Brenna Sullivan

This is Brenna Sullivan. She is Catherine's daughter, and we love her!!! These pictures were taken with our new digital camera, a Canon A540. It looks so cool!!! I love this picture.......

..........................and I love this one too!!!
All Dad had to say was," smile Brenna," and we got this great picture!!!! It was so fun having having Catherine and her family over for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

A "Notty" or Nice Tale...

Our Annual Christmas Letter:

The Bailey’s have had a quiet year--we have NOT moved, NOT changed jobs, did NOT go on a cruise (but we did go to Disneyworld), and I wish we could say we did NOT get any older. We did NOT have any new grandchildren (but two are due in the spring.).

Catherine & Aaron have NOT moved, which makes their home in Wisconsin our favorite haunt for long weekends—gotta see those grandkids! Connor is 4 and Brenna is 2.

Justin & Darcy are NOT students any longer. They graduated from BYU-I; Justin got a job in finance and they moved to the Phoenix area. Darcy works for a chiropractor. They do NOT miss the snow and cold!

Ryan & Jamie are NOT in Provo anymore—Ryan is working on his Master’s degree at the University of Guam—halfway around the world. He’s working on island hydrology/civil engineering. We’re grateful for the Internet to stay connected with them and 1-year-old Emma!

Deborah did NOT graduate—she opted for an additional year so she could stay and fiddle with the folk ensemble that accompanies the BYU folk dancers. She went to Europe with them this summer and will go again next summer. If you have BYU-TV, you can see see "Christmas Around the World" --watch for her!

Elizabeth, in 7th grade, is NOT being home-schooled, though I thought about it. She is NOT intimidated by the 8th or 9th graders and is loving Junior High. (Who would have thought it!) She recently had the milestone 12th birthday, so Young Women activities keep her busy as well. I can’t call her my little girl anymore, but she is NOT a teenager, yet (though she wishes she were).

Alice, in 4th grade, does NOT have the nicest teacher in school, but she is learning to be a good student and doing well. She is NOT far behind Elizabeth in height. Alice and Elizabeth have NOT given up viola or piano, and with homework, they stay busy.

Kevin has NOT retired from work, though that choice is almost possible. He is still in the stake presidency as well. He has NOT stopped his exercise program, and is as trim as he was when we were married.

Rosemary has NOT been released as nursery leader, and she’s glad! She also got to go to Girl’s Camp this summer. Gardening and the treadmill keep her healthy, but she is NOT as trim as when she was married. She is NOT totally computer-literate but is having fun with a blog—a good way to share thoughts and events with scattered family members. (See address below!)

We have NOT forgotten each of our friend and family who live far away and we love this time of year. We love to pull back and re-focus on them and on our Savior.
And that is NICE!

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Rosemary WAS released today as the nursery leader, and she's so sad! It will be a challenge but she'll rise to the challenge of being the 1st Counselor in Young Women. (It's been 21 years since last serving in YW!)

A day in Iowa

Now this is the kind of sunrise that makes me "rise and shine"! (photo by Elizabeth)

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we had a summer day--it was 70 degrees, rainy, humid. Then the clouds moved away, followed by blue sky. I've always been amazed at how it does this in Iowa--no gradual diminishing of clouds, just an abrupt changeover.

The United Nations in Iowa

We hosted a Christmas get-together for Kevin's engineer group from work on Friday evening. We have done this before--everyone brings their favorite hors d'oerves and we play some game like Guesstures or Balderdash--just a low-key fun time. I like it because I get to meet the people Kevin works with everyday, and I get a little more background of how things are going at work.

This time, things were a little different. Kevin's group is unusual--it is one of the most culturally diverse at the Product Engineering Center. In our gathering there was one woman from Nigeria, a man from Pakistan, a man & his wife here on a one-year assignment from Argentina (she struggled in speaking English), a man from Mexico, and a woman from Venezuela, not to mention one fellow from the Ozarks in Arkansas. Oh wait, that is in the U.S. And the engineer from India wasn't able to come. There were actually only two native Iowans here!

In planning this, Kevin and I were perplexed as to how to entertain our guests. Games were out because of the diverse language abilities of the group. Sing Christmas carols or talk about favorite Christmas memories? Not everyone was Christian.

So we just went around the circle and listened to the fascinating stories of the pathway each person followed from their homeland to work for John Deere in Cedar Falls, Iowa. One common thread that ran through their stories was that their families were well-educated--either medical doctors or professors in their home lands, and some were even educated in the United States. These were all good, decent people and it was fun to have them in our home.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening a great deal. No one left early, not even the part-time UNI student (I thought he'd leave early to go do something with his buddies, especially if this wasn't "fun".)

I guess I can say that the evening was a success!