Merry Christmas from the Fletchers!

It’s Christmastime!  Time for the annual Fletcher-year-summary!  It's been a fun and eventful year!

Little Jaron (6 Years)

This year Jaron played Chip in his first-ever school play.  His line was two words “Here Gaffer,” and he was very very proud of himself.  He took boxing lessons earlier this year with a fantastic Mui Thai instructor  Jaron is also participating in Scouts at school and is an avid lover of camping.  However, his favorite thing seems to be art in all of its forms.  He is extremely meticulous about finishing his art and homework properly and –almost- never complains.  He always eats his vegetables and is crazy about oranges and hamburgers.  One thing that we love about Jaron is his unwavering honesty.  For instance “I want to say something mean so bad but I know that I shouldn’t.”  He is extremely fond of the holidays, but we all know that he comes by that naturally.

Stephen “Hulk” (4 Years)

Stephen is not quite as honest…but we are working on that.  He is like Whinnie-the-Pooh due to the honey jars we find he has tampered with; always followed by a sticky trail that leads back to the culprit himself.  Soccer is Stephen’s favorite sport and he is in his 3^rd season.  He is in his second year of Pre School and is speaking better every day.  This fall he followed in his brother’s footsteps and has taken up singing in EVMCO’s Young Singers choir.  Try singing “Oh Chistmas Tree” in German…he can!  “Oh Tanenbaum, Oh Tanenbaum,  wei trun seind deine bleutea…….”  Stephen absolutely adores his older brother and wants to be just like him.  However, he has made it very clear that because Jaron is 6, he (Stephen) is 7.  I guess he thinks that age determines dominance.  We all know that Mom is older than Dad by two months….

Jennifer (Mommy, almost 30)
A you can see, she is very excited about her Dad's first published book. 

Mommy is keeping extremely busy as she juggles working for her sister, cleaning house, cooking wholesome meals, managing household affairs, tutoring (homework), playing (necessary for childhood survival), and chauffeuring the children from one place to the next.  She is very excited about the new band arrangement she helped produce (sheet music) of “Celtic Carol,” one of Lindsey’s songs, and has been extremely busy trumpeting all over the Phoenix Metropolitan kingdom this holiday season.   Known for being Mrs. Organized, she is currently serving as Secretary in the Primary and faithfully completes her visiting teaching every month.  This year she was proud to have put up the Christmas lights all by herself (well..Stephen helped a little).

Jaron (Daddy, almost 30)

 











Jaron has finally started the business of his dreams (Infosavers!) and is very happy (as you can see), but working non-stop!  He found a partner (Jared at Transfer for Less) in Mesa who is very talented at doing all the things Jaron doesn't like to do.  Jared is likewise grateful to Jaron, who brings talents he does not necessarily have to the table.  They make a fantastic team!  Jaron will be focusing 100% of his time on the business starting in January.  Jaron has also taken up regularly doing random chores around the house to help his lovely and very grateful wife, and he does a masterful job of getting the kids ready for school/transporting them every morning on his way to work so that mommy can work or sleep (when she pulls an all-nighter).  He has been active in Scouting with Jaron, religiously comes home on Monday night for Family Home Evening (often to leave again for work afterwards), and is eager to help other’s pursue family history as the ward “Family History Consultant.”  He also completes his Home Teaching assignments every month and enjoys playing basketball several mornings/week at the church.  What a stud!

Merry Christmas to all!  We love you!

Jaron's First Play

Jaron was a "woodsman" in his school musical, "Porridge."  I knew he was singing in all the songs, but had no idea how he was supposed to dress (when I finally contacted the teacher and found out he was a woodsman I bought him some boots at the thrift store (they look identical to a pair I had as a kid) and dressed him up like a pro!).  He also didn't bother to tell me he had a speaking part until the day of.  His part consisted of two words: "Here Gunther!"

Turns out not all the kids had a speaking part, so I was SO proud that my little man had two glorious words on the program!  I caught him on camera just as he was speaking his part and ooooohhh my little  mommy heart melted!  I now understand why my parents found joy in even the seemingly insignificant things we accomplished.  Not sure what causes that...but I could feel myself just beaming.  And so was he!  He had the cutest, sheepish smile up on stage for the next several minutes after his line; he was obviously very proud of himself.  I couldn't hear much of the play (microphone issues/technical difficulties) but his dancing/singing and those two little words made the two-hour performance all worth it for me.

Here he is saying his line :)

Special thank you to Grammie, Grandma, and Grandpa for coming to watch!  Jaron was so happy you came to see him!

And a special congrats to my Jaron!  I love you little man!

Here are some stellar moments on stage  :)

Totally digging the bobble-head thing he does in this one and the plastered smile at the end :P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekefHxFLGY4

He just looks like he's having more fun in this one  :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BCYl21hhZs

Lost my Keys...and other stuff

Late again!  I rushed out the door with my groggy son who was rudely awakened from his nap and then drove like a speeding demon to my son's school.  I despise waiting in car lines, so I always park about 1/4 mile away across a dirt field full of desert weeds and walk across.  FYI I'm the only crazy parent who does this lol.  My still-sleepy four-year-old refused to walk/run with me, so I grabbed him up and ran the distance to the walk-up line.  *Days when you realize how very out of shape you are*  Once we retrieved my son Jaron and walked back to the car, I realized that my keys were gone.  I realized that I must have dropped the keys between the car and the school...I had literally just lost my keys in a field.  I was pretty upset and annoyed, ran up and down the field in 110 degree heat a few times in search of them without any luck, and then patted myself on the back for at least getting a good workout in.  I prayed to find the keys without any luck, but gratefully I did have a spare car key under the car.  From there we drove to a rental home I'm working on and was happy to find a key still inside the lockbox.  I did some painting there until around 3:00 AM (I put the kids to bed on a sheet on the concrete floor lol; they are such troopers!)  Then I packed everybody up and headed for home.  I was absolutely exhausted, and unsure of whether I would be able to find a way into my house.  My husband just happens to be gone this week with the other set of keys, and the hidden "spare" keys were incomplete; I had no key to the screen door.  Figures!  I tried a window that is usually open and it wasn’t.  I started crying to God for help and felt inspired to use one of the kids' rubber “puddle boots” (as they call them) to push the window open, hoping that it was just stuck.  Still locked.  I desperately hoped for one more option: the bathroom window.  I removed the screen with some effort and then using one of the boots, I pushed the window open.  Success!  But *sigh* I'm not THAT thin.  The window isn’t more than 8 inches tall and a little over a foot wide.  I wouldn't fit...but I knew of someone who would.  So...I coaxed a very groggy Jaron (6) out of the car and appealed to him for help.  He did so, willingly and bravely, as I stood on the outdoor table, fed him through the window, and then eased him down into the bathtub on the other side.  My hero!  Although I was frustrated at first that my prayers did not manifest an answer in the form of missing keys and I will be out about $10 getting new keys made, everything worked out ok.  I was able to do what I needed to do.  And it makes a pretty good story.  ;)  

Yes, I know this photo has nothing to do with my story but it is pretty cute.  This was actually last week at the mall.  We bummed rides on the little merry-go-round (a kid would insert a quarter and my kids would jump on for the ride)  Then we found this nifty thing (below).  Then we waited in line for a solid 90 minutes so my kids could make a free Lego "flamingo" at the Lego store.  The only thing we had to entertain ourselves with was a horse-head finger puppet, so I used it to tell about 10 different stories to them over that 90 minutes.  Talk about having to get creative!  But they were so happy!  So I suppose we must do it again next month (word on the street is that we will be making a pirate next time!  :D  )