Family Newsletter 2009

I just completed this years Christmas Letter. Like last year, I will just be mailing it to a few people who aren't bloggers or facebookers. Call me cheap, but I like to be frugal. However if you really want a hard copy for whatever reason, I'll mail you one. Here is what is says:

What a whirlwind of a year 2009 turned out to be. At the beginning of the year we were in Idaho, thinking we would be moving temporarily out of the country. Jared had a job offer in Belgium and the whole episode was a roller coaster. By the end of winter, we had most of our stuff in boxes or sold before we realized that a move to Belgium just wasn’t going to happen. We were all disappointed but also glad it didn’t pan out. But we struggled with the fact that we knew we were supposed to move some where and we didn’t know where.

That some where revealed itself in the summer when Jared was offered a job across the country in Virginia. We were a little hesitant at first because of the whole Belgium fiasco. But after much pray we knew this was where the Lord was trying to lead us. After accepting the job we had three weeks to pack and move so we could get RJ started in Kindergarten on time as well as a quick trip to California. It was stressful and we lived off of pure adrenaline for the entire month of August.

Our fears and concerns about the move were dissolved when our home in Idaho sold in three days and the people of Lynchburg welcomed us with nothing but warm kindness. We know this is where we are supposed to be at this time in our lives even though it is tough being so far from extended family and old friends, especially around the holidays. But we are trying to make the most of it.

RJ started Kindergarten this year. Even though he struggled a little with school, he was one of the top students and received the Good Citizenship award the first time it was presented. After buying a house shortly before Thanksgiving, RJ switched schools. He is now in a smaller class size and is enjoying Kindergarten whole heartily and we are so happy.

Savannah took a dance class this summer and loved every minute of it. We think she will be a natural, if we can only find an affordable dance class here in Lynchburg. She has become Mommy’s little helper and loves grocery shopping and folding the laundry. Jennifer hopes she will continue to enjoy folding the laundry when she is older. (Keep dreaming.) Another great accomplishment Savannah achieved this year was potty training. We can’t be any happier then to finally have her out of diapers.

In April we brought a third little blessing into our lives as we welcomed Zachery into our family. He has been such a fun happy baby and we can’t even begin to imagine life without him. Zachery has been growing up fast. Jennifer wishes he would slow down a little. He started crawling at just 6 months of age and hasn’t stopped exploring. He loves his older siblings and they can’t wait till he gets big enough to run around and play.

This year Jennifer became a lay out designer for a digital scrapbooking company. She has enjoyed making scrapbook pages for the family albums and having her hobby paid for through the assignments she has been given from Scrap Girls. She has also been busy settling us all into our new home that we all very much love and can’t believe is ours.

Jared has been surprised to find that he very much enjoys his new job. He can see himself moving far in this company. He has become the Scout Master, again, in our new ward. It is a calling you defiantly can’t move away from, but he is thrilled to still be involved with the scouting program.

We have all truly been blessed and we can’t thank the Lord enough. We hope this letter finds you well. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010.

This year we took pictures ourselves with the timer on our camera. It was right after Church and the kids really wanted lunch. But they did pretty good to humor us. The lighting in our front room is not so great and the only backdrop we had handy was our lovely gold 60 style curtains. But hey, gold does go with the theme of Christmas, so it's all good. Here are a few shots as we try to get the best pose we could get. Enjoy.

I liked this one, except we were off balance and Zachery wasn't looking.)

(But we ended up going with this pose because it was a little more balanced and everyone was pretty much looking at the camera)

Isn't he just the cutest!!

Tis the Season for Giving

There are so many families in need and we all seem to be drawn to helping and giving to others more this time of year. Wouldn't it be nice if the world enjoyed the spirit of Christmas all year long. I just recently came across this blog auction from another friends blog post and thought I'd share it with those I know as well. The Auction has been going on for some time but will still be open for 2 more days. There are some cute stuff being auctioned off that many people have donated. The Auction ends on Dec. 12th at midnight (eastern time). The proceeds go to the Jones family, who recently lost a loved one. Emily Jones lost her husband, John, while he was being rescued from the Nutty Puddy caves in Utah. She has a 14 month old daughter and is expecting their second child. I can't even imagine the pain she must be going through. Anyway, if you have a moment check out the blog auction at this link http://adailyscoop.blogspot.com/

Christmas Countdown Lay Out

It is Monday again and one of my lay out assignments was published in

today's Scrap Girls newsletter.


For this assignment I was asked to scrap a Christmas Tradition using products by Jacelen Deinema. She has got some great stuff. She paints most of her stuff using watercolors and then transfer it to digital. What talent!!!
In one of her collections, she had this basket and it reminded me of our basket we use to keep our books in for our Christmas Countdown. And so this lay out was born. I had a lot of fun with the hanging frames and it was fun to go back through old photos. Boy, have the children changed! Time sure does fly.

(Our countdown tradition started in 2006.)
Page Journaling:
We started a new Christmas Tradition this year. I gathered 24 picture books relating to Christmas or the Winter Season and wrapped them each individually. The wrapped books were put in a basket and placed under the tree. Each night before bed the kids were able to unwrap one book for their bedtime story. Once the last book was unwrapped, we knew Christmas Eve had arrived.

Thanksgiving

So two weekends before Thanksgiving, RJ's kindergarten class was preparing to read a book about a turkey disguising himself for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The children were each given a turkey to disguise and bring back Monday or no later then Wednesday.
Of cousre, being the responable parents like we are, we forgot till late Sunday night. It was already an hour past bedtime and both kids were cranky and so ready to crash. We told RJ that we would just do it Monday after school, that he had until Wednesday anyway. Well, RJ flipped out, saying he had to turn it in Monday. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he wanted to disguise his turkey as.
After giving him many ideas, which he turned down (parents just aren't cool or creative enough), we finally sent RJ off to bed telling him he will just have to turn it in on Tuesday. Being extremely tired, RJ threw a huge fit and decided to go with mommy's first idea, Santa Claus. (Who would cook Santa for dinner, right? I thought it was a pretty cool idea.)
Daddy promised RJ that if he went to bed, he would have a Santa disguise all ready for him to put together in the morning and he could turn it in on time. RJ reluctantly agreed and went to bed. Daddy stayed up another hour cutting out a Santa Suit from construction paper.
The next morning, after a good night's rest, RJ was in a better mood. Luckily,
we had plenty of time before the bus came and he got his homework done on time.
I think we all learned a good lesson that night.

Thanksgiving Day

It was a beautiful day. We had lived in our new home for a total of 4 four day. We had a lot to be Thankful for. We did miss our family, but we made the most of it.
We got our kitchen put together just in time for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Jared set up the trampoline, and the kids enjoyed it while the Turkey cooked. This year we decided that cooking a Thanksgiving meal for the 5 of us was going to be just too much. Zachery of course wouldn't eat much of it, RJ just wanted a PB&J sandwich anyway, Savannah would eat some of it, and Jared and I were tired from unpoacking and felt very disorganized to even begin thinking about cooking a big meal. So the solutions: Thanksgiving in a box from Kroger.

We got all this, plus a good size Turkey and rolls. We just had to buy a Marie Calendar pumpkin pie and we were set.

The turkey was actually pretty good. Very moist, not a lot of flavor, but not bad. The sides were better then I imagined. We had a good feast for our current situation.

After dinner I taught RJ how to play chess. He picked it up so much faster then I expected. And even though I could care less about the game, I actually was surprised to find that I had fun playing it with him. Probably because it was so fun to watch him learn.

(the Frankenstein piece is part of a Simply Fun version of Chess, makes the game go faster).

After our game we had Pumpkin Pie. Yummy!!! Usually we make it from scratch with our pumpkin we freeze from our Halloween cravings, but like I said before, our life had been very disorganized. So we had good old Marie Calendar's pie.

(talking to Grandma on the phone)

Zachery wasn't feeling very well on Thanksgiving or from much of the week. He had a bad ear infection and was just out of sorts. He really didn't want anything to do with food other then nursing, so he was mad when I put him in his chair for some pie.

A little better. He still didn't want to eat the pie, silly boy. But he did enjoy playing with a spoon covered in cool whip for a bit, while I enjoyed my pie.

Last Sunday
It was a gorgeous 70 degree sunny day. LOVED IT!! We spent the afternoon enjoying our yard.

This is RJ's favorite tree. It is fun to climb. Unfortunately, it will have to be cut down since it is getting in the way of power lines.

And check out this awesome feature. The people before us, put in a tether ball, and left it for us. It is the prefect size for the kids. How cool is that!!

Side Notes:
RJ is loving his new School. He is soooo excited to go to school each morning. It is making going to school so much more easier. I am so happy. It is what I always thought going to kindergarten would be. He loves it. And I love that we can walk him to school. It has been great!!
Savannah keeps me entertained through out the day. She comes up with the most random stuff. I love her train of thoughts, too funny. The other day she saw an infomercial for a toothpaste dispenser and she went on and on about how that was a must have, quoting line from the sale's pitch. It was just too darn cute, because she was just so serious about it.
Zachery is a ball of fun. (Except right now, it is 12:30 am and he is just wide awake!!) I need to find the charge for the other camera so I can get a video of him chasing the kids around the house. He just loves it when RJ and Savannah get done and play at his level. He just laughs and giggle whenever they are near. If Savannah and RJ are running around he will crawl after them, just a laughing, it is so cute and the kids love it. They can play tag and never be "It"!

Scrapbooking Pages & Update

First an update:
We have now been in our house for a little over a week. There are still lots of boxes to go through. We have the kitchen all done and all the other rooms all most all done. We got sick of boxes for awhile and took a break and have enjoyed the nice 60/70 degree weather doing yard work and such.
Zachery was sick during moving day. It made moving hard and it has made unpacking just as hard. He is doing better but still demands lots of attention.
Savannah is still her silly self and has been keeping busy with movies as I try to get things done. I need to schedule a few play dates soon to get her eyes off the screen for awhile.
RJ LOVES his new school and teacher. There are 15 kids in his class and one lives right behind us. We have walked to school with them, which makes things that much more fun.
We enjoyed a small quit Thanksgiving, just the 5 of us. I hope to upload photos soon.
Jared and I have been doing nothing but house work and yard work. Oh the joys of home ownership!! We are hoping to be settled and box free soon.
That about it.

Here are two of my scrap book pages that appeared in yesterday's Scrap Girls newsletter.

This photo was taken in Hawaii as we celebrated our 5th Anniversary in 2007.
Supplies for products used can be found here.

Journaling: The tradition started in 2003 when Jared decided he wanted to make homemade pumpkin pie out of the pumpkin we scraped out of our Halloween jack-o-lanterns. Since then, we save a little pumpkin from our Halloween cravings and use it to make our Thanksgiving Day Pumpkin Pies.
Supply list: here