Groundhog Day Greetings!

Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Groundhog Day Greetings!!

Is it worth sending out your "Christmas card" 5 weeks after Christmas has ended? I was 75% of the way done when Christmas rolled around, and then life got crazy, blah blah blah, and here we are. I have spent too much time and effort crafting this novel to not share it with the world. 

We hope you and your family have had a joyous 2024 and a wonderful holiday(s) so far. We miss our friends and family who live far from us and hope you all are doing well! Here are a couple updates from the Shipley family. 

It’s been 18 months since we moved to Leland, and are fast making friends and “family away from family” here in our new home. Winter, spring, summer, and fall all included the beach, home projects have commenced, and we are slowly adjusting to a new place after living in Durham for so long! Family favorites included a trip to Puerto Rico in February with the Shipleys to celebrate Matt's mom's 60th birthday, a trip to Japan with the McAllisters (minus kiddos) to reconnect with Elise's birthplace, a week in New Jersey with family & friends, lots of summer beach and pool days with the boys trying to be the next Michael Phelps, a week in Boise to surprise Elise's parents for their 60th birthday (which was supposed to be just Elise + Finn, but Callum and Zack got super lucky and tag along last minute after a random tropical storm caused a 2-week school closure), and then after so much traveling, getting to stay home together for the next 4 months and just be with our little family.

Matthew transitioned back to freelance in October. The plan was for him to make the jump in the near future- but it did end up happening a bit sooner than we were expecting. He has been a champ,  rolling with the unexpectedness and has jumped right back in with both feet to what he really loves to do. We both have felt a lot of peace and hope for all the things to come. He is wrapping up his board game he has been working on for the last 4 years (Best Eleven) and is launching his Kickstarter in mid-March! (Shameless plug: we would be incredibly grateful for your support in the coming weeks with sharing and spreading the word, posting on myspace, sending telegrams, releasing your carrier pigeons... etc. you know, the usual. You can also sign up for the email list announcing the launch here. Matt promises no more than 3 emails, but knowing him, he seems more like a 4-email kind of guy) We're both super excited! And terrified! But I am mostly feeling so so proud of him. This year Matt continued to explore the world of surfing, accumulated many landscaping tools, perfected a handful of recipes (his stuffed cinnamon roll cookies are theeeee best), patiently served as the sunbeams teacher in our ward, took the boys on many Pokemon Go adventures, and invited himself to play weekly pick up soccer with a group he stumbled upon. He is the favorite parent by a long shot, except for in the middle of the night, because they all gravitate towards me for some reason... I've loved listening to him sing (off-key) to Finn during bedtime, convert our children into Arsenal, Eagles, and Sixers fans, and be more purposeful about taking on more of the "mental load" of parenting. He is an incredible parent, friend, and spouse. And he was very popular in Japan with multiple groups of preteen boys who swarmed to him when they saw him playing Pokémon Go and begged him to share items that you can only find in the US with them. In a non-creepy way, I promise.

(this paragraph written by Matthew) Another year of admiring the best friend, wife and mother in the biz. This year Elise mommed a lot and, if you knew our kids like I do, you know it wasn't easy or fun a good portion of the time. Elise kept us alive, learning and laughing. She keeps us sane or is trying really hard to get us sane. When she wasn't momming she could be found at the beach searching for shark teeth, teaching courses online for BYUI, coaching (with little to no experience) a 4-5 year old soccer team, running around doing some form of service just because, or as the Compassionate Service Leader in our ward, making sourdough bread so much that I can't eat it anymore (she's making more as I write this), birding (Elise saw her 200th bird species this year), writing really thoughtful posts about election season as a parent or sending me reels to watch on the toilet. Elise claims this was the first year she saw me cry from actual emotions, and not from laughing at the video of the dude using the bidet for the first time. Elise visited Japan, the land of her birth, for the first time since leaving as a 2 year old. Her favorite part of the trip was when an old man made us follow him into the woods so he could show us an owl and not murder us. Her favorite part was definitely not that we weren't with our kids. Elise says I need to wrap this up if I want to get lucky tonig

Callum (7) had a year of growing, learning, and smart-assery. He is witty, smart, curious, and compassionate. And fiercely stubborn. His little brothers are obsessed with him, and even though he acts annoyed, I think he secretly loves it. He started 2nd grade in the fall, and was disappointed to have to start wearing a shirt after being shirtless *literally* all summer. Still is Pokémon-obsessed, has magpie-tendencies of collecting random objects in his room (found my earbuds in his bed… twice), and goes straight to the backyard after school to throw a football to himself or jump on the trampoline or to practice soccer… Even when he broke his thumb in December, despite my warnings to not do anything dangerous. You could hear me and Matt yelling on the sidelines of soccer games this fall- not to encourage or tell him how to play- but to tell him to stop slide tackling… not quite allowed yet at that age group. His questions are endless and his quest for knowledge is relentless- especially in geography, math, and history. One time to get him to do his homework, he wanted to be “rewarded” after each paragraph he read, by having me quiz him on one state capitol. He recently became obsessed with NFL, and has memorized all the teams + cities + mascots, but can’t remember to separate his underwear from his inside out pants before tossing into the laundry. Every day I am awoken to him tapping on my shoulder asking 2 questions: (1) “How cold is it today?” and (2) “Can I wear shorts?” Every. Day. I don’t even set an alarm anymore. He’s an independent, stubborn, and lovable, sweet kid, and we are soaking in his willingness to still hold our hands in public and cuddle with us.

Zack (5) has been our wildcard this year. Moving was not easy for this dude, and it’s been a year of searching and discovery for him. He has a sweet group of friends from church that have made the transition so much easier. Things were getting a little overwhelming with him around springtime, and he received a diagnosis of anxiety and ADHD, as well as some sensory processing differences. We have been blessed with some awesome teachers, therapists, and specialists to help him learn how to calm his body and help Matt and I learn how to help him out of dysregulation. He started pre-K this year and, after taking a couple months to warm up, loves it. He has the most contagious giggle, biggest smile, and gives the best hugs. His energy is infectious and he makes everyone laugh... especially when he is very clearly up to something, but thinks he is being inconspicuous. His interests follow wherever Callum's interests go... so he also loves Pokémon and the NFL (especially the "Lost and Found Chargers" and the "Cincinnati AJ Browns") But he is also a Lego enthusiast, my eager sous chef (and taste tester), composer of all the jokes that don’t make any sense, perpetual maker of sound effects for everything he does (think Kronk), and started soccer this year! He picked up swimming without a floatie this summer on his own, excelled at boogie boarding, scooters like a madman, is artistic, creative, and so so smart. 

Some of our favorite Zack quotes this year:

Finn (2)… this guy. Has charmed EVERYONE who he comes in contact with that he is an innocent, cute, perfect little toddler. Which… ok he actually is like 70% of the time. The other 30%… this guy is a ball of independent stubbornness and manipulation!! He is a trickster with his puppy dog eyes and “please mommy? Please daddy?” And even though he already has a baby voice, he has cultivated an “extra baby-talk voice” he only uses when he wants to get what he wants. He is so stinking cute and it’s really hard to say no to him. His current interests include:

• Spidey & his amazing friends and Paw Patrol
• Throwing food on the ground
• Lightning McQueen
• Drawing *only* with markers
• Yogurt and dum dums
• Making waffles out of Play doh
• Collecting (mostly ugly and broken) shells and wearing sunglasses
• Belly flopping
• Ripping pages out of books
• Throwing rocks into bodies of water
• Putting on lotion (often in his hair). And Mohawks
• Parroting everything anyone says, verbally and physically
• Listening to the soundtrack of the 89% Rotten Tomatoes Popcorn Meter rated hit film from 1987 that no one remembers: "The Chipmunk Adventure"
• Running laps around the kitchen
• Yelling "wha-tuh-eck?" and "wewuh wewuh WOK YOU" 
• Cuddling with daddy. NOT mommy. Daddy.

It’s been a weird time transitioning to have one kiddo at home during the day… and he misses his brothers, but loves our weekly routine of playgroup and library story time. 

We are so grateful for this season of remembering the birth of Jesus Christ and welcoming the new year and committing to new goals & growth and getting a weather prediction from a large rodent. Regardless the occasion, we wish you all the good things in 2025! 

Love, the Shipleys