Happy New Year

All the Affleck's (plus Dee & Marlene Larson) except Uncle Steve and Aunt Teresa :(

The proud parents of Zoey!

Daddy & Zoey before being baptized

A naked Jake...shocking! NOT!

"Santa" Preston

Emily the "Angel"

Zoey & Mikey the "Wise Men"

The Christmas pictures were taken on December 24th, 2009 just before the "acting" of the nativity began. All the kids were excited except Preston. He really wanted to be Santa. We spent our Christmas with the Affleck's in Loveland, Colorado. It snowed for 2 days straight when we got there and the kids had so much fun sledding and eating it! (Those pics to come later when I get them from my sis in law. Our camera broke.)

While we were up there, Zoey was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She turned 8 in October but we waited so that most of our family could be there to support her. She was so beautiful all in white. She says the water was really hot! Murell Johnson, a friend of the family got the font ready for us. He did such a great job conducting too. Thanks again! Zoey cried when she received the Holy Ghost. It was a very spiritual experience that I don't think she or her family will forget. She of course wrote everything down and drew a picture when we got back to Grandma's house.

We had a good time visiting all Gary's cousins too. On New Year's Eve, Gary, Preston, Emily and Zoey all went to his cousin Debbie's house to ring in the year. I stayed behind with Jake and Mikey who were sleeping. They later woke up @9pm and proceeded to keep me up with them until 2am. That is when the rest of the family came home. My little party-ers were really pooped but had a great time. I should have joined them since the other 2 woke up but noooooo; I thought they would go back to sleep. Boogers!

January 1st came way to soon and we packed up the van and kids (Irene wouldn't keep them) and headed back to Tucson. We stayed in Albuquerque, New Mexico overnight in a really comfy La Quinta Inn. I got the kids bathed that night cuz we thought the shower head didn't work. Little did we know that when Gary tried to fix it, it was clogged with sand from a previous patron as a joke. How do I know, cuz when we turned the shower on and took the head off, we were then splattered with sand from head to toe! I hate being punked! After that incident we went to bed and no one woke up until 9:30am the next morning. That has never happened! We then packed up again and pulled into our driveway @6:30pm. I was glad to be home and so were the kids. Before I could even get the van unloaded, Gary was hooking up his charging station he got for Christmas and putting the new memory in the computer, then after I asked him to help again, he proceeded to hook up the new Wii. I just laugh because he really is so easily distracted.

A new year has begun and I have already broke my diet, not written my thanks you notes, read my scriptures everyday, worked out or cleaned my house. So, it looks like 2010 will be very similar to 2009. Hopefully I will still become a better person each day as I TRY to do all that I can. I hope that you will all have a great new year and remember that you are loved here in Tucson.

Happiness, Health and Heartfelt Love to all !

Marti & Co.