Christmas

building Gingerbread houses with the Orth cousin's




Opening presents



Here are some of the aprons i made for christmas



and just in case you didn't get a Christmas card from me, here is the letter I put in it.

CHRISTMAS 2009

Wow another year has flown by! I can’t believe we are at the end of another year.
Justin has been busy again this year working on the house. He did another huge project this summer. With the help of his brothers, he put in our sprinkling system and planted seed in our yard, we live on a half acre so you can imagine how big of a project it was. It was the greatest thing to see those little grass seeds starting to grow, and the dirt slowly disappear. He did such a great job on it and I can’t wait to see it next spring in full bloom. Justin has also been very busy with his job too. He is in his third year of the running the Upward bound program at the college. He does such an awesome job with them and the kids really look up to him. He also is the Scout master in church so he is around teenagers all day every day. He is great with them though.
I have just been enjoying working from home and having space for my kids to run. This summer was so great having a place for the kids to play while I worked. We have the longest driveway in the neighborhood so my house became the official bike riding spot this year for all the neighbor kids. I have been in my calling as the relief society for a year now. I am the Enrichment counselor and what a job that has been! It has really been a challenge for me, but I really have enjoyed the activities and getting to know all the people in the ward on a more personal level. I put on my first super Saturday this year which I thought was a huge success and also did a few fun activities and a few service ones too. It is such a blessing to have a calling like this to give me the opportunity to serve others. Other than church and work I have just been doing my best at being a mom, which of course is the most important of them all, but also the most challenging.
Sydney started school this year. They do all day kindergarten down here and I was a little nervous about it, but she has been doing so well. She is already learning to read and she amazes me every day how much she has learned already. She is in the same class as her cousin Molly and they both love it. Sydney has such a caring personality and is a great helper for me. She has also turned into my little party planner, just say the word and she goes to work planning decorations, food, people to invite, etc. she is just a little social butterfly you could say.
Madison is in her second year of preschool since she got to do half a year last year. She is so smart and loves to do homework anytime Sydney is doing hers. She knows all her letters and shapes and is starting to learn the sounds too. She and Kyler have grown a lot closer with Sydney gone during the days. They love to wrestle and chase each other around, and most days she just loves to be in her pj’s all day long.
And then there is Kyler. Kyler spent most of this year on his hand-me-down purple and pink bike. All I can say is he is such a boy, He loves to ride his bike and get into trouble. Recently he discovered if he walks up the big hill behind our house he can see Ali’s house, so yes- he has made his way there a few times and sits and rings the doorbell until Ali answers. He loves tractors, balls, wrestling with daddy, bikes, motorcycles and bugging his sisters, he is just a boy I guess.
We hope you all have had a wonderful year and wish you the best in the one to come! MERRY CHRISTMAS
Love, The Orth's