August 2011 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

I know that we are getting this in on August first, but we do have great news.... Jeff and  I both have found jobs that willl keep us in the area of a while.  Jeff i s working for Anderson Merchandizing (he will have to explain it.) but is in the process of applying for doctoral programs in finance and I believe that that unltimatley we will do something in that area.  I will be working full-time as a achool psychologist in the Poudre School District in Ft.Collins.  We are very happy as are kids can stay in the in the district ehy are most commfortable with and we have access to top destricts in the state.  We are also thrilled to be having a temple come in aboot 1  5 minutes from us!!!!!  so many wonderful things, so few words to decscrible them.  We love you!!

  
  Crystal

May 2011 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

Well, lets see....Our "baby" turned 6 this month. We had a Power Ranger birthday party with friends from school. It is interesting to note that about 8 years ago we had a Power Ranger themed birthday party for our oldest son Mathew.....Will those guys ever go away?

Our school year is winding down. I currently work part time in 2 different districts. In Windsor (where we live and my kids go to school) we have about 3 weeks left, in Poudre ( where I am now working because they needed me to fill in for someone who resigned mid-year, where I used to work(2005-2007) and where I will probably work next year instead of Windsor) I have about 4 weeks left. Regardless, we are almost done and looking forward to a fun summer of day trips.....

Uncle Kevin, would you like a visit??

Jeff has decided that his calling in life is to teach and is contemplating going back to Wal-mart on a short term basis while he is dong what is necessary to get there. We will keep you updated. As you know at the last General Conference they announced a temple in Ft. Collins....which is only 20 minutes from us. We are so excited that there was a slight reverence lapse in our home when that announcement was made. Yeah.


Crystal

March 2011 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

Well, lets, see. We are all looking forward to the end of the school year (hmm what does that say when it is only March.)  Jeff is still working at Sears part-time while he is getting IPA started.  We are praying this job is successful, he has sure been through alot....and the guy has an MBA and speaks 3 languages!!! I still work at the local school district as a psychologist.  This year has been rough for my kids for different reasons.  Mathew has had the best year of all of them.  Felicity has her ups and downs, it is hard to watch her hurt.  And Andrew hates school.  I think he is just too young.  But everyday it is a fight to go. For now we have moved him from full time to part time (Kindergarten) but come fall we have some tough  decisions to make.  But at the end of the day, I am grateful for my little family.  My favorite things are to snuggle with Andrew, or to watch a show with Mathew, or to have a beauty session with Felicity.  The best things in life are the simplest.

Crystal

November 2010 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

Dear family-
So, the leaves are changing, fall has come, the kids are dressed for Halloween (except for Mathew), and we are in school year mode.

Jeff no longer works for Wal-mart. He is looking for another job. Crystal still works at the local school district as a school psychologist (part-time). Despite the challenges of life (work, health, etc.), we are enjoying each other's company.

Andrew has really gotten into the "Cars" game on the WII, and several of us have tried our hand at it as well. It is fun to drive a car over 100 mph and have no fear of wrecking your own car or anyone else's.

Felicity and Mathew are still doing a great job at developing their talents as pianists. They are fortunate to have a Grandma that is willing and able to teach them and give their parents a really good rate (free). We look forward to family time this fall as it gets cold outside. We enjoyed hot chocolate together the other night and had aebleskivers this morning for breakfast. Yum!!

Love,

The Slades

Felicity and Andrew

June 2010 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & family

Summer is here and we are ready to play! I am so excited to have a break from being a school psychologist and I get to be a mom for the whole summer!!!

June is busy for us, Mathew turns 12, I turn 37 and we are desperately trying to finish up Mathews room in the basement. He has been soooooo patient. His dad has been building it for 3 years, you read that right. 3 years. Finally I said if it wasn't done this summer I was hiring someone to do it and that got the ball rolling. Mathew has amazed me this year at school, he has won poetry contests, knowledge bowl, art contests, spelling bees, I keep thinking he must have been switched at birth......but that delivery was way too memorable.

Felicity is our little rock star. Constantly singing and has little fear of being on stage, she must be a Slade. She actually sounds pretty good too!

And Andrew, sweet Andrew, he is our peacemaker and the little love of my life. The kids explained to me with great detail how VERY BORING our life would be without Andrew.
Life is good, we are happy.

Crystal

May 2010 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

Today is our cleaning day (remember Cannon kids??) so we all have our assignments and are working hard so we can do other things with our Saturday. Jeff is at work, but I have the weekends off (the great thing about working in the schools.) Soon we will have summer vacation and we are all looking forward to that!!

The kids are looking forward to flying on a plane for the first time, and we are all looking forward to our California trip and seeing family. My kids are VERY proud of Dr. Cannon (aunt Cassie) not to be confused with Dr. Cannon (uncle Aaron) and when I told them that Aunt Cassie is a Dr. now they said "How many Dr. Cannon's are there???" good question.... Life is great here.

I am excited about going back to part time work next year, since motherhood is always a full-time job. Mathew is doing well and adusted well to middle school. Felicity is all girl and keeps me on my toes. Andrew is the baby of the family and sometimes is torn between wanting to grow up and wanting to stay a baby. Sadly, that is OK with me. Jeff is happy at work, and we are just so happy that he has a job (that was a dark time in our lives....) yes, life is good here in Windsor....

April 2010 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

We are very excited to be on Spring Break right now and to finally be resting a bit. Andrew will be turning 5 this month and we are preparing for lots of fun (with lots of 5 year olds!) However we are most excited to be planning our trip out to California this summer....finally! In July we will be able to spend 9 days out in Ca. with family, which is wonderful because the last time the whole family was out there was for mom's wedding! Next year Jeff will continue with Wal-mart, I will continue with the local school district as a psychologist, but will go back to part-time:) Next year all the kids will be in school...... new stage to our life.......

March 2010 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

Things in the Slade household are busy as usual....good busy. Felicity is busy with friends and activity days. Mathew is busy with scouts and school. Andrew is busy with.....everything! He is so patient as he is dragged here and there. What a trooper. Jeff and I are busy with work and parenting which is ever-changing, especially when you think you have it down. I am trying to decide if I will work full-time next year or go back to part-time. Pros and cons to both. I feel very blessed to be in a position where I can make that decision and have such opportunity. It is amazing that when I decided to go to grad school, “just in case", I had no idea how much I would be actually working to help in difficult times. Even more amazing is the jobs have come to me, I think I have applied for maybe one job, the others were directors calling and asking me to work for them, what a blessing! Jeff is feeling more comfortable back a Wal-Mart, however the company made major changes and let go a lot of people at a district management level, trying to consolidate, so there are big changes for him to get used to. In all we are busy, happy, and blessed.

Crystal

November 2009 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

Well, I am sitting home in my nice warm house, on a Friday NOT working because we have had 2 snow days in a row. The kids love it. I love it too. The roads aren't that bad, but the busses can't make it, so we all get time off. Luckily it is built into our schedule so we won't have to make it up at the end of the year. The only sad thing for the kids is they won't have their Halloween parties today. Felicity is a Cat, Andrew is a Lion, and Mathew has declared himself to old for trick or treating so he is passing out candy instead. (Last year he would not trick or treat either.) Tonight is the ward Halloween party. Tomorrow we are going to hit a few houses in the neighborhood, but mainly head over to the high school (where I work) and go door to door there. That way we are out of the cold and supporting my work. Jeff has to work, but is hoping to get off alittle early. So far the school year has flown by, first quarter is over and we had conferences. It was nice to hear great things about my kids. This year over all has been so much better than the last, well, 4 years.

Crystal

October 2009 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

Well, September has come and gone. We have been in school since August 10th and it is going by so fast! All of my kids are so much happier this year. They love their teachers, they are glad dad is working again, and they don't seem to mind me working full-time either. Our hope is that next year I will be able to go back to part time. We will see.

Mathew is enjoying middle school. What he doesn't like is taking the bus (I remember it well.) Jeff and I thought that Middle school would be tougher on him, but even with GATE and advanced classes he rarely has homework and has all A's (we can check his grades and assignments on the campus portal...or district web site.) He is still in scouts and playing the piano, which he takes from Jeff's mom pro bono. She is a fantastic pianist and we are so grateful to her for doing this....she is just grateful to have interested grandkids!

Felicity is enjoying school this year too. She really likes her teacher and is doing GATE as well. The regular GATE teacher is out on maternity leave and she isn't thrilled with the sub, but she will survive. Felicity has awesome primary teachers who put together great activities for the kids. Last night they had a "movie night" for the kids and their families. They are very dedicated and Felicity adores them. She broke her arm 2 weeks ago racing her scooter. She is fine now, but we are lucky that is all she broke (she wasn't wearing a helmet.)

Andrew is also loving preschool. His speech is much better and he will probably be staffed out of services this year. He goes to daycare a little more than I would like, but he handles it well, is making friends and I really like the staff there. Jeff is very happy at work and is much more successful than before. It is nice to see him happy again. I am working and busy, busy, busy. My days are never boring, whether I am working with an emerging schizophrenic, or a pregnant 16 year old I am certainly using my degree.....and am so grateful for my own WONDERFUL family.

Crystal

September 2009 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

The Slades of Windsor "salute" you all. In Italian, we use the verb "salutare" a lot, but mostly to say hi to someone. If it is one person, you can say "Ti saluto", or "Vi saluto" for several people. Italian is a great language, but I find myself using Spanish every day at Walmart. I went back to Walmart after trying financial services for over a year. That didn't work out, and it is really nice to have a consistent paycheck while doing something I enjoy. It is still demanding, but I find myself thinking often that it is nice to have a job.

With Mathew, Felicity, and Andrew in two different schools and Crystal and I working two full-time jobs, we are finding less time together as a family. We've enjoyed a relatively calm and relaxing summer, however. We biked around, swam some, and got together with some extended family, so memories were made. Now, the kids are doing well in school and getting back to the routine.

Crystal is glad to work in the local school district so she can come home for lunch. Her health is improving somewhat so we are glad for that. We sure hope that trend continues. Hope all is well with y'all. Ciao!

Jeff

July 2009 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

It has been awhile but we are still here, just with a new email address. It is tanfelice@skybeam.com. We are all enjoying our summer, the kids are enjoying having a break, I am enjoying having a break, and Jeff is enjoying having a job. He is back at WalMart in Denver. He has been there since April. He is very happy and says it feels like "home." Most importantly, he is happy to have a regular paycheck. I will be returning to the high school next year to work as a psychologist and will also pick up a middle school as well. So, next year, I will be working full-time. We hope I won't need to do that longer than one year, but we will see. Mathew will be starting middle school, Felicity will be starting 3rd grade and Andrew will be back in preschool. We will be busy, busy....so for now we are looking forward to continuing with our relaxing summer!!

January 2009 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

Well, just a quick update on our family because not a lot has been going on. Jeff has been job hunting..... Apparently it was not a good time to go into the financial industry. He has some really good prospects though and hopefully by the next newsletter we will have good news for you. I am still working 3 days a week as a school psychologist at the local high school. I am enjoying it and it is nice to use my skills and education in a different way. I also have been able to work with quite a few ward members...... and they have been very grateful for my understanding of their beliefs (and hence their concerns). It makes the process easier.

The kids are great. Mathew is a wiz. He won his school spelling bee and is going on to the district spelling bee. Felicity is now in GATE with Mathew (but for her age), and Andrew is doing GREAT in his speech therapy and preschool. He keeps us laughing with his comments, now that we know what he is saying. We had a very nice Christmas and feel very blessed by supportive family, friends and ward members. It has been a difficult year; we are looking forward to a little more reason to celebrate?? in 2009.

Crystal

September 2008 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

Well family this month has been busy as usual. My kids are back in school and they LOVE it. I am always hearing about the songs and cars Andrew plays with, who Mrs. Jacoby just might be Felicities new favorite teacher, and Mathew is always asking me to be a part of his at-home science experiments (his teacher is big on science.) Both Mathew and Felicity are in Gate with the same teach and they LOVE her. This has been a great school for them. Jeff is busy with business and working hard. I have been working the past 3 weeks (which ironically they catered a luncheon for the district from a facility that gave us food poisoning...oops) They recognize with the high enrollment and the heavy SPec. Ed. percentage in addition to all the other duties they have asked me to do that they need me there more than half a week. The new plan is that I will be there 4 days a week. In a nutshell we are great, just be care full when a lunch is catered to you!

Crystal

Oh..no news on the house, so far no work has be done because the claims adjuster is being difficult.

July 2008 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

June has been busy for our family. We have spent the month cleaning up from the tornado. We have been able to clean up the debris (fencing, shingles, glass....I can't tell you how many places glass can hide). We just hired a general contractor to take care of the big stuff (replacing fence, windows, roof, siding, painting, floors, etc.) We are very glad that everyone is OK. Andrew is so cute, he still likes to tell people.." a very big wind came, and the fence blew away." We celebrated Mathews 10th birthday and my 35th birthday with family fun (a trip to Rocky mountain national park, and dinner, for me, Mathew chose dinner and a drive-in movie.) I was excited to contract with the local school district and will be working at the high school as their psychologist 3 days a week starting in August. Jeff is still with AXA and still very happy and enjoying his job. Other than that we are playing a lot and my kids are enjoying having the summer off (except for the list of things mom makes them do before they get to play on the wii or watch TV......I am so mean.)

Crystal

May 2008 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

The Slades are doing well and busy, busy, busy. Crystal is in full swing of job applications (not fun) and deciding the best place to work next year (not fun) and just got back from family time in San Diego ( soooo fun it makes up for the job applications and the work decisions!) I was treated to a wonderful long weekend by Cassie who pampered me and took care of me (because moms need that sometimes.) I got to see all of my family except Adam who was out in L.A. protecting the public (thank you Adam) and I have to say, I think my family is packed with great people (OK, I may be a little biased, but I think I am allowed to be.) My sweet family here is Colorado is keeping busy with school etc. Mathew is busy with GATE projects and scouts. He has been bringing a school friend with him to scouts weekly and it is so fun to see him be a little missionary, but better yet, just a good example. Felicity is doing well in school and piano. Jeff's mother is her teacher (she actually is extremely talented and bonus is teaching her for FREE.) Gay, Jeff's mom, is very pleased with Felicity's progress and actually says that she gets excited to see that her own grand daughter have a little extra gift and picks up on things more quickly than most of her other students. Andrew is SO ready for preschool. Mainly for the social interaction. He just can't have enough play dates and mom (yes, believe it or not, me) is apparently quite boring. So, we are excited for summer (which equals sibling interaction) and preschool to start. Jeff's business is picking up and he is doing well. I still don't understand some of the complexities of what he does, but I guess that is why he is passed the gazillions of tests on financial advising and I just smile and let him explain what he does. He is very happy and loves his job. Life is good. Now if it would just stop snowing......

April 2008 - Slade, Jeff & Crystal & Family

March in the Slade household has been good, busy, but good. It has been filled with school exams (CSAPS- yes, the dreaded state exams), Jeff with his cello performance in the Savior of the World (that one was a great experience for him, but we are glad to have him back), Mathew doing a speech in an oratorical competition (very cute, I was impressed by his speech on how we impact the environment by the choices we make), Felicity starting piano lessons with Grandma Gay, and Crystal deciding where to work next year (hopefully part-time). Overall we have had the typical ups and downs that life brings, but overall, I believe that we are definitely moving on the "up" trend and have to say that I have never been more grateful for family. The support we have received has been unbelievable, we are very blessed. We are also, very grateful for our Savior, I am so grateful for the tender mercies He has provided and the miracles that do come daily. They are there, you just have to allow yourself to see them. I hope your April is wonderful.

Crystal

February 2008

Well, we are doing fairly well here at the Slade house. We have lots of transitions going on with Jeff's career change (financial planner) which essentially requires starting a "new business." But, my husband is smart and when he talks about HELOC's and ILOC's and other terms that sound like a foreign language I smile and nod and request a crash course in financial consulting. We'll see if that happens. I will likely be going back to work part time(health really does not permit full- time but part-time is a great fit for me) soon. We will see what works out. Andrew will be starting preschool this Fall, the trauma for his day is that he has not yet decided if he prefers cars for dinosaurs. He is very sweet with his siblings and often reprimends them if "they" fight!! Felicity is our social beast and our social conscience. She is a sweet heart and as a 1st grader already being pulled out of class for advanced reading. Mathew is my bodyguard. He is literally as tall as I am and soon I will need to hire him out to protect me against anyone that looks at me funny (yeah right!) But seriously, he is growing so quickly and already sleeping like a teenager. He is in the 4th grade but at a 9th grade reading level!! What a blessing. Other than that we volunteer at school, Jeff and I work in the primary (Jeff is the chorister, I am the pianist.) And....We hang out and have lots of fun with our sweet little Colorado family. We love you and hope you all the best. A special thanks to those of you who have given us special help this month- you know who you are!! We love you!!!

Crystal

October 2007

Hello All-

We are doing well and loving fall out here in Colorado. Mathew and Felicity are back in school. Mathew is a 4th grader and loves his teacher!! He also is on the swim team and participates in scouts and GATE. He likes all of his activities and doesn't want to give any up, but would love more hours in the day to play Adventure Quest on the computer!
Felicity is a big first grader and a reading machine. I volunteer in her class every week (Jeff volunteers in Mathews class weekly, he thought it was a bit cooler to have dad come in than mom.) Felicity's teacher is great and she is always complimenting me and how wonderful Felicity is. She is also learning piano (I am her teacher) and gymnastics.
Andrew is a hoot. I love 2 year olds. Although NO is his favorite word, he really is quite sweet and always keeps me busy. We sure love him.
And then there are the 2 new additions, our 8 week old cats - Bonzai - his name fits him perfectly, and Shelby - the princess. We adopted them today and we are all very excited. Jeff is doing well, working hard starting up his business, playing basketball, and watching a lot of football. He seems happy. I am also doing well. We hope you are all doing well too!!

Crystal

July 2007

Here in the northern parts of Colorado, we are enjoying a summer of swimming, dancing, riding and walking. Mathew is on his first swim team and had his first swim meet a week ago. Unfortunately, I didn't put sun block on him, and he has been suffering from sunburn the whole week. He really enjoys swimming, though, so he hasn't let it stop him much. In fact, yesterday, he swam across the lake near our house. I was concerned that he wouldn't have enough in him to swim back, but he eventually made it. I later found out that it was taking him awhile because he was carrying a big stick with him that he found on an island in the middle of the lake. Yes, indeed, boys will be boys!

Felicity has been taking a dancing class, and we are looking forward to going to her class tomorrow to see the dances they have been working on. She has girl cousins from my side here in town and has been enjoying the time with them. She has already slept over at my parents' house twice since they arrived from Boston. Andrew and Felicity have also been going on bike rides with me since I got a bike trailer at a recent garage sale. Crystal and I are doing our best to keep up with our kids this summer. They are keeping us plenty busy, and we are enjoying it. Have a great summer everyone.

Jeff Slade