Merry Christmas from the Madsens!

I just mailed out all 75 of my Christmas cards this year. What a relief. Instead of including a Chrismtas letter, I noted our blog address so everyone I love can keep up with us all through the year! So here is my Christmas letter for 2009!

Kevin: has had a busy, busy year full of fun and not so fun things! Starting with the fun....he played in his recreation softball team this summer and has continued this winter with the basketball team. He gets to play with 2 of his brothers so he has a lot of fun. He has been hunting A TON this year and is grateful there are no babies in our home which allows him to play and hunt a lot more than he has in the past! His pride and joy, the Elk, is on our living room wall. That's all to say about that since I had absolutely no say in the decision. :) He went back to school this fall and got all A's! Only a few more semester to finally have his bachelors degree in Business Finance. Kev is a primary teacher now which is a welcome change from the 4 years in Young Mens. And we are VERY grateful that after the many layoffs in the bank, he still has a job. Even if it is no fun being a banker right now, we get 2 paychecks a month and for that, we are very lucky.

Erin: has continued with her many, many jobs which include mommy, wifey, scrapbook designer, housekeeper, chauffeur and referee to name a few. She works 25-30 hours a week for DCWV and is very blessed to have a job she loves, the chance to travel a handful of times throughout the year, the ability to work from home the rest of the time all while being able to help support the family. She loves teaching the 5 year olds (including Troy) in Primary and singing in the Ward Choir. She loves having her Mommy and Daddy in Utah now and is always finding excuses to need to go and stay for the weekends. When she is not working or "mothering", you will find her crafting of some sort, with her amazing circle of girlfriends, texting, watching the endless DVR playlist or on her beloved MacBook Pro shopping or"facebooking".

Troy (5): has mastered Preschool after his 3rd year. He loves to read to his little brother and sound out words. He is always playing with his friends and is so lucky to have darling little kids his age in the neighborhood. Troy likes being the boss and loves to be independent. His mommy will often climb out of bed to find apple juice and cereal poured and 2 little boys eating breakfast. He loves doing things by himself. He loves going to the movie theatre and having "movie night" on Friday nights with the neighbors. He is a happy, healthy, social kiddo!

Colt (almost 3): does not want to be called "Colty" anymore because he "is big now." Sad. The baby is growing up! Colt basically likes to do anything that Troy likes to do. "Monkey see, Monkey do" is quoted throughout the day. Everything has to be equal and the same between the two brothers. Colt loves to watch "Caillou" and "Blues Clues". He loves to read books and sing songs. He loves going to nursery and playing with Jack. We say that Jack is Colt's dog because they just seem to have a bond. He would rather be next to me in the office or kitchen than playing with his brother. He just likes to see what's going on and being a part of everything. He is such a sweet little boy.