Family Pictures and Chistmas Letter

Happy Holidays 2008!

We've been on the "move" all the year through! Yes, you guess it! We "moved" last May. We didn't move far, though, just a neighborhood to the west. We moved within school and stake boundaries and even stayed in the same church building (different ward), so life didn't change too much for most of us.

For Mark it did. Within a week of being official members of our new ward, Mark was put in the bishopric. We wondered why our bishop acted weird when we told him we would be waiting until after Brookelle's baptism to officially "move" our records to the new ward. His new calling is time consuming, but worth the blessings that follow. He is still working for HMG as an engineer, however, this past year he has done more project managing and has gained some valuable experience in that area. He still keeps up with his sound business and purchased a bigger, brand-new system this year. He said it was a necessity, but I am not sure necessities should be so much fun. When he powers up his new system, the subs "move" the floor, chairs, bodies and everything else that is not tied down. He still has bees in the backyard and now salt water fish in the house. Now that our new house sits on near half an acre, he wants to pick up his old hobby of gardening--time permitting.

Deb still works with Granite Peaks Community Education one night a week and decided to "move " into the position of a 3rd grade reading aide in the mornings at the elementary school. Brookelle loves it because she gets to work directly with her every day. Deb can now claim the sound business as her hobby too as she is getting pretty good at helping Mark and setting up and running the system. The kids love having mom in the business because she is always up on the latest songs and usually has them bought before they can ask for them to be put on their ipods.

Kaelei "moved" herself temporarily to Germany this summer. She left with two of her friends the day after school got out and stayed for ten weeks. She traveled all over Germany and spent time in Italy and France. She still swims for Hunter High. She tried water polo last spring and "moved" her way up to being a starter on the girl's varsity team within a few weeks which is quite unheard of by someone who has never played before. Not only is she a natural at swimming, but a natural at water polo too. She received her Young Women's medallion in March. She still dances, plays piano, twirls baton, and writes beautiful songs. She gets good grades and is very determined to excel at everything she does. Oh, and how can we forget. Everyone beware! Kaelei is "moving" through town on her own now. She received her driver's license in October!

Brayden is still "moving" through the water at an amazing pace. He got two state times last year and got to swim in the state swim meet finals. He also tried water polo for the first time and ended up being the goalie by the time the summer season was over. Wrestling is his second love. He is on the Hunter Jr. High team and last week won his match with a pin in the first round--only three boys on Varsity and JV won that day. He also loves wakeboarding and got quite good at it at Lake Powell this summer. He plays trumpet for the Hunter Jr. High band and still plays piano. He gets good grades and stays active in scouting.

Jaxzen is our kid of a thousand questions. He is constantly wanting to learn about his world. He decided to join the West Vally Swim team this summer also and in October achieved two invitational times at his first swim meet. His school teacher says he is a very smart kid, but just needs to remember to turn in his homework. He does the work, he just doesn't know what happens to it between home, his desk and his teacher's desk. He plays piano and started playing the saxophone this year. He loves legos, scouts, boating and playing with friends.

Brookelle turned eight in May and was baptized. She also decided to join the West Valley Swim team this summer. She still "moves" to music by dancing, twirling baton, and playing piano and is constantly entertaining herself by choreographing her own dances and singing made-up songs around the house. She is a sweetheart, however, she won't let her brothers get the best of her and can give it to them when she wants to. She is also a great student and a good reader. She also loves boating and playing with friends.

This summer while Kaelei was in Germany, we decided to "move" through Utah and Nevada to take our German exchange student, Valentin, touring through several National Parks and Las Vegas. Our kids never knew we had so much beauty right here in our own state. We also "moved" through the water at Lake Powell when we spent a week there just after Kaelei came home.

This year during the Christmas season, we as a family are reflecting on how lucky we are to be a family. When Kaelei was in Germany for ten weeks, we definitely missed her and felt a huge void. We hope we have many more Christmases together and wish you the same.