Our Family Circle

UNCLE DON & AUNT JESSIE:

Dear Hinckley Family: We send this report with love and appreciation to each member of the Hinckley family.

Jessie continues to reside at the Inn on Barton Creek in Bountiful Utah where she continues to improve in her health and in all aspects of her general well being. She fully participates in all programs and activities offered at Barton Creek. She and Don spend many hours together each day. Jessie spent a great deal of time this past year writing her life history. The result was a wonderful document that she shared with her children at Christmas time; this will be cherished forever.

Don resides at his Bountiful home and does an amazing job at maintaining his home and yard. He adheres to a very set and regimented daily schedule. His schedule includes walking many blocks along his beloved 1100 East in Bountiful, eating lunch with his friends at the Golden Years Center and spending time with Jessie. Don is a well know fixture in his neighborhood as he spends time visiting with his friends and neighbors on a regular basis. His neighbors are very good to Don; they provide transportation, food and even invite him the watch football games in their homes.

We have spent many hours organizing year’s worth of family pictures and associated family history documents. We also spend a great deal of time reading together; Jessie is a good sport as we read more western type novels than anything else.

We appreciate the visits and time you spend with us; thank you for sharing your lives with us. Love, Jessie & Don

DON & KATHY: Dear Family, The members of the Don & Kathy Milligan family are busy, happy and enjoying the experiences of life. This year has been one of change for our family as our two married children moved out of state and we became grandparents. We feel blessed in every respect and are thrilled to be parents and grandparents.

Meagan and Luke Jensen moved from Bountiful to Glendale Arizona in August 2010. Luke is attending Midwestern University where he pursuing a Ph D in Clinical Psychology. Meagan and Luke were blessed with a handsome baby boy; he arrived on October 27, 2010. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz and was 21.5 inches long. His name is Crue Lukas Jensen. Baby, mother and father are doing well. Meagan is taking time off from her nursing career to be a mom; she is loving every minute of it. It is interesting to note that while Meagan was in labor for six hours; Kathy somehow managed to travel from Bountiful to the hospital in Glendale and missed the birth by only 30 minutes.

Mason is completing is final semester at Salt Lake Community College and will graduate with an associate’s degree in business. He will continue his education at the University of Utah. Mason is the Wrestling Coach at Woods Cross High School where he also teaches a wrestling conditioning class. Mason lives in the basement apartment in Don & Jessie’s Bountiful home. He takes care of the yard, snow removal and meets many of his Grandfather Don’s transportation needs. Mason is a kind and considerate man; we deeply appreciate the assistance his provides to his grandfather.

Marshall and Amanda Milligan moved to Albany New York in August 2010. Marshall is attending Albany Law School. He plans on earning his law degree as well as a Masters of Social Work in the next three plus years in New York. Amanda is working in the Dental Clinic at University of New York at Albany. They indicate that people are very different in New York as compared to Utah and it takes some getting used to. They belong to a wonderful tight knit and active LDS Branch in Albany. They have been greatly blessed and are having the opportunity to grow in many significant ways.

During 2010 Mason, Luke, Don and Kathy had the unique opportunity to train for and participate in the Wasatch Front 100 mile ultra marathon. Don and Kathy completed in this event in 2009; Mason and Luke caught the spirit of the event and joined in the fun this past year. It was a wonderful experience to spend many long hours as a family training in the beautiful Wasatch Mountains. As we’d run 20, 30 or 50 miles together on training runs, we learned a great deal about each other and had fun doing so. The actual race was also fun and exciting but it was the training together as a family that was fantastic.

Kathy is the Nursery leader in our ward and also the Young Woman’s Sports Specialist in our Stake. Don is the Varsity Coach in our ward. Sincerely, Don & Kathy Milligan

JOHN & JANETTE: Jason & Adam are both on active duty in the military. Kelsey is a Senior in high school, and loves science, but could do without the other subjects. Shelby is a Junior, and loves school in general. John is in his 24th year of teaching math, and serves as an assistant in the High Priests group of his ward. For the time being, Janette is happy to be a stay-at-home/full time mom. Janette feels they must be a boring family as they have had no vacations to report, no marriages, no baptisms etc. but are grateful for the health and safety of their family.

DAVE & DANEAN: Greetings from a snowed in Atlanta where 4 inches of snow have managed to close down an entire city! Pretty funny, but millions of people and only 10 snow plows is a bit of a problem.

Our family is doing well. Here is the run down

Benjamin is 14 and a half and in full teenager mode. He is very social and if there is something fun to do he is there!! He is a freshman in High School and loves the social aspects of school. He played football this year. Practice started in May with weight training and conditioning, and they practiced each day for hours. This continued until November when freshman football ended. He did not complain one bit which shocked us all. I think his favorite part of football was wearing his jersey on game day and the attention he received from the girls. He is progressing towards his Eagle Scout. I can’t say he enjoys it, but he has finally accepted his fate and will do anything to get us off his back about it. One day he will be happy he did it, but until then, we will keep pushing forward. He continues to enjoy art and entertains us with his cartoon drawings. Did I mention he is girl crazy… he is.

Daniel is the second teenager in the house as he recently turned 13. His most recent claim to fame is a tib/fib fracture that required surgery and several screws to fix. The fracture occurred during a game of backyard football. Oh, it would have been such a great play, if not for the tackle and subsequent fracture. We cancelled our Thanksgiving travel plans and instead of going to Florida we ended up at the hospital….. such is life. Daniel is an awesome student and does really well. Most of his classes are advanced content which he enjoys. He is also progressing nicely towards his Eagle Scout and seeing that resistance is futile goes along without much of a fuss. He is the first counselor in the Deacons quorum. He is an awesome guy, very shy and not so much into the social scene yet.

Jacob is 11 and our resident technical wizard. He loves all things technical. His most prized possession is his IPOD touch which he takes immaculate care of. He is pen pals with one of the HR directors at Apple and he hopes to move to California and work for them one day. He loves all things Apple and has recently told me he will be saving his allowance for a Mac book. It is both a blessing and a curse for Jake to be our tech support as he sometimes is annoyed with our simple mined technical problems. He is horrified when we don’t know a “this” from a “that” but smiles and helps us anyway. He is a happy guy, and his biggest problem at school is that he is a bit of a chatter box.

Emma will be nine in April. She was baptized last year and she really enjoyed that day. Recently her Nana and Pap purchased a used piano for her and she loves it. I think she has some natural talent and we look forward to her lessons so we can hear some different selections. She really loves school, she loves math and has enjoying learning the multiplication tables. She must get that from Dave. She loves to bake and she is very good in the kitchen. She often prepares a sweet treat for us on Sunday evenings.

Dave is busy with work and still travels a bunch. He is the gospel doctrine teacher and the Scout advancement chairman. He helps out whenever and where ever he can. The company he works for is doing a bit better. They are really a great group of people and we hope this year things will turn around for them.

I went back to work full time 6 months ago and I really enjoy it. As far as jobs in the healthcare field, the schedule can’t be beat. It is M-F and 8 to 5, no holidays or weekends. For now it is great. I also went back to school and I am working on a bachelors degree. I will be done with that in August. Life is busy, busy as it should be. Love, Dave, Danean, Ben, Daniel, Jacob and Emma

MATT & BECCA: Italy-Becca and I were able to spend two fabulous weeks in Italy. We spent a week in Rome and another week out in the country. We both agree it was the best vacation either of us have ever been on. We can’t wait to go back-but it will be years before we can.

Jackson Matthew Milligan-Our first grandchild was born March 4th, 2010. Nate and Bethany are great parents, and he is adorable. We are lucky that they live fairly close. It has been a joy to watch him grow.

Disneyland-We drove from Moses Lake to Anaheim over spring break. In retrospect, four days of driving broken up by three days of theme parks doesn’t sound all that great, but it was. We highly recommend the California Screamer.

Maiclinn was baptized in March. She is an bright, inteligent, loving girl.

Becca’s parents made the journey from Hawaii to visit us three times this past year. They are wonderful grandparents and fun to have around. I wish my folks could still travel, nevertheless, we were able to see them a few times last year as well.

Overall, we feel very blessed and happy.

TOM & TIFFANY: The Tom & Tiffany Milligan Family had a great 2010. Here’s the rundown: Tom: same company, same job, spends a bunch of time on the road, still LOVES it! (not the travel part) Tiffany: Left ebay in April, joined Adobe in May, left Adobe at the first of 2011 and is now pursuing her music career. Josh: Age 13. Hates school, likes girls, mathematical genius. Gage: Age 11. Loves school, competitive swimmer and water polo player - spends 10-20 hours per week in the pool. Coleman: Age 11. Enjoys school, competitive soccer player, always smiling and laughing. Connor: Age 9. Tolerates school, competitive soccer player, has a future as a stand up comic.

As you can see, we’re all very busy and the kids are growing up too fast. We’re at a very fun stage with the kids: they’re not quite teenagers -which means they still like us - but they’re not little kids anymore - which means we can joke around, watch non-animated movies, and play games together. We know they’ll outgrow us so we’re trying to take advantage of this little window of time. Love, The Tom & Tiffany Milligan Family

SARA & GORDON: Wow 2011 is already here! What a year 2010 was for the Searle family. Kayle had the most happen to her! She graduated high school! She spent the summer working at Six Flags Chicago and then the whole family took a road trip and dropped her off at BYU-Idaho. She loved her first semester there! Her roommate was from New Zealand and they hit it off. Her fun continues into 2011 as she is now in Florida at Disney World working as an intern at the happiest place in the world. She avoids the coldest time in Idaho and Illinois. Lucky Kid! If you are headed to Disney World in the next couple of months look her up!

Sara has been busy raising kids and keeping the family on track! She qualified to work as a census worker, but gave her job to one of Kayle’s friends who really needed it. She loves volunteering in Madison’s Kindergarten class. She is serving in the nursery now. She is known as the sucker lady by all the kids! She brings suckers every week for the kids! Imagine that! Her favorite thing to do is read a book whenever she gets a quite moment. Sara won the scariest costume award at our ward Halloween party. She was the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz and Gordon was the scarecrow. Her favorite part of the trip to Utah was visiting her mom and dad!

Gordon has been busy. He still works at Discover reaching 20 years of service. He recently changed his job to move out of the Finance area. He also started school to get his Masters Degree. Needless to say with his church calling and everything else he is very busy. He likes taking the kids on adventures. On New Years Eve he took Jack and Madison downtown on the train. They walked around, visited the Chicago Federal Bank (You just can’t get the finance out of this guy), had lunch, and then came home. The kids loved it! Gordon’s favorite part of the Utah trip was visiting his Mom and family!

Madison turned 5 this year and she started kindergarten. She loves school and loves riding the bus. Bus diver Bob loves to see Madison each day. She really is a bit of sunshine. She loves her kindergarten class and her teacher. During our trip to Utah she loved going to Mt. Rushmore and Pioneer Village in Salt Lake City. If you haven’t been to Pioneer Village recently you should take your kids this summer. There are so many fun activities! Anyway, Madison loves princesses, the color pink, and dressing up. If you come to our home you will see her in one of her favorite dress up dresses. Her favorite is her Rapunzel (Tangled) dress and she has informed us that she is going to grow out her hair as long as Rapunzel.

Jack turned 4 this year and he is growing like crazy! His favorite thing to do is to wrestle. He is all boy! You have to pay attention whenever he is around because he just might tackle or jump on you. He loves cars, trucks, Spiderman, Batman, and Super Mario. We have an old Nintendo and he loves to play. Jack started pre-school this year. It is taught at Kayle’s old high school by students at the school. There is a teacher who oversees the program and it is wonderful. Jack’s favorite part of our trip to Utah was the train at Pioneer Village.

We love you all and hope your 2011 is amazing!