2022 O'Gwin Family Christmas Letter

Things That Did NOT Happen This Year

2022 O’Gwin Christmas Letter

 1)     Chris did NOT deploy (hooray for actually getting to live with my husband!) . . . but he did travel to Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar, trying to keep the dumpster fire known as the middle east under control.

2)     Stacy did NOT finish her master’s degree (that’s a heckuva lotta papers to write!) . . . but she did knock out eight of her ten courses (Yay! Only two to go!)

3)     The O’Gwins did NOT move (hooray for no unpacking!) . . . but they did evacuate for a week during Hurricane Ian . . . and spent a few weekends afterward doing hurricane cleanup for those who got the direct hit after the near miss in Tampa.

 

4)   Aly did NOT slow down (that girl’s a motorcycle without brakes!) . . . but she did finish her mission to Paraguay and chill with her family in Tampa for a couple of weeks before heading back to BYU (where she resumed boating, hiking [rim to rim at the Grand Canyon], attending concerts, running a ½ marathon, snowboarding, and occasionally doing some schoolwork.)

5)     Lise did NOT attend her graduation (even though she graduated summa cum laude with a 3.9 GPA!) . . . but she did attend Niceville High’s graduation, enjoyed one last hurrah with her friends, saved a buttload of money working, and headed out to start college at BYU (We’ve got another Cougar!)

 6)     Aly and Lise did NOT come home for Thanksgiving (plane tickets are expensive!) . . . but they did enjoy a lot of family lunches and dinners with extended family in Utah.

 

7)     Kate did NOT continue with the IB program (that girl needs some sleep!) . . . but she did try some new things: her first AP course, light crew in Drama Club, FSY, and getting her driver’s permit!

 

8)     Kylie did NOT grow taller than Stacy (hoping she breaks 5’ next year!) . . . but she did become a young woman, learn to play the French horn, do a bunch of dog-sitting, and play Miss Honey in a performance of Matilda.

 

9)     The O’Gwins did NOT go to Disneyworld or Universal (Florida has so much more to offer than amusement parks!) . . . but they did visit the Florida Keys & the Everglades, attend two girls’ camps, kayak in freshwater springs, go on a Caribbean cruise to Mexico and the Cayman Islands, and attend soccer, baseball, and hockey games.

 10) This year we did NOT forget the reason for the season (Joy to the World!  The Lord has come!) . . . but we did want to express our love for our Savior and also let all of you know how much we love you and are grateful for your place in our lives.  Merry Christmas!

Utah Christmas (December 2022)

 

With Kate's semester exams being the last few days of school, we couldn't fly out to Utah until Christmas Eve.  But we got the direct flight that left at 6 am Tampa time, so we got into Salt Lake around 9:30 am and had the whole day.  Let the party begin.  

It was super awesome to have all my girls back together.  I could tell how much they had missed each other and there was a ton of laughing and giggling going on.

Christmas was on a Sunday this year.  We got up and went to sacrament meeting, and then the girls changed right back into their pjs to open presents.  My sister, Laura, and her family and step-kids were over as well, which was super fun.

Lise got the best wrapped present of all time when I used all the scraps of wrapping paper to wrap her new snowboard.

Later that day, we headed down to Sean and Missy's house to see Chris's brothers and his mom.  Lots of fun visiting and catching up there, and I brought an amazing veggie platter. ;)

On some of the other down days, the family got acai bowls and Aly and Lise did a run to my Dad's old house (about 1 mile from his new house in South Jordan.)

One day, all the endowed adults went to the temple to do a session and then went to lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant.  It was super awesome to have Aly be able to come with us.

Aly had to bug out for a few days to be a bridesmaid in her friend, Adi's, wedding in Arizona.

Meanwhile, we had to do our traditional ice-skating day.  This is always Kate's favorite activity of the trip.

The Jackman Siblings had their traditional Sibling dinner, which is always a blast.  We went on Spencer's bday and so he got a special treat.  Doesn't he look surprised?

We had a big bash for New Year's.  Tons of great food.  Look at all the guys with the meats!  And only a little bit of 7-layer dip survived.

We played a bunch of games - including the all-time favorite, the candy bar game!  Then when it was just about midnight we went outside, lit a few sparklers, banged on some pots and pans, and yelled our guts out.  (Then we ran back inside cuz it was freezing.)

The next Monday we did it all again because the Utes were in the Rose Bowl!  More fantastic food, hanging out, cheering, yelling, etc.  Good times.  

After all that rot-gut, everyone really needed to brush their teeth.  Haha.  Actually, I love this picture because it just shows my girls having fun hanging out in the basement with their aunt and uncle.  

One day that week we took the girls and met Grammy (Chris's mom) at the Jordan River temple to do a bunch of baptisms.  I think she had like 60 girls' names for them to do and we finished them all!  Grammy and I got to be the witnesses and Chris did the baptisms.   It was awesome.  I always love being in the temple with my family.  Afterward, we went to lunch, which was also fun.

That night, my brother, Matt, had our family over to dinner so we could see the basement that he'd finished - it turned out really nice!  And the food was delish.

The other big thing that we did over this Christmas break was look at houses.  Chris would be putting in his retirement papers in February (1 year out from retirement).  He had finally decided that it was time to move on to the next stage of life.  So Stacy had been researching where to live for the past 6 months.  She had settled on Northern Utah in Davis or Weber County for affordability, the rural feel, good schools, and job opportunities for Chris.  What we were looking for was a 4+ bed, 3+ bath, office, 3200+ sf, 3 car garage with a decent backyard (>.25 acres).  We spent 2 days looking at about 25 houses with a realtor.  Aly came with us on the second day, which was fun.  On that second day, we looked at the light green house below.  It checked all the boxes and Chris said he knew this was the house.  That took me by surprise a little bit because we were only supposed to be getting a feel for what we were looking for and then buy a house closer to the summer when we'd be moving.  Plus, it was a little farther north than I was hoping for.  But I prayed about it and felt good about it.  We were flying back to Tampa the very next day, but we went for it anyway. . . 

So, it was a little crazy (but when is our life ever not?!?), but we ended up putting in the offer on our house during our 3-hour layover in LA on our way home.  Our realtor was great to work with while we were giving him all our info and getting it done.   The house is in a brand new neighborhood in West Haven, Utah, about 15 minutes west of Ogden, and pretty close to the Great Salt Lake.  It's a 5 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath, 3 car garage, 4200 SF, on a .38 acre lot.  We are turning one of the bedrooms into an office, so it's perfect.  

Meanwhile, the girls were exhausted from all the late-night partying and the early flight.  We got them some food and then they crashed on the floor while Chris and I were getting the house situation taken care of.  

Thanks for a great trip, Utah.  This summer, we'll be back to stay!