Merry Christmas 2024 from the Barretts!!

 

Merry Christmas 2024, from the Barretts!

Greetings to all family, friends, and loved ones both near and far! We hope you are enjoying your holiday season and resting up in preparation for the next year. Unfortunately, we didn't get time to send out a PHYSICAL Christmas card, but we hope this "digital message" will suffice to bring you up to speed on our lives!! 

2024 was a busy year full of transitions for us; we changed jobs, cars, and schools! For a lot of us, that meant a lot of adjustments, and discovering our "new normal," which often kept us very busy and distracted. The bad news: We DIDN'T get to travel much as a family (hopefully that will change in 2025!). The good: we still found time for lots of "mini-adventures," or "side-quests" (to use video-game terminology) as individuals. Maybe THIS is part of the "new normal" now that all our kids are teenagers/young adults? Only time will tell.

Our year began by saying a fond farewell to our beloved Toyota Sienna mini-van. After over a decade of heavy use (and almost 300,000 miles!), it was time to say good-bye. A part of me will always miss this mini-van; it carried our family faithfully on countless trips all over Arizona, many family vacations out of state, and in various shuttling responsibilities both big and small, ranging from concessions purchases to soccer practices and everything in between. Through some church contacts, we connected with a single mom who needed some wheels in order to start working and providing for her kids. She wasn't afraid of owning a "fixer upper" car, and we hope and pray our tough mini-van will serve her family for a good long time to come!

In exchange for the van, we "downgraded" our capacity somewhat, getting a car that is a fair bit smaller but that has WAY fewer miles! Meet "Marilyn" (named for her previous owner, a resident of Green Valley). She is a VERY lightly used 2010 Ford Escape, and despite having a few quirks (like a blinker that enjoys getting stuck in the "on" position!), she has been a great benefit to our family this year! We have quickly added a whopping 20,000 miles to Marilyn's odometer in just one year, which should tell you how busy we sometimes get.

Even though we didn't travel too far from home in 2024 (with one or two exceptions), we found time for a few fun outings!

Aurora & Mom got to see Trombone Shorty perform at a jazz concert in January...

The two younger girls and Adrianne spent a warm afternoon in Tucson at the Tucson Rodeo during Rodeo weekend in February...

Celeste and Adrianne got to watch the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in April...

The family (minus Nathan) all had fun attending Phoenix Fan Fusion (Comic-Con) in late May...

Celeste & Aurora got to enjoy a fun campout with their Young Women's group near Pena Blanca Lake in June...

 

Nathan and Celeste got to travel to Phoenix to see Phil Rosenthal (TV writer & host of "Somebody Feed Phil," one of our favorite food/travel shows)...

 

Nathan and Adrianne had a fun "staycation" in Phoenix in June, which involved a trip to the temple, as well as visits to the OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale, the Museum of Illusions, AND the Musical Instrument Museum!

 

Aurora and Celeste both got to attend our stake's Young Women's Girls Camp in July, as well as band camp (also in July), with a brand-new band director for Walden Grove! Both camps kept them busy, but they also had lots of fun.

We also got to attend a college football game together in September...our first time doing so as a family. Lorelai's University of Arizona Wildcats triumphed over the NAU Lumberjacks; hooray! It was a fun night.

We were fortunate to be able to spend much of the Thanksgiving holiday together as a family. We were able to all go and see "Wicked" in theaters together as a family (we all loved it!), and then Grandma and Grandpa Nash came to spend Thanksgiving with us. We played a lot of games, visited the Giving Machine charity in north Tucson, and had a lot of quality family time together.

Here are some of our family's individual highlights for 2024!!

Nathan: Nathan kicked off the year with an exciting work trip to Washington DC.  Accompanied by the Mayor and Town Manager, he spent three days lobbying a number of federal officials on behalf of our little town. He met both of Arizona's senators, a couple of our congressmen, and several high-ranking executives with the Department of Transportation and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Nathan has loved his role as an lobbyist for the town, so when a new opportunity presented itself over the summer, he hesitated at first. But he threw his hat in the ring and was selected as the first-ever Deputy Director of the Sahuarita Planning and Building Department. The job was a significant promotion; for the first time in his career, he now supervises a small staff. 

It was also something of a homecoming. Although he earned a Master's Degree in Planning in the mid 2000s, he has spent most of his professional career doing other kinds of work in and for local governments. This new job will require re-learning everything he had learned in school, and then catching up on 15 years of professional experience he missed by not being a planner. But he welcomes these challenges and the opportunities to grow!

In his (diminished) spare time, Nathan has returned to his love of reading (although these days, it's usually via e-book and audiobook). He also completes nonogram puzzles, obsesses about the many flavors of Mountain Dew, and serves faithfully in the Elders Quorum Presidency of the Ranch Ward.

 

Adrianne: The mother of the house ALSO had a job change in 2024! After more than seven years working as a K-5 music teacher for Great Expectations Academy, Adrianne parted ways with GEA when Aurora graduated from the school in May (more on that in a bit).

Since then, she's been deciding how to best grow as a professional and make good use of her time. She increased her number of piano students in her music studio; now she has more than twenty students of all ages! In September, she was also given the opportunity to work for Housley Builders (a local, family-owned construction company) as a part-time office assistant. The hours are VERY flexible, and she is at the bottom of the totem pole...and she likes that just fine!! It has been refreshing to have a job where she can be helpful WITHOUT being "in charge"...at least, for now.

When not working her two jobs, Adrianne is busy working her "other" jobs...that of mother, cook, taxi driver, band mom, and soccer mom! She is still serving as the treasurer of the Red Wolves Music Boosters (Walden Grove High's music parents organization); she is also the "manager" of the outdoor concessions at Walden, which is an important fundraiser for the music program! She reads like crazy whenever she gets the time, and she got a new calling in the Ranch Ward as the choir pianist, which she is enjoying very much!

Lorelai: The Barrett's first-born is keeping herself busy and settling into life as an independent college student. Even though dorm life in winter semester was not her favorite, Lorelai worked hard in all her classes (and working two jobs!) to end her freshman year at the University of Arizona with a very high GPA. We are all proud of her!! She has held a job as an office assistant in the Honors College for most of 2024, including over the summer and the first half of her sophomore year. She also continues to work on-call as a server at La Posada Assisted Living Center when she is visiting home!

Lorelai has broken up the daily grind by attending a LOT of concerts this year: Ricky Montgomery (twice), Hozier, Cigarettes after Sex, Conan Gray, and an Avatar: The Last Airbender Music Concert. She really loves listening to music on Spotify, AND performing music in her concert band class at the U of A. She still loves playing the trombone.

Fall semester brought additional independence. Lorelai moved into an apartment with some friends, and has her own bedroom AND her own bathroom, plus a lovely view! She is learning how to do "fun stuff" like pay bills, do chores, and cook her own meals, on top of working and studying. She is becoming more of an adult every day! Now (as she reminds us), she needs her own car to get herself everywhere she needs to be! A car is just one of the MANY things on Lorelai's 2025 wish list...she also hopes to serve an internship in Washington, D.C. (she is majoring in Public Affairs), and possibly a trip to New York City, too! We'll see what the future brings! 

Celeste: Our beloved middle child has had a jam-packed, exciting year and shows no signs of slowing down. She started out 2024 strong, by making first-chair tenor saxophone in the AMEA All-Region Band. Saxophone spots are very limited in concert band, so this was a great honor for her to achieve, especially as a sophomore!

She absolutely loves being in band, and loves pushing herself to develop her musical skills AND her leadership skills. She started learning oboe for concert band last spring, and she has continued taking private saxophone lessons from multiple teachers.

She also diligently practices piano, and played beautifully in the TMTA Ensemble Concert in March. Her jazz band was also able to take a trip to San Diego in April, and it was a memorable experience for everyone!

Celeste's good grades and work ethic brought her to the attention of the National Honors Society, who inducted her into their organization in April!

During the fall marching band season, Celeste served in band leadership as the woodwinds captain, and she inspired the underclassmen and helped her section grow stronger!

Did we mention that Celeste also worked two jobs all summer? She has been working as a busser for Arizona Family Restaurant for over a year now, and she spent her second straight summer working as a lifeguard for the Rancho Sahuarita Clubhouse. 

And did we mention that she did all this while taking summer school? AND that she also managed to attend an FSY church youth camp, AND our stake Girls Camp as a Youth Camp Leader? 

AND that she has been holding down straight A's with multiple honors & AP classes during sophomore AND junior year? AND that she attended four concerts with friends throughout the year, including an overnight trip to Phoenix?? We are starting to think Celeste can do it all...with a smile on her face all the while! We are so proud of her, and hope she finds more time in 2025 to relax, play video games, and cook (some of her favorite hobbies not including music!).

Aurora: The "baby" of the Barrett family continues to over-achieve and over-schedule herself...yet she always seems to thrive in high-pressure circumstances, so who are we to judge? Aurora was pushed hard on her FC Tucson club soccer team this year, and eventually earned a starting position as a defensive wing. She grew a lot as a player this year, facing some really tough competition and rising to meet each challenge.

The team was able to take a trip to Dallas for a DPL tournament in March. It was the first time both Adrianne AND Aurora had been in Texas, so it was fun to both play some good soccer games and check out some of the local color. 

Aurora's other "great love" is band, and she has excelled on the trumpet and in band leadership in 8th grade. Her Great Expectations Academy Blue Band was able to take a trip to California in April to compete at the Fullerton Jazz Festival at Fullerton University. The Blue Band took first place in their division, beating out several high schools in the process; it was a terrific way to close out the year!

Aurora graduated from Great Expectations Academy in May, with straight A's and a successful 8th-grade year completed! It was a bittersweet day, because it meant that our family's many years at GEA have finally come to an end! We will always appreciate the good academic and musical education our kids received at that little charter school.

But Aurora got little rest over the summer: She attended FSY church youth camp, AND a youth soccer camp at BYU, where she got to compete against kids from all across the country. And that was only June! In July, Aurora attended Girls Camp and Band Camp, and had a great time with both.

During her freshman year of high school, Aurora has been burning the candle at both ends, but she is loving the experience anyway. She really enjoyed her first season of marching band, making a lot of new friends and growing as a musician. When not playing her trumpet with the band, Aurora was either playing soccer with her club team, or finding the odd weekend to get paid for refereeing soccer games! As you can guess, she didn't have much free time for a few months.

Aurora also tried out for Walden Grove's powerhouse girl's soccer team (they were the 4A state champions last year!), and made the team as a "swing" player, who spends time on both the JV and Varsity squads. The daily practices have been an adjustment but she is thriving and becoming more comfortable with the program each day.

We are excited to see what 2025 holds for Aurora! Besides all her other hobbies, she plans to continue playing piano (when she gets a minute!), and devouring more books (she is particularly fond of the "romantasy" genre at the moment...hmm).

COCO: Our family updates should probably conclude with a short note about our beloved mutt Coco, who has been with us for eight years now! (We adopted her in December of 2016.) Coco has been such a beloved part of our family, even when she drives us a little crazy once in a while. Coco had a rough start to 2024; she had a tumor on her chest that we chose to have surgically removed.

Thankfully, it has left her none the worse for wear, and she has remained in good health and good spirits ever since her recovery. She is showing her age a little bit (she rests & sleeps more often than she used to, and prefers fewer walks), but she still remains good-natured and friendly. She has also become a bit of a music lover; she often howls along when the girls are practicing their band instruments!

 

We love you all & wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a healthy & safe 2025. May God bless you today and all days!