Merry Christmas!
We hope this letter finds everyone in the true Christmas Spirit and in good health!
We are certainly enjoying the beautiful Alaska scenery this time of year! We have been in our home for a little over a month now, and we absolutely love it! It’s a side-by-side duplex like our last home, only a WHOLE lot nicer! Everything is renovated and brand-new! It is truly a blessing! I’ve posted pictures on my Facebook and Myspace pages for those of you who have pages on either of those websites.
With this move, we are obviously in a new church ward as well. Our new ward is the Arctic Valley Ward - what a cute name, right? I am Visiting Teaching already, but Alex and I have not been extended ‘official’ callings yet. We are enjoying attending Gospel Principles together and also Elder’s Quorum and Relief Society while we can. December 7th was a big Sunday for nearly all of us - Ammon, Ayiana and I all bore our testimonies in Fast and Testimony meeting. It was the kids’ very first time, and they actually asked me to go up! I am certainly grateful for their sweet example! Ammon also gave his first Primary talk in our new ward - in keeping with the Christmas theme, he spoke on the prophecy of Samuel the Lamanite in the Book of Mormon. Alex also had volunteered the week before to teach the Gospel Principles class in our teacher’s absence. He gave a great lesson on service. We really love our new ward!
Alex has recently returned from the Army NTC at Ft. Irwin, CA, and he is adjusting to his new unit as he prepares to deploy once again. Fortunately, we have heard that the Church is strong where Alex will be, so that will be a great blessing. We will certainly miss him while he is gone! Hopefully the time will fly by! Meanwhile, he is looking forward to the blessing of spending this Christmas with his beautiful wife & children!
Heidi - I am enjoying the crisp Alaska fall as a welcome change to Georgia’s mugginess! Not a whole lot to say about me - I have the best job - taking care of the house & kiddos! Hopefully I will find the time to resume my schooling soon. I have mainly been enjoying my Fluidity workouts which have been kicking my butt - literally! I’m proud to say that I have lost close to 30 pounds since before Noelani was born!
Ammon (6 ½) is currently in the 1st Grade at Ursa Minor Elementary. His teacher is Mr. Uson. I walk him to school most days - the coldest day we’ve walked so far has been around 10°F. We are told that they have outside recess here until -10°F! Most of his class is reading - a big change from Fort Benning. But he continues to surpass everyone with his skill level. He can already read quite proficiently from the scriptures. He also LOVES math and art. He enjoys playing in the Alaska snow with his sisters. He’s created an ‘igloo’ in our front yard, and is looking forward to building a snowman soon.
Ayiana (3 ¾) is not in school yet, but I have resumed teaching her how to read with the EyeQ Phonics program that I used with Ammon. She is the ultimate princess! She likes to watch cartoons, play makeup & dress-up, and hanging out watching movies in the basement with Ammon and Lani. Ayiana loves all of her brothers & sisters so much! She is such a character - she is constantly making us laugh! She also takes after Daddy - she’s such a friendly little girl! She loves going to Nursery at church, and she’s looking forward to becoming a Sunbeam in the new year and finally being able to attend Primary with Ammon!
Noelani turned 15 months old on December 4th! She is my “sugar wubba” & getting bigger every day! It is so fun to watch her grow up into such a loving, beautiful spirit! I can’t wait until March when she will be able to start Nursery at church. Alex & are both looking forward to introduce her to the potty soon, as well! Lani has been walking since 10 ½ months, and running since about 11 months! She has been trying to jump for a few months now, and it’s finally happening now. Lani is also starting to actually talk instead of babble now. Some of her words are: “up”, “out”, “stop“, “Dad”(or “Da-ee“), “Mom”, “uh-oh”, “ball” “peek-boo“, and she can also tell you what a pig and a cow says! She understands “hello“(she will put her hand to her ear like she‘s holding a phone), “cup”, “drink”, “eat”, “sit down”, “come here”, “no”, and she’s also learning her body parts! Lani loves snacking, baths, growling (she even does it while she‘s crying sometimes-it‘s so funny!), as well as playing hide-and-seek - especially on the sectional and in the kitchen. Lani waves “hi”, “bye bye”, and “night-night”, shakes her head “no”, stomps her foot when we say “stomp”, folds her hands when we tell her “prayer”, and she also gives & blows kisses! She is certainly our precious angel!
Diva (3 ½) has been here in Alaska for almost 3 months now, since she traveled cross-country with Alex (in my Jeep!). She is still adjusting to the cold weather. She gets excited to go outside - until she gets out there! She barely spends enough time outside to use the bathroom! I took her with me to pick Ammon up from school recently, and she could not WAIT to get back inside! But then once she gets inside the house, she is the biggest, baddest dog you’ve ever seen when the moose walk past! She loves to bark at them through the glass!
We hope and pray that everyone is doing well! Please keep us updated on your lives also; we‘d love to hear from all of you! Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to everyone! We love you guys!
Love,
Alex, Heidi, Ammon, Ayiana, Noelani, & Diva
