Christmas letter

Merry Christmas 2012, Everyone! We hope our greetings find you well and happy. We are well and happy most of the time, and we are more grateful for the times when we are well and happy because of the times when we are not! Life is busy but good. I will attempt to give a brief update on each of the wacky but wonderful people in our family. Steven is 17 years old and a senior in high school. He loves: listening to an eclectic assortment of music, volunteering in Matthew’s first grade class, playing the piano (composing and accompanying various performing groups,) spending time with his good friend, Dawnika, soccer, teaching piano lessons, and reading. He does not love: filling out college and scholarship applications and doing/turning in homework assignments. He is looking forward to serving a full-time, two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, probably shortly after graduation since the minimum age for service was recently changed to 18. Steven is a great example to his siblings, a kind big brother and son, and a responsible leader of his church class. Daniel is 16 years old and a sophomore in high school. He loves: soccer, weight-lifting, rubber duckies, graphic design, writing code for computer applications, technology, his baby brother, playing video games, and bugging his siblings. He does not love: genealogical indexing of public records (but is conscientious about fulfilling his service requirement for NHS.) He looks forward to: maybe getting an iPad so that he can learn Mac programming language and writing his own apps to earn money, and someday getting enough driving time to appease his parents so that they will let him get his driver’s license. Daniel has maintained excellent grades despite a tough academic and extra-curricular schedule. Julia is 14 and a freshman in high school. She loves: learning about all different things, math and science, writing, reading, being with her cousins, playing the piano and violin (and wants to learn to play guitar, clarinet, and cello – but there are only so many hours in a day!) soccer, cooking/baking, and organizing projects. She looks forward to earning enough money through her babysitting job to purchase a guitar. She kept busy this summer with Girls’ Camp, BYU education week, and EFY (a church-organized week of inspirational talks and fun activities for teenaged youth.) Julia is very conscientious about fulfilling her responsibilities, whether in regards to completing assignments in school, caring for her siblings at home, or doing what is asked of her by her church leaders. Michael is 12 and in eighth grade. He loves: his frienemies (a term used by Julia characterizing the rough-and-tumble interaction among Michael’s group of friends,) soccer, electronic/video games, board games, and his youngest siblings Katelyn and Jonathan. He does not love: school (boring), reading (except about 5 or 6 series he has cycled through multiple times,) piano lessons (though he is a gifted pianist,) Scouting, or getting his hair cut. Michael won the school spelling bee and went on to compete (and tied for third) at the regional bee, though he did not win the spot in the national bee. Michael pretty much single-handedly persuaded us (through a well-researched power point presentation and persistent prodding) to take a family trip to Disneyland, which we did in October. Alyssa is 10 (nearly 11) and in fifth grade. She loves: drawing, music, candy, making sweets, dancing, crafts, soccer, giving her little siblings “rides”, pretty hair, and making things look nice. She does not like: headaches, piano (though she is talented,) cleaning up her crafts, competition, and waking up early. Alyssa is a cute and competent (though shy) member of the school’s elementary show choir. Natalie just turned 9 and is in third grade. She loves: reading, piano, math, more reading, playing with cousins and siblings, waking up early, still more reading, Tetris, and playing board games. She does not like: being late. Natalie takes pride in finishing first, and she is amazing at sharing with others. Matthew just turned 7 and is in first grade. He loves: friends, video games, elephants, machines, playing complex board and card games with his older siblings, Legos, creating things from our recycle bin, soccer, and having Steven volunteer in his classroom a couple times each week. He is a master of melodrama. You have to admire the enthusiasm (intensity) and energy in this cute kid! Emily is 5 and in kindergarten. She loves: My Little Pony, Barbie, hot chocolate, her unicorn pillow pet, coloring, drawing, painting, taking piano lessons from big brother Steven, playing with friends (including her best friend/worst enemy, little sister Katelyn,)and school. She makes me smile with her malapropisms, like “It’s not modest when people wear zucchinis (bikinis).” and “Why does Matthew’s head not need to be teleported (supported) in a big car seat like mine?” Emily is generally helpful and easy-going. Katelyn turned 3 in October. She loves: drawing and coloring, snitching treats (from the pantry or dad’s dresser or wherever she can find them,) hot chocolate, playing with her siblings, playing dress-up with Emily, singing, looking especially cute and animated when she thinks she might get into trouble, being read to, and watching Dragon on Qubo. She makes us all smile with her Katelyn accent; sister and brother become “sis-tah”and“bruddah”; door and car become “doy” and “kye”. Jonathan is the new addition to our family since our last letter. He will be one year old on January 18th. He loves: his parents and siblings, crawling around the house finding bad things to stick in his mouth, making us laugh with his funny gasping and satisfied exhaling sounds, fussing and crying when his baby life is just too exhausting and frustrating, dancing, pounding on the piano, looking at his beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous, bright red hair in the mirror, making messes, and just generally being adored by everyone in the household. Hugh keeps busy with his 2-3 hour daily commute, his job preparing tax returns and doing tax research for the LDS Church in Salt Lake City, attending BYU sports events and concerts with our kiddos, taking his turn at teaching Sunday School and playing the organ at church, and being the dad. Hugh had the opportunity to take Steven and Daniel with him to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for three weeks this summer when he traveled there on business. It was an eye-opening experience for the boys and a great opportunity for Hugh to show them some of his favorite places from his mission experience in Germany. My greatest joys and frustrations come from being a mom and wife. I cherish all of it, and I hope I am blessed with enough wisdom to do it right. I have learned a lot in my calling as president of our congregation’s Relief Society (the women’s organization of our church.) It adds to my workload, but it has also forced me to face some of my fears and to see more beyond myself, and I am very grateful. What a sweet thing it is to remember that because our brother, Jesus Christ lived and died for us, we always have cause to hope. Our wish for you is that you will carry that hope with you - not just during the Christmas season - but in every season, and let it change you and make you more like Him. With love, Ann and Hugh Wilkins and family