Sledding.....

One of the fun things about living here in Utah is the fun in the snow. Jenna has been in hog heaven being able to play outside in the snow. She had a great time sledding with our cousins who came out from Clinton to spend a few days at Grandma's. We went to Pitts hill and she had a great time. The snow was pretty hard and bumpy so when we were all thru she had a bit of a headache but she loved it none the less! Aunt Karen brought over a 5 man toboggan that Spencer had while he was growing up so she can't wait to go test it out!

Cousins

Preston, Michelle, Brigham & Kayla...don't let her fool you, she is NOT that tall!

One of the BEST things about moving here to Vernal is just this...COUSINS!! I can't tell you how great it is to be able to be around these great kids all the time! We go to Michelle's games and there are Preston and Brigham there yelling and supporting her and her team (it doesn't hurt that they might just "like" someone on the team) they can use the excuse they are there for Shelly. Kayla is usually there too. She cheered in the boys game in the next gym. Aunts and Uncles and grandma and grandpas come all the time to support. It's just the greatest! I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!

Cousins in the hot tub....ahhhhh

Enjoying Thanksgiving dinner...yumm yummm

Blue toungs from war head sour head things...they had a contest

Getting Christmas trees together.

Jenna's substitute big brothers while her's is in Uganda....

ya, they REALLY don't dress like this all the time,

they are just petending to be a redneck.

Missionary update...

I know alot of you follow Brad's Missionary blog, (you can get to it by scrolling down and clicking on Elder Brad Kendall)...anyhow, I feel bad about leaving him out of our family blog so I like to talk about him every now and then.

I can hardly believe he has been out in the mission field for 6 months already! He is doing really well. He has been in Walukuba for almost 2 transfers now (transfers are every 6 weeks) He really loves the people and the area. He wasn't so sure at first about the area being so far away from "civilization" but the couple missionaries take such good care of them. They got them an oven so he can actually cook things now. They are working hard and seeing the fruits of their labors. His mission is going to open the country Rawanda in a couple of weeks so that will bring some changes all around. I am so thankful for a son who is willing to serve the Lord so faithfully.

New Job

Shannon started a new job last Monday. She works at Papa Murphy's Pizza. Monday and Tuesday were training and then she worked every day the rest of the week. It was crazy busy being a "new" place in town. On Sunday evening her boss asked her to come in Monday at 1:00 instead of 3:00 (no school Monday for MLK) He said that he was really impressed with what a hard worker she is and he wanted to train her to be a supervisor! She is so excited! She loves her bosses, co workers and even the work is fun! She will still teach her 5 piano students but will like having more income now. She plans to save for a trip to visit friends in AZ, going to EFY and College. Way to go Shanny!!!

This is her first pizza she made. It was their "practice pizza" and then they got to bring them home to their family. It was delicious!!

Bundled up!

One of the hardest things for the girls to get used to here in Utah is the cold. Mind you, they aren't wimps either. The weather has been very cold of late. This is how bundled up Jenna gets to go to the bus stop! Regular jeans then on top of that Snow pants, long sleeve shirt then a jacket and then coat. Snow boots mittens and a hat! Oh yes with temperatures in the negative numbers when it's time to go out to catch the bus, this is a must! They don't get to go outside to recess if it is zero or below. Yes, you read that right! This past week however we have had temperatures above freezing which has allowed some of the snow to melt. We live in the "ice box" of Utah. Being in a valley, the clouds get caught and hold all the cold inside the basin. But we do love it here! ok, most of the time :)

Which do you like best?

Hair # 1
Hair #2

Michelle (or should I say Shelly) I just can't call her shelly even though everyone else does. Anyway, She was wondering other people's opinion of which way her hair looked best. So vote away!

Christmas Morning 2010

To use one of Brad's phrases..."not gonna lie...." There was a big hole Christmas morning with out Brad there. I wouldn't want him to be any other place but it was a bit sad without him. We did have a nice Christmas though.

Wii game from Grandma and Grandpa Kendall.......Gloves and bracelets from Grandma and Grandpa Manwaring,

Soft warm cozy TV blankets made with love by me and Grandma Manwaring......

Shannon finally got her beautiful CTR ring she has always wanted and her favorite movie.....

Michelle got lots of WARM socks and a cool mp3 player and her favorite CANDY!!!!!!!

Rachel was thrilled to get an mp3 player too! She already has a lot of songs loaded up!

Jenna wasn't too disappointed tht she didn't get a "real" four wheeler....Santa just couldn't fit it into his sleigh! She looks just like a teenager with her earphones plugged into her mp3 player..

The BIG hit was a new TV for downstairs. We had a 19 inch tv for downstairs to play wii on or watch movies. We were a bit disappointed when we opened it and the screen was cracked so we had to take it back and order a new one. oh well..... patience is a virtue!

The BEST present of the WHOLE day was talking to Brad!!!!! He was supposed to call between 9:00 and 9:30. If he didn't call by 9:30 we were supposed to call him. Well, the phone rang at 9:15....we all screamed and ran to the phone... false alarm, Spencer's brother. I hastily told him we were waiting for Brad to call so we would call him back. Then ten minutes later it rang again.... we all screamed and ran to the phone....ANOTHER false alarm....Spencer's mom and dad..... told them we would call them back. then wait wait wait...... then Spencer made the phone ring ha ha ha....NOT funny!!! So we tried to call him..... just got a beeping.... ahhhhhh so tried again 10 minutes later, this time a recording that the call could not be completed.. (wasn't sure if it was because of the number or what.... We were DYING!!!!! Finally a little after 11:00 2 HOURS after he said he would call we FINALLY got to talk to him.. I was downstairs when the phone rang. The girls were screaming, "IT'S HIM, IT'S HIM....MOM IT'S HIM" So I ran upstairs, picked it up and said hello and then we all (except Spencer) started to cry a bit. It was SO GOOD to hear his voice. We put him on the speaker phone and put it on mute and the whoever was talking to him had the hand held phone and was in the other room. That worked out pretty good because you could hear him the whole time but it made it easier for him to hear us and such when just one was talking to him at a time. It really didn't sound like him at first but after a few minutes it was him. It had been raining all day he said they had recieved about 1 to 2 inches of rain. He is a bit discouraged due to the lazy companion he has right now. He is a native and due to go home in about 2 months. He doesn't really like to work which is driving Brad CRAZY!!! But he is learning alot and doing well. It was the hardest thing in the world to hang up. I had to cry for a few minutes after we hung up but it's all good. He has grown so much and we are so proud of how hard he is working and the great missionary he is.