Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Here is an update on some of the headlines from our lives:

Tyler (8) is in 3rd grade.  He loves school, but not homework so much.  He is taking piano lessons and attending cub scouts.  He loves to spend time with friends and his brothers.  He loves our new dog Shadow and lets Shadow sleep in his room sometimes -- even when it means he has to get up early to take care of him!

Brian (13) is in 7th grade -- his first year of middle school and seems to be enjoying it.  He takes band and plays the trumpet.  He plays the piano (VERY well) and has even accompanied the Priesthood when they sang Ye Elders of Israel in church.  He loves spending time with friends and computer/video games.  He enjoys doing things with his brothers.  He is doing well with his scouting merit badges.  He is a happy person to be around and likes to make us smile.

Kyle (15) is in 10th grade -- his first year of high school.  Kyle finished his Eagle Project for the local Make-a-Wish foundation and has earned his Eagle award, but we have yet to plan his court of honor.  He is very busy with the swim team at the high school so we are just trying to find the time to fit it all in.  He FINALLY got to quit taking piano lessons this year, but we are trying to motivate him to continue to play at least the hymns on weekends so he doesn't forget it all and so it will still be of some use to him as a missionary.   He is gone most of the day every day and still finds the time to entertain himself with video games and stay on top of his schooling.

Rich's has a new job at LanDesk.  We feel very blessed that he was able to find a job after being without full-time employment for so long.  He is still doing some of his contract work on the side, so that keeps him very busy. 

Rae really enjoys her life as a stay-at-home Mom.  She really enjoys teaching piano lessons and loves to spend time with her rubber stamping hobby/business.  She is still helping out with the Stake Young Women and is playing the piano for the ward choir. She was able to go to Stake Girls' Camp this summer and had a great experience there.

Family:  Much to our sorrow, Rich's mother Shirley passed away this year in July after being diagnosed with cancer in May.  Rich was able to fly down to Arizona to spend some time with her a few times before she passed away.  We find that the older we get, the more people we seem to have in the Spirit World cheering for us here on Earth.

We had a VERY busy summer, but Rich found some time to go on a river rafting trip with the boy scouts and also took our boys on a trip to Lake Powell this year with their cousins and uncle.  They had a great time.  

Rae, Brian and Tyler were able to participate in a production of "Faith the Musical" at the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City.  There is an article about it in the December 2011 Ensign pg 77.  This took up most of our summer and was a wonderful experience.

Rae took the boys and the new dog Shadow on a trip to Monticello to visit her mother.  We also did a little bit of sight-seeing at Edge of the Cedars in Blanding.  We had a GREAT opportunity to go to the small planetarium there in Monticello that is run by the 4-corners school and look through some telescopes at the night sky and the sun.  It was so fun to be able to see so many stars there away from all the city lights.

Finally - after four years, we decided to get a new family picture taken -- you can see it in our Photos section.

In case you missed the references to Shadow above -- we got a new dog this Fall.  He is a mini-schnauzer and we all LOVE him SO much!  Rae was pretty hesitant at first to agree to it, but she loves him just as much as everyone else.  He is a really great dog.  Take a look at our photos section to see him.

We love this time of year to catch up on how everyone is doing.  We feel so blessed to have the gift of the Savior to focus on at this time of year.  We wish all of you the best!

Keep in touch!

Love Rich & Rae and family