Greetings to all our family and friends!! We are little behind on getting our greetings out this year. We loved hearing from all of you this year and are happy to hear that you are all doing so well. We appreciate and love all of you and hope that you are planning a wonderful New Year! When we consider our blessings for this year, you are all at the top of the list!!
Amanda turned 13 this year and is in 8th grade. She is one of the best snare drummers on the Middle School drum line and she tried out for Girl’s basketball and made the team!! She is doing exceptionally well in school and volunteers at the local library. Amanda got to travel all by herself to Alaska this summer and visited with Gma Kathryn and Gpa Herb. Among many things while she was there, she got to do a Wolf Encounter at the Alaska Zoo. She liked that very much! Amanda also went to her first year at Girl’s Camp and had a great time!
Rebecca is 10 this year and in 5th grade. She is doing well in school and she loves writing her own stories like crazy! This summer Rebecca got to spend a week all by herself with Gma Carol and Papa in Auberry. She had a great time and Gma Carol helped her to sew her own skirt. Rebecca is also learning how to crochet and is enjoying that very much. Rebecca has continued with her piano lessons and likes to memorize the pieces so she can play them anywhere there is a piano. Rebecca is also growing her hair out so she can donate it to Locks of Love. She can’t wait for it to be long enough to cut off. She likes her hair short.
Katrina is 5 this year and started Kindergarten! She has been waiting to start school for as long as she knew what it was and she is so happy to be there this year. She loves her teacher and is doing very well, reading and writing above her grade level. Katrina loves to read books, and loves to sing, dance, color, and play games on the computer. Katrina is trying to learn her place in the world and sometimes is fussy about not knowing this VERY SECOND. It is very hard for a 5 year old to be patient. Sigh. : ) Katrina got her ears pierced recently and is taking good care of them and looking forward to when she can wear different earrings!
Kevin’s work has steadily increased over the past six months, for which we are very grateful. They now have a backlog which they haven’t had for 2 1/2 years, which is hopefully a good indicator that the economy is slowly turning around. Kevin is involved in many different organizations, continuing his position on the Kerman Planning Commission, and as President of the San Joaquin Chapter of the California Land Surveyors Association. This year he has been serving on Sheriff Mims’ Fresno County Sheriff’s Citizens Advisory Committee and has recently become the Vice President of the Fresno County Neighborhood Watch Committee. He also continues as webmaster of the Honda Rider’s Group.
Lora is doing a lot of volunteer work, helping in the girl’s classrooms, serving on two school site councils, the Bond Oversight Committee for the new school being built in Kerman, and this year became the President of the Friends of the Kerman Branch Library. Lora lost weight this year and then gained it back. Grrr! She continues to work her own business from home and also attends the Temple weekly. She has done a lot of family history this year and is working on trying to compile it all onto a program that she can share!
We have had a few adventures this year. In March Lora and the girls travelled to the coast to see Lora’s Gpa and to have some fun. We also drove to the Palm Springs area in November to spend Thanksgiving with both of Lora’s brothers and their families! It was the first time we had all been together in five years and four of the kids had not even been born then, so it was a wonderful time to spend together. The kids had fun and so did the grown ups!! We have had visits from Lora’s parents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and past missionaries who served in Kerman. And, of course, we see Lora’s Gma Willie often and Kevin’s family almost every Sunday.
We hope you have a great year in 2011. Please keep in touch. We love to hear how you are all doing!
