Goodale Family Musings: December 2012

Happy New Year from the Goodales (from left to right): Brooke & Christopher, Mark, Andrew,
Michelle & John, Brianna, Steven, Justin & Julia

This year has brought many exciting changes to the ever-growing Goodale family.

Sunset flying in to Bali.

John had another busy year of traveling, after flying about 400,000 miles and traveling to 19 different countries. In September, he got a deadly infection and was given a 17% chance of making it through the night. Hundreds of prayers were sent up that night, and we are so grateful that he pulled through!! His company, Unity Technologies, had a very successful year, with their Asia unit growing from 6 people to over 30 and tripled revenue from the previous year. He says that he "managed to hold a loose grip on [his] sanity." John was grateful that he was able to surprise his family and cut his last trip of the year short to come home a few days early for the holidays - just in time to attend Mom's graduation from Boise State University.

Michelle at School of Social Work graduation in May.

Michelle is officially a college graduate! She graduated Cum Laude this year with two Bachelors degrees - in French as well as in Social Work. We are so proud of the hard work and sacrifices she has made to reach her life long goal of getting a degree.

Julia and Justin at wedding.

Justin became the first married Goodale child in February. On February 18th, the day after his 23rd birthday, Justin married Julia Black. Julia is from Orem, Utah, and is a member of the Utah National Guard. She and Justin met at Ft. Huachuca in Arizona, where they were both at training for the National Guard. After getting married, the newlyweds moved to Monterey, California, where Julia is attending language school for the Army, learning Russian. They will be there until March, when they plan to move back to Boise.

Christopher and Brooke at wedding.

Christopher also got married this year, to Brooke Johnson. Brooke grew up in the South, and met Christopher in Virginia, where he was attending training for the Guard. They were married May 26th, Christopher's 21st birthday. They are living in Star, Idaho, with their 2 dogs, Charlie and Cowboy.

Brianna, 20, is attending Utah State University in Logan, Utah. She is currently studying Elementary Education but is trying to get into the Music Therapy program. After transferring to Utah State in January from Northern Arizona University, she spent the summer in Tijuana, Mexico, teaching music, math, and English at a community center and orphanages there.

Andrew, 17, is a senior at Centennial High School. He enjoys playing lacrosse and participates in the Sports Medicine program at Centennial. He will graduate in May and plans on going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Fall.

All the Goodale kids and Grandma Nancy.

Mark, 15, is a sophomore at Centennial High School. Mark played football this Fall, and will play lacrosse in the Spring. He is loving school and thriving in the high school environment. Mark is excited to turn 16 in a couple of days and start dating. He and Andrew have already begun planning double dates.

Steven, 13, is in the 7th grade at Lowell Scott Middle School. He loves playing lacrosse and going shooting with his brothers. He looks up to his older siblings and enjoys spending time with his big brothers.

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Travels

The Goodales have traveled all over the world this year. Over Spring Break, Dad took Andrew and Mark along on one of his business trips to Hong Kong and China (Shenzhen and Beijing). Dad traveled to 19 countries - including Denmark, Lithuania, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea, Japan and so on. Dad plans on taking Steven to Korea the first week of January, and Mark to Japan in March.