2009-2010 A very big thank-you goes to Trudy and Maralee for paying for the Fosterity website this year. 

DRU AND ROBIN VAN DUREN:

Year two in San Diego began with Jakob beginning Kindergarten.  He has taken well to the new challenges, growing leaps & bounds.  Can't believe how much he has learned in so short of time.  It has been a major adjustment for the whole family.  Not so much his newly gained knowledge but more so the new schedule.  Early to bed, early to rise, early lunches, early naps.  It is a full day program at a year round school.  Lots to jump into.

Lindsey misses "the boy" while he is at Kindergarten.  We enjoy our quiet mornings together but she is glad when Jakey gets home.  She is learning right along beside him.  At two she can say her alphabet pretty well, is learning many of the letter sounds and can count to 20 almost accurately.  :)   Gogi brought Lindsey a 1/32 violin which is the new hit.  She asks to play her violin often.   Between the two kids, I'm kept pretty busy.

Drew is developing and testing network cryptographic solutions for the Dept of Defense.  I'm not sure if this is more closely related to Defense Against the Dark Arts or Ministries of Magic. 

STEVE FOSTER

Hi, other Fosters et al.  I just glanced over the old pages here; given that I didn't even exist until 2005, I think I'm in pretty good shape.  (Actually, I'm about to turn four in dog years.)
 
I live at BYU Provo now, inside the library specifically.  I'm studying an undergraduate degree in linguistics and English-teaching in hopes of someday Shanghai-ing to Korea or who-knows-where.  I started here this semester and will probably finish in one year.  I've been blessed to have been able to visit the Jays in Springville twice.  Each visit was about as good as the other.
 
This year I pooled my scanty resources and hitched a flight to Mongolia for the summer to try to learn how to talk.  I happened to see the first stake organized there.  By the time I left, I was able to make as big a fool of myself in Mongolian as a 3-month missionary.  (Only fond memories remain.)
 
Aware of the advantages of being at this school, I'm trying on my off-hours to forge ahead with Viet and Thai and so forth.  Things are going predictably slow.
 
My immediate family, I assume, is well.  They may submit something here.  I look forward to reading about the rest of you.
 
-Steve Foster

BECKY AND JOHN BARTHOLOMEW:

Becky and John have moved to Washington with all their llamas and living in an RV while they wait for their new home to be completed.

TRUDY AND STEVE RUSSELL FAMILY: Hi, Egg--

Okay, you got to me with the 11 item list.  Here's my report for the year:

Greetings to all during this wonderful Christmas season.  I hope and pray that everyone is well.  It's a beautiful time of year even though I cannot abide (I'm trying to eliminate the word "hate" from my vocabulary) the bitter cold of Iowa winters.

The Russell year in a nutshell: 

Dazi spent the first several months of 2009 studying abroad in Paris, to improve her French and partake of the culture.  She achieved the former; the latter was hampered a bit by the French professors going on strike for the entire semester, requiring her program to hire tutors, as they had guaranteed her credit for the term.  That prevented experiencing a typical French college experience, but allowed for a lot of free time to travel and visit museums, cathedrals and such.  I visited her in April and we drove to the south of France and to several Italian cities before heading back to Paris.  It was a great trip, and Dazi is such a good navigator I'm sure she could, in a flash, learn celestial navigation.  (Useful tip:  Google maps and directions are not reliable in Europe.  Tiny French rental cars, however, get great mileage.)  Daz was glad to be back on the familiar Duke campus this fall and will graduate in May with a degree in English.  She's been accepted to Iowa's law school and at this point thinks she will attend.

Jon is half-way through his second year of med school at UC San Francisco.  After this year he'll take a 3-5 year break to do the PHD part of the program before going back to the third year of med school.  He's been working his tail off, studying, studying, studying, and can already answer many of your medical questions in understandable language!  He likes to run the hills of S.F., doing a half-marathon or two when his finicky knee allows.  This year he has his own nice, little apartment, the peace and quiet of which is just his cup of tea, as he studies in total silence and spends his little free time reading classic lit, U.S. history and biographies.  He's learned to cook a few things but is very grateful to be taken out to dinner when visited by his parents.

Chris and Jen moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin after he graduated from the U. of Iowa law school in May, taking away the two delightful grandsons, Nate (3 1/2) and Andy (1).  They're enjoying Milwaukee's many family-oriented activities and haven't even complained about the cold.  Chris has spent the past seven months working on his fiction writing, an endeavor he relishes, until his job in corporate law starts on January 5th.  Besides full-time mothering of the boys, Jen has been productive in making their apartment "home"; painting furniture, reupholstering, planning and building things for the kids and the home.  She and Chris did a marathon in northern Wisconsin on one of those early weekends in November that were so cold they had to start on ice.  Chris got an injury but still finished, with Jen by his side. 

Steve kindly took back the directorship of the retina division of ophthalmology at the university, though this time with a co-director, making it far more tolerable.  He dislikes administration because he'd much rather just solve problems in his own efficient way.  (Have I told you that if something at our house breaks, we can just put it on the desk in his study and it will reappear later in perfect working condition?)  He golfed as much as he could this year, closing down the last open course on its last day in November, I believe, and taking his clubs whenever possible in his travels, playing in Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco, and Milwaukee, with Chris and Jon being his favorite companions.  He has become even more an ebay master, furnishing himself and the family with bargain luggage, clothes, golf paraphernalia, and even cell phone batteries.

I (Trudy) became a full-time student again this fall, knowing I had to have something to assuage the emptiness left from Nate and Andy moving away (with their parents, whom I also miss, of course).  I'm studying interior design at the local community college, and enjoying it a lot.  There are several other non-traditional students like myself in my various classes, and I've been really humbled to learn of their various reasons for going back to school.  Many lost their jobs due to downsizing and the economy, and some lost sufficient incomes due to divorces or health issues.  I am one of the few who is lucky enough to be there just because I want to be, and I sure hope the economy picks ups and resustains those people and those in our family who are victims of the times.  On a much lighter note, I gave up running this year for the most part, not just because I never really liked it, but because it wasn't making me any skinnier.  Apparently success at losing weight is 3/4 diet and 1/4 exercise, instead of eating all we want and then hoping our exercise takes care of it.  Harumph.  In any case, I'm back to walking with a bit of jogging thrown in for preservation of dignity.

Last weekend the carol "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" was stuck in my mind, so I did some reading on its writer, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, learning that though he was immensely popular in his day, he was derided then and later for being a poet to "the masses" and merely "a children's author."  Phooey to his critics, I thought, because the things he wrote, if indeed geared toward children, advocated the simple goodness that people focus on and embrace at Christmas time yet neglect for its lack of sophistication during the rest of the year.  That doesn't seem right when the Christ whose birth we celebrate told us to become as little children; it seems to me we should embrace such sentiments always; "Peace on earth, good will to men."  We Russells send our love and good wishes to all of you, hoping your new year is prosperous and truly happy.
 
Trudy Russell
Iowa City, Iowa

SALLY AND SHANE TALBOT:Okay, I'll make this quick!  :)

Shane graduated in May with honors from Idaho State University.  He worked as a Land Surveyor in Training for the Bureau of Land Management for 6 months and is currently in the job market.  He enjoys being outdoors and takes Spencer (our 3-year-old) almost everywhere with him.

Sally is a stay-at-home mom and teaches the Sunbeams with Shane.  It's been a fun year, but we're very ready for new kids (at church, that is).

Maegan is 5 and started Kindergarten this year.  She loves it and is one of the top in her class.  She is a little sweetheart and a big helper at home.  She loves her family and writes love notes for her mom and dad almost daily.  She is a blessing and a joy and we love her so much!

Spencer is 3 and a feisty little guy.  He is constantly moving and making messes and loves to play with his siblings (and tease them, too!).  He is definitely an apple who fell from the tree (his dad) and loves to be with him!  He is a ray of sunshine that brightens our lives and we love him so much.

Joshua (Joshy) just turned 2.  He is such a happy little guy and loves to be adored!  He has a silly little smile and makes the funniest faces!  He always makes us laugh which makes it almost impossible for us to be upset with him.  He also loves to play with his siblings and make messes.  He is the apple of our eye and we love him so much!
Lewis was born on November 12 of 2009.  He is such a little angel and has made our love grow.  He likes to eat and gets fatter every day.  We are so grateful for his sweet little spirit that has filled our home with happiness.  He is our little angel and we love him so much!

Thanks Egg!  I'm so glad that you do this!!  :)

Sally

BUTCH AND MIRIAM FOSTER:

For my contribution I will tell a story about our black cat that Maralee named Buddah.  In cool weather it liked to sleep somewhere around the engine of my Chevy Nova that I bought from Becky.   I used to keep my tools and gloves and hats in the car, so that when I was at home working outside I would constantly go to my car to retrieve things. 

One time I went to get something from the car which was not to be had--I don't remember what--but I decided to go to the store and buy it.  This decision was made, be it noted, after I was already seated in the car.  When I started the engine the cat came streaking out to the driver's side of the car and stood up high where I could see it and snarled at me in a very accusing attitude.  I had obviously caught it by surprise and offended it immensely, but I didn't understand how or why--I would normally drive off in my car at any time without causing a problem.

So I thought about it for a while, trying to figure out what I had done differently, how changing my plan while already in the car had thrown the cat off guard.  Eventually I realized that I had not taken my keys out of my pocket until I was seated with the door closed, and that the cat had not heard my keys jingle.

So that was the trick.  All these years the cat had learned that if it heard the jingle it had to move; doors opening and closing had nothing to do with it.  And when I started the engine without jingling the keys, I had played a very dirty trick on the cat, one that could shorten its tail.

It was a bit of a revelation to learn that the cat was smarter than me, so the next day I decided to test this theory.  I jingled my keys before I opened the door and waited a few seconds.  I jingled them again and soon the cat came sauntering out, and walked between my ankles as if to say, apology accepted; glad to know it wasn't intentional.

So there you have it: all those years the cat thought I was jingling the keys just to alert him, and breaking the routine was dangerously reckless--don't do it again.  I didn't.

Happy Birthday to Loen's and Cheryln's new baby (what'shisname?)  And Merry Christmas to all! 

                --Butch and Miriam

COLIN AND JENNY BOOTH FAMILY: Dear friends and family!

            Merry Christmas!!! I can barely remember what happened this morning, not to mention the whole previous year.  This letter will be a good excuse to stop and think about it—though at this moment I’m also holding a wiggly baby, listening to one daughter daydream about ice skating, another singing chitty-chitty-bang-bang, and diverting the 2-year-old from, well, from everything—so both “stop” and “think” are relative terms, which is just how I like it…most of the time.

Big news first: Our new baby daughter, Gloria Angell Booth, was born February 20.  True to her middle name, she smiles readily, revealing darling dimples, sweetly gapped bunny teeth, and the shining hint of a halo.  Her advent forced us out of our mini-van and into our 2nd favorite new toy: our suburban!  The new 9-seater fits all with room for carpooling, which saves me from endless trips to the school.

What’s our #1 favorite new toy?  In March we bought a peddle boat that we ride up and down the canal behind our house.  We spent the summer out back boating, BBQ-ing, swinging, and watching the garden grow.  So we’re boat-owners with a waterfront property, right?  We also took the kids to Disneyland but didn’t tell them where we were going. We walked through the gates and they figured it out for themselves.  Best surprise ever!

Inspiration finally struck and we slowly made-over our kitchen this year.  We moved cabinets, added red paint (yummy), and hung a pot-rack made from Grandma Booth’s old wrought-iron gate.  I absolutely love it!!!!  Thanks go to my dad, mother-in-law, Colin’s brother Bryan, and especially to The Fantastic Four: my brothers Tim, Tom, Ed, and Jerm for all their help!

Colin is still at USANA working in International Development and serving at church in the Elders Quorum Presidency.  We have a weekly movie night and Colin has been exposing the kids to the cartoons and movies we loved as kids: Superman, Star Wars, the original Race to Witch Mountain, He-Man, vintage Scooby-doo, etc.  They don’t seem to mind the bad graphics or hokey special effects, and, oh, the nostalgia of hearing, “Yo Joe!” from across the house.  Colin is also learning Chinese at work using the Rosetta Stone software in preparation for his company’s eventual expansion into China.

I still have a small handful of music students, three of whom are Julia, Caleb and Medley.  I’m the librarian for Medley’s preschool class and was recently called to the Relief Society Presidency as the Counselor over enrichment.  I babysat on the side for several weeks this summer.  With my own kids I had two 5-year-olds, a 4-year-old, 3-year-old, 1-year-old, and two newborns.  That was a little much for such a long term, especially with swimming lessons, piano lessons, reading practice, and chores mixed in--empathy for anyone with twins babies!  But, would I still be excited if I ever found out I was having twins?  Heck yes!  I’ve been studying Chinese (audio) in the car and during breakfast to support Julia, read on:

Julia, 6, is in the first grade learning language arts in English in the morning, and math, science, music and art in Chinese in the afternoon through her school’s new dual immersion program. It boggles the mind how fast young kids can pick up a language, especially the pronunciation.  She takes hip-hop, jazz, and clogging next door (location, location, location), is doing great with piano lessons, and is an excellent reader, very good student, and a wonderful daughter.  It’s hard having her gone all day.  We don’t get to talk as much as we used to, and she’s such a great help around the house.

Caleb, 5, won’t start kindergarten until next year, but he’s practicing reading, writing, and doing piano lessons at home with me and with the help of Grandma Booth.  He also has a very sweet singing voice, and is often one of the loudest kids in primary.  He still likes to play dress-up, and likes to enforce the law in our house, unless he’s the one breaking it.  He is a good little artist, and can be very thoughtful, often making my bed, then telling me that someone made a huge mess in my room so that I’ll come see it.  When I ask who did this nice thing, he says he doesn’t know, or that the fairies did it.  So cute.

Medley, 3, is in preschool twice a week.  From all reports and what I’ve seen, she has a great time there, but if you ask her, she doesn’t like it.  She’ll describe all the fun things they did, and the friends, and games, and crafts, with excitement and a big smile, but in the end…she doesn’t like it.  She also takes ballet and tap, which she “works on” diligently, all day, every day.  Medley ONLY wears dresses.  With the cold weather, we’ve negotiated pants under the dress, but the dress stays.  She is very creative and has a great sense of humor and irony.  She loves to draw, sing with a big wobbly vibrato, and play house with Caleb (her best friend).  She’s our little firecracker!

Brigham, 2, is a gentle giant most of the time, and a bit of a bully the rest.  I guess he’s the paradox that is a sweet, affectionate, naughty, teasing two-year-old mama’s boy.  He loves to run and jump and climb, preferably with a cape flying from his back, and recently refers to himself in the third person as Superman, SuperBriggles, The Horsey, The Giraffe, or just Bigg-um.  He’s been doing a great job with potty training in spite of the intermittent efforts afforded by our busy schedule.  He talks like crazy, narrating everything he sees or does, making big complete sentences with a furrowed brow.  He still loves to cuddle with his mommy and daddy (and Bubby, his bedtime toy), a trait I hope will grow with him (hugging his mom, I mean).

Glo-bug, 9-months, has huge grey-green eyes, that draw a lot of public commentary.  She smiles and babbles easily, rarely depriving strangers the reaction they seek.  She has a very gentle, amiable disposition.  She loves food (a family trait), following mom around the house, and pulling herself up, especially up mom’s leg.  Her favorite things to do are play “Baby’s Gonna Getcha” with her big siblings and analyzing toys.

Our lives are rich and full, and at the heart of it is the sweet companionship of the Savior of us all.  Every good thing in our lives can be traced back to Him; to His boundless love and endless capacity to care for His sheep.   May we all feel His love and care this holiday season.

With love,

WARREN AND KAY FOSTER FAMILY: Greetings to all from Warren and Kaye Foster and family.  Our highlights for this year were Sarah having a new baby, Rachele graduating from Jr. College, us moving back to our home in Alaska and Devan getting married, bringing the number in our family to 14.
 
Sarah had Baby Lainey this year in March.  To lose the baby weight she trained for a local sprint triathlon which she did successfully in August.  She enjoyed it so much that she decided to train for an Olympic distance triathlon taking place in April.  She's taking monthly quilting classes with the Relief Society.  She enjoys being a mother of 3 now.
 
Todd started school in January at George Whythe University (in their online program) to earn his Masters degree in Political Economy.  He has read LOTS of classical literature this year as part of the program and loves all that he is learning.  He is also training for the same triathlon Sarah will be doing and he has loved the training so much that he also signed up to do the Boise half-iron man later next year as well.  He has enjoyed being in the financial office less and less, and more in administrative affairs at the hospice.  Their company celebrated opening another office in Meridan, Idaho this year.  They've continued to grow despite the economy.
 
Brielle is 5 and started kindergarten this year.  She loves every minute of school.  She is in a children's community choir and is finding her pretty little voice.  We enjoy her artwork that she creates SO plentifully.

Ashton is turning 3 in a few weeks.  He is about as obedient as the next two year old.  But he has shining moments every now and again.  :)  He LOVES rockets and airplanes.  He thoroughly enjoyed flying in airplanes to his Uncle Devan's wedding events this year.  Planes and grandparents = bliss. 
 
Lainey started crawling last month.  She's been a very happy, easy baby.
 
Scott,(28) our oldest son, finished a 4 month contract performing on ships for Carnival Cruises in the spring.  He helped us move to Alaska, then went to Nome for the summer where he ran a gold dredging operation in the ocean near the shore.  He was underwater most of the time, usually working about 10 feet deep.  Yes they found a lot of gold, but they also had a lot of expenses, so he didn't get rich.  He was with the family for Thanksgiving, then went for another 4 month contract performing for Carnival in the Caribbean.  If you want to go on his cruise it's the Carnival Legend, out of Tampa Florida for the Western Caribean and he'll be there through March 2010.  Warren and Kaye went on the ship he performs on the second week of December and had a blast.  They overheard several people who didn't know they had anything to do with Scott say things like "he is the best performer I've ever seen on a cruise ship."
 
Devan (26) is still working for USANA at their corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City.  They have a large wellness and fitness center there for their employees, and he runs that program.  On September 9, 2009, in the Logan, Utah Temple, he married Maura Allen from Fort Collins Colorado, whom he had met over a year earlier at BYU Idaho.  At the reception in Ogden that afternoon, we had our entire family together long enough for a picture.  A couple of days later they had another reception in Fort Collins, Colorado.  His lovely new bride Maura works as a Teller at a bank in Salt Lake and they live in Midvale, Utah.  They came to visit us in Alaska for Thanksgiving, and on Saturday of that weekend, they had their third wedding reception for friends in Wasilla, Alaska.
 
Levi (23) lives in West Hollywood, California.  He left his job with James Perse, to take a job as an sales Manager for John Varvatos, a high end clothing designer in Beverly Hills.  In the spring he went with us on a 3 day campout at Big Sur, California.  We visited his Aunt Gogi on the way home.  In June he and Nicholas Barlow joined us for a couple of days at our ward camp out @ Elcapitan Beach, California.  He and Nicholas went to Seattle washington, and Port townsend, WA this summer to go crabing, fishing and visited Nicholas' family. Shortly after they traveled to Venice and Rome Italy and came back to the US just in time to come to Devan & Maura's wedding reception in Utah. When they got back to LA they moved into a new place which they have been putting a lot of work into and have been very excited about. They have also been on two other trips to big sur, CA this year.  

Rachele, (20) graduated from Treasure Valley Community College in June, with an Associate Degree in Elementary Education. She lived and worked in Ontario, Oregon as a personal assistant to the owner of a beauty salon for two years while in school. After graduating she moved to Lewiston, Idaho with her boyfriend John Rohde. In Lewiston, Rachele is working both as a Therapy Technician for a Developmental Disibility Agency called Alternative Nursing, and as a waitress at Zany's Hollywood Grill; with intentions to return to school next year to work toward receiving her bachelors. She also traveled to Utah for Devan and Maura's wedding reception in September.  She is engaged, but no date is set yet.
 
Marty (15) recieved his Life award in scouts.  In early winter he wrestled for Quartz Hill High school wrestling team, and in Spring he was on their track team as a long jumper.  When the family moved to Alaska he stayed in California for a couple of extra weeks to attend youth conference and high adventure with his varsity scout group.  They went rafting on a river and some other cool stuff.  He flew home to Wasilla to be with the family later at the end of June.  In August he started school as a sophmore at Wasilla High School.  In the fall he ran cross country and in late fall and early winter wrestled on the wrestling team. 
 
April (9) got to share her 9th birthday on Ground Hogs day with her uncle John Potter who has the same birthday, and Aunt Egg.  We all met at a resturaunt in Pasadena, halfway between our home in Palmdale, and theirs in Annaheim Hills.  Levi also joined us there.  On her Spring break, the week after we went to Big Sur she and her Dad (Warren) went back to Gogi's house for two days, while Kaye was up in Idaho helping Sarah with the new baby.  She was excited to move back home to Alaska, but since she was only 5 when we moved to California, she didn't remember much why.  She only knew that she didn't want to leave when we left, and we had promised her we would move back, so she was looking forward to it.  When we got back to Alaska, she quickly reestablished old friendships, and some new ones, and is now having fun playing in the snow and the forest and all that cool stuff.  She is in 4th grade at Iditarod Elementary School where she was recently elected School Historian.
 
Kaye went up to Idaho for a couple of weeks after Sarah had her baby Lainey.  A sad thing happened for us while she was there, her brother Randy Jackman's wife Janin passed away.  We drove up to Utah and met her there for the funeral, then she rode back to California with us.  In may we went back to Sarah's place in Idaho for Lainey's blessing.  The rest of May was spent packing for the move back to Alaska.  Fortunately Adrienne and John came out and helped us for a day.  Warren and Scott left with the moving vans in mid May and headed for Alaska.  Kaye stayed behind with Marty and April until early June, then went up to Sarah's place, where we stayed for Rachele's graduation in Ontario, which is right across the Snake River from Fruitland Idaho.  Warren flew back down to there from Alaska, and went camping at El Capitan beach, California, with the family on a ward campout, then we (Warren, Kaye, and April drove the car home to Wasilla, Alaska.  Kaye is a primary teacher and Cub Scout den mother in our ward.
 
Warren (52) retired from his job with the FAA at the end of January.  In May he bought two old 24 foot moving vans cause it was cheaper than renting them one way to Alaska, and Scott drove one and Warren the other from Palmdale California to Wasilla Alaska.  Along the way, we learned of Kathy passing.  We decided to try and make it home in time to fly back for the funeral, but one of the trucks broke down in Great Falls Montana, so while it was getting fixed, we left them both there and rented a car and drove back to Salt Lake, where we stayed until after the funeral.  Kaye and the kids came up from Palmdale and met us there for that too.  After the funeral, Kaye and the kids went back to Palmdale, and Scott and I drove up to Sarah's place in Idaho, and stayed there until the day before the truck was done, then drove back to Great Falls, and when the truck was ready we drove to Wasilla.  We got there just a day before Warren had a ticket to fly from Anchorage back to Boise, to join the rest of the family for Rachele's graduation.  When we all got back to Alaska, we sold the trucks for more than we bought them for in California, but still took a loss because of the repairs to the one in Great Falls.  However it was still cheaper than renting them would have been.  In July Warren took a job working for Raytheon as a contract instructor for air traffic controller trainees at the Anchorage enroute center where he used to work as a controller.  He got called to be Scout Master in our ward in Wasilla.
 
The attached picture is from Devan's wedding reception in Ogden, Utah on 9/9/9.  After Lainey Stice was born on 3/24, our family size became 13, but we were never all together for a picture.  With the addition of Devan's wife Maura it became 14, and that reception is the only time we 14 have all been together, so this is the only picture we have of all of us.
 
My brothers and sisters (Glen and Gloria Foster's children) might remember that our entire family of 16 children was only together for a family picture once in our entire lives.  I (Warren) was a long haired pimple faced bratty teenager, so I don't like the picture cause of me in it, but since it is the only one in existence of our entire family I still cherish it.  I have tried very hard to avoid having the same thing happen to my family.  After trying to bring together 7 children, I much more appreciate the difficulty it was for Mom and Dad trying to get all 16 of us together at once.
 
Merry Christmas to all, and happy 2010!
 
love, Warren and Kaye and family
 
 DANA AND CHRISTINE FOSTER

Dear Family,

We have had some huge things happen to our family in the past year!  As most of you remember on November 15, 2008 Christine and I were sealed in the Jordan River Temple.  We also had Hannah and Riley sealed to us.  In March of 2009 I was able to legally adopt them as my own.  They chose to take the Foster name and are now Hannah Christine Foster and Riley Michael Foster. 

Christine has helped immensely with the survival of the business.  I am back on the road and Christine is now the office manager.  She has taken over all office duties and I have no idea what is going on anymore (Ok, so this is Christine writing this, not Dana. If I don’t write it you all know it won’t get done!)  

Jordan is doing well in school and is a senior!  He is working at McDonald’s and enjoys having a job and money of his own.  He got his driver’s license and has his own car.  Watch out on the roads! His plans for next year are of getting a year in at college before going on a mission.  We are very proud of him. 

Bethany is in high school and is also doing well and getting great grades.  She is still awesome on the water and makes everything look so easy.  Bethany is taking ballet lessons and dancing on Pointe.  She performed in “The Little Match Girl” with her dance company and had a solo.  She was awesome! Bethany babysits and enjoys spending time with her friends.

Hannah is in her last year of elementary school and is looking forward to junior high.  She is still taking piano lessons and is getting very good.  She has started babysitting and really enjoys it.  Her medication has helped her grow three inches this year and she is no longer the shortest 6^th grader! 

Dillon is the happiest child on earth. It takes but a twig to keep him amused. He’s an athletic little monkey and is the only 10 year old I have ever seen with a six pack.  He has been playing soccer with Riley and has a great time with it.  He is in 4^th grade and loves it so much he gets up and ready for school by himself!

Riley is in third grade and is learning cursive.  I am impressed with how neatly he can already form his letters.  He got a puppy for his birthday, Jack, and cracks us all up when he becomes the voice and mind of the dog.  He comes up with the cleverest sayings.  He is still playing soccer and wants to start piano lessons.  Riley was baptized in May.  Jordan was able to baptize him and I confirmed him. 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Happy New Year!

Dana, Christine, and Littluns

ADD -  094.jpg from Windows Photo Gallery

NATHAN AND REBECCA CORNWALL:

Merry Christmas 
Love,
Sam (11) Natalie (9) Alison (5) Adelaide (2)
Nate & Becky

GOGI AND TONY VAN DUREN: LOTS OF HUGS, HELLOS, AND MERRY CHRISTMASES TO THE EXTENDED FOSTER CLAN FROM THE ATASCADERO VAN DURENS!  Once more it seems like the year has come to a close before it ever really started, but that only seems to be the case for those of us whose memories are growing very, very long!  This year brought an exciting venture into kindergarten for No. 1 grandchild, Jakob in San Diego, the “intrepid twos” to his little sister Z-Z (Lindsey Kathleen), a beautiful new baby (Madelyn) to Lara and Jamey up in Wenatchee (June 5), and most recently, a move to a 40-acre ranch in Strasburg, Colorado for Nick and Shannon and their nine English mastiffs (our granddoggies).  It also brought us more than our fair share of visits (but never enough, of course!) with grandkids, and much, much more.

Toney is still working at Mission Health Center in San Luis Obispo, but is counting down toward retirement in a couple of years.  He continues to play with SLO Wind Orchestra, a German Oom-Pa-Pa band, and a clarinet ensemble.  He and his buddies come in and help the Atascadero Community Band in performances as well, where Gogi herds the young percussion section and plays mallets and timpani.  Toney and Zeb (Robin’s Dad) still do lots of woodworking.  They’ve made something like 23 dining room chairs and various smaller items.  Toney’s dad, Ray, has moved into a retirement center down in St. George (near Toney’s brother Mick) and is very content there.  He has his own apartment, can cook for himself or eat at the facility, has lots of activities to keep him busy, transportation whenever he needs it, and has even started painting again.  He’s making new friends and renewing old acquaintances (friends who also retired there), and seems to be genuinely thriving.

Gogi is still teaching strings through Youth Music Monterey in a couple of tiny schools in the south county.  She only teaches school one day a week, but is rather successful at making a part-time job into a full-time one by doing far more prep than is necessary!  She also teaches piano lessons, gardens, eschews housework, sews, practices the violin and piano barely enough to stay ahead of the students, and generally gets into mischief whenever possible.  We both miss Katie desperately, but are learning to refocus the energy onto the grandkids and students.  Katie's pasture menagerie has shrunk somewhat.  We lost Pepe the goat last year, and our beloved 15-year old dog Ike died recently.  We’ve adopted Toney’s dad’s dog Charlie (a mini Schnauzer) who is a bit too lively for Molly the Chin, but they’re adjusting.  We still have 14-year old schizo kitty Scherzo and Katie’s 2-year old kitty Phantom, two ducks, three hens, and Patty the horse (who is now 23), all of whom seem healthy and strong, although Molly is losing an eye due to an injury.  We’ve planted all kinds of trees, still want to plant more, and are loving the privacy, space, and glorious oaks and autumn gum trees surrounding us on all sides.

Nick & Shannon are still recovering from their recent move (!), but are utterly thrilled to have so much room to stretch their wings.  They’re having a blast watching their dogs frolic through the pastures racing the neighbors’ horses back and forth along the fences.  The horses seem to treat them like they’re ponies (they’re as big as ponies!) and like to tease them.  Shannon still works for the bank (they’re letting her rotate between working at home and commuting to the office since they live over an hour from Denver now).  Nick is between jobs temporarily but is still oil painting and showing his work.  They continue to be involved with breeding and showing their beautiful dogs.  Dagney has had five of her offspring “finish” in the competitions now, which puts her into the breeder’s “hall of fame.”  Toney and I are anxious to get back there to see their new place in Strasburg and enjoy the plethora of grand-doggies.  We'll try to time it so that we can help out next time they have a litter of demanding little mastiffs!

Drew and Robin also have their hands full with two extremely lively little ones.  Robin has had to take on the entire school down there in order to protect Jakey (who has a severe peanut allergy) at school.  We are in awe of the campaign she has waged just to get the school to come into conformity with laws already in existence but which so many schools are painfully lax in following through on.  The administration's intimidation tactics don’t work on Robin (it helps that she’s a teacher herself), and a lot of parents at school are grateful to her for breaking ground where most people fear to tread (you know what public schools can be like)!  Drew continues to enjoy his work safeguarding computer encryption systems for the government, the military, and for businesses in general.  We’re delighted to see him garnering a fair share of accolades for some rather remarkable accomplishments about which he is so modest.

Lara and Jamey are enthralled with wee Mad Maddy(born June 5), while her two big siblings (our other two grand-doggies, Clyde and Bella) are slowly forgiving her for dethroning them!  Bella has already begun mothering her, but Clyde still thinks Maddy is a bit of an upstart and only begrudges her a lick now and then.  We haven’t decided whether Maddy has an overly developed sense of humor for a 6-month old or is a particularly demanding critic, because when Lara plays her violin Maddy bursts out with a belly laugh twice her size!  She seems to think her mommy’s 200-year old “toy” is hysterically funny!  Jamey was finally able to hire another chemical engineer at his plant to help relieve him of some of the pressure, and is looking forward to being able to relax and play a little more.  He’s so big it’s fun to see him melt like a marshmallow over that tiny baby girl.                         

Well, folks, we’re healthy and strong down here and hope you all are as well.  We love hearing about what you’re up to and deeply appreciate the Fosterity candleholders.  We wish you all myriad blessings, much love, and peace and harmony in your homes, and remind you that our home is yours as well.  Merry Christmas to you all, and a Happy New Year!    Lots of love, Toney & Gogi   

JAMEY AND LARA GARDNER:  Hi there. The only significant news that Jamey and I can share is that Miss Madelyn Gardner was born on June 6th, 2009. She is six and a half months old now and a little delight. We didn't understand before why people were so anxious to start their families - now we get it! Oh - there she is calling for us - have to run:)     

BLAINE: Butch visited Blaine today and he said he would be paroled on March 16 to the Fremont House, a halfway house specializing in rehabilitating the mentally ill.  That will not be a permanent situation, so he will be trying to find a long care center that can be partially subsidized by the state and federal governments, i.e., Medicaid and Social Security.  Of course all depends on how he does at Fremont.

Have a happy decade (starting Jan. 1, 2111)!  --Butch                       

The Booths are Red-dy for anything

Above: The Booth Family incognito 

Below: The real Morticia and Gomez Booth and children: Pugsley, Wednesday, Lurch, Thing, It, and Uncle Fester  who will one day have his/her own webpage called Festerity.

Devan Foster's Wedding

Warren, Kay, and Scotty