Will Santa ever come?

All Christmas eve day the kids tracked Santa on Noradsanta.org Since The west coast is one of the last places Santa visits they watched him travel the world! We took one last visit to Temple square lights and listened to the nativity story. 

And then the magic begins...

The kids opened their new jammies...

Hung their new ornaments

(James got a train ornament)

Then we read a couple stories and they nestled into bed.

While I had several more hours of work to do....

Dear Family & Friends,

Merry Christmas! We hope that this greeting has found you all enjoying the holiday season. Time continues to fly no matter how much I wish it would slow down a half a beat. There is always plenty going on, things to do, and people and places to see.

In May Ryan successfully finished his first year of medical school at the University of Utah. Over the summer he was invited back to be a counselor at Camp Hobe (A summer camp for children with cancer or siblings of children with cancer). He was able to serve with a couple good friends which made the experience even greater. He began the second year of school in August, which is simply more class and lectures, just more intense than the first year. Ryan continues to enjoy the challenge and is getting geared up to take the Step 1 board exams in June. This score will play a large part in the residency program that he will match with when he graduates in 2011. In July Ryan will begin his clinical rotations and the intensity will once again increase. He does find time to do other things, especially when the weather permits for a bike ride up Emigration Canyon.

Kaylie (41/2 yrs. old) finished her first year of preschool in May. She had a great time and her social skills improved. This year we are doing a preschool co-op with 3 other kids in the neighborhood. I was nervous about the work at first, but it has been wonderful! We have 2 girls and 2 boys in the group and they are learning a lot. Kaylie has been very excited as she has started to read and will jump at any chance she can to read to a listening audience. She is growing up so fast I am already getting sad about sending her to kindergarten next year.

What can I say about James (2 yrs. old)? He is all boy, lots of energy and usually sweet as can be. He loves to wrestle his dad, sister, and if he’s lucky his mom. After battling constant ear infections for several months James had tubes placed in his ear drum in February. It was the best thing we could have done. His speech immediately improved and has it continued to take off. He has since then had only 2 ear infections. We also confirmed his milk allergy. It appears to be something he will likely grow out of. Despite being my “sick boy” he is very happy, loves to play cars, trucks, trains, helicopters, and planes.

I am keeping busy with raising the kids and helping Ryan get through school. I am currently serving as the community president for our student housing neighborhood. Teaching preschool on my rotation has been an experience I am grateful to have chosen to do. I am also the primary president for our student ward. There will always be something to learn no matter how long I work with the children of the church. I have enjoyed working with the ladies of the Medical student Alliance. MSA is a group for medical student spouses. There are socials, activities for kids, interest groups, and service opportunities. I stay busy and always wish I could fit in several other things.

Our family had some big changes in the first half of the year when Eric, Ryan’s younger brother, left to serve an LDS mission in Athens, Greece. We hadn’t adjusted to his absence when JoAnn, Ryan’s mom, remarried. She married Ron Corbett from Brunswick, Georgia on June 7th. They met online, both had been widowed for a few years and are happy to have the love and companionship of one another.

The summer went quickly. We had a season pass to a local water park. We spent as much time as we could swimming with friends who also had passes, and getting our family to come a few times as well. Living on campus means there is always someone to play with. During the summer there were many late nights on the playground. One of the warm nights we drove down to Manti, UT where a play about the early saints if Church of Jesus Christ is done on the grounds surrounding the temple.

As the summer came to a close we went to Disney World with Maja, Faja, Hillary and Logan. We spent the week there and were lucky to spend a day at the parks with some friends that had recently moved there for residency! We had another big treat when Grandma Jo and Pappy came down from Georgia to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom with us! I am glad we took the kids to “little old” Disneyland in California last year or I think it might have been a little too much to take in. It really was too much excitement and fun!

The end of the year has been filled with activities and celebrations. We spent a week up in the mountains at a small resort that Ryan has grown up going to. It was a blast to spend time with just the four of us. We had a ton of snow and fun! We look forward to the new year with the memories and experiences it has to offer, and hope you do too.

May the true magic of Christmas bring you a holiday filled with peace, happiness and joy!

Love,

Ryan  Annette  Kaylie  &  James

Sledding in the mountains

We went sledding 3x's and had a blast every time

Group Shot

James and I had a cold so our eyes and nose ran like crazy but it didn't interfere with the fun!

My pretty girl was a down hill snow machine (Faja you might finally have a girl on the ski team!)

After a run down the hill! All smiles!

We went off the path a few times which meant that we ate powder... not enjoyable!

Whitewashed and still smiling... a little stunned but still smiling! 

My cute boy!

Coming soon more snow fun and SANTA!

East Canyon part 2

More pictures of our mountain getaway! We played and relaxed and James and I got sick. There were very few people up there all week so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. The resort worker said that the week following that encompassed Christmas was much busier. We were happy to of had the week all to ourselves. We didn't have to share the best sledding spot!

James loved the fireplace. Mommy's airways were severely irritated by it which probably lowered my immune system thereby making me susceptible to get this nasty cold!

Kaylie kept busy with crafts, games, and puzzles!

They both did mommy's make up after I did theirs!

Yep James got done up too! Sorry no black male pictures.

 

Cookie making was a hit. Kaylie's "Utah Cookie" was one of the favorites. she did it all herself including the the top lines to make it a true Ute logo!

One more batch of pictures to come... 

Mountain Getaway part 1

We have been enjoying the week up in the mountains at a small resort in the middle of nowhere. Really... we have no cell phone coverage! (but we do have internet weird) There has been a lot of lounging, movies, making cookies, sledding and James favorite... fires in the fireplace! Pictures are taking for ever to load on this network so they will have to wait. There will definitely be more to come!

Christ Centered Christmas

I found this cute blog today with great ideas for a Christ Centered Christmas. She has compiled different activities, FHE lessons, recipes and other fun things. She also welcomes people to submit Christ centered ideas to her and she will post them on her site! I put one of the ideas on the FHE Blog that I contribute to. Check it out!

Christ Centered Christmas Traditions