Christmas 2010

Dear Family and Friends, Christmas 2010

It’s been a busy year with three different addresses for us but we’re slowly getting settled in our new home that we purchased the end of October. Our new contact information is listed below. We have plenty of room for visitors so come and stay! We’ll entice you with the fact that it’s only 8 miles to the nearest ski resort.

Jonas (20 months) has taken over Maren’s title as “Our little tornado” and he is also a climber extraordinaire which enables him to add to the mess. It’s hard to get mad at him though as he knows just when to flash his sweet smile or break out in a cute little dance.

Maren (4) loves to play pretend, her new bunk bed, and trying to keep up with Whitney. She dearly misses her friends in VA and asks almost daily to go visit them. She’s enjoying having neighbors her age on both sides so there are kids to play with during the day.

Whitney (6) is excelling in school and will be moving to her 3^rd school after the break. She loves when mom comes to volunteer at her school in the classroom or teaching PE. She loves to read, has been taking ice skating lessons, playing basketball, and played soccer on an all girls team this fall.

Katie keeps very busy between trying to keep our household running with two moves during the year and getting out to enjoy the outdoors. She continues to do Crossfit and competed in a few competitions this year. Her team placed 4^th at a regional competition in OH and qualified to compete at the Crossfit World Championships in July in CA. She’s enjoying the opportunity to be able to play soccer again and has played on indoor and outdoor teams this year. Jim is still bitter that he missed out on the amazing week long adventure trip she took to Puerto Rico this spring as he was deployed a few days prior to our departure.

Jim is enjoying the decrease in work load since separating from the Air Force in June. He spent 3.5 weeks in Chile this spring helping to set up a field hospital after the earthquake. He continues to play disc golf and is enjoying the opportunity to ski, climb, and bike more frequently. He volunteers at one of the local ski resort clinics so he can get a free pass to ski most days. He enjoyed a guy’s trip to Zion National Park this fall to do some canyoneering.

We continued to enjoy traveling and exploring new places this year. Our adventures took us to the Outer Banks in NC to kiteboard, a camping and climbing trip with friends to Seneca Rocks in WV, and stops in Kirtland, OH, Nauvoo, IL, and Lawrence, KS to sightsee and visit family on our move across the country. We purchased a small ski boat just prior to leaving VA and have enjoyed time spent on the local lakes along with boat camping trips to Flaming Gorge and Lake Powell. When Jim’s family came to visit for a reunion in August we enjoyed taking them all to tour Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks for a few days. Jim climbed the Grand Teton with his 65 year old dad, brother in law, and 9 year old nephew then joined Katie and his sister to climb Teewinot. This Thanksgiving Katie and the kids spent a week in OR with her family.

We reflect on the wonderous gift of our Savior’s life at this time of year and the blessings he daily gives us. Some of our greatest blessings are our family and the friends we’ve met throughout the years. Thank you for your love and support! We hope this letter finds you happy and well!

Love- Jim, Katie, Whitney, Maren, and Jonas Dahle