IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES... IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES...

Yeah that title should cover our year.  I am still 3 blogs behind, but It's time to post our year end letter and card.  Hopefully all the ones we mailed arrived .... and well if not here it is anyways, Because postage is too expensive to mail out more than 50 and everyone should be equally entertained or bored by our life (or at least the summarized version with the positive highlights!)

December 2015

Dear Friends and Family,

            I am forcing my fingers to get busy and not skip out on my annual Christmas letter and card like I did last year.  Our life has been plenty busy, full of change, adventure and blessings.  However, that won't be an excuse not to reconnect with you all this season.  As we have learned all too well, time is not promised; and we want to take this time and share our life with all our loved ones, near and far.

            In December 2014 Beth changed jobs.  After three years as a crossing guard she held her last stop sign and wore her last silly hat in the middle of the street and as the school closed for Winter Break she ventured out into her newest endeavor as a Dietitian Aide at our main local hospital.  She kept doing the part time job at the answering service on weekends until June.  Now she happily is a one job girl and enjoys her work at the hospital.  Marko and Beth are celebrating their 12th year of marriage this December.

            Marko is still with the same company and doing mostly security work in the IT field.  His biggest workplace joy was getting his top level security clearance which has opened doors for him to work on more projects mostly on military bases.  He travels about 25% of the time and he enjoys getting to travel.  He can now check California off his list of states he has been too.  He found that pretty exciting.

            Anthony turned 11 in February with a Steeler's Football themed sleepover with his two best friends.  He is in the 6th grade and plays spring soccer with his School as well as being on the school's cross country team.  Away from school he enjoys video games too much and has really gotten into bicycle riding.  We have done many longer rides as a family (ok minus Marko) and just Beth and Anthony throughout the summer.  Anthony managed to break two bones in two months last year; First his nose and then his arm.  He got to sport a black cast until March.  Yes, we even consider injuries noteworthy accomplishments in our Christmas letters!

            Jayna turned 10 in April with her cowgirl themed sleepover with 5 friends.  She is in the 4th grade and does gymnastics, drama and art club at her school.  She is also on the Cross Country team and says she is doing soccer this spring.  We will see.  Her passion is the arts; both drama and arts and crafts.  She added an interest in rocks and science this fall too.  Her highlight of both this year and last, is easily the school Christmas play where she earned her role as a main character both years.  Next week she will star as Greta Van Popcorn, a reporter in their play, A King is Coming.

            Our life got a lot more exciting this summer as our family grew for the first time in over 10 years.  Our sweet Angela joined our family and immediately fit right in.  The summer didn't come without some heartache for her, but she is a strong young lady and knows how to be optimistic which will take her far.  In August we gained full legal and physical custody of her.  We celebrated by lunch just Beth and her at the Olive Garden, which was a first for her.  She is 17 and in the 11th grade.  She is taking nursing at school and when she graduates she will do so with her diploma and a CNA license.  The household is now filled with endless giggles and selfies!

            Our family grew by two more in July.  This time they were hairy kids.  We adopted Sampson from the local Humane Society and Phoenix from a litter of kittens about to go to the Humane Society.  We aren't typically pet people and I wasn't even a cat fan, and yet these two furry critters have won over all our hearts easily.

            We were able to enjoy several summer trips together.  We went to Pennsylvania twice to visit Beth's sister, her husband and their 4 boys.  We went to Chincoteague Island for our beach vacation along with Poppy and Grandma Joy.  Beth and the three kids were able to visit her brother Zach and his wife Rebekah where they are stationed in Baltimore and even went on a day trip to D.C. together.  Our final summer trip was to West Virginia to celebrate Papa's 90th birthday, Nana's birthday and their anniversary too.

            Life stays plenty busy now a days between school, work, the younger two enjoying Pathfinders Club and the oldest babysitting 4 days a week after school.  But apparently we still had room for more love and more things to do.  Sadly we did receive bad news in August as Beth’s mom was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.  She had surgery to remove the tumor and part of the colon in Oct.  Unfortunately, that didn’t remove all the cancer, so she starts chemo Jan 4^th.

            In early November, little Jayla joined our family.  She is 4, and will likely be with us through the winter.  She has brought a lot of new excitement into our family.  She's in Pre-K and enjoys learning and playing at school.  The three girls wasted no time creating her her own bedroom upstairs in the girls room. Then after beloved Thanksgiving trip to WV and time with our cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, it was decided it was in Jayla's best interest to have her parents here full time.  So her parents are enjoying our living room suite as temporary sleeping quarters, until they get back on their feet.

            This year has been an exciting one filled with many new adventures, a lot of love and a little bit of adjustment pains as we entered each new phase that life handed us.  We hope you too can look back on your year with smiles of blessings remembered throughout your year.

Love,

The Sykes Family; Marko, Beth, Angela, Anthony, Jayna and Jayla and Sampson and Phoenix too of course

For occasional updates: http://busybethblog.blogspot.com/

Thankful for Thansgiving

My favorite holiday of the year has come and been gone.  But life with 4 kids is more time consuming so no blog.  Unfortunately I had to work this year and for the first time since having kids I missed Thanksgiving dinner with my grandparents and extended family.  As soon as I got off work I headed to West Virginia.
I had given Marko strict orders to go on Wednesday with the kids.  My little sister Karlee drove from Florida to Virginia to surprise my parents, daughter and grandparents.  After she visited with friends and visited mom and dad around 6:30 she came by and Jayna was thoroughly shocked.  Jayna rode to WV with Aunt Karlee while Marko took Angela and Anthony.

I got to Nana and Papa's about 2:30, just in time for annual dish duty with the cousins.  Then we all relaxed in the living room a while chatting and searching the black friday adds, yet another WV cousin tradition.

Beth's Thanksgiving morning paperwork

I may have missed the eating, but I still captured my annual Sr, Jr Thanksgiving nap picture!

At 5 all the cousins hit Walmart!  It was the madhouse of fun and excitement Black Friday always is for us!  We all made impulse purchases but more important we were together having fun.  Together.  Next was Big Lots so Amanda could check out the DVDs and Izzy could check out the Christmas decor.  Then we parted ways.  Anthony, Angela and I headed to the mall in Beckley: JCP bound mostly and finally KMart.  Supper took place at Sheetz where the kids and I waited forever.  Poor employees had the joy of computer failure on the worst possible day. We made it back to Nana and Papa's around 2:30 or so.

Too  much fun at Big Lots while Izzy and Vicki shop

Friday morning started with a fabulous Pancake breakfast from Nana!  Lauren's eye was hurting so we made a pit stop to the best dr in tow, Dr. Laura who was kind enough to allow us a drop in visit at her house complete with a prescription for eye meds to treat her eye infection.

 And then it was time with our annual fun with Uncle Alden.  Since we grew again from last year we had to upgrade from just Uncle Alden's truck to us both taking our vehicles.  We went down below the Big Bridge.  We stopped about half way for a hike, a climb, and then to watch a serious climber.

Then we made it old bridge underneath of the New River Gorge Bridge.

Then of course it was time for our Annual lunch at Dairy Queen.  Thanks Uncle Alden for always spoiling us and treating us to these most fun traditions!  I can handle working on Thanksgiving and missing food, but not missing out on all this fun togetherness with my family!

Then we headed back to Nana's where the kids entertained themselves:  watched tv, climbed trees, lots of laughter, one even took a nap, played outside.  We gave Nana and Papa their Christmas gifts.  Then it was time to help Nana start dinner.

Our good friend Kelvin joined us for dinner. He quizzed the kids and they questioned him right back.  And Angela finally figured out her favorite holiday! (Kelvin's last name is Holliday)

Then we headed to Josie, Aidan, Dr. Laura and Special K's house with the kids.  They played on the trampoline, took 4 wheeler rides, played in the game room and even roasted marshmallows.  The adults mostly sat around the fire.  It was actually quite relaxing and nice to get to know the cousin's best friend-family better.

When we took all the kids back to Nana's it was bed time.  Saturday morning started off with more of Nana's from scratch pancakes and with Marko and Angela going on a secret mission to Walmart.  While they were gone I did all the packing up and straightening up of bedrooms.  While Nana made lunch and Papa relaxed in his chair, Tricia, Amanda, Marko and I were assembling project new home phones.  Recently Nana and Papa's phone company made them upgrade their phones from their old beloved rotary ones.  So they quickly dropped from 5 phones to two at home.  The cousins informed us they were  frequently loosing their cordless phones so we bought them a new five phone system and now all the rooms that used to have a phone in it, once again do.  And we installed it without being noticed!  I even snuck behind Papa's chair to plug in one phone--- claiming i was getting Jayna's sock haha!  After we left we had Tricia and Amanda spill the beans.  They are now enjoying their new phones, we are told.

Lunch, like every meal was fabulous.  We had our choice of Nana's home made chili or veggie soup and grilled ham and  cheese sandwiches.  The kids all tried custard for the first time.  2 of 3 like it.

I went outside to capture some cousin shots in the leaves.

And then sadly it was time to say our goodbyes :-(

On the way out of town I saw Aunt Chris's car at her preschool.  So of course we had to stop and say goodbye!--- and get the tour of the best preschool in all of West Virginia and likely the USA.

IN THE INDIAN ROOM

ENJOYING THE COOLEST SAND SHE'S EVER PLAYED WITH

And then there were 4

As if I haven't been vocal enough this year about my passion towards the well being of the children in my life, why not prove it once more.  And to vaguely answer some of the many questions we have had about our growing family.... only almost 2 months later because apparently the more kids you add on the less time you have to type... or something like that.

For a majority of my BK career I referred to my employees as my BK Family.  It is/was true.  We made many lasting friendships that feel almost like family.
One in particular was Alisa.  I hired her probably in 2008.  Like most my other employees we got to truly know one another more than on a how you make a whopper level.  In Dec 2010 I through her a baby shower at BK where several employees came and her family as well  as a few regular customers.

Alisa didn't have a lot of close family.  That Christmas they were planning on spending it alone on a Ramen Noodle type budget.  Of course that did not happen and I made my small house accommodate quite the crowd, including them and one other employee.

Amusingly I helped name their daughter as we discussed baby names on fb and she liked the suggestion of Jayla amongst many other possible possibilities.  And when Jayla Kay-Ann was born of course I met her 10 hours later.

I haven't missed a birthday, I was the sole witness, photographer and guest when Cory and Alisa got married 2 years ago.  So Jayla has been no stranger in my life.

Birthdays 1-4

Of course she has joined in on my favorite local summer activities: VBS

Alisa and Cory are married Dec 2014 

And so when Jayla and her parents became homeless, there really was no question on what to do.  Initially Jayla had other living arrangements and her parents knew we had an open door policy, although they choose not to partake in more than free showers, meals, laundry services.  But when Jayla's living arrangement fell through -- immediately it was known she was to be with us.  I hate to see children suffer adult consequences (for lack of better wordage) and homelessness is not something I would ever want her to truly face and understnad and to her little four year old head she has in deed moved a lot (too much) but she's always had a home, a loving place to stay and that will always be the case if I have any power or any say.
Within hours she had her own room all set up.  Still initially her parents  weren't ready to stay here so from the first week of November until Thanksgiving it was only Miss Jayla living here.  But once her parents stayed here over Thanksgiving it was without saying permanent.  As with any situation in life there are some adjustment factors, mostly for Jayna I think as Jayla seems rather unaffected by it all. Jayla hasn't had to change schools since moving here;  just buses/bus stops.  She gets to see more of her parents than the previous living arrangement had.  And she really hasn't had any issues even when I was being the primary care giver instead of others she was used to as her parents work, deal with adult issues, and try to prepare their next home--- none of which are kid friendly tasks so it's more convenient for Jayla to not have to tag along to all of that when she doesn't need to.

All will work out and most importantly all four of my children are loved unconditionally, WANTED and hopefully are having the opportunity to be a part of a blended family that is accepting of their strengths, flaws and everything in between and and will teach them how family should be for some of them the first time and some of them have never known any different. Miss Jayla will likely only be here until February but she is certainly one of our children and we do our best to have absolute equalness for each child, right down to the number of gifts we had for each child under the tree (which was really too many, but they will have memories of that Christmas when...)

And so our life has been blessed with four children.  And just when you think you have your life planned out and you successfully had that magic number of children you imagined and everyone says one of each is perfect---- life throws you into reality.  There is no perfect number of children and their is no plan that can't successfully take a few unexpected turns.  And we have now had two unplanned children, just not pregnancies so our nine months of planning was more like nine hours for our last two children.  And we will all live happily ever after!

Our kids 2015: Angela, Anthony, Jayla and Jayna