Thursday, December 1, 2011

Beginning at the End!


“For unto us a child is born...”

Merry Christmas 2011



Dear Ones near and far!


Oh what joy the electronic age, creating an ever more lazy creature of me! Instead of addressing all of those cards, one swift punch to the send button and ..wahlah…you can have your semi-personalized Christmas greeting delivered to your inbox!!

We hope that 2011 was a good year for each of you and hope this note finds you all in good health!

Our year has been quiet. Doyle is working part time in AZ - 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off. Of course he is delighted to be able to fly his newly equipped darling to and from AZ! He says that is why he went back to work, to pay for the avionic upgrades in the plane, but the love of flying and boredom with retirement is probably more accurate.

We were called to serve a mission while living at home. We teach the Daily Dose English classes to anyone needing to learn English. We are attending the Spanish Branch and enjoying working with our students and the 3 other couples who are involved with the program here.

My mother is still with us and although failing in some respects she is tough in others and I tell her that even though her 89th birthday is just around the corner, she will outlive us all! She had cataract surgery on both eyes, so now I have to clean her room more often! Ha! We do not do much traveling as these last two topics keep us homebound much of the time.

Ariel moved to Texas, is teaching at a college and caring for a friend with cancer.

Dan is still in NYC working on setting up his own creative business...go get 'em!

Ammon married Ailene Quan 11/11/11 in New York, but the BIG wedding will be in the Philippines Dec 23rd….yikes, what were they thinking? Yes, we will be there!! They have promised to move out West one of these years!

Haven is still in town with her three little ones and whenever it gets too quiet around here I know who to call. She has been singing in a karaoke contest...she is quite the performer!!

Noble is finishing his degree at Central and is scouting the market. It is nice to have them close so I can spoil another grand baby! I see them often as an hour drive is nothing for free food and babysitting!

Micah and Becky added another to their flock, little Cosette was born in April and she looks like a Cabbage Patch doll…so cute and smiley. Micah is finishing his degree in film at BYU and working on employment. They came for Thanksgiving as Christmas will be their time to move!

Autumn is still globe trotting and is currently working for Catholic Relief Services and being trained as a program director in Madagascar. She is loving it and we are excited to see her in Manila in a few weeks.

Our missionary reunion group from Japan got together on Orcas Is in the San Juans this past Sept and we had a great time together. We did manage to get the house fully furnished and the yard landscaped this summer lest you think we are just sitting around! HA!

How grateful we are for each of you and the influence you have had in the lives of our family! We are so blessed to have wonderful family and friends and especially we are indebted to our Savior who has made all things possible for us. At this Christmas Season and always, we honor and praise His name!

May the peace that comes only through Him be yours at this Christmas time and always!


Much love,

Doyle and Jeanne


2011 in Pictures!


Yup, we are getting a little gray around the edges, but we are as happy and crazy as ever!



Granny is in party mode!


How we adore our grand children!

These three darlings belong to Haven and Big T....Dulcinea- 5, Matthias-21 mo. and Tiburcio III- 7


Julian is 3 and he belongs to Noble and Krystal

( he loves his "Mi-Ma" and "Gamp-a")


Cosette (in the choke hold) is 7 mo and Eden is soon to be 4.

They are the sweet little girls of Micah and Rebecca.



This year's highlights.....


Spent much of the summer trying to make the yard look like

someone lives in our home! Big T built some grow boxes and they lived up to their name...

planted late, but my did things grow!


Took a break to spend a few days with my girlfriends in Leavenworth, WA. What fun we have together!


Our trip to the San Juan Islands was a delight. We so enjoy our Japan missionary reunions!



Summer Birthdays!



Haven made creative birthday cakes this summer for Julian, Dulcinea and Little T...quite the talent!


All the "kids" dressed up for Halloween!


Ammon and Ailene were married civilly in a park in NYC so they would have a US marriage registration. Some of their friends who will not be able to attend in the Philippines came to this event. They spent Thanksgiving with us so we got acquainted with our new daughter-in-law and her sister. They are both lovely and delightful gals!