Happy Holidays from the Drennan Family

Seasons greetings to all! We have had a great year enjoying family that visited throughout the year and enjoyed a fun vacation to St. George in April. Mark made great progress on our kid’s mansion of a playhouse and we were able to get some new windows for the kids’ bedroom and our shutters, front door, and garage door painted a lovely red! A touch of color was just what this little old house needed. We had to give our dog away, much to the sadness of the children, because Emma couldn’t stand his barking anymore. So, then we adopted Ashlee’s cute class pet, Bella the bunny, and the kids adore her. Emma adores her because she is a very quiet pet and lives outside. :)

Ashlee will be 10 on Jan 21st and continues to do well in school and reads well above grade level. She also excels in Math and science which she loves. She has done very well in her piano lessons and just played Ukrainian Bell Carol for her recital. She loves to sing and got a very nice solo this year in her singing group. She loves playing with her friends and having “late nights” with them and sleepover’s with her cousins. She is getting quite tall and likes to remind Emma that she is almost as tall as her already.

Joshua is seven, and also is doing well in school and is reading above grade level as well. His mind loves math too and his teacher was impressed with his understanding of numbers. Joshua played soccer in the spring and flag football in the fall. He really enjoyed flag football and scored some awesome touchdowns too! He loves to play with his friends and would be gone all day if I let him. He loves to play so much that on Saturday he is always the first one done with his chores! He is a great older brother to Taylor and loves to take good care of him.

Lydia is almost five and loves every second of preschool and seems to be quite the social butterfly! She loves to tell me all about the friends she plays with at preschool. She enjoyed dancing for the first part of the year and we are taking a break while our budget affords preschool. She loves to tell Emma that as soon as preschool is over she can dance again. She is such a beautiful girl with big blue eyes, but has the temper to match her red hair(which is turning more strawberry blond to Emma’s sadness). She is a really big helper to Emma and loves to remind her to rest.

Taylor is into everything. He will be two on January 9th. He has just figured out how to throw a temper tantrum thanks to Lydia.:) He is really talking so much now and is just so happy. He loves trains(choo-choos) and playing outside. He cries almost every time Emma brings him in from playing. Taylor loves the Christmas tree and says “cuuute” when he turns on the lights. He still struggles with reflux, but we are hopeful this year he’ll grow out of it.

Mark has almost finished another catalog season and somehow we have survived his late nights again. He was able to take a very fun backpacking trip with his boss and the other managers in August and relax before the catalog long hours began. Mark is serving in the Elder’s Quorum presidency now too.

Emma stays very busy with the kids. She was glad to plant an apple tree and very happy when Mark planted a locust tree to help with shade in the yard. She is expecting our fifth child and due May 19th. We will find out just before Christmas whether it’s a boy or girl! Emma’s just been released from her church callings, so we’ll see what comes next.

We had the opportunity to take the kids to a live nativity this year and the children loved it. They had a real camel, several goats, cows, chickens, a donkey, and best of all- the most beautiful baby representing our Savior, Jesus Christ. Taylor cried when we had to leave “the baby”. It was nice to start off this season remembering the true reason we are so filled with hope and love for all.

We love you all and wish a new year full of joy and happiness! The Drennan Family