MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Holiday greetings to all our loved ones, near and far!
When I sat down to think about writing a Christmas letter this year,
I realized that I have been working on it all year with our family blog.

So, welcome to those of you who have just 'found' us and
hello again to our followers.
Feel free to visit our blog often and we would love to hear from you.

2008 was a wonderful year for us!
We traveled some and enjoyed having many visitors.
The kids have grown in many ways and we are busy with their many activities.

Enjoy the following synopsis of our year:
(click on any highlighted item to see more detail!)

January:

• We enjoyed spending our traditional New Year's Eve with our good friends the Chipmans and the Herrons.
• We survived our 7th Minnesota January with freezing temps and lots of snow.

February:

• Riley received his Arrow of Light Award in Cub Scouts.
• Brent was award the VP Award at the Asset Protection Quarterly Meeting.
• Stacey celebrated the 7th year of Book Club with many of her close friends.

March:

• Stacey took a trip to Kansas City to visit her best friend Debra.
• Returning from KC, Stacey was in a collision with a semi and totaled Brent's trailblazer.
• Grandma and Papa Jim came to visit and Grandma stayed longer than planned to help Stacey recover from her concussion and broken foot.
• Brent purchased a replacement car but still misses the trailblazer.
• Brent and the kids loved another winter and spring of great skiing at their favorite MN resort Welch Village.

April:

• Sidney continued gymnastics classes with her best friend Brooke.
• We took a great family trip to Florida where we met with all our Utah Preator family. We loved spending a week with them and had a magical vacation. Our favorite things were visiting Great Grandpa and Grandma in Daytona Beach, staying at the Liki Tiki Village, going to Magic Kingdom, Downtown Disney, Animal Kingdom and Cocoa Beach.

May:

• Jamie participated in track and loved it, although the weather did not cooperate very well for track season.
• Riley competed in the Math Masters tournament and played percussion in the 5th grade band concert.
• Riley and Jamie performed in a piano recital.
• Riley turned 11 years old.
• We started lanscaping and completed lanscaping the front of our home.

June:

• Brent and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.
• Jamie and Sidney participated in a dance recital. Jamie received a 6 year award!
• Papa, Grandma, James and Hanah came to visit!
• Jamie played softball and Riley played baseball.
• Riley went to his first 11 yr old scout campout.

July:

• We celebrated the 4th of July with good friends.
• Great Grandpa and Grandma Hansen came for a visit.
• We biked along our favorite trail with our cousins the DeLays.
• The kids and I spent a fun week in Michigan playing with Grandma and Papa.
  
• Brent met us for a long weekend in Chicago where we saw Wicked, visited Navy Pier, the Field Museum, the Planetarium and Lincoln Park Zoo.

August:

• We visited Nauvoo with our great friends the Burgoynes and the Deans. We loved the pageant, the temple and Carthage.
• Jamie and Sidney competed in their first Gymastics meet.
• Jamie turned 9 years old and was chosen to be on a competition dance team.

September:

• We drove down to Kansas to attend the National Rocket Launch with Papa and had a fabulous time! We also spent a few days with the Lewis family.
• Riley started 6th grade - Middle School! Jamie started 4th grade and Sidney started 1st grade!
• We created Cougar Field at Preator Stadium in honor of our devotion to BYU football!

October:

• We had visits from Grampa and Grammy, the Denisons and Aunt Jill and Uncle Gayle.
• Chips joined our family.
• Riley broke in his new pocket knife with stitches.
• Brent and I took a long weekend trip to Utah where we saw John perform in Les Mis, watched a BYU football game and enjoyed being with our family.
• Sidney turned 7 years old.
• We celebrated Halloween as a pilot, Hermione and Hannah Montana.

November:

• Riley was chosen as a 6th grade Math Student of the Month.
• Jamie, Aunt Mony, Sidney and I got to see Wicked again!
• Uncle PJ, James and Hanah came to visit and Hanah got to stay with us for a couple weeks.
• Jamie broke her foot.
• We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Shaw Family at our home!

December:

• We have enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit this year by attending wonderful Christmas parties, going to the Holidazzle parade, and seeing A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater with good friends.
• The kids are loving the snow and Brent and Jamie can't wait to hit the slopes this year.
  
• Riley participated in his first Middle School Band Concert.
• Sidney wrote all the numbers up to 2000.
• Brent recieved a new position at Target.
• We are looking forward to spending the week after Christmas in Michigan!
  

We hope this holiday Season finds all of you happy and healthy.

We look forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior
and are so grateful for all he has done for us.

We wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!