Cannon Conection 2011

KAY & NED – In 2011, we could tell we were getting older, with the growing number of funerals, birthdays, 50th anniversaries, and senior-couple mission calls.  Kay’s first two dental implants were another sign.  Our extremely young ward keeps Kay busy in Primary as music leader, and Ned (not so) busy in the high priest leadership.  We love our callings.

Kay continues teaching at Northridge HS, and warns prospective teachers that training courses never end -- so don’t think college is the end of it.  On the positive side, she feels rewarded when students return to visit and show their appreciation.  Everywhere we go, she sees her students, who are always happy to greet Mrs. Cannon.  Ned enjoys being self-employed, learning technology involved in his business, and creatively applying it to serve clients.

We enjoyed activities with loyal old friends from our previous wards, including a stroll and picnic in Memory Grove, visits to the Church History Museum and Gilgal Sculpture Garden (very “interesting”!!), a challenging hike in Liberty (Ogden Valley with 80-year-olds).  Kay is grateful for her girlfriends and DUP sisters (she has participated in the same DUP camp for 15 years, despite our many moves).

Some highlights: our spring-break retreat in the Brigham City area, trilobite-digs trip with our posterity, 40th-anniversary trip to New England and visit with Angie’s family in PA, and their visit here for Christmas.  Our family gatherings brought us much joy.  The extended-family activities were wonderful, creating precious memories.  The Cousin Connection, including Ralph as an honored family member, was especially gratifying.

We were thrilled with Rex & Jean’s mission call to Ohio, the state where Ned’s mother grew up (high school years).  In 2010, we found and visited Janath Russell’s old family home in Columbus, and made a goal to return some day to visit Kirtland.  (How about a Hinckley seniors trip there? :-)

It’s a good thing our children are writing their own reports, as we are tempted to brag about their many accomplishments and lives of service.  We’ll just cheer them on and say, “keep up the great work!”

FORTY FIRSTS FOR KAY & NED

(Highlights of the 40th-Anniversary Trip)

1) Visiting all six New England states, plus New York and Pennsylvania, in one trip.  2) Riding on top of double-decker tour bus of Manhattan and Bronx.  3) Surviving scary dark streets of Queens (NYC) – walking between hotel & subway.  4) Ground Zero site of construction after 9/11 terrorist attack in NYC.  5) Tour boat to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Museum.  6) Genuine New York style pizza in NYC.  7) Experiencing a Broadway show – the “Jersey Boys” musical.  8) Finding a way home after taking wrong subway in Manhattan at night.  9) Realizing our rental car was not the best model for NYC traffic and sight-seeing.  10) Museum of the Moving Image in Queens NY; (don’t be fooled by tricky parking signs!)  11) Mailing a “donation” to a good cause, hopefully helping the dedicated, deserving NYPD.  12) Wrong lane (pass card only) entering turnpike (toll road) leaving NY, Friday rush hour.  13) Spending hours going a few miles in NYC outbound traffic through Conn. Friday night.  14) Finding far-out Eugene O’Neil’s home in a thunderstorm after it closed.  15) Mystic Pizza in Mystic Conn. – best pizza ever!  16) Attending a session in the Boston Temple; (hard to find, but worth the hunt.)  17) Walking all 4 miles around Walden Pond and Thoreau’s cabin site.  18) Rededication of Longfellow Ward chapel in Cambridge MA.  19) Homes and haunts of Emerson, Alcott, Hawthorne, and Thoreau.  20) Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord MA.  21) Concord MA sites of early Revolutionary War battles.  22) Salem Cemetery and memorials for 20 alleged witches hanged.  23) House of Seven Gables tour, where Hawthorne wrote the book.  24) Enjoying the Marginal Walk on the south coast of Maine.  25) Dinner at Barnacle Billy’s where Pres. Bush (sr.) dines.  26) Visiting Portland Head Light and Portland Observatory.  27) Staying in a 1940’s cottage by the sea in Rockport, Maine –cute for a couple!  28) Lighthouses everywhere along NE coast; saw Columbus’ ships replicas sailing.  29) Penobscot Marine Museum – a dozen buildings, including an old church.  30) Staying night at The Moorings (Hinckley home) in SW Bar Harbor, Maine, by the Hinckley Yacht Co.  31) Touring beautiful Acadia National Park, including Cadillac Mountain.  32) Chart House Restaurant in Bar Harbor (pron. Bah Hawba), with steak & lobster for dinner.  33) Birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith in Sharon, Vermont.  34) Finding (despite inadequate signage) the AP Restoration site & cemetery above the Susquehanna River.  35) Home of Emily Dickinson by Amherst College.  36) Visiting Angie & Chris and Nina at home in Elk Lake Resort, PA –BBQ heaven, thanks to Chef Chris.  37) Valley Forge National Historical Park in southeast PA.  38) Spectacular Longwood Gardens (started in 1700 by the Peirce Family, who bought from Wm. Penn.).  39) Walking historic Philadelphia on July 4th weekend, including Independence Hall and fireworks.  40) Driving down Coney Island’s main street filled with celebrators and police at 2 am – no hotel!

Conclusion:  For tips on celebrating your big anniversary, contact Kay, and find out how to really “pack it in” for unstructured fun and adventure! 

ANGIE & CHRIS MEE – Here we are, nestled in our humble abode, contemplating the year that has passed. Screaming baby noises fill the air, ringing throughout our very essence…our souls…and the one device that makes the incessant screaming worse is Mom’s electronic amplification machine.  In other words, her baby monitor.  Oh, but let us not forget to count our many blessings.  We received a “multiplicity of blessings” this past year, the greatest of which was the birth of our adorable little girl, Miri May Mee on October 1st.  With a head full of jet black hair, a happy smile, and big dark eyes, she captured our hearts.  It was love at first sight.  Nina was thrilled with her new baby sister, patting her on the face and trying to poke her eyeballs out.  She has since learned to treat her more gently.  Fortunately, during our Christmas visit to Utah, we were able to hold Miri’s baby blessing in Mom and Dad Cannon’s home.  They were thrilled to meet their newest little grandchild.  It was truly a memorable and spiritual event for all the cousins, aunts, and uncles who attended. We spent Christmas Day in the airport making the long journey back home to Waymart, Pennsylvania.  Other trips from this past year included a weekend in Maine.   As we planned the trip, we were concerned with our car choking on its own smog pipe.  The car burned oil at the rate of 5 quarts per 350 miles! We decided it was cheaper to feed the beast than to purchase a new vehicle.  Thankfully our car survived, and it was a delightful trip, besides the times Nina tried to eat sand.  In June, Mom and Dad Cannon stopped in for a visit!  Chris served up gourmet, charbroiled, edible delights on his propane Weber knock-off grill.  We loved seeing them! Chris and Mom Cannon totally dominated in Scrabble against Angie and Dad Cannon.  Later in the summer, Chris, as ward mission leader, organized the annual Missionary Open House Carnival, which happened to be the same weekend as Hurricane Irene.  The day started out beautifully, but about an hour into the activity the rain came pouring down.  Ward members and visitors took shelter underneath a couple of tents and were forced to socialize with one another.  Needless to say, the rain brought us all closer together.  We enjoyed a rare Pennsylvania snowfall before Halloween.  We took Nina out for her first trick or treating experience.  She was the cutest little cow on the street.  Thank you Nina for getting us a big bag full of candy.  As Young Women’s president, Angie organized the greatest, non-Santa Claus ward Christmas party ever! It was a lovely, spiritual event focused on the birth and life of Christ.  We spent New Year’s Eve watching movies and eating fat free/reduced calorie junk food (ya, it wasn’t very good).  As we count our blessings, we are amazed by our Heavenly Father’s love and generosity, especially with the latest breaking news that Chris received a new position as accountant with the Bureau of Prisons in Phoenix, AZ.  We are excited to move across the country once again and experience a new adventure.  We’ll let you all know how it goes!

KATIE & JARED COSTLEY – This year hasn’t been too eventful for the Costley family, but it has been a blessed year.  We are living in Layton and enjoying living only five minutes away from grandpa and grandma Cannon.  This year we hope to find our first home to buy in the area.   Jared is still working as a project manager in the F-16 department at Hill Air Force Base and hopes to stay there for many years.  He has been working towards receiving an MBA and so far he’s been a straight A student.  At the moment he’s taking a Macro Economics class which keeps him busy doing homework most nights of the week.  Both of us will be glad when that class is finished.  Jared has been the assistant ward missionary leader for the past year and a half and has made many friends with investigators and less-actives.  It’s been a wonderful experience for both of us.  Although Jared is a busy man with his family, job, school and church calling, he always makes time to play a little basketball and watch a few Jazz games.  Katie feels lucky to have a wonderful, well balanced man.  

Katie has loved every minute while staying home with the twins, Jonathan and Jeremy.  We feel so extremely blessed to have our two beautiful boys. They are now almost eighteen months and are very active little guys.  They are learning a new language called twinese.  They seem to enjoy talking to each other in this strange language, but it would be nice for mom and dad if they would start saying English words as well. Katie hasn’t had very many opportunities to get out her paints this year, but she has found opportunities to read books, keep up on politics and world news, learn how to index for family history and practice the piano.  Jared feels lucky to have such a supportive, compassionate and devoted   wife and mother of his children.

QUINN & BARBARA – Our life has been busy, busy, as usual.  I’m sure you can all say the same thing. 

Our big news from last year was that Quinn was accepted into pharmacy school!  He was invited to interviews at almost all the schools he applied to, chose to attend three of the interviews, and was accepted into all three schools he interviewed at, one of which was the University of Utah (which is not an easy pharmacy school to get into!).  He felt prompted to accept the U’s offer, which he did.  We moved last year to a house much closer to the U and Quinn began the pharmacy program last August.  He will have three years of classes and one year of rotations before he graduates as a pharmacist.  His first semester was very tough (so tough that some students wanted to drop out; Quinn wasn’t one of them).  But he studied hard, plugged through it, and did fine.  The Pharmacy students have been told that the first semester is one of the hardest.  It’s nice to know that things should get a bit easier.  Even though the semester was so demanding and busy, Quinn still made time for his family.  He did his best to spend a couple of hours each evening and Saturday with us, which we (especially me) very much appreciated.

I mentioned that we moved (again) last year.  Between school and jobs we have yet to live in one place for more than 2 years during our 10 1/2 years of marriage, and most of the places we’ve lived have been somewhat small.  This time we moved into the largest (about 2400 square feet) and nicest home we’ve lived in.   We are in the East Millcreek area, not far from where Quinn grew up.   Quinn can hop on a bus that stops close to our home which takes him straight to the U.  We do miss our old ward and our old view of a field of cows (often some calves too) right out our old apartment windows, but overall we are very happy with our new home and neighborhood; we’re glad we’ll be able to stay where we are for at least three and a half more years!

Our oldest, Dallin, turned 8 in November.  He was very excited to be baptized and his baptism day was special.  About a year ago he set a goal to read the entire Book of Mormon before he got baptized (this was his own idea).  He needed some reminding through the year, but he did achieve his goal!  He is still very interested in science, maps, and geography.  He just finished his science fair experiment (with Quinn’s help) of extracting DNA from things.  He extracted DNA out of strawberries and split peas (you can see the DNA because there is a lot of it). 

Gabriel turned 6 in November.  He is full of energy and enthusiasm for life.  He still loves anything to do with trains.  He is a good engineer when it comes to building the tracks; he puts tracks together in very creative ways and builds elaborate bridges by using other toys to support the tracks.  He is in Kindergarten this year and tolerating it.  He would rather be at home playing all day.  He does like going to PE at school.

Camille is now 18 months old.  She feels like a big girl (most of the time) and insists on being treated like one.  For example: she often protests being put in her high chair and even a booster chair at the table.  She prefers sitting in a big chair like the rest of us do, even though her chin barely comes up to the edge of the table.  She also feels like a big girl at the playground.  She has no fear of climbing right up to the highest part of playgrounds and sliding down the biggest slides.  She’s also pretty fearless when it comes to climbing other things, which makes us nervous at times.  She adds new words to her vocabulary every day.  It’s fun to see her personality come through more as her ability to express herself increases.  She’s a darling little girl and a social butterfly who wins the hearts of almost everyone she meets.

We know that we were very blessed this past year and are grateful for our blessings, our Savior, the gospel, and our family!

SPENCER & ANN – 2011 for our family was our most difficult year ever, but has yielded a multitude of blessings.  After nearly two years waiting, we were obliged to be invited by the country of Ethiopia to come and finalize the adoption of Alem (6yrs), the sister of our previously adopted son, Habtamu Ty (9yrs).   She is vibrant, smart, and waaaay too cute, and is rapidly attaching to us as parents and the family.  With seven kids, we had to modify our suburban to seat more people. With the new fourth row seat we can comfortably seat eleven.  (So if my math is correct, we can have two more kids.  Right?...)  Our oldest child Bryon (14yrs), now in High School, has been feverishly studying his Utah Driver’s License study guide.  Last night I reminded him that only Eagle Scouts get to drive in the Cannon home.  Leverage…  It’s the best thing ever invented. Thanks Mom….  Preston (13yrs) is a budding singer.  He is currently getting training from a professional opera singer in our neighborhood and though he won’t sing in front of anyone, (just like his dad) he has a remarkable talent we hope he will share more openly someday. Emma’s (11yrs) gymnastic career has been put on hold while she recovers from a foot surgery.  12-16 weeks at minimum.  Her upbeat spirit and positive outlook on life is always refreshing.  Porter (6yrs) seems to have obtained my fishing gene.  I swear this kid could catch a fish in a rain puddle. I attribute it NOT to some kind of luck, but to his persistence in keeping his line in the water.  Good life advice if you ask me.  Grace (2yrs) is the crown jewel of our family. Her nickname is “Lady Chatterly” due to her incessant jabbering and desire to remain the center of everything.  Spence is still working with Publishers around the globe, helping them get their content into an e-Book format and Ann is keeping everything running smoothly at home.  The opportunity we had last September to see all of our cousins together again was truly precious.  It was a simple reminder of the impact a worthy mother and father can have on generations to follow.

CURTIS & TRICIA  – 

Caleb (13)
Elijah (12)

Hyrum (10)

Vera (8)

Jaynie (4)

Brigham (3)

All school kids

ACROSS

1. Very obedient and likes to play 'bad guys'

2.  Switched from being a carrier to a mailhandler, escaping

dogs, harsh weather, ridiculous time limits, and not enough

hours

3.  Can fix any Rubik’s cube mess in 48 seconds, can play any Primary song or hymn on the piano

DOWN

1.  Second mother to preschoolers, fast piano progress, got baptized

2.  Sewed quilts, curtains, stained our furniture, railings and mantel, found awesome tenants for our basement/WV house, teaches piano, preschool, and Sunbeams

3.  Has a pogo stick record of 10,000, is a pro roller blader, handstander, and natural piano player

4. Pulled staight A’s first quarter and not much different this quarter!

5.  Played the main character in ‘Polar Express’ and ‘Jungle Book’, and was a brother in ‘Joseph’

6.  Loves babies, preschool & helping, and is excited about everything!

KAY & NED – Kay is still teaching 11th & 12th grade English at Northridge High School in Layton, and keeping busy with extra-curricular activities at school. She is still active in DUP; taught 9-yr-olds in Primary the first half of the year, nursery the second half, and is now Junior Primary Music Leader. Ned has been serving as assistant to the High Priest group leader. We both sing in the ward choir.

Ned stayed with Angie in PA for two weeks in Feb. After her baby was born May 22nd, we drove to PA for a 3-week vacation including church history sites in New York. The Hinckley seniors’ trip to Southern Utah and to Father’s home was wonderful. We gained three more grandchildren, born July 29th; a total of four in 2010 -- what joy and increase in love!

Just after school started, Kay had partial-nephrectomy surgery the 1st of September, which removed a non-cancerous tumor (good news!) From discovery, through remedy and recovery, the whole process was a miracle!

The BC trip last spring with Louise and Sue (and husbands) was unforgettable! We took the ferry to San Juan Islands and Butchart Gardens & Victoria on Vancouver Island. In Vancouver BC we visited Queen Elizabeth Gardens, the mission home, Stanley Park, Capilano Suspension Bridge & Tree Adventure, and had dinner with old friends. The temple open house was a thrilling grand finale. We fell in love again with the breath-taking beauty of British Columbia; and enjoyed good weather! It was as beautiful as Kay remembers it.

During the holiday season we were inspired by the Carl Bloch art exhibit and the Tabernacle Choir concert with David Archuleta. “... we rejoice in Christ” (2 Ne. 25:26)

Angie & Chris Mee – We are still living in the wild, wild East -- good ol’ Pennsylvania. We live in the town of Waymart, a small town in a heavily wooded, hilly area, 40 minutes from any real shopping. In February, Chris was sent to Georgia for a 22-day training “vacation” at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, while Angie was snowbound at home. We are very grateful that Dad Cannon was able to come out and help her! In March, Angie’s pregnancy was progressing in a big way. Nevertheless, we visited the Washington DC Temple (heavenly!) and Gettysburg (awesome!) The miserable winter finally ended in April, and Angie cut her bank teller work to part-time. In May, two days after her due date, Angie and Chris made the 40-minute trip to the hospital in Scranton for an early-morning induction. Twelve hours later, Nina came bursting into this world, screaming her head off and flailing her arms. Her parents cried, seeing how perfectly beautiful she was. It was truly a joyous moment. June was filled with visits from Nina’s proud grandparents. Chris left for training in Denver two weeks after the baby was born! July was consumed by a move from the apartment to a cottage on the shores of Elk Lake -- a fixer-upper requiring months of remodeling work. In August, Chris had another training in Denver. This time though, we made a family trip of it. Nina did super on the plane. Angie got caught up on her TV watching in the hotel (no TV at home), while Chris went to class every day. We spent the next week in Utah! Oh Zion, dear Zion. We loved seeing all our friends and family! In October, General Conference was inspiring. Chris and the Young Men (or rather “Young Man”) hosted lunches between Saturday and Sunday sessions at the church. It was a great success! We also traveled to Palmyra for a stake youth conference. In November we made the long 8-hour trip to Grandma and Grandpa Mee’s for Thanksgiving. Nina did super in the car. While there, we saw Harry Potter 7. We were shocked out of our minds! I guess we won’t buy that one! Two weeks before Christmas, we flew to Missouri to visit Mom and Dad Mee and other family members.

It’s January and Nina is starting to crawl!!! Gazing out the windows of our storm-cloud-gray cottage, we watch the moonlight rest upon the lake and the geese glide across the water. Ahhh ... sweet serenity. All too soon, the silence is broken by our bundle of screaming joy! We pat her and tell her that everything is going to be okay. If there is one thing we want our little Nina to know, it is that when we put our trust in the Lord and do His will, then everything will be okay. As the good book says: “... all things work together for good to them that love God.” (Romans 8:28). We know this to be true. We have seen the Lord’s hand in our lives throughout this year. We know that He lives and that He loves us! Happy New Year. [Insert from Ned & Kay: Angie is still a remarkable and highly spiritual Primary president, and Chris continues to be a dedicated Young Men’s president. We witnessed that they are great blessings in their little ward out there.]

Katie & Jared Costley – What an eventful year for the Costley clan. The year began with an inconceivable announcement. In January, 2010, Katie and I went to her first doctor’s visit to find out the news on her pregnancy. As the doctor prepared to perform the ultrasound, we all laughed as she made a joke about us having twins. “Wouldn’t that be fun,” she mused. “Yeah right,” Katie and I thought to ourselves. “That would be the day.” Then the news came. Doctor Lochner looked at us and said, “I guess it wasn’t a joke after all.” Katie and I stared at the monitor as the doctor showed us one heartbeat, and then the other. It became a reality; Katie and I were going to be parents twice over. Come July 29th, 2010, exactly 29 years after I was born, two beautiful angels came into our lives. Our family doubled in size in one day with the arrival of our identical twins, Jeremy and Jonathan. Since the announcement last January, the Hinckley Family has been greatly blessed with multiples.

It has been a wonderful year. Katie has learned a new talent called juggling … too bad she had to learn to juggle babies before anything else. The twins have been more than a handful of work and joy. We have been blessed in that Katie is able to stay home with the children while I go to work. I am currently working at Hill Air Force Base as a Program Manager in the F-16 office. Often I come home to two screaming babies and an exhausted mother. What a sacrifice Katie is making to care for our two bundles of joy. We truly have been blessed in all things in 2010. We look forward to a great 2011, to watch our two infants turn into two roadrunners. Katie will certainly have her work cut out for her.

Quinn & Barbara – Wow, another year has come and gone and we are as busy as ever.

Quinn is finishing his prerequisite classes for Pharmacy School, working as a Pharmacy Technician at Walgreen’s, and teaching biology classes at Salt Lake Community College. He did well on the PCAT (the Pharmacy School entrance exam) and has applied to 11 Pharmacy Schools so far. He is working on applications for several more. We should know by early summer at the latest if and where he will begin Pharmacy School this fall (or summer). As most of them are outside Utah, we are excited to learn where we will be living for the next several years.

Dallin is 7 and in 1st grade. He is excelling in the program for gifted children in our school district. He has recently learned to play chess and is already very good at it. He proudly lost his first tooth just this morning and is already excited about being baptized this year - he’s growing up!

Gabriel is 5 and in pre-school. He stills loves trains and sports, especially when he can get us to join him in his play. He seems to have a gift for comedy and loves to make us laugh.

The newest member of our family, Camille, joined us on July 29, about 2-1/2 hours after her twin cousins were born. Camille is a chubby, beautiful, sweet baby with a heart-melting smile. Her older brothers adore her so much that she sometimes needs to be saved from their smothering love and given a little quiet time.

I stay busy trying to keep up with everyone and everything at home, helping my mom, and serving in the Primary. We are grateful for our blessings and experiences over the past year and look forward to new adventures in 2011!

Spencer & Ann – Spence, 36: I am still loving my career and working hard in my business as an independent sales consultant for offshore BPO service providers. But my true calling as an inventor has yet to come to fruition. Turns out that every idea I think of has been invented just six months earlier. I am an entrepreneur at heart and am always eager to explore the next great idea.

Ann, 29 and holding: She has had her hands full with the growing brood of children. Ann continues to be the glue that bonds this family together, and works hard to ensure we all receive the greater rewards of this life.

Bryon, 13: He is finally at the age where he openly admits that girls are cute and that showering regularly is a good thing. Bryon has successfully competed in gymnastics this past year, which has required serious strength training; it is starting to show. We are so proud to see this strapping young man mature in his school and church service.

Preston, 12: They say, “Hire a teenager, while they still know it all.” If you know anyone hiring, Preston would make a fabulous employee as he relishes in his superior knowledge on everything. He is a voracious reader, blasting through several books a week, often reading into the wee hours of the morning. Preston is also becoming an incredible artist. He is taking lessons from a BYU art professor in our neighborhood and is blossoming into a little Monet.

Emma, 10: Her continuing gymnastic career provides a basis of strength, power and quickness -- all fundamental skills needed to defend herself against four brothers (and future suitors). Her near-perfect grades and happy personality make her such a delight to have around. She is especially good with her new adopted baby sister.

Ty, (Habtamu), 8 -10 (not sure): Nearly two years ago, we brought Ty into our home, as well as his entire emotional and traumatic history. He learned the English language in record time and was able to catch up to his peers in reading and math in a matter of months. We see a very bright future for this growing boy as he learns to love and to be loved by a new family.

Porter, 5: Porter still holds the title for causing the most property damage. It’s a good thing he and Ty survived the fire in their bedroom, because you can’t replace smart, handsome kids like them. On a brighter side, I’m confident Porter may have a successful career as a building demolition expert, pyro-technician, or bomb-squad engineer.

Grace, 12 months: One year ago, we adopted a brand new baby girl whose mother is from Mississippi, and she has been an absolute joy. Her eight-inch afro, beautiful brown skin and forever long eyelashes have made her quite the celebrity here in sleepy Herriman, Utah. As we have had the chance to compare both adoption scenarios, we get to see first-hand how critical the first few years of life are to the development of a child. Moreover, we see the critical role of “Mother” in establishing fundamental morals and principles. Moms! You’ll never know how important you are!!!

We received word last week that we have been approved to fly to Ethiopia to adopt Ty’s sister, Alem (5 yrs). We’ll be leaving the end of January to bring her home. With seven kids in all, we felt impressed to move to a home that was large enough to accommodate a rapidly growing family, both in size and number. We recently moved to a home that was in short sale just a few blocks from our home.

Curtis & Tricia – We have recently been reminded to be grateful for our blessings instead of worry that we might lose them. We are most grateful that we have each other.

Caleb, 12, received the Aaronic Priesthood this year and bore a testimony that brought tears to many eyes. We are proud of Caleb and the reverence and respect he gives to God every Sunday. Caleb loves performing and misses his competition clog team. He’s funny and can sing and dance. He is trying out for his school play in 2 weeks.

Elijah, 11, loves having fun with friends. He also loves having the latest gadgets and works hard for them. In the last 6 months, he’s earned an iPod, a cell phone, an R.C. helicopter, a couple parakeets, and is now working to acquire an ATV. He takes great care of his parakeets and would like to have every other pet in the store. He plans to be a lawyer so he can have plenty of money to have the things he wants. He’s very smart and we believe that he will achieve his dreams.

Hyrum, 9, also loves to have fun. If he’s not out playing with friends, he’s trying to get a rise out of siblings, his favorite pastime. We pray that he’ll find a new love like the piano or a sport. He and Vera played soccer this year. It was good for Hyrum. He will try flag football this fall.

Vera, 7, loves making cards and doing secret services for others. She is a great helper around the house and keeps her room cleaner and her clothes folded nicer than the rest of us. She is a home body. She is best friends with Jaynie and is very kind to her.

Jaynie, 3, is always holding a baby doll and is very loving with her dolls. She is talking so much and so happily, that we can’t help but smile and laugh. She has drawn big sunshines on most of our walls. It is easy for her to spread her sunshine!

Brigham, 2, is still snuggly and needs us to kiss every owie. He is sharing, loving, easy going, and a great friend to Mom and Jaynie. He’s also a definite boy, loving bomb noises and blowing things up.

Tricia is the maid and the cook. She quit real estate, since the expenses were more than the income, and is happy to be home again. She is also very grateful for Curtis who helps out so much with laundry and dishes and picking up. She’s enjoyed being the Primary pianist this year.

Curtis has enjoyed a lot of tinkering and fixing this year. He fixed our dryer twice, Spencer’s dryer, our lawnmower, our computer, phone and Internet connections, our vacuum several times, and many broken doors and handles. He wants to start his own business on the side, in addition to his postal service. We want this to be a family affair, giving the boys an opportunity to work along side their dad and earn their own money. Anyone have business-starting advice? Email TriciaCannonCares@gmail.com. Happy New Year, all!