Hi everyone, I hope all you survived the holidays and are getting back to normal. I am so proud of Brittany/Jason and Kaylie/LJ for posting on the blog. I'm hoping everyone else will get with it and keep in touch. We really enjoy reading about the happenings in the family.

Since it's been a while since we wrote we thought we'd mention some of the highlights of the past few month. November was one of the best and busiest months we've had in a long time. It was so sad that Grandma Hancock passed away, but it was also a blessing. She would say, " I'm so tired." She wanted to go home. It made us so happy that all of you were able to come to her funeral. It meant a lot to Dad/Grandpa. Every day we say how blessed we are to have all of you in our family.

We were excited for Tyson to turn 12 and receive the priesthood. He is doing a good job passing the sacrament. It was a fantastic experience to be in the temple together for Kaylie and Zach's endowment session. When Brittany and Jason came in, it made it even more special. The wedding was also fantastic. To be in the temple with all the families was so wonderful. It is the thing parents dream of. All of you made our dreams come true. The reception was so much fun. Steve and Lynette and everyone made everything so special.

It is hard to believe that we have two grandsons entering the mission field. They both did a fantastic job on their talks in sacrament meeting. I know they will make great missionaries. We are so proud of them.

Thanksgiving was great with most of the family here. We had a houseful, but it was really fantastic. We are grateful that our house will hold everyone. It was really fun.

We enjoyed a traditional Christmas Eve with the family, and a quiet Christmas morning with Dona and Jared. It was nice having them here with us. They keep asking us where the hiding place is for the Christmas presents. We aren't going to tell!! Jared fixed a really nice Christmas dinner with Prime Rib, garlic mashed potatoes, and spinach salad. It was really good, but we all ate too much.

Our trip to Portland was memorable because we got in a hugh snowstorm just as we got to Portland. It was horrible. After driving seven hours, we spent three more hours trying to get to one of the kid's houses. Finally on our second attempt we were able to get to Mike's. There were cars off the road everywhere. No one could get up the hills. We had to turn around a couple of times and go in a different direction. It is amaziang that we didn't get lost. We had lots of fun with the families there. We ate dinner at everyone's house, and played a lot of games. We had a New Year's Eve party at Chad's. The kids had a great time making noise. When the New Year approached we watched the ball drop in New York. The kids went outside and celebrated with an air horn. There were a lot of fireworks going off also. We couldn't see them but we could hear them. We had a great time.

It was special to see Ryan baptized. He was very excited, and he only had to go down once. We are so grateful that you parents are teaching your children to do what's right.

When we got home life got pretty busy. We had to prepare an Arrow of Light ceremony for Cub Scouts. I got Dad/Grandpa to dress up as Chief Akela. He borrowed an Indian headdress from a friend. The ceremony was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. The Scouts were very quiet throughout the ceremony. That is how you know if it's any good.

This has been way too long. We hope all of you will post your Blog's. We need to keep in touch. If we don't hear from you, you'll be getting a reminder from us. We love all of you and miss you. Love, Mom and Dad/Grandma and Grandpa.