Holly and Tom Underwood Family

Zach is now a very lively and talkative three year old. He’s very creative and imaginative, enjoys reading and playing with animals or dinosaurs. He loves to cut paper with scissors, paint, and color with what looks like utter randomness to us. He often pretends it’s someone’s birthday, wrapping up a toy in a towel or cloth napkin as a present. He loves to make music (with real or improvised instruments) and sing, and is getting better at singing the real words to songs. His version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer has already changed drastically in just a week of hearing it. He is testing the world around him to see what he can do (and some days, I think he’s testing to see just how much patience Mommy has…) but is still good-natured and great company. He’s a joy to have around.

Tom’s still at Dayton Metro Library at a branch that he doesn’t feel well suited for. But library funding has been cut so drastically in the last couple of years that there are very few jobs available to move to so there he stays, enjoying the good days and the steady paycheck. He plays music and reads a lot.

This fall marked 15 years at Cityfolk for me. I’m working there three days a week which leaves lots of time for being Mommy. We’re thankful that I get to spend so much time with Zach. Over the last year I’ve made a point of spending more time being crafty – sewing and embroidering, mostly – which has resulted in several new shirts for Zach, decorations for the house and handmade gifts for most occasions this year. It goes a long way toward keeping me sane and happy. In November I opened a shop on Etsy.com (like a craft show on the web) to sell a few things. We’re not traveling too much these days, but made it to Michigan a few times for festivals and family visits. The big deal was flying to Colorado to visit my brother Bryan and his wife and kids. It was the first time he and I had shared Thanksgiving in over 20 years! My parents were there too, which gave us all some very rare family time. It was fun to watch Zach and his cousins get to know each other too.

All in all, we feel blessed to have each other, good health and reliable jobs and a wealth of dear family and friends. If you'd like to see more photos of us, they're here.

Holly, Tom & Zach