2015 Family Newsletter

This is our family newsletter for 2015. Normally, we send out our newsletter with our Christmas cards, but things got a little hectic. So we sent out a New Years letter instead.

 ‘Twas the day to send Christmas cards

    and all through the house,

Every creature was stirring…

…Wait! Was that a mouse?!

The laundry was stacked in a basket with care,

In hopes that someone would move it from there.

The children weren’t nestled all snug in their beds,

But were causing much mischief and mayhem instead;

And mom had a headache, daddy was ready to snap—

We had just settled our brains that there would be no nap;

With all of the cleaning, shopping, and holiday clatter,

We didn’t send cards to those who matter.

But mom had an idea that hit like a flash,

That was almost as good as her secret chocolate stash—

She hugged daddy and kissed the elf on the shelf,

And started to laugh in spite of herself;

“Let’s send out a New Year’s newsletter instead,”

She said with a wink and a nod of her head.

So we hope your Christmas was full of joy;

That Santa visited every good girl and boy.

We hope your family is happy, healthy, and well,

And that you have had many good adventures to tell;

We wish to you all that we hold so dear,

“Happy Late Christmas to all,

and to all a Good Year!”

What a year it has been! Our family has been so blessed this year.

Probably the biggest event for our family was that we moved. It was difficult to leave the home where our family had grown over the past 11 years, but we are now making many happy memories in our new home in Grantsville. Grantsville is Jolene’s hometown, so it has been nice to get reacquainted with old friends and to meet new ones. Nic is still trying to get used to the commute, but we are enjoying the ‘country’ life. We’re even learning to can and make dried fruit with the harvest from our very own little orchard. From the patriotic Fourth of July festivities to a kid’s Pioneer Day parade to a Halloween parade, Nic is starting to think our town has a parade every other week!

            Nic still works for Rodon Foods. According to him, his job is a “cheese salesman.” =) He had his shoulder worked on at the beginning of the year, but now he is good as new and back to working hard and playing hard.

Jolene does story time at the library twice a month and is almost done with the book she has been writing. She is mostly just trying to keep up with the shenanigans of four little hooligans. But no matter how much trouble the kids cause (which is more than imaginable), there isn’t anything she would rather do than be a stay-at-home mom.

Sam is in kindergarten and loves it. He really likes his teacher and his class. He has made many new friends and continues to be a little comedian. He’s such a smarty and is beginning to read and write (unfortunately, we can’t spell things out anymore when we don’t want the kids to know what we’re saying). He can count to 100 and continues to amaze us with how tech-savvy he is.

Mark started preschool this year and is actually going to the same preschool mommy went to a long, long time ago. He loves his teacher and going to school. He is quite the artist and always has artwork that must be displayed. He is also very smart and can recite several of his favorite books from memory.

Cole isn’t in school yet, but does an informal at-home school with mommy. He loves trucks and anything that moves. He loves animals and has no fear. One day he walked right up to a real-life camel and pet its neck before mom could stop him. Cole is always on the go, and his mom affectionately (sometimes in frustration) calls him her ‘little tornado’.

Lucy turned one in August, and loves being the baby girl of the family. She has brought a lot of pink, sparkle, and spunk into our family. We give her dolls to play with, but she prefers trucks and dirt. She’s our little tomboy! At Thanksgiving, she finally decided to walk and now is constantly on-the-go. She also enjoyed her first jeeping trip over Thanksgiving and amazed all of us with how good she was.

For Christmas, we added a new member to our family—an Italian mastiff named Mia. So we are now a two dog family with Mia and our English mastiff, Gus. Nic is still wondering how he got hoodwinked into this one! =)

Of all the blessings we have, the good family and friends in our lives are the best blessings of all. Thank you for all that you do for our family. We don’t say it enough, but we are so grateful. When we moved, we had wanted to write individual notes to everyone that has touched our lives, but soon discovered that the task was too overwhelming—there are just so many amazing people in our lives! Thank you. We love you and wish the best for you and your family in this new year.