I thought this year it would be a good idea to put my annual Christmas letter online rather than in the Christmas cards I mail out. I always love to get the annual letters to catch up on what family and friends are doing, but I feel bad when I just throw it away after reading it! So, this my attempt to "go green" :) 2010 has been a great year for the Casper family! Let me give you the highlights -
This year, I changed jobs! I enjoyed two great years at the Family Center of Durango, but ultimately decided it was time to go back to teaching. Part of the drive behind my decision had to do with the fact that I started work on my master's degree a year ago in English Language Learning. I needed to get back in the classroom and work with ELL students to really get the full benefits of my learning. I managed to land a high school Spanish/ELL position in a tiny town just 30 minutes from us in Mancos, CO. There are probably only 100 students in the high school. Needless to say, I was really nervous about teaching HS students, but it has been a wonderful experience. I can honestly say that I laugh everyday working with those kids. Not only are they funny, but they can handle the work I give them without five different explanations to Sunday. I'm also teaching middle school Spanish, and after Christmas I'll be teaching Junior English and elementary Spanish as well as Spanish 2 for HS, and ELL for middle and high. Lots of hats to wear because it's a small school, but the staff and kids are great, so it makes it easy :)
Steve is now the station commander at the Durango recruiting station. He's been in that position for a little over a year. They've downsized the station so he only has one other guy that works with him, but they still exceed the numbers every month! This coming week we will go to his annual training conference when they also have the awards dinner. I'm sure he'll be receiving more awards this year :) I'll take pics and be sure to post next week. Another highlight for Steve this year is that he bought a 2010 Mustang GT in grabber blue. It is his baby! Unfortunately, it is in the garage for the next couple months due to the snow. He's also put a different engine in his 1984 Jeep, which is his project as well as his winter transport.
Anna is now in 7th grade and getting more beautiful every day. I posted her picture above just to prove it. She's 12 going on 16, but I enjoy her more everyday. I think Steve has a hard time understanding her most days, but I guess that is to be expected :) She still competes in gymnastics and went to state again last summer where she took first on beam and third all around for her age group! We are very proud of our amazing gymnast! While she was hoping to play volleyball this year, we didn't make it back in time from Oregon for her to try out. But with four days a week of gymnastics practice, I'm not sure how we'd fit another sport in. Now that she's 12 she's anxious to start babysitting - she loves little kids and babies. We have her signed up for a babysitting training in February that she can't wait for.
Seth is growing like a weed. The pants we bought this summer for school are now above his ankles. He gets around this by sporting the baggy pants look which Steve and I hate. I can't tell you how many times a day I tell him "pull up your pants!" This summer he played baseball and also took a skateboarding class. He really loved the skateboarding! It was great to see his skills improve so quickly over the short period of time he was in the class. He wanted to play football this fall, but we didn't get back in time from Oregon for him to join. I was okay with that considering the last time he played football he broke his arm. He is signed up for basketball which starts in January and I know he will really enjoy it. That was his favorite sport last year and for the first time ever he didn't complain about going to practice. He's moved up to Webelos 1 in cub scouts this year and seems to be enjoying it although he protested at first. I'm hoping he decides to continue into Boy Scouts, but we'll see. Other than that, he spends his time as the video game master!
That's it from the Caspers! Enjoy Christmas and the new year with your family. We hope that your family, like ours, enjoyed a wonderful 2010. Blessings to all in the coming year!
