Christmas Letter

So i used to send out Christmas cards/letters to all of my friends...but not many sent christmas cards back to me. So since i am such an ornery/negative person, i have cut those of you (you know who you are) off of my list. So if you didn't get a card in the mail from me this year, you know why and you can read what you missed here on my blog:) Merry Christmas!!!

This year we are writing to you from a new state, that’s right folks...we moved again. Our little family has gone through quite a change here in the last year!!! We moved back to Utah after six years and took a very big step in buying our first home. We didn’t exactly plan to buy, but that just seemed to be the one and only thing that worked out for us.

Elwyn has been growing like crazy and is getting more and more mischievous each day. Somehow or other she gets herself into trouble constantly, and doesn’t seem to care if she has to sit in time out or not. We are laughing or yelling at her constantly. She is hilarious. She is such a sweet heart and loves to cuddle with mommy and daddy. She and I are able to have time together while Willow is at school. I thought she would miss her big sister, but she could care less, she loves the attention. Elwyn loves doing everything Willow is doing, which you can imagine is quite stressful for me, but she is learning a lot and loves pushing her big sister around…Poor Willow!!!

Willow graduated from Pre-K in May. She made so many friends and was all set to go to school in Wisconsin. When we told her we were moving, she totally refused. She kept telling Rich he could go and she, Elwyn and mommy would stay in Appleton. She and I were both so sad to leave our friends behind. Willow started dance in January…and guess who was her teacher, sadly it was me!!! She loves dancing and did an awesome job in her year end show. I would have loved to sit in the audience and watch her do her sweet moves, but sadly I was on the side of the stage, helping the kids remember their dance. Little kids are so funny!!! We finally talked Willow into moving to Utah with us, although she tells me daily how much she wants to move back. I think she is happy to be here and really happy to see grandma and grandpa more than she used to, but she really misses her friends. Willow started Kindergarten in September. I was so sad to see her go. She takes the bus everyday and obviously acts like a teenager. The first day of school she rode the bus, but I met her at the school when she got off. Well she saw me and completely ignored me and kept walking to her class with her new friends…I couldn’t believe it!!! She is doing so well in school. She is reading on her own and is at the top of her class.

Rich and I are very boring, there isn’t anything exciting or new to talk about when it comes to us oldies!!! Rich is still working for Sam’s club, going on six years. After 4 years of complaining about how our Stake Basketball Tournament was run, Rich was given the calling to be in charge of the whole thing…haha!!! Lucky for him, our ward came out with the championship. (ps…he didn’t want me to write that, but he is kind of boring otherwise!!!). In May, he applied for a different management position in the Provo, UT club, and 2 weeks later received the job. We weren’t expecting everything to move so fast. A big reason for moving to Utah was so that Rich could get his masters degree from BYU. Well after 3 tries at the GMAT, we have learned the hard way that maybe BYU isn’t our ‘path’ at this point. Why we are living in Utah… we’re not sure but we will figure it out one of these days! Rich has “looked” into starting his own business; we’ll see what happens.

I have readjusted to just being ‘mom’ since we moved to Utah. I was very sad to let go of my dance-teaching job in Wisconsin. I had just planned out the next year of my life when Rich informed me that we were moving. I finished up with dance in May, and then 3 weeks later we were on the road. I spent most of the summer searching for places to live. I am glad that is all over and done with! The girls have kept me busy and I am looking forward to finding something to do, other than being ‘mom’ all of the time!!!

Since we moved to Utah this year, we didn’t have to take our annual trip out west. It was nice to not have to worry about finding plane tickets we could afford. We did enjoy a short vacation in May. We traveled down to Nauvoo, Illinois. It was fun to see all the church history there. We also made a short stop in Wisconsin Dells…which was super fun, and the girls had a great time playing in the water park. Too bad everyday can’t be a vacation!!!

We miss you all and wish you a wonderful Holiday Season.
Rich, Liz, Willow and Elwyn Wilson