Camp Family Christmas Blog Post

We start to receive Christmas cards and letters and then Elena will suggest that this year we really need to do one. She usually suggests this while two children are clinging to her legs and another child is in her arms, so a sense of chivalry usually wells up inside of me and I offer to take on the task. The fact that I have committed to doing the Christmas letter the past few years and never pulled through doesn't seem to factor into my decision.

As the days turn into weeks, I still intend to write the glowing Christmas letter about all the wonderful things that have happened to our beautiful little family, with glowing thoughts about each child and the progress they have made, and each day the tasks seems too daunting and I think to myself, "Tomorrow will be much better." Don't judge...we have all been there...

Well, it is now 6:17 AM on Christmas day. Much too late to send out a cute picture and a letter. However, this year, I have decided to put a stop to the pattern, and have decided that this is a small gift I can give to the woman I love more than words can express. So for those that are interested, here are some highlights from our life this year. For those that aren't, I hope you at least enjoy the pictures :).

The biggest change for me in 2011 had to do with work. I'm still at Ancestry.com and am loving every minute. At the beginning of the year I was contentedly working on the Business Intelligence team trying to have an impact and make my mark within the company. Around March, the VP of Analytics and Finance approached me and indicated they felt I was the guy to re-implement our Web Analytics solution (Omniture SiteCatalsyt) and asked if I was up for the challenge. I hesitantly accepted the position with some reservations, and received assurances that this was going to be a short term assignment (12 months) with the opportunity to return to the Business Intelligence team at the end of the stint. In July, I was approached again and asked to also take on the re-implementation of our A/B testing software (Omniture Test&Target). I decided to take on that project as well.

Since then I have fallen in love with the position and all that it entails. I now manage a small team and we are having an impact on how the business runs. I have been involved with testing different pricing and packaging on the website, a revamped home page, and a host of other projects. Since September, I have had the opportunity to travel to London, Toronto, and Sydney. In September, I was recognized at work for being one of the top 10 people who had the biggest impact on the business. On top of it all, this month my boss and some other folks decided to show their appreciation for the hard work I have been doing in the form of an iPad 2.

A couple other quick side notes. This year I decided to relive a childhood dream and played in a soccer league. It turned out a little better than when I played as a child (where, as a team, we scored only one goal the whole season). This year we managed to scrape together a couple wins. It was fun. We also had the opportunity to go camping with the kids, which was something I have wanted to do for the past couple years. I may want to try it again sometime....in a couple more years.

Elena has been a star this year. How she successfully manages a household of 5 children that were 6 and under for the bulk of the year is beyond me. She not only remains the favorite ofthe children (most of the kids are very loyal momma's boys), but also finds time to do the laundry, dishes, shopping, extra-curricular activities, reading, blogging, photography, etc. I'm getting exhausted just typing this up.

Elena did find time to enroll in a photography class to further hone her skills. It was exciting this year because she had four or five other friends in the class that live close by. She has even branched out a little and started taking some pictures for some friends.

She also managed to get up early almost the whole year for an aerobics class with some gals around the neighborhood. Crazy, you say...you took the words right out of my mouth.

As of late, Elena had to stop attending her aerobics class and is letting me pitch in a little more because we recently discovered that we are expecting number six. We are super excited about this news. At the writing of this blog we are 14 weeks along which puts arrival date sometime in June 2012. As with previous pregnancies, Elena has been feeling quite sick (it always amazes me she is willing and eager to have more children...eh...maybe eager is a little strong). We have had an ultrasound to make sure there is just one little cherub...and there is.

We could not have asked for a better oldest daughter. Brooklyn continues to amaze me with the things she accomplishes. She is a very good student and loves to read and write. She is loving the second grade. This year she tried basketball, soccer, and dance. She is a very smart player, but may not have that killer instinct some of the kids have. I think this makes me a little sad, but is a huge relief to Elena.

Brooklyn loves to spend time with her youngest sister, Kamryn, and is usually the coordinator and organizer for group kid activities. She is very thoughtful and always looking for ways to help others. She has the same sense of humor as her dad (which terrifies Elena) and delights me to no end. She also loves to watch BYU sports with her dad, which is making me tear up....must move on...

What a hoot. Dallin had the opportunity to play soccer this year as well. He is a very, very sweet boy, but is also a competitive little fellow. He as an impish grin and sometimes a downright wicked laugh. Dallin started Kindergarten this year and his teacher has nothing but good things to say about him.

He loves to play games (both video and board games). Some of the favorites include: Sorry, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Lego Batman, Mario Kart Wii, and Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Dallin is also a tough little guy. He took a rock to the face (courtesy of Colby) and got a sweet black eye. He built some great snow forts, we built the biggest snow man ever, and he learned to ride a two wheeler.

Ahhh...where to begin. This has been a fun year because some of the personality differences are really starting to shine through between Parker and Colby. Parker is a very adventurous fellow. He loves to be outside on the trampoline or riding his bike. Snow is no deterrent. He has also developed a great right hook as both Dallin and Colby can attest too. Having three boys in an 18 month window has been an adjustment for Elena, who isn't used to the rough housing and physicality boys seem to inherently possess.

Parker still has a very refined palette, preferring Orange Creme yogurt, cereal, waffles, and....umm....well, he did branch out and find out pizza is good too.

Parker is very excited to be in big boy underwear now and we are excited to have him potty trained. He loves to play video games with his brother, and has developed a strong affinity for the iPad and Touchpad. We are working on limits and self control, which usually involves some tears, but we hope will pay dividends in the future.

 Colby and Parker do so much together, this section of the blog can always be a little more challenging. I'm sure Elena would do a much better job, but I'll soldier on. Colby has a very sensitive and sweet side. He loves to play with Mom's hair and would rather play inside with his toys than run around with his brothers outside. Don't get me wrong, he does the outside thing too, but he seems more content to sit back and take things at his own speed.

He has a really cute smile which shows his dimple, and is inseparable from his orange hat (even when he sleeps at night).

As mentioned previously, he did manage to throw a small boulder at Dallin which caused some damage, and he and Parker have some very intense battles. I think of all the children, Colby probably spends the most time in time out, but overall is an absolute joy. Oh...he also has a very infectious laugh.

After years and years of children that always want there mom (to the extent that we had to start calling me the Dad-Mom), we finally have a kid that prefers her dad. She is not the favorite, she just has a specially place in my heart...

Kamryn is a delight and all the kids adore her. She loves to run and play. She is not intimidated in the least bit by her older brothers, and on more than one occasion has come out the victor in the daily skirmishes that occur. She seems to possess an inner desire to dance and can actually swing her hips (which she definitely does not get from her Dad). She is learning to talk and loves to sing.

2011 has been an amazing year for our family. We have been extremely blessed and feel very fortunate. We have great friends, a good job, and an amazing family. We are very grateful to our Heavenly Father for his generosity and look forward to the challenges and opportunities that 2012 will bring.

*I just realized I typed this up on my work computer, which means I don't have any of the cute photos that belong in this blog. We will update the blog with photos, hopefully later today.