Our Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas 2010:

A Year in Review!

January:

Our house was for sale (again).

My Sweetheart didn’t have school anymore! Congrats, Bachelor Degree Holder!

February:

We had an awesome vacation to Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana where we visited family, enjoyed a bunch of cool sites, and had a blast!

March:

I joined a gym and got a personal trainer.

April:

We sold our house in West Jordan.

May:

Mindy turned one and began walking.

We moved to our house in Sandy.

The house remodeling began.

I had a hysterectomy.

Did we mention we now have a swimming pool?

June:

We met Aunt Cathy and Cousin Porsia.

Dot turned 14.

Our kitchen was remodeled.

Mindy began talking more.

July:

Yakko turned 11.

We decided to open our performing arts studio: the Learning Circle.

Our family enjoyed a whole lot of barbeques, swimming days, and more work on the house remodel.

August:

Wakko turned 9.

The Chatterton side of the family welcomed Wesley.

We opened The Learning Circle Performing Arts Studio in Sandy, UT.

The three big kids returned to public school: Dot started 9^th grade, Yakko started 6^th grade, and

Wakko started 4^th grade.

September:

Our student enrollment grew.

All four of our children began many dance/performing arts classes.

Bubba and Cleo become escape artists.

October:

Mindy talks up a storm.

Our family went to Lagoon Theme Park.

Grandpa Bear stayed at our house for about five weeks.

November:

My Sweetheart had a birthday.

We spent Thanksgiving in Hurricane with the M extended family.

December:

My Sweetheart has been at Royce Industries for three years!

Mindy has names for her siblings:

Ki-Ki, Malmoe, and Guppy.

Winter Showcase at The Learning Circle is a huge success.

Thank you for being such a special part of our lives and for your patience this year!

Love, Us

What Do You Get....

when Mindy decides to dress herself?
Yes, she is wearing FOUR tutus! What a lady!

Holiday Boutique... More Information

Hello, Friends!

Some of my amazingly talented friends are hosting the annual Holiday Boutique! The address is 7792 South Coolidge (90 West), Midvale. The fun starts at 10 a.m. and wraps up around 3 p.m. There will be delicious baked goods, scrumptious chocolates and homemade candies, photo packages, adorable sewn products (purses, dresses, etc.), Scentsy, and more!

Since I will be teaching, my cute honey will be at the Holiday Boutique, selling some of our cute hats, flowers, bows, tutus, wings, etc. I will come over as soon as I'm finished with my classes: I should be there around 1:30 p.m. We will have leotards, tights, and dance shoes available for ordering as well as information on performing arts classes!

Last year we participated in this fun tradition; honestly it was the most fun event we went to all holiday season. Come get your shopping done while supporting local small business. Bring a friend and we hope to see you there!

Holiday Boutique

Hello? Anyone Post Here?

Hello? Is there anyone out there? I really wouldn't be surprised if you've given up on me....

Life has been ridiculously busy. Not complaining, just reporting.

Here's the low down:

1. The kids are really enjoying being back in public school. I miss them terribly, but know they're where they need to be for now. Dot is super focused on her grades and is setting high goals for herself. I know she's going to be successful. Yakko is rocking his grades, too. He thinks school is awesome! Wakko is making friends like crazy and has become a very popular kid at school.

2. Mindy is changing every day! She talks up a storm and loves to be understood. Her favorite words are "puppy", "happy", "daddy", "Bubba", "milk", "snack", and "mommy!!!!!!". She knows several words in sign language and points to things all the time. She loves to dance, but only at home. She adores babies and everything to do with them. Her favorite time is bath time and she will eat nearly anything if it's in a little ziploc bag.

3. My sweetheart is amazing. He takes care of dinner at least 4 times a week, cleans the house, helps kids with homework, and runs kids all over kingdom-come... and that's after working all day at his full time job! Just this weekend, he fixed weather strips, winterized our yard and front door, and hung our stove vent. I'm one lucky lady!

4. I am teaching six days a week and loving it! Last week I taught 27 hours. The studio has expanded it's programs to include group and private voice lessons. We now offer yoga and Zumba as well! I love my students, my teachers, and my career! The best part; my kids can take all the lessons they want!

5. We have spent a lot of time with Grandpa Bear lately. I know him better now than ever before; three weeks with someone can be amazing!

Life is nuts, but it's good. I am thankful to be surrounded by amazing people who love and support me; that's what life's all about!

A moment of inspiration....

My dad sent this to me via email, and it touched me so much, I had to share it here. Enjoy!

STORY NUMBER ONE

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed "Easy Eddie." He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.

To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.

Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object.

And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.

He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al "Scarface" Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified.

Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street. But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.

The poem read:

"The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still."



STORY NUMBER TWO

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.

He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.

He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.

His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.

As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.

The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.

Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.

Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.

Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.

Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft. This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Medal of Honor.

A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.

So, the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It's located between Terminals 1 and 2.


SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?


Butch O'Hare was "Easy Eddie's" son.


(Pretty cool, eh!)

What's UP?

Since last I blogged, the big kids went back to school....

I finally downloaded a pic of Wakko smiling (it's a miracle that we got a real smile from the boy)...

Mindy's discovered she's funny....
and loves to show you she knows where her nose is.

We did take a trip this weekend to Lagoon, but the camera's battery was dead. No pics, just memories!

Oh, and my awesome SNAP team roasted me, choreography style! (They made up a dance using all my least favorite dance moves...)