Merry Christmas 2012

This year has flown by as each year seems to. We have had a great year and are so grateful that we have been blessed with so many things…especially the blessing and knowledge that Jesus Christ was born so that one day we may return and be with Him and our Heavenly Father. Ashlee will be twelve next month! She is transforming into a beautiful young lady right before our eyes! It seems not long ago that we brought her home from the hospital thinking the people at the hospital must be crazy to let us take her home when we didn’t have a clue what to do with such a sweet baby. She loves to make jewelry, play soccer, clog on an intermediate team, play the piano, and read. Joshua is turning out to be a great soccer player. He has a great team this year and loves it. He is a reading machine and is currently reading Eragon which weighs at least 5 lbs! He loves to play outside with his friends. Mark and a neighbor took him shooting this year and he loved it (Emma was scared to death and was so glad when they came back  ). He is also playing the piano. He loves Legos and playing games on the ipad. Lydia will be 7 in February and is very excited because that means she can get her ears pierced! She is taking ballet and is trying her foot(he-he) at soccer too. She is having a great time because she is a very social person and thinks that soccer is mostly about talking to everyone on the field and less about scoring a goal. She loves to color and draw. She is always drawing us pictures. She has lost several teeth this year and now loves to ask Emma to wiggle her teeth just to see if one might be loose. Lydia began the Chinese immersion program at her school this year. Taylor is our sweet boy. He will be 4 on January 9th. He loves his little neighborhood preschool. He loves everything green. The top drawer of his dresser is currently dedicated to all things green and yellow! We thought he had grown out of his reflux, but alas, not yet. He is making good progress on growing and is finally on the chart for height! He is about 0% on weight, so we are sooo close to being on the chart.  He loves his little brother and is constantly hugging him and trying to give him kisses. Jared is 18 months and is VERY active! Emma is finding it hard to deal with a child who likes to climb everything, unplug everything, push every button in the house, and dump out all the toys! He loves to dance and watch Baby Einstein’s Farm movie. He also really, really loves chocolate cake. The day after Mark’s birthday, he snuck into the kitchen, climbed on the counter, and proceeded to eat and ruin the left over cake! Mark is busy working as always. The great news is that his company is moving closer to our home this month! His commute will be about 20 minutes less! He made some great progress on our playhouse and it might actually get finished next summer. He stays busy helping keep our house in order. He was able to take Taylor on a trip to Lake Powell this fall with his parents and a sister/brother-in-law. They had so much fun and had some good daddy-son bonding time. Mark also got LASIK in August. He really enjoys not wearing glasses. Emma is crazy like always trying to keep track of everyone. If her ipod didn’t beep at her, then she wouldn’t remember anything. She only ran one 5K this year, but plans to do better next year. One of her best accomplishments was she actually got green peppers to grow in her garden this year! We love you all so much and wish you the warmest blessings and feelings of peace this year. Love, Mark, Emma, Ashlee, Joshua, Lydia, Taylor, & Jared