Merry Christmas to All

Three days til Christmas. Sigh... This year has gone by so quickly. What have we been up to?

Well Matt works very hard providing for our family. He plays with the kids and is very helpful holding the baby when he is home. He loves playing XBOX with Gideon and teasing Eden and having Larke sit on his lap. He is now 1st Counselor in the Elder's Quarum and that takes some of his time as well. I'm glad that he turns 30 in January. I'm tired of being in a different decade.

I have had a good but hard year. I've spent the 1st half of the year being pregnant with our 4th kid and the 2nd half getting used to having 4 kids. I have some good days and some not so good. I spend alot of time being tired, but I am so grateful for our Children. They are my joy. They need me and I need them. They teach me constantly and remind me everyday why life is worth all the ups and downs. I have been in the Young Women Presidency in our Ward this year. It has been a challenging and fun calling. I am still doing lunch with ladies in my Ward on Thursdays and getting lots of fun recipes. Also I started doing Preschool with Eden and another little girl in the Ward. So her Mom and I take turns teaching the girls stuff and getting them ready for Kindergarden next year.

Gideon is turning 7 in April. He is in 1st grade and loving it. He loves reading and amazes me everyday with his progress. He has had his 1st girlfriend, it lasted a day and then they both moved on. It sure did throw me for a loop seeing him walking out of school holding hands with a little girl in his class. Gideon is very helpful most of the time and is a terrific big brother. He loves reading, video games, and playing with his sisters!

Eden is turning 5 in March. She has been doing dance this year and enjoys it a lot. Eden has a little bit of a hard time not getting offended when the teacher tells her she needs to do anything different than how she is doing it. It has been good for her to learn that she can't always be in charge. She enjoys doing our small at home preschool and loves thinking about how she will be big enough for Kindergarden next year. She still loves dressing up and rarely will dress in anything but skirts. She loves her siblings, enjoys using her imagination, and singing.

Larke turned 3 in September has gone through some big changes this year. Since Rush was born in July she has exploded in speech and she has become potty trained. She has also taken dance this year and is learning how to be nice to the other kids. Larke has always been precocious, but recently has been somewhat of a bully. I really hope she grows out of this phase soon. She still loves to snuggle and she loves to follow Eden and Gideon around. She loves playing with Rush and being a big sister.

Rushmore was born July 9th and since about 2 and 1/2 months of age has been a very pleasant baby. We don't need to talk about the first 2 and 1/2 months, I don't remember much about them anyway except being tired. There were moments of sweet smiles and snuggles, but he is such a happy baby now that I have smiles all the time to brighten my days. He loves me, which is very satisfying. He of course loves his Dad and siblings too, but I get to claim to be favorite as it should be. I am so glad he is part of our family. He is such a sweet boy.

I hope all of you are having a Merry Christmas. I hope all of you are taking some time to enjoy the season. It is such a beautiful time of the year. I love the giving and the getting. It is fun and joyous. I am grateful to the Savior of mankind. I'm grateful for all the times this year when I didn't think I could do one more thing and God strengthened me. I am grateful for all the prayers he has answered and all the love shown to me. This is truly a wonderful life.

MERRY CHRISTMAS