December Extras

 

Daisy was hoping to get her braces off. Not yet.

Baby Mitchell (Andrew & Rachel's baby) was born 7 weeks early.

Making an in house snowman.

Jane at the park.

Pumping herself on the swing.

Jane is so fast on her new bike from Santa.

Christmas 2020

 We had a wonderful Christmas.

*Our lights on our tree started going out during the month 👎.

*I only took a couple pictures this year 😕.

Santa came!

Wrapped inside

Go!

The older kids aren't very excited.

Good thing Santa found Clark's wish list.

The kids saw there were Christmas cards for them, they were asking if they were from Uncle Kurt. I told them "no, they're from Grandpa Ernie and Grandma Debi". They started joking and saying, "Oh our $5 McDonalds gift cards..." They were quite surprised to say the least when they opened their cards to find $50. in them.

Mom got me a candy dish like Grandma Mike had. 
Grandma always had m&m's in her candy dish.
The dish was never empty!

Santa was good'ol Uncle Kurt this year. He gave us $1000. for Christmas 

and a two night stay at a fun barn in Utah for New Years. 

Christmas Letter 2020

Jenny wasn’t sure if there was anything exciting to write about in our annual Christmas letter, since we spent the majority of the year in quarantine. As she read through our family blog she realized we still had a lot of wonderful events to share with you.

Religious Events: Daisy and Walt moved up to the youth program in church. We now have 5 children in the YW’s & YM’s program! Walt was ordained a Deacon in the Priesthood. Daisy and Walt went to the temple. Clark chose to be baptized and Max was able to baptize him.

Road Trips: We went tubing in Brian Head. Jenny enjoyed a beach trip with old friends. Camped at Palisades State Park. Visited friends and family in California, Arizona, Utah and Idaho. Daisy traveled with Grandma Susan and Jim to CA. Max took a memorable trip to MASS. With Grandpa Ernie. We ended our summer with an enjoyable Family Reunion at the beach.

Big Events: Max graduated from HS early with his GED and headed off to BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. Hanna got her drivers permit. Daisy was finally old enough to get her ears pierced. Jane started Kindergarten. Danny and Jenny celebrated 19 years of marriage. Thanksgiving at our home with Max and some of Jenny’s family. Danny finishes flipping his 9th house. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw1jNCuRJQ4&t=7s

This year has had its challenges, but we have found many things to be grateful for. We send our love and hope your lives are filled with joy this time of year as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We hope you were able to find the blessings during this challenging year and praying that 2021 brings joy to us all!

Sending you all our love,

Danny, Jen, Max 17, Hanna 15, Van 14, Daisy 12, Walt 12, Clark 8 and Jane 5

"Christmas Star"

 We hiked up the small mountain at the park for FHE tonight to see the "Christmas Star" Jupiter and Saturn conjunction. Sorry I’m not a photographer and just had my iPhone and no telescope. Hopefully, you were able to see it.

Taken by Teresa Rae Taylor

"O Star Of Wonder Star Of Night, Star With Royal Beauty Bright, Westward Leading Still Proceeding, Guide Us To Thy Perfect Light."

More amazing pictures by photographer Greg Hogan.

Merry Christmas Sunday

We did enjoy attending church as a family, but we did not take a Sunday family picture. Family pictures are not an easy task with this bunch. I enjoyed the uplifting talks and singing the beautiful Christmas hymns as we reflected on the true meaning of Christmas and the most amazing gift of all, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

"Peace on Earth"

 THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG:

Henry wadsworth Longfellow had lost his infant son. And shortly after, his wifes skirt caught on fire She was on fire, he tried to stop it, got burned himself, but couldn’t save her. Then his oldest son went off to fight in the civil war and was shot. The bullet ended up missing his spine by less than an inch so he wasn’t paralyzed but they found that out on Christmas Eve after thinking he could be paralyzed. So he’s sitting in the war tent, with his wounded son, the widowed father of 6, amidst the bloody civil war, and the Christmas bells start ringing in the distance. Makes the words more profound to me.

“And in despair I bowed my head

There is no peace on earth I said

For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men

Then rang the bells more loud and deep

God is not dead, nor does he sleep (peace on earth, peace on earth)

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail

With peace on earth, good will to men

My friend

Lisa Hatch Hone

told this story, two years ago.

The Story Behind the Song Rudolph

 

Jeffery C Olsen

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As the holiday season of 1938 came to Chicago, Bob May wasn’t feeling much comfort or joy. A 34-year-old ad writer for Montgomery Ward, May was exhausted and nearly broke. His wife, Evelyn, was bedridden, on the losing end of a two-year battle with cancer. This left Bob to look after their four-year old-daughter, Barbara.

One night, Barbara asked her father, “Why isn’t my mommy like everybody else’s mommy?” As he struggled to answer his daughter’s question, Bob remembered the pain of his own childhood. A small, sickly boy, he was constantly picked on and called names. But he wanted to give his daughter hope, and show her that being different was nothing to be ashamed of. More than that, he wanted her to know that he loved her and would always take care of her. So he began to spin a tale about a reindeer with a bright red nose who found a special place on Santa’s team. Barbara loved the story so much that she made her father tell it every night before bedtime. As he did, it grew more elaborate. Because he couldn’t afford to buy his daughter a gift for Christmas, Bob decided to turn the story into a homemade picture book.

In early December, Bob’s wife died. Though he was heartbroken, he kept working on the book for his daughter. A few days before Christmas, he reluctantly attended a company party at Montgomery Ward. His co-workers encouraged him to share the story he’d written. After he read it, there was a standing ovation. Everyone wanted copies of their own. Montgomery Ward bought the rights to the book from their debt-ridden employee. Over the next six years, at Christmas, they gave away six million copies of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to shoppers. Every major publishing house in the country was making offers to obtain the book. In an incredible display of good will, the head of the department store returned all rights to Bob May. Four years later, Rudolph had made him into a millionaire.

Now remarried with a growing family, May felt blessed by his good fortune. But there was more to come. His brother-in-law, a successful songwriter named Johnny Marks, set the uplifting story to music. The song was pitched to artists from Bing Crosby on down. They all passed. Finally, Marks approached Gene Autry. The cowboy star had scored a holiday hit with “Here Comes Santa Claus” a few years before. Like the others, Autry wasn’t impressed with the song about the misfit reindeer. Marks begged him to give it a second listen. Autry played it for his wife, Ina. She was so touched by the line “They wouldn’t let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games” that she insisted her husband record the tune.

Within a few years, it had become the second best-selling Christmas song ever, right behind “White Christmas.” Since then, Rudolph has come to life in TV specials, cartoons, movies, toys, games, coloring books, greeting cards and even a Ringling Bros. circus act. The little red-nosed reindeer dreamed up by Bob May and immortalized in song by Johnny Marks has come to symbolize Christmas as much as Santa Claus, evergreen trees and presents. As the last line of the song says, “He’ll go down in history.”

Grandma Mike

 My Grandma Marion Cooper-Michaelson was a twin. Of course her mother (my great grandmother) Alta Crofts-Cooper found out she was having twins during labor when the doctor announced, "my goodness there's two!” When my grandma and her twin brother were just 2 months old, my great grandmother Alta was accidentally burned in a fire and almost died. Alta’s parents (my great- great grandparents) Lola Krebs-Crofts and James Crofts cared for the twins for almost a year while my great grandma recovered.

*I named Daisy Marian after my Grandma Marion (Grandma said, “spell it with an a not an o”).

Alta Cooper, Marion and James (Mike) Michaelson

Twins

 The other day these two were both wearing their glasses and I said,

“you guys look like twins, I need to take a picture”

December Misc.

Daisy and Kyra living their best life, shopping, 
spending their babysitting money.

Can't remember why she was mad at me this time.

Our new favorite game. Cover Your Assets.

 

Jane Has the Best Laugh

Jane's giggle is the cutest. 

You can hear what she sounds like in the video below.

                                         Jane laughing in school zoom lesson during break rooms.

Siblings are the Best

 

Family Picture's

They all turned out fantastic!