2009 Year in Review

We had a great year this year.  As Thomas S. Monson said, “The future is as bright as your faith” and as all of us have faced challenging times, it’s helpful to note that miracles occur all around us.

And in challenging times, it’s good to remember John Wooden’s observation that, “Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

Picture Highlights:

China & Hong Kong	Secret Garden	Original Book of Mormon
Autumn's Soccer Team	Yellowstone Horseback	Berlin Wall
Megan at Christmas	Angie	Hike up the Canyon

Travels:

• We made trips to St. George
• Thomas went to China and Hong Kong
• Angie and Thomas went horseback riding through the back country of Yellowstone

Fun Things we did:

• We expanded our Raspberry Garden
• Autumn did great in her dance recital (video)
• Megan  learned the alphabet, letter sounds, and quite a few songs by memory
• We marked the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
• The business kept us very busy
• Toured the new Church Archives
• We kept track of our steps using pedometers for a month
• Sanded and painted the deck (finally!)
• Thomas got a G1 Android Google Phone
• Visited the Zoo
• Thomas had jury duty
• Autumn & Megan did really well riding bikes and scooters
• Enjoyed a wonderful Cheese Fest 2009
• Kids tried tubing on the lake behind Grandpa Ron’s boat
• Had fun camping in the mountains and saw a moose in the campground
• Sailed boats for Columbus Day
• Attended the Draper Temple Open House
• Partially melted a shovel when we hit a power line that wasn’t buried according to code

Movies we Enjoyed:

• Bolt
• Star Wars The Clone Wars: (animated)
• City of Ember
• Bedtime Stories
• Word Factory
• Letter Factory
• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
• The Greatest Game Ever Played
• Rudy
• Up

A Sampling of Books Angie Read:

• Book of Mormon
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Multiple Blessings
• Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry
• It’s All Good
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
• 123 Magic
• How to Win Friends and Influence People
• Remembering Isaac: The Wise and Joyful Potter of Niederbipp
• Tales of Beetle the Bard
• The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success
• Outliers: The Story of Success

A Sampling of  Books Thomas Read:

• As A Man Thinketh (re-read)
• Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
• Catapulted: How Great Leaders Succeed Beyond Their Experience
• Inspiring Experiences That Build Faith: From the Life and Ministry of Thomas S. Monson
• Outliers: The Story of Success
• Rich Brother Rich Sister
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money–That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! (re-read)
• The Book of Mormon
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition
• The Tax Lady’s Guide to Beating the IRS and Saving Big Bucks on Your Taxes: Learn How You can Pay Less Money to the IRS by Beating them at their Own Game
• The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success
• The Smart Get Richer: How a Copper Miner’s Daughter Got the Golden Touch–and How You Can, Too
• Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy Every Time
• Winning in Turbulence (Memo to the CEO)
• Your Credit Score, Your Money & What’s at Stake (Updated Edition): How to Improve the 3-Digit Number that Shapes Your Financial Future
• Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence

National and World Events:

• The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue
• Pop Singer Michael Jackson dies
• Roy E. Disney dies
• Barack Obama sworn in as first African American President of the US
• The Internet makes it possible to see first hand experience of protests in countries such as Iran
• H1N1 flu nicknamed the Swine Flu reached pandemic status
• The US and and much of the world is hit by what is called by some “The Great Recession”
• A plane is forced to land in the Hudson river soon after takeoff, all survive