Busy December

It has been a busy two weeks since I last wrote. Andrew and Spencer enjoyed performing  with the children’s choir at the Stake music concert.  They did a great job.  They really enjoyed being a part of the group.  We had a Cub Scout pack meeting that the kids had fun with and Ruth and Andrew went to birthday parties for friends.

I did one picture with flash and one without and I decided to include both because they both show some fun things. This was at the church, right after their choir performance one night. 

We had Stake Conference at the beginning of the month and a new Stake presidency was called.  It was a special meeting with the visiting seventies that came.  Elders Villreal and Pearson came and I enjoyed listening to them speak.

Last week was the elementary school book fair.  I helped out a few times and that kept me busy.  I enjoy going to the temple each week.  I taught Caleb’s primary class Sunday and need to be working on my lesson for Relief Society this week.  

Spencer had his coat zipper break and that bothered me because we bought the coat just last year.  I went to the store and bought a zipper and replaced it.  I think it turned out okay, I can see the flaws, but it works, so that is what counts.  Spencer is also struggling with head aches almost every day.  I worry about him.  Today we are going to a doctor to have his eyes checked.  I hope that getting glasses can help him.  I guess we will see what they say today.

Last Friday evening we invited a family over for dinner.  This is Caleb’s friend from school, Xan and his family. It was nice to get to know the family better.  They are nice people.  Xan came over again on Saturday afternoon to play.  The boys have fun together.  

Saturday Neal took Andrew and Spencer to their first model train club meeting.  They really enjoyed it.  I think it will be a good things for them to try.  The club meets once a month.  I think it will help them to see things others do with trains and give them a chance to make friends with other boys who love trains.  After their club meeting Neal worked with Andrew to start building his table for Andrew’s train lay out.  He plans on building a N-scale layout first.  They bought the supplies the week before and started making it this week.  This is a part of Andrew’s Christmas gift and he is very happy about it.

Sunday evening we took the family caroling to a few families in our ward and shared some treats I had made.  Then on Monday we meet our neighbors, the Allen’s and Duran’s, who are in our ward and went caroling to a few of our neighbors on our street.  It was a fun Family Home Evening activity.  It is nice to have other members of the church living close by.

Last night we had the middle school Christmas band concert.  The kids enjoyed playing and did a nice job with their songs.  

Well, this is a short note today but I wanted to let everyone know we are thinking of them and how we are doing.  Life is busy.

Merry Christmas

December 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

We have enjoyed 2016 and now it is almost over!  It has been a good year for our family and hope that this letter finds your family well too.  We moved again!  This time we hope it will be more permanent.  We have enjoyed Albuquerque enough to buy a home and settle down.  Our new address (if you would like it, write me a message and I will share it.)  We moved into our home at the end of April and have enjoyed being here.  The move was short and close to the rental house but it did include a ward (congregation) change with church.  We had a hard time leaving the ward that had welcomed us so warmly.  We are still close and see many of our friends from there often, since we meet in the same building and the kids go to the same schools.  It is good to increase our friend circle as we have met many kind people in this ward.

Last year ended a little difficult for us.  On December 15, 2015 Becky’s dad, Gene Hancock, passed away.  We were saddened but not surprised since he had been battling cancer for nine years.  We traveled to Utah to go to the funeral.  We enjoyed visiting with all the family and spending Christmas with Becky’s mom.  It was a special time.  We are thankful for our parents and all they do for us.

This summer we took our big vacation trip to visit Neal’s parents, who were serving a mission in Iowa.  We met them in Nauvoo, Illinois were we visited the LDS church historic sites of the area.  We had a lot of fun seeing so many wonderful things from the history of our church.  The children enjoyed all the activities.  Becky enjoyed seeing places that her ancestors had lived.  We enjoyed our time with Neal’s parents too.  They returned home from their mission in October.

We took a couple of camping trips this year.  In the early spring we went to Elephant Butte Reservoir, here in New Mexico.  The boys tried some fishing at the lake.  It was a pretty area.  In August we went to the Grand Canyon and met Neal’s sister, Holly, and her family.  We camped there a couple of days and enjoyed time to go on hikes and explore the sites on the south rim.

We enjoyed a visit from Becky’s mom during spring break.  It was fun to drive her around and have her remember living here in the 1960’s.  It was nice to have her with us.  We also enjoyed visiting with Becky’s brother Doug and his family, Neal’s brother David and his family, and Neal’s aunt and uncle, Karen and Carl Smith, as all of them were traveling through Albuquerque. They enjoyed stopping at our “Hubbard Hotel” on their trips.  It is nice to be at a cross roads for so many of our family.

Ruth is in 8^th grade and enjoying being at the same school two years in a row.  She has many friends and enjoys doing things with them.  We are learning to keep up with her busy schedule with young women’s activities, school, and band.  She is playing clarinet in the school’s top band.  She is a straight-A student and still enjoys reading. Ruth enjoyed going to the church young women’s camp this summer.  She also did a big back packing trip with Neal and some friends on a mountain in Colorado.

Andrew is in 6^th grade.  He started at the middle school and walks to school with Ruth every day.  He started playing trombone in the beginning band this year.  He loves it and is doing well with it.  He has made many friends and is a good student. He enjoys riding his bike in the open space close to our home.  He still loves trains and this year he has started taking it to a new level.  He has been working on plans to build his permanent layout for electric trains and enjoys working on his trains.  Andrew earned his Webelos and Arrow of Light ranks in Cub Scouting and started into the Boy Scout program.  He loves the campouts and activities. Neal has been able to participate with the campouts and enjoys going with him.

Spencer is in 4^th grade and enjoys being at the same school again. Spencer, Caleb and Becky enjoy walking to the elementary school together every day.  He feels comfortable with his classmates and enjoys going to school every day.  He has caught the reading bug and is often found with a book in his hands.  He enjoys going to Cub Scouts and earned his Wolf rank this year.  He is creative and enjoys making things with his hands. He plays the piano nicely and enjoys singing.

Caleb is in 1^st grade. He is a very friendly, cheerful, happy boy and loves going to school each day.  He enjoys reading and numbers.  He worked hard to learn multiplication this summer and still remembers many of his facts. He likes facts and remembers things that he can tell us.  He likes to watch for patterns and points them out all the time.  He has a made-up world called “Caleb World” that he talks about a lot.  He likes to use made-up words and tells us facts about his friends and places from Caleb World.  He has enjoyed learning piano and has made great progress.  He works hard but it does seem to come easy to him.

Becky enjoys being at home with her family.  It is a blessing to not work out of the home.  She is able to do so much for the children and family and keeps things running.  She enjoys going for walks, doing sewing projects, working in the yard and reading interesting things. She started doing more family history work and enjoys going to the temple about once a week; it is  nice to have one so close.  She is currently serving in the ward as a Relief Society teacher and Activity Days leader for the 8–11 year old girls.

Neal is working hard at his job at Sandia National Laboratories.  He has met a lot of very nice people there.  He traveled some for work this year and went to California and England.  He keeps busy doing work projects at our home and helping the kids with their projects and activities.  When time permits, he takes the children on a hike or bike ride; the distance is up to them.   He also likes to take them to the playground and athletic field by the elementary school.  He is serving in the ward as the Cub Scout committee chair.  He also doubled as Cubmaster for four months and learned what it is like to run a pack meeting.

We are grateful for the Lord’s abundant blessings on our family.  We have good health and a place to live.  We have many freedoms and a high degree of security in our country relative to the turmoil in the world.  We are thankful for this Christmas season to remember Christ as we serve and help each other.  We love Jesus Christ and are thankful for all he has done for us.  What a blessing to know and understand his gospel.  It brings peace into our lives.  We are pleased to hear of your successes, and pray that you may all have peace as you celebrate Christmas this year.  Thank you for your prayers and support.

With Love from the Hubbard Family,

Becky, Neal, Ruth, Andrew, Spencer, and Caleb