As another year ends we find ourselves continually blessed. We are surrounded by individuals on whom we can thoroughly rely. We have sufficient for our needs and wants. Our children have been protected and kept safe. Our eternal marriage is stronger than tungsten because of eternal covenants made in God's Holy Temple. And most importantly, we know our Heavenly Father provided His Son as a sacrifice for our sins; Jesus Christ overcame death and paid the price of sin that we may return to live with God again. What a wonderful season when many individuals remember and celebrate this paramount event.
To you: thank you for taking the time to read our blog! We know life in the fast lane sometimes feels more like life in front of oncoming traffic. It is almost inconceivable to keep up will all of those we care about, and this is our most efficient method of sharing our adventures and joys with you. We know your lives are similarly busy, it takes time to read and comment on our blog, but doing so lets us know you care. So, thanks!
Here are the year's updates by individual.
Wait for ittttttt. And go!
Susanna
She never fails to express her opinion on any matter relating to her life. We hope she will start using words other people can understand soon.
Her chocolate milk addiction is approaching intervention stage. More information on that subject in future posts.
She loves animals. They're so fluffy! She would spend all day watching and playing with various animals if she had the opportunity. One of her favorite places to rest is in front of the fish tank with her blankets and Dad. David would love to get a "toy" sized bichon frise for her, they're far superior to a cocker spaniel.
She loathes socks, and clothing in general. Oh well.
She is electronically gifted. She performs tasks on Melissa's iPod neither of her parents believed possible, and she repeats those actions intelligently. For example, she knows where to get her favorite games, movies, and music. If there is a tv, computer, or other media device on in the house, you will find her there or yelling at the door "pblezquzz", her word for "please".
Amirrah
She learned to ride a bike this year, pretty much on her own. The first time David took off the training wheels she rode a 1/2 mile without falling after he let go of the seat.
She began dance lessons, and continues her love of clothing, appearance, and extreme girly-ness.
She is hoping for a violin this Christmas so she can do "a pretty instrument instead of piano". (Not the sound, how it looks when she holds it.)
She also earned her scriptures (you get a set in our family once you can read two verses of Isaiah and correctly identify the basic idea). Her pre-school - "UPSTART: Rusty and Rosy" offered in-home through the Waterford Institute - is one of her favorite activities.
If you want to win her over, a five guys burger and fries is the way to go.
Timothy
Is a boy. Does anything else need to be said? He thinks if he could drive a car, he could change the world. If it is beautiful, unethical, dangerous, explodes, sounds loud, smells funny, is dangerous, causes damage to bad guys, requires repair, is weaponized, or is manly in his own mind, he's all in. He likes to hide, blend! blend! blend!
He dominates his age group in soccer, does plenty of push-ups, holds his own in video games, and constantly makes noise with singing and sound effects; while brushing his teeth, the sound of machine guns can be heard throughout the house. The other evening we found him singing in his sleep.
Magdalyn
Plays ball like a girl. Intense one moment, and distracted the next. In spite of this, she managed to score her one and only goal of her less-than-illustrious soccer career. Shortly thereafter, she determined that soccer was not for her.
Maggie enjoys school, and is excelling in the Alpine School District's A.L.L. program. The class provides lots of opportunities to make new friends and play new games.
She's got a little fight in her and enjoys practicing ch'uan fa, running, and skating. She ran a 5k in under 31 minutes and did the Turkey Trot this year also.
Melissa
Melissa continues to develop her various talents while juggling carpool, bountiful baskets, sewing, and her full time profession as wife and mother. In addition to hemming pants, suits, and making alterations for a great price to those in our Stake, some of her sewing projects this year include pajamas, dress suits and shirts, costumes, jeans, music lesson bags, and various types of clothing that function as underclothing to keep ladies modest.
She picked up piano lessons again this year and will hopefully begin learning hymns and primary songs in the next few months. She is close, but she is no Liberace you know.
She developed an interest in improving her abilities to heal, comfort, and relieve her family's pains, which led to studying and practicing more eastern philosophies of health such as acupressure, massage, reflexology, and herbology.
Her two highlights for the year were first, the vacation with David to the Blue Boar Inn for their anniversary (Worth. Every. Penny.), and second, the opportunity to sign for the choir in the Worldwide General Relief Society Meeting in September.
She collected many cooking manuals, books, recipes, which led to many... adventures... and an excellent ciabatta bread recipe.
Other than that, she switched out her Odyssey for a Subaru Legacy. Some of you may wonder what in thunder are [we] tryin' to do? Crazy woman driver! But she is still accident free.
David
Continues to spend as much time as possible with the family and provide teaching, learning, and enjoyable memorable experiences with the children. In his non-existent spare time, he reads a variety of magazines, books, and follows news, politics, and a variety of hobbies. He continues his political activity serving as a State Delegate. He also developed a new taste for sparring.
He continues his employment teaching Seminary and writing curriculum for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Other than that, he switched out his Legacy for a Dodge Ram Big Horn Crew Cab. Yea, it's got a Hemi. We are blessed.
Thanks for reading. You may have noticed some of the sentences in this letter were not as crisply fit to the subjects, this is because of our blog reader challenge now becomes find all the movie quotations in our newsletter. Guesses go in the comments section. If anyone can list all of them before Christmas and the movie they come from, we will provide them a quart of Melissa's amazing homemade jam.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
The Hoffman's
