Irwin Family Christmas News 2010!

Hello Family & Friends! December 2010

Merry Christmas! I love this time of the year. The colors and the spirit in the air are vibrant and beautiful and it is such a great time to get together with friends and family. I hope your family is well and that you will be able to spend some precious time with them, making some beautiful memories.
We are healthy and happy! We have grown in bounds this year in faith and strength. Bob just returned from his 11th trip to China this year for work and is still looking at 2 or 3 more trips in the 1st quarter of the new year. He has travelled back and forth this year with no complaints and welcomes the challenges. I get asked a lot how I am managing and my answer is always, “By faith in God taking care of us and grace when I struggle.” Really, it has been an opportunity to spend lots of time with at least 2 of the 3 kids, with Bobby be so busy, and the chance to dig into some areas of personal growth. Our relationship has really grown deeper in respect and admiration in each other. Either way we look, it has been a fun opportunity in growth for Bob and we are very thankful for all the ways we have, with modern technology, to stay in contact without it costing us to much money. We are playing with the idea that on one of his next 2 trips that I will travel with him for a week to China. Wow, wouldn’t that be a great opportunity . With his mileage, we should be able to get my ticket for little out of our pocket. And yes, I even have my passport. Thanks to my hubby putting “a little” pressure for a long time.
Bobby, Kyleann and Taylor are doing great! They fight like any other siblings, but when it comes down to it, they take care of one another. All three kids are very active in our church with worship , as a youth leader, kids ministry and bible studies. All three went to camps this year to Spokane. Bobby and Kyleann were leaders at 2 of them and then attended their own age group session too. Taylor was excited to be able to participate in the Spokane camp this year as a middle schooler and had a really great time.
Bobby gave his notice to Safeway in July and started working for The Farm in Snohomish, first helping with set up and tear down of outdoor weddings, and then in the Pumpkin Patch once the festivities opened up in the fall. He really enjoyed it along with the fact that they paid him well. Unfortunately the job was seasonal, for they close for the winter time. They have asked him to return, but he is also looking for something more permanent, which will be easier once he turns 18 in a week. Bobby is still seeking God’s wisdom and guidance for after high school direction. As of now, he will be interviewing for WyoTech tomorrow, but also has been contemplating interning for church. We know whatever he decides to do, he will do with a full heart.
Kyleann ventured out and took Honor and AP classes this year and was really shocked with the amount of homework, the studying in involved and the difficulty level of the tests. She is in the swing of it now, she just had to makes some adjustments. Kyleann’s plan is to start college classes in Fall 2011 at Everett Community College, taking 3 classes at the college and 1 to 2 at the high school. Her plan is to become a 2nd grade teacher. She is a go-getter! We love it! :o) Drama and musicals is her other passion, which takes many hours after school. Beginning in January she going to join Speech/Debate Team, with her focus being in Speech.
Taylor is doing well and man, has he grown! He has gone up almost 2 pants sizes since spring and we don’t see that slowing down any time soon. He has adjusted to middle school life remarkably well and seems to love it! Socially and academically growth has been amazing!  When I attended his conference at the end of October all his teachers kept saying how he is very well liked and is very social. Taylor played football this year for the middle school for the first time. It begun as a huge physical challenge for him but by the end he really enjoyed the game! He has told us he would like to play again next year for the 8th grade team. We really enjoyed going and watching the games and it was even a great year for the team came in 1st in their age/district. As I close this letter, I do with wonderful wishes to you and your family!


We hope that you will take an opportunity to reflect on our Savior, Jesus Christ,  as we celebrate His Birth! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! 

SHS Musical made the Tribune!

Doug Ramsay photo (Click photo to see actual online article)


From left: junior Troy Moore, senior Riley Schmitt and sophomore Josh Watson perform during a dress rehearsal Dec. 9 for the Snohomish High School performance “A Night of Musical Theatre”.

Snohomish production sings

Last weekend to catch “A Night of Musical Theatre”

SNOHOMISH - Drama players from Snohomish High School will perform a cavalcade of songs from multiple musicals for their winter performance, “A Night of Musical Theatre.” The last shows are Dec. 17 and 18 at 7 p.m.

Because Snohomish High doesn’t have a performing arts center right now — the new one is under construction — the performances are at Glacier Peak High School’s Performing Arts Center.

Students are performing various songs from various musicals, complete with costumes and choreography. There are 18 songs on the roster from musicals including “My Fair Lady,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Hairspray,” “Cabaret” and “Carousel.”

Some students are performing in eight to 10 songs.

“It’s a big spread of stuff, from contemporary to classical,” director Jaci Cummings said.

“This is an opportunity to feature everyone, to utilize everyone’s strengths,” Cummings said.

Garrett Dmochowsky, 17, plays the cabaret leader for the opening song of the show, “Wilkommen,” from Cabaret.

Dmochowsky never thought he’d be singing and dancing on stage, but he found out “it was well worth it” as a confidence booster, he said.

“I’ve been able to fit it into my life, and the more (events) you fit in, the more you can relate to people,” Dmochowsky said.

He’s the Associated Student Body president for Snohomish High, and part of the jazz choir, so being in front of people is not new for him. Singing and dancing is what’s new, he said.

“It really tests my personal courage,” Dmochowsky said.

Kyleann Irwin, 16, enjoys the range of songs she gets to sing. One of her solos is “Wouldn’t it be Loverly” from the play “My Fair Lady.” Irwin performs in eight songs overall.


“It’s definitely a lot of work,” Irwin said.


Everyone gets a chance to sing and dance. The fact that the stage players are largely equal has “definitely been a reward in all of this,” Irwin said.

Leah Thomas, 15, said performing comes naturally to her. Thomas has been in plays since she was 5, she said. What excites her about the musical review is the many different characters that she gets to play.

“That’s the great thing about this play — I get an opportunity to be a lot of different people,” Thomas said.

Most high school plays have an orchestra, but in this case the players are accompanied with one piano player. That pianist is Karen Rentko, a longtime elementary school music teacher.

“It’s the best hits from the best musicals wrapped into one,” Rentko said of the show.

Rentko said the best part for her is working with the high school talent.

“They’re doing such an awesome job,” Rentko said. “From the first note, you’re there.”

The musical review runs Dec. 17 and 18 at Glacier Peak High School Performing Arts Center. The two-hour show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $7 for most people, and $5 for people with a student card. Tickets are sold at the door.

Glacier Peak is located at 7401 144th Place SE.

By MICHAEL WHITNEY

Published Dec. 15, 2010

The Irwin Family Tree.... the Ornaments.... time of change

 Our favorite time to be together as a family, this year, was no different, but then it was.....  I know you are wondering, "What the heck is she saying....???"   We had our fun getting the tree, and pulling out the decorations which  contained  ornaments collected over many years of the kids growing up.  In my head I kept thinking, this could be Bobby's last Christmas living in the house and decorating the tree as a family...  He will be 18 in one week from today and following not long after, he will graduate and start his internship.  As we pulled out the ornaments, normally my job, and seperated them in piles for each kid, it was at this moment one of the kids asked, "Hey mom, do we get to take these with us when we move out?"  Hurting but also knowing deep down that it was inevitable, I replied, "Yes, each one of you get to take your own ornaments when you move out."  "Mom, what will you and dad do for ornaments?"  With a smile plastered, knowing change was coming, "Well, we have a container of our ornamanets we collected as young kids that we will start putting on our tree again."  It was funny to see their face, as they asked more questions about these mystery ornaments they hadn't seen or couldn't remember seeing.  The season of change is not just about trees with changing leaves or snow on the ground, but also about families growing up and out.  A hard thought to process, but when it comes down to it we always have our memories of traditions build as family and new ones to come.

Remember always, Jesus is the Reason for the Season! Merry Christmas!!

The Irwin Kiddos!

This has been a year of change.  That seems to be a common statement every few years, but this year,  I wasn't as prepared.  My kids have grown so much in their own ways that I have to blink my eyes ever so often to check that I am not sitting in a dream state. 
Bobby will be 18 in a month and I still see a little blond headed toddler, happy to just to play with the neighbors.  Now he is a working young man, driving and on his last year of high school.  Yikes!
Kyleann will be 16 in a month and I still see a curly brown hair preschooler that knows what she wants and will get what she wants.  LOL  I guess the only place she has really changed here is she is in a body of a teen and now knows how to chanel her desires and expecatations without mom going bald.  :o) 
Taylor is in middle school now.  My youngest!  I still see a boy that loves to tease and likes to follow his siblings along the way.  Well, that hasn't changed at all.  He is loving the social aspect of middle school and is now classified as the class talker.  Yikes.... I know where he got that one. 

I am looking forward to sending out our Christmas letter this year for our family has gone through fun, exciting and interesting changes this year. 
To be continued......

Caroline begins her business!

I LOVE family photos and memories that these pictures tell.  I would love to help others stretch out and document their memories in wonderful storybooks.  We all have a story to tell! 
To view my webpage, Facebook fan page and Blog, click below on corresponding links.

Moments in Time with Caroline
Facebook Fan Page
Moments in Time with Caroline Blog

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.  Would love to hear from you!  :)

Thirsty???

Thirsty?


I lovethis devotion! Starting with this wonderous verse.


"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life'" (John 4:13 NIV)

I too remember feeling thirsty. I remember searching for that "something" that would cure the thirst that was going through me. As challenges continued to reveal themselves in my life and relationships around me, I realized the missing something was alot larger then me. I couldn't just go to therapy, to the DR's, etc... and hope that it would go away. I couldn't just ignore the thirst. It was there for a reason. It wasn't long after that season that I started attending church again. There was NEVER a doubt in my mind that God was the answer in so many ways, but as I found out quite quickly, you can't just go back to church, participate in studies, volunteer, etc.... and fill that void. I was still struggling.... "What is up with that?" I remember thinking this so many times. "I am going to church and doing my part... but I am still thirsty." It wasn't until I took a hold of God's hand, and let him guide me in the directions He had already planned for me. To have faith that God loves me and would see me through this storm. I remember digging into the word and just letting God be my ALL, and there was such a sense of peace I had never felt before. It was like no other peace I had ever experience. No things didn't just get better the next day, or the next week.... It was slow progress, but progress none the less. God was there, always there, I just needed to surrendor....and then the thirst went away.

Blessings to All!  Love, Caroline

Journaling thoughts.....

I feel very honored that my friend's daughter called just awhile ago and asked me if I could give a brief message on journaling and the importance of it, to a group of girls from her church this month.  I am really excited to help there and thrilled to help others grow..... although I will probably grow just as much as they will. 

We will also be be making/decorating journals afterwards for each young lady to take home.  Any ideas??  :0)