Christmas Letter

How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.

How blessed we are even through the challenges and trials that life may (and does) deliver. Christmas can be such a wonderful reminder of the gift of our Savior and the hope and salvation that we have only through Him. Here is a little bit about our year:

Chris has been busy with his calling at church with the Young Men, work, playing chauffeur, modifying recipes to lessen sugar content, playing basketball, skiing, and any new adventure he can come up with. Chris has developed a love of jogging which was inspired out of Kaatlin's suggestion to run the two mile loop in our neighborhood. He has also decided to lower his sugar intake and has been rewarded with a 40 lb weight loss. Chris enjoys our family camp out and is rarely seen without one of the kids in tow.

Mandy is occupied with schooling the kids, being a Cub Scout den leader, teaching Benjamin's class in church, attending piano classes with Seth and Nathanael, book club, and working on little projects. She treasures the times she has alone with individual members of the family, attending piano class with the boys, getting haircuts with Kaatlin, or going to the ballet with Chris (talk about surprise. What a great husband!).

This school year, after a lot of prayer, we decided to put Kaatlin (age 12 can you believe it?) back into public school. She is now attending Southworth Elementary School in Yelm as a 5^th grader. She is loving school and friends. She is doing really well! Kaatlin has been busy this year with schooling, playing piano, clogging, attending Young Women's group at church, soccer, summer swim team, jogging (which she kind of regrets getting herself into), and doing chores. She loves spending time playing creatively, reading, hanging out with family/friends, and listening and singing to music. We appreciate Kaatlin and her hard work and complete willingness to babysit her siblings from time to time. Although Kaatlin may not enjoy having chores to do she is rarely happier then when she has her mp3 player on and is working hard to accomplish the job.

Nathanael (age 9) is attending public school part-time. He attends for reading, language arts, and specialist (computer, art, music, pe). We do math, science, history, and composition at home. This year has been a bit of an adjustment, but he has made some friends and been challenged a bit (so good for him). Nathanael has stayed busy this past year with cub scouts, piano, soccer, swimming, jogging, reading, clogging, creating Ewok homes in our lilac bushes (and many other creative inventions). Nathanael loves everyone to be happy, but especially Mom. He works hard to be the peacemaker (for the most part) and we really appreciate his efforts. He is a hard worker and a true pleasure.

Seth (age 6) is home-schooled full time and doing terrific. He is a fantastic reader and amazes us all with the fluency he has even in reading The Book of Mormon and The Bible. He is one of the lucky ones who just seems to know words. It is very exciting! Seth has also started piano this year and loves his little class, which has two little girls in it. He is also clogging in a class full of girls, but doesn't mind a bit since he has his little buddy/cousin Tia in class with him. He also is a incredible jogger who can do 2+ miles in 27 minutes. Seth may appear quiet to everyone else, but is a passionate little guy at home who can talk your ear off. We love Seth, our do-it-yourself kind of kid.

Laurel (age 4) is our little princess. She is a cute, social, and yet, shy little girl. She loves to play with princess dolls, play dough, and the play kitchen. She enjoys riding her bike(fast!), reading stories, cuddling, and getting into her big sister's belongings. She has been working hard (reluctantly) this last year on learning to write her name, learn her letters, and count (now to 20 and beyond). She has started clogging class this year with High Impact Dance – just like her siblings - and loves it. She attends class with her cousin Nina, who she adores. She simply loves dance, and is often asking if it is her day to go to class. Laurel is a little sweetie: she is quick to tell you how wonderful or beautiful you are and smother you with kisses - and yet, tough as nails in defending herself.

Our little Benny (age 2) is our super active, athletic guy. He is constantly running, kicking (balls, and occasionally, the dog :0( ), throwing, or jumping off something. It is a miracle the boy has never injured himself as he has learned to jump off furniture, unlock the front door, and get things out of the highest kitchen cupboards. Benjamin loves dogs, all dogs, but especially his Gigi. He is often grabbing her up in a big hug (and Gigi is so gentle and sweet about his fierce loving). With Grammie's dogs, his love is less fierce since they are bigger. Benjamin loves cars, balls, slides, swings, dogs, playing Star Wars, riding in the stroller for jogging (rain or shine), and being an all-around-tough guy. We simply could not imagine life without our enthusiastic fella.

We hope that our letter finds you contemplating your own blessings and enjoying the holiday season (sometimes we have to work at it a bit). Here's wishing you an even better year to come!

Merry Christmas,

The Cheney Family