Merry Christmas from the Fleig family!

We have been very blessed to have some wonderful experiences as a family this year!  The most precious is our upcoming addition, a little sister in February!  Everyone was excited to learn we are going to have  a sister, except Asher.  Asher is slowly warming to the idea of a sister, many weeks after learning the sex of the baby. 

We also got the chance to spend spring break in Florida with Mandy’s family and make a trip to SeaWorld, we were not disappointed.  The orca show was amazing!  We also had a real treasure hunt  with all the cousins hosted by Aunt Summer and Aunt Bethany, this was the highlight of the trip for the boys.  We cheered our knight at Medieval Times to victory!!! We rode on Papa Plasse’s boat.  We trapped multiple lizards and swam in Aunt Summer’s pool.  We got to witness Aunt Hannah’s engagement to Michael Martin, we are so excited to welcome him into our family!

In June, we went to Mexico and met Mandy’s brother and his family there.  It was a truly fantastic trip!  I think the cousins had a sleepover almost every night and Ryan, Marsha, Roger and I enjoyed rekindling our friendship after many years apart.  We snorkeled, relaxed on the beach, watched some neat shows, and explored the ruins together.  We all agreed we should do it again!

Throughout this year we have had some experiences that made us aware of how fragile life is and have helped us feel our Saviors love all the more.  We are so grateful for our family and our dear friends!  Merry Christmas to each of you and may you feel our Savior’s love throughout the upcoming year!

Roger, Mandy, Jack, Grady and Asher

Veterans' Day Tribute

Tuesday November 10th Jack’s school had an assembly for Veterans’ Day since they are out of school today.  The entire third grade class was singing in the assembly.  The school asked for any local veterans to come and be our guest at the assembly.  Jack’s dad, Roger served for 9 months in Saudi Arabia  in ‘91 during the Gulf War, he is usually shy about telling people this.  Roger was a supply clerk in the Army Reserves so he didn’t have to see a lot of combat.  So Jack of course wanted his dad to come and be recognized yesterday, it turned out to be a great assembly!  It made me so proud of Roger, his cousins (Ray and Tony) and our dear friend Darrell Carr (who is currently serving abroad).  Ray was nearly fatally wounded and still recovering  from his injuries and his brother Tony has been deployed twice.  I love these men and I am so grateful to each one!!!!

The Blessings I have seen and felt today

Today I watched a family draw close to each other

Today I saw the beautiful body of a newborn

Today I witnessed grief and pain but also more love and compassion from so many

Today I felt my Savior wrap his arms around us

 

My dear friend lost her baby today after an emergency c-section.  It was a very humbling experience as I helped their children thru the day and watch the compassion and love from so many friends today.

Volunteer Tea @ Horace Mann

The 2nd grade performed for all the parents that volunteer throughout the year at the school.  Here is a video of Jack performing.

We are in Mexico – Wednesday June 17th & Thursday the 18th

Today Wednesday, we celebrated Miss Maddie’s Birthday which isn’t until the 19th but we wanted to celebrate while all the kids were together.  We got her a coconut purse with a little beaded Mexican doll necklace.

The kids ended the party with an authentic pinata!

Our little sweeties after dinner on one of the beds at the beach.

Thursday

Today we mostly packed up and played in the pool before we had to go to the airport.  Ryan and Marsha took all the kids to the pool while Rog and I packed everything up in the hotel room.  We got done quickly and still had time to take a dip in the pool.  Then we hurried back to our room at noon called the bell boy to pick up our bags showered, dressed and went to lunch.  After lunch we said good bye to the Plasse family.  When we got to the airport we had our temperatures taken and filled out surveys about our health before we could go to  the airline counter.  When we got to the US Airways counter the man helping us was cracking up over Asher’s passport because his pictures is from when he was like 6 months old.  The US Airways employee went so far as showing it to everyone behind the counter with him, they were all chuckling about it, then he told us to take care of our kids as we were leaving.  That is one of the most wonderful things I noticed about the Mexican culture while  I was there was how loved and kind everyone is to children there.  People recognize children wherever you go with a smile or a pat on the head. 

We loved Mexico and I hope we will get the chance to go again someday!

We are in Mexico – Tuesday June 16th

 

This is what they looked like going to bed.

This is what they looked like at 8:30 in the morning.

This is the view from our room in the morning! I am so sad to be leaving this!

Today reality started to set in that we have to leave paradise soon.  Today we enjoyed the pool, Marsha and I went into Puerto Morales  to shop and we took  a lot of pictures today. 

View Full Album

The above album is of the kids in the pool mostly.

 

 

My big brother Ryan and my sister-in-law Marsha.

 

Miss Maddie in her new Mexican dress almost eight years old, bonita senorita!

We are in Mexico – Monday June 15th

Today the big highlight of the day was going for a catamaran ride and snorkel tour. 

This is the building we stayed in at our hotel, 3rd floor on the middle left side of the building. Ryan and Marsha were directly below us on the 2nd floor.

View Full Album

This album is of everyone on the boat.

They took the snorkeling people in two groups so all the boys went on the first group.  Miss Maddie went with me and Ryan on the 2nd group.  This was the best snorkeling I have ever experienced!!  I saw three sea turtles, lots of beautiful coral in several colors, tons of fish, a barracuda, a blowfish, a starfish, some conch, 2 big lobster, a colorful crab, Christmas tree worm and lots of things I don’t have names for!

They even let me drive the boat, scary!