2010 Christmas Letter on the Cheap

We thought we'd post this year's Christmas Letter for those who didn't warrant the price of postage.


Dear Family and Friends December 2010

And we thought we got snow in the Portneuf Valley! I can tell you that those winters can’t hold a candle to those along the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, primarily because any attempt at lighting a candle would be thwarted by feet of snow and howling winds. Sad, too, because a lit candle would be so warm. For those of you not in the loop, our family has changed our place of business, meaning the place from which we provide business for others. Such is the life of an academic whose best skills include finding the last purse she will ever need on a monthly basis (Lisa) and recognizing the fact that homemade meals just taste so much better when someone else makes them for us at their restaurant (Jake). While we definitely miss our friends and waiters in Pocatello, we have found the Upper Valley has people equally as friendly and Mexican restaurants just . . . jus . . . ju – almost as good as El Herredero in Poky.

Some of the nicest people we have come in contact with have been those who spend time with Charley (which makes them immediately suspect in my book). He started Kindergarten this year, and while he seems to enjoy his new friends, he is not sure about the teacher lady. She has too many “mean” rules like, “You can’t hug your neighbor.” When she isn’t busy enforcing such draconian measures, she and her aid will sit and stare at Charley and comment on his looks or personality. Additionally, at church, there are two or three of the Primary Presidency who will fight over who gets to sit and spend time with Charley. Remarkably, Charley seems to be utterly unaware of his admirers, and when he does something that has them beaming or laughing at him, he won’t, as would be expected in most children, repeat whatever it was that got him the attention; he merely looks at them as one would look at a clock, knowing that it is trying to tell him something, but not really wanting to know anything from it. My projection for Charley as of 2010: the star of his own YouTube channel.

While Charley is busy winning people over with his charms, Jack is winning them with fierce loyalty – and just a little technology. Jack has managed to maintain friendships in both his hometown and new neighborhood, primarily through their recognition that Jack is the most genuine friend they have known, as well as the fact that he has some pretty awesome Wii games at his house. Jack’s interests, though still firmly grounded in all things video game related, have begun to broaden. He started piano lessons this year and will start basketball this winter. He continues to excel at math and reading. And on those long drives when his Nintendo DS has lost power, he can always turn to a recent hobby – watching Charley like he is a television. Who can blame him? There’s always something new on and you never get reruns. Now, if we just had a DVR. I would really love to “pause” him sometimes. My projection for Jack as of 2010: the co-owner (because he could never leave his friends) of a Video Stop.

Emma. Emma, Emma, Emma. She is almost twelve. Almost. We will see if we let her get to that one. Don’t worry. She won’t read this. How do I know she won’t? Because I will ask her to read it. And she will refuse. Simple. Despite the early onset of teenageitis, I must admit that she is turning out to be a truly remarkable person. She is fully responsible, caring, trustworthy, capable, talented, loving and very mature for her age. She respects her elders and dotes on her younger cousins. She plays the piano with the sensitivity of a virtuoso and roughhouses with the ferocity of the Undertaker. Emma’s three years of piano have allowed her to play percussion for the sixth grade band. She also continues to dance, now at Dance Addiction in Rexburg. My projection for Emma as of 2010: anything that doesn’t involve her needing her parent’s permission.

As for Lisa and me, 2010 has been a pretty quiet year. Not much has happened, really. Oh, except that Lisa student-taught at Century High School in Pocatello while I taught eight class in three different cities, we prepared our house to be sold if the need ever arose (it did), Lisa applied to several jobs and was offered two (took one), we needed to move almost instantly to start the new Job at Central High School in Rexburg (a job which Lisa was made for), we sold our house to the first person who looked at it, we purchased our dream home in St. Anthony (come visit, you’ll see), we packed and moved over one weekend, we registered kids for school, piano lessons, etc., we spearheaded a sixtieth wedding anniversary/reunion (thanks to everyone who made that come off so well), Lisa wrote a year’s worth of lesson plans over two days, we all started school on the same day, we lost the best example of a human being you would ever want to know (my father), and now I sit here writing this letter, feeling compelled to tell you that I was lying – there is no Mexican restaurant in the Upper Valley even close to El Herradero.

Merry Christmas!

Charley, Jack, Emma, Lisa, and Jake Haeberle