Dear Friends and Family,

We hope all of you are enjoying this holiday season. We are so sorry that you will not be receiving a Christmas card in the mail from us this year. Life has just been to busy for us these past few months and so we hope you will forgive us and enjoy the yearly update of our lives on our family blog instead. This past year has been very challenging for our family but also very rewarding. We have been very blessed and we are grateful for all the things Heavenly Father has blessed us with.

Zack has been steadily working this year, which is the biggest blessing of all. Right now with the economy, which I am sure many of you are feeling the effects of, its not necessarily the best time to be in construction. However, thanks to the hard worker that he is, he has stayed working full time out to Micron doing what he does best (plumbing/pipefitting). Besides work he is currently playing on a city basketball team and helping me raise three beautiful little girls. Yes, for those of you who don't know, his church calling for the past year has been the WARD LIBRARIAN. This is a good calling for him because it forces him to TALK TO PEOPLE, something that is a little out of his comfort zone. He has spent much of this last year folding LOADS, LOADS, and more LOADS of laundry and I even have him cooking in the kitchen when necessary. "What can I say, desperate times call for desperate measures." Other than that he still has a passion for fly fishing and his new hobby GOLD PANNING. I am hoping that one of these days he will strike it rich or strike enough to at least pay for the hobby!

I (Raquel) have been so busy this past year that I hardly have time to sleep :) I wouldn't trade my life for anything though. This is my 5th year of teaching preschool and I still love it! I have a class of 13 kids this year and that's enough to keep me on my toes. When I am not tending to the children's needs or the housework, I am studying for school. Yes, for those of you that don't know, I am finishing my elementary education degree. Being a full time student has brought about many challenges and has really taught me how to balance my time, but I enjoy the learning and through much prayer I know I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. Right now my graduation date will be in December of 2011! Thankfully, I am not starting from the beginning and I only have two years left. I haven't had much time for hobbies lately but I do enjoy volunteering often at Mackee's school, and I am still currently serving as a primary teacher for our ward. This year I have learned that I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD. I could never accomplish all the things that I do in a day without him. Although it can be challenging at times, he is right there supporting me every step of the way.

Mackee is in first grade this year and she is doing awesome! She gets a 100% on almost all her spelling tests, she is grasping the concept of reading, and she is even learning how to do math this year. Her teacher brags to me about how wonderful she is at school, so now I am just hoping that will transfer to the home sometime soon :) Lately she has taken an interest in wanting to play music and she is signed up to play soccer for the first time this spring. She is wonderful at helping me around the house and almost everyday she tells me she wants to grow up and become a mommy.

Keely is in preschool with me this year. It's been fun to teach her and watch her grow. She has been starting to make her own new little friends and it's so cute to watch her play with them. She is still the girly girl that she has always been. You can often find her all dressed up, carrying a purse, and wearing high heels. This past summer was the first time we could actually get her to touch a fish without freaking out.

Izzie is as busy as ever. She follows her sisters around the house all day and her favorite thing to do is eat. Don't let that little girl fool you though, she can almost out eat her mom and dad. Her new thing lately is to pack around a baby. She loves wrapping them up in blankets while pretending to feed them. She has brought a lot of joy into our lives, but we will be so happy when she is old enough to be potty trained :)

We hope all of you are doing well and we hope the Lord blesses each one of you. We love you all and we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


Love,

Zack, Raquel, Mackee, Keely, & Izzie

Visiting Family

We traveled back home to Idaho Falls over the holidays. We spent time feasting for Thanksgiving and then we recently went back again to have an early Christmas with grandpa's and grandma's. I couldn't post all the pictures because there are just to many, but here is a sneak peak of our trip back home.

Izzie with her new glow worm. "Thanks to uncle Garett" it's her favorite toy. I just had to throw away her old one, so she was exited to get another one.

Keely with her favorite thing "dress-up clothes" from Grandma Koehler. For those who know Keely best, they know she is as girly as they come. All she wears these days is dress-up clothes. She is always begging me to paint her nails for her, and she is notorious for sneaking into my purse and putting on my lip gloss.

Mackee with her new guitar "Thanks Grandma Rae!" This was the most wanted item on her list this year and ever since she got it, she hasn't stop playing it. She can already play "Jingle Bell's" on it, and it's adorable to watch.

Just a cute picture of Adyson and Izzie!

Finally, I am posting a picture of me and my adorable niece and nephew (Treyson & Aubrie). How fun it is to have a set of twins in the family. I am so glad though that I am the aunt and not the mom. Raegan, I don't know how you do it - your AMAZING!

Just a fun picture of me and my cousin Sherise.

While we were down in Idaho Falls I got to spend some time with my BEST FRIEND since kindergarten "Chantele". I was so excited because I also got to see her mommy "Rose" who was literally my second mom while growing up. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

New Moon!

A group of us girls went to see New Moon back in November when it hit the big screen. Needless to say we were NOT dissapointed. It was so much fun to get together. Afterwards we all enjoyed dinner at Red Robin.

This is a picture of us sitting on the floor at the theatre. We arrived really early so we could get good seats. For two years in a row now we have been the first one's into the theatre, which is a must when you have a group of 13 or more.

I was so excited because my Aunt Melissa and my cousins Sherise and Katie drove all the way from Blackfoot to come and watch NEW MOON with me! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME :)

GO TEAM EDWARD!

Happy Halloween!

I know many of you have been waiting to see these fun Halloween pictures. My apologies for not getting them out sooner, I have been extremely busy. Poor Keely had the swine flu for almost two weeks, that explains why she is wearing pajamas in all the pictures. We were very thankful that her and Izzie both, felt better for Halloween.

To start off some holiday fun, the girls decorated a spooky haunted house out of gingerbread.

Carving Pumpkins!

Mackee's Pumpkin!

Keely's Pumpkin!

Mommy and Izzie's Pumpkin!

Keely The Cowgirl!

Izzie The Duck!

Mackee as Hannah Montana!

Family portrait at Trunk or Treat!
Can you tell that Zack obviously went as himself...

I think they got everything they wanted, including a trip to the dentist!

Isn't she cute?
If only she knew we weren't going to let her eat it all.

We thought you should know that Keely actually won a costume contest this year because her cowgirl hat had blinking lights on it. You should have seen how proud she was when they announced it.
She received a gift certificate to McDonald's.

Halloween Fun!

My time with the girls lately has been more limited than I am used to. I guess that is part of the challenges of going back to college. So this past week I decided to surprise Mackee at her school and whisk her off early so all of us girls could go on a mommy daughter date. Some of my friends and their children joined us as well. I took the girls to a place called The Berry Ranch. Otherwise known as a pumpkin patch. We spent time together going through a hay maze, playing on some old farm equipment, and picking out pumpkins. The girls and I loved it and I think as mom's it's important we make time for such small and simple things.

A cute picture of Mackee and Keely on the wagon with some of my friends children.

Mackee and Keely were fascinated with all the old farm equipment.

Mackee and her pumpkin!



Izzie sitting on some pumpkins!



Keely and her pumpkin!



I also wanted to celebrate some holiday fun with the girls by making a craft. Thanks to my sister Raegan for the idea, we decided as part of our family night this week we would make some SPOOKY GHOST'S.



Keely got a little excited about drawing her face on, but it was fun to see her get creative.

It's just a plastic garbage sack that is formed over a wire hanger. The picture below gives you a better idea of what they look like once you hang them up.

D is for DUCKS!

A good friend of mine owns two ducks and every year she brings them into my preschool on the letter "D" day. This year I got some cute pictures of Keely and Izzie and thought they were worth sharing.

My babysitter was sick that day so Izzie ended up joining us for preschool. It was a fun day to have her. She was so cute and soft with the ducks. To my surprise she didn't even get scared.

First Grade Fall Program

Mackee's school put on a first grade fall singing program.

It was adorable to watch.

Of course Mackee was not shy one bit.

What can I say - she loves being the center of attention.

After the program I had several parents come up to me and tell me they watched her because she was so stinking cute! She was very DRAMATIC!

Eastern Idaho State Fair

Our lives have been so busy that I am just now getting around to making this post. The pictures were just to cute not to share, so better late then never.

The most exciting news we have to share right now is that Izzie is finally walking. (Sorry no picture at this time). On top of that, Mackee is doing really well in school and has earned a 100% on almost every spelling test she has had so far. Keely is doing well with preschool and has been busy making lots of her own friends. As far as me, I am lucky I have time to even make this post. When I am not locked in the bedroom studying then I am working on preschool stuff, or cooking and cleaning. Life has been very busy for us and has brought upon some challenges but it has also been good at the same time. The good news is that, I am doing very well in school so let's hope I can keep it up. Zack has been Mr. Mom pitching in whenever he can to help with the girls so I have plenty of study time. Bless his heart, I don't know what I would do without such a supportive husband. Don't worry though, I am arranging a fishing trip for the poor guy so he can have a break.

About a month ago we got to go to Idaho Falls and spend time with our family. One of the fun perks of the trip was that the whole family got to go to the Eastern Idaho State Fair together. It was a blast and the girls loved it. They got to go with their cousins so that was icing on top of the cake for them. A huge thanks to Grandma Rae and Grandpa Barry for taking us...

A family full of COWGIRLS!

Mackee, Sydnie, Kambrie, Izzie, Keely

The girls loved the petting zoo!

Izzie wanted to touch all the animals, unlike her sister Keely she wasn't scared of any of them.

Rides, Rides, Rides, and more Rides!

What a good Grandpa! We made Barry take the girls on the carousel, because none of us wanted to get dizzy.








Mom and Keely on the train ride. We had to impervise since Keely didn't hit the height requirement on a lot of them. She didn't seem to mind though.





GAME TIME!








I think the dollar store would have been cheaper on grandpa's wallet, but the girls LOVED their prizes!

Parking $15.00, Entrance $60.00, Food $100.00, Rides $70.00, Games $50.00

Time Together With Family - PRICELESS!