I figured for our first post i would put on our Christmas Letter from 2007. Anni spent some time with writing it and I appreciate her doing it.
Well we’ve had a busy year! We’ve done a lot and changed some things. To start, we bought our two bedroom 2 1\4 bath condo in Taylorsville in February. We just outgrew our little apartment, and got sick of renting so Tony convinced me we could own and now we’re proud to say we do! It was built in ’75 though so we started updating right away (as nice as it is to flashback to 70’s every time you come home). We started with the 1\4 bath downstairs and then moved to the living\dining room. It’s looking great! There’s still so much to do though!
March 3rd Tony made the mistake of letting me go look at Petsmart, on a pet adoption day. There were puppies there. They had been found on the side of the road in a cardboard box soaked through on the snow. How do you turn down a sad story like that?! We left with Shadow, 6 weeks old. She’s a Pit Bull Terrier mix (they think). But she’s the sweetest, most loving dog you’ll ever meet! We named her shadow ‘cause when we brought her home she followed you around like a little puppy shadow, and when we took her outside she wouldn’t stop playing with her own shadow(she was convinced it was out to get her! She’s still convinced her tail is!!) She’s so much fun to watch! Se makes us laugh a lot! She’s a pretty good exercise program too!
Now on to Tony. In about April Tony decided he needed to look for a little bit better job. One with better benefits, and a better career potential, so he put his resume out online, and put in many applications. Then in July he received a call from a company based in Kansas called CECO Concrete Construction. They offered him a job as a drafter detailer in their Salt Lake office. He’s basically doing the same thing he did with cabinets except with concrete instead, oh and with better pay, and benefits, and the opportunity to grow within the company. He’s now technically attending Weber State University (although as of yet he’s not set foot on the Weber campus,) but goes to the SLCC extension program. He graduated with his Associate Degree in Construction Management in May. One of the blessings we’ve received from his new employment is that the company will pay 100% of his schooling. He is now well on his way to earning his Bachelors Degree in Construction Management with a minor in Business Management, hopefully 2 years away(we shall see).
And Jessica Anni, or as I hear constantly all day long, Miss Anni, Miss Anni! I am still working at Skool Days Child Care Center, but now I’m the preschool teacher. And I LOVE IT!! I love having my own classroom, my own curriculum, and running things my way. And I love my kids (oh 80-90% of the time, when they listen and aren’t running around the classroom screaming) they have tons of energy, and an innocent love and yearning to learn! They come into my class knowing a few letters, and leave knowing them all and in sign language too! They also leave knowing more Spanish than I do! We have lots of fun everyday learning, growing and playing too. They are so honest! Sometimes I just sit back and listen to their conversations, and smile. I always have one or two really challenging kids, but I learn a lot from them, even if they don’t always seem to learn very much from me. My favorites are the kids who have challenges like I did when I was young, that no one else wants to deal with. They’re my hardest, they give me knots in my shoulder, but if I don’t take them in they get left behind. I understand them in a way other teachers can’t, because I was there once too. Every child deserves the best, and I sure try my best to give it.
This summer in August we went on a 10 day vacation to celebrate our 1st anniversary! We spent our anniversary in Downtown Disney. We had dinner at The Rainforest Café. It was amazing! Really good food too! We went to Disneyland(I finally got to meet my favorite Disney character Mickey!) , The San Diego Wild Animal Park, spent a day in Tijuana Mexico, went to the beach, and on the way back stopped in Las Vegas(I love the Bellagio fountains, oh and the Venetian Hotel!) In a year Tony’s taken me from the northern border of the U.S. (Canada on our honeymoon) to the southern border (Mexico on this trip) in one year!
It was a really great year for us; we had lots of fun, and have taken steps in the right direction to moving up in life! This coming year we hope to be able to add to our family and remodel the 2nd bedroom into a nursery, but we shall see what the Lord has in store for us!
We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
I hope that will help inform you with what is going on. I hope to post weekly.
