Annie and fam....

What a year 2017 has been for our family.  We have experienced many changes, highest highs and lowest lows.  I started out the year enjoying life as a working single mom, navigating independence and balancing work, home, kids, and dating again.  Although I wasn't looking for love, it found me.  Dale and I decided we wanted to start a life together and blend our families early in 2017.  We had a lot of logistics to discuss and work out which included introducing his boys to my girls, and deciding where we would live.  We all worked hard to get Dale's house in Denver ready to sell and get on the market in March; amazingly we had an offer the morning after.  Dale and I exchanged wedding vows May 19, 2017 in a simple ceremony with our children.  Kim, Rhonda, Katie, and Abbie surprised us by showing up as well.  I was so surprised! (Dale may have been in on the secret.)  We all moved into a rental house as we wait for our new home to be completed March 2018, and have been getting used to a household of 7!  It has been new, fun, exciting, different, and scary for all parties to get used to each other.


Brinley is a sophomore this year and doing well in her new classes and school.  She's keeping busy with stage crew tech in the fall, choir, and now swim team in the winter.  She is talented, funny, responsible, and sassy.  She is passionate to say the least!

Remi is in 8th grade, and loves history and sports.  He and Ben both played basketball in the spring, football in the summer, and Remi tried out lacrosse.  He loves anything spicy and is friendly, outgoing, and sensitive. 

Ben is in 7th grade and enjoying his new school with Remi.  He is sweet, kind, and polite.  He's always willing to help out and likes to cook.  I've loved learning about and getting to know these boys.

Meggie is in 7th grade as well, but at a different school than the boys.  She tried out volleyball this year and did really well.  She's also in choir and is becoming more independent and responsible.  She is really growing up into a bright young woman.

Robi is in 2nd grade and loves school.  She loves to read and learn.  She is loving, kind, silly, and makes friends easily.  I never get tired of her cuddles and hugs.

I moved hospitals during the summer to be closer to our new location, and am working full-time nights in the NICU.  I love my job and the babies and families I have the opportunity to care for and teach.  Dale is an industrial hygienist and works for the federal government in Boulder, and does some consulting work on the side.  He is passionate about safety and very educated and informed.  He makes me happy everyday and I'm beyond grateful for him in my life.  Through him I've found a love, passion, happiness and stability I never knew I'd have.  We are so grateful for all this year has brought us and are looking forward to continued blending, a new house, and joy in the coming years.

O'Neil's 2017

2017 brought a lot of change for our family. It started out perfectly with the birth of our third child, Indy Mae. Her sweet and calm personality is just what our family needed. Six short weeks after her birth we moved from our home in Springville to house-sit for my parents. 

This year Esme turned 6, "graduated" from Kindergarten and started 1st grade at a brand new school. She has done a great job adjusting and making new friends. She is still our little dancer and was able to take both dance and cheer classes this year.

Kyson turned 4 this year and wants to be Batman when he grows up. His favorite person in the world is daddy and will do anything for him. He tolerates me. ;) 

Brandon continues to work at Northstar Alarm as a UX web developer. He went from "AGuyWithGlasses" to a "AGuyWithSunglasses" thanks to Lazik eye surgery. The kids' favorite day of the week is "Daddy stay home day" a.k.a. Saturday. . .  I think it's my favorite too.

I am still a stay at home mom. This year I was able to run a couple of half marathons and hope to continue running with the new year.

We have been blessed beyond measure this year and are grateful for this Christmas season that we have the chance to reflect on the birth and life of Christ. Merry Christmas from the O'Neil's.

Merry Christmas from Around the World

2017 has been a fabulous year with many changes in our lives.  For Kim and I, the biggest change was retiring at the end of the 2016-17 school year after a combination of 65 years of public education service.  I retired in May with a total of 26 years and Kim officially retired the end of June with 39 years.  We've had a great career.  We have loved teaching and Kim has loved being a Principal.  It was a happy sad day when we said goodbye to many colleagues and friends and associates.

Starting July 1 when Kim was a free man, we took off and visited children and grandchildren in St. George, Utah, Castaic, California and Arvada, Colorado.  There's nothing better then spending time with the ones you love the most.  We also were able to make a visit to my parents in Coin, Iowa.

The middle of August took us to a two week training at BYU to prepare us for our 10 month teaching excursion to Xi'an, China.  We really had no idea what we were getting in to but we jumped in with both feet and have had no regrets.  We have now been in Xi'an almost 4 months and are quickly coming to the end of our first semester of teaching Freshmen (for Rhonda) and Sophomore (for Kim) college kids.  Our classes are mostly girls.  We both only have 2-3 boys out of 30 in each of our classes.  We have learned to love these students and their culture and this city.  We have also been able to explore many parts of the city.  We have traveled to the far west, Xinjiang Province of China and seen some beautiful country.  It's more barren and dry then Xi'an and much less populated.  Everywhere in Xi'an there are people.  People People People Everywhere!  We have had wonderful experiences that have changed our perspective and opened our eyes to the many children of God that exist in the world.  We would never give up this adventure.

Love to all our family and friends who we miss so very much. 

2016

Merry Christmas

Another year has come and gone.  There are always many wonderful things that happen in the year and things that we plow through and hope we've grown and improved in some way.

Here's how our year has gone.

In January, As we looked forward to the birth of a new granddaughter, Annie and her girls and Millie came to town to help with a baby shower for Abbie. So obviously, Abbie was in town along with James.  We had a great baby shower with lots of friends and family members.
That same weekend was the Provo City Center Temple Open House so we were able to attend that as a whole family.  Talk about a beautiful temple.

 

Someone had a BIG birthday in March.  I don't know how I ever got to this point in my life.  It seems like only yesterday I was graduating from high school, then getting married and having babies and now this....

Then on March 27, Macie Renée Schramm was born.  I felt very honored that they chose to use my middle name for Macie's middle as well.   She's been a great baby and lots of fun for Abbie and James.  

From this:

To this in just a short amount of time....

Kim and I were able to go to California and spend a week with the Schramms and enjoy our 7th granddaughter and 8th grandchild.

The O'Neils went on a cruise with cousin & friends Joe and Liz Dixon.  We laugh that all 4 shared a room but when 2 sail free with 2 paying cruisers, you do whatever you have to do. It was well worth it!  They had a great time and we enjoyed keeping Esme and Kyson while they were gone.

Then Kyson made the announcement that he was no longer going to be the baby in the family.  Katie is due January 9th and they chose to not find out the gender and have a surprise when this new bundle joins the family.  We are still waiting and are anxious and excited!

The wonderful thing about the O'Neils living here in Springville is that we get to spend lots of time with  them.  In April we were able to go to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. 

Annie and her family got a break from all the snow in Castle Rock, Colorado and had a warm Easter Sunday--Haha--NOT.  They experienced their first winter in Colorado with LOTS of snow clear into April.

In May Annie and Rob decided to split and get a divorce.  Annie and the girls moved into a townhouse across town and she started working full time in the NICU at a local hospital.  She and the girls are doing well.  They got to attend the Fort Collins temple open house.  

 In May, the Guillenas, O'Neils and Kim and I all journeyed to Castaic, CA to participate in the baby blessing of Macie Renée.  The Webbs were able to join us a couple of days later and experience the beach, some hiking and paddle boarding and kayaking on Castaic Lake.

In May, after losing his job in March, Jacob and Millie were able to sell their home and get a temporary job in Florence Oregon.  So after school ended, they moved the girls to Florence where Millie, Ellery and Aayla lived the life of tourists and Jacob joined them on his days off. Kim and I were able to spend a week with them in July and see the beauties of Oregon.  

We also spent a week in Colorado with Annie, Brinley, Meggie and Robi.  We had a quick visit with my parents who, at the time, were living a couple of hours north of Annie.   Sadly I don't have many pictures.

Annie's been good to do some fun things with her girls...camping, trips to the zoo and more.

Kim and I spent the 4th of July in Washington D.C. where Kim had a principal's convention. We brought Brinley with us.  She really enjoys the music from "Hamilton" so she loved the history of the area.    

In August, Millie moved the girls into our home in St. George where she enrolled them in school in Hurricane so that Aayla, who is in first grade, could start a Spanish Immersion program. Jacob joined them when he finished his contract in Oregon.

 

Abbie and James made a visit in September when they got a new family member, Cocoa.  Macie and Cocoa love each other, but Ginger isn't so sure happy to have another new sister.  Esme loves Cocoa too and would love to have her own puppy.

Here's the newest family member in the middle.

In October, Kim and I took a couple of days off and went to Disneyland.  Just the two of us!! It was great fun.

We went to St. George and had Thanksgiving with the Webbs.

And then we went full speed and worked every spare minute we had to make/finish a theater in the basement.  Kim's been working on it slowly through out the year, but now it was crunch time so it would be finished for Christmas when the whole family would be home!  

Mission Accomplished!  Everyone enjoyed lots of movies throughout the week.

For our traditional advents before Christmas we all celebrated even though we are spread throughout 3 different states.  On the 4th advent, we all had a little fun with some Christmas Photo Props.
Here's Annie & Brinley......Meggie, Robi and Brinley.

Here's Katie, Esme, Brandon & Kyson.

Here's the Webbs..... Jacob, the Aayla with a photo bomb from Ellery, and Millie with Ellery.

Here's Abbie & James having some fun and so is Macie!

And last but not least...Kim & Rhonda.

Then everyone converged on our home in Orem and we had a very Merry Christmas.  We even made it to 9:00 a.m. church on Christmas Morning.  I love Christmas on Sunday.  What better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  I love my family and love it when they can all come together.  It amazes me how much they all get along. The talking and laughing that can be heard throughout the house are a thrill to my heart.

 

We now look forward to another year and new adventures.  Kim and I will both be retiring from Alpine School District at the end of the school year.  That's going to bring many changes and new adventures.  Katie will soon have a new grandbaby for us to love and spoil.  Who knows what other exciting journeys we will see this next year.  We love our family--sorry for the overload of pictures.  It's just so hard to narrow it down.  We love our Savior Jesus Christ and the life He lived so that we can have joy and peace.  We love each of you.  We hope you will feel God's love in your lives as you move forward into a new year as well.

Happy New Year

Annie, Brinley (15), Meggie (11) & Robi (6)

Katie, Brandon, Esme (5) & Kyson (3)

Millie, Jacob, Ellery (9) Aayla (7)

Abbie, James & Macie (9 months)

Proud Parents:  Kim & Rhonda