Christmas Letter 2012

Dear Family and Friends:

Merry Christmas! We hope this letter finds you well. This year has been really great for us. We’ve been busy and have loved every minute of it. In early March, we purchased a home. It was a long and drawn out process, but the end result has been amazing. Shortly after we moved into our home, we bought a puppy. We had wanted a puppy for a while and were really glad to finally be able to have one. Our puppy’s name is Sig and he is a German Shepherd. We got him when he was barely 6 weeks old and weighed 10 pounds. He is now 9 months old and weighs about 85 pounds. It’s hard to believe that he is still growing.

 

 

Jamey began the year by getting hired at Glen Canyon as a permanent Law Enforcement Ranger. It is pretty much the same job he had been doing the past couple of years, but now he doesn’t have to take the winters off! It was a huge weight off of us. It’s pretty difficult to get hired permanently in law enforcement with the NPS, so we’re really grateful that he was selected. He is still working up at Dangling Rope, so he’s gone for the majority of the summer. We are really glad to have him home for the winter. Besides working, he is busy trying to train Sig, fly-fishing when he has a little bit of free time to go to the river, and trying to keep up with Addy’s many adventures.

 

Stephanie has been busy trying to make our house a home. It’s a bit of a fixer-upper, and came with plenty of projects to keep her busy. She has been enjoying putting her personal touch on it and refurbishing some of our old furniture to fit into its new space. She is still enjoying her job at Glen Canyon dispatch. It is crazy and busy, but very rewarding. In her ‘free-time’ she is busy teaching Addy to read, practicing new recipes, and trying to keep up with Addy and all of her neighborhood friends.

Addison turned four this year. Four is magic number. Four means that Addy gets to go to preschool. She absolutely loves school. She is learning so much and is making great friends. She loves that school is her place, and she doesn’t have to share it with mom and dad. She is a social butterfly and loves to be around other kids of all ages. She is kind and patient and is very helpful. She is looking forward to being 5 and being able to go to the big-kids school down the street from our house. She is learning to read and is getting a lot better at writing letters and numbers. She loves our new home, her perfectly pink room, and the back yard. She also loves that there are so many kids in the neighborhood to play with. After school, it's not uncommon  for us to discover we have a housefull of kids. She loves to have mom and dad tell her how to spell words so she can write stories.

We are grateful for the wonderful family and friends in our lives. We are grateful for this time of year, that we are able to concentrate more on the birth of Jesus Christ and to ponder on his life and ministry. We are grateful for the sacrifices he made for us and for the knowledge of the gospel in our lives.

With Love,

Jamey, Stephanie, Addy and Sig Brazell

 

 

Thankful

I have so many great things to be thankful for. One of the things I am most thankful for is this little lady. She is so awesome. I love her so much. She is hilarious. She is kind. She loves to be helpful and to share. She loves learning. She is honest, sometimes too honest. She is adventurous and playful. She is so goofy. She loves to perform, to sing and to dance.  She makes me happy! I can't imagine what life would be like without her little personality in our home.

 I am grateful for my family. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father saw fit to put the three of us together. i love the time we have to spend together and the adventures we get to have.

 I love this man. He is my best friend and has been for the past 11 years. I can't say I'd be lost without him, but I'd be pretty unhappy. I'm so grateful for the sacrifices he makes for our family. I am thankful for how hard he works and how helpful he is. I love the relationship he and Addy have and love to sit back and observe when they think no one is watching. We don't by any means have the perfect relationship, but I'm glad that when we struggle, we're both willing to work it out. I'm grateful that he has been so firm in his convictions and that he is such a great example to me. I love that he honors his priesthood. I'm grateful that all those years ago he wouldn't settle for anything less than a temple marriage. I am so grateful for the blessings that have come from that decision. I'm grateful that he loves me and that he chose me.

 (Washington 2003)



October

In October, we got to spend the weekend with Jamey's brother and his family. It was excellent to have them at our house and to show them around this fantastic place we live. Addy loved playing with her cousins. On the first full day they were here, Jamey took the adults on an overflight of the park in the NPS plane. I stayed home with the kiddos. It was pretty aweful weather and they had a ton of turbulence. Jamey was pretty air sick for a good part of the afternoon. After they got back, Jamey took everyone on a hike to Horseshoe Bend and did some family photos with them while I was at work. Saturday, we took a boat ride up to Rainbow Bridge. It was a little cold on the boat but, the weather cooperated really well. While we were out hiking it was awesome. We also took them on a tour of Dangling Rope. That night we went to our ward's chili cook-off. We had a great time.

First Day of School

 It's hard to believe that this little lady is a preschooler! We were both excited for her to start school. She started counting down from the time she turned 4. Every day she would ask me if it was fall yet, because she knew that fall meant school. I was excited because of all the things I would be able to get accomplished during the few hours that she was gone. That plan failed! Now, I wander around the house wondering what to do to occupy my time until she gets home. She is really enjoying it. She has made a lot of friends and loves her teachers.

June

June has been filled with beach days, sprinklers, and yard work. It's been ridiculously hot here, so we spend as much time in the water as possible.

Sig is 4 months old now and growing like crazy. He is now over 50 pounds!

 
 Addy and the neighbor boys have become quick friends. They have lots of fun together.

 Addy and Sig are becoming best buds. They like to torture each other most of the time, but they are also very loving too.

May

 In May, Addy and I travelled to Colorado and then on to Kansas to see my niece graduate from high school. It was great to be able to hang out with my family.

 Addy and Dalton had a blast hanging out and were really excited to have a sleepover.

 We visited my aunt's lake house. This house holds so many fantastic childhood memories, and it was great to get to spend some time there.

 We were able to view the annular eclipse with some friends. It was really spectacular, and I wish Addy was better able to appreciate it.

April

In April, we travelled to Idaho to visit family. Corey had just gotten back from Brazil, and we were really excited to see him. We were there for Easter, my birthday and Addy's birthday. It was great to see family.

 Sig loved to play with CC and Penny, and to explore.

 Addy loved being outside and spending time with her cousins.

 On the way home, we dropped jamey off in Moab for training, so we took some time to visit Arches National Park. Of course, it rained the day we were there, so we made the quick hike to Delicate Arch view point and then spent the rest of the time in the visitor center.

 When we got home, Addy had a birthday party with her friends. She was one happy girl!

March....

Shortly after we closed on the house, we bought a puppy! His name is Sig. We got him when he was 6 weeks old and we absolutely love him. Addy is still adjusting to sharing our attention and her space.

 We also poured lots of time and energy into fixing up the place. Addy picked out pink paint for her room and she loves her "perfectly pink" room.

 We got rid of the horrid orange wall in the living room and replaced it with a light gray. I have since painted to door blue.

 My parents bought us the new washer and dryer as a house warming gift. It's been great, because Addy can now do her own laundry!

Things are looking up!

2012 has been fantastic for our little family. Jamey began his "new" job on the 15th of January. He is in a new position, but is doing the same job that he's been in for the past 3 years. Shortly after he started his job, we decided that since we're going to be in Page for a while, we should start looking for a house. We put a offer on a "fixer-upper" that was a screaming deal for this area. After 2 months of nightmares and faxing and e-mailing paperwork what seemed like 100 times each, we finally closed on March 9th (only two weeks after the original closing date). We are now in our new house and settling in to things. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but have accomplished a lot in the two-weeks that we've been here.

 Addy's room before

 Another view

 I am so excited to get started on planting fruits and veggies in this fantastic garden area!

 The gazebo needs repainted, but we're pretty excited to entertain in it.

 Dining room before.

 Addy's "perfectly-pink" room. She actually wanted to paint it hot pink, but we toned it down a bit.

 After putting all of her toys away, I'm wishing that we would have bought a 4-bedroom so she'd have a play room.

 The dining room is semi-finished. We are planning on painting and will eventually replace the floor.

 We also added a new member to our family! Jamey went to West Jordan last Monday to pick up this little beauty. His name is Sig, and he is the perfect addition to the fam. He is super mellow most of the time, but loves to torture Addy.

His favorite spot to hang out is behind the pillows on our bed.