Christmas this year

We went sledding at Aspen Grove after Christmas and Cara smashed her face into a drift with sunglasses on. Ouch!

Although Christmas was not white this year, we had some excellent snowstorms before and after

Christmas morning brought Wesley a snowboard and Cara an ipod Touch. Spoiled?

This year we have one more family close by so we had even more fun. I took off the week of Christmas to New Years and ended up with a fun project. Even though the weather didn't cooperate, Wesley and I built an 8'x12' treehouse in the big backyard mulberry tree.

Christmas Eve at our house included the traditional pajamas

Mom got to run to Sanford for Grandma's birthday earlier in the month. It's always good to be with family.

Doing the December scramble

We are off in all directions this evening. Mom is in Sanford for Grandmas birthday party/Mortensen get-together. She went with Marsha yesterday and will get back Monday night. The kids have been trying to finish up homework. Cara finished first so I dropped her off at the ward Christmas party then came back home to help Wes get his done. He is writing his online book report out long hand, then I will enter it after he gets to go to a birthday party.

It is fun to be in December, though, with the house glowing and presents starting to pile up. There are lots of things to do and good feelings all around.

As you all enjoy your families and celebrate our sweet Lord Jesus, may you all continue to be blessed. We love you all.

Nobody wrestles like our bear cub

Wesley started wrestling for the Mountain View Jr team and had his first tournament yesterday. He got to wrestle 4 matches and won the last two, coming home with a bronze medal. He is a total novice but has a great time and shows talent.

Not bad for a middle school jazz band

Cara got a shot at a solo during the years first concert. Here is just a minute of a classic old Chicago number. Wes is playing tuba as well this year but we couldn't get a good shot of him.

Joy of joys

All of us at the Timpanogas Temple, the shrunken family and the girlies and boylies. (More to come. I am being tutored in this procedure.)

Spring break in Colorado

While Cara and Wesley were off last week, I took a couple of days off and we all went on a quick Sanford trip. It was great to be with family there and we enjoyed it a lot. We spent most of the time with Lois and Kim who are always great hosts and enjoyed their beautiful home. You can see a panorama of their home above.

Part of your Haynie history you may not be aware of has become more real to me. When the original Haynie family (Emily and her 9 children soon after her husband Robert died from wounds suffered as a Confederate soldier) joined the church in Georgia in 1878, they were driven out by their neighbors. John Morgan, their missionary, arranged for they and a few others to migrate to the San Luis valley in Colorado. After a long wagon and train trip they spent a hard cold winter in Pueblo Colorado then walked carrying their belongings the 50 miles to the southern end of the valley. In the cold, dry climate-so different from their Georgia home- they were without home, shelter or food. A local Mexican family, the Salazars, took pity on them and gave them a milk cow as well as grain to help them survive. (As an aside, the former senator from Colorado and current Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, is a descendant of that family who saved our family from starvation). They moved 25 miles downriver to the confluence of the Conejos and Rio Grande where they dugout a rough shelter on the river banks. Weakened by starvation and exposure, Emily died within a couple of months at the age of 50. The children took her body back to the newly founded town of Manassa to bury her. The oldest boy, Patrick Calhoun Haynie, who was my great, great grandfather built the first house in Manassa for the family to live in.

The attached picture of where the Conejos and Rio Grande rivers meet, is close to that unknown site where Emily Haynie died. Seeing that place and the Salazar ranch gave me a greater appreciation for the faith and toughness of our ancestors. Who would have thought that Peggy's girlhood home was the original home of the Haynies.

Lyn and Dixie have moved into an old ranch house owned by Lynn's employer in the far Northeast corner of the valley close to Fort Garland. As part of the cleanup and refurbishing, they threw out a lot of junk, including the old jeep in the photo above. I told Lynn I would tow it home and fix it up- we'll see if I really do.

Life around Orem

This is not Florida
Wesley is thankful for Sunday dinner.
And who would these two lovelies be...
While Mom was away for a week, somehow a mustache got started. It only lasted for a few weeks but it was fun for a while.

My Germany trip

I had to go to Germany in November for training with the Unilux window factory. My week in Trier (the Southwest corner of Germany and an old Roman city) was a real treat. Besides a great old hotel, we were treated to great food and beer (I can only vouch for the food). Even with the cold weather it was a good trip.