Belated Family Letter 2011

Ha, this is the annual family letter that I wrote way back in January just after Isaiah was born with the intent of sending it out to all our friends and family.  We even solicited everyones addresses and printed out about 30 copies of the letters with pictures in full color.............and then somewhere, somehow the project flopped.  I blame it on the six kids, and more namely on the two babies.  To say the least life has been hectic with the addition of another full-time job! 
Here is the letter, four months later, with edits in red!

This letter arrives to you from us with a heart full of appreciation for our association and friendship shared between our families.  That is, in fact, the main reason for this letter, to express our gratitude for all the many wonderful people we were able to share memories this year as well as those we miss so dearly (you!) that have enriched our lives over the years. Our kids constantly remind us how much we miss all of you!!   

We feel bad to have left behind so many great friends and family in California this year.  We hope we can reunite soon as we intend to spend a part of the summer each year in the Grass Valley home (Abram will be arriving in Grass Valley sometime in July for Water Polo camp, and the rest of the family will be joining him in July or coming out in August - hope to pin down exact dates soon).  In the meantime we hope this letter, will in part, help to catch you up.

 To say the least, this has been a monumental year for our family.       

Today especially, our hearts are full as our newest edition, Isaiah Aaron Bennett, just arrived home (about an hour ago).  It’s hard to express how thankful we are for the newest edition, as well as the rest of our individually amazing kids; disregarding any rumored family planning faux pas, we are truly blessed.  J

Tonight is also family home evening night, and dad has decided that we will all write a small paragraph or two for the family letter to express our gratitude for all our blessings, reunions, and family/friend experiences and trips this year. 

Aaron:

A few highlights for me on the year, in no distinguished order:

1)       Landing my dream job as an engineer with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)! This was a job that was targeted long ago, approximately 10 years in the making.  I am very humbled to be one of a very few engineers (20) currently with USAID and hope to be a part of helping to define and grow our small Office of Infrastructure and Engineering. 

2)      Being assigned to Ghana – approximate arrival date = Summer 2012 (August,September).  Accra, Ghana is the site of USAID Western Africa Regional Offices.  I will be the only direct hire engineer in the Regional Office.  For that reason I was:

3)      Assigned to learn French.  I have begun to (become very frustrated) love learning French and find it quite amazing that I get paid to do nothing but learn a foreign language!!!! How great is that (Trust me Aaron of four months ago, it gets old, temper your enthusiasm!)?? If possible, I hope to get back to the Foreig n Service Institute some day to learn another language (doubt they will be letting me back in after such a poor showing in French).

4)      Our move from the Grass Valley home that we love so much.  Thank you to all our friends that supported and loved our family during the two years we lived in Grass Valley.  We loved the home that we lived in and can’t wait to visit in the summers!

5)      Natalie’s baptism on October 9^th (my birthday) in Monticello, NY where my parents are currently serving a mission.  What a special day, with such great people, and in such a beautiful place.  Great memory!!

6)      Move to Springfield, Virginia which has allowed my family to see all the great historical sites in the area and more importantly live close to my sister Sarah and family who lives 45 minutes from us (and with whom I had such a great time living with prior in May prior to Amy and kids driving out) and closer to my sisters Angela, who visited us with her two boys during Christmas, and Courtney, who visited us over the summer with her kids!!   

Abram: Last year I won the most improved player award for my Bear River basketball team because I won the only game we won and was getting a double double each game. (He received MVP award for his JV team here in Springfield this year)  I found out we were going to have another boy! I ended my last year of Bear River because we were moving to D.C. :(   I went to EFY with my best friend and had such a fun time.  After EFY I got in the car with my family (except dad) and drove all the way across the U.S. in the suburban stopping only to see friends or sleep. When we got to D.C., Eli, Natalie and I were at the pool every day the whole summer making new friends and swimming while getting super tan!  I started my new school year at Robert E Lee and it has been fun so far although with hard classes… Christmas was great along with Thanksgiving with family! It was a pretty alright year.  Abram has decided to live in Grass Valley for his senior year of high school with his grandparents.  His parents aren't sure how long he will last without being around his baby brothers which he adores. 

 Madison; My Top 6 for 2011

1)       In May I turned 14 years old and had a birthday party at home.

2)      In June I got the privilege to go to EFY in Santa Barbara with some friends .I also got to go to Girls Camp for the last time in California!

3)      July 4th with Walters was really fun!! Plus our long road trip to Virginia!

4)      In August my family went to Kings Dominion A LOT (super fun)! I also got to go to the Girls Camp for the second time in, my new ward!!

5)      In September school started and my two electives are Art and French! (Je parle anglais et Francais)         I have also started to go to seminary which has been great!!:)

6)      In December I got to go on my Art field trip to New York which was an amazing experience!

7)      In January 2012 my newest baby brother, Isaiah was born on the 8th at 4:04 am.( he is too cute)

 Eli:  I drove across the United States this year on the way to Virginia.  We stopped in Utah to visit friends.  I didn’t eat that much dinner and I was still hungry, and mom drove to Del Taco just for me.  Then we drove to Colorado and saw my friend Trentin (Walters) on the Fourth of July.  One firework landed in the grass next to us and started a grass fire.  Then we drove straight to Virginia; that was pretty fun.  This last summer we went to Kings Dominion like ten times.  There was a roller coaster that goes 500 feet in the air and then straight down and then a hard right at the bottom where you get a black-out.  I went to the pool every day, we played games there with friends.  One week we went NY to see my Grandma and Grandpa Bennett.  We went to the play thing (Palmyra pageant) and it was about the Book of Mormon.  The toilets were disgusting there.  We also went to the Corning glass factory, were I sandblasted a glass cup.  Right after I set the cup down in the car, we got out of the car, I picked it up, and it was broken.  It was so cool, it was a Call of Duty cup.  L  We went to NY a second time the weekend of my dad’s birthday; we went there for my sister’s baptism.  There were these funny and crazy people there that made that trip really fun.  I got my tenderfoot thanks to help from my scoutmaster and my mom.  I’m looking forward to moving to Ghana and being with my new brother. 

 Natalie: I am happy to have met some new friends this year.  One of them is Hailey who lives a couple houses down from me and in the same court.   I was also very happy to have a pool right next door to the house we moved into.  I spent all summer at the pool! This summer I also got a summer pass to Kings Dominion (an amusement park) and got to go there with my cousins a few times.

In January my mom had a baby named Isaiah (Natalie just said, “You really wanted Isaiah?...........geez!).  One day later he came home.  He was crying, but at least he had his pacifier.  Bryce was having fun with him.  He never saw the baby before.  Isaiah had to get nursed because he loves to be nursed. 

Bryce especially likes to play basketball.  He has a small hoop and ball that he plays on.  We say “whoo hooo, go Bryce” and he claps and smiles when he makes a basket.  He is so cute when he plays it and he smiles all day. 

In October I had a baptism after I turned 8.  The water was kind of yellow, it looked like pee water, and when I was put in the water I kicked, uh oh!  My mom took a picture of me swimming in the water, and that was great!  It felt so good because the water was warm.  Abram loved the water. 

This next year I am looking forward to going to the pool again, going back to California, and visiting parts of Virginia.  The End. 

SOME OF OUR FAVORITE PICTURES 2011