2010 Christmas Letter

December 2010

Happy Holidays to our family and friends,

I can't believe we are getting ready to welcome in a new year already. It is so crazy to me how fast time seems to be going. I find myself with a feeling of always trying to catch up with things on the to- do-list, only to find the time has run out before the list does. This year has been one full of happiness and good health for us and for that we are very thankful.

Dave finished out this year passing the National Social Work Clinician Exam. He can now officially sign his name with LCSW behind it. This is a great accomplishment for him for the fact that he doesn't have to take any more tests because he is at the highest level of credentialing he can reach without a PhD. Also, it is great for his business as far as the clinical end of counseling goes. A third benefit may be that less time studying for exams could equal more time hunting???? Of course the year wouldn't be complete without a hunting report for him. He was able to go on some great trips the past few months. He started by spending a few days in Jackson chasing lions, Montana and Wyoming hunting antelope, then off to a river trip on the Middle Fork for bear and birds, and finally to Kansas for a white tail. He also spent some time here in our part of the country hunting the usual deer, elk, turkey, pheasants etc. This was the first year for Olivia hunting big game and for Shaylee hunting small game. They both really enjoy spending time out with their dad. Dave is still in the Stake Young Men's Presidency which keeps him busy a few Sundays a month and also the days on which they hold special stake activities.

Probably the biggest change for our family was when I chose to go back to teaching this year. I am teaching fourth grade and loving it. I am so glad to be back in the classroom, hopefully having a positive impact on each one of my 28 students. I still do payroll and billings for Dave at the office, but for the most part we have other employees that took over my responsibilities. I can't say I have very much spare time to do other things because when I am not at the school I am running kids to their activities, trying to keep up with laundry and house cleaning, grading papers, spending time at Young Women's, or just too tired to do anything else. My running was put on the back burner this past year except for one completely fun ½ marathon in Bryce Canyon with a super friend of mine.

Olivia is surviving 7th grade at Preston Junior High. For anyone who has had a child in Crosland's class you know just what I mean by surviving. His class is actually her very favorite class that she has, but the workload is HUGE! She just made the 7th grade girls' basketball team and will start games in January. She also played competitive soccer in Utah this past fall and is excited to get back with the team again in the spring. It was fun to watch her try a new sport and do very well at it. She is still playing the piano. We purchased a new piano early summer and we can't keep her off it. Every time she walks by it she stops to play a song or two and the next thing you know she has been on it for an hour. She is now in Young Women's which is very fun for me because I am the Beehive advisor so we get to spend Sundays and Tuesdays together. We had so much fun together at girls' camp this summer.

Shaylee is in the 5th grade and stops in my classroom to see me daily. She is still the family fireball. There is truly never a dull moment with her. We are running into a lot of “but Olivia gets to” with her because she feels she is old enough to do everything Olivia does. She is playing both basketball and volleyball right now. Dave coached a basketball team for a group of her friends that just finished. They won the lower division of a 5/6 grade competitive league. She has been asked to play on another team in Logan starting in January. The volleyball that she plays is a club team and they will start traveling in the spring to different tournaments in Southeastern Idaho. She has also taken an interest to running and completed her first 5K with me this past fall. I really enjoy going running with her, but it won't be long before she is much faster than what I can keep up with. Hopefully, every once in a while she will want to slow down a little and join me for a run. She has reached 5'3” and hasn't stopped. She loves the fact that she is taller than Olivia and catching up to me. She is also playing the piano, but Dave says she is learning just like he did, practicing once a week at lessons.

Taite is in 2nd grade and doing well. He really likes his teacher and every night when I ask him if he has homework his response is, “The usual.” His favorite things right now are Harry Potter, Beyblades, and Star Wars. He also loves to play with his stuffed animals and horses. I guess with all of his interests he will be well rounded. He told us after baseball this summer that he thought he needed a break from sports for awhile, so he is not officially on any teams, but he loves to go to the gym with the family and play ball. His favorite thing to do is spend time out at Dave's parent's farm with all the cousins. He also can't wait for summer to work with Speeding Bullet, the horse he claims is his because it was born on his birthday. He and Dave worked with it a little bit this fall, and he said that as soon as he has it trained he is going to buy him from his grandpa. He just knows if we would take out the garden we would have enough room in our backyard to build a corral so he could bring him to our house. No matter what else interests him he always goes back to the horses!

That is just a brief update of the past 12 months. We try to keep up on our blog at priestleypost.blogspot.com if you would like to stay up-to-date with the latest happening of the Priestley's.

We hope this letter finds you all healthy and happy during the holiday season. We would love to hear from you all!

With love,
Dave, Amy, Olivia, Shaylee, and Taite
Dave - dpriestley2001@yahoo.com Amy – amypriest2001@yahoo.com