Merry Christmas

December 2009
Dear Family and Friends:
Here we are again with a New Year knocking at the door. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is almost here! As we review this year, we have definitely been blessed with good health, friendships and loving families. We have our home and a job to help keep things stable.
We have the Oquirrh Mountain temple close to our neighborhood. He has been called to work two days in the temple and he volunteers another day. He loves this. He loves working in the baptismal area. He also works in the other areas as well. He is also the High Priest group leader as well and is getting to know people in the ward better. There are times when he babysits the grandkids. He also keeps busy being the family handyman. With four households here in the area, this could be a full time job. It is good that he has experience in plumbing, electrical, and general knowledge of construction. Believe me; I have lists for him also. Since I fell last year, he has been helping me with the vacuuming and other household things anything that requires a lot of shoulder movement.
I am teaching second grade again. I enjoy doing this. It keeps me busy. It seems to take me longer to get things completed at school than it did in Eagar. Old age could be a reason for that. I have a great class this year. I have about ½ of Jane’s last year’s first graders. I have a little girl who calls herself the “Finlay’s girl.” Anyway, my hat goes off to her for teaching her children how to be good students. I like the year round school calendar. I am off track right now until after Christmas. The unfortunate thing is that the time seems to go by very fast.
With the economy the way it is, the way in which this job came about was definitely a blessing. Now if only I can pass the Praxis test for Utah state. I have been 10 points, 6 points and 1 point away from passing the test. I know one thing; it is not easy to remember things learned long ago. I will try again in March, so pray for me.
In church, I am playing the piano for Relief Society and have a real desire to play the organ in the new temple. I have conflicting reports about having to play the pedals on the organ. So I may be taking some lessons or learning on a self teaching course for the organ. Right now, though, I am practicing the piano and gaining more confidence. My voice is too unpredictable any more that singing in a choir is out. So this is one way I can still serve in a musical way.
John and I both keep busy with the family. We try to have one weekend a month for a “Grandma and Papa’s sleepover” at our home. It is fun, but as they grow, we may have to split the age groups up. We miss having Jake and family nearby. His family came for a while and all the grandkids seemed to have fun. Sometimes being able to get to know them is harder as they are all together. Their interests are on different levels. But we have exciting news!! We are having another baby girl added to the family. Joe and Alisa will be adding the new little one to their three boys. Alisa is very happy to be having a girl. This will be the grandchildren count to twelve.
John has helped John Jr. with his home and upgrading some of the parts of the house. They are trying to have a bigger home built, because they need more room as the children grow. They have also taken on one of her brothers until he goes on a mission. Her mother may also need to come and live with them. They need to sell their home before they can finalize everything. If they get it sold, they will come and live with us until the new home is finished.
The children: Emily now 10, William 9, Joshua 7, and the twins Kathryn and Rebekah 3 are very active children. Can you believe how old they are getting? Sometimes, I would like to turn back the hands of time for a little while. Emily, my oldest grandchild is the music girl, dancer, gymnast and a pre-teen; William is the science guy; Joshua is the sports kid; Rebekah the girly-girl and mommy type; and Kathryn is the active one who watches her little sister and is a daddy’s girl. The twins are doing well, still low on the growth charts. Our dog, Ginger, weighs more than each of them by 2 lbs. They know their ABC’s and letter recognition, colors and how to count to 12. They have come a long way since their struggles at the beginning of their lives. We thank Heavenly Father for these two special blessings.
John and I have decided to get a larger home. We need a bigger gathering place for our family. We get together every Sunday for dinner and fill up the whole dining and great room areas we have now. When the kids and their families come to visit with us; it becomes a tight living area. It is way too much house for us, but for re-sell purposes it is a good investment. We could be moving in April. We are going to be just down the street from Johnny and family. As we age, we thought it might be smarter to have one of the kids closer to us and hopefully not be a burden to them. It is going to be a brand new home and we aren’t building it. I think we are tired of that.
Jake and family are in Sparks, NV and they are healthy. He has been able to go to school and complete his bachelor’s degree. We are proud of him. Two of the kids are in school and they are doing well. Little Ashlyn (13 months old now, I think) is the happiest baby; the sunshine of their lives. It is so fun to be around her. She is like Miss Personality. Ethan is a lot like his dad and enjoys sports. Allison is in third grade, can you believe that, and she is a good reader, soccer player, and mom’s helper. They are good kids and keep busy as well
Jane is still teaching and loving her new home. She was also called to work in the temple on Saturday’s. She works a double shift on Saturday and enjoys it. We know she would rather be married and have a family, but that isn’t in the plan at the present time. Everyone she meets seems to be immature, jobless, or controlling. She has met a number of nice guys, but they don’t seem to be right. It is really funny, the older men at the temple, try to set her up. They tease her also, because most of the women are old that work there, and they say she adds color to the area—meaning color of her hair.
Joey works at the new hospital here in Riverton. They have a home in Eagle Mountain and enjoy being there. Alisa keeps busy with her little boys. Simon (6) is in first grade and played soccer. He is mom’s helper. Spencer (3) the active one that wants to be as big as Simon, and Logan 1 ½ years, has been a Mama’s boy, but is overcoming that—he wants to be like his brother Spencer, so there is a little rivalry amongst them sometimes. They are also good kids; they just live out in the mountains and it takes a half hour to 45 minutes to get there. We sure would like to see them a little more often.
We want to let you all know at this Christmas time that we know our Savior lives, he loves and us. We know that true happiness comes in honoring and following Him. Our desire is that all our friends and family know this and are blessed as well.
By the way, I have a Blog that gets updated about every 8 weeks, sometimes in between off track times. So if you are interested, look us up on Grandma and Papa Finlay. We would love to share our lives with you.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all,
John and Nancy Finlay