Merry Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas, family and friends, from the "Logan Laceys!"

What?! Aren't we the "Las Vegas Laceys?" Not anymore!  In June, we moved from our desert home of seven years to beautiful Cache Valley, Utah.  We are house-sitting for Amy's parents, who are on a two-year LDS Church mission.  We were sad to say good-bye to our wonderful Las Vegas friends, but have been blessed to meet amazing new people here.  It's been fun to enjoy the changing seasons.

Here's a little bit about our family.

Paul continues to work at IBM as a Product Manager for their Smarter Buildings solutions.  One of the perks of this role is that he can work remotely, which made it possible for us to make this move to Logan.  He works from a home office that we all helped redecorate in July.  He loves being able to see the kids when they get home and having a five-step commute to and from work each day.

With this position comes occasional travel.  He recently visited Boston, New York, and Silicone Valley in California.  He's excited for Christmas vacation with his family, enjoying the warm fireplace and all of the awesome Utah snow.

Amy had a busy summer getting three kids registered for new schools, sports, and music lessons.  Since her parents planted a huge garden before they left, she also tried to un-curse her black thumb and not kill everything.  She was very successful and now knows forty-three recipes that use zucchini!

Before we left Las Vegas, Amy helped co-write fifty-two songs for a new online preschool called Miss Humblebee's Academy, which was unveiled in June.  She also had fun working on a few original songs to pitch to TV commercials.  We're still waiting to hear back!

Aaron (12) is in 7th Grade at Mount Logan Middle School.  He loves playing football, ping-pong, and his cello.  He has adjusted very well to our new home and takes advantage of the huge back yard to throw the football and run around with our dog, Shiloh.

He keeps us all laughing with his funny quotes from movies and his favorite show, Studio C.  He had a blast this summer with his new scout troop as they camped and floated down the Green River in Wyoming.

He's become quite the virtuoso on his cello, and was rewarded nicely by being placed in a quartet with three beautiful girls.  He never seems to mind the extra practice required!

In the LDS Church, when a young man turns twelve, he is able to be ordained a deacon and pass the sacrament.  We are proud of Aaron for making the choice to take this step last March.

Jacob (9) is a budding naturalist with a current fascination with birds of prey.  He loves looking for and studying the hawks, eagles, and other birds that frequent our neighbor's huge pine trees.

Prior to the "bird phase," Jacob was totally into sports cars.  He says when he grows up he wants to be a teacher, but drive a Lamborghini.  We wish him well in fusing these two dreams!

Jacob played flag football in a community league and looks forward to playing Junior Jazz starting in January.  Jacob also started playing viola this year with the Wilson Elementary Beginning Orchestra.  Amy's happy to have another violist in the family!

Anna Sophia (7) had a MASSIVE birthday party in September.  Since each of our children were given the option to have a getting-to-know-you party when we first moved in, Anna combined this with her seventh birthday, and the result was a glamorous cowgirl party with over 25 people.

Anna is taking dance lessons from Cache Valley School of Ballet and loved attending the production of the Nutcracker this year.  Her goal is to dance in the Nutcracker one day.

She's a great reader and student, and enjoys her second grade class at Wilson Elementary.  Because Amy is helping in the elementary orchestra, Anna has been able to join them twice a week on her tiny violin.  We thought she might just audit the class, but she's been determined to keep up with the big kids, and even performed in the Christmas concert.

During the summer, Anna is the one who really kept the garden alive with her natural knack for growing things.  She's not afraid to dig in and get dirty!

At this Christmas time, we're so thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas season and a very happy New Year.  We love you all!

Please keep in touch!

2013 Lacey Highlights

2013 Lacey Highlights, a set on Flickr.

Some highlights of our action-packed 2013!

Merry Christmas 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas! I guess that means it's time for our yearly blog post. Perhaps in 2013 we'll update it more often, but for now we'll recap what happened in 2012.

Anna (6) is so excited for Christmas. She asked Santa for a Baby Alive doll, but after seeing the enormous head on one and realizing that the food and diapers cost more than those for a real baby, we convinced her that Santa brings really good “surprises.” Rumor has it that Santa is thinking about bringing her a doll house that she has been wanting for a long time now. Shhh, don't tell!

Anna is a gymnast exraordinaire, bending, arching, twirling, and cartwheeling any chance she gets. She also loves ballet and singing. Anna says school is really fun, except for “all that work.” She enjoys recess, art and socializing the most but does great at reading and math too.

Jacob (8 ½) was baptized this year as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. It was so special to have both sets of grandparents in Logan, Utah, as well as aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. He also participated in flag football on the Bone Crushers team. Although they were the youngest, smallest team in the league, they did a great job. Jacob had some great “tackles” and improved so much as the season went on.

Jacob's biggest passion right now is cupstacking. He was introduced to it in PE at school and really has a knack for this cool, quirky sport. In February he'll participate in his first cupstacking competition, here in Las Vegas. He's also excited to be in Cub Scouts and has earned his Bobcat.

Aaron (11 ½) began middle school this year at Silvestri Jr. High. He's in mostly honors classes which have proven to be challenging for the whole family. He has LOTS of homework every night, especially in math, but is working hard and gets good grades.

Aaron's biggest news is that he has fallen in love this year with Elizabeth...his cello. He has only been playing for a few months but has sounded out the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean and a bunch of Christmas songs. He will start private lessons in January (but that's top secret, too!). He enjoys having Paul as his 11 year-old Scout leader and has enjoyed the campouts and lots of dodge ball.

Amy (35, if you must know!) is busy with music and motherhood. She was hired this year to write 52 songs for an online preschool curriculum that will launch in 2013. She volunteers in the elementary school, leads the primary and ward choirs, and keeps the Lacey household running smoothly.

Paul (not quite 40) is transitioning into his dream job at IBM. After four years of managing the customer support team he has accepted a position as product manager. One of the great perks of this job is that he can work in an office or from home. Right now he's doing a bit of both, much to the delight of Amy and the Lacey beagle, Shiloh, who likes to follow Paul around wherever he goes.

We are so grateful this time of year for our Savior Jesus Christ, for family and friends, and for the many blessings we've been given. Like all of you, we've had our ups and downs and challenges in 2012. We appreciate your love and support through all our highs and lows. We look forward to a great 2013 and wish you a Happy New Year!

Love,

The Laceys

Here are a few photos from a recent photo shoot. Thanks to Jackilyn Smith Photography for the great pics!

2011 Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from sunny, warm Las Vegas! We have so many blessings and appreciate this time of year when we're reminded of all we've been given and all the people we love.

Here's an update of each member of our family:

Anna (5) started Kindergarten this year. Her favorite subjects are arts & crafts, music, and recess. She's a good little reader and works hard at her handwriting. She takes gymnastics, dance, and soccer. Her sports highlight this year was scoring three goals for her team, the Eagles.

Anna also loves singing and recently learned the Christmas song, Away in a Manger. You can hear her singing it here.

Jacob (7) is enjoying his Second Grade year. He's totally into football, especially BYU football after having gone to a game in Provo earlier this year. He's decided he wants to be the "guy who runs with the ball" and practices football every chance he gets.

Now that he's accepted that we cannot build a life-sized roller coaster in our back yard (his dream) he's hoping Santa will bring him a roller coaster model instead. He's a daredevil and can't wait to try the next big thrill. His goal is to ride every roller coaster on the Las Vegas strip as soon as he's tall enough.

Jacob has had a few piano lessons and recorded a duet with Amy, We Three Kings.

Aaron (10 1/2) is Big Man on Campus as a fifth grader. He still loves Star Wars (though primarily the Clone Wars and Lego Star Wars Wii video game) and Harry Potter. He played the lead in his school play, Robinson Crusoe, and has kept busy with Scouts, school, and baseball. He continues to be a great dog trainer to our beagle, Shiloh.

Aaron has a great ear for music and is learning the simplified hymns (with a little bribery from his parents!). He helped arrange this version of Deck the Halls.

Amy and Paul celebrated 13 years of marriage - what a lucky number! Paul is working at IBM, who acquired the company he's been with for the past 5 1/2 years. He works as the manager of the support team, which means he listens to people from big, powerful companies tell him what they need fixed when things go wrong. He teaches Gospel Doctrine at church and helps coach Aaron's baseball team.

Amy keeps the home fires burning and volunteers in PTA. She's still writes music and is currently working with a great country singer, Eric Dodge, in St. George, Utah. She serves as the Primary chorister at church. She had fun re-decorating a couple rooms in our house with her cousin Natalie. She loves being a stay-at-home mom.

Here are a few photos from a recent photo shoot. Thanks to Jackilyn Smith Photography for the great pics!

We hope you have a wonderful Holiday season! Although we're far away from most of you we'll be thinking of you at this special time of year. If the weather gets too cold where you are, come see us!

Please keep in touch.

Love,

The Laceys

Pictures from Paradise

Here are some pictures from our trip to Clearwater, Florida - a.k.a the "President's Club," courtesy of TRIRIGA, the company where Paul works. We're having such an awesome time walking on the beach, eating fancy food, and taking LOOONG uninterrupted naps.

Thanks to Boise relatives for watching our kids, and thank you TRIRIGA for the wonderful trip!!

Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends & Family,

Merry Christmas! As 2009 comes to a close we wanted to give you an update on our family.

Paul has had a busy year at work. In February he accepted a new/expanded position. In addition to managing the training department at TRIRIGA he also manages the Customer Support and Documentation departments. He's hopeful 2010 will be less of a whirlwind!

Amy has had a busy year at home. She volunteers at the boys' school and started a pre-school co-op for Anna. She continues to write music and is excited that 3 or 4 new songs will be on country singer, Eric Dodge's upcoming album. She's currently serving in the Stake Young Women's presidency and loves her new role as Stake Dance chaperone!

Aaron is in 3rd grade at Hummel Elementary. He loves to read, play Lego Star Wars, ride his bike, and play baseball. He's a big dreamer and has his life planned out. He wants to invent the first real lightsaber and become a rich scientist. He also dreams about owning a beagle named Shiloh. Aaron was baptized this year and began Cub Scouts.







Jacob has gone through several all-encompasing phases this year: electric guitars, hammerhead sharks, German Zeppelins/warplanes, rollercoasters, and natural disasters. His current favorite movie shows footage of tornadoes, hurricanes, avalanches, etc. We think we have a meteorologist on our hands (at least until next week when the next phase hits)! He's in Kindergarten and knows who he wants his first girlfriend to be (ohh, 16 is going to come too fast for this kid).





Anna, age 3, started preschool in the Fall, and would go every day if she could. She's been in one phase this year, PRINCESSES. She surprised us by learning to ride her princess bike with training wheels the first time she tried. She loves to sing, dance, dress up, and have tea parties and play dates. But she's also not afraid to mix it up in a sword fight with her "bubbas."







We hope you have a great holiday season. Our goal in 2010 is to update our blog monthly (pretty big stretch given last year's miserable track record). Leave a comment if you want to be included on the updates mailers. Have a very Merry Christmas and we hope 2010 is a fantastic year for you all!

Love,
The Laceys

Anna Singing Snow White

Anna was singing the Snow White song tonight. Listen to it here.

Reminds me of my sisters singing it! "Ah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa..."