Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2009

We have joy in our faith, joy in our friends and joy in our family. Joy in music, joy in love and joy in the gospel of Christ. This has been a joyful year for us. Some highlights are: house redecorating and finishing, Rachel’s group taking 2nd place in Tech Fair, soccer games, swimming lessons, attending the Mt. Oquirrh temple open house, family reunions, a hot air balloon ride, gardening with the new drip system Tim installed, chaperoning an overnight school trip to the mountains, attending Wicked in Denver, recitals for violin, flute, piano, harp and a partridge in a pear tree.

Tim enjoys his job and calling at church. He is the ward mission leader and is very busy with all the ward missionary efforts. Carolyn stays busy with the girls, running the house and her photography business. She is now the1st councilor in Relief Society at church and really enjoys working with the ladies in the ward.

Rachel is 11 and started middle school this year. She is in honors classes, the drama club and choir. She enjoys her classes most of the time but says there is just a lot of homework. Sarah and Emily are 9 years old and are in 4th grade. They both sing in the school choir and also continue in their music lessons. Laura is three and so the world still revolves around her. She is looking forward to preschool next year. She keeps us laughing and is growing up too fast.

We hope you find joy in this Christmas Season!

Love,
The Turners

General Conference was wonderful. We are so thankful for a living prophet, what a wonderful blessing. We look forward to reading the talks over the next 6 months.

I chaperoned Rachel’s overnight field trip in the mountains. We stayed at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park. It was so beautiful but it was also very cold. I was in charge of 5 girls including Rachel in my group. They went on hikes, had team building activities and classes. We got home just before the storm came and we had almost a foot of snow on the ground the next day.

Rachel had first choir concert for middle school choir. She did a great job. Tim and I went to a Manhattan Transfer concert in Fort Collins. It was so much fun and we had a great time 3 other couples from my singing group.

The girls had a great time carving their pumpkins all by themselves this year. We went to trunk of treat at the church and then around the neighborhood. There is way too much candy left in the house. Rachel was a character from a Disney show called Wizards of Waverly Place. Sarah was a vampire, Emily was a black cat and Laura was a princess. Laura wanted to dress up as a princess she said, “Mom, because I am already a princess.”

Pumpkin Quesadilla

Okay, so I am a Facebook junkie and I haven't posted anything on my blog is a LONG time. I took this picture today and thought I would share. Laura was so proud of her pumpkin quesadilla she helped make. She is growing up so fast.

I went to Time Out for Women in Denver. It was so much fun and I got to spend some time with a former Ricks room mate. Tim and I went skiing and I actually had fun. I hadn't been skiing in over 12 years but Tim was a good sport and we stuck to the beginner hills and had a great time together.

The girls had 2 snow days and were happy for the break from school. It was a big storm! Tim came home early from work and couldn't get his car all the way up the driveway because of all the snow. He had to dig out the window wells because so much snow had been blown into them. There were big drifts everywhere. The girls loved playing in the snow, but it was really cold and windy and they didn't last long outside.



We went to Utah for spring break. The weather wasn't much better in Utah than it was in Colorado but we had a great time. We loved staying in Ginny's condo and remembered our happy memories with her. After the General YW broadcast the girls stood on Ginny's balcony and waved at the young women and their mothers as they left the Conference Center. They were so excited when they would point and wave back.

We hiked the "Y" and the girls did a great job. Tim carried Laura in a backpack and the girls were thrilled to see how high they had climbed when we came back down.
Girls at the top of the Y.



It was nice day and we even got a little sun burnt. We spent a day in Provo driving around and visiting old apartments. We ate ice cream at the BYU creamery, it was yummy. We also walked around BYU campus and of course we ate at Los Hermanos.

We went to the Dinosaur Museum and the girls had so much fun it was hard to get them to leave. The 3D movie about dinosaurs was great but it really scared Laura.

We also visited the Beehive House, the Joseph Smith building, Temple Square and the Church History Museum. We even got to visit with Mom and Dad before we left. It was a great trip and we had a lot of fun.

Girls at Temple Square.

Time out for Women

I went to Time out for Women in Denver. It was so fun and the talks were wonderful! It was just what I needed. I even got to see a former Ricks College room mate!

February

The girls had a fun Valentines Day at school. They all wanted Prince Caspian valentines to give out this year. Gone are the days of princesses and ponies. Tim and I attended the annual Adult Stake Valentines Dance. I took pictures again and Tim and I danced too, it was a lot of fun.



For president’s day we went to the indoor city pool. The girls were so excited to go swimming again. They all went down the water slide; even Laura went down with Daddy. We stayed for hours and finally left when Laura’s lips started turning blue.



Laura seems to be improving so they will not do further tests right now. Rachel was able to participate in a Tech Fair for school. Their team took second place for elementary age students. She really wanted me to include a picture of her with her glasses in the newsletter. Sarah and Emily completed the first half of the national assessment tests this week. They both said they felt like they did well. We'll just have to go with that for now since we don't get all the results back until September.



I reported for Jury duty but wasn't selected in the final group. It was amazing how many questions they ask you. It was kind of a cross between a blind date and a job interview. The court system is very interesting and I learned a lot. The lady helping with the interior decorating is still not quite finished so I don't have pictures yet, but I will soon.

We enjoyed the holiday break but are also glad it is over. It has been so windy here this month it reminds me of Idaho winds. One night it was almost 90 mph and it just shook the whole house. We are thankful for some snow this week since it has been a very dry winter.

I took some family pictures for a lady in our stake over the holidays. We are trading pictures for interior decorating. It has been a lot of work but also a lot of fun to see the transformation of the living room, kitchen and family room. It will probably be another few weeks before everything is done so you will have to wait for next month’s newsletter to see some pictures. The girls now want their rooms repainted too. Rachel says she is “done with pink.”

Laura continues to have random stomach pains and now her blood testes indicate a possible gluten allergy. More tests may follow. We hope to find a solution soon that will help her feel better.

We had parent teacher conferences and the girls are doing well in school. They all dressed up for Retro Day at school. Rachel was an archer from Prince Caspian, Sarah was a pioneer and Emily just wanted to be herself with braids.

Rachel and I read Inkheart and went to the movie; it was a fun night for just her and Mom. The girls love to bowl on Wii and kept asking when we could go bowling. When we finally went as a family they learned it is a lot harder to bowl at a bowling alley than on the Wii.