Christmas Letter 2010

Hello Everyone!

The past year has been an exciting one for the Russell Family.
We are enjoying our new home immensely. It is spacious and sits
on a beautiful spot of land with a great view of the Kennebecasis
River. Early in the year, we had a great winter at our new home.
We have a small hill that the kids can slide down in the snow.
Even digging out our longer driveway wasn’t as bad as we
thought.

Last January 7th, BJ and Jason had their 15th Wedding
Anniversary. They celebrated by inviting a professional to come
to their home and cook a meal for them. It was a delicious 3
course meal with all the trimmings. On February 6th, our Spencer
turned 3 years old and we had a family party for him.
The highlight of winter was the Eastern Caribbean Cruise Jason
and BJ went on from Feb 27 – March 6, 2010.

Planned for most of the year, Jason and BJ along with Jason’s
brother and sister and their spouses surprised their parents by
joining them on the cruise they purchased for them. To make it
work, BJ’s mother and sister came to visit with our kids while we
were away. The Cruise was a dream vacation, even though BJ
and Jason had trouble getting on the boat. You can read the
hilarious account on our blog (March 2010 Archive section.)

As spring rolled along, we started to see the beautiful greenery
around our house. BJ took a sign language refresher course with
a friend who has a son that is hard of hearing. On May 23rd, Jason
hit the big 40… years that is. As a great surprise, BJ invited many
friends and his Mom and Dad even drove to our home for a party.
Jason was totally floored.

Jason finally finished the courses he needed to grant him paid
summer vacations and this past summer was his first. What does
one do with no work in the summer? A Honey-do list! Jason and
BJ helped start a round of gardens in our yard including a patch
of strawberries and a patch of potatoes. Jason built an
extension to our deck in order to put a clothes line on. We also
painted and stained our decks.

On July 28th and 30th, Avery and Colorado had their 6th and 12th
birthday, respectively. We celebrated their birthdays on the
same day. Colorado had a pool party and Avery had a bunch of
friends over. (It was a hectic day!) Colorado scored with a lot of
Birthday Money which she used to buy an iPod Touch on kijiji.

We decided to have some family outings during August. Jarom
and Colorado both had youth camps which Dad and Mom went
to. We visited many cool places in New Brunswick. As Colorado
had just turned 12, Dad went with her and Jarom to the Temple in
Halifax, NS. There is a forest with trails in our backyard that
extend for kilometers and we liked going on family hikes.

At the end of summer, we spent a few days at a cottage on the
coast of Prince Edward Island with another family.

In September, the kids went back to school…One school for
each kid: Avery in grade 1, Isaac in grade 4, Colorado in grade 7,
and Jarom in High School, grade 9. Jarom also started early
morning seminary (religion) class for our Church at 7am. The
Older 4 children also started Piano lessons with a new teacher
as the last one left to go to University elsewhere. September 16th
and 18th were Isaac’s 9th and Samuel’s 2nd Birthday.

In mid-October, Colorado also began external violin lessons after
school. Later, we had a great visit from Grandma and Grandpa
Cambridge. Then, on October 28th, we celebrated BJ’s 40th
Birthday. She is always trying to catch up to Jason.

December 1st was Jarom’s 14th birthday and he had a bowling
party with his friends. He scored major dough as well! Now we
are winding down the year and getting ready for Christmas. It is
time to be thankful for all we have, especially our family and the
tender mercies that the Lord has blessed us with this past year.

As a family, we want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a

Happy New Year!

NEW emails: jason.russell@nbcc.ca
jruss99@nb.sympatico.ca