Holiday Greetings from the Johnsons...

Well, I am sure you have noticed that I am sending out our Christmas letter on email this year. Not my typical or my favorite, but more cost efficient, so please excuse me for doing it this way!

This year has been a very full year for the Wes & Beckee Johnson family! We have had tremendous ups and downs, major changes, and now are finally settling into our first home. One of the major events of our year was the loss of my (Beckee) aunt Cathy who after about a year of fun filled parties, vacations, and Disney joy finally succumbed to the cancer she had been diagnosed with last year. We were so grateful for that last year to fully enjoy Cathy. Just weeks after our loss and sorrow, our lives were again filled with joy with the birth of our 4th child, Kindle Catherine Johnson (middle name if after Cathy)! She has been a true joy and a welcome and well loved addition to our family. We also moved across the country again this year. This time from our very well loved, and still new home of Spokane Washington, back to the place our kids have always considered home, Omaha Nebraska. We were able to buy our first house and have loved the freedom of having our own home and own yard! Our kids can run wild and not bug anyone and it is wonderful!

Here is a quick update on each or us:

Wes is now officially a Radiology resident! He finished his year of general medicine in Spokane in June and started his radiology here in July. He is happy to finally be focused on what he will be doing for the rest of his career! He is now serving in the Elders Quorum presidency in our ward and is in charge of the blood drives as well. He stays busy, but manages to fit in a lot of fun time with his wife and kids!

I am busier than ever with 4 kids now! Having spent the first part of the year on bed rest with my pregnancy, I am just grateful to be out and about doing stuff with Wes and the kids. I am the Activity Days Leader in our ward and am truly loving that calling!!

Solace turned 6 last week and is now half-way through her Kindergarten year of school. She is a brainiac and has to do her reading group with the 1st grade. They hardly know what to do with her in Kindergarten! She has made a goal to always be the best behaved in class and to never even get a behavior warning, and has so far been successful. She is one amazing, smart, beautiful kid and we sure like her!

Ender is a very active 4-year-old. He is almost done with his Sunbeam year in church. He went to preschool 3 days a week in Spokane, and now, for this school year we are doing "Mommy school". It is a blast to watch him learn. He is also super smart and already reads probably about as well as Solace. I do not know what will happen when he gets to Kindergarten next year but it will surely be an eventful year! He is one of the funniest people you will ever meet and brings a lot of laughter to our home.

Armour is our 2-yr-old and he is filled with curiosity and mischief. He has hit the terrible twos with a running start and keeps me on my toes always! He talks and plays non-stop, and is now basically totally potty trained (day time)! A funny thing about him is that he talks and talks at home (as I type he is going on and on about Christmas) but at Nursery he doesn't speak. They were shocked when he said his primary part in the practice! He is as blond as ever and I love his golden personality that matches his hair.

Kindle is a fiery 7-month-old and she is growing like a weed! She is beautiful-looks just like Solace did as a baby! She has a small vocabulary of "hi," "mom," "Dad," and a few other random things here and there. She has the greatest hair that sticks straight up in pony tails, she always laughs and smiles and she loves her daddy and mommy (which makes me happy all the time)! She is well-loved (sometimes too much), but she is a tough gal and loves and recognizes her siblings now! I love and appreciate every moment with this newest little angel in our house!

Being away from family at this time of year always makes me reflect and remember all the holidays at home in the past. We miss our families and love you all dearly! We wish you the very best this holiday season and want you to know that we are thinking fondly and lovingly of you!

We have a family blog set up for our friends and family to keep up with our little clan. I recently set it to private for safety, but would love to include our friends and family, so if you would like and invitation to view our blog, please email me back and let me know and I will send out an invite!

Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Beckee, Wes, Solace, Ender, Armour, & Kindle Johnson