Merry Christmas 2012

Lincoln City, Oregon July 2012

I know we usually send out a fancy, hand-mailed copy of our Christmas letter out each year, but alas, we've decided to move it to our blog as I'm trying to simplify our holiday month (and truth-be-told, I wanted to save on stamps so I can still afford buying a real Christmas tree, which is no cheap item in the desert land of Utah where the lovely trees have to be shipped in).  

This year, we’d like to wish you Merry Christmas with a few questions and answers about our past year.  

Dinosaur National Park - September 2012

How often does it rain in Vernal, Utah? 

a. Rarely, according to the campsite host.  b. Only when the Rimingtons go camping.  c. Quite often actually.

a and b - We learned our tent holds up really well when the rare desert storm - complete with thrashing wind, lightning, and two hours of torrential rain pour - came crashing upon our campsite one evening during our Labor-day weekend in Vernal, Utah to visit the Dinosaur National Monument.  

Kimberly and Alicia sanding the play room

Amidst finishing the basement, which included Kimberly’s new room and the play room, what prevented John from doing as much sanding as he would have liked? 

a. Too much dust.  b. Child labor was much more effective.  c. Elbow Injury - Too much sanding, obviously.  d. The wife was really anxious to participate in the sanding.    Child labor of course, though Dana did get roped into a lot of sanding too.  John truly did have an elbow injury from all the sanding.

Why does Dana like getting up early in the morning? 

a. She doesn’t.  She would rather stay up late.  b. She can’t wait to get up to spend every waking moment with her handsome husband and 4 darling girls.  c. She is anxious to see where her articles landed in that days edition of the newspaper.  d. She likes to get some quiet reading time in before the kids get up. 

She does love to read, but only the newspaper in the mornings - and yes, she loves spending time with her husband and cute daughters.  

John and Dana - Lincoln City, Oregon July 2012

With all girls, how does John plan to spend the next few years getting some boy-time in? 

a. Building a man-cave.  b. Playing Legos with his daughters.  c. Being the Scoutmaster.  
 d. Having the girls help build his next project.    

Although he did find that Kimberly and Alicia can be very helpful when he built onto his bird mew to give his Peregrine falcon a kestrel roommate, the answer is that he is now our troop’s new scoutmaster.  

Alicia, Natalie, Kimberly, and Megan at the Tracy Aviary - June 2012

What is Kimberly’s (age 12) favorite part of seventh grade? 

a. Being in the orchestra and learning to play the violin.  b. Meeting all the cute boys.  c. Being locker partners with her best friend, Evie.  d. Getting to check out a pile of books from the library. 

All of the above, except for the cute boys, whom Kimberly claims she is not interested in (yet). 

What is Alicia’s (age 10) latest talent discovery? 

a. Painting her nails.  b. Painting and drawing c. Learning how to do new hair styles.  D. Craft projects. 

b- She is actually our budding artist amidst all of her other talents (a, c, and d)

Which words can Natalie (age 5) read now that she has started kindergarten?
a. and   b. like  c. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah   d.  I’m done reading.  Can I go play with friends now?
A and b - When she isn’t doing her reading homework, yes, she is begging to play with her friends, or stealing her sister’s DS games.  (Zip-a-dee-doo-dah is actually her favorite song)

What is causing our cute angel-child, Megan (age 3), to have more frequent moments of screaming tantrums?

a. Potty training isn’t going so well.  b. She did just turn three.  c. Saying no and refusing to listen is her latest game. 

Yes, Megan is quickly picking up on three-year-old tendencies, but still just as cute and bubbly as ever, who likes to sing, look at books, or just doing whatever her older sisters are doing.  

Moab, Utah - May 2012

How many hikes through Moab, Utah does it take before a two-year-old gets tired? 

a. Doesn’t matter.  When even the four-year-old starts complaining and wants to be carried, that’s too many. b. After the last hike, we realized we should have started with the Delicate Arch hike first.  Instead, we had to take a picture from really far away because the young-uns had done enough hiking.   3.  As many as they can tolerate in the carrier.           

We learned that our kids actually do really well hiking, but after we dragged them all over Arches National Park, we knew it was time to head to the hotel and grab our bikes for a ride on one of Moab’s many bike paths during our trip to Moab over Memorial Day weekend.

Moab, Utah - May 2012

How many years has it taken John and Dana to make it back to a USU football game after graduating from there 14 years ago?  Exactly 14.  Just tragic.  

John, Dana, and Kimberly at USU in Logan - September 2012

Why did the Rimingtons want to have you read our Christmas Question and Answer Letter?  To wish all of you a Merry Christmas and thank you for your love and friendship.   

Love, John, Dana, Kimberly, Alicia, Natalie, and Megan Rimington