Happy Christmas!



Ann & David at the top of the M Resort in Las Vegas, December  2010



Mitchell & Erin...Summer 2010...Indiana

Ann and Mitchell & Ryan...M Resort, Las Vegas...December 2010

(This post was written December 23rd, however it was posted on the 24th)

The rains have subsided.  The desert has been washed anew with much needed moisture.  The skies are clear and the sun has reclaimed its position of strength.  Today we welcomed home our youngest son Mitchell and our daughter-in-law Erin.  What a joy to see them again and know that we are going to be able to share this holiday with them.  This evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant with Mitchell and Erin and our oldest son Ryan and our daughter-in-law Heather. Joining us were Ryan and Heather's sons, Clark and Samson.  Missing is our daughter Eva and our son-in-law Greg and their children.  They live in Ohio and will not be with us this year.  It's comforting that they will be with their own little family, enjoying their own traditions and holiday festivities.  Maybe next year we can have Christmas in Ohio!

Tomorrow brings Christmas Eve and our family enjoying one another and sharing in the holiday spirit.  We will have our traditional Chinese dinner (thanks to China-a-go-go!) and the reading of the story of Christ's birth.  Then it will be time for opening presents!  We have invited the Sister Missionaries to be with us, as well as two friends of our son Ryan.  We will be on the computer with Eva and Greg and their kids to see their faces and hear their familiar voices...across the many miles.  Yes, it will be a very special day.

This afternoon, we had opportunity to go and visit my brother Bert and his wife, Linda.  It has been many years since our children have seen them.  We had a pleasant visit and renewed our association with them.  They are well and looking great.  Ryan and Heather's boys enjoyed looking at their many treasures.  Their Aunt Linda even gave each a special rock from her collection.   It was nice to have our respective families come together.  I am grateful.

This has been a season of many changes for Ann and me.  We recently changed boundaries in our ward family and I now serve as the Bishop of the Fairview Ward.  The past several weeks have been occupied with staffing the ward, visiting the sick and needy and doing our best to lift another's burden.  There are many opportunities ahead for us and for the members of this wonderful ward.  Soon there will be a new grandson in our family.  Ryan and Heather are expecting son #3 in January.  This will be our ninth grandchild!  What an amazing blessing for our family.  Our respective jobs in education keep us busy and occupied.  I so enjoy being a high school counselor.  Ann continues to work as an office manager at a local middle school.  She too finds satisfaction in her job.  Next week I begin five weeks of daily radiation for some skin cancer on my nose.  This will be the fifth procedure I've had on my nose in ten years.  Now the skin specialist wants to do the radiation to keep it in check.  Soon I'll have a post holiday red nose...just like Rudolph's!!!

We are richly blessed.  In January we will celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary.  What an incredible journey we have thus had!  There have been good times and bad.  Certainly there have been ups and downs.  Through everything...we remain close and united in our faith and our commitment to each other.  That is truly an amazing blessing!

The sun shines...once again.  The Son of man shines always.  May we each remember Christ, Jesus and cherish his example and bask in his enduring love.

David and Ann