We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Just in case  you didn't get one...

We feel so blessed this Christmas season.  This year has been a great one.  We have learned lessons through our hard moments and found JOY in everyday.  Here is our yearly Christmas Card Update letter...

This year has been a busy one for us, as I am sure it has been for you! We are so blessed to be able bodied and that we have good attitudes towards work! :D

Thane is busy at his new job. We are so happy that he was chosen to take on this new responsibility and that he works for such a wonderful company now. He is a project manager for iWorks, and he loves every minute of it. He is working out hard too doing P 90X every other morning. He is also still Paragliding whenever he can and can’t wait until we have a car that we can haul the whole family up the mountain and he can start teaching the kids to fly also. As for me, I don’t really like that idea! He is the best husband and father. I am so blessed to have him in my life. He loves our family, and does all that he can to make us happy. He is still serving in the Elder’s Quorum in our church, so that also keeps him busy.

I am just as busy as ever. I got a new calling that I am trying to get the hang of. I am the Scout Advancement Chair for the Boy Scouts, and still serving the Cub Scouts as a committee member. My preschool is going really well. We have two full classes, two less than last year, but it is still really good, despite the recession! I have so much fun teaching Sinjin this year. I love every minute I have to spend with him. I am not so sure if he likes me being his teacher, but he can deal with it ;) ! My photography business is also keeping me busy (hence the facebook and e-mailed Christmas Letter). I have also started a blog called Tips From a Typical Mom. Although I probably wouldn’t call myself a “typical” mom, I love sharing all the new things I learn through trial and error and also sharing the awesome stuff I learn from my great friends and family about being a mom! I also teach dance once a week to Tiernan and Amara’s dance class. Busy Busy Busy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Tait is now 10! Can you believe it! He loves his 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Ott. She is so great with him. He received his Webelos badge in Cub Scouts a few months back, and now he his working on his Arrow of Light. He loves to keep busy, and when he is not, he is READING! Just in case you ever needed to buy Tait anything, you can’t go wrong with a book. He actually gets in trouble at school for reading when he is supposed to be doing his work, and it’s a HUGE punishment if we ever take his reading time away. He love science so much and loves to tell me about all they are learning in school about it. He is the next inventor of something very special I suspect! Tait sings in the school choir, plays the piano, and plays every in season sport there is, except for Football, he doesn’t understand why anyone would want to be tackled. He has his head on strait if you ask me! :) He is also starting to earn extra money as he babysits for us. We love him so much!

Tiernan, oh Tiernan! She is such a special little lady. She turned 9 this year, and she is turning into a beautiful girl, inside and out! She loves to sing, play the piano, dance and do gymnastics. She has her back handsprings down, and is almost doing aerials! She is a cleaning machine, and gets mad when she doesn’t get to clean the bathroom! She is a little mother to her siblings, and helps Tait out a lot when babysitting. She isn’t a big reader, unless it is something she is very interested in, like puppies, BUT she is amazing at math. That astounds me because I am so bad at it! She can figure out a problem faster than me. She is such a clown at home. She keeps us laughing all the time, and she has the best personality. She has a lot of friends and never has any drama at all…LOL! We love her to death!

Amara is almost 7, in January. I can’t believe my little girl is only one year away from being baptized! I love this girl so much! She is my most active child. She loves to run, play soccer (she is a lightning bolt on the field), hang from anything that can be hung from, climb to the top of anything that can be climbed, etc. She is literally good at EVERYTHING she tries! She absolutely is going to be a gymnast. Her body is built for it and she loves it so much! She is a performer for sure! She loves to dance, I don’t know where she gets it from ;) She has the best smile and it rubs off on anyone she comes into contact with. Our family just loves her!

Sinjin is 4 going on 16. He has a lot of fun playing with his friends in the neighborhood and he can’t wait until he can go to kindergarten and play on the BIG playground. I can’t believe he is almost 5. He is not my baby anymore, and Thane has to remind me to not baby him. I guess I am just not used to not having a baby or toddler anymore :(. He is very tall for his age so we think he might pass up daddy! He also has a very infectious smile as you can see in the Christmas Card photo. He loves to sit at the piano and compose works of art :) He loves to tag along with his big brother and sisters. He loves to build things with his Lego’s. Sinjin is a lover of animals too. He is best friends with our dog, Sadie. He has a compassion for her that no one else has, and she loves him and lets him climb all over her. He is a very rambunctious 4 year old for sure, and we love him to pieces!

WOW! I ramble don’t I? I guess I am proud of my kiddies! I hope you know that I try not to be prideful, so lets just call it bragging ;), oh that’s not a good thing either… oh well, I just love my family so much!

Thank you for being a part of our lives. We are better people because we know YOU. We have learned a lot from our friends and family. We are truly blessed to have you as a part of our lives.

Love,
Annette