Christmas Letter 2009

December 2009

Dear friends and family,
Merry Christmas! We hope this holiday season finds you well.
Alfredo has been working at Utility Trailer for just over a year now. He is very happy there. He has made some great friends, enjoys his job, and the company treats him very well. He and Jenny teach the 9 year olds in Primary. And he is Gabrielle’s favorite.
Jenny continues to teach 3rd grade at Parkview. She loves teaching (both in Primary and at Parkview) and loves being the mother to 3 amazing girls. She continues to read and blog and do a little scrapbooking.
Michelle is six and in first grade. She has lost five teeth and recently got her ears pierced. She continues to be in the dual immersion program at Jackson Elementary where she is learning to read, write, speak and do math in English and Spanish. Her Spanish is improving rapidly, and she is an amazing writer. She is always writing stories and notes to friends and fills page after page with her writing. She loves to play school, and she has her teacher voice down. Jenny loves listening to her pretend to teach her sisters, imaginary classmates, or neighborhood friends--she seems to be a natural teacher. Michelle is a bit of a perfectionist and gets upset when she makes mistakes on her schoolwork. She also loves to watch HGTV and has definite opinions on how people should decorate and design their houses. She has a ready smile and is a kind, caring friend.
Mirielle (Ella) is four now and very healthy. She attends preschool 3 days a week and loves it. She begs to do homework like Michelle, and she can now write almost all of her letters. Ella tries hard to keep up with Michelle. She is our biggest cuddler; she loves to be held. She is also shy. She absolutely wouldn’t say her part in the primary program even though she knew it by heart--but she loves Primary and learned the songs and sang them loudly and with gusto. She likes to color, “read” books and she also has an infectious giggle. We are finally almost past the tantrum stage. (Thank goodness!) She can hardly wait for kindergarten next year, and she seems to totter back and forth between wanting to be “big” like Michelle and “little” and be held and helped to do things.
Gabrielle is now 16 months old. She adores her daddy and our dog Chester. Of her first 10 words, four of them were about the dog (Chesta, woof woof, perro and bow wow.) She loves to run and play hide-n-seek with her big sisters. She also loves to climb…up and down the stairs, onto chairs, tables and counters, and so on. She’s going to be a little monkey like Michelle. She is learning new words every day…in English, Spanish and a little bit of sign language. She has also developed a temper. She lets you know it when she doesn’t get what she wants. She likes to be down and playing and running…except when Ella climbs into Mommy’s lap…then she wants to be in Mommy’s lap too. (Just a little bit of sibling rivalry there! But they do adore each other.) Gabby has curly, curly hair in the back. She loves to point at everything and shake her finger “no, no, no”. She often sings herself to sleep.
We are grateful for our many blessings, especially the gift of our Savior Jesus Christ. We wish you each a blessed and happy holiday season. May the peace and love of Jesus Christ enter your hearts and homes.