2011 Family Newsletter

This letter was made to send to our Cushing Ward family, but I thought it was a pretty good summary of our currant life. So, it will be the only newsletter we have this year.

Greetings Cushing Ward

Oh my! We have missed you all so much. We think of you often and hope you are all doing well. It has been nice to keep in touch with many of you through social networks, but there are also many of you whom we haven’t .

We are doing well here in Sayre. We have adjusted to our 50 minute drive to Clinton Ward. We have several friends out here that Justin had worked with there in Cushing as well as new ones we are meeting all the time. Justin is out of the California office and back on the night shift. When he is not working, he is out with the missionaries (He’s the assistant ward mission leader), or tinkering around in the back yard or at our “extra” house next door.

I continue to baby-sit a friend’s little boy that is the same age as Holland. I am the secretary in Primary and enjoy it very much. I stay very busy with the kids’ activities and appointments. I have tried to home school Cara to prepare her for Pre-K. It has made me appreciate everything that teachers do to help my children learn!

Merilee is learning fast in 1st grade. It is a small school, so she has a lot of kids in her class that she had in Kindergarten. She is thrilled with how much information she gets from being able to read and write. She is also very excited about being baptized next year. She is still very social and getting taller and taller.

Cara is such a funny girl. She has a good sense of humor and says the funniest things. Her speech is coming along slowly after getting new ear tubes and her adenoids removed. She loves it when we have “school” and can write her name as well as several other letters. She is becoming more social but can turn shy very quickly. She says “hi” to anyone she sees and then asks me if it is okay to say hello to strangers. She is very cuddly and loves to be Fabulous!

Holland is a little stinker. He is stubborn and knows how to push my buttons. He is rough-and-tumble and likes to throw things (usually at people). He does have a sweet side that I cherish and will give hugs to say he is sorry and likes to pucker up his big lips and give kisses (then he will throw something!). He does not like going to nursery and is a superb fit-thrower. He loves to be outside and looking at animals in person or on TV. He is just like Justin!

Our house is always open and welcome to visitors. We are right off I-40, so you are invited to make Sayre a pit stop on your travels. Take Care and keep in touch! We have a family blog at www.livelyluckinbills.blogspot.com

Love, Justin, Leighanne, Merilee (7), Cara (4), and Holland (21 months)

Eight is my lucky number!

I have gone down 8 sizes in 8 months! I started trying to lose weight in April 2011 and it is now December 2011. I have plateaued but have kept the weight off through Halloween and Thanksgiving. If I make it through Christmas, then maybe I can get off this plateau and start losing again.

Meeting Santa at CCA Christmas Party

The girls waiting in line to see Santa.
Notice the similarities in the next two pictures (twisting hands and thinking/talking about what they want for Christmas).

Santa was very patient while the girls told him every.single.thing. they wanted for Christmas and then he gave them a bag of goodies.

Holland wanted nothing to do with Santa and I wasn't going to torture him so Justin took a picture with the both of us and Holland still got a goody bag.

They had a drawing for toys for the kids in different age groups and Holland and Cara won a toy for their age group. They served hot dogs, chips, drinks, and cake. It was pretty fun and low key. They had a clown making balloon animals. So the kids ran around sword fighting with their balloon animals and kool-aid mustaches. Fun times!

Merilee's 7th Birthday

Seven years have come and gone since my precious first-born was born. She has so many fabulous qualities and I love her so much. Merilee chose to have a "Rose" birthday theme. We celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa's on Thanksgiving day (only 10 days late).

It was almost impossible to find a cake at Walmart with roses on it. I thought it would be no problem at all to walk in and find something already made and ready to go. I didn't want to make a cake along with Thanksgiving pies and cupcakes. However, I did manage to scoot cakes around until I found this one (and I do mean the ONLY one) with a rose and butterfly on it. It was the perfect mini cake since I knew people would be full on dessert and not want much cake. Merilee was very pleased with it.

Merilee received a lot of jewelry making stuff. She loves to make jewelry and be creative. Cara was a little jealous, but Merilee is the best big sister and was willing to share

I think everything turned out "Rosey". I think the Lord gave me my children in the perfect order and I am so thankful that Merilee was born first. She is a huge helper/cleaner-upper. She is the second mom and tries to do everything I do. She is smart and can now read books to Cara and Holland. She strives to please people and gets very upset when she makes mistakes (like her momma). She is tall and slender. Every time our bishop talks about her, he tells us to get her into basketball because he thinks she is the tallest girl he has seen at her age. We are now discussing/planning Merilee's baptism next year and she is already looking forward to it.