Truax Christmas 2011

Dear Family & Friends:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! This is Micah writing this Christmas Card (with a few clarifications by mom in parenthesis). We’ve had a great year this year. Here is an update on everyone.

Family:

This year our family moved to South Jordan (in Salt Lake City, UT area) from St George. We love it here even though we’ve had to make new friends. But we’ve still had a great time. We are thankful that we have enough money to pay rent and keep living. We are glad that we can afford the food that we need. For Thanksgiving some of our family visited from Texas. We liked having them here. Some of the fun things we’ve done this year are: going to Texas (just the kids) to visit family, eating pie for Thanksgiving, going to the museum, going to the library, playing in the snow, making new friends, surviving the cold air and roasting marshmallows and making s’mores in our backyard.

Micah:

I had a great time this year while having Thanksgiving, Halloween, and so soon Christmas. I have been homeschooled this year and have learned my times tables, division, astronomy, ancient and medieval history and have read tons of books. I have also gotten lots and lots of sleepy time. In August I went on a cruise with my grandparents. I got to swim, dress up like a pirate, got a Pluto dog, saw stingrays, and ate a ton of ice cream. Almost 8 bowls! In October I turned 8 years old. I got baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on November 5^th. I got a new suit and looked just like my daddy. I also got new scriptures, a Perry the Platypus stuffed animal, and some new clothes. After I turned 8, I got to start participating in Boy Scouts. I’ve already passed off a bunch of things and am about to get 2 belt loops. I love that my mom and dad get to be my scout leaders and that we have lots of cool activities. I am really excited for Christmas!

Isabel:

Isabel graduated from 8^th Grade at George Washington Academy in St George this past year. As Student Body President, she had to give a speech at graduation. She did a great job on her talk and I loved it even though I think she might have been a little bit nervous because she talked really fast. Isabel was really sad and mad about moving from St George because of all her friends that she loved. But now that she has new friends, she loves it here in Salt Lake. She is going to a performing arts school (Salt Lake School of the Performing Arts or SPA) and is taking dance, acting and voice. She was recently in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the school. She danced and sang a solo. She dyed her hair bright red this year, and I think it looks awesome. Now she is having a great time getting presents ready for family and friends. Isabel is so awesome that I never want to live without her.

Emma:

Emma finished up 10^th grade at Dixie High School. She was also sad about moving, but made new friends just like Isabel did. Emma turned 16 years old this October. She hasn’t gotten her driver’s license yet, but she has her permit. She’s still waiting to go on her first date, but she’s had 2 kisses (she has NOT had 2 “real” kisses… this is just a game she plays while in the car and she collected 2 kisses last night while driving around). She annoyed me a lot this year. She was able to participate in the Shakespeare Competition this year and had a great time realizing she loves Shakespeare! She was also in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with her sisters. She danced and had some lines. She loved the play. Emma is taking dance and acting at the performing arts school. She is also taking a Child Development class. She gets to teach preschoolers and bring them cookies. She has a heart that loves everyone even though she’s also crazy!

Tori:

Tori finished up 11^th grade at Dixie High School. This summer she spent a month in Texas nannying her cousin Cade. She loved spending time with him! However, she hated moving so much before her Senior year. She cried and cried and screamed. But now Tori loves it at SPA. She has made a lot of friends including a guy named Traven. I think Traven is awesome!. She has been able to participate in the Shakespeare Competition, Musical Theater and Acting Conservatory (all required auditioning). She also serves as Activities Chairman for the Conservatory. She enjoyed dancing, singing and acting in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Now she is rehearsing for The Mill on the Floss where she will be playing the part of Mrs. Tulliver. Tori is trying to get into a good college for next year so she can get a good education. She wants to study theater and graphic arts. I think Tori is the smartest sister ever.

Mommy:

Mommy was the one that got the crazy idea to move. Mommy didn’t like moving either, but she felt like it was the right thing to do so that we would be able to see our daddy more often. She was released as Young Women President and cried so much that she flooded the house. Once we moved to South Jordan, mommy got us all unpacked and settled into our new home. Mom thinks this area is a great area for our family to live because we have a lot of friends. She was called to serve as the Wolf Den Leader, which is why she is my scout leader. She likes it because she gets to spend more time with me. She hasn’t done anything else that I know of.

Daddy:

Daddy likes watching football. His work is downstairs in our basement. Dad sells leads on the internet and is trying to get his internet business successful enough that he can do more traveling with our family and work less. He works lots and lots for right now. Dad was called to serve as Cub Master. He gives out awards, plays games with the scouts and decides what cheers we get to do at Pack Meeting. Dad is always busy. He never has time to do anything with us anymore. I think he should spend more time with me, because the only time he spends time with me is on Saturday and Sunday. (in spite of the fact that he is busy, he always finds time to spend with the family when necessary!)

Mom & Dad:

Mom and dad had a great time going on a cruise to Roatan, Belize, & Mexico. They liked getting some alone time together without us kids.

I hope you’ve had a great year too. I’m glad I know that the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus’ birth. We hope you have a Merry, Merry Christmas!

Love,

Micah James Truax (MicJay)

Let The Adventure Continue

I admit it. I’m not exceptional at math. However, I am good at counting. And I’ve been especially proficient at counting how many times I’ve moved our family in the last “just under 20” years. I can’t recall meeting anyone that I didn’t beat at the “I’ve moved more than you” game. I count the big moves. I count the small moves. Any time I have to pack and move boxes, it counts.

Well. Here we go… again.

James may be happy to know that I will not be counting living with my parents for a few weeks while the kids finish up school in St. George as a “move”. Instead, I’ll call it a “passage of transition”. There is a reason for this. A very good reason.

You see, this next move is a BIG move! It’s what I’m going to call our “Silver Move”. Yes – this will be our 25^th move! I want to make this a very special move. I want this move to be the best move yet. I want James and I to really enjoy the opportunity we have to move yet again (And by “James and I”, I mean that I will inevitably get to do most of the packing and moving and James will do everything he can to help me enjoy the move).

So, in preparation for this move, I’ve done a little research.

The silver 25th anniversary is a milestone wedding anniversary. And rightly so! Spending a quarter of a century in love with one person is to be celebrated. So why shouldn’t the 25^th move be a milestone in a marriage as well? (I mean, it has been awfully nice of me to follow James around so much…) In anticipation of James helping me enjoy this move a little more, I’ve come across the following ideas (some better than others):

25^th Anniversary Traditional Gift Ideas: Silver (Silver is the metal most noted for the twenty-fifth anniversary due to its radiance and brilliance.) Some Alternatives: Tsavorite, Green Garnet. (Set in silver perhaps?)

25^th Anniversary Flower: Iris (I actually love flowers, but don’t like them as gifts because they are expensive and then DIE and therefore are, in my opinion, a waste of money… I know, so abnormal for a woman.)

Additional Gift Ideas:

• Purchase theatre tickets and wrap with a silver ribbon or place in a silver box.

• Plan a trip to Silver Springs in Florida or Silverstrand Beach in Ireland. (If traveling somewhere with the word “Silver” in it is difficult, I’d settle for Antigua.)

• Silver Jewelry

• Make a Silver Wish Tree. Paint a big branch silver and decorate with silver ribbons, ornaments etc. Fill the branches with pictures, tickets for a trip, travelers checks, gift certificates for different events and restaurants you could use on a trip, etc. (James can keep it simple and leave out the tree if necessary.)

Although I'm really going to hate saying good-bye to everyone in St George, I’m really looking forward to this move. Of course, the first step is getting James to see this post… because he would never realize on his own what a big event this move actually is. But, as soon as he realizes, I’m sure he’ll be completely on board with my celebration ideas!

*Disclaimer: Although moving has certainly had its challenges and is most definitely not my favorite activity, I must make it clear that I would follow James to the moon and back millions and billions of times. So although I may complain about the task of “moving”, there are absolutely no complaints about doing whatever it takes to be with James!