2009 Ward Family Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,


We hope that you enjoyed the holiday season as much as we did. We were blessed to have my sister, Amy spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. A couple days later, Sam's parents and sister, Laura came for two days. My sister, Emily flew in from New York and spent four days with us. It was fun to have family visitors and we're now gearing up for the new year.


2009 was a wonderful year for our family.


SAM is still enjoying his job as an Electronic Engineer Technician. The busiest time of year at work for him is July-November. He put in many extra hours fixing the handheld computers. When Sam is not at work, he enjoys reading adventure books and hanging out with his boys. He's a great help around the house too. He does the dishes and always puts the boys to bed at night. Sam is an amazing husband and father.



BRIAN will be 5 years old in February. He is full of energy and makes friends very easily. For the past three months, Brian asks daily about his Curious George birthday party with his friends. Brian's best friend is our neighbor, Caleb. They love playing with the neighborhood kids in our backyard. Preschool is still Brian's favorite place to be. He never complains about going to preschool or the long bus ride. Brian is so inquisitive these days. His vocabulary has exploded and he is always asking where things come from. He is more demanding than his younger brother. Brian is testing his boundaries. Sometimes he thinks he can get what he wants by repeating himself and raising his voice. Brian is a pretty easy going boy. He loves to help make food in the kitchen. Also, Brian likes to make crafts in the craft room. His favorite things these days are: Caleb, the color red, numbers, trampolines, and candy. (I sure hope Mommy, Daddy, and Tyler are included in that list too).



TYLER just turned 2 years old on December 30th. Tyler is very energetic. He loves following his big brother around and likes to be included in all the fun, even if that involves the big neighborhood kids. We're still teaching Tyler how to be reverent in church. He usually has to leave the chapel and lets out his energy by running the halls. (I know, I'm a bad mommy for letting him run the halls, but please don't judge. We're still a one car family and poor Tyler hardly ever leaves the house during the week). Tyler may look like the sweetest boy with his killer smile and super long eye lashes, but he sure knows how to get into mischief. Lots of damage can be done when he sneaks into our closet and shuts the door. I've found him in the closet with a mouthful of sticky candy and candy slime stains on his face, clothes, and on the carpet. That carpet just faced some additional damage when he got into my makeup bag and completely emptied a new bottle of foundation. Oh a more positive note, Tyler is our family's most exuberant dancer and he compliments his dance moves by making silly faces. His favorite things these days are: the "Bolt" movie, Elmo, Mickey Mouse, play doh, dancing, Brian, and candy.



LISA (which is me writing) got the best birthday present ever... a new house! Sam outdid himself this year with the gift giving. We moved into our house just days before my 27th birthday. We just love our new house, our neighborhood, and our new ward. I joined the neighborhood Card Club. It's fun for me to make homemade greeting cards and exchange them with card made by other club members. We meet once a month. Sam and I have served in the nursery at church and were just called to serve as teachers for the CTR 5 class. I'm having fun decorating my house. I'm still trying to decide how I want to fix up a couple of rooms. We have plans to paint our front door red, paint a couple bedrooms and a bathroom, and fence up the backyard this spring. I'm excited that we'll be a two vehicle family soon. A larger family vehicle is in order. I'm pregnant with baby #3! The baby is due on June 11, 2010. We're so excited to welcome a new baby into our family.

We hope that this letter finds you well. Thank you for all of the love and support that you show our family.

Love,
Sam, Lisa, Brian, Tyler (and baby)