Christmas Letter 2012

This year we feel we have been blessed more than usual and are grateful for our savior, Jesus Christ, and a loving Heavenly Father who watches over us. We are also grateful for a Prophet, President Monson, and our other church leaders who, we know, guide us on righteous paths.

Caleb: 6, 1st grade, excels at reading, and has received lots of awards at school for math and reading, also the character counts award.
Enjoys walking home with friends and his "cousin" Kyle. (Actually Clayton's cousin)
Biggest helper around the house.
Played soccer this year.
Loves his Legos and his favorite shows are How it's Made, Myth Busters, and Dirty Jobs.
Lost his first tooth.
He loves to talk and will go on and on. I'm amazed at how quickly he is learning. He is very curious and sometimes comes up with very strange/funny theories about how the world works.
He plans on starting piano lessons next year.

Quinton: 3, Still a whirlwind of cuteness and trouble.
He loves to help cook and bake but isn't always patient in following directions. I often find things added before they are ready or catch him adding his own special ingredients.
His favorite is roller coasters. We went to Disneyland for Thanksgiving and he was so disappointed he wasn't tall enough to ride all the big roller coasters. Now and then he will tell me, "I growed my legs! Can we go to Disneyland tomorrow?"
He goes to preschool twice a week and I have noticed an improvement with his social and speaking skills.

Ruby:5 months. She is our little sweetheart. Eva has a lot of fun dressing her up and putting cute flowers and bows on her little bald head.
She seems to put all of her calories into gaining inches instead of pounds. She was 98% for height at her last appointment.
She has what we call "angry snorts" when she starts getting upset, she will start snorting. It's hard not to laugh.
She is also very, how shall we say, flatulently expressive. It's a little embarrassing for Eva since she is the one usually holding Ruby and no one believes those loud explosions come from such a tiny baby.

Eva: Starting to come out of zombie mode after having Ruby.
This year she continued to help with the Family Venue.
Finally hung some pictures on the wall after living in Gallup for a year and a half. It's starting to feel like home.
She loves visitors and is happy to be close enough to AZ to visit often.
She has done a few cooking classes which were a lot of fun and has done some other catering work on the side, including some wedding cakes. She enjoys making goodies for Clayton's assistants at work.
She took on a violin student and is planning to start Quinton on violin next year.
Started a garden that was semi-successful. Already has plans to make it better next spring.

Clayton: Is a full-time Dentist and then some for Fort Defiance Indian Hospital. He is glad to be at this clinic over the others because this one has more funding to do more procedures so he's not just pulling teeth. (Though he does his fair share.)
11 year old Scout leader and he was called as the 2nd counselor in our new bishopric and is now busier than ever. He still makes time to play with the kids and take us on family outings.
He has enjoyed doing a lot more hunting and practicing at the shooting range.

Taco the dog: We picked up a stray puppy after a family reunion in Verdon, NM. We are not sure why, but Clayton and Eva both had the prompting we should bring him home with us. He has made a nice addition to our little family. He isn't the brightest of dogs but he is lots of fun.

Duke the dog: 9 years old and getting more and more grey hairs every year. Has gotten some of his youthful bounce back with Taco around. He has established himself as Alpha Male and I think he secretly enjoys having a little dog to boss around.