Alexis and Charley: Junior High at Walcott

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0CbuGTdo2aM2Qx

2012 The Year in Review

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Perfection

Today was the perfect June day in more than one way. I am so blessed to have the job that I do to be off of work for the summer to be at home. Nothing makes me happier than to be at home in my castle. Days like these are very renewing. Today consisted of ordinary things. Nothing special. Swim practice in the morning followed by a quick trip to the grocery store for fruit, milk, and some special snacks for today's play date. Xavier and Joe enjoyed the company of Harris and Asher Ciaccio for the afternoon playing basketball, tag, and of course gaming. They had a ball. Nothing better than to hear the giggles and boy conversation from nearby.

Alexis and Charley were away at Hawkeye Swim Camp. This meant the boys could have their play date without big kid interference or the influence of jealousy. I feel guilty sometimes not being able to reciprocate more often on play dates with other families. It becomes stressful to add children to the house. There is the whole sibling jealousy thing. There is also a difference in who you invite. Some kids are just plain less maintenance. Less maintenance is good for me. If kids are too needy or too rambunctious it adds to my stress level. I know my limits. And my kids are too much on some days!! One soon learns whose kids you can have over and whose you should not.

It also meant Cariyana and I would have our time. She and I worked in the kitchen on lunch and dinner. Another really great way to have a perfect day. To me, a good day includes "being a good cooker", as Cariyana would say. She loves to help and enjoyed making Nick a salad of lettuce and radishes from our garden with leftover rib-eye steak from last nights supper. And I know Steve is brought pleasure by having a thoughtful dinner at home. Thoughtful meaning planned not extravagant or special. Tonight was tostadas. All it takes is a little planning. Planning is one of my strengths.

The kids were willing and able to play outside since it was a perfect June day. The weather was awesome. 79 degrees with 45% humidity. I sat outside and watched them while Cariyana played on the swing set. And I worked in the garden a bit. The garden is flourishing and this is the perfect growing weather for newly established plants. My soak-er hoses are now perfectly placed.

To make my days extra special my number one son has been around a lot. We are paying him to do some work around the house to add to his wallet until the days pass when he will move to Tucson. The move is looming. These days of being "home" with us are bittersweet. This time will never pass again. Life is ever changing. We will miss him deeply. Until then, he flutters about in a Nick sort of way from one chore to another. Some days accomplishing lots and others not so much. Its all good. Today was one of the latter although he did finish cleaning the gutters, repaired my flat tire, and aired up the kids bike tires. Our first triathlon is coming this weekend.

I feel very blessed. God provided me with the perfect June day. I feel very privileged to have enjoyed it.

"Follow the Pace Car"

Alexis loves to swim. "It's something I'm really good at!" We love she has found her passion. Swimming has changed our lives in just 9 months! All of the kids have been taking swimming lessons at the Bettendorf YMCA for almost 2 years. Private lessons every Saturday morning, most Saturdays. Its a hassle to get up early the one morning a week when we might sleep in and be lazy for a few hours. On the other hand it gets us up and moving and Mom and Dad get a workout in while the kids have their lessons.

After teaching Alexis, our swim teacher said "Alexis is a natural, you should put her on a swim team!" We let her swim for Walcott Junior High for the first time in Feb/March 2012. Charley swam too. Its a short swim season with just one swim meet for 6th graders. After that she was hooked. We signed her up on Davenport Metro's swim team the following April. She has been swimming ever since. We have been going to swim meets ever since! Life has changed.

After watching her friend and our neighbor, Allison, swim the mile at a swim meet, Alexis set a goal to swim the mile in January 2013 at a long distance swim meet. She did great for her first time. It's very nerve wracking for parents to watch! This is our first athlete. Never as a parent have I felt the JOY and PRIDE for a child(ren) as this sport has brought to our family.

In December Alexis swam a 1000 freestyle in preparation for the mile in 16 minutes. In January Alexis swam the mile for the first time in 27 minutes. 66 laps! She did great!

2/1/2013 Alexis swam the mile again. This time Steve told Alexis "Follow the pace car, Ms. Allison Fellner!" Allison swam in lane 3. Alexis in lane 2. The whole family cheered them both on. Hailey Dreyer counted for Alexis. Peggy Dreyer cheered too.

Maggie Eure and Charley timed the mile swim.

Guess who lost her goggles (about 5 minutes in) and cap (she shook it off after the loss of the goggles) during her 66 laps but kept on swimming. During one flip turn early on, Alexis kicked the wall real hard. It looked painful. She just kept on swimming.

Alexis was so happy when that swim was over even with red eyes! AND she dropped time in her mile swim!  25:52.13 was her official time at the 2013 East Moline Winter Swim Meet. We are soooo proud of our girl!

A celebration was in order...A Brownie Under at Whitey's for a job well done!

Peggy Dreyer claims Alexis is the "Spirit of Metro". On Facebook she wrote:  "She was amazing! I love that girl...She is a true example of Metro Spirit with every smile, every bounce in her step, and every word of encouragement out of her mouth! Love, Love, Love!!!!"

 Last weekend you qualified for STATE with your 50 freestyle. This weekend, another first for you, 3 relays and a 50 free at state! What an honor.

That's our girl. We love you! You make us very proud!

A photo book of Nick and Angie's Wedding

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create your own custom photo books at Shutterfly.com.

The First 25 Years...

We met in Louisiana. I was living with your sister. We spent 15+ hours in a car together on a return trip to Iowa. You asked me out on our first date 1 year later. We married just 5 months after that first date. Since that time together we have...

•  purchased 3 homes including our current "dream house" that we designed.
• dearly loved two golden retrievers--Bozzy and George
• battled the challenges of infertility and conceived a son, Nicholas Johnathon our first born.
• survived the death of two wonderful, young, vibrant friends--Deb Sandry and Joan Herrig
• experienced "our ministry"--the foster care system that lead us to adoption.
• faced the criticisms of others for adopting 5 children with imperfect pasts, multiracial skin color and an unknown family lineage.
• accepted the Healthy Family Challenge and won! 
• endured the ever changing John Deere shift schedule
• stayed married!

We look forward to the next 25 years together and plan to...

• stay married!
• enjoy an ample retirement
• love one more dog
• raise these 5 remaining children to be productive members of society--sure to be a challenge but a great life's work!
• spoil as many grandchildren as possible
• pray no one ends up in prison, killed or maimed
• pray there is no need to survive someone becoming sick or dying
• enjoy a lavish trip together just the two of us
• look forward to many more "date nights" than we had the first 25 years.

Merry Christmas 2012

Another year has come and gone. We cannot believe how fast the years are going by. We hope this letter finds you happy and healthy. Our house is a busy one. Here is the update for 2012.

Prior to our Healthy Family Challenge last year we enrolled all the kids in swimming lessons at the Bettendorf YMCA with Amanda McCord.  Quite by accident last winter we discovered Alexis is a natural swimmer. She joined the intermediate swim team as a 6th grader (so did Charley with a little coaxing) in January. She LOVED it! After witnessing her passion for swimming we joined the Davenport Metro Swim Team. She competed in her first swim meets this past spring and has been swimming 3 evenings a week almost every week since.

We took a few days off in June to travel to Omaha, NE to watch the Olympic Trials (for swimming). The kids were so pumped to seer Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Missy Franklin.  Then they watched them win at the Olympics in August! It was fun to be there and experience the excitement live and in-person!

 The highlight of the year is something new. Triathlons. Alexis, age 12 set a goal for 2012  to compete in a triathlon. With the encouragement and coaching of Maureen Dolan we signed her up for the Quad Cities IronKids triathlon in August. Maureen and Amanda were instrumental in her success. Alexis finished 5th! This finish put in her in position to compete at the national level.

 The end of August offered another opportunity to compete in a triathlon in Madison, Wisconsin for practice before nationals. Along with the Dolans we trekked to Madison for an adventure and let Charley and Xavier and Joe do their first triathlon (along with Alexis). WOW! Was that ever a challenge keeping track of 4 kids and start times, bikes, helmets, etc. Labor Day weekend brought the national championships (how lucky--it was in DesMoines!). We learned a lot about transitions (one key to being fast), open water swims, and how to sleep (or not sleep) in a booked hotel in a room over 90 degrees with no air conditioning! The competition was stiff and overwhelming but what an experience! We definitely made a lot of memories and thank the Dolans for being great support for the Cummins Family!

 Not being a sport-minded family this interest in swimming and triathlons has taken us by surprise. We also sampled some football this fall.  7th grade football for Charley and Rising Knights Football for Xavier.   Alexis plans to continue her triathlons in 2013.

Charley has found an additional music interest besides saxophone and cello. Show choir. Alexis and Charley participated this year for the first time in both marching band and show choir. Charley appears to be a natural on stage singing and dancing. Oh what fun we will have with these varied interests in our children!

The kids are doing well in their respective schools. Alexis and Charley at Walcott in 7th grade, Xavier at Rivermont Collegiate in 4th, and Joe and Cariyana are in the same first grade class at Buffalo Elementary.  Joe is excelling and may join his brother at Rivermont for 2013. We continue to see academic growth in Cariyana and she has had an excellent year medically. Three different school schedules in the house drives mom a bit crazy each morning but we are thankful for  Trinity College & Health Sciences flexibility and carpooling with the Elliotts to Rivermont. Jerry and Joann Ray continue to meet the kids each day and provide the household stability we all need to have to keep up with the busy schedule--scouting, an unpredictable John Deere shift schedule, FLL, martial arts, etc. We are truly blessed.

Nick and Angie are finishing up their senior year at Augustana College. Nick has applied to multiple dental schools for post graduation. Angie will get her masters wherever Nick ends up (or nearby) in speech language pathology. Stay tuned to see where they end up. They now have a cat named Yoshi.

Our family suffered a huge loss this fall. Edna Grell, my grandmother passed away at age 97, the matriarch of the Grell Family. She influenced who I am today more than I realized until after her passing. We will miss her but remember her fondly, always.

It’s a busy life! Until next year…blessings to you and yours! Remember the reason for the season. Merry Christmas!

The Cummins Family—Steve, Karen, Alexis, Charley, Xavier, Joe, and Cariyana

 The whole Cummins Clan.

 Alexis age 12, our swimmer and triathlon qualifier.

 Joseph, age 7 our First Grader.

 Charley, our newly hatched teenager, just a few days beyond 13!

 Our four sons!

 Angie and Nick both seniors at Augustana College.

 The Cummins Family 2012

Xavier, age 9 and a fourth grader at Rivermont Collegiate.

 Cariyana, age 7 (almost 8) and also a First Grader.

Three silly daughters...