Robison Family: December 2009

2009 has been an eventful year for us. Between school, work, vacations, and church service, we've been busy and happy. We've had a good number of opportunities to strengthen friendships and make new ones, and we're grateful for each of those. Our family has been more supportive of us during our tough times than we deserve, and we thank each of you for everything you've done to help bless our family this year.

The company Matt worked for ever since he got home from his mission sold his division in February, which meant the first job search for our family. Considering the economy and the fact that so many companies have struggled this year, we tried our best to not be worried about finding new work. We were very blessed to have had a good severance to give us time to look, and fortunate that Matt had made so many good contacts during his work there. After only a few weeks, one of his contacts put him in touch with a company that was looking for someone with his experience, and he was hired on at Utah Controls in April. Finding something so quickly was a double-blessing, as it allowed us to use his severance to pay for some much-needed home improvements.

In March, we installed a basement drain system to keep water out of the house. It was very expensive, but it meant that we didn't have to use the Shop Vac at all this year to get water out of the basement. We had a lot of help from family with this project, and we're very grateful for it. Later in the summer we also installed a fence around the rest of the back yard. And last, but certainly not least, we bought a small camping trailer at the end of the summer. That was probably most exciting for Tricia and the kids, and every time we drive to Grandma and Grandpa Robison's house, Jarom points at the trailer and thinks we're going camping. We took trips this year to Moab, Pineview, and Gooseberry with family.

Matt had a busy year, what with the job change and a new calling in the Church. His job is much the same as what he did with Grandway/Cheetah: materials, logistics, and dabbling in accounting. He's also serving as the Executive Secretary to the Stake Presidency now, which keeps him busy most evenings with meetings, scheduling, making appointments, and coordinating the work of the Stake leadership. He's been playing basketball in the mornings most of the year, and also enjoys photography and fishing. We hope he'll have more time for his hobbies in the coming year.

Tricia also has a new calling this year: Humanitarian Specialist in the Relief Society. That has been a fun challenge for her as she organizes activities that the sisters can do to help those less fortunate. She's worked on school kits and quilts. She's also taken up knitting recently and is enjoying learning the ins and outs of needle-work. She still does a lot of couponing, which is a fun hobby and saves the family a good amount of money. Probably the most exciting thing she's doing right now is being pregnant. We found out in August that we're expecting (the baby is due at the end of April). So with everything she's so busy with, she also gets to deal with having extra migraines and no energy.

Olivia turned seven earlier this year. She finished up first grade (with Grandma Sheree as her teacher) and started second grade at her new school in August. She loves learning, and is an avid reader. She is also very conscientious and makes a special effort to be friends with other kids who may not otherwise have many. She has been an extra big help around the house, doing extra chores to help Mommy out and helping take care of her brother and sister. She spends her free time helping the janitor at school and playing the Wii (she loves Mario).

Anna started kindergarten this year at Northpoint Elementary. She loves her teacher (who is also our neighbor) and really enjoys learning how to write and read. But she especially loves to ride the bus. She is her brother's best friend and does a great deal of keeping him distracted when Mommy is trying really hard to get things done. She and Livi are far and away the most imaginative ones in the family-it's not uncommon to find them playing school or some other pretend game in their room. She is also getting very good at making her bed and brushing her teeth.

Jarom is...well, he's just a two-year old boy doing what all boys do. He loves making messes (the books in the girls' room look much better in a huge pile on the floor than neatly arranged on the shelf) and playing with his cars and dinosaurs. He especially loves going to nursery and has become quite the little copy-cat. He had a difficult adjustment with Anna going to school, since she's always been around for him, but he's doing better now. He likes pretending to play with Wii while the girls really play, and is the main motivation behind putting new locks on the doors (ones that he can't reach).

We feel very blessed this year, and are very conscious that our Heavenly Father is aware of our family and our needs, and has blessed us with family and friends to help Him take care of us. We love you all and offer you our best wishes for this holiday season and the coming year.

We went to the Crump family Christmas party last night, at our cousin Valerie's apartment building right downtown in Salt Lake City. She and her husband have a nice game room that we used, and after dinner everyone bundled up and went to see the lights at Temple Square. Our kids have never been up there, and it was nice for us adults to go back and see everything again. The lights were fun, as usual. The nativity has been updated sometime in the last 15 years (I haven't been for a while...) and we also enjoyed the nativity scenes from around the world in front of the Church Office Building. I probably would have taken a lot more pictures, but I was having trouble even working the camera with my gloves on (and it was way too cold to try it without gloves). So we only got a few, but here is a sampling.