Nicholas is our 12 year old going on teenagehood. He has his up and down days but is extremely helpful. I am so thankful for his willingness to carry in wood, take care of David, and help his Gramma Maroney at the ranch. Nick had a great time with Dmitri (his cousin) this Christmas and tried to spend lots of time with him. We pulled him away for family traditions of caroling (with the Newitts this year) and Christmas morning at home. Nicholas has transitioned to Craver Middle School very smoothly and has kept his grades up enough to be on the honor roll. He tried soccer again this fall and excelled. He played on his school's travel basketball team with Dad as coach and is improving greatly with all his practice. He loves to play ball with his cousins form Pueblo and Uncle Matt and Dad. Nicholas has recently acquired an X-Box from his cousin and is enjoying some vegging time. He is up on a mountain this weekend with his dad and the other scouts from church. They were skiing into a cabin and spending the weekend doing winter survival camping. I think he will have a great experience and I am especially impressed with his willingness to go even though it was going to be cold. Yesterday he spent all morning at a youth service project stacking wood. He's a hardy, Colorado boy!