How does Santa know to only deliver presents to the Christians?

Welcome to the Annual Third Pollan Christmas Letter (I do realize we have been married 11 years but I just don't do these often, obviously) ....it will not be arriving in mailboxes nearby but I am glad you took the effort to read it here.

Let's start at the bottom I guess. The pets... We started the year with Jessie (German Shorthaired Pointer), Tiger Lily (American Short-hair cat) and Lucy, (Siamese). As is the way with busy streets we lost our little Tiger Lily and found out in the process she was a great hunter. Lucy got sick and we saw our vole problem on the hill return. We then aquired Ricky, (Siamese) from some dear friends of ours and Lucy got well again and they finally got the frisky vole that was digging up my back hill. So, we are happy owners of three lovely pets. After training lessons for Jessie in the early months of the year and getting all the cats well, we are content with our little brood of animals.

Allison, whom you will never hear called by her real name, is our bundle of joy and spirit. She keep us smiling and pulling out hair out at the same time. She enjoys playing with her best friend Gabbi the very most in her little life. She recently started gymnastics and really, is there anything better than gymnastics for a 3 year old. I think not. She loves it and is so focused on following the instructions and doing it just right with a big "ta-da" at the end of all the moves. Ali is begging me to teach her too read, not at the top of my list right now though. She really enjoys coloring and I can't keep our house stocked with enough crayons. She actually uses them up and we are always needing to buy more. My boys never did that. Ali is in her second year of preschool and the teachers tell me she runs the place....this is no surprise to me though.

Tyler is still our long lashed wonder. He is the sweetest cutest 6 year old on the planet. Tyler played baseball and soccer this year. He was not the go-to guy on the soccer team though. One game, after three seasons of sitting and watching Ty sort of play Byron offered him a McDonalds sundae if he scored a goal that game. He scored within the next two minutes....then continued to sort of play the rest of the game. So, I guess we learned he can do it, he just doesn't really want to. Ty, having been to Ali's gymnastics performance now wants to switch to gymnastics. Tyler is doing amazingly well in school. He continually brings home high grades and is asking questions his Mom can't always answer, like.....How does Santa know who the Muslims and Jews are? How does he just get the presents in the homes of the Christians? Followed shortly thereafter by, I can't understand how Santa is really real anyway....hummm, maybe he is learning too much in school. He can tell you who the only lady pharoah was and will have a lengthy argument about how to pronounce her name, Shatsetsit (spelling is butchered on that name). Tyler is slowly adjusting to his new school; we moved out kids to the local charter school this year for a multitude of reasons. His best friend from his old school transferred over at the same time and is in his class which has really helped in his adjustment.

Carter is having an amazing year as well! He started off with a seasons of Junior Jazz basketball and I think he really liked that. He also played soccer and baseball at the same time which was far to much sports for mom. He earned his wolf badge in scouts and really enjoys going to scouts every week with the neighborhood boys. Carter switched schools as well, the boys are now at Legacy Preparatory Academy which is a charter school that goes all the way through 12th grade. The kids really like the new format of the school and it is exactly where they need to be. Carter continues to be our child who thinks of others before himself. He works hard at keeping his friends all happy and his family happy. I often catch him trading with Ali to keep her smiling, switching the laundry when it is backed up and doing other nice deeds around the house. We are so blessed to have him.

We learned through some testing that Carter has dyslexia and the charter school is letting me go in and teach Carter his spelling with a special program designed for dyslexic students. It is amazing how throughout life you make choices and decisions and you wonder if you are doing what is right for your kids and then all the cards fall into place and you feel at peace and you know. There is a web-site that all parents should go to....www.susanbarton.com There is a 3 hour video and you can pretty much self screen your children for dyslexia. If you have a child struggling in math, reading, or spelling you should check it out. (Then call me if you need help.)

I am keeping myself busy as usual. I have been searching for something I can drop but instead I just keep taking on more responsibility. I am an Assistant Builder, (aka PTA VP) at Legacy. It was a new school and I wanted to learn as much as I could and quickly about how the gears turn and I have. It was the smartest thing I ever did volunteering to be a Builder Leader. I also started a chess club at the school. It has been an adventure but we have hired a chess master who teaches it and it is going really well. I have taken a few art classes this year and have enjoyed more commissions this year than any so far. I am also managing two gallery spaces, a restaurant; Thyme and Seasons Market Place and a fireplace showroom; Croft Power. We have sold $3,000 plus in this month...Yeah for Christmas!! I am the Relief Society Activity coordinator and plan monthly meetings for our ladies in the ward. That is a fun and stressful job. I will continue to go in and do spelling with Carter everyday for probably the next year or so. At that point he should be good to go back to the regular curriculum.

Byron has loved the fall hunting trips he has been on with his best friend, Jessie. They have brought us home a variety of fowl to try. Grouse, Hun, Chucker and pheasant....we have our favorites. Though with any of them if you pound them out flat to get out the pellets and marinate them over night, they all taste great. He has also been working extra hard at CIT. They filed bankruptcy and have come out of bankruptcy and since Byron still has a job we are all very happy about that. They are restructuring and will be doing great things in the next year. Byron is the scout master and has been having fun camping with the scouts. I have been hearing rumblings of a snow campout which gives me the shivers just to contemplate.

We have had the funnest year...this is my favorite part, to scroll through the calendar and think back on all the fun we had this year.....and we had an exceptionally fun one. In February Byron and I were graciously invited by his sister and new brother-in-law to go to Cabo, Mexico with them for a week. I still can't believe how amazing that vacation was. It was a feast for the eyes and soul. I really enjoyed our time (thanks again Hollie and Jozsef). The only disappointment was when I sliced my pinky finger, I don't do well with sharp knives, we made a trip to the Mexican hospital (which really frightened me) but it turned out to be just as clean and nice as any you would find back home. My pinky has healed, can't even see a scar, but I did not get to swim with the dolphins. So, we will have to go back again to fulfill that dream.

Come spring we pulled the kids out of school and we did a big birthday vacation (we all have spring birthdays March, April and May) We went to Legoland, SeaWorld, DisneyLand and CaliforniaAdventure. The funny part is though that the kids really want to go back to the beach. Not that they didn't have fun at the amusement parks, we did (that Beatle Bounce will really get you giggling) but the beach is where it was at for our family of red-headed umbrella dwelling kids, except for our greek-god, Tyler. We bought Carter a boogie board for his birthday, which took place while we were there and the boys just LOVED it. They would take to surfing if given the chance. The water was fairly cool still as it was only May but they really had a blast cruising in on the waves. I haven't seen Ali dirtier or happier than she was on the beach digging and hunting and just letting her little imagination go wild. This was her first time seeing the ocean and it was a joy to experience it with her. We will return and hopefully soon to sunny Southern California, this time we will just hit the beach.

In June we took a trip up to Idaho and had a campout with some old friends and some new ones. We stayed in a girls camp lodge and enjoyed the 300 foot slide, or shall we say louge of death. Yes, I think I may have cracked my tailbone on the landing...I could barely stand for about two months. We loved hanging out with the VanOrden's and the Larsen's!! I do believe this next year's trip will be even bigger.

In August we headed on our yearly Jackson Hole vacation with my family. We were unable to stay the entire week this year so we headed up a few days early. We had a great time horse back riding and sledding down the alpine slide. We took the new trams up to the top of Teton Village and enjoyed a dance party in the lodge with the little girls. It is always a fun trip and we are so glad we can get all the cousins and family together for some good quality bonding.

November found us flying the friendly skies to Dallas for the tour of the Great-Grandparents. We landed in Dallas and drove to see Byron's paternal grandparents and then his maternal grandparents and then back to Dallas. The whole trip took two days of driving. The kids had a great time seeing where their great grandparents live and in Ali's case meeting them for the first time. We ate lunch, read books, toured the pencil shop, played with their dog, and had a very nice time visiting with all of them. We promised a return visit and will have to come through on that sometime in the future. Thanksgiving was fun, the kids did swim in the chilly pool, and more than once which was the really surprising part. We played glow-frisby at the park in the dark and had a string party. We dipped chocolate strawberries and saw the puppet show at the mall. Not to mention, Thanksgiving dinner....twice (since Granny cooked us one while at her home too.) It was a grand vacation and we look forward to our next trip to see the Pollan's. We also look forward to the birth of Hollie and Jozsef's baby in February....yeah for more cousins.

December brought the blessing of another Livsey grandchild. Baby Luke was born to my brother Charles and his wife Lisa. He is such a sweet little guy and apparently perfect, according to his parents....but then aren't they all. We are so happy and excited to have a new cousin and especially a baby. My kids just loved going over to visit and holding the beautiful (you can still can them that when they are so little) little boy. We wish them the funnest year ever with their new addition.

Well, we made it through the year and if you made it to the end of this letter you must be a grandparent. So, I can say we love you and wish you a year full of blessings and joy. This year more than ever I have felt the infuence of the Holy Ghost in our life. We have been blessed and I am grateful to our Lord and Savior for his watchful hand in our lives. I challenge everyone to look closer; He is there, always. We are the ones who hold back.