2007 Christmas Greetings

2007 was a busy year for the Utah *******. We said good-bye for the last time to my grandmother, endured some frightening moments in parenthood, experienced another job change for Mark, and enjoyed the blessings four rambunctious boys bestowed upon us.

My grandmother, Lavinia “Veenie” G******** passed away in August at the age of 97. Grandma was a woman of great faith and love. I will always remember her laughter, her singing, and her delight in her family.

We were going to buy a new house in Payson, just south of Provo. Due to the changed housing market, we’ll probably be unable to sell this one to get into the new one. On one hand, it’s a good thing – this house has the most beautiful views and is conveniently located. On the other hand, the new house has a more functional layout for our family of six.

Mark left Target in April and started working as Senior Resource Manager at Prosper Inc. He enjoys the professional environment, managing his employees, and especially the 8 to 5 work schedule. And he’s kept off most of the 35 pounds he lost at Target!

Alex is a busy eight year old (next week). As a second grader at his charter school, he continues to excel at reading, enjoys math and science, and his love of sports has continued to grow over the past year. He played basketball, baseball, and football. He loved his summer week with his A**** grandparents who took him to lots of fun places. He’s very into Transformers at the moment – a costume for Halloween and a birthday party next week.

Andrew, age four on the 20th, is becoming a very serious student in his own right. With preschool two mornings a week and sibling care preschool during the twins therapy classes, he has four classes a week and wishes for more – all the crafts, story time, and friends a little boy could ever wish for! Andrew loves all things boyish – sports, bugs and spiders, and Scooby-Doo! He was a policeman on Halloween, so he could “shoot people” and is very much looking forward to his first ‘big’ birthday party, Spiderman with costumes!

Sean and Ryan are two very busy two year olds. We celebrated their second birthday at the Dinosaur Park with my parents, where they enjoyed playing with their shovels and pails in the sand areas more than the giant dinosaurs! Mark’s parents joined us for their actual birthday. The twins spend their days keeping me cleaning and trying to prevent injuries. As it stands now, Sean has had a black eye with a head x-ray, chipped his front tooth, and climbed up so much furniture we took all but their beds out of their room! Ryan is a sweetie, so long as he isn’t angry – then the claws come out. Our schedule is full with a weekly therapy class each at Kids on the Move, their speech therapy provider and two home visits with their therapists each month. All this early intervention is paying off – we’ve all become very profienent in American Sign Language and the tantrums are down to just a couple a day! Sean is getting tubes in his ears next week and we have high hopes that his hearing will improve leading to better speech development.

We are looking forward to spending an early Christmas with my parents and sister. We’re also hoping to see Mark’s parents and our niece, Jazmine before the new year.

Anticipating more adventures in 2008, we wish you and yours all the blessings and joy of the season.

Merry Christmas,
Mark, Kathryn, Alex, Andrew, Sean, and Ryan