December 6^th, 2005

Dear Family,

It’s amazing how fast time goes by! It’s always great to read your letters and find out what’s going on in your lives. We are busy as ever with the holiday’s quickly approaching – plus trying to keep up with the daily grind. We are looking forward to seeing extended family & friends over the Christmas break. Our Bishop from Ohio and his family are going to be visiting the SLC area over the holidays – it will be great to see them and catch up on all the Powell Ward gossip! Well here’s what’s going on with our gang:

Bradley: is thoroughly enjoying Preschool. It’s incredible how fast he is learning things. Every day when he gets home, the first thing he says is: ‘Let me show you what I did at School’ – and he gets all excited and pulls out all the papers & projects they made that day. It is so much fun because he is so proud of his work. Bradley’s new pastime is playing in the ‘Paint’ program on the computer. He could spend hours drawing pictures & creating new things. Last month we got rid of cable TV, and poor Bradley had a hard time giving up all of his favorite shows. But the good part is that the kids are once again watching the plethora of videos & DVD’s that are collecting dust on our shelf downstairs. So Bradley is now spending a lot of time watching Winnie the pooh & Scooby Doo Videos J!

Sarah: In our last letter Sarah had just started soccer, and she has since finished the first half of her season & she did a great job! She was much more aggressive this year and played a lot harder – and it sure paid off. Sarah scored a goal in a number of her games – it sure was a confidence booster! I know she’s looking forward to playing again in the Spring. Sarah is doing great in school. Last month she earned ‘Principal’s Pride’ for some of her artwork. Sarah’s got a great teacher this year – and after a rough start, Sarah has settled in and is really enjoying school. Sarah has been begging me to start teaching her piano. I’ve kind of been a little weary about starting her – and even thought it might be better to wait until she’s a little older, but let me tell you, she is a very persistent little girl. So you know what she did? She found the beginning piano book and by just looking at the pictures of the hand positions she has already taught herself the first few songs. I’m taking that as a sign that it’s time to start teaching her J!

Nathan: also had a great season in soccer. He mainly plays as a defender – which he is the best at. He is very good at anticipating what the other team is going to do, and then he gets in there and messes their offense up. Nathan is also enjoying school and he received excellent scores and remarks on his first report card. He just finished a major Indian project. He put a lot of time and effort into making it – and he of course received all possible points. It’s so nice to have kids that are such hard workers – it sure makes our job easier. Nathan has been spending time on Ross’s computer working in his design programs. Last week Nate made up his own logo for his own ‘future’ company, and then designed business cards and printed them out. I got my very own copy J. That kid is going to go places in this life!

Nicole: had a great first quarter at West Jordan Middle School! She got her first 4.0 ! Way to go Nicole! I never have to babysit Nicole or Ali about getting their homework done. We are so lucky! It has been for Ali & Nicole to be in the same school. I’ll tell you, they are in a carpool with a bunch of boys, and I have a feeling that Ali & Nicole have sure added some excitement! They can get pretty loud! Nicole started private voice lessons a few months ago and has really enjoyed it. Last month she was in her first recital and did a great job. Nicole takes from the same voice teacher that Lauren Gwilliam takes from – so it is fun for Nicole to see Lauren each week. One of the songs Nicole sang was ‘Oh Holy Night’, and she really did a beautiful job with it - - and someone told someone else about it, and now they’ve asked Nicole to sing it in Sacrament Meeting in a couple Sundays. Nicole also started Junior Jazz Basketball again – and totally loves it! This is when having that sports court has paid off. In her first game of the season she scored 6 pts.

Ali: has finally returned as a member of our family after a three month leave of absence while playing in the West Jordan High School Marching Band. Wow! What a time commitment – and the amazing part is she totally loved it and wants to do it again next year. It was kind of hairy for a while because her schedule for Jordan Youth Symphony conflicted with Marching Band. Luckily the conductor’s were very understanding of the situation and worked with her. And to boot – Ali was able to pull a 4.0 during all of this. I’m not sure how she does it – but we’re glad that she does! Ali’s keeps busy with her viola lessons & piano lessons, plus church activities, and of course reading (her favorite hobby). Ali was one of the recipients of the ‘Lion of the Quarter’ award at her school. What an honor for her. I’ll tell you, she has lots of potential in this life. Keep up the good work Ali!

Jennie: Well, I think Ross mentioned that I had been running in a number of 5K races over the summer. My favorite one was in September when Ross & I ran together. It was fun to run with someone. I know that he could have beat me if he wanted to, but he was nice enough to stick by my side until the end. It was kind of funny because at that race we ran into Claris, Jodean, Amy & Greg, who were also running in the race. What a small world. In October I was in charge of Red Ribbon week. It was fun, but a lot of work. Luckily I had some great volunteers who helped me out. I’m keeping busy with Cub Scouts and still trying to get the program up and running. The key is having good den leaders – which has been a struggle for us this year. Oh well, we’ll hope for better things in 2006!

Ross: is keeping busy with his regular job, and then his side job ‘Carson’ has also been pretty steady throughout the year, which is helpful. We’ve decided that websites is where the money is at. He has done a number of them – and still has new ones on the horizon. It’s good he likes what he does for a living J! Ross plays basketball with the ‘old geezers’ and some ‘young punks’ every Thursday night – he really enjoys it, but I think he’s feeling his age. You know, he just turned ‘39’. One more year, then it’s all downhill from there (just kidding). Ross is still serving in the Young Men’s and enjoying it, plus he’s been recruited as a temporary Webelos leader while the Bishopric calls me a new one. Thank Heavens for husbands! I couldn’t make it without him!

Well, that’s it from the Baum Shelter. Have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Love,

Ross, Jennie, Ali, Nicole, Nathan, Sarah, Bradley J