The Offspring

 Quinn and Colby's Language teacher asked us to write a letter introducing them to her.  This is what I came up with.

Colby was born in Marquette, MI as a premature twin.  We had been transferred to Marquette General Hospital for the final two weeks of the pregnancy, after a total of 3 months on bedrest, as I went into pre-term labor at 20 weeks.  Colby and his brother Quinn spent a month in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit there, learning how to breathe, eat, and grow.  Bringing the boys home to Chassell after a total of 6 weeks in the hospital was such a relief!  At one year of age, both Quinn and Colby underwent nephrectomies (removal of a kidney) at the University of Michigan, secondary to severe kidney reflux.  Regardless of the bumpy beginning, Colby has thrived and grown into a healthy young man!

Colby lives with his Dad and I (Rob and Monica), his identical twin brother Quinn, and a little sister Reagan, who is in the 1^st grade.  He attended Chassell Elementary from preschool through 4^th grade.   He and Quinn are very close, and up until 4^th grade were virtually inseparable.   In 5^th grade, we decided to transfer just Colby to Houghton Elementary, while keeping his brother and sister in Chassell, so that the boys could develop their individual personalities and make individual friends.  It took Colby a little while to adjust to being without Quinn, but eventually he was able to make some really great friends and figure out that he’s not just half of a duo.

Colby is active in soccer, and snowboards all winter long.  He loves to swim, and conquered the high dive (the BIG one!!) at Michigan Tech’s pool when he was only six!  He’s a bit of a daredevil, and one of the bravest kids I’ve ever met.  Colby is also very musical, and plays the piano.  He will be starting band this school year, and he’s very excited about that.   Colby likes to act and perform: he’s had major roles in church plays, and gotten up in front of hundreds of people to speak before.   He’s traveled quite a bit in his young life, having visited Hawaii, Belize, Honduras, Mexico, the Cayman Islands, as well as many states in the U.S from coast to coast.  He enjoys flying with his Dad in our small, two-seater airplane.  They just got back from a week of camping on a small island in the middle of Lake Michigan, just the two of them. 

Colby loves to read, and is currently especially interested in mythology (Greek, Roman, Egyptian).  Calvin and Hobbes is also a favorite.  Colby is very interested in all forms of technology and electronics.  Over this past summer, he began learning how to program in HTML, and wants to one day be either a video game designer or a robotics engineer.  He’s hoping to attend Michigan Tech someday, just like his Dad. 

Colby struggles with organization, and often has sloppy handwriting because he rushes through his work.  He’s very capable of producing neat work when he slows down, and this is something that we’ve reminded him about his entire school career. 

He’s really excited about middle school and everything he’ll be able to learn and do!   Here’s hoping for a really great year!!  

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Quinn was born in Marquette, MI as a premature twin.  We had been transferred to Marquette General Hospital for the final two weeks of the pregnancy, after a total of 3 months on bedrest, as I went into pre-term labor at 20 weeks.  Quinn and his brother Colby spent a month in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit there, learning how to breathe, eat, and grow.  Bringing the boys home to Chassell after a total of 6 weeks in the hospital was such a relief!  At one year of age, both Quinn and Colby underwent nephrectomies (removal of a kidney) at the University of Michigan, secondary to severe kidney reflux.  Quinn’s remaining kidney was also bad, and we were told to expect either another surgery or a kidney transplant when he was bigger, but the kidney was healed when Quinn turned two, which we regard as a true miracle. 

Quinn lives with his Dad and I (Rob and Monica), his identical twin brother Colby, and a little sister Reagan, who is in the 1^st grade.  He attended Chassell Elementary from preschool through 5^th grade.   He and Colby are very close, and up until 4^th grade were virtually inseparable.   In 5^th grade, we decided to transfer just Colby to Houghton Elementary, while keeping Quinn and Reagan in Chassell, so that the boys could develop their individual personalities and make individual friends.  Quinn really blossomed during this time “on his own”.  This is his first year at Houghton, and he’s nervous but excited to try something new.

Quinn is active in soccer and basketball, and snowboards all winter long.  He plays the piano and last year started the trumpet, which he took to very quickly.  He’s also learning to play the mandolin – something he’s wanted to do since kindergarten.    Quinn is a soft-hearted boy, and loves animals of all kinds.  He spends quite a bit of time at his cousins’ farm, with the turkeys, chickens, cows and horses.  He also loves rocks and minerals, and has a decent-sized collection in his bedroom.  Quinn enjoys doing tricks on his scooter, and has built a scooter ramp course off our front porch.   He’s traveled quite a bit in his young life, having visited Hawaii, Belize, Honduras, Mexico, the Cayman Islands, as well as many states in the U.S from coast to coast.  He enjoys flying with his Dad in our small, two-seater airplane.  This past summer, they spent a week in Canada near the arctic circle, just the two of them. 

Quinn loves to read, especially Calvin and Hobbes.  He’s a good student, and a hard worker, but prefers hands-on learning and lots of movement.  He’s really excited about middle school, but nervous about the transition to a new school, where he’ll know less people.  Houghton is so much bigger than Chassell!   Here’s hoping for a really great year!!  Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any concerns at all!