We would like to take a few minutes to say THANK YOU to all of you who have been a positive influence on our family. We receive so much support from our family and friends and we really appreciate it. It truly "takes a village to raise a family" and we are grateful for ALL of you! Thank you to extended family, teachers, primary leaders, scout leaders, young women's leaders, neighbors, and all of you who are currently raising upstanding, righteous children and young men and women...after all, some of your kids may someday marry into our family. But I am getting WAY ahead of myself, aren't I?
Well, lets begin by recapping 2010....
Janika just turned 15 and is 9th grade. She is in the Honors Program (and a straight "A" student) and has a great group of friends. She is one of the only people I know who miss school (mostly the socialization) when it is not in session. This was Janika's first year of EFY and she LOVED it! She still keeps in contact with kids from her EFY group through facebook, e-mailing, and video-chatting. She also enjoyed girls' camp, youth conference, and a ten day church history tour with her dad, brother, grandma and aunt. Janika loves to sing and perform. This year she played "Cinderella" in the High School's Musical Broadway Review and was also involved in their recent play of "Peter Pan." Janika is a great baby-sitter and a HUGE help to her mom -- often cooking meals and almost always doing the nightly dishes. She enjoys "crafty things" and has made numerous bags out of Capri-Sun wrappers and dozens of different kinds of flowers and hair accessories for girls' hair.
Jase just turned 13. He is very outgoing and confident. He is in the 7th grade and continues to get a 4.0 in all of his classes. He is a good leader and was on the Student Council this year. He enjoys his Honors' classes in Math, Science, and Choir. He participated in Math Counts again this year. Jase LOVES games (especially games of strategy if he can persuade anyone to play with him). He also loves the Wii and video/computer games. He enjoys Scouts and participated in the Klondike Derby and a river rafting trip on the Colorado river in home-made boats (made out of PVC pipe) this year.
Janelle is 8 and in the second grade. This year she got baptized and was SO excited!! She is very sensitive and wants to do what is right. She has a big imagination and loves to write and draw pictures. She was one of the top three winners for both her entries in the Reflections contest this year (one for a story she wrote and another for a picture she drew). She also got second place for her entry in the science fair. She started piano lessons this year and is progressing wonderfully! She also started Dance lessons this year with her sister.
Jaiden is 6 1/2 and is enjoying the first grade and progressing well. She is very social and loves to play non-stop. She was so excited to start dance lessons this year and loves to show everyone how she can do the splits. Jaiden loves to play with friends, color, draw pictures, make art projects, do math, and play with her pet toads that live underneath our tramp.
Josh is 4 1/2 and is in his second year of pre-school. He loves it and is always asking if it is a school day. Josh loves computer games and is participating in the Upstart Program this year. He loves to play with friends and his brothers and sisters. Josh finally overcame his fear of water and joined his brothers and sisters in the pool this year. Yeah!! Like Jaiden, Josh loves playing with the toads under the tramp (when they are not in hibernation, that is!) Josh loves pockets! He has to have pockets so that he can fill them with all kinds of random treasures that he finds around the house.
We have had a tradition the past few years of making a "family CD" with each of our children singing. If you would like to listen to this CD then click HERE!
Well, lets begin by recapping 2010....
Janika just turned 15 and is 9th grade. She is in the Honors Program (and a straight "A" student) and has a great group of friends. She is one of the only people I know who miss school (mostly the socialization) when it is not in session. This was Janika's first year of EFY and she LOVED it! She still keeps in contact with kids from her EFY group through facebook, e-mailing, and video-chatting. She also enjoyed girls' camp, youth conference, and a ten day church history tour with her dad, brother, grandma and aunt. Janika loves to sing and perform. This year she played "Cinderella" in the High School's Musical Broadway Review and was also involved in their recent play of "Peter Pan." Janika is a great baby-sitter and a HUGE help to her mom -- often cooking meals and almost always doing the nightly dishes. She enjoys "crafty things" and has made numerous bags out of Capri-Sun wrappers and dozens of different kinds of flowers and hair accessories for girls' hair.
Jared is 10 and in the 5th grade. He always does his homework without being asked. He does very well in school and received many academic awards. He got third place in his grade in the Geography Bee at the beginning of this year. Jared is a good baby-sitter and helps out a lot with his younger brother and sisters. He is a good runner and participated in his first 5K race this year (where he beat both his mom and his older brother). Jared is hilarious -- he says and does the funniest things and keeps us all laughing!
Jaiden is 6 1/2 and is enjoying the first grade and progressing well. She is very social and loves to play non-stop. She was so excited to start dance lessons this year and loves to show everyone how she can do the splits. Jaiden loves to play with friends, color, draw pictures, make art projects, do math, and play with her pet toads that live underneath our tramp.
Josh is 4 1/2 and is in his second year of pre-school. He loves it and is always asking if it is a school day. Josh loves computer games and is participating in the Upstart Program this year. He loves to play with friends and his brothers and sisters. Josh finally overcame his fear of water and joined his brothers and sisters in the pool this year. Yeah!! Like Jaiden, Josh loves playing with the toads under the tramp (when they are not in hibernation, that is!) Josh loves pockets! He has to have pockets so that he can fill them with all kinds of random treasures that he finds around the house.
Jenna turned two years old on October 3rd. She talks really well and repeats anything you tell her to. She also loves to sing little songs and dance around the house. Whenever one of the kids puts music on she starts spinning around in circles. She is such a girlie girl. She loves to get her nails painted and she LOVES dresses! She loves to put on other people's shoes and also loves gloves and hats and other accessories. She is very social and has lots of little friends she loves to play with. She loved nursery from day one. She loves to play and has a difficult time going to bed at night because she doesn't want to miss out on any fun!
This year Rick had some changes with Seminary. He was moved to Snow Canyon High School and was also given a class of deaf students at Dixie High School. He also directs the Institute choir at Dixie College this year. He loves variety that the changes have brought! Rick has been serving as the Deaf Branch President for 2 1/2 years. It has been a very growing experience for all of us.
Wendy is a stay-at-home mom and spends much of her time running children back and forth to school and other activities. In her "spare" time she interprets for the Deaf and teaches an evening ASL class again at Dixie College. She continues to keep up on her family blog and gets it published twice a year into a nice hardbound book for their family history. If you would like the blog address you can e-mail Wendy at wendy@firstratefamily.com
One of the highlights this past year for Rick, Janika, and Jase (and Grandma Jensen and Aunt Gerilyn) was a ten day church history tour. They went through 7 states and the kids had the opportunity to do baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo, Palmyra, and Winter Quarters Temples.
We had fun session directing EFY at BYU!
We continued with our annual tradition of "Mother's Day Tea" (picture below) and "Father's Day Flee," which involved an awesome camping trip with our friends, the Healeys.
Rick also got together with some of his USU "Hand's Up" friends to put together a "Hand's Up" Reunion (an overnight camping trip). It was so fun to visit with friends we hadn't seen for a long time!
Again we are all so grateful for all of you and the wonderful influence you have had on our family! We are also grateful for the Savior and for the gospel in our lives. We wish you all the best in 2011!!
Love,
Rick, Wendy, Janika, Jase, Jared, Janelle, Jaiden, Joshua, and Jennalee!
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing! What a sweet, sweet family you have. Your family reminds me so much of the Leonhardts, CES leaders here in Michigan. It seems like you would have to know each other! You sound wonderful -- in word and in song! Again, thanks for sharing!
Love,
Barbara Ostergaard