We Wish You a Merry Christmas . . .

they challenged that I knew what to do with a gun . . . they forgot I took hunter safety with Charlie Boss

Dear Friends and Family,                                             

            

I swear I just wrote a Christmas letter a couple of months ago.  It’s a mystery how each day still lasts 24 hours, but the months go by faster each year.  And even though I read Einstein’s biography this year and it painstakingly defined the theory between time and space and travel, I’m nary the wiser and prefer to think that the speed of passing time is more about magic than science. 

            

Here are ten reasons why Calvin and I will always remember the year of 2010:

10.  Seattle now feels like home.  Cali and Ray have a home in Seattle and this year we spent several weekends there.  Sometimes we went so Calvin could help them with a house project like putting up crown molding or building a fireplace mantel, but sometimes we just went to visit.  Not only have we discovered a great little pizza dive as well as a really good hamburger joint, but Calvin and Ray have found a little German shop that sells meat of all kinds and ages.  One of my favorite things to do in Seattle is to go on long walks with Cali down along the Pudget Sound beach. 

9.  Abe deployed to Iraq in March.  The family gathered in Colorado Springs to see him off.  It was humbling to see the sea of gear and men ready to load, leaving their families behind.  We’re grateful to Abe for his service to the American and Iraqi people. 

8.  Grace has lived with Calvin and me this year while Abe is gone.  She is a bright spot and we love having her here.  The three of us have done a lot of things together.  Grace and I even started jogging together (yes, yes, I’m impressed too), and Calvin and Grace each have a mountain cur dog from the same litter.  It’s quite fun having twin dogs jogging along behind us, that is until they get between our legs.

7.  Ty is in his last year at the United States Air Force Academy.  His host family, The Greens, set him up with Michelle Page and they are engaged to be married in May, two days after he graduates.  Michelle is the kind of girl that brings her own mistletoe when she comes to visit, and will sit at a street piano in Denver and play and sing.  She is fun, unselfish, and happy and we are so very, very lucky to have her. 

6.  Ty spent the summer in China.  He ran a marathon and hopped up the wall of China.  Guess what else is in China besides the Wall, black market movies, rice, and people?  Pearls!  Ty bought each of us girls a set of earrings and a necklace. 

5.  Ande finished her classes at BYU-Idaho and is preparing to do her student teaching in Seattle.  She will teach high school art and literature.  Not only did Ande get to have Sunday dinner each week with my sister Marcia, who is a professor there, she also got to take education classes from her.  She had a great four years. 

4. Ande is also engaged!  She met Joseph Nehila last New Year’s Eve and they are getting married in March.  Two things I love about Joe is he never runs out of ideas and is a great conversationalist, whether the topic is politics, foods, or the price of rice in China. 

3.  Ray biked over 250 miles for Tour DaVita (the company he works for) and found that biking beats jogging 250 to 1.  One thing we have really appreciated in this year of economic uncertainty is good jobs for everyone in the family that needs one. 

2.  For fun, Calvin and I have taken some community classes together and traveled to be with the kids and my sisters’ families.  Calvin also stays busy in the shop making bows, guns, frames, and furniture and I stay busy suggesting things that he should make.     

1.  In August, Grace and Abe had a little baby girl, Clara.  Clara lived only 50 minutes, but she breathed long enough that Grace held her and sang to her and Abe saw and talked to her over the Skype headphones.  We miss Clara.  Her birth was a wonderful miracle and made us even more grateful for the Savior’s miracles.  Her birth truly was a highlight of the year.

We appreciate our friendship and association with you and hope you’re enjoying this Christmas season.  A merry, merry Christmas to you . . .