Merry Christmas from the Cottings!
Our family has had another great year, and we look forward to what God has in store for us going forward.
Cody started 4th grade this year at Intermountain Christian School (ICS). He has done well with his studies and will be getting a new teacher this January as his current teacher will be having a baby. Cody has been very active with his soccer. He still plays with Avalanche and works with two trainers during the week. Cody’s hard work has paid off as he has improved a lot. Cody has also continued to work on his Krav Maga. He earned his purple belt this year. Cody has been a big fan of Minecraft, although his parents don’t let him play as much as he would like to. Lately he’s been reading through the Garfield comic books.
Mia started middle school this year at ICS as she moved up to 6th grade. Transitioning to middle school turned out to be better than we had anticipated. She has done well with her classes and grown closer to a small group of friends. At the beginning of the year Mia was playing with the Avalanche soccer club. Her team went to two tournaments in Mesquite and Las Vegas Nevada during the winter. They won one of the tournaments. She has since moved to the La Roca soccer club. She is playing in an age group that is a year older than her current age, known as playing up. The field is bigger now. It has been a great experience for her. She has taken on a new role as a midfielder which seems to fit her very well. Mia also got her purple belt in Krav Maga. She continues to read everything she can get her hands on.
This summer Wendy’s parents graciously took both Cody and Mia on a trip to Yellowstone National Park. Everyone had a great time. They spent about a week there with a tour group. After that, the kids went to Pioneer Bible Camp in Northern Utah for a week. The kids had a great time there as well. During those two weeks Wendy got to have some peace and quiet at home since her company still doesn’t give her time off. Jason took Panzer up to our property to do more work clearing out dead trees. He really enjoys using his chainsaw.
We were able to visit our property a few times this summer as a family. We really enjoy getting to spend time up there. We get away from the business of being in the city, escape the summertime heat (20 degrees cooler), and spend time as a family making memories.
Our summer vacation this year was to the Durango Colorado area. That is one of Jason and Wendy’s favorite places to go. Our last time there was before we had kids. Wendy’s parents summer near there with their RV trailer every year. We stayed in the same campground as them for the week, and we spent some time visiting with them. We also got to go to Mesa Verde National Park while there. The cliff houses are cool. Other activities included mountain biking, river rafting, hiking, and a chuckwagon dinner. We had a great time and left there wondering why we don’t spend more time in that area.
Wendy continues in her 17th year as an urgent care pediatrician. She loves what she does and enjoys getting to work with the kids that come into the clinics she works at. She has been doing some presentations to the adult doctors about pediatric topics in an effort to help educate them on how to treat pediatric patients well. Now that she is one of the veteran doctors in her group, she has plenty of knowledge and experience to share with the other doctors. She continues to stay on top of topics and learns how to improve her ability to treat children. Wendy has also been struggling with her atrial fibrillation (AFib) with her heart. It is a condition that makes her heart beat in an irregular rhythm. It has made some areas of her life more difficult, especially exercise. She had her 4th cardiac ablation this year. Recently, her condition has been seeing improvement, and she has been able to adjust her exercise so she can get out and enjoy some hiking again. Wendy continues to enjoy teaching her 4 y/o Sunday school class at church.
Jason’s biggest job role is that of Dad. Taking the kids to and from school, taking the kids to soccer practices, and Krav Maga, and taking care of evenings at home. He continues to work part time for Risen Life Church doing computer work. He also manages the safety team at church, but has been taking a short break from that recently in order to enjoy some opportunities to be able to worship at church on Sundays. Jason also manages a group of dads at our kids’ school that provides security. It has been a learning experience to understand how to do this well. Jason believes that God protects the church and the school, but makes himself available as an obedient servant so he can be used to help others. Jason got a new titanium gravel bike this year. His road bike frame broke the previous year (that’s 5 broken bike frames for those who are keeping count). The new bike is wonderful and he has enjoyed getting out on it during the summer. He also got to do some mountain biking this summer both by himself and with the kids. His biking has now moved indoors for the winter months with Zwift.
Cody and Mia continue to get bigger. Wendy and Jason are trying to make sure we are enjoying our time with our kids while they are still under our roof. We realize they are getting older, which they are supposed to do, but we want to continue to be a part of their lives as they grow up.
This Christmas, we look forward to celebrating the birth of the Christ. We have spent the Advent season reading a devotional with the kids learning about the perspective of the Hebrew people as they awaited the promised Messiah. Now that He has come, we get the opportunity to worship the Savior that God has sent to rescue us from our sins. It’s the greatest thing we could ever get to celebrate.
We hope this letter finds you and your family doing well.
Jason, Wendy, Mia, and Cody
