Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas!

I'm wondering how in the world the last year has zoomed by once again, without my paying any attention! It seems that the holiday season sneaks up each year a little bit sooner with a little less warning. As with last year, I've decided not to "publish" a letter, but will post in on our family blog. (which obviously has been a little neglected this year, as with many other things!)

Our year has been busy, to say the least, but has left us with many sweet memories. We began this year with heartbreak with the loss of TJ's maternal Grandmother and then three weeks later, the loss of his paternal Grandfather. These losses came much to close to the losses of his other Grandmother and Grandfather just the previous year. We miss them all every day of our lives and know that they are so proud of their families.

As a family we were able to travel a bit this year and took our first official ski trip in February. We had our annual family camping trip with my family in June, where we hiked and explored Glenwood and Aspen. We also moved TJ's mother, Janet, from Palmer Lake to Ruidoso, NM in June, where she has made a new home. The Crowsons were also lucky enough to be invited back to Lake Powell in July with our neighbors and we think we've secured our spot for years to come, mainly by proving that we are very useful and entertaining campers. (and we've been dominating the Annual Family Olympics, just sayin). In October we spent Fall Break in Austin, TX with TJ's sister and brother in law, Jaree and Walker. We packed in a trip to San Antonio, the Natural Caverns, a BBQ Tour, a UT tour and Game and a lot of local Austin flair into our week long stay. We also met our new furry nepehew/cousin, Roux Fuss the dog.

Reed is somewhere between boy and man as he entered his 13th year. We celebrated his birthday by sending a group of boys in a limo for the afternoon, leaving the limo driver totally in control of 10 teenage boys. God Bless him. Reed started Junior High with a great attitude and played quarterback on the school's flag football team. He is also studying at an advanced level and has just been accepted to join the National Junior Honor Society. It's hard to not brag about his first semester with nothing but A's... He is also playing competitive basketball for the High School's feeder team and other rec leagues year round.

At 10, Jett is an avid reader and loves math. He seems to have a book in his hand at all times and we have to remind him to NOT read. He still loves to build and find out how things work...and create new inventions and drawings. He was on the school's stagecrew again helping to produce the talent show. He is playing basketball year round and some fierce defense on the flag football teams. One of our favorite times with Jett each day is around the dinner table...or any table where there is food, as mealtime seems to bring out his inner comic and critic. I've also seen an inner-wrestler trying to come out this year as well.

Brady, like all 10 year old boys, loves to MOVE. And TALK. He also loves math and reads just as much as Reed and Jett do. Its very fun to watch Brady become consumed by a book. He just eats the pages up! He is also playing basketball yearround, flag football and has stuck with soccer showing a new passion and talent. One thing we can say for that little dude is that he will risk life and limb to make a play in any of the games he shows up for! He has spent the year with a mouth of braces, and just got them taken off in time for Christmas. Brady also works the stagecrew for the school talent show, pridefully working the concessions stand! I'm not sure why he is not ON the stage, as he is quite dramatic... and I have NO idea where he got that from!!!?

TJ and I both celebrated our 40th birthdays this year, as well as our 15th wedding anniversary. I may have not welcomed the birthday as easily as TJ did, but I definitely made my mark! It's not so much that I've been worried about the actual age of 40, but I think I've used it as a defining moment to complete, or begin, some of the "bucket list." We threw a party in June to celebrate the big 40/40/15...and we were overwhelmed with the amount of friends and famiy who celebrated with us all year long, actually. TJ and I were also able to take some couple time to New York City in May and Vegas in September and San Francisco in November. We've definitely spent some time traveling this year! My business had a great year, where we packed 12 weddings/events into a 10 week work year!! I saw Steamboat, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Costa Rica...where I spent a week alone relying on my Spanglish and "wedding spanish!" We were also nominated for an award for one of our weddings that we planned last year and enjoyed the attention that came with the nomination! Mountain Occasions is growing and I'm looking forward to another great year. I've also still been busy year round on the tennis courts...wondering just when I will perfect the game....In my "spare" time I am constantly making lists and plans and trying to keep them all straight in my position as Household CEO (AKA: QUEEN).

TJ is busy with eCollege and added another responsibility to his legal position by taking on more of a managerial position running the partnership program and the development group. He is also still active playing basketball 2-3 times a week and keeping his bod buff in the gym. He is also much to my delight, still happy and handy in the kitchen a few days a week. (keeping me in the gym) In all that spare time he has (ha ha) he is still coaching Jett and Brady's basketball teams and playing, playing, playing with all those boys.

So, as the year comes to an end, we once again give thanks for all of the many blessings and gifts that we have been given. Great friends and loving family and happy, healthy bodies and hearts.

May this season find you and your family happy and healthy, as well. Cheers to the new year and all it's promise it holds. May you find laughter and love in each day!

xoxo,
Kret and the Boyz (aka: TEAM CROWSON!)

My Daily Ommmm

I get this daily email from a site called, the Daily OM. Okay, a little hokey maybe, but every day I get these little bursts of insight in my inbox that actually have a little meaning and relevance to my every day life. They are not religous really, but more like a self reverence, or in my case, quite often... an "A-HA!" moment.

My every day life seems to move by much too quickly and I rarely take a moment to reflect on anything that is self improving or self reflective. I wake up each day and pretty much follow my same daily routine. My morning routine, in additon to the family and kid preparations, includes a moment to make my bible for the day, AKA: The Daily "To Do" List. I list all sorts of things on this list. I list things like "Take a Shower, Work Out and Feed Kids." But I also list things like "Clean out Basement Crawlspace, Do Taxes, Get a Tattoo and Organize Photos from the last 9 Years." I find my list completely entertaining each day as I carry it around like a little secret in my purse. I take it out and blissfully cross things off as I complete them! That is why my list is so long. I LOVE to cross things off! I had a success in my day! Yay me! I did it! My day was not completely lost in phone calls, emails, mundane tasks or wandering around.

But I also find that at the end of my day, I'm still left with an awfully long list. A list that in the back of my mind still makes me feel like I failed. Which is funny, because the list is ALWAYS too long for any human being to complete in a 24 hour period. And the list has things on it that I will probably NEVER do. I like to look at the list as motivation, but I wonder why sometimes I just know, right when I write it down, that I will not complete it. I set myself up for disappointment on a daily basis. My daily victories are sometimes overshadowed by the small failures.
Don't get me wrong, I know I am not a failure, but I also know that I have a tendancy to sabatoge myself without really trying. Doing things that I know are not good for myself or my time, but I do them anyway. We choose the wrong foods, the wrong activity, the wrong company or the wrong use of our time, but deep inside I think these parts of ourselves need to be nurtured, or at least acknowleged. I'm sure this is why teenagers rebel, middle agers go through crisis and so on. We don't allow ourselves to be "naughty" or to think outside the box, or outside the norm, at least. We make choices that are not best for us, but really that deep seeded part of us doesn't really want to heal. It's not really sick!

But. As life speeds by far too fast, I'm ready to make a few more self rules: (Some might call this the I Just Turned 40 Panic List).

I'm striving to be more kind to myself.

To let myself off the hook.

To not wake up in the middle of the night and write more things on my list.

To just "let it go," perhaps pass it on to a higher power.

To play more.

To accept my failures.

To strive to do a little better each day.

To slow down and watch my children grow.

To nurture my family.

To challenge my mind and my body.

Hopefully setting myself up for everyday successes, I'll learn to forgive myself for the every day failures. I can't promise that I won't carry around my little notebook and sharpie pen, but I'm also going to try to celebrate each day's small victory.

the sport man

Over the weekend during my basketball game everyone said "you were on fire"after the game,because in the first half I had around 10 points. I also had a lot of steals and tips to Simon. We won the game 26 -8 against fourth graders. Then in soccer I scored 0 points, but my dad said I did great when I out ran the other team and got close to the goal and shot but they had a really good goalie.

Ski Break

I had the best time skiing and tubing in Copper! After lodging in our friends apartment, we were off to ski. Up the lift and to the top of the bunny slope, I started to get exited. It was my first time skiing unless you count lessons. Swoosh! jetting down the slope as fast as an airplane, I rememberd, Pizza is slow and french fry is fast. Carving a curvy long snake in the snow, I was nearing the bottom. After what seemed like hours of fun skiing, we finally went back to the apartment and settled down. Drifting slowly into a deep sleep. The very next day, we rode up the lift to the tubing hill. Once the safty rules were said, I set off to a tube. I rode down the hill many times before I was ready to do it spinning. It was a shame to leave that fun place, but I could not stay for the rest of my life. I had a great time and I hope to go back soon.
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bouncy party/brady

A few weeks ago me and Jett went to a birthday party at Jump Street. When we got there we thought the only person we'd know was the birthday girl but when we got there we knew Eric. So we played dodge ball with Eric we never got out, except when I got pegged in the face by a teenager. I just got rite back up and walked out.till the next round it was much better it was a fun party.

it's game time!

Swoosh!Over the weekend, I played at what seemed to be the Pepsi center it was sooooooooo loud in that gym. I played two basketball games.So far my teames 2-0.The first game was tough, but we won by a good, what, 40 points!The score was

44-4!The next weekend we played another good game. We won 48-6!The game felt like forever, but I got through it. So we won 2 games but the other teams played hard. I guess we will see what hapens next time, but for now, I have to wait until next game.

Game=play!

By:jett or jett

The 2009 Christmas Letter That Never Was

Happy New Year! The holidays buzzed on by and I never sat down to write my annual holiday letter, which has left me somewhat disappointed in myself! Writing that letter each year has led me to reflect on the past year and collect my favorite memories and observations. I have all of our Christmas letters together in an album that I guess has become the journal of our family life from year to year. So, it's not that last year was utterly boring or I have no memory of it, it's quite the opposite. Last year flew by without stopping and left me in the dust. I have piles of proof to show that I'm still reeling. For one, the Christmas tree is still up, fully decorated, and the stockings still hang by the chimmney with care. I also have a bag of Valentine candy and crafts sitting in my office that I had taken to Jett and Brady's classroom. Luckily, I am going to need that bag again in only 4 short weeks!

So, before I dive into 2010 at full speed, I would like to reflect a little bit on 2009 and how we have grown.

Our year started with heavy hearts with the death of my childhood best friend's father. His death shook my soul in a way that I had never known. When tragedy strikes closer and closer to home it can change you in a way that you had never expected. All of a sudden so many of life's pressures became insignificant. I usually start every new year, with a long list of things that I am going to start doing, or do better, knowing that I'll have about a 50% success rate. Last year I only had 2 things on my list. Organize and prioritize. So, while I may still have only had a 50% success rate in actually becoming organized, I am proud to say that I have had 100% success rate in prioritizing. I spent most of the year training myself to say "NO," and to focus on what it was that I need personally and what I need for my family to grow and thrive.

Later in January we traveled to El Paso to see TJ's grandfather, Fox. He was overjoyed to spend time watching the boys play and to have the company in the house. However, his eyes still held much sadness and he cried tears of lonleiness. (He lost Audra (TJ's grandmother) a few months earlier.) Another echo of my resolution to hold my family tight. And we began this year with the heartbreaking loss of TJ's other grandmother. A woman who lived every day of her life for her family and for God, with a loving heart and soul.

The boys hit the year running and were all on the basketball court by January and all participated in the school's talent show....hold on....as part of the stage crew! Hey, someone has to spotlight the singers and move the props, and sell the concessions!

Reed is changing every day and it's facinating to see him grow and learn. He has been playing basketball all year in various leagues and in September made the competitive team that feeds into our local high school. He also played 2 seasons of Flag Football where he enjoyed playing quarterback and receiver. (without being tackled!) His real passion is reading and he is amazing with the amount of information that he retains. His math abilities are impressive and he loves all things Social Studies and Science. He registers for Junior High next week! GASP! So while he may be prepared academically, we wanted to make sure he was somewhat prepared socially, and he participated in a Cotillion class over the fall. Just seeing him in his suit, then dancing with actual GIRLS was maybe a little too much for this mom right now, but I couldn't be more proud of him.

Jett continues to love to read, read, read. Coming in close behind would be anything that is technology based and/or anything that he can build or draw. He has an incredible attention span and loves to solve problems. (making math very easy for him!) He has spent a lot of time this year building extreme "forts" with Brady and Reed in our basement, and creating intricate lego and toy robots, cars, etc... He's been bouncing the basketball all year long too, and played a fierce defense on his flag football teams and soccer teams. But I think he liked Art Club the best or his nightly appearence as a sit-down comic at the dinner table. The kid LOVES TO EAT!!!!


Brady. Brady. Brady. When he's not dancing around or chasing someone he loves games. But not really ones that you have to sit still for too long! Of course he loves basketball, and really excelled this year in flag football as a defensive back, and in soccer as a midfielder and as a goalie. He has a list of other sports that he is ready to try and succeed at, but we're trying to work at a little slower pace! He loves music and people and problem solving. Like his brothers, he is an avid reader and loves math. He loves to try new things and loves attention! (I have NO idea where he got that....) He is also sporting a new smile this year with braces~!

The one main thing that all 3 boys have in common for sure is that they LOVE their daddy! TJ has been working and playing hard all year. He is still at eCollege and has added on to his previous legal role now as their VP of Legal Affairs and Technology Partnerships. He is enjoying the responsibiliy and the challenges that come with it. When he is not working he is wrestling with the boys or playing basketball, video games, etc... We were also busy with lots of travel this last year with family trips to Lake Powell, Camping and Puerto Vallarta, and TJ and I were able to get away to Vegas...twice....as well as Aspen and Keystone. I still took my annual girls trip to Mexico and TJ to Austin. So with 11 trips throughout the year, I spent the remainder of my time in the laundry room really! I've also been busy with lots of tennis and being the proud Captain of our tennis team that won 2 championships to advance to State District competitions! Aside from all of this fun, I've also actually been....working! Mountain Occasions is keeping me busy doing what I love! We kicked off the spring organizing the Denver Derby Party, and the summer full of weddings! We met some incredible families and we were so honored to be a part of so many wonderful events.

The holidays were somewhat comfortable and quiet staying home with family. My uncle from Tulsa visited for Thanksgiving and Jaree and Walker came back for another stay over Christmas. Our parents are still part of the "village" spending time with the boys, and building such solid relationships.

So, as I began this new year with it's usual panic and overwhelming feeling to create long lists of things that I think I should be doing, I am reminding myself to stop. Stop. So much of the time I live my life in the past, or in the future. In the past thinking of things that I've done that I shouldn't have, or how I could have done them better. And the future, thinking about how great things will be once I do steps A, B and C, and how I can do them better. I realize that by doing this I keep missing things in the present. Just missing little moments that are more important than anything I may have done before or anything that is to come. So, this year's "resolution" if I must use a word, is to just live in my present, the best I can. Focus more. Being more efficient with my time. Spending more time with those who make me a better and/or happier person. Paying more attention to every day moments with my family. Spending time doing things I am passionate about, and sharing them with those who care.

Thank you for being someone who cares about our family and I appreciate you being someone who has helped to make me personally, and our family grow and thrive.

Happy New Year. I hope you are living all of the moments of your life too!