Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas From the Martins 2012! 
Here's How we are all doing....

Dan and Becca are loving life in Colorado.  We do miss all our friends in Oklahoma, but we have found Colorado to be a great place to live.  Dan is enjoying his work at Fronterra, and Becca at home with the kids.  We have tried to do as much exploring of the outdoors as we can this last year and hope to get more in this year.  We enjoy our Callings at Church, (Dan-ward mission leader and Becca-primary Chorister).  We hope you all have a Happy Holiday season and a Happy New Year!  

Whitney is Dan's little sister, she came to live with us for her Senior Year in High School.  She is a lot of fun to have around and we enjoy her laugh and happy nature as a great addition to our home.  

Margie is 7 years old and in Second grade.  She likes to read and is becoming an especially good artist.   She likes to be outside and loves to ride her Bike.  She is a good big sister and helper to Mom.   

Jacob is 5 years old and finally started Kinder-garten.  He loves his teacher and his class and has made some great friends in school this year.  He is on his way to being a great reader and also loves to draw and imagine.  He enjoys being outdoors and riding his scooter.   

 James turned two in August.  He is good at being two..., but can also be a very sweet boy.  He is learning how to talk and express himself with funny expressions that we're not sure where he picks up!  He wants to keep up with the big kids so he is very active and energetic.  

We are grateful for all the wonderful blessings we have received this year and especially for wonderful friends and family who support us.  

Merry Christmas!!!

Homework

Margie had some homework to do the other day, a story problem she had to solve and then write a sentence about the problem using some of the words.  

There was no way I could correct this one.  It was just too cute!  

By the way if you can't read it - it says, "lambs half fur"  She meant "lambs have fur."

2012

Where did the first two months of this year go?  Oh well, we've survived the snow so far here in Denver this winter.  Thankfully this city is prepared and when it does snow most everything goes on as usual, just a little slower if you have to get somewhere.  We are enjoying many hikes in the Mountains, snowball fights,  and driving around to get ourselves more acquainted with the city.  Here's a few pictures of the last two months.  

January

Brothers.. they mostly love each other..Jake always says, "look how cute we are mom, take a picture of us!"

 Here's Dan and Margie and Jake having a campout in the backyard in January.  It only got to the mid 30's and they were super bundled up with sleeping bags inside of sleeping bags.  Nobody got cold as far as I know.  James and I slept inside.  

Dan turned 35, he ended up having to go in early and work late on his actual birthday (left about 5am and came home at 11)  so we celebrated with the kids the next day and of course drug out any and all excuse for a birthday celebration all week.  I just love that we captured the huge cheese on James' face... a true Martin Goosie kid!

A fabulous day for a hike!  We love the trails here!  

February

 Playing in the snow!  I finally got some snowpants for the kids and they were amazed at the amount of enjoyment they got out of playing in the snow and staying warm.  It was a wonderful month to send them outside and let them play for a long time.  

Margie as a mouse in her 1st grad production of the Tortoise and the hare.  She was great!  She knew all the words and sang so well, she got to wear the microphone around her neck for the deaf boy in her class.  It amplified her voice into his hearing aid, she was pretty excited about it.  She didn't try out for a part...no surprise, she's not about to have the limelight on her in public.  Although you'd never know it by the way she acts at home, we're slowly breaking out of our shell this year.  

(No talks in primary yet though... I'm not sure how to help them do it?)  Oh well, she made a pretty cute woodland creature for the play and sang her heart out!