Happy New Year!!

Hello Cauble Followers!
I can't even begin to explain how simply lazy I have been with my posting and I am so terribly sorry! All is well in Taylors, SC, at least at my house! In case you weren't one of the lucky people to get a Christmas letter, here it is:

Season’s Greetings and Merry Christmas!
The Cauble family has had yet another year of bustling
activity! Christmas Day 2010 was pretty
awesome as we got to celebrate it with SNOW! The kids are holding out for the
same to happen this year, and I must admit it was pretty awesome last year. It
was the beautiful snow that has FAT snowflakes and wasn’t icy, which is what we
typically get in the upstate.
Noah finished up K-5 last year and at Awards Day won the
Citizenship Award for his class. I was so proud of the little man. He does try
so hard to make everyone happy, including his school teachers. He has started 1st grade off with
a bang this year and is steadily learning how to read, estimate distances,
learn the computer, and draw maps. He also loves to play video games on his DS
or Wii. He isn’t committed to a sports team or activity as of yet, but does
participate in the Good News Club every Tuesday, which is similar to Awana’s at
his school. He and AnnMarie also go to Kids Group every Wednesday with our
church. Noah made a huge decision this year and asked Jesus to come in his
heart. He was baptized on December 11 by his Daddy at Ridgeview Church with a
TON of family and friends watching. We
are so proud of this young man!
AnnMarie never stops talking. Poor Noah never gets a word
in! By the time you get this letter next year AnnMarie will have been in K-5
for 4 months! We are doing our best to get her ready, since she was not able to
attend K-4 in the public school system. She attends Sonshine Learning Center
where she is getting a good foundation on her letters and how to write. She
pretends that she is a school teacher all the time, holding her clip borad and
“checking” things off. She recently got her ears pierced and she picked out
Hello Kitty earrings for her first pair. They are adorable and she is doing
well with them so far. She has taken an interest in dancing, specifically
“Ballerinas” here lately, and at any given time you will see her in a dance
costume that a neighbor gave her. She
LOVES it! She will sleep in it, play in in, and even wear it out in 30 degree
weather if we would let her. She had a pair of tap shoes that she prisses
around in, but they are starting to get small. I suppose we will find her a
dance class soon…she keeps begging for me to find one and she really would
enjoy it I think.
The kids are taking an interest in snow skiing this year, so
we think we might try and make a weekend of it.
This past summer AnnMarie busted her chin while we were at a pool
party—5 hours and 7 stitches later all was well. So while we are looking
forward to spending a day on the snow, Momma is a little anxious!
We turned things around a bit and traveled to Gatlinburg, TN
for our summer vacation. The kids are
little fishies in the water, as we spent most of the week at a pool or water
park. Noah does not require swimmies anymore, but AnnMarie does. She is
determined that she can swim, and I think by the end of this summer she won’t
need them either. We haven’t been to Orlando since the summer prior, and CJ is
going into Disney withdrawals. I promised him I would take him next summer
(2013), that’s if he dosen’t come up with a scheme to go before then! We love
SeaWorld just as much, and we promised the kids we would sit in the splash zone
next time we go. I’m sure that moment will be priceless, too bad we won’t be
able to catch it on video (we’ve been told we ALL have to sit in the splash
zone for it to be fair!).
CJ never stops. Someone asked me this year if he would be
happy if he wasn’t doing ten things. I told them no. It works well for our
relationship though because I am the same way. Neither of us have the patience
to work one thing straight through, so if we have several things we can work on
we can bounce around. Not only does CJ work for Chick Fil A full time as the
General Manager, but he also has taken on the position of the Youth Minister at
our church. He enjoys the work. It never fails to amaze both of us that
ministry is continually changing and you have to be prepared to change yourself!
CJ is still in love with Nebraska football and imagine our surprise that USC
(South Carolina) is playing Nebraska in our favorite town, Orlando, on January
2, 2012 for a bowl game. The Clemson/Nebraska Gator Bowl game in 2009 was also
in FL and was really fun…but I don’t think it will be a family trip this year.
I keep trying to move up in the world. At least at
Greenville Hospital! I took the position of System’s Analyst in June 2011 and
it’s rather intersting. I now work on our computer system that exports our
daily claims to the insurance companies. I am responsible for making sure that
the processes that are in order are the best way to do things, and if not I
have to determine what we should test or pursue. With all of the health care
changes that are occuring, my workload has been a variety of tasks. The new
year should prove to be interesting, at least on my workload perspective.
We added to the family this year and got a puppy! His name
is Storm and he is currently 16 weeks old. We aren’t sure exactly sure what
kind he is, but he is definatley our third child! We believe that he is a mix
of Lab, German Shepherd, and maybe Rottweiler or Chow. Who knows! CJ says he is
getting a DNA test-it probably isn’t such a bad idea! He loves to play, is
currently teething, and the kids just adore him. Storm does well tolerating the
kids pulling on him, climbing on him, annoying him. I tell you, if the poor
puppy survives the kids, he can handle anything!
We have a lot of things to look forward to this coming year.
AnnMarie will begin school, Noah will finsh first grade, and CJ and I will
celebrate 10 years of marriage! Our first “adopted child” (Noah’s main
babysitter for many years), is expecting her first child this spring. We have
been kidding her and her spouse about when our first grandchild will be born. I
know we kid her but we really are looking forward to this bundle of joy. I know
that I will blink my eyes and it will be the time to write this letter again
and all these events will have passed. My, how does time fly!
Unfortunatley while it has been a year of celebration it has
also been a year of sadness. My mom, Monnie, passed away this past August. As
with any loss it has been difficult, but we are making it. CJ has been a
wonderful support system and given me the room I needed to cope. I am very
blessed to have a spouse that has so much pastoral training. It allowed him to
know what I needed and to take care of my extended family as well.
I hope that the rest of the Holiday season brings you great
joy and peace. Please remember the reason for the Season, and we hope to see
you all over the coming year.
Love,
Shaneki, CJ, Noah and AnnMarie Cauble