Christmas Letter Substitute

Jenny convinced me that instead of "publishing" a long Christmas letter this year, that we should take a more "modern" approach to tricking our acquaintances into reading our long family history. Her argument is that "if they don't want to read all your drivel Jeff, then they just won't." Isn't she nice?

So here it is, our entry into the blogosphere.


First of all, let us just say that Audrey is a full-on teenager now. Not that she wasn't before, (I mean technically, she has been a teenager since she was 13, right?). But it doesn't really settle in until they start going to high school, and *wince* driving. She attends Weber High as a Sophomore which she likes a lot. She doesn't like her Chemistry class though.
"It has too much math." she says.
"Audrey, EVERYTHING has math." I say.
"Yeah, I know, but math is such a pain. It's so BORING."
Me: "Yeah, I understand. Too bad *all* classes can't be as gripping 'Foods,' huh?"
"DAAAAD..."

Ironically, she is doing pretty well in her Algebra class. She's also doing amazingly well with her piano study. As of this writing she is preparing two pieces to participate in a competition. An impromptu by Franz Shubert, and "something from the Classical era," she says. She still also plays the viola beautifully. It is really great to have our house filled with music. Lastly, she seems to be doing pretty well navigating the danger-filled waters of teenager-land. She is respectful and happy, and seems to have good friends. She's kind (most of the time) to her siblings and helps her mom and only wants to go shopping 2 or 3 times a week. And we can usually get her to do unsavory things like work in the yard, or baby-sit by bribing her with "iTunes."


We also took up rock climbing this summer. Here's Audrey and some of our friends in St. George (Crawdad Canyon). Audrey is pretty good at climbing, and even has a few 5.10's under her "harness."




But we suspect this is the real reason Audrey likes rock-climbing. Lots of boys.










Charlie and I have the same sense of humor; he makes me laugh my head off. After reading uncle Brian's "Zombie Survival Guide" earlier this summer, Charlie and I purchased a copy for our own preparations. He regularly quizzes me on my knowledge of the subject: "Dad, what's better for get-aways in a zombie out-break? A motorcycle or a bicycle? You'd think a motorcycle right? But you'd be wrong, a motorcycle makes too much noise. That's a broadcast to any zombie within earshot: 'dinner is served!' "

He's also playing the piano wonderfully, is attending Snow Crest Jr. High and he is a pretty good boy scout. He's almost 13 and he is full of all manner of good-natured mischief. He still plays legos, loves computer games, is a pretty good strategist (he'll beat his dad regularly at chess and StarCraft). This is a great picture of the face charlie makes most of the time. "Dad! What are you thinking!?"




Note the look of glee on Charlie's face in this picture. Smashing younger siblings is also a favorite pass-time. This is a great picture of our back yard in the summer, btw. We live in really cool place.






Madeline is a beautiful 10 year old.

She is never far from her little doggie. She loves her younger brothers and is very motherly toward them. She brushes their teeth and reads them stories and lays by them and sings them songs when they go to bed. Instead of yelling for mom and dad 13 times, they yell for MAAAAAAAADIEEEEEEE! She brings them a drink of water or makes sure the hallway light is on. What a blessing she is!

She is home-schooled right now and her mom keeps her pretty busy. She plays the piano and the violin and is also an excellent rock climber. Her strength-to-weight ratio allows her to climb amazingly hard things. She can do like 12 chin-ups. I think she mostly likes climbing because it gives her a chance to be with us. She just loves to be with people.

Here's a picture of maddie going off a jump that we built on the sled hill in our back yard. Note the wad of snow in her face. Also note Charlie's position. Coincidence? I think not... Nice air, Maddie!






Seth is a super intelligent little man. He has an amazing little inquisitive personality. Here he is with a pizza that he made.
I also wake up sometimes on saturday moring to the smell of sizzling 'little smokie sausages' that he knows how to cook by himself. There are not many things that he can't figure out how to do. He loves to play outside, loves to play on the computer, and loves to watch the "backyardigans."

He and owen get along really well. Of course they tussle over this and that, but for the most part they are pretty good friends. Seth is also really helpful, and if you ask him, there are few things he wouldn't do for you. Seth is also home-schooled. He hasn't started playing an instrument yet, but thinks he'd like to play the piano and "maybe the violin."

He loves to collect things--he has a nice collection of rocks. He collects bugs too, but most of all he likes moths. He has captured all kinds of interesting moths in our yard. He's also a pretty good climber, but he doesn't like to go very high. This picture is of a little climbing wall we built in our garage...







Owen is out of control. This picture is awesome, as it demonstrates his hair in complete rebelious mode which matches his personality well. But note also the look of complete innocence on his face. His mother can never get him in trouble because of just how darn cute he is. He's also the 5th child, which puts him in the same position as Jenny and that causes an amazing amout of understanding and sympathy from his mother. He is so much fun! He is funny, mischevious, happy-go-lucky, light-hearted and clever. But he is so honest that it is hilarious. I overheard a conversation between Jenny and Owen the other day:

Jenny: "Owen, you are such a good boy!"
Owen [thinks about it for a minute] "No, mom, sometimes I'm naughty."



Well, this has gone on plenty long. We'll try to keep the blog up to date. It is kind of fun to put stuff up here and hear your comments. We hope you are all doing well. We are doing great. People are healthy, we live in a wonderful place, we have great neighbors and things are going fine at work. The kids are getting to the age now where we can really go and do lots of fun things together as a family. We are excited for skiing this winter, and family vacations in the summer. We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.