Merry Christmas from the Max Barnum family
This is the latest family picture we have had taken. There is just one problem. Everyone is not there. All the siblings are there, but some of their spouses and children were not able to be at Brittany & Blake's wedding in April, 2007. Missing are Larry, Jarom, Javan & Joryn Au, and Cliff & Abby Yerkes.
Left to right: Kaylee 14, Joryn 5, Kristian 16, Javan 8, Larry, Kim, Jarom 11. They are a happy busy family. Larry is in the Bishopric of one of the student Wards at BYU-Hawaii. Kim serves in the Stake Relief Society, Kristian is a senior, and trying to decide which college she will attend. Kaylee is a freshman, and just made the high school varsity soccor team, Jarom is looking forward to becoming a Deacon, Javan is enjoying scouts and all things 8 year old boys love to do, Joryn loves being in his Grandma Au's kindergarten class at school. He got his hair cut after this picture, so now he's not mistaken for a girl.
Troy & Norma live in Payson, Utah with their 4 kids: Alexis, 10, Levi 9 mo., Isaac, 5 and Jayden 8. This picture was taken just before they left to fly to Mexico for Christmas and for the Martinez family reunion. Troy manages Install Pro, a company that installs Dish Network, and Norma is a stay-at-home mom, except she never gets to stay home because she is always running the kids to their various activities. Alexis Is quite the singer and enjoys being in every single play that the Payson Community Theatre puts on about twice a year. Jayden loves football, and played on the Viking football team for 7 and 8 year olds, Isaac likes to be in the plays with Lexie, and is enjoying kindergarten very much. Levi just smiles his way through life!
Angie and her husband Dan Phelps live in Wenatchee, Washington. Dan is with Verizon Wireless in the customer service department. Angie is a full-time wife and mother chasing around her very active 4 year old son, Christopher and 19 mo. old daughter Cierra. Cierra didn't like Santa!
These are the Yerkes kids on Abby's baptism day. They just moved into their new home this summer and are enjoying lots of room! Their daddy, Cliff teaches high school Spanish and coaches various soccor & basketball teams. Abby, 8 and Cade, 5 are super soccor players, and Tyler, 3, is coming right along. He loves all kinds of balls. Hallie, 17 mo. loves books and Barney. Sarina keeps very busy as a full time mom and her calling as Enrichment leader her Ward Relief Society. She also has a day care in her home.
Marnae & Clint Carter on their wedding day, July 15, 2006. They are blissfully happy and doing the things alot of young couples do, working and going to school.
This happy couple is Brittany and her new Husband, Blake Tuckett. They were married April 28, 2007. They are also working and going to school.
The lucky gal who snagged Jason is Diana Henkel Barnum. They were married April 21, 2007. They live in Rigby, ID where Jason manages a fertilizer plant. They are expecting their first baby in June!
2007 has been a great year for us.
January: We spent Christmas 2006 and brought in the New Year with Angie & Dan/Chuck & Chris Phelps and our two Phelps grandchildren. We were there three weeks and really enjoyed their wonderful hospitality. The middle of January we flew to Hawaii to see the Kim & Larry Au family in Hawaii where we witnessed the baptism of our grandson Javan on Temple Beach in the Pacific Ocean. We spent about 6 weeks there. When we returned to the mainland we stayed another week with the Phelps.
February: Headed home to prepare for the two weddings that happened in April. (see pictures below)
March: Traveled to Logandale, NV to celebrate Max's dad's 93rd birthday. All nine siblings were there, and some of the grandchildren. The rest of the month was spent working on Brittany's wedding dress and sewing on over 3,000 beads and sequins.
April: Two wonderful weddings: Jason & Diana Henkle Barnum in the Idaho Falls Temple and Blake & Brittany Barnum Tuckett in the Manti Temple. All of the siblings were there and most of the grandchildren.
May, June & July: Home, enjoying the Utah spring and summer. Max experimented and sucessfully raised a garden using the Mittleider method. Our oldest granddaughter, Kristian Au visited from Hawaii.
August: I went to Washington with my mom and sister to visit relatives and spend a few days with Angie & Dan Phelps family. Max went to Nevada to visit his dad.
September: We were off again, this time to Connecticut to visit Sarina & Cliff Yerkes and family. Abby was baptized while we were there. What a great experience that was to see another granchild baptized. It was a two-fold trip. I was co-chairman of a world wide family reunion that was held in Richmond, VA. The only problem was, I got sick and ended up spending the reunion days in Yale-New Haven University hospital.
October: Home again. We went to Idaho to help bless Shawn's new baby girl, Emery Lyn, then back to Utah for Jayden Barnum's baptism. (son of Troy & Norma)
November: Spent Thanksgiving with Max's sister, Anita & Keith Hill who live in Riverton, UT.
December: We will be home for Christmas this year and spending it with Justin, Marnae & Clint, and Brittany & Blake.
Our lives are full and happy. Max works part-time for the Nebo School District and I keep busy with Professional Genealogy research, as well as trying to keep up on our own family research. We go to the Family History Library in Salt Lake about twice a month, which I dearly love. We are getting ready to publish a lineage CD that has over 26,000 pedigree linked descendants of Mathieu Agee, a Huguenot Refugee who came to America in 1690.
Max and his Mittleider garden. The idea is to grow alot of produce in a small space, and that he did! We certainly enjoyed the fruits of his labor. (You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy!)
Justin, 26, shown here with Kristian when she visited this summer. He is a very eligable bachelor and installs Dish Network for Install Pro.
Shawn with his new little baby daughter on her blessing day. Emery Lyn was born on August 13 and is the apple of her daddy's eye.
We hope this Christmas Season brings you joy and happiness. May we always remember our Savior, and the reason we celebrate Christmas.
