Welcome to our 2011 Christmas Blog!
This is the 2010 Christmas Eve picture. We'll take a new one tomorrow night!
We'll start with Joshua Bruce, because he has the most exciting news of the year with his mission call for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve in the El Salvador San Salvador mission.
He will report to the MTC on Jan 25, 2012. We are so excited that he is learning Spanish! Joshua also went to two semesters at BYU Idaho this year, and earned a 4.0 in both. This Fall he was also privileged to be the youngest member of one of BYU-Idaho's elite choirs, the Collegiate Singers (or the "Collegiates", as he called it). He auditioned on a whim, and made it, so he adjusted his schedule somewhat and thoroughly enjoyed this choir, including a performance of the Messiah in December.
Here am I on our annual family pack trip with the llamas in Idaho's wilderness country. I have enjoyed a year of learning, growth and sharing. I got to attend a C.A.R.E. (
Center for Aromatherapy and Education) Training in Utah with Dr. David Stewart, and
Young Living's National Convention in Orlando, Florida, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I began teaching Kindness Foot Zone Classes, as well as training others in Raindrop training and VitaFlex training. I love teaching these classes! I made a big change at the end of the year by pulling out of piano teaching, soccer refereeing and assigning, and one of my callings in our Church. Simplicity and focus are some of my goals. Being a Mom remains my biggest joy and challenge, and I'm so grateful to have such wonderful children.
Bruce has been able to go on several trips this year, including a llama pack trip with just the girls, which is what this picture's from . He enjoys working from home full time now, and has moved into an architect position for his software engineering. He really enjoyed playing indoor soccer with Joshua and Joseph. They had a great team and put the whoopin' on a lot of teams. He continues to maintain his parents' 20 acre hay farm.
Joseph is pictured here in two of his Senior pictures. Isn't he handsome!! Yes - he's a Senior and is going to graduate in May 2012! Joseph was co-captain for his Varsity Soccer Team and was named Honorable Mention mid-fielder in the conference.
Jesse had an amazing year. She is pictured here at Shoshone Falls in
Idaho. She is so happy here, because we had just come from buying a
Kawai 5'1 baby grand piano right before this. She is preparing to
become a piano performance major, hopefully at BYU, and playing on this
piano is getting her ready for that big challenge.
She also went to SummerFest at BYU (which is a musician's camp) this summer and had the time of her life. She thought she had died and gone to heaven to be surrounded by great kids who understood her passion for playing the piano. Besides playing the
piano 3-4 hours a day, she is in Show Choir, Madrigals and maintains a
4.0 at school.
Mary is having a great time in her first year in High School. She has found a friend who is teaching her how to ballroom dance and swing dance. He comes every week and they are getting a swing routine down while they practice. She is singing in the auditioned all-girls choir at school, and excelling at that, as well as playing JV Soccer.
Peter and Libby are the caretakers (along with Dad) of our new puppies - Thor and Ellie. After all these years, I finally gave in and told the kids they could get some puppies from our friends who were giving them away. They are part golden retriever and part who knows what (we're thinking part lab and part retriever).
They are a lot of fun, and provide a lot of entertainment.
These are some of our favorite Elders that have come through our ward. You will not soon be forgotten!
I love this picture of me and my girls!
Peter received his Arrow of Light this summer. He is now enjoying 11-year old scouts and excelling in school. His teacher really appreciates having him in class. For our family reunion in Bear Lake he showed off his shoulder blade skills and whistled. You'd have to see it to believe it!
Libby is a gymnast! This is a new sport for our family (at least for the kids - I was on the gymnastics team at Bonneville Junior High in 7th grade). We are excited to see what she does with it. She also loves playing the piano and has straight A's in school.
For any of you who know Dave Ramsey, we are in the middle of our Total Money Makeover!! For those of you not familiar, I highly recommend his book by the same name.
It is a joy this time of year to focus more closely on our Savior Jesus Christ. To learn more about what we do as a family (and what I do personally) to worship and follow Jesus Christ please visit my profile on
mormon.org.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love, Bruce & Lorena, Josh, Joseph, Jesse, Mary, Peter, and Libby - Family of Eight
