played 

 The snow came and Aimee played

Spring is all but here, guess what Aimee will be doing . . . 

One Year Old

  Now that Aimee is One it is probably time to update a bit.  In the last 3 weeks she has mastered going up and down stairs.  She is babbling a whole lot more.  She LOVES to play with other kids, she watches them most intently trying to figure out how they do what they do and then with the skills she feels she has a chance at being successful she tries (it is almost written on her face as she thinks it through!!) She is especially good at clapping, giving high-fives and tens, crawling, and is beginning to understand that chase is a game!  She has a sit-and-scoot which she loves to ride on (she can't quite reach the ground to scoot).  She continues to be a happy, joyful little person and her personality is developing so well. 

  Boyd continues to study hard and is dedicating as much time as we let him to doing well in school.  He is a great example of working for what you want, wether it be school, work, family etc. We are looking forward to spring break next week, especially as the weather is showing spring on it's way!!! Hurray for sunny springs and summers!!!