In a Nutshell...

Where did 2010 go? It feels like it was yesterday when we were celebrating the New Year!  So much has happened in the Russell home. Believe me we have had our many downs and a few ups. As we reflect this year we feel blessed and so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and to have the gospel in our lives!  As usual, we always update what we did throughout the year so here we go…

In the spring we took the kids to Disneyland/Sea World for spring break! It was a lot of fun and a MUCH NEEDED BREAK! Shortly after our trip on Easter weekend Madie broke her elbow from falling off the monkey bars and Jay’s back really flared up! He’s had problems with his back nearly our whole married life and the last 5 years it has progressively gotten worse. SO, 2 months later after much research and second opinions from doctors and trying all methods we decided that it was time for Jason to have back surgery.  The only time to schedule was either the week of my graduation in May or the next month when all the kids are home and have the surgery. I told Jay to get it done while the kids are in school (knowing that we were moving the next month helped make the decision as well). Jay’s surgery went wonderful and I have NEVER seen him as calm as a cucumber. While he was in the hospital drugged I was graduating in my cap and gown, walking down the aisle to receive my bachelor’s degree in special education. My sisters came down for the ceremony along with my in-laws and brother/sister in-law. It was wonderful to have the support! Two days later Jay came home and I started interviewing for a teaching job while he was recovering.  A couple weeks went by and we finally received the offer I really wanted! It was music to our ears!

The month of June, we stayed busy with Jay recovering, kids on swim team, and packing the house, moving on the other side of the tracks to a sub division called Verrado. Drake rocked in swimming and was on an awesome Dream Team!

July came and Jay and I celebrated our 17^th anniversary.  August is our birthday month for Jay and Drake. Drake turned 13 and I through a big 40^th birthday party for Jay, it was great! In October we made our annual trip to Idaho and absolutely loved the fall colors, weather, Bear World, hiking, and most of all our visits that we had with family.

Getting near the end of the year the kids are doing well in school. The boys both tried out for the school basketball team. Brock is starting for the Verrado JV team and dresses for Varsity team. Drake didn’t make the Verrado Middle school but he’s all right with that and loves his school! Madie is reading all the time, playing video games with the boys, and is ready to be on a basketball team.

So in a nutshell we feel blessed to have our health back and the kids being happy. We hope that your family is doing well and we would love to hear from you! Have a blessed New Year and a very Merry Christmas!