Here is our family card and letter for all of our friends and family to enjoy. Stay tuned for the exciting Christmas photos from the family.
Dear Friends and Family,
That time has arrived again for the annual Christmas letter. This year Trish came up to me and said that as payment for marrying her son… I had to write it. While being a part of this family I have noticed four main seasons: trapping season (November- March), irrigating season (April- June), haying season (July- September) and hunting season which occupies the rest of the year. 2008 was awesome year for the Eardley family.
During trapping season, a hallowed holiday dutifully observed and attended sometimes blessed with bobcats other times pack rats, Matt spent his days religiously bouncing through the desert and is hoping for another successful season. In March Matt and Trish spent three weeks in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, and Peru. They saw diving iguanas, sea turtles, and visited Machu Picchu. Trish dove with hammerheads sharks and Matt caught a ride underwater with a sea turtle.
Just as irrigating season began, school ended and since I had a month before Cody and I left for our trip, I became Matt’s ranch hand while Cody welded out in the oil field. I cleaned ditches, built dams, and baby-sat hundreds of pheasants. I had a lot of fun, though following Matt’s irrigation maps was like learning a new language. Starting June, Cody and I boarded a plane and headed to Central America where we spent six weeks living in El Salvador doing humanitarian work with an organization called Help International. We built houses, loved orphans …so much that I wanted to bring one home, and changed bandages in hospitals. We also took a few trips while we were there. We traveled to Guatemala where we roasted marshmallows on running lava and went on a boat ride across a lake with rocks that float. In Utila, an island off the coast of Honduras, we went scuba diving in the Caribbean and Cody caught his first shark.
In late summer during haying season, Cody and I returned and I went back to work for Matt and Cody the oil field. This time I raked hay, turned bales and hauled wood. In August Trish ran her first half- marathon, 13.1 miles, in under two hours. Go Trish! She also taught a paleontology class and got scuba certified. In early September Timmy came home off his mission in Peru and is now waiting to start school again in January. Trish was able to catch a plane to Peru to pick up her missionary. They spent 2 weeks together touring Tim’s mission and meeting the Peruvian people.
Timmy was the high achiever of the hunting season this year. During the second week of September when the boys left for their annual hunt out of Jackson, Tim shot an elk and a deer. Then he shot two doe antelope as well as a buck antelope and, to top the season off, he took down a charging bull moose at twenty yards. The boys really have had a good year trekking through the wilds together getting reacquainted.
The Eardleys have had a grand year, one filled with memories to last a lifetime. The best memories come from spending time with family. We are blessed to have a close family, live in such a peaceful setting on the ranch, and share work and play together. But best of all we are blessed to be part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and receive the blessings it brings at this Christmas season and throughout the year.
Merry Christmas 2008
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