Our Family Circle

RICHARD & LOUISE - “Put out to pasture.” That seems to be a pretty good description of our year.......and contrary to how it sounds it’s been rather pleasant. We were released from our service in the college stake/ward last April. And while we really miss those wonderful young stalwarts we continue to attend their weddings and missionary Sacrament Meetings which helps to ease the pain. Our current calling in the home ward is teaching the “Marriage & Family Relations” class....which we have both enjoyed, and benefitted from.

Highlights of 2010: In April we accompanied Kay, Ned, Susan, and Jack to the Vancouver Temple open house in British Columbia. For we three girls, and for Richard, it was very much a sentimental journey. Jack and Ned were more than just good sports, indulging the rest of us as we revisited those cherished memories, places, and even people, of days gone by. In the 60’s when Mother and Father Hinckley presided over that mission, we could hardly imagine a day when a temple would serve the saints of that area. To see it there now in its sacred beauty seemed a miracle.

Another journey of note was our trip to Hinckley Utah, Cove Fort, Bryce Canyon, and etc. with the other “senior” aunts and uncles in honor of what would have been Father Hinckley’s 100th birthday. The beauty of the canyons, the history of the Fort, the reverence we felt at Father Hinckley’s birth place, and the joy of sharing it all with the dearest of brothers and sisters was something never to be forgotten.

At the age of 62 Louise feels she is finally free to pursue her dream of becoming an artist “when she grows up” by devoting more time, and taking classes from the likes of Del Parson, and Annette Everett. We celebrated our 40th Wedding Anniversary and feel exceptionally blessed with the finest children and grandchildren on the planet.

Rachel & Richie - Hello from the Garners in Sugar City Idaho! 2010 was a great year for our little family and we feel it prepared us well for 2011, which we think may be a big year for us. Our baby boy turned 1 at the beginning of the year, and by the time this newsletter is out, he will be 2! He’s really grown up a lot this past year. Some of his big accomplishments are no more binkys, no more sippy cups, no more high chair, and he moved out of the crib into his very own big boy bed! Go Miles! We’re saving potty training for a little later. He loves playing with friends, singing, and seems to learn something new every day. He also LOVES babies, which we hope will manifest itself even more when his little sister Gwen gets here in March. We’re extremely excited to welcome another sweet spirit into our home and are on the home stretch somewhat. We’ve been blessed with a healthy pregnancy and have high hopes for a smooth labor and delivery.

Richie has enjoyed managing a construction supply store in Rexburg as much as he possibly could, but that chapter in our lives is coming to a close in August when Richie will hopefully be well on his way to becoming a seminary teacher for the church! We realize this field is extremely competitive and chances are slim, but our hopes are that in August, Richie will be student teaching and by January will have a full time position somewhere. Although you can get hired anywhere in the western United States, we’re hoping for something closer to home. Cross your fingers!

Rachel is still managing the storage unit complex from home in exchange for free rent and utilities. Luckily, this doesn’t occupy too much of Rachel’s time and she can devote her attention to being a wife and mom and anything creative. She’s had a lot of fun this year repainting furniture, painting walls and finding cheap but fun projects to do. She’s also trying to exercise her patience muscles and learn how to sew.

As a family this year we enjoyed sharing a garden with some ward members and learned a lot about gardening and canning. Richie and Rachel also enjoyed their second year in primary teaching the 4-5 year olds. However Richie has been released recently and will now teach Sunday school to the 16-17 year olds while Rachel remains in primary to teach the 7-8 year olds. We’re looking forward to the adventures that 2011 will bring!

Adrienne & Chris Lamb – 2010 was a big year for the Chris and Adrienne Lamb family. We didn’t have any new babies, but we did buy a new house! We are still in St. George, but our new house is actually located in Bloomington and is even in my Mom and Dad’s ward boundaries! I don’t know how excited they are about us moving into “their” ward but we are very happy. We have taken a big gamble by not selling our old house before buying the new one, especially in this market, but we feel good about it and have people interested in buying or renting it in the near future.

Some other highlights of this year would include:

Chris - Beginning his Masters Program for Nurse Management online in March. It has been a challenge for all of us, especially in the beginning, but he is doing great and will be done in March of 2012. He also served briefly as the Scoutmaster before we moved and with three sons I’m sure there will be many opportunities for him to use that new scout uniform in the future. He continues his work managing a sleep lab for a local Pulmonologist as well as a few shifts at IHC. He loves his weekly basketball night and anytime we can spend together.

Adrienne - Was released after serving for 7 years in various callings in the Primary - it was bittersweet. In our new ward I am serving as the Beehive Adviser and am excited for the new challenge. Beyond mothering, I’ve enjoyed learning some new canning skills, reading a few good books, trying to maintain the house and laundry, although not very successfully and working once a week at a gym day care for free memberships and some date money.

George - is our gentle giant. He is seven and in 2nd grade. He LOVES lunch and recess, but seems to excel at reading. He had fun learning T-ball this year and has also started taking guitar lessons. It is amazing as a mother to watch your child learn something new and see him succeed.

Paris - is our happy go lucky Kindergartner. He is thrilled with each new “grown-up” thing he gets to do like ride the bus to school, lose his 1st tooth, participate in sports with George (i.e. t-ball and basketball) or not have naps. He loves to draw and I secretly hope that he has been blessed, like his Grandma Louise, with artistic talent.

Erma - is spirited and sweet and dramatic as a girl should be. She loves being a big sister....too much. She has entered the world of imaginative play and I love watching her pretend with her dolls and “reading” her books. One of the most exciting things this year for her is that she turned 3 in May and is now a Sunbeam in Primary.

John - is 15 months old...need I say more? He is wonderful but is the most demanding of all the kids. I love to watch him discover life and I love his big blue eyes.

We are very blessed. I love my family and I am so grateful for you - my extended family and our heritage! I hope 2011 is wonderful for each of you.

Ben & Becca - The Ames, Iowa Crosbys

Ben loves being a professor. It is every bit as rewarding as he expected. On good weather days (which are ridiculously rare in the northern plains), he walks to work through a nature preserve and a beautiful university campus, gets comfy in his office, and spends the day reading, writing, and/or teaching. He can hardly think of a better way to spend a day. He has taken up some small but challenging carpentry projects. Last year he built bunk beds for the kids. This year he wants to build a dining room table. He also loves his calling in the Young Men’s Presidency. He works with the Teachers.

Becca gave birth to the newest addition to the family on April 6th: a baby girl named Adeline. Becca also loves Ames, although the distance is still too far from family, she loves the town, has made some great friends and is staying busy with three kids. She loves her calling in the primary presidency and the kids love having her in there too. She recently secured a job as a registered nurse at the local hospital, which is about 5 minutes away. She will be working part-time on the medical/telemetry floor, which primarily houses heart patients. In her spare time, she reads novels and dreams of ways to decorate the house.

Izzy was just baptized! She enjoyed a spectacular celebration in St. George with both sets of grandparents and cousins. She was swarmed with love and support. She continues to be a voracious reader, often staying up late into the night secretly (or so she thinks) flipping through books with her handy book light while the baby sleeps a few feet away. She has begun reading the scriptures on her own as well. Izzy is probably the most organized person in the family, and she is an amazing help with the younger kids. She is in second grade.

Theo is the comic relief. He is 4 1/2 years old, and his easy-going nature has given him friends and admirers. He loves most “boyish” things: trucks, trains, swords, guns, and other weapons of war. But he is ever conscientious to supply his vanquished enemies with a “band aid” after running them through with his light saber. His enjoys hanging out with his dad, playing with friends, and watching movies - any movies. He has begun to read small words, but he likes to take his time in most things, and we are happy for now to let him do so.

Adeline is our newest. She is nine months old. Her good, patient nature is an example to her parents. She was clearly sent here to chill her mom and dad out and bring beauty to the house. Like Theo, she takes her time. She is just now starting to crawl, but as long as she keeps up her pleasant ways, we don’t care if she doesn’t walk until she’s in elementary school.

Russ & Nat - “The Last Shall be First” Josephine is our “last” child, and we have nicknamed her “Jose-scream” because of her ear piercing, glass shattering, shriek like she is on fire for no reason whatsoever scream. She is approaching the ripe ol’ age of 18 months, and we eagerly await her eligibility to enter nursery.

Tess will soon be five, and she has decided once and for all that when we named her, we neglected to put a “y” at the end of her name. She has corrected our error, and now refers to herself as Tessy, both verbally and in written form.

Liesl is six going on seven, and recently saw The Sound of Music for the first time. She was more than thrilled when she saw the character for whom she was named, which has inspired us to build a glass enclosed gazebo in our backyard..ha ha.

Zadi is almost fourteen and is officially a half inch taller than her mother, and she looks for every opportunity to rub that in her mother’s face. We sometimes refer to her as Cinderella because of all of the work that she does around the house to help with the kids, and keep her dear old mum sane. She is looking very forward to entering high school next year. Where has the time gone?

Natalie enjoys doing family history work and dreams of the day when she can do it without being interrupted every two minutes by her children.

And finally, the “first shall be last...”

Russ dropped forty pounds in 2010 and has kept most of it off. He stays busy these days with a new job that is located a mere ten minutes away, compared to his other job which required an hour long commute everyday.

Jenn & Mike - This year has given us many firsts, a few lasts, and much of the same.

Some of the firsts:

MIKE: Serving as ward clerk

JENN: Masters degree

TAYSOM: College applications

TUCKER: Varsity football

ILAH: Participating in a musical- Annie

HENRY: Presenting science multimedia project at school board meeting

On the flip side this is our last year with a child in elementary school. It is also Ilah’s last year in Primary, and Taysom’s last year of high school. We are excited for what lies ahead.

Note from the editor (Jenn’s mom): Jenn gave me permission to supplement her contribution with excerpts from a letter she sent to her Grandmother Crosby.

“This school year has been so much more enjoyable than the past three. I am back in elementary teaching 5th grade. Just received a new calling at church. I am now Primary pianist. Mike is the ward clerk. He is a rock. We’re a good team. I love him like crazy!”

“Taysom has had straight “A’s” every single year. She is waiting to hear back from BYU.......we’re keeping our fingers crossed for scholarships. I’m so proud of her. She is the one who truly thinks of others before herself. She is the one rounding up the kids to play games watch a movie, or read a book. She will be missed.”

“Tucker keeps me laughing! He is so relaxed and even keeled. He seems to be able to find something to make him smile quite easily. He is busy playing sports at the high school. He is a good, smart player. ......anxious to turn 16.”

“Ilah is very creative. She likes to draw and paint, plays guitar and flute, and is checking out drama. She loves taking little video clips and wants to have a video blog. Loves to annoy Henry, but also loves doing things with him.”

“Henry is such a fun kid! He gets so excited about LEARNING! He has really fun, unique interests. Loves laughing.....singing...black holes....Star Wars.....Greek Mythology......playing the cello......math, and science. Albert Einstein is his hero.”

“I love my kids!! They certainly are a joy to me.”