2009

Here is a little photo journey of our happy year. Enjoy!
Caroline has the honor of placing the angel on the tree this year.

Mama hangs the first ornament.

Caroline's first amazing pies for Thanksgiving- pecan and chocolate meringue. Wow!

We're missing Jill's family and Melanie's family, but enjoy our Thanksgiving day with Michelle and crew.

BYU beats Utah in overtime with an amazing touchdown pass. What a game! I started crying before regulation time ended and said to John that I just can't handle the stress in our life and this game too!!! Caroline and Melanie came and sat in front of us. What fun!

Caroline, visiting the Olympic Park in Park City. We watched bobsledders and then it really started snowing. Beautiful!

Porter joins the family February 17, a couple weeks early. Precious, precious baby.

John, Caroline, Jill and Paul at BYU Men's volleyball game.

Caroline, her roommate Lindsay and I went to Rascal Flatts. What a great concert!

Cooper and Will measure back to back. They are growing so fast!

Caroline running in the rain. We don't often get rain hard enough without thunder where we can run in it!

Family water fun- tubing the Logan River in August. L-R back row: Caroline, Jill, Michelle, Brian, me, Greg, Melanie holding Porter. Kids- Caroline and Elizabeth (Michelle and Brian's, Maya, (Jill and Paul's), and Will (Melanie and Greg's). Paul was in North and South Carolina for work. Cooper and Isabelle were with a babysitter. John took the picture. A very fun weekend!

John and me enjoying beautiful American Fork Canyon in September. 31 years of happiness.

Our scrub oak tree is the first to burst into color each fall. It's beautiful.

Will (Melanie's) and me on my 52nd birthday (Halloween). Whose smile is the biggest?!

Thanksgiving 2009. John and me and lots of delicious food.

John and Porter (Melanie's). Just chillin'.

Jill, Mama and me at the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple. Beautiful place.

Many of you know the challenges we've faced this year. Melanie's melanoma while pregnant, resulting in 5 surgeries, Jill and Paul moving to Arizona, Michelle and Brian moving to Logan, John getting laid off. All of these challenges are also filled with blessings: being able to serve Melanie and her family, witnessing the power of prayers by so many friends, families, and strangers for her, helping the kids move and knowing they are doing the right thing for their families, being able to visit them, Caroline finding a great job for the summer providing her with tuition this year while we're unemployed, having John home to help and to be with.

So many wonderful things in our lives, there's just nothing to complain about.

With Christmas in 3 days, we send our love and wishes for a wonderful Christmas filled with love and memories and thoughts of family. We know that families are the greatest joys on earth and we can take that joy with us to the next life because of the Saviour's love for us. Because of our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness, families can be together forever. There's no greater joy for me than this. Merry Christmas.