Belated Holiday Letter & Card

I worked on our Christmas card in December but dropped the ball and am now finally get it out there. This post is for anyone who didn't get it who may be interested to read it!

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Another eventful year for the books! We had some fun experiences this year like going to Gen Con for the first time and seeing the total solar eclipse, as well as some un-fun experiences this year like dealing with seizure-related health problems. We still miss Utah but are getting used to living in Indiana. We also had visits from some of Ashley's family and of course we see Josh's family throughout the year. Life is a lot, but we do the best we can!

Josh was promoted to a lead position at Omnicare this summer and now works second shift instead of night shift. We are so proud of him and his hard work! The change has been tough on him as he sees the twins even less now with his lead schedule, but we try to make the most of the times that we get. Wehn he has time to himself Josh likes to play word games, video games, online Dungeons & Dragons with some of his friends, and watching his and Ashley's favorite comfort shows over again together.

Ashley is still working full-time over various online jobs while holding down the fort at home with the kids. She misses her family in Utah but loves that she lives closer to her sister in Tennessee. Still a drive, but they have been able to see each other a few times this year! She also stays connected to her family through online video games. Ashley loves hanging out with Josh any chance they get, and sharing some of her hobbies with the twins by playing video games or board games together.

The twins got baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January and it was a beautiful occasion, surrounded by family and by the Sprit. This summer they took swim lessons again and can now swim on their own, which is a win for everyone! They are also learning to roller skate recently. They both qualified for some advanced classes in school and also joined the Yearbook Club and are enjoying that new experience.

Jacob tried soccer and baseball this year, and fell in love with baseball! His team won the championship (out of 3 teams but still!), and he is likely to do more of it in the future. He also got really into Fortnite this year and is actually quite good for a 9-year-old. Jacob still loves space, fidget toys, Rubik's cubes, crafts, and cute things. His favorite subject in school is gym, he loves reading graphic novels, his favorite colors are light blue and rainbow, and he loves spicy food.

Lauren tried soccer and cheerleading this year and especially enjoyed cheerleading. She wants to go back to doing gymnastics next, but may try cheerleading again sometime in the future. She loves taking care of her baby dolls, playing wth Barbies, and occasionally playing video games with family. Lauren loves cats, drawing, and crafts. Her favorite subjects in school are gym and reading, she also loves graphic novels, her favorite colors are pink and turquoise, and she loves doing handstands and cartwheels around the house.

As always we're grateful for the love we feel from friends and family. We're especially grateful for the love and comfort we find in Christ. We don't know what the future holds for us, but we have faith in each step we take. We love you all dearly, and wish you the best year available to you. ♥

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year

I did write a Christmas card but I got busy and didn't do anything with it until now, so Happy Belated Holidays, and Happy New Year! If you didn't get the letter or are just curious how our year went, I'm sharing it here too!

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This year had some surprising curveballs. Our long struggle with worker's comp for Josh's work unjury while doing Amazon delivery came to an end, but without going into details it also led to us moving to Indiana pretty suddenly this summer for Josh to take up a new job. The move has been a major life change and hard on all of us in various ways and we discovered that we had grown to love Utah more than we realized, but we are grateful for the help we received getting here and for now living close to Josh's family!

Josh started his new job this fall with Omnicare doing pharmaceutical delivery for things like assisted living facilities. His brothers work there as well and were the ones who referred him. Josh currently works the night shift for now and while it's been an adjustment getting on and keeping up that schedule, he's doing well and enjoying his job so far! Aside from that he loves spending time with the twins and being able to see his family now that we live near them. He also still enjoys gaming and playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Ashley said goodbye to her job at Gymcats with the move, but still does various online work full-time. Moving has been especially hard on her as she doesn't do well with change and she also moved away from most of her family, but Josh and the twins have been a big comfort to her, along with a lot of prayer and Priesthood blessings. Ashley was also able to go to Seattle with some of her siblings this year to attend Nintendo Live and PAX West and had a blast.

The twins left their French immersion program with the move, which was too bad but we're grateful they could be part of it even for a short time. They enjoyed doing gymnastics through the summer, took a jazz/ballet dance class together, and also took swim lessons for the first time. They can't quite swim on their own yet, but they are close! They are also preparing to be baptized this January, and are very excited about it! It's been hard for them to say goodbye to their friends and family in Utah, and especially their best friend we lived just down the street from, but they have been making new friends and are doing well at school here.

Jacob became obsessed with space this year. He loves watching YouTube videos that teach about galaxies, black holes, etc., and just loves everything space-related. His favorite subjects in school are science and art, and he has also gotten pretty interested in Rubik's cubes. He doesn't know how to solve them yet, but we think he'll learn before long! Jacob is still obsessed with cute things, loves rainbow colors, enjoys playing video games, watching YouTube videos, and is still the biggest Mama's boy.

Lauren learned how to ride a bike without training wheels this year, without the help of Mom and Dad. Her love of cats has only continued to grow, as does her Barbie collection. Her favorite subjects in school are library, music, and P.E., and she's been reading more and more. She is our silly girl and loves doing handstands and cartwheels wherever she can. Lauren loves pink and turquoise, playing games with family, watching YouTube videos or Bluey, and is Daddy's little love bug.

As always we're grateful for the love we feel from friends and family. We're especially grateful for the love and comfort we find in Christ. We don't know what the future holds for us, but we have faith in each step we take. We love you all dearly, and wish you the best year available to you. ♥

Roth Christmas Letter 2022

 ♦  Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays  ♦

This year was another hard one for our family, but there has been lots of good still. In the spring we had a family reunion with Ashley's family and got to see everyone together there for the first time in a while. In the fall we went to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando with Josh's family, which was so fun for the twins and fulfilled our wish of going back to Harry Potter World since our honeymoon there almost 10 years ago. It was an amazing trip and we are so grateful! Over the year we were also able to visit nearby family and be visited by traveling family, all of which we have loved.

Josh is still working for an Amazon delivery company, though his work situation was complicated when he injured his knee on the job in March. Since then we have been dealing with worker's comp and trying to take care of hi knee, which is all still a work in progress. In the meantime he's been doing what work he still can, though his knee causes him a lot of pain. We are finally planning for him to have surgery to hopefully fix it in January, and are optimistic that that will improve Josh's quality of life. Aside from all of that, Josh loves to spend time playing games online with his siblings and friends, snuggling with the twins, and watching shows with Ash.

Ashley took on some extra work this year and works full-time across a handful of jobs. Most of them are various computer-related work-from-home jobs, but she also started working at a gymnastics facility across the street - just a few minutes walking distance! She works at the front desk which is kind of her ideal type of job, and loves her boss and her workplace. She also gets to take the twins to gymnastics classes sometimes while she is working, which they have been loving. Aside from work, Ashley loves to spend time rewatching her favorite TV shows, playing games online with her siblings, listening to the twins' antics, and accidentally falling asleep watching shows with Josh.

The twins started a French immersion program at their elementary school this year. We wondered how they would do being thrown into half of their school day being in a different language, but they are loving it and thriving. We're so impressed with how much they have learned already!

Jacob loves video games and Legos, and especially loves to play with others. His favorite color is rainbow, he loves hearts, and is still the *biggest* lover of cute things of anyone we know. Most of all, he loves penguins - and we even got to feed penguins at the aquarium for their birthday! He is super curious about the world, and has also gained a lot of physical confidence doing gymnastics. Jacob has also grown arguably even more attached to Mama this year.

Lauren loves all kinds of play, and enjoys playing with others or independently. Her favorite color is pink and she loves unicorns, cats, and most of all "uni-kitties". Lauren also loves doing art and writing notes for people, even just around the house. She is the silliest kid we know and loves giving and receiving "loves" (hugs, etc). She loves school and has also loved doing gymnastics along with Jacob. Lauren especially loves snuggling with Daddy and is still a total Daddy's Girl.

As always we're grateful for the love we feel from friends and family. We're especially grateful for the love and comfort we find in Christ. We love you all dearly, and wish you the best year available to you. ♥

Roth Family Christmas Card & Letter 2020

We sent out our Christmas cards only digitally this year to save on money, but wanted to share here too. If you're reading this, we love you and wish all the best. Here is our Christmas card and letter for 2020:

What a year this has been, right?? All around us there has been political strife, social unrest, economic hardship, and of course the global pandemic. That’s enough to make anyone’s year a challenging one.

For us personally, even with all of that aside this was one of our hardest years to date. Among other challenges, some of the harder things that we’ve been open about include a suicide attempt followed by hospitalization and another year of no successful pregnancy, including miscarriage and failed IUI cycles.

But there is good too! Josh got a new mental health diagnosis (Borderline Personality Disorder) along with new doctors, therapies, medications, and even a few workplace accommodations. As always it’s a long road, but we’ve seen a lot of good there too. And with my secondary infertility, we have decided to move on to IVF - a very big deal! Granted, it felt like a big deal to start any fertility treatments, but going from IUI to IVF there is a lot more to it. It’s not cheap and it sucks to anticipate that when we’ve been working to save for a bigger car and a house, but it’s also much more likely to result in a pregnancy so we’re hopeful. We are also so grateful to continue to have steady incomes this past year, even if there were some hits to our income. We’ve been able to provide for our needs, and we are so grateful for that.

Josh has gotten more crafty this year - he’s been making trinkets for his Dungeons and Dragons group in his spare time that involves woodworking, woodburning, using epoxy resin, and other exciting stuff. He also still streams on Twitch pretty regularly and loves unwinding by playing games with his friends and family. He is still working at Visa, and has had a mix of working from home and working at the office.

This year Ashley became a moderator for a chapter of the organization ‘Mormon Women for Ethical Government’ - a non-partisan group for Latter-day Saint women that focuses on advocacy, peacemaking, media literacy, and ethical government. Ashley has been very active in a lot of political scenes as well as loving her church calling in coordinating service and meals for others who are in need. She also still works from home as a virtual assistant, doing a bunch of computer and social media stuff.

The twins haven’t stopped growing up, despite our pleas. They have a lot of shared interests, including stickers, video games, riding their balance bikes or scooters outside, and playing pretend together.

Lauren has been conditioned since birth to like the color pink, and she has embraced that in full force. She loves everything pink, as well as all things unicorn. She loves imaginative play, is more or less content to do her own thing, loves to sing to herself, is obsessed with taking pictures, and wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s a total Daddy’s girl and reminds me of that regularly. ;)

Jacob loves anything rainbow. He has laser-sharp focus on whatever interests him, often not noticing anything else when he’s doing something he loves. He has big emotions that we are still learning how to manage, is growing more determined at trying things he’s afraid of, and prefers to play with others over doing anything alone. He is super attached to Mama, and I’m soaking it up.

We’ve felt so much love and support in our lives this year. We are especially grateful for the love and comfort we find in Christ. We love you all dearly, and wish you the best holiday available to you. ♥

Goodbye 2017

As the year ends and we move into 2018, I just hope that it's a better year for us.

As I stated in a Facebook post today:

"What's on my mind this New Year's Eve?

It's been a long year. And a hard year. There will always be hard things in every year, but... man this year felt rough. I'm definitely in the camps of "Good riddance 2017" and "2018 NEEDS to be a better year or I can't take it."

Sometimes it's hard for me not to dwell on the negatives and feel jealous of others or sorry for myself, but that's one of the things I'm working on. Being grateful for the good things. Finding happy things amidst the hard.

Because there ARE happy things.

Some of the most obvious happy things in my life are, of course, our twins. They take an awful lot of our energy and patience, but at the end of the day, they are the ones that keep me going. I mean... look at those faces.

Anyway, however your year has been, whatever you're looking forward to in the new year, I hope it's a good one. That's my hope for myself, for my family, and for everyone."


With that being said, I would like to share recent pictures of our lives to close up the year.

We visited my sister and brother-in-law (Chanelle and Brooks) in Idaho for Thanksgiving:

We went and saw the Christmas lights in Downtown Provo:

I got a major hair cut:

We saw a musical of A Christmas Carol:

We played in the first decent snow of the year (giving us a white Christmas!):

And enjoyed these cute faces:

And with that, I'm out! Goodbye 2017, make way for 2018!

Love,
Ashley

<3"asdf

2013 Wrap-Up

It's been 2014 for almost a month now, so it's about time I paid tribute to Christmas break and the coming of the New Year before February gets here. We drove down to Texas with Trevin and Kim to stay with my family for a week, after which Josh and I flew out to Indiana to stay with his family for the second week.

It was wonderful to be back at home with my family, not going home to live with them during the breaks has been one of the harder things for me to adjust to being married. We had so much fun with everyone! Here are some pictures from that part of the trip...

I decided I wanted to change up my hair for
the New Year, so at first I cut it to about
chin-length, but then I decided to just go for
it and chopped it all off. Turns out I kinda
love it! (Picture taken at the High School
Football State Championship game,
which by the way WE WON and it was
AWESOME.)

All the girls getting pedicures! Well, Mom and
Kim are there too, but they were on the other
side of the room.

Making popcorn balls!

In our Christmas jammies!

I always miss our dogs; Lulu is so crazy, I love her!

Matching! Aren't we precious?

Matching some more. Good thing we love it! :)

Being silly on the way to the airport.

Goodbye Texas...

Leaving Texas and my family was kind of heartbreaking, but I was excited to spend some time with Josh's family, get to know them a little better, and see Indiana for the first time! Even though it's stupid winter. We had a great time! Here are some more pics...

Josh's mom got us a carriage ride and a night in a nice hotel!
 Luckily the carriage was covered, 'cause it was COLD
outside, but we had a blast taking a ride around Indianapolis!

I am IN LOVE with Christmas lights!!

Their adorable dog Buddy! :)

I love puzzles, and did a couple while we were there!

Some views from the plane flying back to Salt Lake...

I had such a wonderful break! It is so good to be with family, and I always hate to come back to "real life". But I am optimistic with the start of the New Year (aren't we all, at first?). I have some goals that I hopefully won't neglect before February is even over, like many New Year's Resolutions do, including reading goals and running a 5K (maybe multiple!), among others.

There a are few other changes happening too! I got a job at Chick-fil-A; I worked there in Texas too, but I just couldn't stay away when they opened up a new one here in Provo! Plus Trevin and Kim are working there as well, so that's also fun. (Chanelle and Cody - before his mission - worked there also, so we're basically planning a slow takeover of the company.) I'm also taking private voice lessons, which is both exciting and scary! (Don't ask me to sing a solo in Sacrament Meeting or anything though!) Josh is switching his major from film to communications, and he's pretty excited about it, which is great! And now that the Provo Temple is open again we're back to volunteering there on Saturdays, and we really love it. When we first started working there I thought the shifts would feel so long, but it's been a wonderful experience! We're also both trying to get ourselves more organized and time-efficient so that we don't have to stress as much! 

I am so incredibly grateful for the past year. It has really been the most life-changing year of my life! I still can't believe that someone like Josh wanted to marry me, but he continues to love me and I feel blessed beyond words to have him in my life.

~ Ashley