Feickert Family 2011 News

2011 Family Pix  Feickert Home Page

Marc continued to sing tenor with the Utah Symphony Chorus until late spring when he was asked to be the Scoutmaster. Having never been a scout himself, it was daunting at first, but he's been doing his best to learn the ropes and learn to work with some amazing young men. If you thought last year Marc was amazing with his balloon twisting sculptures, you should check out some of the newest creations he learned to do this year! Drop by www.marvelousmarcballoons.com and take a peek! He's having to tone down the number of gigs though, because, drum roll please!... Marc accepted a FULL TIME position with UnitedHealth Group as of November! (His contract position working with the LDS church would have ended in December. The Lord has great timing, and we're so blessed to have our family taken care of so well.) Definitely keep in touch because next year we'll have even more big news... since we plan to sell our Kaysville home and move to be near the UHG Colorado Springs office! (Sure, Fiona's family is sighing over this one since most live in Utah, but Marc's family is mostly in Colorado and jumping up and down for joy!)

Fiona has enjoyed helping out each week in Joshua's and Emma's classrooms, getting to read at the library about once a month, doing her neighborhood children's choir again this summer, teaching piano and flute (she especially is proud of Joshua and Emma, her longest-standing students!), and helping create the website and memory book for her high school's 20-year reunion. This summer, she got to take the family back to the NW for a quick visit to Milwaukie for her reunion & family touristy jaunts, then we even got to go up to see Marc's aunt Pati in Washington. Sure wish we had more time to see everyone while we were in town! After more than 2 years helping in the nursery at church (she's built an adorable fan base ages 2-4... "Mommy, look it's my teacher!"), Fiona's back helping the Bear Scouts as a den leader. Joshua's the newest Bear, and one of 3 autistic-spectrum boys in our 6-boy den... she feels very groomed to serve in this position since she's been a Bear leader before and learned much about autism in the last few years. Fiona also continues to help with the Boy Scout committee as Advancement Coordinator. Oh yeah... and one of the funnest dates she's been on with Marc, looking back over our first decade of marriage here, was this fall when we got to go see Weird Al perform live at the Utah State Fair. (Yup, we're celebrating 10 wonderful years of blissful weirdness together this December!)

Michael (18 months old) Michael's first spoken word (Up!) came in January, and gradually he's added a few more, although he still prefers ASL. He went from crawling this spring to walking by early summer and running by the end of summer. And through it all, he's always been a climber! (It's amazing he didn't break a limb yet like his brother Daniel did at that age!) Michael enjoys imitating everyone and everything, from vacuuming to coloring... whatever the big people do, he wants to try it too (much to big siblings' annoyance when they're trying to practice piano or play with trains!) He is pretty sure he's ready to grow up now, and is definitely no longer the baby that he was when the year began. Still, he's probably the best cuddler we've had yet, and he loves few things better than to snuggle with his favorite blanket, his Steve doll, and read a good book on your lap. Oh, and Michael loves boats. Thanks to ASL, I know he's pretending to be on a boat whenever he's playing with a big box or sitting on his brother's xylophone (that Daniel was trying to use at the time).

Daniel (3 on 25 January) Daniel used to ADORE the color green. It's no good if it isn't green. Until we put in the green carpet and sponged the new wall we built to replace the railing in the living room green this summer. Now after that overdose of green, he will name any color but that as his favorite. Daniel continues though to be quite the train fan. If you ask him what he wants for Christmas he'll name a train. What else? He names another train. It's all about trains! He also is having a blast doing Joy School with another neighborhood boy, where he gets to practice writing and reading, some basic math, fun crafts, and of course play time with friends. (Mom is having fun each week getting to take her turn playing teacher as well!) Daniel is also quite proficient with computers, and really enjoys playing on sites like pbskids.org. Fiona didn't know he could read or use a mouse when (while Fiona was helping Joshua's computer class at school in Janauary) the teacher asked if he'd like to play a game and he did fine spelling words with Cookie Monster's alphabet soup. Ok, then!

Emma (7 on 20 February, now in 2nd grade) Emma struggled to finish her full year of ballet class because of how the costume felt, but that final recital was the perfect reward for enduring to the end. She became such a talented, graceful dancer in just that first year. And she was beautiful! This fall, we signed her and Joshua up for a musical children's theater class instead, so they can be more flexible about things like hair and costume. And of course, she's all over shining on the stage. Emma also shines in school, and is such a fast reader now that instead of the 1000 page goal that her big brother is still on for her daddy date rewards, now she has to read 2000 pages. No problem. She still gets a daddy date every couple of months! Emma also continues to love social time, and while she's excited to make new friends whenever we move, she will have many dear friends here that will be hard for her to say goodbye to.

Joshua (9 on 28 November, now in 3rd grade) Since Joshua felt that he was ready to promise to follow Christ, Joshua's dad baptized Joshua in February. We're so proud of him in this first big step of faith. Joshua continues to do well academically, reading about 2 grade levels ahead and adoring math and science. He also loves teaching his siblings as well, so Daniel now knows all about shapes like trapezoids, and Michael knows how to play "cut the pickle, tickle tickle". This fall, Joshua was invited along with our family to perform in a Special Needs devotional featuring the music from Far Different Places and other music by Janice Kapp Perry (who was present). Since he likes opera music, he was pretty proud to be in the same show as Michael Ballam, a well-known Utah opera star. He also earned his cub scout Wolf rank advancement in September (presented in October), several arrow points and belt loop awards, and, at the October Pinewood Derby, his self-designed and painted car took first place. He of course felt very proud of his car, matter-of-factly explaining to all who would listen how he was very careful to maximize the weight while making it as aerodynamic as possible. Joshua was excited to learn that his Grandpa Jim had won his very first pinewood derby as well. The Feickert legacy continues.

Thanks to all our neighbors who came to our September BBQ in honor of Marc’s birthday, or joined us for another reading and eating of Miss Fiona’s Stupendous Pumpkin Pies for Halloween. We love these traditions! And we'll miss our Utah friends next year as we start our newest adventure in Colorado. Please keep in touch! You can also catch Marc or Fiona on Facebook too.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

Love,
Marc, Fiona,
Joshua, Emma, Daniel & Michael Feickert