Happy New Year from the Quesenberrys

Back row: Ted, Jami, Holden, Josh, Lauren, Andrew, Steve, Austin, Leigh, Ben (Jami's brother)
Front row: Liz, Tim, Daniel, Grace

It's been a few years since we've sent out a family letter. Most of our friends are on Facebook, so we haven't felt the need. If you're getting this letter you must be born before 1980! If you're on Facebook, and you haven't already, please 'friend' us. We'd love to hear from you!

Here are some of our Facebook highlights from 2010:

Steve: "Was just called as a Sunday School teacher to the inmates at the Utah County Jail. How exciting! My first assignment is to the gang unit, and I get to wear an 'emergency recall beeper' in case I am attacked!" (5-5)

Steve is busy with work, church, and family. He coached basketball and football, skied and camped with the kids, enjoyed several church callings (including teaching his beloved inmates at the jail), travelled with the boys back East on a history tour, and stayed busy at work with trials in Las Vegas and Boise.

Jami: "2 1/2 weeks in Africa - not even a mosquito bite. 2 1/2 weeks in the US - a nasty cold" (8-12)

Jami continues to homeschool the three youngest children, volunteer for Koins for Kenya, and serve as a counselor in the Relief Society. She made her second trip to Kenya in the summer, with Leigh, and hopes to go every year. See http://www.koinsforkenya.org/ if you want to go along!

Steve and Jami celebrated their 25^th wedding anniversary this year. Both sets of our parents – Ed and Eva, and Glen and Kaye - celebrated their 50^th!

Lauren: " I had a truly wonderful day in the temple surrounded by dear friends and family for the wedding of my oldest daughter Lauren to her Prince Charming Andrew Wright. They were sealed for time and all eternity by none other than my wise, kind father Glen." (11-19)

Lauren remarried in November. Her husband, Andrew, is a high school teacher and an all around nice guy – he even speaks German! He is a good dad to Holden (2 years old in February), who is turning into quite a little comedian. Lauren is going back to BYU this winter to finish her undergraduate degree in Art History, while continuing to work as Steve's assistant.

Leigh: "Congratulations, Leigh, for getting accepted into the Nursing program and the University of Utah! All of your hard work is paying off." (4-23)

Leigh and Austin are living in Salt Lake City where Austin works selling and installing garage door storage racks and Leigh attends Nursing School at the University of Utah. She finished her first semester with flying colors. She just got a job in the Alzheimer's unit at Emeritus, an assisted living center. She especially loves doing clinicals at the VA Hospital, and her volunteer work at a SLC homeless shelter.

Grace: "Has anyone seen Grace? Anyone? Anyone?" (6-23)

Grace turned 18 this year – and promptly disappeared for a week. As a sophomore at the University of Utah, we rarely get to see her even now. She is a bundle of energy and ideas, majoring in psychology with a minor in gender studies. She loves all things "U of U" and enjoyed being part of the MUSS ("Mighty Utah Student Section").

Daniel: "Here's the phone call from Steve: 'Could you go to the church and clean up the broken glass and blood?" (11-26)

Daniel has been practicing, practicing, practicing basketball all year, not without injury. As a result, he made the 10^th grade team. He is over 6 feet tall and gets his driver's license (if he's lucky!) in February. He does well in school with the goal of becoming a doctor one day.

Ted: "You really shouldn't take all of your kids on a field trip to the animal shelter." (4-15)

Ted turned 13 this year. He made the decision to go back to public school in the fall and has done very well. He won the school geography bee and continues to love and play football. He convinced us to visit the animal shelter in the spring and, as a result, we added Charger, a pug, to our animal menagerie.

Josh: "Josh is at a Civil War re-enactment at Camp Floyd. Liz and Tim are with me at the children's museum. School is officially in session." (8-25)

Josh, 11, is the oldest student in our home school this year. He keeps threatening to go back to public school. But when he thinks about all the uninterrupted reading (and playing) time he enjoys now – and how much his mom and little brother and sister enjoy having him around - he continues to stay home, at least on a month to month basis.

Tim: "This is Salem: Came home from running to the post office to find a police officer there. Seems a 6 year old matching my son's description was at the gas station, bought $20 worth of candy, ate a bit, then left the rest at the store. Wanted to know what to do with the candy." (8-23)

Tim loves to "read" Encyclopedia Brown and "write" in his journal. He wants to be an author, and a professional basketball player, and a fireman, and a singer, and ... He is a most creative, giving child. He has about 8 girlfriends, but his best girlfriend is Mom.

Liz: "I have a pair of electric shears up for grabs. Come and get them!" (1-28)

Lizzy continues to be the cutest, most adventurous 4 year old we know. She has a fascination with cutting her hair at the most inconvenient times. We've learned not to turn our backs on her for too long! The quote of the year 2010 belongs to Lizzy. During one of her bedtime prayers, she asked that Jami could "survive being old."

That is our wish to all of you for the New Year. We hope that you all "survive being old"!