Earle & JoAnn: This has been an outstanding, memorable and fun year for us. Highlights of the year: We celebrated our fiftieth year of marriage. In April, our entire family converged at Capistrano Beach in California for a week to celebrate our anniversary. We stayed in a wonderful gated beach house just 15 steps from the ocean. All 34 of us were most comfortable in the 9 bedroom, 6 bathroom, and 2 large family room house. Evenings were spent enjoying one another, including programs, tributes and skits in regards to our 50 years as a family. The familys’ thoughts were sweet and touching and sometimes rib-splittingly hilarious. Indeed, precious remembrances!!! The Southern California attractions the family took advantage of were: Legoland, Sea World, Disneyland, San Diego Temple, San Juan Capistrano Mission, Mormon Battalion Monument, Old Town San Diego, Knotts Berry Farm, San Diego Zoo, and the U.S.S. Midway (on which Ed had served while in the Navy). We also made sure we saved plenty of beach time. The grandchildren loved the hot tub, building sand castles, swimming, riding the waves, and seeing porpoises and dolphins, and thousands of sea birds right from our private beach. The beach house was in an amazingly beautiful location. There was such a sweet spirit the entire week. We did not want to see that choice and precious time together end. Soooo, we are planning another family trip for the year 2013! Possibly at the same place!
We spent our actual anniversary at the Zermatt in Midway (a gift from our children) and had a wonderful relaxing couple of days just enjoying the quiet and beauty of one of our most favorite get-away places.
In August, JoAnn’s siblings honored us with an evening at Lon’s home. We enjoyed the luscious food and sweet tributes. We were especially pleased to have Jessie and Don and Louise and Richard there. What a remarkable group of people. No one could have finer siblings. We love you!!!
Later in August, we flew to Kona, Hawaii for a week and did all the fantastic things you do at a luxurious resort, as well as doing much sight-seeing. However, the most memorable will be our experience attending the Kona Temple, and then church the following the day. The spirit of the Hawaiian members is extraordinary!
This year, on July 13th, we were blessed with another adorable granddaughter. Megan Lydia was born with the thickest and longest black hair (3 inches long). Her dark hair and olive skin made her the perfect baby Jesus in our Christmas nativity. Megan was named and blessed on the same day that her brother Landon was baptized.
We continue to enjoy our monthly family get-togethers and are so grateful the children and grandchildren love them as much as we do. We consider these times highlights as well.
We reviewed our comments of this last year, and not much has changed. Earle is still the High Priests Group Leader, and recently planned, organized and carried out a wonderful Ward Christmas Social. It was the best social the ward has had in a long time. He continues with his tennis, exercise, and temple work. He recently spent several hours recording a CD of some of his favorite piano, ukulele, and voice musical numbers for his children and grandchildren for Christmas. He has experienced frequent heart atrial fibrillation this past year or two; so this past week, he underwent surgery (ablation) to hopefully correct the problem. JoAnn still patronizes Curves several times a week and then walks the treadmill at home. Earle’s committment to exercise is rubbing off on her. Now, if she could just eat as healthy as he does!!! She continues teaching Primary and serving as an ordinance worker in the Draper Temple. We are looking forward to traveling to Germany and Switzerland this summer. We are most envious of Jean and Rex serving a mission. They are and will continue to be in our prayers. We already miss them so much.
Ed & Marsha and Family: This past year is almost a carbon copy of our previous report, so I will start off with our big events, and then do a refresher on each of us. Our big event was our family vacation to California to celebrate our parent’s 50th wedding anniversary which I am sure is the highlight of my parents and all the Peirce kids. No matter how fun all the amusements parks were, the most favorite part was just hanging out at the beach house with family. Even though we were there for a week, it was way too short.
The other big event for our family was that Marsha’s mother returned to her homeland, the Philippines, in November. It was wonderful having her in our home for such a long time and she is greatly missed. She missed her homeland and her friends there and felt she needed to go home. Also, at her age, she needed affordable access to healthcare, which unfortunately our nation does not provide to legal immigrants who are not citizens. She has a medical condition that can be treated there.
Marsha is still working at our local elementary school as an para educator in special education. It’s nice for her to be able to walk with the kids to school and be in the same building as they are during the school day. I don’t believe I have mentioned this about Marsha in past newsletters, but she is a great cook. In our home the microwave is hardly ever used. Instant and frozen meals are very rare. Marsha cooks dinner from scratch every single night. At the grocery store, the produce section is the most important. I mention this because I think we are so lucky to have her prepare our meals, not just because of the great taste, but for our health. She’s a great wife and mother.
Garrett is almost 11 years old. He is our shy boy. He won’t talk to most people, but we are hopeful he will break out of his shell one day. He loves music and got an electric guitar from Santa on Christmas. The only obstacle now is how to play it. Garrett and I have started to learn with DVD lessons. If anyone knows a good guitar instructor who works well with special needs kids, let us know. Garrett is a bright boy and is at the top of his class in everything. However, he does have a condition that holds him back from learning to socialize, but we are hopeful we will see some improvement in the future.
Meadow is 7 years old and is bubbling with personality. She is shy with new people, but once she gets to know you, she is all laughs and smiles. Like Garrett, Meadow is at the top of her class. She especially loves reading. I would have to give Marsha the credit since she reads with the kids every night. Meadow is our artist. She is extremely creative. I am amazed at the things she makes with glue, paper, scissors, etc.
As for me, I am still working at the Post Office as a mechanic. I see my cousin Curtis there often. I am impressed that he is such a hard worker and so likeable. I am approaching my 50th birthday and find that quite depressing.
Lynda and Scott and Family:Dallin is now 11 years old and in the sixth grade. Dallin is a good student and has a funny sense of humor. He also has some awesome dance moves.
Nick is 16 and loves having his driver’s license and also loves his job working at Payson Jr. High School cleaning after school. He got his braces off this past year and has shot up in height and now is the tallest in our family. He’s quite a handsome young man!
Lauren worked most of the year as a care giver for an elderly woman making fairly good money. In October she changed to Heartwood Hospice where she cares for several elderly patients. She has quite a knack and talent for this type of work. Her patients love her!
Eric works early mornings at Old Navy and goes to school in the afternoons at UVU. He is a great student, getting all A’s. He is the salt of the earth kind of young man and will be a great catch for a lucky lady some day.
Lynda found a new love by taking tennis lessons in the spring. She and a friend play tennis 2-3 times a week. She’s now determined to get good enough to beat her dad.
Scott turned the BIG 50 in October. In celebration, Lynda and Scott enjoyed the most amazing week in Maui, Hawaii. They spent a lot of time snorkeling (a new love of theirs). They loved beaching, including watching the many sea turtles. Scott was particularly excited to golf on some of the beautiful courses on this island. He was called to be the Gospel Doctrine Teacher recently and is starting to enjoy it.
In April, we enjoyed spending a week in Capistrano Beach with the entire Peirce Family to celebrate mom and dad’s anniversary. What an amazing trip we all had together!
Nathan & Robyn and Family: Our clan has survived another year and we’d like to give you a short summary. Consistent with past years, we stayed busy with work, scouting, karate, reading, board games, video games, and church activity. But we also had several new developments in 2011 that combined to suck up every last minute of our collective free time. Collin entered high school and began seminary. Cora became a curious toddler. We finished two big home improvement proects. Nathan got into adventure cycling. Sydney and Owen took after-school Spanish. Randy played tennis. To top it off, Robyn signed us up for a summer exchange student. Nils came to us from Germany for five fun and informative weeks.
Nathan remains with Intel and Robyn is a full time mom. Our kids Collin, Randy, Owen, Sydney, and Cora are 14, 12, 9, 7, and 2 respectively. We feel blessed to have this group of children. They bring something different to the family. Dad has to fight dirty rooms and mom has to fight homework procrastination, but for the most part they are good kids. In addition to what was mentioned above, here are a few more things of interest.
• Randy ordained a deacon
• Owen won both the pinewood derby and the space derby
• Our big vacation was a visit to San Diego to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary
• Sydney learned to ride a bike
• Nathan and Collin did several 50 and 100 mile cycling trips
• Cora started talking
• Collin played in the marching band
• Robyn continues to volunteer at school
Shanna & Tom and Family: The highlight of our year was celebrating our mom and dad’s 50th Wedding Anniversary in Southern California. We had such a blast being together with the whole family to honor our parents. The beach house views were incredible and having the ocean as our backyard was absolutely amazing. We enjoyed SeaWorld, LegoLand, and some way-too-scary thrill rides at Knottsberry Farm. But the most fun we had was being all together! We are so thankful for our parents and their legacy of love that they’ve given our family.
Here is a quick update of our kiddos. Sage (age almost 14) started a new adventure at a charter school in Herriman, Providence Jr. High. She has really enjoyed it so far, uniforms and all. She plans to go there next year also. She’s a talented dancer, singer, and when she has time, she practices the piano. Tanner (age 11) is our little drummer boy (well..he’s not so little anymore). He started playing percussion in the school band and is quite a natural. He, like most boys his age, really enjoys playing video games! He’s also into sports, i.e. basketball, flag football, and is a very good swimmer. Brynn (age 7) is our star performer...she loves to sing, dance, and do gymnastics. She also enjoys her soccer team...especially when they dressed up in costume for one of the games right before Halloween. How fun, huh? Little puppies, princesses, and even Harry Potter were running down the field to try and make a goal! I think she’ll always remember that. Grace (age 2 1/2) is our little ‘free spirit’. She’s so adorable and fun; she gives great hugs and kisses and says such cute things. (This definitely makes up for the spilled nail polish all over the carpet or the permanent marker drawings all over the house.) Lately, she’s really into animals and likes to pretend she’s a puppy. We are so thankful to have her and all our children in our family!
Tom has been able to spend a lot more time outdoors this year...backpacking, hiking, four-wheeling, mountain biking, and skiing. He plans these fun outings to do with our kids. I think they are pretty lucky to have a dad like that! I did a little of my own outdoor adventure by completing a Spring Triathalon. I took on this challenge with several neighborhood friends and it was a great experience. I hope to do another one this spring. I am still enjoying teaching preschool and serving in the young women’s presidency.
Sherman & Jocelyn and Family: This year finds us bigger (Sherman) and better (everyone else). On July 13, after struggling for two years to get pregnant and stay pregnant, we finally welcomed our 4th child into the world: Megan Lydia. Megan came with a calm personality IF everything is going her way, but when she’s mad, she’s really, really mad. There is no in between with her. Her brothers and sister adore her. She is definitely going to be spoiled!
Braden is 10 1/2 years old, and in the 5th grade. He is a great student, always working hard and having fun. His favorite subject in school is math. He is really developing his sense of humor, and it is fun to watch him grow up (although it is a little sad, too). Braden loves cub scouts and can’t wait for his last pinewood derby race this month.
Landon is 8 1/2 years old and in the 3rd grade. He was baptized this summer. It was a special day for him because he got to share it with his baby sister. Megan was blessed on the same day. Landon is still in the Chinese immersion program at our school. He seems to really enjoy it, though I still wonder if it’s worth it. I do enjoy hearing him speak Chinese. He looks forward to participating in his first pinewood derby later this month.
Madalyn is 4 1/2 years old and in preschool. She is thrilled that she finally gets to go to school like her brothers. She has always strived to be like them. Maddie is our little star. She shines wherever she goes. She wins over the hearts of the people with whom she speaks with her bubbly personality and the pure joy that she exudes. She is always singing songs that she makes up - what a joy she is in our lives.
Jocelyn is trying to survive with a baby and 3 other children. It is hard to keep track of the day-to-day activities and schedules, but she loves being a mom. Her children are what keep her going. She is still serving in the primary presidency, and still loving it. What a great place to be!
Sherman is still working very hard to grow his practice. Things are going well, and we see evidence that things are picking up. He loves his job and is good at it. He is currently serving as the ward executive secretary. When he isn’t working on his practice, he is working on his calling. He is very busy, and sometimes his kids wonder where their father is, but we are very grateful for his great sacrifice and service. We know we are being blessed.
Besides having a baby and Landon being baptized, the highlight of this year was a family trip to California to celebrate our parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. We stayed in a house right on the beach and it was so much fun! We enjoyed going to the amusement parks and the countless activities. I think the best part was just being together for a whole week and celebrating what our family has become, thanks to our wonderful parents.
We are grateful for our family and the blessings that come from being a part of this wonderful family. We recognize the strength that comes from such strong family ties. We hope this newsletter finds you all healthy and happy!
Brian & Becky and Family: 2011 was a wonderful year for the Brian Peirce family. Becky and I started 2011 with a brand new baby girl that we named Ella. She is our first child and she gets all of our attention. So far everything she does is just simply cute. We even love her cries. She took her first unassisted steps on Christmas day while we were with mom and dad. It thrilled us all. She loves to talk and look at herself in the mirror. Perhaps she gets the latter trait from her father! Prior to Ella, Becky and I were free to do as we wanted, but we don’t mind at all that our baby has curtailed our adventurous activities a bit. However, we did go on two wonderful trips this year: my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary celebration in California and Becky’s parents’ 40th wedding anniversary trip to Florida. We had a lot of fun with our families and we are mindful about how wonderful it is that both sets of our parents value marriage and each other so highly. We did go on our annual Hebgen Lake trip with Becky’s family as well. I am still trying to get accepted into a radiography program. It has taken a little longer than we had hoped. I have taken a number of college courses to enhance my chances of getting accepted. In the meantime, I am still working full time at the Department of Workforce Services - Unemployment Insurance Office as a benefits auditor. Becky is working part-time as a dental assistant for her father.






