2008 Christmas Newsletter

Marshyl Cloward Family
Christmas Newsletter 2008

Marshyl is still at Heritage Makers as the Director of Customer Service/Tech Support. He loves his job and enjoys the people he works with. He is the Assist. Scoutmaster in the ward and has been having fun on the many camp outs that they go on. His love of basketball can never be dampened as we learned when he got hit in the mouth playing and knocked out 2 of his front teeth. He went right back to playing a few weeks later and thanks to cosmetic dentistry will be as good as new by the end of the year.

Jen still claims the title, “Domestic Goddess” in all that she does around the house. She has stayed quite busy teaching the kids in school, climbing Mt. Wash-more and chauffeuring kids all over the county. She is able to snatch an occasional second to read a good book or attend Mom’s Night Out with her friends.

Kaiden (12) has officially reached a milestone in his life. I am not talking about turning 12 and receiving the priesthood, or receiving his Arrow of Light and moving into Boy Scouts, or being old enough to stay home and babysit or even the deepening of his voice. Although those are all wonderful and important things that happened to him this year, the true milestone was to finally be as tall as his mom. I know…that’s not saying much, she’s not that tall; but a milestone none-the-less.

Nic (10) is the athlete in our family. He can always be found playing basketball of riding his bike. He loves being in Webelos in scouts and doesn’t think it is fair that Kaiden gets to go on overnight camp outs and he doesn’t. Nic loves spending time with his siblings or playing with his friends.

Luke (8) also reached a milestone this year. It was turning 8 and being baptized. His baptism was a very special time and he was able to spend it with most of his close family and friends. He has also started Cub Scouts and loves it. He is constantly making new friends and is becoming quite the social butterfly always flitting from one friend to the next and having a great time with everyone.

Afton (5) is still our princess. She never lets us forget it. She dances around the house singing and loves any & all attention that she gets. She loves school and out-writes her brothers every day. She loves learning to read and is picking it up very quickly. She loves having a new baby around the house and is a very good helper with him.

Makensi (2) is Afton’s shadow. Where ever Afton is, Kensi can be found there too. She loves to play dress up and changes her clothes at least 5 times every day. She loves to sing and is always ready with a stirring rendition of “the ABC song”, “Old MacDonald” or “I am a Child of God.” She loves nursery at church and playing with her friends. About half way through the year we realized that she should be in her “terrible twos” but we never noticed because she is so cute and fun to have around all of the time.

Our biggest news of the year was the birth of Garrett Marshyl on 10 April. He has been a wonderful baby and smiles all the time. He is content and happy and a joy to have in our family. He has slept through the night almost from the beginning and loves to hang out and watch what is going on around him. And there is ALWAYS something going on around here. He can sit up and roll over and has 2 teeth. He will be crawling before the end of the year. He has surgery to reconstruct his head in October and everything went perfectly. Even though it doesn’t seem possible, he is even cuter now than before.

We hope this letter finds you all healthy and happy.
We love you and wish you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Love,
Marshyl, Jen, Kaiden, Nicolas, Luke, Afton, Makensi, & Garrett