In Review....

What a great year 2011 has been. There have been so many highs and very few lows.

Isaac and Heidi moved from Kentucky to Alabama for a change in his military orders. They had just finished renovating a home and had to leave it, so sad. They had made it a totally different home on the inside. On September 2, the welcomed Caroline Grace into their home. Little Zach didn't get a brother, but I'm sure he will rough house with Caroline. Heidi home schools and does and excellent job. She doesn't just do the basic R's, but includes art, history, culture, etc. Isaac had one deployment this year before the move.

Alex and Brydie settled into their new home in Kentucky. They had been there several months in 2010, but they made it their home in 2011. They got chickens and ducks, got rid of the 'stinky' ducks, had a garden (they are learning it is different in the south), got a dog, and really settled in. Brydie decided that she wanted to home school. She and Alex were not impressed with the school there. Brydie has really gotten into this and has done a great job! Alex had one deployment towards the end of the year.

Richard is living in New York City, New York with Anne. He has had a bit of a tough time job wise this year. He found that the underwater welding was giving him some health problems. I believe they found that he had some inner ear problems. He has not had steady work in awhile, but with this break, decided to get back into his art again. He has been working a new art form, abstract. This is new for him, but he is selling some. He is having a solo showing in February. He had a showing in November. Anne is doing her internship for pediatric dental at Columbia University Hospital.

Phillip and Nicole are living in Malad, Idaho. Phillip got back from his deployment in Iraq the end of September. He was SO happy to be home. He did NOT enjoy Iraq. I can't say I blame him. Except for the very end, he was in a compound that was approximately 75 acres, and about a 5 acre area inside that, for the entire time. Since he's been home, he's had a couple of job offers, it will be interesting to see where they will be this time next year. While he was gone, Nicole spent her time working, making quilts and bags, learning to can, had surgery on her hand twice, kept up with Cooper and Allie. They had only been married 6 months before he left, and several of those he was gone for training. So they are really just starting their married life together. It's been fun to watch them.

In January, Sara started school at the Nascar Technical Institute. It is a mechanics program. She received a very prestigious scholarship which has also given her the opportunity to go to a couple of Nascar events. She was presented with an award from Tony Stewart, her Nascar hero. Part of the program is a lot of volunteer work, so she has done a lot of that. Right now she and Tim, her boyfriend, are volunteering at a race shop where they are learning hands on. Sara should graduate in August of next year. She has been able to maintain an almost 4. GPA.

Rachel and Endrit had a big year. After ten long, hard years, Endrit received his PhD in Chemistry! What an accomplishment, in his third language! He does not have a job yet, but he keeps putting in applications and resumes. He is in that horrible condition of being over qualified and under experienced. He will make a wonderful asset with whoever signs him on. We are excited to see where that will be. Rachel finished her first year of teaching middle school science. She was the top teacher for test scores for the year in her school, including the 15 year tenured teacher, and received a nice cash bonus! Rachel was able to carry a baby full term. They welcomed Marsela Luljeta into their home October 24. They are so excited to be parents! It has been fun to watch them, through pictures.

Stan and I have had an interesting year. In April, we found that there was a possibility to transfer to Carthage, Missouri for his job. We signed the contract for our house on May 22, and didn't know until later that evening, that less than 5 miles from our house, the largest single tornado in over 50 years touched down and devastated over 25% of Joplin, MO. At the widest it was almost a mile wide and stayed on the ground for about 25 miles! We looked at each other and wondered how we felt about moving here after that. But it felt good and we did. I spent most of the summer here off and on doing some work on the house, while Stan continued working.

In September Stan had a complete knee replacement on his right leg. The surgery took much long to recover from than he thought possible. He is doing really well now, but is still not 100%. It took so long for his recovery, that he was not able to go to France with me in October. I went with all of my brothers and sisters and their spouses. It was wonderful! I got home in time to help pack rest of the house, help Rachel with Marsi, and we moved the first week in November.

The biggest low of the year was getting completely moved and finding that Stan didn't have a job here after all. So...we are both unemployed right now. But having said that, we feel calm and know that we will find jobs and all will be well.

It is interesting looking back over a year. There are times when it seems it will never end, but mostly it races by so quickly, it's like running after the string on a runaway kite!

We are looking forward to a wonderful year! We are excited with our new home, new community, and being closer to some of our children we haven't seen much of in years.

LIFE IS GOOD

I have wanted to document all of the places we have lived.

1. Sugarville, UT Little house

2. Manti, UT

3. Sugarville, UT Little house

4. Sugarville, UT Big house

5. Benson, UT

6. Fallon, NV Newell's

7. Fallon, NV Dairy house

8. Fallon, NV Jim Ritter

9. Newberry, SC

10. Mesa, AZ little house

11. Mesa, Az big house

12. Delta, UT house 1

13. Delta, UT house 2

14. Delta, UT house 3

15. Weston, ID

16. Williams, AZ

17. Odessa, Ukraine 1

18. Odessa, Ukraine 2

19. Nikolaev, Ukraine

20. Weston, ID

21. Carthage, MO