December 2006
Dear family & friends,
A lot has happened in the year of 2006. Jeff was asked to serve as second counselor in the Sunday School Presidency. Let me tell you folks, he was the best church bell ringer I have ever heard. He was so precise in his timing. It was amazing. You would have had to see (hear) it in action to believe it. Other than that job, he did have to substitute for any Sunday school teacher that didn’t show up. Which was not that fun. It is a good thing that his calling wasn’t too terribly time consuming because in the middle of February I was asked to be the Young Women’s President. I was so excited at first, because I really wanted to work with the youth and hopefully be someone that the girls could count on - like some of my leaders were for me. I did not however, realize how time consuming that calling would be. I felt like I was always going to meetings or activities. Which, I guess I was. But, I know that even though it was quite a lot to do, it actually had me so busy that I didn’t have the time anymore to really miss Utah or family. It helped with Jeff being in school also. I didn’t have much time to stress over that. So, I guess the Lord does know what he is doing. (Yay! Because I sure didn‘t/don‘t.)
Jeff and I celebrated our fifth anniversary this summer. He then went in for surgery on his nose a few days later. I would love to show pictures of him but Jeff doesn’t think they are very cute. It was so funny, because every time I would take a picture he would say, “let me know when you are going to take the picture” so, I’d tell him and then he’d smile. It was so funny to see this guy who looked like he’d been hit by a semi-truck sit there and smile. He is a funny guy.
In August we were able to go on vacation with my parents. We flew out to Missouri, saw my sister, Annette and her family, and then went to see some church sites. It was incredible! I had so much fun, especially in Nauvoo. I think I could stay there for days and days and never get bored. In fact, I would pick up and move there in a second if I knew that we could survive in that small of a town. It is so neat now to see pictures of Nauvoo, Liberty Jail, Independence, etc … and know that we have been there and have seen those things with our own eyes. It is definitely something we won’t forget.
Braxton turned three in September. When we went to his three-year check up he weighed 37 lbs and was 41 inches tall. All of the nurses at the clinic were looking at his chart to see how fast he has grown compared to other kids his age. I’m not sure at what age you are supposed to double their height to guesstimate how tall they’ll be when they become adults. From what we have heard, he will be anywhere from 6’2” - 6’6”.
To update you on Braxton’s doings this past year - he now recognizes both upper and lower case letters. He can count to 20 really well and 30 with some help. He also recognizes number 0 thru 20. We have kept up on learning sign language and he still loves it very much. He knows well over 150 signs. He doesn’t use them as often as he once did but on rainy days we could sit there for hours and quiz each other on signs. In fact, in nursery they sign for a few minutes and the teacher was teaching animal signs. She got to chicken and couldn’t remember what the sign was. Braxton said, “It’s like this …” and proceeded to do the sign. She told me she was very grateful to have him help teach the class.
Speaking of nursery, we had a bit of an embarrassing moment. I found out that he had been talking to his leaders about “da devil.“ Well, I am sure that they were thinking, this kid is possessed OR that we weren’t teaching him the same things at home as they teach in church. When I heard this, I asked the leaders if they had a toy vacuum in the nursery or a popper toy, which you push like a vacuum and little balls inside pop around. I found out that they did and had to explain that instead of calling a vacuum, a vacuum - he calls them, “da devil” for dirt devil. He saw a dirt devil commercial once and now thinks all vacuums are dirt devils.
He is a very particular little boy. He likes things organized and in their place. This summer Jeff and I were at the grocery store and Braxton started snapping his fingers (that is what he does when he is upset or something is wrong) and saying, “no, no, no.” We had no clue as to what the problem was, so I told Jeff just to put him down and let him throw a tantrum and we’d just walk away. Well, so much for Braxton’s mom knowing anything. That isn’t what happened at all. As soon as Jeff put him down he ran over to a display of doughnuts and picked up a box that had tipped over on it’s side, turned them upright and came running back over to us. I was stunned. Out of everything in that entire store, that is what he noticed.
Last year for Christmas he got a “leap frog” toy that helps him learn the sounds that the letters make. He knows almost all of them. He is a little confused with “W.” When I ask him what it says, he says, “dubba, dubba, dubba. Like water.” I don’t quite know how he put those two together. I have learned not to put anything past him anymore, though. He is one smart cookie. The last week in November he started reading. You might remember that he was sight-reading a bit last year, but this year he is actually sounding out the words. So far he can read the words: bat, car, dad, star, hat, lip, cat, fun, bug, mom, dog, stop, go, lid, and of course, walmart!
Well, I don’t feel that this newsletter would be complete if we didn’t add that we have once again moved. Basically it was to save some money so that we can get done with school quicker. That did however put us into the other ward. I was quite sad because I have made some really great friends in the other ward but on the other hand, I was released from my calling. I thought that was a pretty sweet deal- and then came the new calling. Jeff and I are nursery leaders! Agggghhhhhh! Um - the first day we were in nursery, a member of the bishopric came to see how we were doing. He then said, “Everyone should have an opportunity to serve in the nursery at least once. “ he added, “I did many, many years ago and soon after became inactive.”
Jeff should be graduating from law school in about a year. The fall of 2007 is what it looks like it is going to be if we can continue going full-time and don‘t get a clerkship over the summer. Spring of 2008 at the latest. We can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Wahoo!
We will be headed to Utah for Christmas break and are very excited to spend the holidays with our families. It has been two years since we have been able to be home for this wonderful time of year and it will be really nice to be back for the few weeks that we will be visiting.
The Cragunclan wishes you and yours a safe and happy holiday. May the spirit of Christmas fill your homes and hearts.
Sending our Love,
Jeff, Maria & Braxton aka The Cragunclan!
"hi daddy!"
Standing in line for the slide 
cheeeeez.
