Temple Square

We made it to temple square this Christmas season to see the lights. We made the mistake of going on the last Monday before Christmas. It seems almost all the families in Salt Lake County had made the same plans for FHE as we did. It was really crowded and so cold! We went with the Strickler family and Joe and Joy's family. We had a great time.

Merry Christmas!

It is Christmas Eve. I got up early this morning and made sugar cookies and fudge to give to neighbors, Tom's home teaching families and my visiting teaching sisters. We have a full day planned. It is the last day to prepare for Christmas. Our Christmas shopping is all done. This evening we have a family Christmas party. The kids are putting on a little Christmas pageant and opening gifts from grandparents. Tomorrow we are hosting Christmas dinner.

Below are pictures of Tanner and Spencer that we used on our Christmas cards this year.

We procrastinated so long this year that I had to take the pictures myself. I took the pictures right by our mailbox. The snow was softly coming down. It was great.

Merry Christmas everyone! Our Savior Jesus Christ lives. He knows us by name. He loves us.

The Christmas Tree Is Up!

Typically, in our home we have our tree up and decorated by the first Monday of December. Since Tom's promotion at work, he has been working longer hours. Tanner seems to have YM, basketball practice, home work group or school activity each night of the week. Spencer has a reading class and basketball practice as well. So it is hard to get us all together one night to do our family activity. Our Christmas Tree went up in phases this year. One day while Tom was at work and the boys were at school I pulled the tree and decorations out of storage. The boxes sat in the family room for 5 days before I had a chance to get the tree out of the box, set up and branches arranged. Spencer was so anxious to get the tree decorated. Tom and Spencer got the lights working on the pre-lit tree. I love the tree when the lights are working. But that is a story for another time. One night when Tom and Tanner were at scouts, Spencer and I decorated the tree. I put the hooks in the ornaments and Spencer decorated the tree. It took us an hour. Once he was done it was time for bed. Tom and Tanner came home and giggled when they saw the tree. I looked up and realized I hadn't help Spencer put any of the ornaments on. He reached as high as he could and managed to get the lower 3/4 of the tree decorated. I wish I would have taken a picture of that. Tom and Tanner helped get the top part of the tree decorated. This year was Spencer's turn to put the angel on the tree. He was really excited. Last year we got a new angel and the boys thought it was so cool. Spencer climbed on Tom's shoulders and got the angel on top. I am so glad it is up. It seemed like it was a lot more work to get it done this year. But it is so nice to have that extra Christmas spirit a tree brings into your home. We have been working diligently as a family and individually to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. Our stake president challenged each of us at the first part of November to set this goal. He said if we did, we would have the best Christmas ever. I don't think that means we will have the biggest Christmas ever. I think it means we will all have a better understanding of the spirit of Christmas. I pray that we can accomplish this goal as a family and as individuals. It has been fun for me to see the boys reading and marking their scriptures. Hopefully this weekend, we get to Temple Square to see the lights.

Way too long!!

It has been way too long since my last post!! Since last May so much has happened. We had a wonderful summer. It was busy but wonderful to have the time and opportunity to spend with family and friends.

Tanner is now in 9th grade and will be 15 this month. He is working diligently to get his Eagle before he turns 15. As soon as his project is approved he will complete his project and be done. He is playing jr. jazz this year. In school he is taking Chinese and has been really excited about that class. He found that he loves geography. He also does very well in biology and English. He is a social butterfly and calls everyone that says hi to him a friend. He is a good boy. He is so helpful around the house and a patient big brother. His favorite activity this summer was the week he spent at BYU for EFY. He said "It was the best week of my life!"

Spencer is now in 3rd grade. He has enjoyed school so much this year. He had to miss a couple of weeks the first month of school to get his tonsils out. He did well but then had problems with some post-operation bleeding and had to stay home an extra week. We were worried he would have to go back in for surgery again, but so thankful he did not. Spencer's favorite subject is now reading. He recently played the part of John Adams at school. He loves to read just like Tanner and his dad. Spencer loves books about the Titanic, tornadoes, volcanoes and glaciers. He also loves Star Wars Legos. Some how he has managed to become a BYU fan. I'm not sure how this happened since our entire family cheers for the team in red. But we still love him.

Tom is a director for Stevens Henager College. He has been working their since March and really likes his job. In his spare time he enjoys being with family and friends. He loves to read. He mostly reads history books and political books. He has a side business with his best friend Nathan, sourcing and producing projects for their clients.

As for me (Kim), I am no longer a Lope (Antelope, the GCU mascot) working for GCU. One day corporate flew in and decided to close the Utah office down. It happened fast. I was shocked, hurt and then a little angry. It is hard to find closure when you don't have the opportunity to say good-bye to so many people you saw every day. Now I am ok. I feel blessed that they are still providing me with a scholarship to complete my schooling. I will graduate in May. Then I will continue on and get my master's degree. Right now I am home. It has been an adjustment to go from a working mom to a stay at home mom. For my own sanity I will need to get at least a part-time job. I thought by staying home I would get home work done and have all this free time. Well I still have daily house cleaning tasks, but there are always so many projects that need to be taken care of. It seems I was better at getting my home work done when I was busier. But I am thankful to be home during the holidays.

Jobs are scary right now. I lost my job, two weeks later my younger brother Matt lost his job. He was blessed and got a job right away plus a nice severance package. My brother-in-law just found out last Thursday that this coming Friday would be his last day. His company his going under. He has only been with that company for 2 months so he will not be getting a severance package. Please keep him and my sister in your prayers.

Tanner aka Jiffy...................

Tvyea posing after the play

Last month Tanner starred in Channing Hall's school play Fiddler on the Roof. He played the part of Tvyea. First, we had no idea he could sing. It was quite impressive to see him in the spot light and hear him sing. He has a cute personality. It was really a lot of fun for us to see. I don't mean to brag but really, he did well.

Tanner is the 3rd one from the end

Tanner also graduated from Channing Hall this year. He will complete his 9th grade year at Summit Academy. He chose this school because he really wants to get his Chinese back. At Summit he will be able to study Chinese. Leaving Channing Hall was hard. They had a small class. So they were really close and have cute friendships. I love all of Tanner's friends. He actually goes by "Jiffy" at school. It used to drive me crazy, but I am okay with it now. His 6th grade teacher gave him this nick name. Tanner wore a Jiffy Lube hat to orientation. There happen to be 2 Tanner's in the class. So Mr. Worthley started calling Tanner "Jiffy" and it stuck. In fact when Tanner's name on the play program's said "Tvyea played by ...Tanner "Jiffy" Martin", everyone kept saying, "What, your name isn't Jiffy?"

Maddie, Tanner and Lauren

This is it for tonight. I have some fun stories about Spencer to post a little bit later.

What is homesickness?

Jia Yi, Taiwan

Dictionary.com (2009) defines homesick as being sad or depressed from a longing for home or family while away from them for a long time. I had always limited it to my parents. But lately I have had an ache in my heart and a longing to visit Asia. I miss Jia Yi. It was our home. I miss the people. I miss the smells. I miss the rice fields and the sweet smell of spring. I never thought I would feel this, but I miss the crazy drivers and the adventure of getting from one place to the next. I am grateful for what we have here. But I miss Asia. At times I even dream about it and wake up yearning to be with the people I miss so much. But for right now, this is where we need to be.

China countryside, 2007

Good Books

Here are a couple of great books I have read this year. Some of it is just great stuff and some is just for fun.

The Message by Lance Richardson

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Read this book! It is incredible. For me it was one of those life changing reads. I felt the spirit so strong. I have never had such a desire in my heart to find acts of service I can do for those around me.


View all my reviews.


The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

My review

Great book. The tools in this book can be used at work, at home and on your own. Great stuff. I will have to read this book a couple times a year and apply what I read.


View all my reviews.

3 day weekend in Moab....

Larry & Kari

This weekend we had the pleasure of hanging out with Larry, Kari and Dusty. We went down the river road and on a few short hikes. It was a lot of fun to spend time with them. Larry is a hoot. He made us laugh the entire trip.

Along the river road

Dusty and Spencer

Spencer and I almost stayed home this weekend. When he realized he would have the chance to hang out with Dusty, he instantly decided Moab was the place to be this weekend. He loves his cousin.

Spencer

What a ham our little Spencer is. He loves to ham it up for the camera. He is been this way since he was a baby.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year....just a little late ;)

Tanner and Spencer

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! I know it is late and this poor blog has been neglected. I did get some Christmas cards out but definitely not as many as I know I should have. Please know that if you did not get one, we love you. It is my fault. I am struggling to balance my time. I hope to get better this year.

We feel blessed and feel like we have had a wonderful year. We are so thankful for the gospel and for the birth of our Savior. We love Him. We love knowing that families can be together forever. This is our greatest desire. We love knowing that He lives. We pray that we can do our part in building up the kingdom of God.

We feel so blessed to have the Draper Temple in our stake. We have had the opportunity to watch it grow from the ground up. It has been a joy to watch it be built step by step. I had the wonderful opportunity of a private tour last week. It is absolutely beautiful inside. We look forward to our family taking a tour of it together.


We have had the opportunity of Josh living with us part of the year too. The boys have loved it. Uncle Josh often takes the time to go out and play basketball with them or watch Sponge Bob and even put together Star Wars Legos.


For the holiday season this year my parents came and spent a couple of weeks up in Utah. It is always great to have them here. We were worried Christmas dinner would be canceled to due a major snow storm. But it let up just in time for everyone to get to our home. It started up again just as everyone left.
I must mention our Ute football team!! Well done! Well done!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. Sorry I am so late. We love you all.