Christmas

We had Katie, Jeremy and Jayden for Christmas this year and it was a lot of fun having my house full of people. There was lots of cooking and baking and games going on all week. Christmas day was very full. We were woken up by a phone call from Ryan, it was great to hear his voice and talk to him for a little while, then the kids opened their stockings, and then we went to church. After church we had our yummy Christmas brunch, took family pictures, Skyped with Ryan then finally opened our Christmas presents. We had a yummy dinner and played games, the day went by way too fast. The next morning Katie, Jeremy and Jayden left to go back to Utah. It was so fun having them here, Katie is still my little energizer bunny always looking to stay busy.

Christmas Letter

2016 has been year full of change and activity for our family.

The biggest and best was that we welcomed our first grandbaby in March, Molly Rapoza is now 9 months old and we love having her in our family she is all smiles…. as long as mom is close by. Tim and McKenzie are adjusting well to the addition to their family. McKenzie has continued to work as the head team girls gymnastics coach; she just puts Molly in the front pack and goes about her coaching. Tim is busy working and going to school.

In June we lost our beloved family pet Eddy, he was 11 years old and a trusted family member, he is greatly missed by all the kids and by Scott who now has to take his daily walk without the dog.

In July we sent Ryan off on a mission for our church, he is serving in the Baton Rouge Louisiana mission. He is having a great time and enjoying this adventure in his life. We look forward to his letters each week.

In September I enrolled as a full-time student at BYU-I then two weeks later was offered a new job! So I have been trying really hard to stay on top of everything, I took my last two finals today and now I am trying to get to all the things that have been neglected over the last couple of months.

In October I traveled to Haiti, it was a great experience; I spent the week with Kelsie, my sister, my niece, my friend and an awesome team of health workers. The week was spent up in the mountains and I loved spending time with my new Haitian friends.

Now for the rest of the family…Scott has been busy with his used car lot. He has worked hard every day to make this business a success.

Katie and Jeremy (Jeremy is not pictured on our card) – They continue to live in Logan UT. Jeremy just graduated from Utah State University and is starting a new job in Montana at the beginning of the year. He will be commuting for the first year, so they will continue to live in Logan where Kate works in the office of Al’s Sporting Goods and they have their dog Captain and horses Tuxedo and Daisy that keep them busy when they are not working.

Kelsie is working hard to get into nursing school. All of her pre-requisites have just been finished so in the mean time she’s been working at Olive Garden and saving all of her money.

Jayden in living in Utah with my sister Sheree, this has been a good thing for Jayden, and he is doing well and enjoying he new friends and school.

Tia is in middle school and is surrounded by friends. She is the social butterfly of our family. She loves to play volleyball and go shopping at the mall.

Avrie is in the 4^th grade and getting very tall. She is the tallest one in her class. She loves the piano, singing, and volleyball.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Molly 9 Months Old

Molly is the sweetest baby, she has the best smile and she is stubborn just like her mom and dad. She is refusing to drink any liquids, she won't take a bottle, a sippy cup or even liquids by the spoon. She loves her food, and will eat almost anything. She is walking around furniture, clapping and just learned how to high 5. She still does not like to cuddle but occasionally she will go in for a quick hug. She is independent and wants to explore everything and has no fear of anything. She is fun and her little personality is starting to come out, and she is slowly getting some hair.

 Molly has the funniest expressions, when she is getting into trouble she looks just like her dad.

 This is Molly's concerned look....

 This is her "what i didn't do anything" look....

 This is the look what I found look...

 What did I do? Look...

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we traveled to Utah to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Our first stop was in Yakima to visit Scott's parents, they had not met Molly yet so it was fun to see them together. Scott's parents recently moved into a retirement center and they have a very nice 2 bedroom apartment, and I think they are really enjoying getting to know the other people and making friends.

Molly did great on the car ride there and back, she just didn't sleep at night once we got there and once they came home. She is a good little baby and pretty happy most of the time.

 The cousins all had fun hanging out together. Dinner was great, we did a little shopping and went to the parade.

We had our dinner in the barn it was decorated so cute and it was the perfect spot to hold our huge crew. It was fun to be together with the whole family, Ryan, Kelsie, and Noelle and Nick and his wife, and one other grandchild were the only ones missing, Maddie and Kyle and Katie and Jeremy were missing too but they were around later. Thanks Sheree for hosting the party!