2005 has been a memorable and exciting year for our family. We were privileged to participate in the inaugural year of the Nauvoo Pageant.  It was an amazing experience for our entire family as we all participated in the production and also had a part in the pre-show festivities.  We continue to have opportunities to share our experiences from Nauvoo and have also recently enjoyed more family music-making opportunities in our ward and stake.  The new friendships we created in Nauvoo continue to enrich our lives.
 

Kelson will be ten in three short weeks.  He continues to excel at school.  He has enjoyed his unit on the recorder and even learned to play the Nauvoo Pageant introduction theme by ear.  He loves playing hockey almost every Saturday and is becoming very accurate at making goals.  He and our neighbor, Hailie, make films quite often and he was one of two winners in the media division of the Reflections Contest for our school.   He still loves electronics, especially taking things apart and making roving robots and door alarms.

 

Twelve-year-old Kyler thrilled his mom by joining the ward choir Christmas Day.  Okay, so he didn’t want to sit alone after passing the Sacrament since the rest of his brothers and his dad were in the choir and his mom was conducting it.  He even sang a bit.  He loves anything electronic, especially games, but we are finding new crafts he enjoys as part of our quest to keep him challenged and un-plugged! So far boon-doggle and perler beads have been big hits.  He is having quite the learning adventure in 6th grade with Mrs. Long. We hope we can pass together. Kyler won honorable mention for a literature piece he entered in Reflections.  It was written amidst tears and began: I wonder why when I write, my brain freezes and my thoughts turn into puffs of fog… Read it

 

Braedon is a 9th grader this year, which is his final year of middle school.  He is 15 and almost 6 feet tall.  Our friends ask us if we put him on a stretcher at night, because his growth is almost visible week-to-week.  His voice is getting lower; we are hoping to get a bass out of this bunch after all!  He continues to be a fabulous artist.  He made a great drawing of Joseph Smith for the Commemoration Broadcast and display.  We are always amazed at how quickly and accurately he can sketch.  He loves doing flash animation on the computer and is getting very good at it.  He would spend 24 hours a day doing this if he could. He is a very cooperative and pleasant brother and son.

 

Gentry, 17, is having an exciting year as a Senior at Bingham High.  Mom is not looking forward to him moving out soon. He recently got a 34 on is ACT, which is helping to pave the way for him to attend BYU-Provo next fall.  He won the Sterling Scholar Award for Bingham in Social Studies and was a runner-up in math. (Students can only win in one area.)  He had a 4.0 last quarter, while carrying five AP classes in his schedule. He has enjoyed playing on two roller hockey teams simultaneously the last couple of months. We enjoy his piano and guitar talents at home.  We will especially miss him being able to sight-read the hymns as we sing a new one each evening for our family scripture study. He is serving as one of our ward organists and is a great older brother and example.

 

Spencer attended his second semester at BYU-Idaho last winter.  We loved having him home May through September as he worked and prepared to enter the MTC September 21.  He is now in Taipei, Taiwan and it was wonderful to hear him speak Mandarin on the phone for our Christmas call.  We were amazed at how quickly he can speak.  He says he still does not understand what is happening at church. He is enjoying teaching an English class and teaching investigators.  He said they had fun Christmas caroling to less-active families and that they even got a couple of people out to church as a result of their caroling.  He said about 50% of the members of the church there were contacted about the church at a stoplight, so the missionaries riding bikes as their sole means of transportation will probably not be changing anytime soon! He is so happy to be serving the Lord.  We are happy and grateful he can be missionary, even though we are missing him so much. Read his letters

 

Greg is enjoying his insurance business and is busy as Young Men President in the ward. He is just happy to be dad to the boys and husband to Noni. He traveled to visit his brother Randy and his family in Indiana in October and saw BYU play Notre Dame while there. His nephews both received their Eagle award that weekend also. He is happy and healthy and thankful for his family and friends. He grew a beard for the Nauvoo Pageant and while he had the beard he was able to be an extra in the new Joseph: Prophet of the Restoration movie that replaced the Testaments on Temple Square. He hasn't seen it yet, but has been told by many that they saw him in the film. He has enjoyed playing on a hockey team with Gentry and can still go up and down the rink without his walker or oxygen tank.

 

Noni is wondering when things will slow down? She does enjoy being the at the heart of our home and the central coordinator and taxi driver. She loved being in Nauvoo and it was the first vacation ever she didn’t want to come home from.  It was so nice to focus only on the pageant and missionary work.  She and Greg look forward to the day they can be full-time missionaries again.  Noni got to participate in the 240 voice Relief Society Contest winner’s choir.  This was a real joy for her to join other women in singing songs of the Restoration.  She is growing into the challenge of being the ward choir director and loves the opportunity this provides her to find great music and motivate others to be excited about it too.  She loves being a missionary mom, but is a little worried about how quickly all five of the boys will be on their way!

 

We count the relationships we enjoy with you, our family and friends, as our priceless treasures. We are most grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ which brings us tremendous peace, happiness and direction in the challenging and exciting days in which we live.  We hope this letter finds you all well and happy and that the coming year brings you every happiness.

 

Much love,

 

The Davies