Christmas Letter

I ran out of stamps so if you don't get your Christmas Card / Letter from us this week, don't fret! I'll be buying stamps and sending them out again next week when Jeremiah's unemployment is deposited again. :) Just make sure that I have your address if you want the real thing! Send it to me as an email (mandysfriends@hotmail.com) or you can leave it as a comment or whatever!) :)

In the mean time, here is our picture and summary for the year - photos taken by Laura and combined together at Walmart.com. You can check Laura's photo site out by clicking HERE.

JANUARY

Jeremiah had won a week’s paid vacation from his employer, Euclid Group, during the Christmas Party. He also had received 2 tickets to fly anywhere in the continental USA because he had been there for so long. J SO, in January, Jeremiah and Mandy flew (without kids, but with Jeremiah’s parents – who paid for the rooms!) to sunny Florida for a week. Mandy’s parents stayed behind and took care of the kiddos. While Jeremiah and Mandy had fun at different beaches and Disney World, the kids had a great time with Grandma & Grandpa Barlow. A great time was had by all!!! We did have a sad event occur. Grandpa Bagley passed away at the end of January and is greatly missed.

FEBRUARY

Jeremiah and Mandy went to the MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice concert in Orem – which was awesome. Archer was thought to have asthma but it turns out that it’s probably just allergies. And without expensive allergy tests, we won’t know what he’s allergic to. So, when he starts getting all runny eyed and runny nosed, he will get a Claritin. We started remodeling the basement of our house so that we could rent out part of the house – to catch up on bills and pay things off quicker. If you saw our basement before, everything needed done – from bathrooms to floors, to rooms. Walls, ceiling and floor needed torn down and rebuilt. Remodeling was done mostly on the weekends so it took a while.

MARCH

Our free time in March was spent tearing things apart and putting things back together. We took out all of the bushes and most of the trees that lined the back of our back yard. THAT was a project! We also had done a lot of the destruction of our basement and re-framed some of the rooms – thanks to help from Jeremiah’s parents! Mandy turned 29 (yikes!) and got new kitchen cabinets for the basement from Jeremiah’s parents! Jeremiah was called to be the 11 year-old Scout Leader for our Ward.

APRIL

Archer turned 4 and had a Thomas the Train themed birthday party (what else!). Mandy and the kids joined Jeremiah’s mom, sister and her little boy in Mesquite for Spring Break week. Lots of fun was had in the warm sun and the cool pool! Grandma and Grandpa Barlow joined our family on a trip to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Pointe.

MAY

More progress was made in the basement. Kitchen cabinets were put in and sheet rock was being put up. J Both DarTanion and Archer graduated from school – DarTanion from Kindergarten and Archer from his first year at Preschool. DarTanion started his second year of Tball – and the boy is really good at it! Jeremiah turned 29! We rode Thomas the Train when he came to Heber City with Aunt Colleenia and Cousin Kaylee. It was a really fun time! I think it made Archer’s life! Jeremiah changed jobs! After almost 9 years with Euclid Group, Jeremiah took a job with Okland Construction (a commercial construction company). Euclid was a great company, but it was a nice (and needed) change of pace.

JUNE

We were in between insurance companies because of Jeremiah’s job change, and wouldn’t you know it – we all got sick. Each person in the family either had Strep Throat or Pneumonia! But we were still able to have fun. We went to the Barlow Family reunion in Koosharem and ended up staying a few extra days to play with Grandma Bagley. In June we played a lot with our Provo friends. We went swimming and played at the parks and had lots of neighborhood play dates. J We also worked on the basement together as a family. The boys really loved helping nail things and Robyn liked to be in the middle of it. Mandy was called to be the 1^st Counselor in the Primary in our ward.

JULY

July was another month full of playing with friends and enjoying the warm summer weather. We enjoyed some of the great July 4^th activities that are held in Provo with different friends. We did more playing at our house, the park or swimming. Mandy had her yearly ‘get-together’ with the Smith Family Girls and had a lot of fun. DarTanion turned 6 and had an awesome Star Wars Themed Birthday Party. All of the kids received a Light Saber (made out of a pool noodle and electrical tape), a Jedi Tunic, and a certificate of Jedi Padawan training. J The kids thought it was a blast. I think they had the most fun beating up the bad guy (which was Jeremiah!). All in all, it was a really great month with the exception of one event. On July 31^st, we took Robynson to the doctor for what we thought was a cold and discovered that she was in Heart Failure! We still didn’t have insurance. Life Flight flew her to Primary Children’s Medical Center where she would stay for just over a week.

AUGUST

The boys spent the first part of August staying with their Grandparents (Hardman’s and Barlow’s) while Mandy and Jeremiah lived at Primary Children’s with Robyn. Jeremiah’s job was really understanding, which was a great relief to our family. Robynson was diagnosed with Viral Myocarditis and Dilated Cardiomyopathy. She spent 8 days in the hospital and made improvements every day. While there, she made friends with some of the nurses while fighting off the doctors when they came in to check her vitals. She is definitely a little fighter! Because Robyn acted so healthy and was responding well to the oral medications, she was allowed to come home much earlier than expected. Robyn was taking 5 medicines in the morning and 3 at night, but she took them pretty well. She will need to continue going to Primary Children’s Cardiology Department until she is (hopefully) healed but for now, she is home and seems healthy. Robyn loved being home with her brothers and being able to play. Since she needed to basically be quarantined from germs, we played mostly together just as a family in August instead of playing with friends. We built tents inside, played puzzles or board games and played in our back yard a lot. The boys even found a bird that couldn’t fly and brought it into the house – where they let it go. Yeah, fun times! While we were in the hospital with Robynson, our friends and neighbors (as well as a few strangers from our ward) came over to our house and finished hanging sheet rock and did a lot of the mud and tape in our basement. It was such an appreciated display of love from others. Jeremiah and Mandy’s testimony of service and love definitely grew a lot. J Because others did so much, we were able to get our basement mostly finished in August.

To find out more about Robynson’s heart condition or to see updates as they are posted, you can go to www.robynhardman.blogspot.com

SEPTEMBER

DarTanion went back to school – now as a big 1^st Grader! We decided that we couldn’t afford to put Archer back into Preschool with all of our new doctor bills but they said to bring him anyway. Mandy helps out there when they need it to try and make it (the free preschool) up to them. DarTanion won an award for Friendship from his school because ‘he is a friend and nice to everyone’. He was recognized in an assembly in front of the whole school! Archer decided that he could ride bikes better than anyone else, so that is pretty much all he wanted to do! It didn’t matter the time of day or night! He also really liked to help Uncle Nolan install the carpet in our basement! With LOTS of help from family, friends and neighbors – we were able to basically finish the basement. We decided to move downstairs and rent out the upstairs. It was really perfect timing because Jeremiah’s brother Jed had sold his house in September, so he moved in. He is now our Upstairs Neighbor. The kids love having Uncle Jed (and his Nintendo WII) just a staircase away. Robyn’s heart continued to improve at each visit to the Cardiology department at Primary Children’s! We started inviting small groups of friends over to play with us, but with the condition of “You must be healthy!” Robyn still shouldn’t be around large groups of kids where an illness may be present or where lots of germs might be hiding (so no more McDonald’s Playland or Jumpin’ Jacks Bounce House adventures for a while!)

OCTOBER

DarTanion lost his 2 front bottom teeth in October! He has been singing “All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth” ever since. October was unusually warm, so we spent a lot of time playing outside in the backyard and riding bikes. The kids love the dirt hill in the backyard. We had picnics and small play dates with neighbors outside so that Robyn could feel included in the fun that she was used to having before she got sick. Jeremiah and Mandy both had to have a Heart MRI to rule out a familial heart condition (no family problems here!). Jeremiah had surgery on his right hand for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and is doing well. And Jeremiah was laid off from Okland Construction due to lack of work. He’s looking for work and we’re hoping that he will be recalled soon! We still had a fun Halloween. DarTanion was Darth Vader, Archer was a Robot and Robyn was a giraffe. The kids had fun finding their own pumpkins, but DarTanion loved carving his pumpkins the best!

NOVEMBER

Mandy was in charge of writing and ‘pulling off’ our wards ‘Primary Sacrament Program’ this year. It was stressful, but it went really well. The kids were approved for Medicaid, since Jeremiah lost his job and we no longer had insurance. We’re also learning all of the rules of Unemployment, WIC and Food Stamps! When friends were healthy, they would come over to play inside with us. (We don’t really go to their houses because of the fear of ‘bad germs’ on their toys and Robyn getting sick again.) Uncle Sean became pretty sick again in November and ended up having to be in the hospital a lot. (We still pray for him every night.) Cousin Kaylee has been staying with Grandma and Grandpa Barlow a lot, so we are able to play with her more often – which Robyn loves! It has been great seeing the two little girls playing together. The boys had a lot of fun playing dress up with the left over costumes from years past. They were left out after Halloween and have since been placed in drawers in the boys’ room for them to play with. Robynson turned 2 years old! She had a little party with some of her little friends. She seemed a little overwhelmed with having that many little friends over! She received lots of babies to play with and some fun dress up clothes. Robyn loves to wear tutus – she’s such a little girl sometimes!

DECEMBER

December is looking like a busy month! Uncle Jake (Jeremiah’s brother) is getting married to a wonderful girl named Shaylee. The kids are excited about getting a ‘new family member’ so if you hear them say that – NO we aren’t pregnant. The new family member is Aunt Shaylee! Robynson had another Cardiology appointment and her doctor said that she is doing really great! Robyn was able to go off one of her medicines for now and if it looks like she is responding well, then she will be able to stay off of it! We take that as a good sign. Christmas is going to be tight this year due to our lack of money, so please accept this letter and our sincere love and appreciation as our gift to you!!

We love you all and are so thankful for your love, support and help this past year. It has been quite an interesting and stressful year for our family, but we are still doing great. Know that we are well and that we feel your love, support and the blessings from your prayers. We love you all! GOD IS GOOD!!!