This year was a really great Christmas...I feel guilty saying it was the best Christmas ever. I feel like i shouldn't say that because Chase isn't here with us but I truly believe that is why it was the best Christmas ever...we have our son out in the mission field serving the Lord. WE got some nice gifts but Christmas this year was much more simple than usual. the best thing about it was that not one of our kids complained that there wasn't as much as usual! Chase is doing great and is so excited to leave the MTC on the 30th and like he said..."be a real missionary". He had said he might get to call on the 30th so we are excited about that. We didn't get a phone call on Christmas because they are not allowed to call from the MTC.

Well, we hope you all had a Merry Christmas and look forward to a great New Year!

Christmas eve was great again this year as usual! We all get together at my moms house and we had our dinner of ham, chips, dip and tons of goodies. We then had the nativity and then went caroling..which didn't work out too well this year. We were in two trucks instead of a trailer and it sounded most of the time like we were trying to sing a round...but not too good of one. That's ok though, we had a lot of fun anyways. We headed back to Duncan that night so our kids opened their new p.j.'s and off we went. It was such a nice Christmas Eve. We have the best family ever. We enjoy getting to visit and watch all of the kids play and be so excited for Christmas. The tradition of being an angel in the nativity until you are married still continues...Chad...you have anther year to take care of that;) (Ithink he makes a good angel)

We have so many kids now that it was hard to fit them into one picture. This is the first half...more down the pictures a ways. Every year Grandpa reads from the Bible while the kids reenact the story of Christs birth. This tradition is a very special one for our family. Ron then talked to us about the reason we are all together on Christmas. He talked about Aunt Debbie who has passed away. It was a real tear jerker for all of us. What a special family we have!

Me, Bryce, Ashlin, Kendra, Braelyn and Shaley. Bryce was so jealous of Braelyn...he was trying so hard to get to his mom.

The other half of the Nativity.

Brett's Christmas pajamas. They get better every year!

Where all of this started! Uncle Tom, My mom Judy, Grandpa and Grandma Goodman, and Uncle Ron.

Brooke, Koy, Nicole, Ashlin, Shaley, Kendra and Makenna...They are all so pretty!

Billy, Chad, Cale, Eldon and Trey waiting for the food to be ready.

On our way to Pomerene. We went on the 23rd to visit. It was nice to be all ready for Christmas two days before. It was a nice trip.

Photo shoot

Over Thanksgiving weekend our friends were in town and she takes wonderful pictures. We took our kids around Duncan and had so much fun. We had a good Thanksgiving but I think it might take a while to get things back in shape around the house. Thanks Celia for all your help! She is a great sister in law and always helps TRY to keep things cleaned up after everyone. We were just out numbered this time!

Shaley, Ashlin and Jalin out on Grandpa Merrells farm.

The "Supermodels"

Shaley, Trey, Makenna, Cale and Ashlin

Trey, Cale and Trevin. They weren't suppose to be in the "photo shoot" but they kept finding their way in the pictures. Especially Cale. I will have to post some of him later....he is quite the "model" without Chase here to beat him up when he acts goofy!

Where Chase is.

Sao Paulo Brazil Temple

The MTC in Sao Paulo. I had no idea it was this huge.

We have been able to get emails from Chase so that has been very exciting for us. He is doing so good. He loves it in Brazil and is so excited to be there. He has always had a very strong testimony but to hear how it has grown in a short 3 weeks is amazing to me. We haven't gotten any pictures from him yet but I did find some pictures of the MTC and of the Temple there. They get to go to the Temple every Wednesday. They will be going out tomorrow proselyting. It will be the first attempt to teach in Portuguese. It will be frun to hear from him next week and see how that went. He said they know all of the discussions in Portuguese but I know it will different once they get out among the Brazilians. That is what makes the MTC experience there so cool.

Volleyball

Well, they lost first round but I am still very proud of them. They worked hard and had a lot of things to work through this season. Ashlin is second from the front and Shaley second to last. Shaley hated to miss out on the last few games but still went along to support her team.

Ashlin serving. For the first part of the season she didn't serve because of the rotation. Coach changed things up toward the end of the season and Ashlin really improved with her serving.

This is her specialty...blocking. It was so fun to watch! By the way congrats to Ashlin for making the All Conference team!!!

Updates

Ok. I don't have a camera because we have been using Chases. I will just have to write updates with no pictures until we get a camera. We got Chase off to Brazil on the 28th of October. It was a tough day. I kept asking why something so good felt so terrible! The first two days were pretty hard but it got better after that. I have felt so good about it since then. I was anxious to hear from him. We had been told no emails while in the MTC but I guess that wasn't true. We got an email from him today! It was so exciting. I wasn't expecting it and there it was. He is doing sooo good. He is loving it and his testimony was so good to hear. He love Brazil and the language is coming along...he says he may have it down in two years. The feeling we have had in our home is wonderful. It has only been 9 days and we are already feeling the difference.

Now on to everyone else. Eldon and the girls are gone tonight to Mesa for state. Our volley ball girls made it to state. They worked pretty hard all season with all kinds of things working against them. Their new coach (who is also Makennas excellent 5th grade teacher) has been great and has become a good friend of ours. Shaley is unable to play because she broke her wrist. She broke it a couple weeks ago in practice. She dove for a ball and slid into someones shoe. It is the floater bone (I think that's what it is called) and it doesn't do any good to cast it. She wears a brace and that helps a little. She has a little bit of a stubborn streak in her and was determined to still play..well the pain finally got the best of her so she has been cheering them on from the bench...she has hated that! She is hoping now she will be able to play basketball. The problem is that this injury could take up to 16 weeks to heal. Me and the three younger kids stayed home from state this time. We decided not to take the kids out of school plus Trey and Cale just started basketball this week.

WOW...it is real!

Chase got his packet in the mail today with his ticket, travel info and name plate. He was so excited! I think I am too. We went today and finished all of his shopping.

What a great day!

We had a wonderful day yesterday at the temple.

Mixed emotions.

Chase with Grandpa and Grandma Goodman. They are two of the most amazing people who have been so important to me in my life!

What a tough couple of weeks I am having. All of you who have sent out missionaries please tell me it is normal to feel anxious. It is so crazy to feel so happy about sending Chase off on his mission but yet so hard and sad. I am at this point just ready for him to get gone so we can get the first little bit over with. I hear that is the hardest time. I am trying to get my schedule really full so I can stay busy. His farewell is this weekend at 9:00 here in Duncan for any of you who can attend. It will be a fun day. All of my family but Dane will be here. (He has a business trip) All of Eldon's family will be here as well. That will be a huge group in it self. It is always fun to get family and friends together though. I guess part of the emotion roller coaster had to do with Chase getting sick this summer. He was sick with mono. My testimony of fasting and prayer has grown in huge amounts. All of mine and Eldon's family and some friends fasted for Chase to be able to be better and to be able leave on time...our prayers were answered. I know Heavenly Father has something important for him to do to get him out there on time. He is going to be a great missionary. He bore his testimony last Sunday and I had a few people tell me afterward that his testimony sounded like one of a returned missionary. I agree, he has always been one that I look up to because of his faith and his testimony.

Family pictures

We had a fun weekend in Pomerene. We took family pictures and actually had everyone cooperate real well. We went to Tucson on Saturday and got some of Chases mission shopping done. Time is getting away from us so we need to make one more trip to get finished.

Homecoming week

It was homecoming week this past week so it has been crazy around here. Especially with a junior and a senior who happen to be very competitive. Weds. night was the powder puff game. Shaley and Ashlin were on opposite team but it luckily ended in a tie! Of course all week there were comps going on at school, dress up, money jars etc. Shaley and Ash were both chosen by their classes to compete in the Mr. and Mrs. Wildkat comp. The girls and their partners both did a great job. For the comp they had to have a talent , have a casual and a formal out fit and go through a question and answer portion of the contest. Shaley and Devon switched roles, he was the girl and she was the guy. Their talent was excellent. They did the evolution of dance...very cute. Unfortunately they got last place because Devon being dressed like a girl adjusted himself a little too much. Ashlin and Joseph did the Michael Jackson's Beat It. It was excellent! They practiced for weeks. And they won!.....Maybe some day I will figure out how to get video on my computer and post it for you. Last night was the homecoming game...not a real good outcome for the team but Shaley was crowned Homecoming Queen! We were very excited for her!

Brittney, Charmaine, Shaley, Bonnie and Haiden. They are beautiful girls!

Shaley and Devon in their formal wear.

Casual wear

Their "talent"

Ashlin and Joseph in their casual wear. We were going for the 80's look. She wasn't crazy about the hair do but it brought back a lot of memories for me! It is hard to tell what she has on here but it was the Flashdance look with the sweatshirt hanging off the shoulder...she even had an arm load of jelly bracelets...I could have really gone over the top with this one~

Beat It

Greenlee County Fair

Big Red was a little stubborn that day! Trey handled him though! All 1,360 lbs.!

The judge checking him out. Trey got 3rd over all (second in his class) and he won the Greenlee County Fed and Bred. He bought his steer from his Grandpa here in Duncan. His steer sold in the sale for $3.10 per lb.!

Dance Studio

A look from the front to the back where the waiting area is.

The wall that Bonnie painted the sayings on and my cute dance pictures I bought.

The outside of the studio.

It's kind of dark but this is the entry way.

This is the waiting area. Shaley and Ashlin did the floor. They did a great job!

This is the actual dance area. Eldon hung the mirrors, Kendra painted the walls, Bonnie painted the lettering around the border. Thanks to everyone for helping out!

Ashlin in the newspaper

Trey and "Big Red"

First day of school Makenna Trey, Ash, Cale

Trey, Ashlin, Cale

Shaley and Ashlin the first day of school.

Ok. It has been a while since I have been on here. Life has been crazy around our house. Plus my camera cord is broken so I need a new one to be able to post pictures. I have a few that the kids printed and scanned.

School has started so we are back to a lot of activities. Shaley and Ashlin are both on the varsity volleyball team and doing really well. It is fun to watch them play on the court together. Cale is playing junior high football. He is real excited because he is in 7th grade and is starting with the eighth graders. He had 5 touchdown his firts game (well 6 but one was called back) and two in the second game. Trey is very busy getting his steer ready for the fair next week. It now weighs almost 1,400 pounds! Makenna is happy to be back in school because she LOVES school and homework. Crazy child...I don't know where she came from!

We got the studio up and going. It has been very successful so far. We also started a mixed martial arts class that a friend of ours is teaching and that has been very popular with both kids and adults.

I was officially approved as a subsititute teacher Monday night so now I am waiting to be called in. I am anxious to get started.

Today's spur of the moment project.

I guess it is a good thing to have bored teenagers who want something to do. They got home from Safford today and decided to paint again. Today....the dining room.
We recruited Nathan to help us today since he is good at the tedious trim.

This is the strangest thing about this house. This is over the dining room table. Someone tried being creative..I guess. Shaley calls it the "Fandalier".

This is for Kendra...my living room.

Ok. ..we are buying a home in Duncan. We were lucky to have found it since it is one of the larger homes here. The only problem I have with it is that it is stuck in the 80's. I loved the 80's but I really don't like reliving it everyday! Until we save up to do some remodeling, my girls decided yesterday that we needed to paint. Kendra must have heard through mom what we did and asked me to post pictures....here they are. Note : Eldon's pretty light doesn't even look so bad.

Youth Conference

Ashlin, Bonnie and Garrett (my nephew) were on the Youth Conference committee and they did a great job. It was a wonderful two days. Along with Duncan Stake there was Silver city Stake and Las Cruces. We had seven girls from Silver stay in our home. They were really sweet girls. Seth and Lynda Nolan came and spoke to the kids about dating and did an excellent job. Ashlin remembered the class they gave to the youth in Willcox and suggested they have them come here to do the same type of thing. The kids really liked them and hopefully learned a lot.