Our Yearly Letter!!

 I am calling this my yearly letter.  If I called it my Christmas letter, I’d be late, but if I call it my yearly letter, I’ve still got 8 hours.  Of course, I am not going to mail it out to everyone.  I’m sorry.  This way though, if you don’t want to read it, you don’t have to, and you won’t feel guilty about the wasted money on paper and stamps.   No trees were injured in making of this yearly letter.

At first, I thought about making one of those letters that everyone who reads it feels inadequate and stupid -- the ones that only tell the good things and even then it’s all exaggerated -- the ones that make you feel like a total and complete idiot because your house is always a mess and you don’t volunteer at the homeless shelter and you’ll be lucky if your kid gets into the community college let alone Harvard.  Then I thought about writing one that was a little too honest, but then you might feel great about yourselves, but I’d feel like a total loser.  So I’m not going to mention that my dishes and laundry haven’t been caught up since 2003 2005, or that I’m so insanely busy I rarely sometimes don’t mop my floor, and if my kids have socks (even if they don’t match), I’m happy.   So I thought I’d just hit the highs and lows of our year. 

Let’s start with the lows… My mother had surgery to remove a cancer growth on her cheek.  It was cancer, but the doctors say it won’t shorten her life.  My tap dancing, vegan mother-in-law gave birth to a 12lb water cyst.  We named her Gertrude!!  My brother had many surgeries this year.  I don’t think I could name them all.  They are, however, going to name a wing of the local hospital after him.  My 5 year old nephew had a stroke.  One of my very favorite cousins, this year, finished his turn on earth.  We miss him but know we will see him again.  Many of my friends and family lost jobs this year.  One of them being my other brother, although he just found a new job!!  My husband traveled a bunch this year.  

Now for ones I’m not sure which list to put them on (you can decide, are they good things or sad and bad things)...  My oldest son is now in high school!!  This has caused me much stress.  I have to say this was harder than sending any of my kids to kindergarten.  The only thing that came close to topping this and maybe even passed it is when I took him driving for the first time or when he got his learners permit.  Today he got his first letter from a college.   Yeah I am not ready for this!!  I now have one in high school, one in jr. high, three in elementary and one still home with me.  On a side note, I’d like to find the people who started the rumors that it gets easier as the kids get older and who said it’s easier with older kids so I can egg their cars.  I’m never home and spend my life driving.  At least I’m never bored or home to clean.



The Denver Temple was under construction,
so here is a picture of the kids in front of the sign.



Now for the GREAT and FUN things that happened to our family this year...  In January, we got to go to Florida.  This is a perk of the above mentioned bad thing of having my hubby travel a lot.   We had lots and lots of fun going to the temple, Disney World and Universal Studios.   No one got lost or almost drowned in a tsunami like last time we went to Florida.  This is a very good thing.  We also, in July, got to go on our first family vacation/ business trip.  This means me and the kids had fun in Boulder Colorado while my hubby worked.  Highlights of that trip would have to be singing Rocky Mountain High in the Rocky Mountains hehehe, going on lots and lots of hikes with my kids and seeing how strong they are, and watching my 15 year old carry my toddler on all the hikes.   We sure do live in a beautiful world.   My 14 year old is the 8^th grade SBO President (Student body officer for those of you like me who have to told what this means).    My 8 year old got his brown belt in karate -- which sounds like a huge accomplishment, but he still has years before he gets his black belt.   My baby is now a toddler and has-to-be the sweetest kid.   I lost 51 lbs and hope not to find it in 2011.  The best news of the year is that we found out that we are going to have another baby.  This was not the original plan, but we found out through lots of prayers, fasting and temple attendance that it needed to be our new plan.  We are very excited to welcome this new spirit into our home July 2011. 

We are grateful for all of our wonderful neighbors, friends and family that make our lives that much better.  We are eternally grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who is always watching out for us, and we know He knows us and our needs far better than we do.  When we put our faith and trust in Him, we will be blessed with more than we could ever imagine.

Christmas Eve in our new pajamas

Happy New Year!!