2011 Letter & Picture

Happy 2012!! I decided that I wasn’t going to send out a picture and letter about 2011, but then we got so many wonderful pictures and letters from you that I decided to send one out after all.
Rebecca is 2 ½ and is such a talkative, happy, smart, fun little girl. She is in LOVE with Toy Story, babies, trains and animals (especially monkeys). She loves to read books, sing, dance, ride her bike, take baths, color, count and play with her siblings. Her big accomplishment this year is that she wears underwear. No more diapers in our house!! She started the year with very little straight hair and ended it with a head full of beautiful ringlets. When she grows up she wants to play animal games and be a cheerleader.
Ammon, 6 ½ is a smart, funny, silly, loving guy all wrapped in a bundle of energy! He loves to ride his bike, swim, skateboard, play tag, but he also loves to sit still for long periods of time playing Wii and Legos. He has caught onto reading with a vengeance this school year and reads everything he can. He loves to wear camouflaged clothes and to play spy. He is excited to be starting a martial arts class this month. One of his goals this year is to read all the Magic Tree House books! When he grows up he wants be a fighter pilot in the Air Force.
Corrine, almost 9, found her true love this year-running. She was in a group called Girls on the Run. She ran 3 5k’s this fall. She is such an awesome runner! She likes to do her dolls hair, make crafts, play with her iPod she earned for selling 750 boxes of Girl Scout cookies and play with Rebecca. Her favorite thing to wear are her pink cowgirl boots! When she grows up she wants to live a farm, have horses and a big garden, and sell things at the farmers market.
Simeon 10 ½ is still very much into sports, but the Hunger Game Trilogy has him talking about something other than sports 24/7. We find him so often with his head buried in a book, which is such a fun thing to see since he was struggling with reading for such a long time. This year he is getting help with writing, but other than that he has caught up with everything else. He has started his 2nd season of baseball with the Little Hawks and is really liking it. He loves to play outside on his skateboard, ripstick, scooter, bike or with a ball of some sort. He made himself his own bow and quiver like Katniss in the Hunger Games which he uses to hunt animals in the neighborhood! This year he earned his Webelos badge and just a month later earned his Arrow of Light award which is the highest award for a Cub Scout!! When he grows up he wants to be a BYU or Chargers Football player and a scientist. Simeon has been off chemo for 2 years now and he continues to be very healthy!
Kari-I have been busy keeping up with our growing family. This summer I started getting healthier and became Corrine’s running buddy for Girls on the Run. I ran 3 5k’s with her and fell in love with running all over again. Unfortunately I had an ankle injury at our last 5k right before Thanksgiving and am working my way back into running. I plan on being Corrine’s running buddy again this spring and running more races with her. Because of exercising and eating better I have been able to drop over 17 lbs this year. I am still in the Young Women’s presidency at church and am in the process of handing Corrine’s Girl Scout troop to a new leader. I still love taking pictures, and am known for having my camera ready at a moments notice!
Johann was busy this year with some home improvement projects that of course required some new tools! He made the kids a storage bench for their shoes in the kitchen, we painted our kitchen a sunny yellow and he replaced lots of dark blinds for lighter ones. He has also been working hard on eating healthier and exercising and he has also lost over 17 lbs this year. He is still the Young Men’s President at church and is busy as always at work. He has started learning how to do some work on his truck with some friends, so hopefully the rust doesn’t over take the entire thing!
2011 was such a fun, busy, fast and normal year for our family. We’re excited for 2012 and for all the new experiences and growth we will gain this year! And we promise to get a letter about 2012 out in 2012!!