December 2010
I've tried to send out as many Christmas cards and letters as I could to the current addresses that I had this year. I had several of these returned to me. If you didn't get a Christmas card from me, let me know, so that next year I have your current information on record. Thanks!
Dear Family & Friends,
For our family, the most significant events of 2010 have happened nearing the end of this year. On Sept. 27th, Jared’s mother Clara was diagnosed with an advanced stage of Leukemia. Even though she was seventy-eight years old, it still seemed a difficult prognosis. Jared was part of several phone calls back and forth to help with talking with his brothers and sisters who were handling her hospice care. I believe he was helpful to them during this time. Clara passed away on Oct. 9th. Jared had been able to drive to Utah and spend three days with his mother before she had passed away. I was able to make arrangements for my six children to be cared for by four generous families in our ward so that I could fly out to her funeral which was on Oct. 12th. I felt very grateful that I was able to attend and it was nice to have my mom, Sylvia, come as well. I took pictures of the flowers that were sent to Clara’s funeral and I have posted them on Facebook. Jared and I were able to drive back to Texas together.
As a family, we felt very busy in the next month as the children continued to attend school and Jared working. On Nov. 9th Jared received a call from his sister Caroline to tell him that she had found his father, Melvin, had passed away as well. This news was unexpected for all us even though his father had lived eighty-two years. He seems to have died of natural causes most likely from complications with his heart since he has had heart surgery in his lifetime. So many of us had been impressed with how well his father had been doing since Clara’s death. This time Jared was able to fly to Utah for his father’s funeral and I stayed home to take care of our children. My mom, Sylvia and our sister, Mollie were able to attend his funeral as well. Jared really appreciated their support.
Even though these events have been a sad occasion for us, it is happy to think of Melvin and Clara together in heaven just in time for their 60th wedding anniversary which was on Dec. 15th. We have wonderful memories to cherish of his parents even though we have been living far away from them for some time now in Texas. It’s hard to believe we’ve been here about twelve years now. We have come to really enjoy living in Texas and our children are growing and thriving as I think you’ll see from how they are doing.
Hopie finished up middle school and she applied to Early College Academy this year. She was accepted and she has started her Freshman year as both a high school student and a college student. We have been so impressed and amazed with her determination to work hard and excel at this school. One of her favorite things that she was able to do this summer was to go and visit Bonnie, Levi and Clark. She really enjoyed the time that she was able to visit with them. Her Uncle Sam was able to come and visit to say “Hi” to her as well. Hope had worked really hard with babysitting jobs and had diligently saved her money to be able to go. Personally, I am so glad that she had this opportunity and I am so thankful for Bonnie for her hospitality while Hope was there.
Cowboy finished up 6th grade and started 7th grade this year. He is enjoying playing his Trombone. He also enjoys scouting and the Young Men’s program. One of his favorite memories is training and completing the Gatorbait Triathlon with his Dad. He swam 500m, biked 1300m and ran a 5k to be able to accomplish this task. Cowboy really loves to be outdoors and is very active as he continues to run, ride his bike and do the yard work for our house. He is very helpful to his brothers and sisters.
Nessa graduated from Elementary school and started 6th grade this year. She is learning to play the trumpet. Nessa loves to write stories and she started a blog this which can be found at http://nessapenandink.blogspot.com/ She also really loves to receive e-mail from people if any of you would love to e-mail her she would love to correspond with you.
Zayah is a budding artist and you can pretty much find him drawing all the time. He finished 1st grade and started 2nd grade. He really likes his teacher this year, Ms. Williams. He is always finding an excuse to make her a card to thank her for all that she teaches him. He is really doing well at school. His favorite subjects are Science and Art. One of his favorite memories is going to the Coast over the Thanksgiving Holiday with his Aunt Martha and her children which are his cousins, Molly and Mike.
Princess G graduated Preschool and started Kindergarten. Her favorite things to do are playing Barbie’s and computer games like Moshi Monster and Club Penguin. She also loves to help her dad in the kitchen and play house with her friends or her little brother, N. Her favorite book is the Pinkalicious series and the new one she was able to get at the book fair is Goldilicious.
N has turned 3 and his most wonderful, significant event is becoming potty-trained! His sister, Nessa, helped out quite a bit with him in being able to help him accomplish this task. N loves Scooby-Doo and getting into anything slimy like mud or toothpaste. He is very smart and uses his curiosity and stealth powers to his advantage. He has also maintained the art of the escape artist and has been secretly introducing himself to our neighbors. He also decided to try out the career of a barber on himself first. Needless to say, he’s sporting a short haircut now. Most of all, he makes all of us laugh and smile!
Jared is still working his job on the phones with Health Dialog and he’s still a Nurse in the Army Reserves. He’s also started a few side jobs to help out with the finances.
Julie has been busy in her calling in Nursery but has recently been called to be the Young Women’s Camp Director so she’ll be attending camp next year with both of her daughters too. She is also watching, Jakey, a boy N’s age during the day full time and continues to have a Scrapbooking group and a book club. She also recently entered three of her poems into a poetry contest. Wish her luck!
We want you to know that you are loved and in our hearts. May each of you continue to be blessed throughout your lives.
We love you, The TX Carter’s
In photo: L-R Back: Cowboy(13), Jared, Hopie(14) Front: Nessa(11), Julie holding N(3), Princess G(5), Zayah(7)
Candy, our dog
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