Christmas letter

Christmas 2010

Early in November I remember thinking I need to get my Christmas list together so I can get my Christmas cards out this year. Well…..that didn’t happen, as usual. December rolls around and I am still trying to figure out when I am going to get to the store to buy Christmas cards or to have a few peaceful minutes to sit down at the computer and order picture cards. I even had the pictures taken this year. They look great hanging on my parent’s wall, but alas they did not make it to Christmas cards.

No worries! There are faster and cheaper ways of send out Christmas cards and that will be the excuse I am using this year.

Our family has had a pretty interesting year.

Jacob just turned 16 last week and now has his driver’s license. Although it has only been a week so far he has been a huge help with the family, especially running errands when needed. He is still looking for a job but he continues to put out applications and in the mean time he works for Dane. He has decided that since he is home all day he needed to find a sport to keep him busy. Snowboarding is the new passion and since mom sprung for the season pass to Heavenly, most Wednesday and weekends he spends in Tahoe. He will be starting at the community college in January taking some Sports Medicine classes and will be checking out BYU next week and BYU-I in August when he attends EFY.

Jared is looking forward to being able to attend school at home in January. He will miss his friends at school but he will get to see them at Seminary and other activities. His phone never stops ringing so I doubt he will miss too much of what goes on at the school. He will get frequent updates from all the girls on a minute by minute basis I am sure. Although, Jared loved playing high school football the concussion set him back quite a bit and he was out for awhile. Jared is finding an interest in teaching/helping special education kids. He spent the last part of 8th grade helping in the special education classes at the middle school and this year he has been helping a family with a few special education kids. Over the last few years he has helped a number of the special education boys in his Boy Scout troop work on advancement. The first of the boys earned his Eagle Scout award this last summer with Jared’s assistance.

Jordan loves to be anywhere his brothers are and loves to tell his sister what to do. He enjoys showing her how to find things on the computer and loves to let her play video games with him. Usually we can find Jordan in the backyard inventing some new tool, weapon, tree house design, or some other contraption. I have found many of his contraptions and wonder where he gets the insight to design and create such things. He loves being outside helping in the garden or collecting the eggs from the chickens. He is just as comfortable inside playing video games, on the computer or reading a book.

Jessica is growing like a weed as usual. She will be turning 5 in February and is looking forward to her birthday. She has already instructed her daddy and I on what she wants for her birthday as well as the cake and decorations that she would like. It will be a princess theme as usual or just about anything pink we can find. She loves her dresses and shoes (can’t forget the shoes) but she doesn’t mind going out back and playing in the dirt and mud in her dress either. This last year the boys had her running around the backyard collecting worms to feed the chickens. They tried to convince her to eat one of the worms, yuck. Mom had to step in and explain she could collect the worms but only the chickens were allowed to eat them. She is excited to start school in the Fall and has already asked that her brother drive her every day.

Dane and I have been busy with business and work. Dane still has his landscaping business as well as spending time managing contractors working in the Orinda and Moraga area for the Contra Costa Times, the New York Times, and Wall Street Journal as well as many other publications. He continues to fly planes when he gets a chance. It is really nice to be able to say I want to go to Tahoe or Monterey for breakfast and not have to worry about traffic or how long it will take to get there. We have had some amazing lunches that way!

I continue to work at the Sheriff’s office and enjoy spending time with the kids. I had to travel a little bit this year and learned early on that I needed more than a phone to appease the kids. I always travel with my laptop so Skype has been our new best friend. I can parent from states away and still make sure their homework is done. They love that.

Our family has enjoyed seeing pictures of your families, reading your letters, and receiving your cards. Hopefully, we will be better next year and get out our own cards. In the mean time, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Helping my father heal.

I am currently in Salt Lake helping my father heal. He had surgery last week and they were expecting complications. He came through surgery okay. There were complication during and after surgery but he is home and on the mend. I will post more later when I am on my own computer and have more time.