Christmas Report

Christmas morning we were pleasantly surprised that no one woke us up until 7AM! We had a great day and everyone received the gifts that they desired...

Christmas Eve was fun filled as busy! We had a family party that evening complete with a visit from Santa. After dinner/singing/Santa visit, we headed off to Temple Square (our family tradition), accompanied by Janaye and Austin (Michelle's sister and son). It was a great time, with weather in the mid-30's and very comfortable.

The kids have been playing non-stop with they gifts...singing Wii game, dad got a new guitar, mom a new sewing machine, Justine a Zune (mp3 player), Maddie with a couple princess items, Emilie with a digital camera.

Austin reflecting as he looked at the temple. He sat there for around 5 minutes
staring...he is baptized, but not active.

Cute Emilie

Temple

Temple

Rusty

I proposed to Michelle 13 years ago on Temple Square.
While we were dating, she instructed me in no
uncertain terms that I was not to propose on
Temple Square (too cliche, apparently).
I figured Temple Square would
be the place she would least expect it,
so that's what I did. Afterwards, we
announced our nuptials to the wait staff
of the JB's across the street
from the temple.

Family

Cute Maddie

Kids

Family

Night time

Sometimes, scriptures at our house look like this...



Other times, it looks like this...



Pretty normal, except for the following discussion:

Justine: "Emilie! Your feet STINK!"
Dad: "Justine, be quiet! Why do we have to discuss every night that it is rude to speak and interrupt a family member when it is their turn to read?"
Justine: Rolls her eyes.
Dad: "Did you just roll your eyes at me? Did you just roll your eyes at me?"
Justine: "Her feet STINK!"
Dad: "Em, keep your feet out of Justine's face!"
Em: "HAHAHAHAHA!"
Michelle: See photo
Maddie: Raises hand...
Dad: "Yes, Maddie?"
Maddie: "Jesus is nice, huh?"
Dad: "Yes Maddie, he is."

Kids Pictures

Justine received her dance pictures back...Emilie got her school photo, too.

Catching up...

Wow do we have some catching up to do! Here we go...

James' mother passed away last month (11 November). She had been sick for a very long time, so it wasn't unexpected. It was one of those where it was more of a relief, as she was suffering so much, but we miss her. We were able to head back to Indiana last April for a visit. There was no funeral or service. James headed down to Las Vegas for a couple days that week to spend with his sister Laurie.

We had a great Thanksgiving this year; we spent it at Michelle's mom's house with a few of her siblings. A great 4 day weekend away from the busy schedule of work!

We are getting ready for Christmas. Michelle sponsored a Toys for Tots drive for our neighborhood this past week. It turned out really great and she had a great turnout with lots of toys donated. Yesterday we took the toys up the the Marine Corps office where they will be handed out to needy kids. It was a great experience and Michelle did a great job! She is one of the most service oriented people I have ever known; she is always thinking of others.

Justine is finishing up a small fundraiser for her great Aunt & Uncle who are on a mission to Cambodia. She is collecting money to send them so that they can buy white shirts for the young men in the branch where they are serving. She is a great kid, and we are doing our best to help her continue to learn the spirit of service; she is doing a great job!

Work for James is going well; if James and Carl hit a certain sales number by the end of the year, then they get to go on the company club trip to the Dominican Republic next spring (wives included). Cross your fingers!

Emilie had a good soccer season. We moved her up 2 levels this year as she was scoring 8-10 goals a game in her age group. She was a little intimidated in the new league as she was playing against kids 2-3 years older than her. One game Michelle told her she would pay her a nickle for every time she kicked the ball (she was being timid) and she proceeded to earn a dollar and score a goal in about 5 minutes. She now wants to play Junior Jazz basketball; it looks like we got a boy after all!

Rusty the dog has been a great addition to the family...he plays with everyone, and chews on everything. I went to put on my shoes the other day and both my laces broke; he had chewed on them. Overall a great dog! We can't wait for the summer...we are going to buy a camper and a couple of four wheelers (really for the elk hunt next year...but we will use if for the family too!) this spring. We used to go ATV'ing/camping all the time when we lived in South Jordan and we really miss it.

Toys for Tots Fundraiser










First Day of Kindergarten



Em's Birthday






Em Soccer






Justine Piano



Dad B-Day



Younger Days...