Christmas Letter 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Season's Greetings! We hope this letter finds you all happy and healthy! We have been so blessed this year and know that everything we have comes from a loving Heavenly Father. We are aware and grateful for his constant watch care over us and our loved ones. What a wonderful time of year to reflect on everything we have because of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. In celebration of 2011 here is a little bit of what we've been up to this year.

Darrin was able to take his sabbatical this summer. As a result we were able to make lots of memories and have tons of fun together as a family. Our travels took us to Disneyland, Idaho, Utah, Branson, Missouri, Oklahoma, the Oregon coast, and Darrin and I were able to go to Hawaii ALONE! It was a great summer! After the summer ended, we said good bye to Darrin's parents as they left on their mission to Manchester, England. We've had fun writing them and reading their letters. We pray for them daily and are grateful for their example and dedication.

Luke (3 1/2) is a sweet little boy who is growing up so fast! He loves preschool and nursery and is excited to go to Sunbeams. He loves his brothers and is eager to do what they're doing. He enjoys learning his letters and finding the letter "L" where ever we go.

Andrew (6) started kindergarten this year and is doing great! He's excited to learn to read. He LOVES Star Wars, Star Wars Legos, and playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii. This past year he took Taekwondo and made it to a white belt with a red stripe. He played soccer this past fall and discovered how much he loves it. Andrew is quite an independent kid who loves to take charge.

Josh (7 1/2) is in the 2nd grade. He loves reading and writing and wants to be a poet/author when he grows up. He also loves math and excitedly learning his multiplication and division facts. He's been taking piano lessons for almost a year, and also played soccer in the fall. He's a good example to his friends and is excited to be baptized in March.

Kim is finding herself to be more of a stay-in-car mom as opposed to a stay-at-home mom. She's constantly driving the kids to where they need to be. She's also staying busy being the Young Women's Secretary at church, the vice-president of the PTA, volunteering in the boys classrooms, teaching preschool, and continuing to take an online BYU class.

Darrin still works at Intel and is counting down until the next sabbatical:) In April he was called to be the 2nd counselor in our ward's bishopric and this fall he coached both the boys soccer teams. He still likes to play indoor soccer and play board games in his spare time.

We look forward to hearing from all of you this Christmas season and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!