Beginning with April 1st, (yes, that is April Fools Day- Ughh!) We were blessed with our fourth child Easton Derek. He was five days past his due date and Mom couldn't handle being pregnant any longer :). When they gave me the induction date of April 1st, I just threw my arms up in the air and said whatever! Anyway, he is a great little guy with lots of personality now at 8 months old. Elly just loves to have someone to "play" with. He sure is tough! We had a great trip back East in July to see Derek's cousin Kathleen get married. What a beautiful gathering that was! Outdoor wedding lakeside on the beach, reception in huge white tents. So great! It was wonderful to visit and reconnect with family out there!
In other news, in August we moved to a new house in Hyde Park,UT and have loved having more space to stretch out- well, in theory. The kids somehow are still underfoot majority of the time, but we love them. We chose this house because it was in a smaller community with almost a country setting, came on 2 acres of land, and had an indoor basketball court. We love having that room to send the kids to when they are bouncing off the walls! Also, in October, Derek's younger sister Clarissa came to live in our basement. She will be attending Utah State University out here, and we are hoping to help ease her into that huge step of moving away from home. She is able to live virtually independently downstairs as there is a kitchen, and most anything else she would need. We hope she enjoys her time with us!
Let's see... to sum up each of us individually:
Easton, born in April, just learning to crawl and get into things. Very full of fun and loved very much by his siblings!
Elizabeth (we call Elly), is 3 years old and is so full of life and energy for everything! She is the most fun to get excited about events. She is actually quite athletic too! We can't decide what to start with first for her- gymnastics, dancing, even baseball! She does it all so well!
Drew is 5 years old now and in Preschool. He loves it especially the playtime with his friends! He is very athletic as well and hits baseballs like a natural! Derek pitches more than 150 balls to him nightly! He is doing well learning to catch and throw too.
Abigail (Abby), is 7 years old and in 1st grade. She loves school very much especially because she has a teacher that does many arts and crafts projects. She is very good at creating things and drawing. She also hits regularly but prefers a tennis racquet to a bat. She loves tennis!
JoAnn (me), has been kept busy by these four munchkins, as well as the packing and unpacking and settling into the new house. Hhhmm. I guess that's almost all I do! The bigger house is proving to require more maintaining, but I love having a place to (eventually) put everything away. I still enjoy in my free time (hah!) sewing and machine embroidering, some crafting, baking, but mostly I just play with the kids.
Derek has been working from home and is mostly brokering internet domains now. He has a few other internet things juggling, but spends most of his energy on the brokering. He has done well this year enabling us to get our new house, and I am very proud of his hard work! He still manages to workout regularly and play with the kids a lot too- helping each of them to improve their athletic skills!
It has been a wonderful year and we are so grateful to all our family and friends for your love and support! We love being able to see you all as much as possible! Thank you for all your time, service, and thoughts on our behalf! We are so grateful for our Savior and the love and sacrifice He made for us. We love that our family can be together forever. It certainly helps to give us perspective of what is really important in life. We hope this message finds you safe and happy.
- Merry Christmas to you!
