Holiday newsletter
Hi here is a copy of the 2005 Ashton Family Holiday Newsletter.
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish Friends! We hope this letter finds you in the midst of Holiday preparations experiencing the joy of the season. 2005 has been another year full of tremendous blessings for our family. We are proud to share some of these events with you with this edition of the Ashton Family Holiday newsletter! We hope you enjoy.
Although this is the third annual newsletter, this year has been another year of new beginnings. Do we say that every year?! One of the biggest was the realization of James' business A2Z Computer Service and Repair. During the long winter months, the building was up fitted and finally finished in March. James opened for business in April and never looked back. His hard work paid off and in August we learned that A2Z had won 1st Runner Up in the Growing with Technology Awards from Cisco Systems (a computer hardware company). The award was for James' creation of an online service ticket system for customers. The prize included $15,000 in Cisco equipment and an Awards Banquet in California. At the banquet, we got to rub elbows with the executives of Cisco and famous Hollywood director Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI, Amazing Race shows and Die Hard films). Thanks to Granddaddy Ashton and Grandma Martha Sue for helping with the kids so that James and Thalia were able to go to California and do some sight seeing in San Jose and San Francisco.
In February, Miss Taylor Caroline had her fun second birthday with a party at her favorite place- the mall! She even got her picture taken with Hello Kitty that day! She has continued to grow from a "baby" to a "big girl" in so many ways this year. She can carry on conversations with complete sentences now. She loves to "pretend" play and run, jump and dance, she loves making music with anything she can find and watches some of her favorite movies including "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Sleeping Beauty".
Then (finally) on May 6th, Taylor became a big sister with the birth of our son James Lynn Ashton, III. Baby James was born at 11:37 pm weighing 8 lbs and 10 oz and was 20 ¾ inches long. He was born happy and healthy. After finding the right food for him, he has been the happiest smiling baby ever and has brought much joy to our home. Jamie (Taylor's nickname for him) started crawling at five months and at seven months is already pulling up to a stand and trying to walk.
After spending the summer at home with the kids, Thalia returned to work in August. The transition has been hard for our family but again we were able to coordinate work schedules so the kids aren’t in daycare. Taking care of the kids at home is very important to us and is worth all of the sacrifice. Later that month, Thalia learned that she had been published as a co-author of a chapter in a college text book entitled DNA Sequencing: Optimizing the Process and Analysis. The book is for sale on Amazon.com but was written for no profit.
Also in August, computer expert James made his debut on our local ABC news with a segment on the "Zotob worm" that hit the computer networks of several big corporations. As exciting as that was, this was just the first TV appearance for our family this year. In November, James was interviewed on air for a second segment about another internet security threat. Both segments had shots that were filmed at his store and featured James speaking on camera. Taylor was also featured on the PBS show North Carolina Now in a piece on the New Hope Valley Railway. The shot was taken when Granddaddy Ashton took Taylor for a train ride. She is a cutie with a sweet smile wearing her engineer’s hat over her curls. Not only was Taylor on television for the first time, she was also featured as a model in a photo collage portrait on the wall of the Sears photo studio in the Cary Mall.
Next came Halloween, one of Taylor's favorite holidays. Taylor enjoyed singing the "Halloween Song" over and over. She dressed up as a cow girl with new boots and her "shooter". After going over to Granddaddy's for a campfire, she went trick or treating around the neighborhood with Daddy and we still have some of the candy left from her huge haul! Jamie and Mommy even got into the spirit by dressing up as the littlest ghosty and a scary witch!
In November, we were able to enjoy a mountain Thanksgiving in a chalet in Chimney Rock, NC thanks to Granddaddy. We had a mini-family reunion with both sides of the family. From James' side Memaw Fran, Aunt Gay and cousins Tanya and Robin stayed in the chalet next door and granddaddy cooked a full Turkey dinner. Baby James tried his first meat turkey baby food. It was not to his liking! That was the first food he did not eat eagerly. That Friday we visited with Thalia’s side of the family. First we went to Canton, and had a great time with (great-great) Aunt Bertie and cousins Gilbert, Nancy and Ian. Then we drove over to Franklin and had a second thanksgiving feast at (great-great) Aunt Hortez's farm with all of the extended Bateman family and even Donnie and Donna Rowe and their twins. Taylor and the twins, Jamie and Shelby, are only several days apart in age and they had a great time running all over the house. This was the first trip for the kids to the mountains and the first time Jamie met his Memaw.
Now we are getting ready for Christmas, making cookies and watching the fun Christmas shows. Taylor visited with Santa and gave him a special picture that she made for him and now she wants to go back and see him again. She enjoys looking at Christmas lights and decorations when we are driving around and listening to carols on the radio. We are looking forward to our Christmas break and are really thrilled about getting together with family over the holidays here. We just wish we could see you all and spend time with each and every one of you!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with Love,
The Ashtons
James, Thalia, Taylor Caroline and Baby James
For more photos and updates feel free to check our websites.
www.a2zcomputers.biz to view James' TV segments
For photos:
www.taylorashton.com
www.jamesashton.com
www.jashton.textamerica.com
www.thalia1.textamerica.com
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish Friends! We hope this letter finds you in the midst of Holiday preparations experiencing the joy of the season. 2005 has been another year full of tremendous blessings for our family. We are proud to share some of these events with you with this edition of the Ashton Family Holiday newsletter! We hope you enjoy.
Although this is the third annual newsletter, this year has been another year of new beginnings. Do we say that every year?! One of the biggest was the realization of James' business A2Z Computer Service and Repair. During the long winter months, the building was up fitted and finally finished in March. James opened for business in April and never looked back. His hard work paid off and in August we learned that A2Z had won 1st Runner Up in the Growing with Technology Awards from Cisco Systems (a computer hardware company). The award was for James' creation of an online service ticket system for customers. The prize included $15,000 in Cisco equipment and an Awards Banquet in California. At the banquet, we got to rub elbows with the executives of Cisco and famous Hollywood director Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI, Amazing Race shows and Die Hard films). Thanks to Granddaddy Ashton and Grandma Martha Sue for helping with the kids so that James and Thalia were able to go to California and do some sight seeing in San Jose and San Francisco.
In February, Miss Taylor Caroline had her fun second birthday with a party at her favorite place- the mall! She even got her picture taken with Hello Kitty that day! She has continued to grow from a "baby" to a "big girl" in so many ways this year. She can carry on conversations with complete sentences now. She loves to "pretend" play and run, jump and dance, she loves making music with anything she can find and watches some of her favorite movies including "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Sleeping Beauty".
Then (finally) on May 6th, Taylor became a big sister with the birth of our son James Lynn Ashton, III. Baby James was born at 11:37 pm weighing 8 lbs and 10 oz and was 20 ¾ inches long. He was born happy and healthy. After finding the right food for him, he has been the happiest smiling baby ever and has brought much joy to our home. Jamie (Taylor's nickname for him) started crawling at five months and at seven months is already pulling up to a stand and trying to walk.
After spending the summer at home with the kids, Thalia returned to work in August. The transition has been hard for our family but again we were able to coordinate work schedules so the kids aren’t in daycare. Taking care of the kids at home is very important to us and is worth all of the sacrifice. Later that month, Thalia learned that she had been published as a co-author of a chapter in a college text book entitled DNA Sequencing: Optimizing the Process and Analysis. The book is for sale on Amazon.com but was written for no profit.
Also in August, computer expert James made his debut on our local ABC news with a segment on the "Zotob worm" that hit the computer networks of several big corporations. As exciting as that was, this was just the first TV appearance for our family this year. In November, James was interviewed on air for a second segment about another internet security threat. Both segments had shots that were filmed at his store and featured James speaking on camera. Taylor was also featured on the PBS show North Carolina Now in a piece on the New Hope Valley Railway. The shot was taken when Granddaddy Ashton took Taylor for a train ride. She is a cutie with a sweet smile wearing her engineer’s hat over her curls. Not only was Taylor on television for the first time, she was also featured as a model in a photo collage portrait on the wall of the Sears photo studio in the Cary Mall.
Next came Halloween, one of Taylor's favorite holidays. Taylor enjoyed singing the "Halloween Song" over and over. She dressed up as a cow girl with new boots and her "shooter". After going over to Granddaddy's for a campfire, she went trick or treating around the neighborhood with Daddy and we still have some of the candy left from her huge haul! Jamie and Mommy even got into the spirit by dressing up as the littlest ghosty and a scary witch!
In November, we were able to enjoy a mountain Thanksgiving in a chalet in Chimney Rock, NC thanks to Granddaddy. We had a mini-family reunion with both sides of the family. From James' side Memaw Fran, Aunt Gay and cousins Tanya and Robin stayed in the chalet next door and granddaddy cooked a full Turkey dinner. Baby James tried his first meat turkey baby food. It was not to his liking! That was the first food he did not eat eagerly. That Friday we visited with Thalia’s side of the family. First we went to Canton, and had a great time with (great-great) Aunt Bertie and cousins Gilbert, Nancy and Ian. Then we drove over to Franklin and had a second thanksgiving feast at (great-great) Aunt Hortez's farm with all of the extended Bateman family and even Donnie and Donna Rowe and their twins. Taylor and the twins, Jamie and Shelby, are only several days apart in age and they had a great time running all over the house. This was the first trip for the kids to the mountains and the first time Jamie met his Memaw.
Now we are getting ready for Christmas, making cookies and watching the fun Christmas shows. Taylor visited with Santa and gave him a special picture that she made for him and now she wants to go back and see him again. She enjoys looking at Christmas lights and decorations when we are driving around and listening to carols on the radio. We are looking forward to our Christmas break and are really thrilled about getting together with family over the holidays here. We just wish we could see you all and spend time with each and every one of you!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with Love,
The Ashtons
James, Thalia, Taylor Caroline and Baby James
For more photos and updates feel free to check our websites.
www.a2zcomputers.biz to view James' TV segments
For photos:
www.taylorashton.com
www.jamesashton.com
www.jashton.textamerica.com
www.thalia1.textamerica.com
posted by Thalia @ 7:42 AM
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