Christmas Letter 2010

The lights have been hung, the tree has been trimmed and the gifts have been wrapped waiting for Christmas morning. Now we want to draw closer to friends and family by sharing some happenings from this year 2010.

Karen started 1^st grade this year and just loves it. She has made lots of new friends, which she comes home each day asking if she can go play with them. The most exciting thing that happened to her this year is that she lost her first tooth! With another one loose, she is excited to sing “All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth”.

Michael started pre-school and loves learning his letters and numbers etc. He tries to read like his big sister and actually knows a few words now. He has also become quite the ladies man with the pretty girls in his class, which makes dad proud and nervous at the same time. When Michael is not at school, he is playing on the Wii, kicking a soccer ball, running around the house or playing with his sister.

Neils: I continue to work for Winder Farms and I am increasing my knowledge and experience in the information technology field. When not working, you can find me watching my Utah Utes play football, reading history books or serving my community as a community emergency response team leader (CERT). I was able to serve in this capacity when a fire started on the other side of the mountain we live on and raced up and over towards our town. Thankfully the fire was stopped before the evacuation reached our neighborhood, but we still remember the blackened sky filled with smoke and ash, and hope to never experience anything like that again.

Jen: I can describe my year in a single word, busy. It’s crazy to keep up with my kids as they grow! However, with Karen in school and Michael in preschool I find that I have a little time to do things that I want to do. When not running to pick up the kids, playing with them or helping with homework, you can find me shopping, cleaning, reading, doing projects, blogging or playing on facebook. I recently discovered digital scrapbooking and I love it.

Neils watched the Ken Burn’s PBS special on national parks and announced that we must go see America’s first national park, Yellowstone! It was our first family trip and we all loved it. We were fascinated and excited by all the animals and beautiful sights. We could have never done it without our portable DVD player! Thanks Mom & Dad Stark.

Thank you all for your friendship and love. We feel blessed for having you in our lives. We pray that each of you is safe and happy and wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas.

With love, Neils, Jen, Karen & Michael Stark

Christmas Elf

Last year Karen & Michael had some friends that had special Christmas elf visitors and they wanted so much to have one too. So this year we asked Santa if he could send one to us. The day after Thanksgiving we were excited to see that our own elf had come to our home! The kids were just as excited as could be. We had a letter from Santa telling us about our magic elf. When we name the elf he would receive his magic. He watches the kids and each evening returns to Santa to let him know how good the kids were. The elf cannot talk to the kids and we were told that if they touched him he would lose his magic. When Michael heard that he immediately wanted to touch the elf. We were very surprised by this and on asking why, we found out that Michael was very scared of the elf now because he was magic. He wanted to send the elf back to Santa and not have him here at all. We spent a lot of time talking to him and trying to figure out how to handle this. Meanwhile Karen was getting very upset and nearing tears because Michael was going to touch the elf and he would lose his magic. So Mommy and Daddy had to get online and talk with Santa to work out something so Michael wouldn't be scared anymore and Karen wouldn't worry about the elf losing his magic. Santa was very helpful and said that in this special circumstance, Jingle Jangle (the name the kids chose) could keep his magic even if he was touched. This satisfied Karen and after a day with Jingle Jangle (or Elfy for short) Michael was soon excited to have him here too.

Since then our elf has shown up each morning somewhere different. Here are some pictures of our elf's antics.
It's been a lot of fun and the kids are so excited each morning to find out where Elfy is now. On Christmas Eve he will return to Santa until next year. Karen is very sad about this, but I'm sure she will get over it especially after getting presents on Christmas morning. If you haven't heard about Christmas elves you can "google" Elf on the Shelf and you can find out all about how to get one of your own.

Christmas visitor

On Saturday our ward had a Christmas breakfast at 8:30 am. We didn't quite make it on time, in fact we got there quite late and found only a few mini muffins and hot chocolate left. It wasn't much but it tided us over, our own fault for being late. Then they had a dance contest which we also missed, but we made it in time for a special visitor.

Due to scheduling conflicts the real Santa was unavailable and we had a very skinny substitute, but the kids didn't seem to mind. Michael was very enthusiastic but surprisingly Karen was very scared and didn't want to go see Santa. She's been the one that has been begging me to go to the mall to see Santa and so I thought she would be excited, but she was definitely NOT excited and very scared, she made sure to keep her distance.

Michael on the other hand was very excited and surprised us by sitting right on Santa's lap and not crying or anything. Though he didn't want to look at him, he definitely wanted to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. We were very surprised when Santa asked Michael what he wanted and Michael said "Everything". Santa was surprised to and asked if he could be more specific. Michael didn't understand and thought Santa wouldn't get him what he wanted. He told me later that Santa had put him on the naughty list. I couldn't help but laugh and try to explain what "specific" meant. Aren't kids cute.

Anyway, here's a cute picture of Michael on Santa's lap and another of him trying to peek up at Santa.

December

I love the month of December. After Thanksgiving I really get into the Christmas spirit! This year we were able to put Christmas decorations up the day after Thanksgiving. This being our first Christmas in this house, I've enjoyed figuring out where to put all our decorations and seeing everything in new and different spots somehow makes them seem new again. I especially love listening to the holiday music and hearing all my favorites again. The Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel and Lifetime are also fun and make me happy.

Traditions and parties make the season complete. Seeing the lights at temple square is one of my favorites, though it's also the coldest. On Sunday we had the opportunity to go downtown and hear Neils' mom sing at the assembly hall, which was beautiful. We went a bit early and walked around looking at the lights and the Christus statue. I actually took the camera this time and got a few pictures though we look a bit silly all bundled up in coats and hats. The kids really enjoyed it and didn't want to leave.

The only thing I don't like right now is that I pinched a nerve in my neck and I don't know how. I can't look to the left and it hurts to move in certain ways. It was so bad I went into the chiropractor and got an adjustment and found out more about it. He says it could take a couple weeks to a month to heal and that I can't drive for at least a week (since I can't turn my head). He gave me a neck brace and it's a pain in the neck (pun intended), though I don't have to wear it all the time gratefully. When I don't have it on, the kids love to pretend their neck hurts too and they like to put it on their neck. It's cute. The biggest pain is that I can't drive. I have so many little errands and things I usually do during the day while Neils is at work, I never realized how convenient that is until now when I can't and have to wait til he gets home or have him do it for me. Oh well, keeps me humble and grateful that I do have that convenience when I'm well. And it makes me grateful for a wonderful husband who will help me out and do all those little things for me.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We've got lots of pictures and wanted to share them with everyone. Karen made a gingerbread house at preschool.

On Christmas morning we had a lot of fun. Karen woke up first and Daddy told her she could go look in her stocking. She was so excited that she looked in Michael's too, though thankfully she didn't open his. She got a slinky which is what she asked Santa for. She was very excited. Michael finally woke up and we had to do a lot of persuading to get daddy out of bed. The kids had a lot of fun opening each gift and we had a lot of fun seeing their expressions as they opened them. Michael got stickers and used them all right there and then, though he shared them with everyone too.Michael also got a slinky and this is what he did with his.

We all had a lot of fun and the kids especially had fun playing with each toy they opened so it took a while to get through everything. They especially loved playing together with each other's toys. Hopefully they will keep sharing and enjoying their new toys together.

Christmas Tag

I got this as an email and thought it would be fun to post here.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Change all the answers so that they apply to you and post it on your blog. Tag "you" are it.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial
3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving weekend
4. When do you take the tree down? Around the new year
5. Do you like egg nog ? Winder Farms eggnog is the best!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? My favorite cereal
7. Hardest person to buy for? In-laws
8. Easiest person to buy for? My kids
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Several
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Usually mail, but haven't been able to this year
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Any gift is good
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street (the original version)
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In September or October
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Try not to
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Chocolate
16. Lights on the tree? Of course
17. Favorite Christmas song? Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart and Joy to the World
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? There's no place like home
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes, if I sing the song
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Changes each year
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Mean shoppers
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Homemade this year
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Turkey, potatoes, veggies and homemade rolls
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? To find a home

Christmas is Coming

Well, we have decorated for Christmas. Well, sort of. We brought our Christmas tree with us, but forgot to bring any other decorations, so the kids and I have started making our own homemade ornaments for the tree. Here a few examples.

It's been fun to do a few holiday preparations, it helps us to get in the spirit of the season.

On other subjects, our home searching has been quite frustrating. It's been three weeks since we bid on a home and we haven't been accepted or rejected or anything, so this week we went looking for other homes. I've seen probably 20-30 homes and we've only found a few that might even be possible, and we are still searching. We'd love to find something sooner than later since our rent is more than our mortgage was, but we may have to wait. Pray for us.