2019 Christmas Letter

 

Wow - time has gotten away from me once again!  Here is a quick rundown of what our family has been up to.

Jay – Work, work, work!!  Between painting and his church calling as the finance clerk, he is busy, busy, busy!!  We all admire his hard work ethic and dedication to providing for our family – all while being the best Dad ever!!

Shelly – You can just call me taxi driver, cook, laundry specialist, nurse, friend playing coordinator, housekeeper, homework supervisor, and QuickBooks expert.  Although, with all those titles, the one I am most proud of was overseas traveler!  I was finally able to realize a life-long dream of going to Hawaii and I am already trying to convince Jay to let me go again!!   

Kennedy – She is currently a sophomore at Pineview High School and a student of Dixie State University through the Success Academy.  She turned 16 in September which means that she is now driving and dating (I’m not sure which one is worse!).  She was the setter for the Pineview JV Volleyball team and even played on the Varsity team a handful of times.  She is currently playing club volleyball for PVVC, perfecting her piano playing skills, tackling schoolwork with a near perfect GPA, and being the best big sister ever!!

Talen – I can’t believe it but we have another teenager!  Talen is 13 and in 7^th grade.  He has been pretty healthy this year – well, if you don’t count his 2 life-flights (one in February and one in July).  Both were due to respiratory issues, which is why we have currently pulled him out of school and church while we wait for flu season to end.  He gets bored being at home with Mom all the time but loves to watch tv and listen to his sister play the piano.

Daxton – He turned 8 in April and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in June.  He is in 3^rd grade and loves to build Legos.  Daxton is our little smarty pants and the life of the party.  He loves to play with friends, ride BMX, watch tv, and eat skittles. 

Carter – He is now a 1^st grader (which means all our kids are finally in school full-time) and is 6 years old.  He loves anything electronic and is constantly trying to steal his dad’s phone.  He enjoys riding BMX, playing with his friends and brother, and loves anything chocolate.  He is continually asking us to “give him two numbers” so that he can add them together.  He is following in his older siblings’ footsteps and continually amazes us at his love of math.

We hope that you have been as blessed with as much love and happiness as we have been.  We pray for a very Merry Christmas for you all.            

Love – The Vaughn’s

Christmas Day

 Because we had already spent time with Jay's family and Cathy and Cory, we were able to just stay home and have a nice relaxing Christmas, just us.  I love that the kids are getting a little older and will sleep in a little longer (not too much though, they are still excited, but thankfully we don't have to get started at 6 am!)  Anyway, the kids were spoiled again this year.  Carter got lots of treats, shoes, a mug, a math game, boomerangs, books, legos, a remote control car, a yoda night light, and a Gizmo watch.  Dax got lots of treats, shoes, a mug, a puzzle, lots of legos, a remote control car, a Gizmo watch, and a brand new BMX racing bike.  Kennedy got treats, books, shoes, a dress, a straightening iron, face masks, and a Comfy.  Each of the kids also got their own jar of pickles!!  Talen got movies, a super soft blanket, clothes, and homemade coupon books from his brothers.  The boys spent the day playing with their toys and riding their bikes.  We didn't really see Kennedy after we were done with presents because she was in her room reading her new book.  Talen, Jay, and I spend the day relaxing and enjoying being together.  I love my little family!!  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was busy this year because both sides of our family decided to celebrate with us on the same day!  Because Talen had recently been in the hospital, we decided that it was best to have him stay away from anyone that might possibly get him sick.  So, Talen and I stayed home while Jay took the other kids over to Brooke's house for Christmas Eve breakfast and gift exchange.  I'm not really even sure what the kids got, but they all came home with toys and money!  After they made it back, Robin, Gavin, Kaylyn, and Grandpa Coffey stopped by for a quick visit and to give the kids their gifts from Robin.  Carter got a wiggly car, Dax got a Lego set, Talen got a couple neck pillows, and Kennedy got earbuds.  They were all thrilled with their gifts.  They didn't stay real long, which was good because as soon as they left, we loaded back into the car to head over to Cathy's house (Jay stayed home with Talen).  We had chips and dip for lunch and Cory made us Prime Rib for dinner - it was fabulous!!  Since Amy is gone on her mission and Dacy's gift hadn't arrived in time (a Hawaii scrapbook), we didn't really have any gifts to exchange.  So, my kids just opened their presents from Cathy.  Carter and Dax both got activity books, pens, pencils, post-its, etc. - and Carter got his math book that he was begging for!  Kennedy got a hair blow dryer brush thing and Talen got soft spit rags/washcloths.  When we finished celebrating with them, we loaded back in the car to head home.  When we got home we let the kids open their Christmas Eve pjs.  They boys were all in matching jammies and Kennedy was a reindeer (which she hated, so next year we are going to have to go "normal" pjs or we will have a crying teenager on our hands).  After everyone was changed, we said family prayer and sent the kids to bed so Santa could stop by and deliver his goodies!!  What a fun filled day!!

Christmas bells from Grandma Cindy

 My mom has always been real crafty, so I wasn't surprised when we received a package in the mail with these little Christmas bells in it.  She made one for each of the kids.  They were real cute and the kids all got to pick which one they wanted for themselves.  Carter was funny because when he picked up his he started to ring it like you would a real bell, but of course it didn't chime.  So he said, "I guess these are broken, should we tell Grandma?"  hehehe  What a goofball!  

Daxton's Christmas Program

 Daxton's class Christmas program this year was "The Grinch."  Talen had been sick so I hadn't been able to run to the store to get Dax a "Christmas shirt."  I didn't think it was that big of a deal since he didn't have a big part in the program so I just sent him in a school shirt.  He was not happy about that.  So I spoke with Cathy and she kindly ran to WalMart for me.  Of course this would be the one time when all their Christmas shirts were completely gone!  So she grabbed the best thing she could find - it wasn't Christmas-y but it did say Santa on it and it was red and . .  it was like 3 sizes too big, but you take what you can get, right?!?  Anyway, she also found a grinch beanie, so between the two, Dax was thrilled.  She ran them over to the school for him to change before coming to watch Talen so that Jay and I could go see the program.  Dax did such a good job.  Like I said, he didn't have a big part or anything, but he knew all the words to all the songs and he sang his heart out.  Sure love this cute little 3rd grader!!

Talen's back in the hospital

Poor Talen, he just can't catch a break.  He had been sick for the last couple days and just wasn't getting better.  It started on Sunday and by Monday morning I had called Dr. Kaddu to get him in.  They ran some test and everything came back fine, so we decided to take him home and hope that it was just a bug and he would get through it over the next couple days.  By Tuesday evening he still wasn't turning a corner, so we took him into the ER.  They re-ran the test (and some new ones too) but again everything came back fine.  So after a couple hours of monitoring, we decided to take him back home and hopefully a good nights rest would be what he needed. 

Of course Talen had a terrible night and next day.  So on Wednesday evening, we went back into the ER.  The tests came back the same, but they decided to admit him because he needed fluids.  We spent the next couple days trying to get him to rest.  They decided to run antibiotics and give him go-lightly to get him to poop - he was pretty clogged up.  Once the antibiotics finally started to work and we got his bowels mostly cleaned out, he was doing much better.  Sadly, we never really found out the reason for him being so miserable.  However, there are many things to be happy about in all this.  1 - he made it through this without having to be life-flighted.  2 - he was released in time to be home for Christmas 3 - he is feeling better and that is the best of all!!  I sure hate having to watch Talen go through this because we just love this boy so much!!

*Waiting to be admitted on Wednesday night

*Finally resting in our room

*Facetime with the boys - they are missing Talen

*We got the cutest visitor

*Look at the love they have for each other

*Dax was happy to jump in and hold Talen when he finally made it home

    

Kennedy's Piano Recital

 Well this piano recital was very similar to the one he had back in April.  However, this time, we made sure that Jay's phone got left in the car - hehehe!!  Kennedy sure is getting good at the piano.  I swear I could just sit and listen to her play all day long.  This time her recital piece was "Gravity" by Ludovico Einaudi.  She did such a good job and we are so proud of the little pianist that she is becoming!  (I may be biased, but Kennedy is by far the best one at the recitals!)

Decorating the tree

I love letting the kids put all their Christmas ornaments on the tree.  It's just fun to look at all the pictures from years past and remember what it was like when they were all so little - a little trip down memory lane.  We were a little late getting it up this year, but I guess that just means that we can leave it up longer than the day after Christmas, hehehe.