Merry Christmas 2011!!

Merry Christmas from Russ and Suzanne Ballard. We hope that you have a wonderful holiday centered on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We also wish you all a joyous 2012.

The above picture was taken in August for our family reunion. The Washington State families could not attend, sadly, but Suzanne's sister, Lauree, and her daughter, Elizabeth, totally surprised us all by flying in from Chicago. We were so happy to have them join us! (any picture can be enlarged by double clicking on the photo.)

A short update on our 2011...

Suzanne finally got full-time employment with e-Health Insurance in their Medicare division. She finds great joy in impartially helping Seniors & the disabled select the most advantageous Medicare insurance that is within their budget and coverage needs. The Annual Enrollment period (Oct 15-Dec 7) is the most stressful time of the year, but she is extremely grateful to have permanent employment with such an ethical company. She was selected to help with training in Utah, California, and Boston and was gone nearly all of August and September with that responsibility training temporary/seasonal employees. It was a wonderful opportunity. Suzanne taught Gospel Doctrine until mid-September and then was asked to be part of the family history committee. While she misses teaching weekly, she is happy to be serving wherever the Lord calls her.


Russ is now officially "retired", although you couldn't tell that by all that he accomplishes daily! Besides taking care of the home and meals, he also Todd-sits many times a week so Tamsen can run errands or get a break. In addition, he was called as a High Councilman in our Stake - a position that we never dreamed could be so demanding of his time! Plus, he now also volunteers every Tuesday for 8 hours at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. He just hopes that occasionally he can get out and go fishing!


In order to update some of our dear friends we've known for over the last 40+ years, we thought we'd add photos this year of our children and their families:

KEVIN'S FAMILY. Kevin is in the Stake Sunday School Presidency; his wife Jana is in the Ward Relief Society Presidency. Their 6 children are Sheridan (11), Teriesa (9), Nathan (7), Cooper (5), Amelia (3), and Tyler (1). They live about 30 minutes from us in Utah. Just a delightful, faithful family. We are so grateful that we get to see them regularly!

TAMSEN'S FAMILY. Tamsen is the Ward Relief Society Secretary. Her husband Todd was recently awarded full-disability benefits from the Veteran's Administration for which we are extremely thankful. Their children are Braeden (14, just ordained a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood), Ethan (11) and Maura (8, baptized this last year). We see them almost every day as they live a few short blocks from our home. We are grateful for their eternal optimism and faith in Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation.

EMILY'S FAMILY. Emily loves running half-marathons - sadly she lost her job this year. Patrick works as a bank Branch Manager. Their children are Bridget (7, soon to be baptized), Avery (5), and Finley (2). We wish we could see them more often, but they live in Washington State. We will be flying up for Bridget's baptism the 2nd week of January. We are thankful that they are raising their daughters in the Gospel.

MEGAN'S FAMILY. They moved from Utah to Washington State this last year, where both Megan and Nick were able to find gainful employment after losing jobs due to the downturned mortgage market. We miss having them live near us. Their children are Ashleigh (9) and Preston (5). We love that they are teaching their children to honor our country and its great Constitution.

RYAN'S FAMILY. Ryan is the Stake Preparedness Chairman and his wife Sara is the Ward Young Women's President. Ryan also lost his job this year and is looking for employment in Medical Sales. Their sons are Tyce (12, recently ordained a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood), Teagan (11), Talon (8, baptized this year), and Tage (5). We appreciate the righteous sons they are raising unto the Lord.

Every year we have a Cousin's Christmas Party at our home prior to Christmas so that we can help build bonds between the cousins and also help them remember that the Savior is the reason for the season. (We will be repeating this in January for the Washington State grandchildren.) So, to end our 2011 Christmas blogspot, we thought we'd include this one last photo of us with our Utah grandchildren (minus Tyler who is not quite old enough to attend yet).

May the spirit of this Christmas season also include for you reflections on the life and mission of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We KNOW that He came to this earth to atone for our sins and to share with us the good news of the Gospel. When we live His precepts and teachings we KNOW that we can be together as a family forever. We have hope in that eternal promise.

God bless you all. May you all have a wonderful 2012.