12/30/2018

Another year over...

Season's greetings everyone!

Despite not getting our annual Christmas letter sent out this year, the Stauffer family is alive and well! Thank you to all of you who sent your season's greetings to us by traditional mail, sorry we did not get a physical card sent to you in return. That said, I offer you this blog post as a way to share our year with you before 2018 comes to a close.

Maura and I continue to hold down our humble fort on 7th Ave. You may think this isn't much of an achievement, being that we are empty nesters, but since Maura is a daytime nanny for the mischievous twins, Emmett and Michael, we are LITERALLY holding down the fort! Daily, we turn our upstairs area into a virtual playpen, with plastic fences and gates cordoning off dangerous and/or delicate areas where the nearly two-year old twosome could wreak havoc or get injured. Through October and November, I was able to experience first-hand how incredibly difficult being a nanny is! Maura had torn her rotator cuff at the end of September, so I altered my work schedule (nights and weekends) in order to stay home during the day to hone my "manny" skills while she recuperated from shoulder surgery. Guys, if you've never taken the reins of the child care sleigh, let me tell you... it is not for the weak, neither physically nor mentally speaking. We owe SO much to the women in our lives who are typically the ones tasked with tirelessly raising our worlds younglings, we really do!

Samantha and Justin are doing well and celebrated their one year anniversary in July. They share their cozy Boulder apartment with a gorgeous cat named Winnie Cooper, the feisty feline model showcased on Justin's Instagram. Samantha expects to finish her Master's Degree early next year, while concurrently working full time at Wildflower Preschool. It also looks like she will begin tackling a PhD soon... damn, that gives me shivers! We are so proud of her drive, motivation, and goal to become a world class educator!

Adam and Lauren got engaged! While celebrating 5 years of dating in March, our son asked for Lauren's hand in marriage on the shores of Cancun! Our family is enormously blessed to have such a wonderful, smart, compassionate young woman commit to join our family's brand of madness for life! They are both quite excited and  looking forward to January when they move into a new apartment. They will be closer to their jobs and will be living in a vibrant Denver area known as the River North Art District or "RiNo." Making wedding plans will likely be the biggest focus for them in 2019. We can't wait for the big day in March, 2020 when they will become Husband and Wife!

In just two short months Nick will be graduating with his Bachelor's Degree in Restaurant, Food & Beverage Management. This is something we plan to celebrate BIG TIME when the graduation ceremony commences in May and he exits through the Robert E. Taylor Gates, marking the end of his academic career at Johnson & Wales University! We are in awe of the grace and fortitude shown by Nick to finish out his course work while simultaneously focusing on his health and wellness. It's been just over a year and a half since his accident and he is the one telling us that everything is going to be alright. Just a few days ago, we expressed how we wished that he could have his leg back and he emphatically said to us, "I don't! I'm a better person now because of it! I would never trade the friendships that were strengthened and the new friendships that were forged because of my injury." We're not sure where this young man gets his wisdom and strength, but it is certainly something our whole family has come to rely on and lean on.

Well, that's our year in a nutshell. I'd say we came out of 2018 unscathed for the most part. We hope you find yourselves in the same frame of mind as we all head into 2019 with hope, kindness, and lots of love!


                                               Happy New Year! 

  
                                                  The Stauffers