I hope our Christmas letter has found everyone looking back on a great year and looking forward to another. As always, our life is an adventure. So you don't have to review our blog I've created our year in review.....
January - Rusty turned 30. Yes, you are reading that right. Ahhhhh! Holly and I started a Christmas craft project.
Febuary - A dog gets away from us while we are volunteering at the humane society, and the humane society mafia instructs us on how to hold a dog on a leash.
March - Watched an outdoor movie while eating hot dogs on beach chairs under the stars as a ward activity. My mom and dad came to visit. We met them on Oahu and spent four days touring the island. They returned to Kauai with us and spent another week.
April - Mike and Holly get THE CALL that their sweet baby girl had been born. Less than 24 hours of preparation for a baby and she is placed in their anxious arms. As a family we cry, pray in thanks, shake our heads in amazement, oogle over how beautiful she is... and repeat. We are still repeating. Nancy (Rusty's mom) and Kathy (Holly's mom) both come to visit and help take care of Naiya.
May - James and Vicki Hill came to visit us. KyKy graduated preschool.
June - Hmmm, I can't remember what happened in June.
July - We celebrate the fourth of July on the beach, watching a great fireworks display, and listening to the waves crash.
August - Me and the girls take a trip to Idaho for two weeks, and continue on to New Mexico for a week. We got to be there for Josh's (our nephew) baptism. Rusty and Mike stayed behind, which was sad, but every time we called they were leaving or returning from an adventure. I don't think it was too hard on them. Kyky turned five, and we started homeschool kindergarten.
September - I turned 28. Ha ha, not to thirty yet. Jeff and Antoinette Carpenter came to visit.
October - We celebrated halloween as a washer, dryer, tide box, and cinderella. We also saw a beached baby orca whale. Towards the end of the month we left to go back to Idaho for Mike, Holly, and Naiya's sealing. We spent a week in Boise. Rusty and Mike flew back and me and the girls went to my parents house for a week. Holly and I finished our Christmas craft project.
November - Katelyn turned two. We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends.
December - We went to the temple in Laie, and will leave for Christmas in New Mexico on the 19th.
What we do with our days...
Beach going
snorkeling
scuba diving
freediving (Rusty)
ballet (Kyky)
homeschool kindergarten
golf ball hiking
regular hiking
playing baseball
eating smoothies
going to sunshine markets
reading scriptures
bathing Jake (the kids think it is fun and the dog smells good, can't go wrong there)
gecko catching
reading books (Kyky and I finished the little house series this year)
learning the articles of faith (Kyky was the first person in her primary to pass them off. We were done before her 5th birthday)
feeding wild chickens (Katelyn's favorite, they are everywhere here)
running errands (necessary evil)
having lunch with Rusty (on the lagoon at Marriot's Kauai lagoons. We feed the fish after lunch)
golf cart rides (at Rusty's work after lunch)
golfing
primary (Kyky is in CTR 5 and Katelyn is in nursery, just able to stay by herself in the last couple of weeks)
parties with friends (there seem to be alot of parties around here. No complaints!)
traveling (my girls have been on 18 flights this year, counting every takeoff and landing as a flight)
visiting family (the light at the end of the terminal)
picking and eating fruit. It tastes better when you don't have to buy it.
bike riding (Rusty on a mtn. bike, me on my stationery/mtn. bike, Kyky on her bells and tassles bike. At different times of course).
Family home evening
Cub scouts (Rusty and I are den leaders)
Babysitting Naiya (our favorite thing to do, that we don't get to do often enough)
rockclimbing
watching scripture movies (we bought a set for Christmas last year)
eating (can't forget that one).
We enjoy every day, and hope you do too. Merry Christmas to you and your families.
With love and best wishes,
Rusty, Mandie, Kyleigh, Katelyn, and Jake
June was boring. all we did was have trent two months early. I love reading about your family. I hope it isn't to long before we see each other again. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you! :) What a fun rundown of this fabulous year! Hmmm...maybe I should just copy your letter and insert our names at the bottom! :) Loved it. Loved living it with you. We love you and are so grateful for you every single day. Here's to more adventures with you. Love your guts.
ReplyDeleteHolly
Dear Cooks--what a treat to look at your blog and see your sweet family growing and changing so much. We LOVED getting your card and seeing how big our little KyKy is getting--where do the years go?? Hope you have a wondeful holiday. Thanks for keeping in touch. LOVE YOU ALL-Erika Soelberg
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun year! I loved reading all of the every day joys. All of my family asked about you when I was home for Christmas. We all claim you as one of our own. Every one got a kick out of the christmas picture you sent my folks. Loved the orange tree.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a computer right now, so I'm a little out of the loop. I hope to get one soon. I also have miss placed your # since we moved again. Mine is 766-7777. Yay for 7s. Leave me your # and I will call you soon.
I have to tell you we loved the puppets. We used them Christmas EVE. You are aloways full of good and fun ideas. I need your address.