I finally got all our Christmas cards mailed yesterday. The printer wasn't working so I just mailed them without a letter! For our own records we like to have a Christmas letter every year as a summary of the most memorable events of the year . So Here it is:
Merry Christmas!
As always, this time of
year reminds us of family and friends. We love to hear from you all and hope
all is well in your homes!
Our family is growing
and changing faster than ever. Dallin and Landon are seniors this year and are
hoping to leave on missions early next summer. Austin will graduate and leave
before they get home so it may be quite a few years before we have our whole
family together for Christmas after this year!
Jackson is definitely the
sweetheart of the family right now. We
hope we don’t ruin him! He adores Dallin and Landon and is forever climbing on
them but only gets their names right about half of the time.
Jenna and Benson have
been home for school again this year. We are enjoying our time to learn at home
knowing it won’t last forever. Benson
is easy-going and plays equally well with everyone. He and Austin are the glue
of our family--they can hang out with anyone. Ben reads to Jackson at night and
he teases him during the day. Ben still loves all sports and managed to break
his collarbone for the third time (ouch!) during this football season.
Jenna joined the curly hair club this
year, which is so fun! She is growing into a kind, gentle young lady. She reads
every second she gets and plays the violin and has memorized the recipe for
chocolate chip cookies. She is a huge help around the house.
All three big boys
played football together this year. They won the district championship and made
it through the entire season without any serious injuries!! It is a joy for us
to watch them play together! Dallin and Landon were both voted first team for
our conference and
Dallin was also awarded defensive player of the year
for the conference. Dallin placed second at state in wrestling last season and
is hoping to win that elusive state champion title this season.
Landon worked really hard to
recover from injuries and beat the odds to be able to play football for his
senior year. He wasn’t able to play middle linebacker but did awesome on O-line
and D-line and got through the entire season! Landon re-injured his left shoulder
in wrestling last year and has been struggling with random shoulder dislocations. Ouch.
He needs a bone graft to fix the shoulder socket and to reattach the
bicep tendon--we will fit that surgery in just after Christmas.
Austin found his place on the football D-line alongside
Landon and Dallin and loved playing with his brothers. He is officially taller than Dallin and just
about even with Landon. Austin turns 16 at the end of December and he already
has a date all set (with his brothers)!
The three boys sing in
Jive together and drive to and from school in their trusty old truck every day.
They put in 12-13 hour days almost every day of the week and work hard to
manage priorities.
We love watching them
grow.
I have had multiple
opportunities to use my nursing degree this year with our family. In addition to the various injuries of the
boys, at the beginning of November Rustin had emergency gall bladder surgery
that resulted in some complications that earned him ten very sick days in the
hospital. His work and church partners all stepped up and filled in for him for
three+ weeks without question. Such a tender mercy! The experience left us
profoundly grateful for our dear friends and family and for the
little things we forget
to enjoy:
Chatting with the boys
after late nights; Jackson sneaking in to snuggle in the morning; Jenna’s
hilarious, ridiculous stories that make her brothers giggle for hours; running
out of a giant sized can of hot chocolate every week--these are a few of the
things we truly love!
This season we are grateful
for the Savior and the gospel in our lives above all else. We think that
celebrating the life of the Savior is the perfect way to end the year!
May you all have peace
and joy going forward in 2016!
Rustin, Kim, Dallin (18) Landon (18) Austin (15
11/12) Jenna (12) Benson (11) Jackson (4)
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