2010 Nolden Christmas Letter
Merry Christmas from the Noldens!!
What a wonderful time of year! It is a time when love and acceptance abound…and charity and goodwill are center stage. It is marvelous time to remember our family and friends and wish them a Very Merry CHRIST-mas—with lots of love and appreciation for the happiness they bring into our lives. We hope that this season finds each of you happy and well.
We also remember, as we try to daily throughout the year, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the infinite Atonement he made for each one of us. We are eternally grateful to Him for His sacrifice in our behalf. It is an honor to celebrate His birth during this magical season. We feel blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives and look to him as an example of how to live.
Frank - He has spent most of the past year on the road. His job was transferred to North Carolina at the beginning of 2010 and he traveled there or one of 12 other states he was over every Monday and flew home every weekend. It wasn’t until this past month that that ended and he is finally stationed out of Atlanta again. We all missed him greatly and are very grateful that he is home on a regular basis again. Luckily, Frank really enjoys his job. He is an extremely hard worker...a get-it-done kind of guy...and received an “Outstanding” rating at work this year for his efforts. Frank also enjoys serving at church...he is still a counselor in the Young Men’s Presidency. He also is coaching the boy’s & men’s church basketball teams again.
Shayne - I have spent another year being a “Soccer Mom.” Well, actually, it was a Soccer/Drama/Volleyball/Academic Team/Xcountry/Baseball/Band/Drum Mom... whew… yeah, it’s as tiring as it sounds :-)...but lots of fun. I am still volunteering weekly at the Elementary and Middle schools and, as needed, at the High School as well. I am also still serving as the Young Women’s President (ages 12-18) at Church ...which keeps me very busy, but is very rewarding. In March, when Ashley turns 12, I will have 4 of my own daughters in the Young Women’s program...at least for a couple of months before Liz graduates!
Cody & Whitney - Wow! What a year they have had! 2010 is the year Cody and Whitney were married for “Time and All Eternity.” We feel so blessed to have someone as wonderful as Whitney join our family! They are incredibly awesome together and compliment each other so well. Both Cody and Whitney will graduate from BYU in April. Cody will have his Masters Degree in Information Systems and Whitney will have her Bachelors Degree in Humanities, with an emphasis in Music. Whitney is currently serving an internship at the Springville Museum of Art. Cody has already accepted a position with ExxonMobile and they will be moving to Houston, Texas, as soon as they graduate. We are so proud of both of them and they such great examples to all of the younger siblings.
Liz (18) is a big SENIOR in high school this year!! She has become an amazingly beautiful person on the inside and the outside, and we love having her around. She is our ray of sunshine around the house. Liz is in Musical Theater at school and was recently in the play “Hairspray.” She also enjoys playing soccer and is currently on an indoor team with a group of her friends. Liz is getting VERY excited about attending Cosmetology School after she graduates in May. She truly is blessed with a talent for hair design. We are excited to see her go far in that area. Liz is also an amazing missionary and frequently is able to share the Gospel with those around her…she is an amazing example and makes great choices.
Megan (16) is now a Sophomore in High School. She played on the JV Volleyball team again this school year. As soon as Volleyball was over she started practicing with the Academic Team. She LOVES to learn and really enjoys attending the Academic Team competitions. Her teammates love her because she always brings a huge plate of (homemade) cookies to each meet. Her specialty on the team is Literature. Her favorite subject in school is History. Megan is a collector….of Dictionaries. Her earliest one is from the 1950’s. Her hope is to one day own one from the 1800s. We have discovered recently that Megan has a talent for public speaking as well!
Mikayla (14) is a Freshman in High School this year and has really blossomed and discovered talents she didn’t know she had. Mikayla joined her school’s Cross Country Team at the beginning of this school year. She had never run long distances before and hadn’t practiced over the summer like the others because she decided to join at the last minute. At first she was discouraged because she wasn’t able to keep up with the others. But she has incredible determination. She worked very hard and shaved about 20 minutes off of her first run by the end of the season! Her coach said she was one of the most improved on the team. Mikayla has become a big READER this year too. She LOVES to read!!
PJ (13) is in the 7th grade this year...and he is 5’ 11” tall. He is the tallest 7th grader at his school. He just KEEPS growing (1/2” in the last month) :-). He is enjoying his height and uses it to his advantage. Also, people frequently expect him to be older than he is. He was asked recently if he had taken Physics yet, he said, “Dude! I’m in 7th grade!” PJ is still in Program Challenge at school. He has also discovered a new love recently...Playing the Drums. He has started taking lessons and has learned some of the drum rudiments. He is hoping to find a drum set under the Christmas Tree :-). PJ is currently serving as the Deacon’s Quorum President at Church and is working on advancing in Scouting.
Ashley (11) made the big jump to Middle School this year and is in the 6th Grade. She took on another adventure this year as well...BAND! Ashley is learning to play the Alto Saxophone. She really likes her band teacher and has become very dedicated to becoming a good player. She continues to make progress and will be having her first concert soon. Ashley is a very friendly and funny girl...she is a character. She is also a “Tomboy.” She loves to be out in the forest catching frogs and other crawly things. She caught a couple of frogs recently and gave them to her science teacher for a class pet. She and Donovan are typically busy in the backyard forest perfecting their 4-room “fort.”
Donovan (10) is in the 5th Grade. Donovan has become an AVID READER! He read the whole Fablehaven Series over the summer and then he jumped into the Harry Potter series after that. He has WAY more AR (Accelerated Reader) points than anyone else in the 5th grade...which he loves :-). This past Spring we also learned that Donovan LOVES Baseball. He truly has a passion for it...he will stay outside for hours throwing the ball against his “bounce-back net.” He started out REALLY wanting to be catcher...but now he is thinking he might want to try pitching (he is a lefty and pitched a little bit in the season). We are trying to get some practice in before Spring ball starts.
Merry Christmas from our Family to yours!!
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“There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ.”
~President Thomas S. Monson