2011 has been an exciting year for the Russells!
We bought our first home the beginning of March and took the first step of doing what Marc has always wanted to do: real estate! We are now proud homeowners and landlords - we rented the apartment out within a month of closing on the house and moving in.
Having a yard has enabled us to grow a HUGE garden which we did using the Mittleider Method which gave us AMAZING results!
We also hosted a German exchange student, Hanna, for the month of August and took our first ever family vacation to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (home of Brighty, the donkey). Hanna was so good with Mason and Ellen and so fun to have around. I should have suggested we sew something the first week she was here because then we would have had more time to make more clothing items and accessories. As it was, Hanna sewed a very cute skirt and scarf and I made a scarf for myself and shorts for Mason.
Mason: started speech therapy in April and we can finally understand everything he says. He is also a budding photographer and catches some of the best pictures of Ellen on the digital camera! He knows how to spell his first and last name and is excited to learn! He is going to start Taekwondo next month to direct his active and competitive traits in a socially acceptable manner and we are sure he will thrive in that environment!
Ellen: learned to walk this fall and is a very confident little walker. She has started using more ASL signs and speaking some words (”baby” means she wants her baby doll). She loves to explore and get into everything and to give kisses to her baby doll and Mommy. Being Mason's younger sister she is no doubt going to develop some excellent muscle reflexes!
Marc: still works for DHI and is currently the marriage and family Sunday School instructor. He plays raquetball a couple of times a week at work and invites anyone who is in the area to come and play with him! He is currently working on creating our first LLC (we are still trying to figure out exactly what to name it) and partnering to buy real estate in the Phoenix, AZ during 2012. Marc has also acquired some power tools and has found his inner Bob Villa and built a wall of shelves in the garage. When it warms up again he is going to build himself a work bench and a place to store all the tools and continue insulating the garage and building more shelves. He's also decided that it would be good to get a couple of hens - now we just have to wait until we get the rest of the chain-link fence installed in the backyard that he and my (Yvonne)'s dad started installing this summer.
Yvonne: I enthusiastically mentioned to the bishopric when we moved in that I was currently a registered BSA leader in our last ward, that I attended Wood Badge last August and was working to complete my ticket. It didn’t take long to receive a calling to be the Pack Committee Chair this spring. I love it! Outside of my church Scouting responsibilities, I have discovered that, yes, I truly am a Scouter! From being on the Utah National Parks Council Cub Scout Leader Pow Wow Committee (from January - August), to starting a tenure as the Bridal Veil Falls Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner in October, to finishing my Wood Badge ticket in November, to allowing myself to be recruited to be the Dean for UNPC’s upcoming College of Commissioner Science in February, I have most definitely found my other calling in life (since motherhood is my first calling)! Marc keeps joking that I should get a job as a professional Scouter at the council office. I think that would take away some of the thrill of doing this for free. I am counting down the days (3 years 6 days) until Mason turns 7 because that is when I can start a Tiger Cub Den to share the Cub Scouting experience with Mason! The beginning of December I started taking Karen Tyler's online Montessori training program and I am so excited to start using this method at home with Mason and Ellen as our home preschool this next year.
We are so grateful for your friendship! We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year! We want to end this Christmas letter by sharing with you why we love the Christmas season so much. We know that God so loved each of us that he sent His Son as a newborn babe born of Mary in a stable in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago. That Son grew to manhood, preached His Gospel, which is the only pathway back to Heavenly Father. He suffered in Gethsemane for our sins and sealed his mortal mission with his death on the cross. Three days later, Jesus Christ, took his body up again and was resurrected and became an immortal, glorified Being - just like our Father. We know that He lives and that he extends the gift of eternal life to everyone, but it is up to us to choose to accept His ultimate gift to us.
