Online Exclusive- Christmas Letter 2012

Dear Family and Friends,                                            Christmas Letter 2012

Well, after 2 years of one trial after the next (thankfully nothing huge!!), we are definitely counting our blessings!! We have truly felt the strength of prayers of our family and friends during our trials and are so glad that things slowed down during the second half of the year. We learned so much this year! And we were definitely humbled into relying more on the Lord, who gave us several tender mercies along the way.

Calyssa (almost 2) had a rough start to her year. After having low iron, unexplained high fevers, hives, two broken arms, broken blood vessels all over her legs, accusations of child abuse against us, threats of calling CPS, several scary days of no answers, many doctors’ visits including a trip to Seattle Children’s Hospital, and tons and tons of tests, mostly from blood work which wasn’t easy to get from her tiny little arms (and lots and lots of tears, mostly from her and I), we finally found out that she was iron deficient, severely Vitamin D deficient, had a mild cow’s milk allergy, AND she had allergic purpura, which is very rare. Then in August, we had to call 9-11 when she pulled bubbles/liquid dish soap onto her face and wouldn’t stop throwing up bubbles. It was very scary!! Miraculously, all of her problems were curable and she is now doing great!! We definitely became stronger through these trials and were so thankful for the strength of prayer!! We are all very thankful for our adorable, feisty, curly haired, little redhead!! After all this, she finally started walking at 16 months (2 months before starting nursery at church)! Callie loves: sleeping (and usually squeals and dives into her bed at nap/bedtime), “chee chee” especially string cheese, the song “The Wheels on the Bus” especially the Mom and baby verses, and learning new things from her big sisters (she will fist bump with them and say, “Boom… powww!!!”) She doesn’t like “pider, pider” (bugs/spiders) or missing naps (starts screaming and beating up other little kids… Watch out!!)

Aurora (4 ½) hasn’t quite grasped the concept of age. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, she replied, “Hmmm… 14!!!” Her “Prince,” Caleb (19) left on his mission (for our church) in February… a few weeks later she moved on to a boy much closer to her age. He, of course, wasn’t interested in marriage. Tia said, “Chase (4) is ready to marry no one.” To which Rori replied, “I’m no one!!” This year, Rori started Primary (the children's class at church- ages 3-12), gave her first talk and performed in her first Primary program, danced in her first dance recital (along with her 4 older sisters), and even performed with her 4 older sisters, on stage, with a band, singing with her very own microphone!! (Watch the video on Angela’s Facebook.)

Karina (7) started piano lessons in March and performed in her first piano recital in June (along with her 3 older sisters, and even did it with a broken arm!!) Tia and Nina played on the same soccer team in the spring and fall. However, in the summer, Nina broke her arm jumping off a small toddler slide, so Tia had to play that season alone. (Our Doctor decided to put all the girls on Vitamin D and calcium supplements.) In August, Karina (along with her 3 older sisters) participated in a week long Drama camp and they all did a great job!!

Tierra turned (8) in April and chose to be baptized! She loves dance (clogging) and soccer (and even scored 3 goals in one game!) You will never see Tia on the field without a smile on her face!! (We noticed in pictures that Nina prefers barely sticking out her tongue… LOL!! So cute!) Due to all the stress of Callie’s health problems, the 3 older girls went to PUBLIC SCHOOL!! for April-June. They had mostly good experiences and especially enjoyed the field trips and Field Day. However, they all chose to come back to ORLA (Olympia Regional Learning Academy- a public school/homeschool combo) this fall.

Sariah (11 ½) was 1 of 6 ORLA students chosen to create a work of art, as a present, for the school board. Also at ORLA, she has been taking lots of fun classes—a few of her favorites are Irish Dance, Tumbling, and she was also chosen as the lead (Dorothy) for her class “Magnificent Musical” and can’t wait for the performance! Riana and Sariah finished their last season with the beloved Crushers, and made it on to a select team, TCUnited. Sariah had a great season, and after hitting many posts, and coming very close several times, she finally got her goal!! Her TCUnited U-12 team played in 3 summer tournaments and finished off their 1st season beating the 1st place, undefeated team!!!

Riana (almost 13!!!!) …a teenager… ahh!!, joined her Daddy in getting braces. In Feb., she turned 12, joined Young Women’s (Youth Group for girls 12-18), had a Paris themed birthday party, and was later called as the Beehive President (Beehives are 12-13 yr old Young Women at church.) At the end of the school year, she participated in the Track meet and graduated from 6th grade. Some of her summer activities consisted of: her 1st year at Y.W. Girls’ Camp, Y.W.’s River Rafting Trip (I joined her), and finally saving up the money (about $200) to buy the American Doll of the Year McKenna Starter Collection!! This year, is her last year in our public school/homeschool combo (8th-12th will be at full time public school.) She has really blossomed this fall, in her High School Prep class and high school level Washington State History class, at ORLA. She is really becoming responsible in completing her school work and is earning A’s in all her classes!

Angela (getting old) …LOL!!... enjoyed a weekend away, in Jan., at a dance workshop for Riana/Sariah. She didn’t enjoy her 1st root canal in Feb. In Mar., she spent a lot of time at the Doctor for Callie (and on her knees in prayer.) In Apr., she got contacts again. In May, she found out her Vitamin D was crazy low, too! In June, she enjoyed volunteering at Field Day. In July, she was released from her calling (service assignment) in Young Womens due to the fact that she accepted a new calling as 1st counselor in the Relief Society Presidency (RS- the women's organization.) In Aug., she fulfilled two dreams- 1) trained for & ran in a 5K (Run for Virtue with Riana) finishing within 30 seconds of her goal of 30 minutes, 2) sang a solo in church, “Abide with Me,” after finishing a year of her 1st voice lessons. On Nov. 6, (after attending the caucus, county convention, state convention, and sign waving in support of Romney) Angela cried. In Dec., she loved fulfilling another dream of starting the tradition of performing Christmas songs, as a family, at local Retirement Homes. (See videos on Angela's Facebook.)

Grant (already old) …just kidding!!! …accepted a new calling, (was sad to leave his calling as Executive Secretary {the Bishop/Pastor's secretary}) as a High Councilor (a calling where he helps with different wards/congregations). It has been a great experience for him, he is learning a lot, and he is becoming such an amazing speaker (he gets to speak once a month in different wards!!) In Apr., he sang the touching role of Peter the Apostle, in the production of “Lamb of God” by Rob Gardner (which we both fell in love with!) He was also asked to be a soloist up in Mount Vernon, in a special 9-11 concert and sounded amazing with the full choir and orchestra behind him. Grant coached his final season of the Crushers and was then asked to coach Riana’s U-13 Select TC United. He led them to a 2nd place finish in their 1st tournament and a 1st place, undefeated 1st season. In July, he thoroughly enjoyed summiting Mt. Adams with 3 friends. He also keeps busy playing basketball, playing on a Co-Ed 30+ soccer team with his wife, singing with the “Kinship” band, and attending Riana’s field trip with her.

We hope this letter finds you all doing well! We hope you know how much we love and appreciate you all!!
Love, Grant, Angela, Riana, Sariah, Tierra, Karina, Aurora, and Calyssa (and our fishies)