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Friday, December 13, 2013

Merry Christmas from the Sanders' Family


2013 Sanders Family Christmas Letter

We’ve enjoyed a wonderful year.  We’ve had many blessings and seen miracles in our lives and in the lives of our family members--Chad’s sister Hayley was able to get a new kidney and is back to good health, his other sister Jennie was spared from very dangerous pregnancy complications, and our family was able to teach our neighbor about our church and the gospel and witness her baptism.  We’re grateful for the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  His grace helps our family try to become a little better each year.  Here is a little bit of what each of us have done this year.  The older children wrote or dictated their parts. 

Spencer:  This year has gone by pretty quick for me and I had lots of fun.  During summer break, I went to Utah and made pit stops at Las Vegas there and back.  After break, I started 6th grade and got in a class where I didn't have any friends from my ward but I did have friends that I had made previous years.  I had a class like that last year too.  I think the school is doing that on purpose.  My teacher, Mr. Rosenhan, is really funny, but you don't want to get on his bad side.  I am in my soccer season right now and have won most of my games.  During one game I got elbowed in the nose.  It hurt, but I didn't stop playing.  I'm about to get the priesthood when I turn twelve on Dec. 6th.  I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. That pretty much sums up my year.

Bryant:  This year was a fun year.  In the spring I played football, and had a way better season than last year.  During summer vacation I went from Arizona to Las Vegas then to Spanish Fork, Utah then to Salt Lake City, Utah.  In Las Vegas, we drove down “the strip”.  It was really cool. We saw the mini Eiffel tower and the mini stature of liberty.  Even though the real Eiffel tower is way bigger than the one I saw, it was really big.  Then in Utah (Spanish Fork) we went to my cousin’s house and stayed the night.  In Salt Lake City we went to temple square.  I was kind of sad that summer ended, but I got a really nice teacher.  I’m in 4th grade.  I turned nine years old on the first day of school.  This year I was voted to be our class representative for student council.  I was really glad I got elected.  I can’t wait for Christmas and I can’t wait to find out what next year will be like. 

Karalee:  This year has been fun.  I got to graduate from Kindergarten.  I felt happy.  This summer we went swimming a lot.  Swimming is fun.  This summer when we went to Las Vegas we got to see M&M world.  I am seven years old and I am in 1st grade.  My favorite things to do at school are jump rope and math and it’s really fun to be able to eat lunch at school.  I also really like art at school.  We went to Mexico during fall break and my favorite part was going to the beach. 

Marlee:  This year I learned to ride my bike without training wheels.  It was really scary when I learned how to ride, but now it’s not scary anymore.  I turned four years old in March.  I get to go to preschool now.  I like it.  My favorite part of school is having snacks and playing with my friends.  When I’m at home I love to play with my baby dollies.  I also like to color and draw pictures of my mom and me and play with blocks. 

Tilly:  Tilly is such a joy.  She loves to keep up with her older brothers and sisters.  She has a beautiful smile that can light up a room and soften hearts.  She turned two years old at the end of November.  She loves to sing.  Her favorite songs are “Dilly, Dilly”, “K-K-K Katie”, and “I Love to See the Temple”.  She also loves books.  Her favorite book is “Henny Penny”.

Chad and Mindy enjoyed an exciting trip to Costa Rica in March.  They were able to visit Uncle Steve and Aunt Sharla who currently are serving a mission there.  They enjoyed the beautiful green countryside, the adventure of riding zip lines in the rain forest, relaxing on the beach, driving the narrow, winding streets, and experiencing a new culture.  Chad is coming up on his 13th year at Chase Bank.  He has been a lending manager for just over two years.  He serves as the 1st Counselor in the Young Men’s presidency in our ward and works with the 14-15 year olds.  He still loves to play basketball, although now he gets more pulled muscles than he used to.  He plays on Saturday mornings at our church and gets asked to play on a Gilbert city league from time to time.  Mindy loves to play sports, blog, read, bake, go on weekly dates with Chad, and watch her children learn and grow.  She currently serves as a nursery teacher for the 18 month–3 years olds in our ward.  She loves getting to teach Tilly and all her little friends.  She also has been asked to teach the youth in our ward the songs for the LDS Gilbert temple cultural celebration and is really excited about that opportunity.

Well, that’s a wrap.  We hope your year has been filled with blessing and miracles too.  We hope you have a fantastic Christmas and a splendid New Year!!!
                                                                                    
Sincerely, 

The Sanders

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