Jeff and Jen Stinson January Post

It has been a while since I have written a family update. It feels too overwhelming to go back and capture the many things that have happened over the course of 2008 so I will just start fresh with 2009. (OK, I will back up a little to recap Christmas.)

December was busy as ever but our family decided to do the 12 days of Christmas for another family in the neighborhood. This turned out to be a really fun experience for the kids. We tried to think of funny & sometimes crazy things that we could leave for the family that would make them feel special. Each night we would gather our “goods”, leave them on the doorstep, ring the doorbell & run. It wasn’t a big deal, just a bit of fun at Christmastime to reach out and share some love. The mother of this family died on Jan. 16th very unexpectedly. It has been an amazing experience to be able to now reach out again in love to this family and help them through this very difficult time. In Family Home Evening last week we talked about how the Holy Ghost directs our efforts and prompts us to do certain things for a reason. In December when we were deciding upon some service for Christmas we felt guided toward this family. How grateful we are that we listened to those promptings.

We spent Christmas and New Year’s in Utah enjoying the cold and the snow. The drives to and from Utah were both a little scary but Jeff did a great job of keeping us safe and getting us to our destination. (We almost had to camp out in Nephi for a while when we couldn’t get up the icy on-ramp to the freeway!) The kids couldn’t get enough of the snow and went out almost every day to play in it. We went sledding at Rock Canyon and had an absolute blast. It was a perfect day for sledding! We had some great get-togethers with the Woods and Stinsons and lots of good food and good times. We played games, watched movies, played Wii and just hung out. We also went skiing all together on one day at Alta, and Jeff & Alex went on another day to Brighton with Shawn & Bryan. We had so much fun and felt blessed to be able to spend time with friends and family.

Coming back home after such a wonderful trip is always hard, and the first week back in school after Christmas break is downright painful. I was proud of the kids, though - they made it all the way to Friday before I got the “I’m not going to school!” meltdowns. We all got readjusted to our normal sleeping and waking schedules and things have been much better since. In fact, the kids have been MUCH better about getting on the bus in the morning. Yeah!

Alex (10th grade) is really enjoying his classes this year. He particularly likes his chemistry, electronics and culinary arts classes. Last semester he had woodworking and made some awesome things. He made a bread box and a skateboard. When Alex brought the skateboard home in Dec. he could see that Tyler absolutely loved it. So, for Christmas, Alex took the skateboard to Utah and surprised Tyler by giving it to him as a present. They were able to take it to the mall and Uncle Chris engraved it for Tyler. It really looks great and Tyler loves it! Alex had a fun opportunity a few weeks ago to make crepes for about 80 people following a combined YM & YW fireside. He did a super job and got lots of compliments on his excellent cooking. He was even teaching the YW leaders how to pour, swirl and the flip the crepes properly. It was quite a sight! Alex also has a regular babysitting job with our neighbor, Margaret, each Mon. afternoon. He watches Zach (4 yrs.) and Rachel (1 yr.) for a few hours while Margaret runs errands. She told me that last week she came home and Alex had put his ipod in their stereo system and was playing music. My heart skipped a beat for a moment as I wondered what he was listening to, but I shouldn’t have worried. She went on to explain that he was playing the most beautiful classical music for her kids and that she was so impressed by the fact that he would have that type of music on his ipod.

Tyler (5th grade) is now working on Boy Scouts and is earning merit badges. He has some very organized and motivated leaders so he is moving right along. Yeah! He has been participating in a program at school called “Battle of the Books.” He has to read 4 books and then participate in a question and answer session with a moderator. This is supposed to be an activity for teams of 3 kids. When the day came for the “Battle” in January, Tyler was the only one there for his team. One boy quit and the other one wasn’t at school. Tyler had to sit by himself and answer all the questions alone while all the other teams had 2 or 3 kids to consult together. I was so proud of Tyler because even though he didn’t score very well, he had courage and he DID IT! On the last question of the Battle, Tyler’s answer was not specific enough and the moderator was not going to give him any points. A boy from another team spoke up and said “You should give him at least ½ the point because he got it partly right and he has had to this all alone.” The moderator agreed, everyone clapped for Tyler and he got the part-credit. Afterward I told him how proud I was of him for hanging in there, even when it was hard, and that sometimes in life we all have to have enough courage to battle alone.

Nathan has been making strides in doing more things for himself. He has a very tender heart and a very serious attachment to his Mom, so this has been a big deal for us. He is also working hard at his reading and his math skills. Nathan is playing on a basketball team and he is at least a foot shorter than every other player. When I walked in the first day I thought I was in the wrong place because the other kids looked so big. Oh well. He is a great defender and really hustles throughout the game. Last week he took his first shot and even though it didn’t go in we were just happy he got to dribble and shoot the ball. He is such a happy kid and loves to have “movie night” with the family and play Wii with his Dad.

Speaking of Jeff and the Wii – he is the undisputed Mariokart champion of the house and the kids sit and root for him to win so he can unlock new things in the game. I still don’t understand it all, but go Jeff!

The end of the year and beginning of the year are busy times in Primary getting ready for lots of new classes, teachers, Baptism Preview, Priesthood Preview, teacher training, etc. Things seem to be going well and we have all the classes filled so we are off and running. Now if I could just get some Cub Scout leaders . . .

We have been loving the weather and the oranges & lemons that are in season. The Arizona Cardinals went to the Superbowl and came very close to winning, but just couldn’t hold on. As you can imagine it was “Cardinal-fever” around these parts. All in all, it has been a good start to 2009.