Christmas Letter

December 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

Most of my family has been fairly busy lately, as I am sure most of you are. Being nearly 17 months old, I have a little extra time between naps and meals, so I thought I would take a minute and write a short letter to everyone. I cannot yet speak intelligibly, but I finally started walking last week. Even though I am still a bit wobbly, I enjoy the new perspective of walking upright (the view is much more enjoyable than while crawling).

I am starting to figure out how things work here in our family (although I still have a lot to learn). Most days, Joseph and Matalyn get on the school bus after breakfast and it does not bring them home again until the afternoon. Joseph is in third grade and Matalyn is in first grade. They both enjoy school and like to read (although I find their taste in books a little beyond my taste). In the spring they both played soccer, and now they both take piano lessons. I can’t imagine having to do everything that they do … it wears me out just sleeping, eating, and walking.

Jacob and I stay home with Mom and do all sorts of things. Jacob and I get along pretty well most of the time (with the occasional brotherly skirmish). On some days, we go to the town hall and sing songs with other kids. Occasionally we drive into town and go to the store. Dad spends most of the day downstairs in his office working … I guess he accomplishes something worthwhile. He goes to the church on Tuesday nights to meet with the young men, and Mom and Dad both help with Cub Scouts on Thursdays. Dad recently got elected to the city council, so he is gone a couple of times each month to council meetings. He also helps coach and referee church basketball.

On Sundays, we all walk to church together. I sit with Dad during Sunday School while Mom does a great job teaching the class. I am looking forward to next month when I can start going to nursery. Jacob really enjoys nursery, but he will start going to Sunbeams a few weeks before I start going to nursery. Matalyn and Joseph both enjoy Primary. Joseph was baptized a few weeks ago and he is pretty excited about that.

Every once in a while we all pile in the van with lots of stuff and drive somewhere. Since I’ve been around, we’ve been on trips to Colorado (Yampa), Arizona (Page), and various places in Utah (Sandy, Murray, Lehi, Cedar Hills, and St. George). This summer we took our first family vacation to Yellowstone. It was really fun to see all of the animals and geysers.

We are grateful for all that the Lord has blessed us with. We hope that everything is going well for all of you. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Spencer

Joseph's Baptism

Today was Joseph's baptism. We awoke to SEVERAL new inches of snow this morning. So much so that none of Mat's family from Sandy, Lehi, Eagle Mtn, were able to come. His brother Scot and his family were able to be here. Most of my family had come the night before so they avoided the storm. It was a new experience to have your first child baptized. I didn't think that it would be very emotional for me, but I have to admit that I did tear up and feel a bit emotional but it was a great event. Our ward was in charge of the Stk. baptism, so Mat and I both had the opportunity to participate. Mat was planned participation, he was asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. He did a great job, kept it simple for the children, there were six of them, and threw in a bit of humor for the rest of us. I had the opportunity to fill in and play prelude and the first couple of songs on the piano. The pianist ended up getting stuck in new snow and was very late. When I first started to play prelude music, the only Primary book I could find was the Spanish version. Well that worked just fine until they started the meeting. When they announced the opening song I panicked, not reading a word of Spanish and not knowing what page the number it was on. I was even getting to the point that I was going to get my Dad from the audience and have tell me, he speaks Spanish. I ended up telling the chorister about my predicament and she let me use her hymn book and she led without. Something I will always remember. Well enough of my memories....here are a few pictures of the great day.