Even though we finally got around to getting our 2010 "newsletter" out, so much has happened in 2011 already that we'd better update our activities!
2011 started as a fairly quiet year...Steve finally stopped traveling as he started a different job at the Air Force Environmental Field Support Center. Rebecca stopped feeling sick and entered those boring, middle-stage of pregnancy months. Still, the family managed to keep so busy! I remember when I was in college, one of my institute teachers told us to enjoy our lives as singles because that is when we would be the least busy. I was extremely skeptical...no longer.
In May of this year, we welcomed our new darling baby, Thomas Allen Loertscher.
He is a sweet-natured baby, and the center of attention at home. His every move is reported to mother--he's smiling! he's spitting up! he's getting mad! and most exciting...he's pooping!
Here is a photo of baby Thomas in his natural habitat--balanced on his big brother's shoulder while he messes around on his computer (in this case, DOS Box).
With the Steve's departure for Bogota, Columbia for a six month deployment looming on the horizon, we decided to take some family time and head to Idaho. Rebecca was not thrilled at the prospect of dragging a five-week-old infant on a 3200 mile road trip (almost like she's done this before...), so she FLEW IN A PLANE ALL BY HERSELF AND AN INFANT while Steve drove the older seven children up to Idaho in the van.
Here the kids pose outside the van on their way to Idaho:
The Idaho trip was necessarily short, as daddy could only get two weeks off work, but a huge success as far as everyone was concerned. 
We all had an amazing time visiting cousins, aunts and uncles, and enjoying the cooler weather. 
We also blessed our new baby boy while we were there. Not only was he blessed at the same time as his new little cousin, but all of his Loertscher uncles were participants. It was a truly wonderful moment. Here, Bryan poses with the cape Grandma Linda made him. Awesome!
David started Drivers Ed shortly before his 15th birthday,
and has enjoyed driving the 15-passenger van (he says it's like flying the Millennium Falcon...not sure how he knows that). He and Steve went on a scouting High Adventure trip in March, which consisted of a campout in west Texas and a visit to Carlsbad Caverns. David, seen below, in his special avoid-the-Texas-sun-gear:
Carolyn made good progress in our pubic speaking class this year. Carolyn also worked hard in choir, memorizing music for the DC tour, performing a chorus part in an Opera.
She (usually) enjoys Young Womens, but is looking forward to turning 14 this fall and attending stake dances. She has decided to try high school work this year, so will be starting seminary in a few weeks with David. Below, Carolyn poses before a performance at the National Cathedral in DC.
Amy looked forward with great excitement to this summer--not only did she have the tour to Washington DC to look forward to, but when she got home, she could go to the pool here in our neighborhood ALL BY HERSELF!
She has been waiting for three summers for this opportunity. Amy continues to be a delightful young lady who is a tremendous help to her mother, especially while daddy is in South America. Below, Amy poses during a hike on the Ranch in July.
Amy at Canyon Lake, near San Antonio, with family and friends this past May.
The two older girls with some of their girl cousins on a hike on the ranch:
Here, Lauren expresses her pure joy at being somewhere besides Texas--in this case, Colorado (our deepest apologies to our beloved Texas friends).
The smaller children enjoyed going to the pool this summer with daddy while mommy recuperated at home from the arrival of the new baby.
Daddy has been working with the little kids the last two summers, teaching them to swim. They are pretty comfortable in the water now, they just need some addtional practice and refining of their swim strokes. Mother finally got around to signing them up for swim lessons this summer shortly after daddy left. 
John recently turned five, and is enjoying all the blessing attendant to this age.
He has calmed down a little bit over the past year, which is good, since mother is now juggling three crazies on the church benches alone these days. He loves his new baby brother and frequently entertains him while mother does something quickly that requires two hands (hmmm...that would be almost everything!).
Elizabeth, a.k.a. the "Bun," is a now two years old and keeps her mama hoppin'. We recently found the book "Olivia" at a thrift store...we wonder if Olivia is our Bun's secret twin sister. She loves to change clothes, and change her own diapers. She happiest in a dress--but only if it's pink.
So, this is ONE of the projects Rebecca has been working on since Steve left...searching, planning, purchasing, and organizing school work for six children.
Can you tell we read a lot of books?
Of course, as much as we love homeschool, it is still a challenge--this is what David is doing when mother thinks he's doing Algebra II in his bedroom:
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