The First Blog

So Stephanie Nicholson put me up to this. She knows how horrible I am at keeping in touch, so this is my way to try and reach out to all my friends and family that hardly hear from me and wonder what the Rose Bunch clan is up to. Nick and Mindy got married nearly three and a half years ago already and we are now expecting and due in March, the 28th to be precise. The shocker is we're expecting twins! We know that we're having a boy and a girl, and Zach and Riley are so excited that they get to have one of each, much as Nick and I are.

Zachary is now 13 years old and in the 8th grade. He's become quite the young man and really has begun to take on a new maturity that makes him so much fun to be with right now. He ran cross country this past fall, working through the tough kid Tuesday workouts and getting into some of the best shape of his life. He is also quite active in Scouting - matter of fact he just earned his Star and is working on his Life badge in order to prepare to go for his Eagle scout. He's on track to start working on his Eagle by age 14 (next July), giving him 4 years to complete it. He's also doing extremely well in school, acing all his classes even the high school math class he attends at Liberty high school now as an 8th grader. Zach is also discovering lots of great music. We're having fun sharing the bands we loved at his age and still love today like Led Zeppelin, Scorpions, and Van Halen. It's funny to see him so interested in the same music. We're very proud of Zach and his accomplishments. Zach is very much looking forward to being a big brother, and we know he'll make a great one with his example.

Miss Riley is almost 11. She will be turning 11 on December 12th, and she is truly going on 16. Riley is in the Science/Tech program at school which is a 4/5 combined class of 54 kids with heavy emphasis on Math, Science and Technology. She is doing extremely well and thriving in this class, which is quite a challenge from the typical 4th/5th grade curriculum. We recently had a parent teacher conference with one of Riley's teachers. The teacher couldn't stop gushing about what a great math student Riley is, she's in the top of the class. She also went on to tell us what a great example Riley is to her fellow students, how helpful and kind she is to her younger 4th grade classmates, and how well prepared she is to be in middle school next year. Riley also just completed her 5th season of Soccer, with a second consecutive season being undefeated. Riley was paramount in many of the wins either playing a tough defender in goal or fullback or being an offensive dynamo scoring goals as a forward. She's had a very fun season and the girls have played tough and really shined this year.

Nick has been working hard for Regence Blue Shield. He had a couple months where he really had to put in long hours and we nearly forgot that he lived with us. Luckily it has since calmed down and the work is at a much more manageable level these days. He is still doing lot of projects around the house. He is currently putting together a 3 rail fence near the driveway. He's also working on the deck near the hot tub and getting the electrical installed, so we can use the hot tub. He continues to transform our house into a beautiful home. And he manages to do it in his "other" spare time.

Mindy had a job change earlier this year. She had been with Aurora Loan Services/Lehman Brothers Bank for nearly four years. In January the company decided to have a reduction in force and included all remote employees in the reduction regardless of their seniority or performance. This thrust her into working outside the home again which was a real challenge for the whole family to get used to. Suddenly she was commuting downtown Seattle on a bus rather than the 10 paces from the bedroom to the office for work each day. We've all had to adjust to the change, but we've managed. Of course now with the complications of the twin pregnancy, Mindy is on modified bed rest and can only be sitting up or standing for 15 minutes every two hours, and is working just a few hours remotely from her recliner, for another week or so. This has also been an adjustment for the family since mom can't do all the things she's used to accomplishing. We've all had to get creative and pitch in and help. In many ways it has brought us closer together as a family.

We're looking forward to the birth of our baby boy and girl. The doctor's have prepped us for an early delivery and suggested that we get all our ducks in a row and are fully prepared by 28 weeks. This means January 5th, which seems so early for a due date of March 28th. However, we continue to work on getting eveything ready for the twins. We've purchased most of the necessities we'll need right out of the gate, now we're just in the process of rearranging rooms to make the office into a nursery.

I'll post more about our progress and the babies and work on pictures as well so you can see how big the kids have become. We'd love to hear back from you!