December 10, 2006

Dear Gwilliam Family.

The leaves have all fallen and the snow has made an appearance.

Bradley has big plans for the summer already. He’s been talking about a lake we’re going to build in our backyard this spring. We’re building it so we can sail our boats. He has a list of rules that he dictated to me and who is allowed to sail on the lake. We’re going to let it freeze over the winter so we can ice skate. Should be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see what happens. Bradley is loving kindergarten. He just got through the ABC song without stopping or thinking. He can count to 100 by 10s all day long, and usually does. We car pool with a girl in our ward named Elizabeth. She comes over once in a while after school for lunch and a play date. Bradley treats her like on of the boys. It’s pretty funny.

Sarah has been doing so well in school. She works hard on her spelling and gets good scores on her spelling tests. She does the best at math. Sarah has a friend named Ashley. They’re tied together at the hip. They’re big into sleepovers and late nights. Sarah works hard at the social things so that she can keep up with her older brother and sisters. She’s getting good at keeping her room clean and can straighten it up very quickly on Saturdays.

Nathan recently received the Principal’s Pride award at school. Teachers award this to their students for some outstanding achievement. Nathan’s outstanding achievement was a picture he drew of the titanic. It was a pencil sketch that was on display in the main hall of the school. Nathan has worked hard in Webelos. In our last pack meeting he earned several activity badges. He’s been motivated and has been working hard on his awards. We recently bought Nathan a clarinet that we found in a pawn shop. I’ve given him a couple lessons and he enjoys playing.

Nicole is now the president in the Beehive Class. She enjoys the calling. Her first backetball game was yesterday. Nicole pulled down a million rebounds. She plays center and does a great job. This is the 3^rd year her team has played together and it really shows. There’s a pack of wild boys that invade out house on the weekends. Some boys from the ward. They come over here to hang out on the weekend some times because the action usually finds it way to our house. I think Nicole really likes the attention. She gets all giggle-happy.

Ali just got back from California today with the marching band. She was exhausted. She slept almost all day. They marched and played in Disney land and other places. She just loved the whole thing. Ali is getting good grades and seeing mail from colleges. She is also well established into the social scene around here and loves to hang out with friends. Ali is also doing really well at learning the clarinet. I think she plays it as much as Nathan does. Ali also has a trumpet in her possession that she is going to buy from a neighbor. She has a person all lined up to give her private lessons.

Jennie really enjoys her job. I can’t believe all that goes on in that school in a given day. Jennie comes home with some amazing stories. She’s called 911 a couple times since she started. Never a dull moment. Jennie is having a small piano recital this month for her students. I think it will be fun. Jennie totally surprised me on my 40^th birthday last week. We were eating dinner with my family at Applebees when the waitress delivered a present. It was a tenor saxophone! Blow me away… I had no idea. It’s been a blast playing again. Thanks Jennie!!

I’m working on the garage so that we can get 1 car in it for the winter. We’re close. I’m way behind on things. When it’s December and your swamp cooler still isn’t covered you know you gotta get going.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Love, the Baums.