Christmas 2009Dear family and friends,
So, here we are another year older, another year wiser and another year behind us. This year there have been no new children born, no new jobs, no new house, nothing earth shattering, but it has still been a year full of excitement and change.
The biggest news for us this year is that we are finally the proud owners of only one house. We started out the year still renting our house in North Salt Lake but in June the lease was up and we decided to try to sell rather than rent again. We spent a couple of weeks in July frantically getting it ready. We cleaned, got new carpet and painted every wall, baseboard, door, chair rail, etc. It looked great but it was showing empty in a terrible market so we figured that we had a long wait ahead of us. After three weeks only two people had actually walked through, so imagine our surprise when one of those two put an offer on the house. Before we closed, we had to put on a new roof and Jeremy had to do a number of small repairs, but in the end it closed! We were thrilled and are even now still in a mild state of disbelief.
In June we decided to be brave and make the trek to Disneyland. I was quite nervous because Jeremy and I were outnumbered 2 to 1 but we made it. We dressed everyone in matching red shirts and packed up the massive double stroller and made our way to “the happiest place on earth.” We drove straight through to Anaheim and the kids did very well. Thank goodness for DVD players! In addition to Disneyland we also hit Newport Beach. The kids loved both! They loved building sand castles and playing in the waves, and the tired and sore feet did not diminish their excitement of being at Disneyland. It was a great adventure for the whole family—AND we didn’t lose anyone!
Dalton (7) started 2nd grade this year. He loves school! His favorite subject in school is recess, followed closely by lunch and then P.E. He has informed me that he also really likes math. I’m sure that has something to do with the fact that he is very good at it. He has also spent this year playing a variety of different sports. We tried flag football for the first time this year and it quickly became Dalton’s favorite. He has already asked me several times when he can play football again. This year was also the year of the Tooth Fairy. Dalton lost four teeth and grew in four new ones. I think if he could, Dalton would pull out the rest of his teeth just for the money.
Holly (5) reached a milestone this year by starting Kindergarten. She loves everything about it but if you ask her what her favorite part is she will reply, “the bus.” She is in a class with all the cute little girls in the neighborhood. She also started dance this year with some of those same girls. We just went to the dress rehearsal for their big Christmas recital and it was so cute! I love seeing her all dressed up and watching her teacher intently as she tries to remember what comes next. I asked her the other day, what she liked better, dance or soccer, and after some careful consideration she said dance because she didn’t have to run as much.
Allison (3) also reached a milestone this year by starting preschool. She had been anxiously anticipating the day when she would get to go off to school with a “pack-pack” like the big kids. She absolutely loves her teacher and has no problems leaving me. She jumps out of the van, says bye to me and then runs in all on her own. She is always super excited to open her back-pack and show me all the fun things they did that day. I think Ally is my most content child. There have been several times while the kids were at school when it suddenly was very quiet and I had to go searching for Ally only to find her in her room playing dolls by herself. Dalton and Holly both seem to always need someone to play with. Allison is growing up very fast, but she is insistent on helping that process along by telling anyone who asks that she is four.
Jackson (1) is growing very fast. He suddenly seems more boy than baby. He is our best crawler and, I’m sure because of that, our latest walker--but he finally seems to have gotten the hang of walking. We had a little scare with him when we discovered that he was allergic to penicillin like Dalton. He was covered in a rash and then his feet started to swell and turn purple so we ran up to Primary Children’s Hospital but apparently that was all normal with an allergic reaction and they said we just had to wait for it to go away. They did take the opportunity to bring in several doctors/students to see his rash and use it as a teaching tool.
Jeremy is still working at Merit Medical and loving it! He has been quite busy this year with several ongoing projects but he hasn’t had to go out of town too much--just a quick trip to Pocatello, one to South Carolina and then one more to Florida scheduled for next week. He hadn’t been too busy with church callings but when our ward split last month he was called to be the 14-15 year old Sunday School teacher so now he has to teach each week. On the weekends, when he isn’t golfing with his brothers, he is a tremendous help at home. Not only does he take care of the yard and little projects around the house, but he helps clean the house. In fact, he does the bathrooms far more often than I do! He also spends a lot of time with the kids while I’m teaching piano, off at choir or running. He does so much to keep our home running smoothly!
I started the year teaching piano to 20 students but when school started I lost a few and am now down to 16 which seems to be a little more manageable especially since this year in May I began to watch my sister, Melissa’s, little girl during the day. I got Maddy when she was two months old and Jackson was seven months old. Jackson is now 14 months and Maddy is 9 months. The older they get the closer in age they seem to become. It is fun to watch them interact with each other.
Before the ward split, I was the choir director and after the split I was asked to, again, be the choir director and in addition, to also be a gospel doctrine teacher. I am actually excited about both callings. I love directing the choir but I have also been missing teaching so this way I get both. It is fun when Jeremy and I are both teaching the same lesson so we can study and discuss together.
In May, my sisters, parents and I all made the trek down to St. George, with Mary even flying in from Texas to be there. We left all spouses and children home, except nursing babies, and spent the weekend together before Rachel and Spencer moved to Georgia for pharmacy school. It was so much fun! We spent the weekend talking, eating, shopping, playing games and watching movies. I can’t remember the last time that just our little immediate family was all together like that.
It has been a good year for us—one with worry and uncertainty and then relief and contentment. We have seen sickness and health. We have seen joy and sadness. We have seen peace and we have seen chaos yet through it all we have seen the hand of the Lord in our lives. It has been a good year of learning and growth. We hope you all have peace this season and we wish you a very Merry Christmas!
The Snow’s
Jeremy, Katie, Dalton, Holly, Allison & Jackson
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