Dear Friends and Family,                                  Dec. 9, 2018

What a memorable and magnificent year!  As I reflect on the past 12 months, what stands out most are the relationships that we renewed with many of you. We visited many wonderful places and saw many of God’s beautiful creations, however, it is the connections with the people in our lives that has made this year especially rewarding.

Here are some of the many ways we connected with loved ones this year:

Homeschooling our younger kids

I pulled the youngest three out of public school in January in order to prepare them for our summer Europe trip. We focused on our German, French, and European history…and boy, did it pay off! What surprised us most, was just how much we all loved homeschooling! In fact, we loved it so much, that we are still doing it. It has been the best way to connect with some of my favorite people in the world.

Michaela and Joseph’s Wedding

After months of preparing for the wedding and the reception, we were thrilled to welcome our new son-in-law, Joseph Billings, to our family on June 2^nd. The wedding was beautiful and the reception, which was held under the fir trees in our yard, was picture perfect. The best part, of course, was seeing the joy and love in the faces of our newlyweds. It was a wonderful time to connect with so many family members and with our precious Oregon friends (who are like family to us).

Price Family Reunion

We figured that as long as everyone is together for a wedding, why not throw in a family reunion? The only sibling missing, was my brother Krey, who still lives in Australia with his family. We sure missed them! We had 4 days of bonding, laughing, beach combing, swimming, playing, and connecting with grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins

Europe Trip

This was the summer for our long-awaited Europe trip. We spent 8 weeks traveling around Europe and basking on my childhood dairy farm in the alps. The kids even attended my old elementary school for a few days. We traveled through Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, France (and the awesome amusement park Puy du Fou) and Switzerland. We also spent over a week in Italy. It was an absolutely amazing and epic trip! But even better than all the sight-seeing, was connecting with so many wonderful friends…my oldest and dearest childhood friends…and sharing them with my family!

Girls Camp

I spent a week overseeing our stake girls’ camp. It was so fun to spend time with so many women—young and old! I absolutely loved seeing them each connect with their Savior as we focused on our theme “Peace in Christ.”

High School Reunion

In August, I flew out to Michigan for my 30^th Grandville High School reunion. It was so fun to connect with my closest high school friends and spend some quality time with them. I also loved seeing many classmates who I haven’t seen in 30 years! It brought back so many wonderful memories.

Utah Trip and Wedding Reception

We drove down to Utah to drop kids off for college and to be there for Joseph and Michaela’s Utah reception. It was fun reconnecting with friends from all different phases in our lives: college and German program friends, Texas friends, Oregon friends who have moved to Utah, and many extended family members.

Thanksgiving Shurts Reunion

We recently returned from a Thanksgiving trip to Utah, where we were able to spend some quality time with our college kids (who all live in Provo) and our Shurts extended family. We also fit in several visits to my 96-year-old grandma Krey. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with dear family members.

It’s been a wonderful year. I certainly have learned to better appreciate the beautiful people and relationships that bless our lives. I am especially grateful for my relationship with my Savior, who is the source of love and light in this world. I love that we get to end each year by celebrating His birth and focusing on His message! May each of us share in the true Christmas Spirit that originates from the Savior of the world, namely, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Karl & Nina

Ben, Michaela & Joseph, Kiana, Dallin, Kandra, Jonathan, Clarissa, and Simon

Benjamin (26) has been studying web design and computer animation at Utah Valley University. UVU is a great fit for him. He’s excelling in his classes and is a TA in several of them. He blows his professors away with his amazing 3-D creations. He really likes the fact that his schoolwork is actually something that he would choose to do in his free time! He enjoys living so close to his siblings (his apartment is literally across the street from his sisters). We love hearing about the times they all get together.

Michaela (24) married Joseph Billings on June 2nd this year. They met during her study-abroad in Austria last summer. Joseph speaks fluent German, so, try as we might, we can’t keep any secrets from him. He is a great guy and fits right into our family. Michaela and Joseph are both studying at BYU. Joseph is finishing his undergrad in German and taking pre-med classes and Michaela is majoring in political science with a business minor.

Kiana (24) recently got engaged to Janson Lesser. She and Janson plan on getting married this March. They are such a cute couple and we’re so excited for them both. Kiana had a busy summer. She toured with the BYU folk dancers, spent 4 weeks with us in Europe and spent the remaining time studying and working. She will graduate this April in Dietetics. She continues to be very involved with the Folk Dance team. She also started her own hair styling business and stays quite busy doing bridal hair.

Dallin (22) has been at BYU since January. He’s throwing discus with the BYU track team and doing great. It’s fun to see his excitement as he improves and gets stronger. This summer, he flew back to his mission area in Brazil to visit his friends. He spent the rest of the summer doing summer sales in Arizona. It was not the easiest job and he’s glad that it’s over. Dallin is currently studying exercise science. He stays busy with all his workouts, weight-lifting and classes. We’re excited to see where all his hard work will take him!

Kandra (19) is a sophomore at BYU and has had a great year so far. She and Kiana have really enjoyed being roommates. They have a fun group of girls in their apartment. Kandra is tentatively majoring in neuroscience, but is still making her final decision. She works as a security guard at the BYU Art Museum (along with her two sisters). She had one of the best summers ever, since she qualified as one of the “younger” kids and got to accompany us on our entire 2-month European vacation. We LOVED having her along!

Jonathan (11) is growing up so fast, but he’s still as sweet and tender as ever! He really enjoys homeschooling. It’s even more fun, now that his siblings have joined him. We attend a weekly school with other homeschoolers. He is in a fun “transitions” class, where he gets to go on lots of fieldtrips, learns all sorts of fun things, and then writes about them. He loves math, science and history. Jonathan absolutely loved our Europe trip, especially seeing all the castles. His other interests are soccer, violin, and piano.

Clarissa (10) started homeschooling last January (along with her brothers). We’ve been having so much fun learning together. She is an avid reader and loves to write, just like her big sister, Michaela. Clarissa still plays the viola and has started taking piano, too. Her other activities are soccer, basketball and ballet. She recently performed in the Nutcracker. Clarissa loved traveling around Europe, but she especially loved staying on the dairy farm and helping with cows. However, her passion is horses. She loves all things horsey!

Simon (10) really loves learning about history. On our trip, he especially liked seeing Rome, Pompeii, and so many other cool historical sights. However, like Clarissa, his all-time favorite part of our trip was helping in the stall on the dairy farm. He decided he LOVES cows! At home, Simon is really enjoying homeschooling and our weekly homeschool academy that we attend. He stays busy with soccer, basketball, piano, and orchestra, where he plays the cello. Simon loves his friends and considers his siblings his best friends of all!

2018 Shurts Photo Album: https://tinyurl.com/Shurts2018