Jacob & Leeann, Married on July 28th, 2012 near San Francisco California!

Christmas Letter 2011

 

Merry Christmas!

Bonnie & Neal:

I am so grateful for so many friends that we have made throughout the years.  I wish I kept in touch better.  I would love to sit and chat with friends far and near.  Time seems to flow like rushing water down a waterfall!  This season always brings about reflection, starting with Thanksgiving when we try to focus on the things we are thankful for, then on into the Christmas holidays when we become mindful of so many others and the blessings in our lives, especially that of a loving Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ.  I truly am grateful for the many blessings which I enjoy in my life and hope to recognize those blessings on a daily basis.

This year has been full of some major events and then again sometimes just the same old stuff.

I will let the kids write about their own lives, but for Neal and I, thankfully, we just keep on going.

I got to begin my year by meeting up with Shauna in Guatemala where she was attending school to learn Spanish.  We were able to spend some time together and travel just a little.  I was impressed with her ability to converse with the people.  It was a great experience. I came home to a newly decorated bedroom, thanks to Breanna for working so hard on that and involving everyone else in her efforts.  I appreciated that so much.

In March, Breanna, Alaina and I headed to New Hampshire to be with Shauna when she and Matt had their first baby.  That was a great experience.  Zoey is a sweetheart.  It was so nice of Matt and Shauna to let us be there with them for that amazing event.  Jacob and his girlfriend Leeann came up from Washington DC to see them before we headed home and Neal and Josh came as well.  There is nothing like a new baby to bring everyone together.

Our next major event was preparing for the wedding of Jessica to Jake Hansen.  They were married on July 15th.  Once again the whole family came together to celebrate.

Neal and I were able to get in another cruise this year.  Back to the Bahamas.  We don't really care where we go as long as we can enjoy some pampering and time in the sun.  My parents were able to go with us as well as Neal's Mom.  His Dad is in the hospital so it was nice that Genelle could join us.

Neal still works for Diebold, mostly from home lately.  He is going to be starting school at the University of Utah for another Masters degree.  This time in Finance.  He starts in January and will be going 2 nights a week.

I am still working at the airport for Delta Airlines.  I work as little as possible.  I enjoy it and feel blessed to have the opportunities we have as well as having met some amazing people.

We wish you the best this holiday season and always.  We are always willing to share our home if anyone needs a place to stay while in Utah.  We would love to see old friends (or young friends) if you are ever out our way.

Ryan & Shannon:

We've had an eventful year here in Northern California.  Ryan is still working for Intuit and was recently promoted to a new role within the Finance department.  His hours are pretty long and grueling, but he's still found time to pick up a new skate boarding hobby and has gotten to the beach a few times to catch some waves.  Shannon is still working in the Special Education department at a local high school and loves it.  She keeps up our family blog and is working on miscellaneous projects for our home.   We celebrated our sixth anniversary in May by going on a vacation to Cancun, Mexico in August.  We were also able to take a trip to see both of our families this summer, which is always a highlight for us.  Our biggest news is that we have started our adoption paperwork and plan on being approved in January of this coming year.  We have an adoption website, found here, and as always, you can keep updated on our adventures via our family blog.

Jonathan:

 Jonathan...

Kyle:

2011 has been one of the best years of my life, thanks to my family my friends and my support helping me view the world in a whole new light. I can now see the silver lining.
I'm hopefully going to be starting the electrician program so i can invent an idea I've been thinking about. Electricity really interests me so i would be super stoked to be more knowledgeable about one of the most unknown and feared forces of nature. I am going to live everyday as the first day of the rest of my life and see how far it can take me. 

Shauna and Matt:

This year has been the most wonderful year yet because on April 3rd our beautiful little girl Zoey Capri Maylin joined our family. She has brought us more joy than we could have ever imagined! With every little "first" comes new excitement, and we are so excited to share her first Christmas with her. We are still in New Hampshire and just moved in to a beautiful home that we are renting and New England is starting to feel a little bit more like home. Since we arrived here last summer we've been able to travel to, spent time in, and gone on some fun adventures in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC. We also had a nice vacation in Hawaii in February! Matt continues to work as the administrator at a local nursing home and enjoys doing that. Shauna loves being a stay at home mom and being able to soak up every minute with cute, little Zoey. We can't wait to see what this next year brings. Merry Christmas!

Jacob:

Jacob sprinted to the finish of his delta flight benefits this year, traveling through parts of Oceania, South America and the Mediterranean before April hit. He continued traveling state-side throughout the rest of the year and worked another season for the road-cycling tour company, Backroads, this time mostly between Maine and the Tetons/Yellowstone area. Jacob made a long awaited move to the San Francisco bay area this fall and is closing out the year applying to Law School!  He is currently dating a lovely young lady named Leeann.  She is a beautiful, sweet, and caring ray of sunshine and she and Jacob are pretty perfect together.

Breanna, Chase & Alaina:

This past year we have had so much fun watching Alaina do all of her "firsts." We have taken her to hockey games, Real soccer games, and we  played in the pool a lot last summer. We have also taken her on trips to Hawaii, California, Lake Powell, and Idaho. I was also able to take her traveling around the United States visiting Ryan and Shannon in California, Shauna, Matt and Zoey in New Hampshire and also Jake and Leann in Washington DC. She is such a good traveler! Chase has been wowing everyone at work with his knowledge and hard work and he is just finishing his first semester back at school.  He is working towards a computer science degree and is enjoying his new-found knowledge. As for me, I just finished up my second semester back at school and i am working towards a degree in social work. I have the whole month of December off and i am loving every minute of it. I am starting to get a taste of what a stay-at-home mom feels like and i think want to change my degree choice because staying home with Alaina and seeing her stinkin' cute face everyday all day...well... I  could get used to that! Alaina is.... well I could go on and on but she is fabulous! She is very smart and loves to explore! She is very independent and every time we go to a store she wants to be set down and she walks all over waving to anyone that she can get to look at her. She LOVES attention! She is our life and our reason for everything and we just can't get enough of her.

Love Breanna, Chase, and Alaina

Jessica & Jake:

Jess and Jake were married in the Bountiful, LDS temple this past July and have been loving the married life together.  They are both currently in school; Jess at UVU and Jake at BYU and are keeping themselves busy with homework, family events, and date nights.  

Josh:

I graduated from Layton High School this year (and sorta miss it, I guess--well, only the 5 minutes in between classes, and lunch--not school.  I love being outta there). My dad and I did go on a senior vacation to Costa Rica for a few days, then we went to New Hampshire to see my adorable little baby niece, Zoey.  That week was SO much fun.  I got to cross off one of my bucket list items and went sky diving with Dad, Jacob, Shauna, and Bre.  It was awesome!  I actually did finally pull through and finished my Eagle project and will get my Eagle awarded to me (birds should be easy to train) ( just keep them in a cage, right ) ... I found a job; I'm not working much but its somewhat of a job. I might be in for a treat if I go on a mission. Looking forward to it and just plain looking forward. It is very blurry but for now I'm excited, too ...... well, peace out.

We wish you and yours the merriest of holiday seasons!

Christmas Letter 2010

Highlights from 2010

Shauna and Matt traveled to Panama in December and then headed north to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, then spent Christmas in El Salvador and continued on to Guatemala. Shauna decided to stay to take advantage of the opportunity to attend Spanish school in Antigua. Matt unfortunately had to return to work. Breanna joined Shauna in Guatemala for a couple of weeks then Jessie went down to play with them. Breanna and Shauna traveled to Belize before returning home in time for our family cruise in February.

Matt and Shauna in the San Blas Islands of Panama

Breanna, Shauna, Jess in Semuc Champey, Guatemala

We all headed down to Southern Cal for our cruise. My parents went with us also. Matt was not going to be able to go, but surprised Shauna, showing up late one night. Ryan and Shannon were not able to go which was very sad. Before leaving out of Long Beach we revisited one of our favorite places, San Pedro and stayed on Fort Mac just across the street from our old home.

We played steal the flag on the parade ground,

played some volleyball at Redondo beach

and some football....







and enjoyed eating at our favorite Mexican restaurant "Jolly Burrito".


We spent some time exploring the tide pools at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, and wandered through the aquarium.

Searching for sea creatures

Kyle, Shauna and Breanna

Neal and Bonnie

We LOVE the ocean!

It was so much fun to be together on the cruise ship.

playing hacky sack on Catalina

Catalina Island

Kyle's first taste of lobster

Ensenada

Mom & Dad (Ken and Peggy Styles)

We really missed having Ryan and Shannon with us, but we went to see them in San Diego when we got off the ship. Everyone enjoyed visiting and some time in the hot tub at their place.

Since we love the ocean so much, we returned to San Diego in April for some spring break fun on Coronado Island. We were able to stay right on the beach and enjoyed some good beach BBQ hot dogs, bonfires and more Mexican food as well as being there for an earthquake. Ryan and Shannon were able to spend time with us surfing and touring. Everyone except Jacob and Matt were able to be there. I think we’ve found the trick of how to get everyone together. Go to a beach somewhere!

Heading out for a little surfing

General Conference weekend, so the men headed to Priesthood meeting.

Jess & Shauna

Historic Coronado Hotel

Ryan& Shannon headed our way in June. While they were here we took advantage of our last time together before Matt and Shauna moved East. It is always so much fun to have everyone at home. Now we have one family on the west coast and one on the east. Thank goodness for flight benefits!

In September, we added another member of our family. Breanna had a baby girl. Shauna came home to be with her and share this experience.

In October Neal and I celebrated our 30th anniversary by going on another cruise. My parents went with us to celebrate their 58th anniversary as well. We left out of New York, so Shauna and Matt came down from New Hampshire and spent a couple of days with us touring the Big Apple.


We spent 12 days cruising and had a great time visiting some new territory. We went to Samana, Curacao, Aruba, Roatan and Cozumel. Neal got me to go snorkeling then he spent time some scuba diving while in Roatan. We were able to go to Tikal and take a tour of some Mayan ruins. It was nice to just soak up some sun and relax. Oh yeah, and to eat whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. It was a great trip.

Cozumel

Ryan and Shannon made their last move, for now at least, from San Diego back to the Bay Area in California. Ryan completed a 2 year training program with Intuit and received a permanent position working in the Corporate Office in the Finance Center of Excellence. Shannon is now working in a special education program at a high school in their area as a teacher's aide and is loving it.

Shauna’s husband, Matt, graduated from Weber State in Health-care Administration with emphasis in Long term care. Unfortunately that required a move to New Hampshire to take on the responsibility of a nursing home in Milford. Thankfully they are only about an hour away from the Boston airport and not quite that far from Manchester. They can’t get away from us that easily! We were pleased to find out soon after they left that Shauna is pregnant. She is due April 1st and it's a GIRL! She has been horribly sick, but it will be worth it. They are both very excited to be parents.

Jon

Kyle

Kyle and Jon

Jon and Kyle both made job changes this year. They are currently working together for a manufacturing company. They are also trying to start their own business doing auto and motorcycle repair work. Jon and Kyle both enjoy camping, dirt biking, four wheeling and hanging out with their friends, which they have done several times on many trips to the sand dunes in Southern Utah. Kyle has a very nice motorcycle and loves to go for long rides all over when the weather is good. Kyle is also the lead singer and lyricist in a band they call Never Ends and performs on occasion locally.

Kyle with Shauna

Neal, Shauna, Kyle, Jess and Jon at the Dunes

Jacob returned home after living in Washington DC. working for an environmental nonprofit research and advocacy firm. We were happy to have him home, only to have him take a job as a road biking tour guide. He spent most of the summer in Yellowstone, then spent some time in Oregon, Washington, California and Arizona and returned once again in October. He spends a lot of him time in Salt Lake with friends and he is definitely the traveling man. He is currently in China and plans to get to as many countries as he can before his flight benefits run out in April! He is looking into grad school options for the fall.

Breanna worked for a child care center before having a baby girl in September. Her name is Alaina Rose. She was born on the 20^th of September and was 6lbs. 5 oz. She is a sweet little thing. We have enjoyed having a baby in our home. There is nothing like holding a brand new baby! Breanna is doing great and enjoying being a Mom. She will be going back to school in January and has started selling Mary Kay Cosmetics to try to earn enough money so she doesn’t have to leave Alaina.

Jessie headed to China in August to be a head teacher for an English program. Last year she was a teacher in Kiev, Ukraine and they asked her to be a head teacher this year. She was supposed to go to Mexico, but they had to close the school and asked if she would go to China instead. She has taken advantage of every opportunity that she has been given. In November she finally went to Shanghai to see a doctor for a cold that was continually getting worse. The doctor ended up admitting her with Pneumonia saying that both lungs were filling and that their wasn’t much air flow in her lungs. She stayed in the hospital for 5 days. Luckily she took her little computer and we were able to be in touch with her through skype. They told her she would need to rest for a week or two after getting out, so she decided to come home. She stayed home for just about 2 weeks, then headed back to finish up what she had committed to do. She will be home on the 17^th of December then she will head to Provo to start school at UVU next month.

Josh is in his senior year at Layton High. I can’t believe he is going to graduate this coming year! He is doing well and trying to enjoy this last year of school. Josh worked at Lagoon again this summer. He is ready to do something different and plans to attend the technical college next fall. Josh is currently working on his Eagle Scout project.

Josh loves being an uncle

Neal and I are both doing well. We just keep on going. Things are never boring at our house. I hope they never will be.

I hope that you will enjoy this wonderful season when we focus on the Savior. I am grateful for the joy that I have in my life because of my understanding of the Saviors love for us. I hope that our focus on Him, will not just be during the Christmas season, but throughout the whole year.

We wish you a wonderful Christmas and hope that 2011 will be full of great things for you and your family!!!

Love, The Booher Bunch