Merry Christmas 2011!!

Merry Christmas! As usual, I can hardly believe that the year is almost over! It has been another year of adventure in our family. Last year Dave hit the big 40, and this year was my turn. Also Nathan was excited to turn 11 and Camden turned 5! Time keeps marching along!

So what is happening in our family...



Dave continues to work at Plantation Pharmacy, but also continues to enjoy his hobbies of fishing and hunting. He was happy that he was able to get his first deer this year and is learning about cooking venison. He also enjoys hanging with his two boys both in the outdoors and at home. Usually Dave is in the middle of some project in the house, but this year he didn't have as many major things to do! After finishing the kitchen repairs and painting at the end of 2010, we contracted out the job of cabinet refacing to a friend. Our kitchen looks fantastic thanks to both of them!>



As mentioned previously, Amy turned 40 this year. To celebrate, or to forget, she met her sister, Jennifer, for a girl's weekend in NYC! It was a weekend full of walking around Central Park, eating at great restaurants, and catching a couple of plays! It was awesome and I can't wait until she turns 40 in order to go back! Other than that, she continues to work as a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist, volunteer at church and the boy's school, and try to keep the household going!





Nathan has started 5th grade this year and was excited to be able to move up to 6th grade math.


He has decided that he really likes math, although he still wants to be a pro-baseball player when he grows up, in addition to being a politician and attend culinary school. Yes, he still enjoys watching the food network! He also continues to play baseball at the positions of pitcher and shortshop.








Camden changed schools this year and is now in K-4 at Charleston Christian School with Nathan.


He loves his class and has made some good friends with the other 5 boys in his class...a class with only boys! He continues to be silly and full of life!


He played t-ball and soccer this year, and although he had fun, let's just say that he has not yet developed a competitive spirit!


Our trips this year included Amy's trip to NYC; Dave and Amy's anniversary weekend in the NC mountains (18 years!); a trip to Atlanta to see a Brave's game (they won!) and the Georgia Aquarium; and our family vacation to Florida. Although we didn't have a Disney vacation, we did go to a Disney waterpark and stay at a Disney hotel. We also went to the Jacksonville Zoo, Legoland and Juniper Springs state park. It was a fun week!






We are bringing our year to an end with lots of busyness; lots of decorations in the house; shopping, shopping, shopping; and hopefully some baking! We have also been trying to keep Christ at the center of our Christmas. One way we have done that is through participating in our church's Christmas play. Dave is a shepherd, Nathan sings a solo, and Amy is Mary with no singing!! Camden's involvement was to make people smile while they were singing by dancing during the finale!


We hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle and even the Advent activities, let's all remember to thank God for all of His blessings and His help in our times of need.

If you want to keep up with us throughout the year, you can do so by following my blog. If not, until next year! Merry Christmas!! And a Happy New Year!

Christmas 2010

This is now our 2nd year updating our friends about our life via blog! I hope you enjoy a walk through our year as much as I enjoy remembering it!



This year has been a year of trips and I have loved it! We started out the year saving money for our Disney trip in September, but couldn't wait for a getaway until then! Dave and I took an anniverary trip (17 yrs) to the NC coast; and then the boys and I took a roadtrip to the same area to see the sites. It was a lot of fun to just get away. We also took a trip to the mountains on Labor Day weekend. Dave was going fishing with his friend, so his friend's wife and I took our kids and tagged along! We did sort of the same in December when Dave was sent away on a fishing weekend. The guys went to NC to fish and the wives and kids went to Myrtle Beach to have fun at an indoor waterpark! And of course we can't forget our trip to Disney. It was truly a magical week for us and my side of the family when we met and spent a week with Mickey and friends!



But enough with our trips! What is happening with the Shirley's?


To begin with, Dave. He turned 40! Wow! Big change in his age! Thus the December fishing trip. Amy surprised him with that gift! In addition to getting older, Dave continues to work at Plantation Pharmacy in Charleston. Which brings up another trip...a business trip for Dave. He went to medicine compounding training in Houston for a week. And guess what he got to do down there? Fish of course! He drove to Gavelston, TX on his last evening for this activity. He also is involved in a Christian Fishing Association in Charleston. Lots of fishing this year, and lots of hunting too. He is enjoying being an outdoorsman.



Amy has had some changes this year as well. She continues to be a pediatric SLP; but in addition to working for herself, she now works one day a week at a school for severely handicapped children. The name of the school is Pattison's Academy and she has been involved in their summer camp for five years now. This is the first year they have had a school and it has been exciting to be involved in such an awesome undertaking. She also continues to keep busy with volunteering at Nathan's school in the fundraising area; helping with class parties at Camden's preschool; and being the AWANA Cubbies director at her church. All this and planning more trips for our future! She loves to travel!



Nathan continues to grow up into a young man full of potential. He has entered double digits! He still takes piano lessons (sometimes grudgingly!) and is doing well with improving his skills. He continues to play baseball and basketball, but baseball is his main sport. He moved up into kid pitch in the spring, and in the fall was one of the pitchers on his team. And even I , who does not know much about the sport, could tell that he is a really good pitcher! The best news for him, however, is that he no longer needs to wear glasses. We are not too sure that he ever needed them to begin with! That is another story!!!



Camden, our baby, has turned 4! And what a 4 year old he is! He is, as one girl in his class called him, very silly! And he continues to come out of his shell. If you visit our house, he will give you a tour of everything he owns! This year he saw his first movie in a theatre, Toy Story 3, and has been into Toy Story ever since. He likes to play act and in general be a kid. It is great to see! He continues to attend a preschool, has started AWANA Cubbies this year, and loves to sing! It is fun watching him grow.




Well, that is our year in a nutshell. We have been very blessed this year and are grateful to God. But as I count our blessings, I am reminded of our friends and family who have had struggles this year. I also know that as we go through life, we have and we will encounter our own struggles. But as we set aside time this year to focus on the birth of our Messiah, let us all remember that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord. -Job 1:21

Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year!

The Shirleys; Dave, Amy, Nathan, and Camden

Here are our family pictures from Christmas 2009. They range from Christmas day with Dave's family and my parents to the week after Christmas with my family. We had a great Christmas season and it was truly Joyful!

Hip hop Shirley dance. Word!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Snowball fight with the Shirley's!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Merry Christmas! We are trying something new this year with our family letter-we are putting it on our Christmas blog! So pictures and our update; here it is!
















2009 has brought much change for Dave. First, 2009 brought a change to his career. For seven years he had been working at the Prescription Center in downtown Charleston, but after the store was sold to a chain pharmacy, he started working at another independent pharmacy, Plantation Pharmacy. Other changes have been to his hobbies! He is still into fishing, but traded in his bass boat for a salt water boat. This has been fun for the whole family since we are able to do skiing and tubing in addition to fishing. He has also started a new hobby, hunting! No deer yet, only doves and lots of time in the woods!


For Amy, she continues to work part-time for herself as a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and also enjoys staying at home with her boys. This year she volunteered to be in charge of Nathan’s school’s fundraiser! This may have been a crazy decision and definitely involved a lot of work, but it turned out great and was enjoyable in many ways! The fundraiser involved the students taking part in service projects and it was neat to arrange for them to serve in their community! Her other interests include scrapbooking, quilting and blogging!


Nathan continues to learn and grow in school, church and extracurricular activities. He is in the 3rd grade now at a small Christian school; plays baseball in the city league; basketball at church; and takes piano lessons. He is currently involved in starting a band with 3 other friends; writing songs and playing the guitar! He also enjoys skateboarding and riding his scooter. And he learned to snow ski this winter! His biggest change, however, was that he started wearing glasses!


Camden is growing into a sweet little boy! Once he started talking, he hasn’t stopped! He learned his letters and numbers and enjoys singing. He imitates everything we say or do, especially what his brother does! He started Westminster Preschool this year-the same preschool that Nathan graduated from-and it is like we are doing the same thing all over again! He is really interested in Thomas the Tank Engine and got to take a ride on Thomas this year! Lots of fun!

In addition to taking a trip to see Thomas, we also want to Boone, NC for a skiing weekend. And we took a week off and rented a lake house with some friends. Lots of fun on the boat and in the sun!

It has been a great year and we have had loads of fun watching our boys grow up! As you can see, they are two handsome guys! We hope you have enjoyed our newsletter this year. If you want to keep up with the happenings in our life, you can friend either Amy or Dave on facebook, or follow Amy’s blog at shirleygoodness.blogspot.com Also, check back at this blogspot in January for our Christmas pictures video!



Merry Christmas!!

Here is a video of our 2008 Christmas! We had a great Christmas season celebrating the birth of Christ with family and friends!