Merry Christmas to all . . .

In lieu of a snail mail Christmas letter, we're doing an electronic blog version. Here an update on what our year has been like for our family.

Hannah is busy playing the clarinet in the concert band (where she and another student share concertmaster responsibilities) and the jazz band at school. She is in the midst of play practices for Annie. She's an orphan and a citizen. She's thoroughly enjoying the practices and a chance to do something new. She took horseback riding lessons this fall and loved it, and she still participates in Girl Scouts as time allows as well as Young Womens at church. She turns 14 next April and she is anxiously awaiting the day when she can attend the dances & youth conferences at church. And she is still reading and reading and reading.

Megan has thoroughly adjusted to life in the middle school as a 6th grader--except for the very early mornings. She enjoys her classes, and especially enjoys the extracurriculars available. She's on student council as the social chair, and attends art club and plays the trumpet in the 6th grade band as well as the jazz lab band. She also volunteered to help out with Ali's newspaper club at the elementary school, and she loves that opportunity to share her "expertise." She's still playing the piano and going to gymnastics, and participating in Girl Scouts occasionally, although it's hard to fit it all in. She is soooooooo ready to turn 12 in February and graduate from Primary and Activity Days at church and move up to Young Womens.

Ali has discovered the clubs at the elementary school and has gone overboard! She's doing Odyssey of the Mind (which she LOVES) and Newspaper Club and Student Council. She's still playing the piano and recently started playing the recorder through school which she finds a little bit easier than the violin which she also recently started. Ali is also doing gymnastics and girl scouts and she loves her fellow Brownies. She enjoys Activity Days at church too, and is busy busy busy.

Sara has decided that the Christmas break will include a serious evaluation of the activities that the girls are involved in since she spends way too much time carpooling and not enough time snuggling with her girls! A sign saying "Good Better Best" hangs in the kitchen and it's time to weed out some of the good things in our lives and focus on what's best. So hard sometimes. She has also continued serving in the Young Women organization at church and recently shifted over to president, and that's been a super fun change. The girls are so fun and sharp. Her other new commitments include serving on a building committee at the middle school as a parent representative, and working for the district part-time as a tutor for suspended students and students who are out of school long-term for medical reasons. She loves the job as it affords her an opportunity to work one-on-one, which she loves, and to brush up on her skills, while still having plenty of time for the kids. And the stories she could tell you about what kids do to get suspended . . .

Jeff's working hard at the college as well as at the clinic. He especially enjoys mentoring students, and challenging them in the schoolwork. He has a reputation for teaching really hard classes, but the word on the street is that it's worth the effort. Just check out his ratings on www.ratemyprofessors.com! Although Sara thinks he should have a chilli pepper. Haha! He loved spending time out west with his family. He spent his summer picking and canning plums from out giant plum tree, and staining the deck. And of course cooking. He has really enjoyed singing in the Rochester Area Mormon Choir, and is really looking forward to the semester break over the holidays.

The highlight of the year by far was out trip out west this summer to see family. We could hardly get enough of them. It was so good to see everyone, and the girls got to know their cousins in ways that just weren't possible with quicker trips in the past. And we had a blast along the way. (Just see the previous posts here on the blog for all the sordid details.) We look forward to a repeat in 2 years!

Merry Christmas to all of you and we wish you a fabulous and fun New Year!