Christmas Letter 2011

This year Chris wrote our Christmas letter. I was so grateful. I was running out of time and was just going to send the Christmas cards without it...which would have been just fine by the way...but when I came home one day he had it all done. He is a great man!! I wanted to post it so that we could have it recorded to look back at in many years and see what our children were up to in 2011. Here it is:

I cannot believe that we have already made it through another year. It seems that the older I get the faster time seems to fly. Thank goodness for the Christmas Season which makes us stop and ponder all that we are grateful for, and all the wonderful blessings that we have been provided throughout the past year. Our children have been very busy, which in turn means that we have been very busy. =) We are truly blessed to have each one of them.

Kylee (17) is probably the busiest of all of our children, but that goes with the territory when you are a senior preparing for graduation. She finished up her 6th straight season of volleyball in November at the State 4a tournament at U.V.U. Even though they did not end the season with the wins they were hoping for, they still were able to win their region for the second straight year in a row. Kylee won the Defensive player of the year award, and has been so fun to watch. She has decided to pursue a career in Dental Hygiene and is currently trying to make a good decision on which school to attend. For now she will say goodbye to Volleyball and focus her attention on this next phase of life. We are very proud of her ability to show wisdom throughout all of this.

Emilee (14) is amazing. It seems that whatever she puts her mind to, she can accomplish. She has already shown us that she can be a wonderful artist. Her old teacher tells Kade (who has him now) that he had never had a better flutist. Now she has decided that she wants to try to play the Saxophone and she is doing wonderful. We are so proud of Emilee and her God given gifts. She is also following in her sister’s footsteps and is playing volleyball. However, she is going in a little different direction and playing the setter position rather than the middle blocker. Emilee never seems to have a shortage of things to do with her many friends, and their many activities as well.

Kade (11) is my little buddy. He and I have had a lot of fun this summer doing a few campouts. We even went on a backpacking trip up one of the many canyons here in Utah. It is fun to watch Kade grow up and see him start to see the important things in life. He is very in tune with some of the more important things of life, and I love having conversations with him about them. Now that being said, he can also be very annoying to his sisters. =) He loves to tease and try to get their attention in any way that he can. My Mom warned me that one day I too would have a child similar to me. It looks like mom was right again. =) Kade continues to love soccer, and will be playing again here very soon.

Quincy (8) is the darling of our little family. She is also showing a gift for music and the piano. I love to hear her practice her pieces and realize that she has come so far. She is finally healthy and it shows. She has energy to play with her friends, and also at times to fight with Kade. (Most of the time it has to do more with Kade than Quincy.) She is a very good sister to Brinley and they love to produce many imaginary activities that will last for hours. Quincy was baptized this year, and we were very proud of her and her decision.

Brinley (5) is 5 and going on 35. She says some of the funniest things. You can go to our blog and
see many of them. She is currently sitting here playing the piano and singing out loud “Mary had a
little lamb”, which her sister Quincy taught her. She is so smart, and picks up on things
so quickly. (She must get that from Michele.) She started Kindergarten this year and has
baffled her teachers with how to teach her. She will read just about anything that you put
in front of her, and she loves to get into her “Zone” and can be there for hours just
pretending she is writing and calculating, and also reading to her dolls. She is a bright
piece of sunshine in our home, and we love her dearly.

Michele and I keep busy with Work, Church, and Kids. It is fulfilling, but very tiring. We apologize for not keeping in better touch with all of you, but we want you to know that we are
thinking of each of you this special season. Thank you for the special relationships that we share and we hope that you have a wonderful Christmas season filled with Peace and Joy.
Love The Southwicks