You can call me Doug

Hello to all the family and friends of the Eves of Sparks, Nevada.

I am the family Christmas Tree, you can call me Doug. I’m not a REAL tree, so I don’t have that wonderful Christmas Tree smell (Alexis has a candle for that). I don’t leave needles everywhere either, so the family keeps me around. 

I’ve been with them since Rachel was a baby, so I’ve seen this family grow and change. Dave left his computer near me for long enough that I have the chance to let you all about what’s changed over the last year, (while I was stuffed in a box out on the cold garage floor). Keep in mind that I’m a fake tree, so some of this may not make much sense. 

Where to start? 

Well, as usual I was taken out of my box and reassembled amid the chaos of cleaning up from Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping and Jakob’s birthday preparation/celebration. 

With his birthday just a week after Thanksgiving, the family decided to have Jakob' s friend party early, because once the holidays start, it’s tough to fit an extra party in anywhere. This year his birthday was especially crazy because he turned 8 years old, which means he got to be baptized by Dave, and he started Cub Scouts (He’s already started building his Pinewood Derby car; it’s going to be a lightning bolt). Seriously though, he had like four parties! He didn’t seem to mind that.

All of the kids are getting taller. I wonder what they feed them when I’m not around? What ever it is, it’s made these kids sprout like fir trees! 

Jakob is in the second grade this year, but to hear him read, you’d think he was in the fifth! He loves school and his grades show it. He has also started taking piano lessons from his Grammie Chamberlain. When he’s not playing Pokemon with his big brother Ian, he can often be heard plunking around on the Piano (sometimes even a tune he’s made up himself).

Ian is 10 ½ and is the tallest fifth-grader with the kindest heart and sweetest smile. He’s so tall, he can easily reach the angel on top of me now. He is in the 5^th/6^th grade SWAS class this year and is starting to get the hang of all the projects. He just finished a really fun Country Project on Greece and got to dress up in a Toga and serve traditional Greek cookies to his class. He has a wonderful teacher, principal and school speech therapist, (not to mention all the other dedicated educators on his team) who are helping him so much as he works on staying on task. He made the Honor Roll again and is still planning on being a Mechanical Engineer when he grows up. 

Ian is now in Webelos in scouts and is excited about working on his Arrow of Light, as well as all of the activity badges that will get him there. He loves to make things with paper. He recently made an incredible pop-up card for Jakob’s baptism and a pretty paper daisy for Alexis. He is extremely creative and is becoming a really talented writer. He’s also loving all the reading he gets to do and is finding that he enjoys more genres than just Fantasy (although that’s still his favorite). His passion lately is Pokemon and he is building a pretty impressive deck. He and his friends play at recess and he’s teaching Jakob all about it.

Rachel is almost officially a teenager!!!! She’ll be 13 less than a week after the New Year and her parents seem a little nervous about it. Maybe that’s why they let the kids put me up and decorate me almost all by themselves this year. They really have no reason to be nervous though. From what I’ve seen, Rachel is a pretty amazing young lady. She seems to be getting used to middle school pretty well, even though she gets up at 5 am because school starts at 7:30.

Every morning Rachel makes sure to read from ‘For the Strength of Youth’ with one or both of her parents and she is a fantastic student. She loves being in Young Women’s and is always excited to bake a treat. She has even started selling her special Cinnamon Rolls at school to other students. After some experimenting, she found the icing that she loves for them and I think she knows the recipe for the Cinnamon Rolls by heart. When the Youth had a combined Pinewood Derby race, Rachel finally got to make her own car, and it’s totally one of a kind. She made it look like an Owl and it’s proudly displayed along side of Ian and David’s cars. It really is amazing.

As far as other family members, there is a cat they call Nim that I rarely see because she spends most of her time hiding in Rachel’s room. There’s also a cute little chocolate colored Chihuahua they call Lucy. I see a lot of Lucy and the family obviously loves her. I’ve heard Alexis say on more than one occasion that she sure loves Lucy. And Dave keeps saying, ‘Lucy, you’ve got some ‘splanin to do.’ Not sure what that means, but she does like to chew on things. Luckily, she’s left my branches and ornaments alone so far. 

Every morning, way before anyone else in the house is up, Alexis and Lucy go out walking together with Alexis’ friend and her dog Sampson. Then Lucy usually gets to see her brother Charlie when Alexis goes to exercise with another friend.

Although Alexis is not working right now, she certainly is keeping busy. She is one of the Ward Activity Coordinators (along with one of her good friends) and she’s also the Relief Society Activity leader. Last Saturday they put on a ward Christmas breakfast that everyone was talking about! They had delicious pancakes, breakfast burritos, monkey bread and even cocoa. The primary children all dressed up in amazing costumes and put on a wonderful musical nativity. I heard it was super cute and very touching. I love the big guy, but it sounds like it was so much better than sitting on Santa’s lap. 

Now Alexis is working on a progressive dinner activity for the Relief Society. It’s this Friday and those women are going to have a great time. She and her committee are making really cute Gratitude Journals for each of them. Besides all of that, Alexis just finished taking a class to prepare for the Pharmacy Tech certification test and hopes to be working in a pharmacy soon. She’s also enjoying getting to spend more time with the kids, Dave and Lucy.

Now old man Eves is a nice guy and all, but he’s taller than I am, and I’m a tree, so I don’t know about him sometimes. He’s still working with the young men at church and he’s really enjoying it. It gave him an excuse to make a Pinewood Derby car, so he’s happy. Actually, he’s really loving working with the youth and gets to work with some fantastic youth leaders as well.

Dave is still working weekends, although he does have a new job. He’s still at the Wal-Mart DC but he’s now the Receiving Office manager. He loves it so far. It’s giving him a lot of opportunities to learn and he doesn’t have to wear thermals in the summer anymore. It’s one of the few jobs there that can give him the flexibility to leave for church almost every week. He feels very, very blessed.

One of the other family holiday traditions that I get to enjoy with the Eves is posting all of your Christmas cards on the entry closet door. They love to hear from each of you this time of year I often see them enjoying your greetings over and over throughout the season. I know that’s one of the things they enjoy the most because I’ve never seen them take it down before I go back in my box for another 11 months. They feel so blessed to have such wonderful and inspiring friends and family.

Speaking of the day I have to go back in my box, Dave is planning to start a Biggest Looser challenge starting January 1^st, 2011. I know that at times you may have already thought he was a big looser, but at least he was a good sport about it. Anyway, if any of you would like to join in on his challenge, keep an eye on his facebook page for more details.

In order to save REAL trees, I have recommended to the Eves family that they post this long letter online rather than print a copy for each of you. I hope you’ve enjoyed my take on what’s up in this little house, with this happy family.

Love Doug, the Eves family’s faithful fake Christmas Tree.

We Love You :)

Here are some more fun pictures from this past year...

This is the view of Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe from the Flume Trail. Dave took the Young Men on a bike ride there, just so he could see this again!

Fathers and Sons Camp Out 2010

In May we got our new 'baby' Lucy and the kids fought the cold at Lake Tahoe for Memorial Day.

Alexis and Dave went to West VA to visit Susan and took a fun trip to DC. The buttered bread is actually a huge painting in the National Gallery.

Lots of fun this year with family and friends. Rachel was Jane Austin, the kids reading the paper with Mark Twain, Cupcakes, family reunion, trek, Halloween (Mummy Fairy, Ninja and Die) and then there's Lucy. We are so blessed!