Christmas Letter 2019

December 2019

It has been another crazy year full of ups and downs. Thankfully, we are all still together and mostly healthy.

Bossy and Gamer are living the dream, raising their kids here in South Jordan. I’m hoping the kids will update you on their own families, so I will try to keep these short. Boss is working at the bank as a Lender and Gamer really likes his job as a custodian at the high school. He tries to maximize their income by driving for Door Dash, or one of the other services like Lyft. Taco and Burrito are both in middle school and Skittles is a happy active toddler. Cat Woman has a new job for UPS and she is currently living with Bossy and Gamer. DCFS thought it best that her kids be adopted to other families, so for now she is just moving forward by herself as best she can. Bean Dip is working at The Pie full time and learning to drive.

Beauty and The Beast just sold their home in and bought a new one which is much closer to the bank where they both work. They have two cute little guys, Little Warrior is almost 2 ½ and Little Squire will be a year in March.  They are both happy and healthy and they love playing with their dogs, Molly and Franco. It is easy to spot their new place because they are the only house with a gigantic leg lamp in the window.

Drama Queen is living in her remodeled home and acting as landlord for Teach and Twiz.  She is still working customer service for Netflix, but only for a little longer since her site will be eliminated the end of the year. She hates job hunting, but she currently has one offer in hand and she is waiting to hear from another interview she had this week. I’ve no doubt everything will work out just fine.

Teach and Twiz live in Drama Queen’s basement with their two little ones, Twizlet and Twizzler. Twizlet is nearly 3 and extremely opinionated and capable. Twizzler was born in October and he has experienced some health issues, including a little trouble with his heart. This required a procedure and full-time oxygen for about a month. We are reaching the end of that month and we are all hoping that our days of dragging around the oxygen tank are limited. Teach is still teaching 4^th grade in the Granite School District and Twiz recently quit Target and began a new job at the bank as a lender.

Dog Walker and Puppy Lover moved to North Salt Lake to live with her parents at the beginning of the year. She is currently working at the DI and Nate is still hauling freight for WalMart. We are so excited to announce that he just finished his BS degree at UVU in University Studies with an Emphasis in Education. He is hoping to work as a teacher’s assistant in a special needs classroom and he finally wrote a children’s novel that is nearly 100 pages long for his senior project. It’s time to look for a real publisher!

Princess and The Frog bought a home very close to The Frog’s parents and they love it there! They have 2 boys, Tadpole, who will be 2 in January, and Polliwog who will celebrate his first birthday in March. The Frog is slowly finishing up his degree in Computer Science from BYU while working as a web page designer. Princess has become a successful crafting presence on social media. Known as CraftinKiy, she writes a blog called kiyscraftroom and posts her things regularly on Instagram.

Prima Donna or Zephyr as she prefers to be called now is doing what she loves, working in and around a theatre. She is currently a founding member of a Clown Collective and she has received accolades for her character, “Gwumpy Baby.” She lives with friends in a little house near Sugarhouse and works at a non-profit called the Creative Octopus. 

Crafty is also doing what she loves; she just arrived in the Philippines last week for her 18-month calling to serve in Naga as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is learning Tagalog although she tells us that many people there actually speak English. She is excited to have this opportunity. Seems like old news now, but she also graduated from Bingham and SLCC in the spring and she earned her Girl Scout Gold Award. She is excited to be able to attend BYU after her mission and she will be studying dietetics and nutrition.

Sport is a junior at Bingham. He is president of the Cupcake Club and an Executive on South Jordan’s Youth City Council. He is a member of NHS and he is on track to finish his AS degree when he graduates from high school. Sport is currently working as a referee in the Jr Jazz basketball program and during baseball, he rakes in the big bucks working as an umpire. He is playing on a Jr. Jazz team with all of his friends just for fun and he recently finished his Eagle Scout although from what I hear about the paperwork, it will be several months before we can celebrate with an official Court of Honor.

Scout is an 8^th grader at So Jordan Middle. She currently plays club volleyball for GSL and she has a killer jump serve. She is the president our of Girl Scout troop and a member of the Girl Advisory Board, helping plan activities for the younger girls scouts. She plays the Bass Clarinet in the concert band.  She just received her YW Recognition Award for personal progress and she has several entries moving on to the Regional Competition for Reflections. She loves to read, craft, cook, and play on her phone.

Curly is a 6^th grader at Jordan Ridge Elementary and a member of Safety Patrol. Sadly, he finished his final dance recital in the spring so he could dedicate all of his extra time to other sports like baseball, football, and basketball. He is currently playing Jr. Jazz, but baseball season is already starting up as well. Curly plays the tenor sax in both bands at Jordan Ridge and he just earned his 1^st Class in scouting. We are planning to sign him up with a different troop so he can complete his Eagle like his brothers.B

Baby Doll is in 3^rd grade this year and she loves her teacher. She is playing Jr Jazz as well, but mostly she is dancing. The takes hip hop, jazz, ballet, and tap. She is also on a performing team and a production team. She just finished her role as a cat in Sleeping Beauty. Baby Doll loves crafts, Girl Scout meetings, Activity Days, and anything that lets her hang out with her friends.

My sweetie and I are very busy as usual… he at work and on projects, and me chasing around kids and grandkids. We got a little time away in November when just the two of us took a trip to Canada for 9 days. Toronto was so busy and cold, but the view of Niagara Falls from that side was so amazing!!

I’m stuck in a rut, I guess, doing all the same things I usually do. I have my girl scout troop and I am still in charge of women’s sports in my stake. Somehow, I managed to become the head coach of both Curly and Baby Doll’s Jr Jazz basketball teams. We have been working on decluttering, but it is such a struggle to part with things we spent our hard-earned money on. I am still dabbling in Tupperware and I just finished my third and final boutique of the Christmas season. I am also starting on my 9^th year of writing my blog at twelvemakesadozen.blogspot.com.

My sweetie is teaching Sunday School and he totally remade our kitchen this year. He restained all of the cabinets and put in countertops, appliances, and paint. I love having that new feeling in the kitchen and in our lives as we begin the new year.      

Wishing you good health, happiness, and love this Christmas season.

Love from the Christensens