Merry Christmas From the Rae Family

This year has been a year of trying to settle in and figure out a new place. It has been about a year since we moved from Georgia to Utah and we think we are finally getting adjusted. We like it enough that we are having a house built and plan to stay here for the long term.

Ben is getting used to his new job with the Community Center as the Aquatics Manager. At first, he did not know what to do with all his extra time, but, as his wife promised, he has found plenty of things to fill the time and rarely has a free Saturday. He also is a Ward Missionary and serves as the chair of the ward emergency preparedness committee.

Jill is trying to figure out life in a new area but has started to enjoy how things are going this fall. She joined the Heritage Choir in August and is enjoying her night out once a week for practice and her monthly performances. She also joined a new homeschool co-op this fall. A co-op is a group of homeschool families who get together once a week for an afternoon and teach various classes to the kids. Jill taught a choir class for kids ages 5-10 and they did a great job on their performance. She also stayed busy with homeschooling the kids and all that comes with kids and family.

Jenna likes to spend most of her time playing and reading. This year she did year-round ballet as well as soccer and basketball summer camps. In co-op, she took a science and art class along with PE. She is still really shy but is a very sweet sister and loves to help out around the house. In school, her favorite subject is Latin and she has stopped complaining about math even though it is still not her favorite. She is excited about getting baptized soon.

Westley played soccer this past spring and also participated in soccer and basketball camp. He loved it and is excited for soccer to start again soon. He has also been taking swim lessons and is becoming a good little swimmer. He LOVES doing school!! We are constantly amazed at how well he is doing. This past winter he got his fourth (yes 4^th!) set of ear tubes and he has been doing well with them again. Hopefully, when these come out he will finally have no more problems. He graduated from speech therapy this spring and we do not notice any more problems. In co-op, he took art and science class and loved playing with the boys.

Charlotte is getting big! We cannot believe she will be four soon. She is our most challenging child but the most fun at the same time because she is so active. She has started taking gymnastics, other than that, all she wants to do is play, play, play. Every night in prayers she says thank you for hot dogs. She also loved going to her preschool class at co-op.

We are grateful for the blessings and opportunities the Lord has blessed us with this year and look forward to the future!

Family Pictures

Ben’s sister took some family pictures for us.  We had some really cute ones!  Here are some of my favorites.

The kids came up with this pose themselves.  It was my favorite one.

I chose the walking away picture with Charlotte facing the wrong way because she tends to be going against the rest of us most of the time.

Jenna’s Birthday

Jenna had a birthday party with 3 of her cousins whose birthdays were all within a few weeks of each other.  Her Aunt made a really cool cake with one side for each of the four birthday kids.

We also celebrated Jenna’s birthday with her other side of her family during Thanksgiving time.