2014 Christmas Photo and Letter

Dear Friends and Family,                                                      Dec. 8, 2014

It’s amazing to me how quickly time passes. I love how each chapter in our lives offers new experiences, insights and opportunities. Our latest chapter has our big kids making their transitions into adulthood and our little kids leaving babyhood completely behind as they enter grade school. Rather than feeling sad about all the changes, I’m finding that I really love the beauty and joy that come with each season of life.

It’s a little strange to be down to only 5 kids at home. And although we really miss our three oldest, their absence has allowed us to focus on the next kids in line. I’ve enjoyed seeing the transformation that happens when a previously “middle/younger” child becomes the oldest (at home). It gives that child (or both children, if you have twins) a chance to lead, to grow and to shine (and to be the boss). And I guess everyone needs that chance. J

Here are some of our memorable experiences this year:

• A spring break trip down to Porterville, California, to visit Karl’s dad and his wife, Novie. Also enjoyed some sight-seeing in San Francisco.
• Nina enters the blogging world with her blog:  Bringing Up 8 Bilingual Babies. It’s already received well over 10K hits with readers from all across the globe. http://nonnativebilingualparents.blogspot.com/
• Dallin breaks the school record in discus and then goes on to take first in state. Way to go, Dallin!
• Michaela and Kiana come home from college and we get to spend a delightful, fun-filled summer with our two amazing girls.
• Michaela’s mission call to the GERMAMY FRANKFURT mission! Yes, we are all thrilled. Love that she gets to use her German!
• Regional youth dance festival. Huge production, lots of practice and time. But it turned out amazing! Our kids danced the “Cotton Eye Joe”. See videos at: http://pdx-ldsyouthdancefestival.weebly.com/
• Price family reunion in McCall, Idaho. Lots of fun flying, swimming, boating, playing and bonding with cousins. So fun. We also drive down to Utah and spend time bonding with our Shurts cousins.
• Girls camp and AFY (Adventure for Youth) for Kandra. Camp Helaman for Dallin. Both kids had fantastic times.
• 4-H and the county fair. This year, Dallin showed a steer and Kandra showed a lamb. Nina still helps lead our Banks Barn Busters 4-H club.
• High Adventure. Dallin backpacked and mountain biked with the scouts in central Oregon. Nina took the 16-18 year old girls back packing, mountain biking and inner tubing along the beautiful McKenzie River. So, so, so fun!
• We get a horse!! One of those little “dream come true” things (Thanks, Jana!) Nina LOVES her relaxing and rejuvenating rides through the countryside…heaven!
• We send Michaela off on her mission in August, preceded by lots of fun family activities organized by Michaela so that she could squeeze every last memorable moment out of her summer before leaving on her mission.
• Our baby twins start Kindergarten. It’s a new season for Nina, who has a few days each week without kids at home. Kiana starts her 3^rd semester at BYU Idaho.
• Knee surgery for Nina. Fairly quick recovery. Happy to be back running 2 months later.
• Thanksgiving Surprise: Karl’s sister, Doreene, and Kiana drive up to Oregon to surprise Karl and kids.

It’s been a wonderful year and we feel very blessed. Karl continues to be Mr. Amazing. He’s constantly working on projects around the house. He’s an involved, supportive dad and a caring husband. On top of all that, he also makes dinner every Sunday!! He’s still at Intel in the server division doing strategic product planning. At church, he is in the high priest group leadership. I am still Young Women’s president over almost 50 amazing girls. I really love working with the youth.

We are so grateful for you, our dear friends and family. We are especially grateful for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. At this time of year, our thoughts turn to Him and His exemplary life and His ultimate sacrifice. We pray that you also have felt the beautiful peace and joy that He brings into our lives. And we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, Karl & Nina Ben, Michaela, Kiana, Dallin, Kandra, Jonathan, Clarissa and Simon

 

Merry Christmas

The Shurts Kids:

	Ben (Elder Shurts)(22) is serving a 2 year mission in the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission. He started in March 2013 and will be home in March 2015. He has served in Marquette, Oneida, Maustin, Madison, and is currently in Elkhorn. He loves his mission and the people of Wisconsin. He’s had lots of fun and interesting experiences and we love to read his insightful letters each week. We can’t believe he only has 3 months to go! He LOVES to get letters. Feel free to send him an email at benjamin.shurts@myldsmail.net. You can follow his progress on his blog: http://whileinwisconsin.blogspot.com/.
	Michaela (Sister Shurts)(20) spent the first part of the year at BYU in Provo. Upon arriving home for the summer, she received her mission call to the Germany Frankfurt Mission. She spent the rest of the summer working two jobs: Del Taco and Old Navy, and spending time with family. She left in August for the England MTC for 2 weeks (she tested out of the 6 week German instruction) and she is now enthusiastically serving her mission in Germany. Her first area was Wetzlar and she’s currently in Herne and loving every minute. Her email is michaela.shurts@myldsmail.net and her blog is http://missmichaleaann.blogspot.com/
	Kiana (20) is attending BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. She was home for the summer and worked 3 jobs (one was at Old Navy with Michaela). She’s our active, athletic girl. She ran a half marathon with Michaela as well as the famous Hood to Coast relay race in August. She also ran cross country at BYU-I this past fall. Kiana is taking a heavy load of pre-nursing classes. She hopes to apply to several nursing programs in the spring. Kiana is constantly in demand as a hairstylist. She has styled hair for proms, weddings and even several brides, but her favorite and most appreciative hair model is still Clarissa.
	Dallin (18) is in 12th grade and thoroughly enjoying his senior year! He’s a friendly, funny, happy kid who enjoys life. He pretty much lives for track season and is passionate about throwing the discus. After breaking the school record and taking first in state last spring, he has high hopes for this coming track season. He already has the attention of several universities and hopes to continue his throwing career in college. He’s also one of the top players on the varsity basketball team. In his spare time, he plays piano, hangs out with friends and writes music on the computer. https://soundcloud.com/dallin-shurts.
	Kandra (15) is in 10th grade. Last year, she attended a different high school for a while, but decided that despite its limited course offerings, she prefers our small home-town Banks High School to a bigger school. She is now happy to be back at Banks. She played soccer this fall. She has her drivers permit and LOVES to drive. She can’t wait to get her license in March. She’s a devoted older sister to her little siblings. Kandra is an amazing artist and a talented pianist. She enjoys being with her many friends, but her favorite place is at home and her all-time favorite activity is reading books in front of the fire on cold and rainy days.
	Jonathan (7) is a first grader and absolutely loves school and his teacher. It’s fun to see him reading everything in sight. He really enjoys learning new things. He especially likes figuring out how things work. I’m guessing we have a future engineer in the making. Jonathan is a sweet, pleasant, thoughtful and sensitive little guy. He’s also the most thankful little person I’ve ever met. His cute night time prayers take FOREVER as he always has to list ALL his blessings. He consistently thanks God for things like the color of the walls, the “new” fridge we got a year and a half ago, the tooth he lost last year, and the list goes on and on.
	Clarissa (6) lights up whenever she’s around people or animals. She LOVES being in Kindergarten, where she’s made lots of friends. She’s quickly learning to read in both English and German. Clarissa is such a thoughtful caring little girl. She’s always trying to make everyone happy. She loves to help around the house and when someone is sad, she’ll drop everything to cheer them up. She started ballet this year and absolutely loves being in a class with all the little girls. This weekend, she’ll be performing in the Nutcracker!
	Simon (6) really enjoys being a big Kindergartner. He would love to catch up in age with Jonathan, but is frustrated that Jonathan keeps getting having birthdays. All three little kids still speak exclusively German at home. At school, they’re all enrolled in ESL and making great improvements in English. Simon is our athlete/warrior. Give him a ball or a weapon (preferably a sword) and he’s happy! He is constantly on the move, jumping off tables and sofas, climbing up door frames. When you add all that boyish energy to an intensely sweet and sensitive little personality the result is a charming, endearing, and irresistible little guy.

2014 Shurts Photo Album: tinyurl.com/Shurts2014

2013 Christmas Photo and Letter

Dear Friends and Family,                                Dec. 7, 2013

It finally happened! It’s what I’ve been dreading for over 20 years: Our children are starting to leave the nest! And I thought that only happened to OLD people! We started out this year with all 8 children living at home. Now, as we close the year with only 5 children, I wonder how and when we got “old?” It doesn’t seem possible. But it hasn’t been nearly as awful as I imagined it to be. On the contrary, we have actually had a wonderful and memorable year.

We started off the year with Ben’s mission call. He was called to serve in the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission. In March, we drove him down to Utah. We spent a week visiting with family and then dropped him off at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah. It was hard to say goodbye, but we are so proud of him and the amazing work that he is doing. It’s so fun to get his uplifting and insightful letters each week.

Besides sending off our missionary, the rest of the spring was consumed by our busy high-schoolers, especially our two graduating seniors. Michaela and Kiana finished their high school careers with a bang. We’re so grateful that they so thoroughly enjoyed their teenage years and that they will have so many wonderful memories to look back on.

We had a fun summer. My brother, Krey, and his family visited from Australia. We hadn’t seen them for 4 years. It was fun to see how much his kids have grown up. Our three older girls had lots of fun at the church girls’ camp together. Dallin did a 50-mile backpacking trip in the Olympic National Forest with the scouts. Nina took all the 16-18 year old girls at church on a high adventure which included hiking, boating and a ropes course. And summer wouldn’t be complete without 4-H and the county fair. Dallin showed his steer and Kandra showed a lamb. I’m still a leader in the 4-H club and enjoy being with all the kids.

When summer came to a close, we put our sweet Michaela on a plane and sent her off to BYU in Provo, Utah. It was hard to say goodbye. Then 3 weeks later, I drove Kiana out to Rexburg, Idaho to start BYU-I. After tucking in Kiana, I drove down to Utah to check up on Michaela and make sure she was settled. It was fun being able to spend some one-on-one time with my girls.

Jonathan started Kindergarten this year. He loves school and his English is improving very quickly. He graduated out of the ESL program within 2 months. At home, the three youngest still speak exclusively German to us and to each other.

One of the highlights of the year was our surprise Thanksgiving trip. Our college girls had been a little homesick, so we secretly packed up the family and drove first to BYU-I to surprise Kiana and took her with us to BYU Provo to surprise Michaela. It was such a fun week and we loved being together. We had lots of bonding with siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and grandparents.

Karl recently took a new job at Intel. He is now in the server division doing strategic product planning. At church he is in the high priest group leadership. I am still Young Women’s President over almost 50 amazing girls. I really love working with the youth.

The most difficult and heart-wrenching experience I had this year was watching my sister and her family deal with the loss of their sweet little 5 month old baby, Jacob. I was so grateful for my capable kids and husbandwho took care of everything at home so that I could be with Kamber and her family. It was a sacred and beautiful experience to be in their home and feel the Savior’s intense love for little Jacob and his sweet family during that incomprehensibly difficult time. I came away from that experience with a full heart, a deep appreciation for eternal families and a stronger resolve to put the Lord first in my life.

I love that we get to end each year by celebrating the birth of our Lord. Our hearts are filled with peace, love and joy when we center our lives on His teachings. May each of us share in the true Christmas Spirit that originates from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Love,

Karl & Nina

Ben, Michaela, Kiana, Dallin, Kandra,

Jonathan, Clarissa and Simon

The Shurts Kids:                2013 Shurts Photo Album: tinyurl.com/Shurts2013

Ben (Elder Shurts)(21) is serving a 2 year mission in the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission. He started in March and will be home in March 2015. His first area was in Marquette, Michigan and now he is near Oneida, Wisconsin. He is really enjoying the people and the area. He LOVES to get letters. Feel free to send him an email at benjamin.shurts@myldsmail.net. He would love to get some snail mail: 7111 W. Edgerton Ave STE #100, Greenfield, WI 53220. You can follow his progress on his blog: http://whileinwisconsin.blogspot.com/.

Michaela (19) is attending BYU in Provo, Utah and loving it. She thoroughly enjoyed her senior year. She was involved in leadership and track (5th in state in polevault), was girls camp president, threw many parties, was laurel president, and just basically kept so extremely busy that she made the rest of us very tired. In the summer she got a job at Del Taco. And in August, she headed off to college. She is majoring in recreation management. Whenever I tell people that she would like to be a corporate event planner, they nod their heads and say: “Yep, that sounds like something Michaela would love.”

Kiana (19) is attending BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. She also finished her high school career in high gear. Along with ballroom and track (400m, 4x400, 4x100, 800m and pole vault), she was also very involved in leadership and was in the girls camp presidency. She and Michaela both competed at nationals in Ballroom and placed in all their routines. She worked as a nanny all summer. She started college in September and is studying her tail off, hoping to get into the very competitive nursing program. She is enjoying BYU-I (except for the cold temperatures). Negative 14 degrees is a little too cold for her comfort.

Dallin (17) is in 11th grade. He has had a fun year. His passions are sports and music. And he excels at both. He finished a successful season of basketball and ended up on the varsity team even though it was his first year playing high school ball. At 6’6”, he’s the tallest kid in his school. In track he placed 3rd in state in discus even though he didn’t have the use of his foot (due to a compound break in his toe) for most of the season. He completed his Eagle in scouting! He enjoyed showing his steer at the county fair. He also loves to write music on the computer. You can hear his creations at https://soundcloud.com/dallin-shurts.

Kandra (14) is in 9th grade and now attends early morning seminary with Dallin. She is blossoming into a beautiful young lady. She did track last spring and in the fall she played soccer. Her summer was spent bonding with her older sisters and she misses them now that they’re gone. However, she is really enjoying having her bedroom to herself. She has done a great job of stepping into the role of “fun, older sister” for her little siblings. It’s so fun to see all the fun activities she plans with them, from building cushion forts to hay forts to hosting “sibling slumber parties” in her room.

Jonathan (6) has started Kindergarten and loves it. He loves to figure out how things work and loves anything mechanical. We think he has a future in engineering. His favorite toys are marble runs. He is also a budding little artist. He is a sweet, pleasant, thoughtful and sensitive little boy. He misses his big brother, Ben. But Dallin is doing a good job of filling Ben’s shoes. They love to play Legos together in Dallin’s room. Jonathan likes to point out that soon he will be as big as Dallin.

Clarissa (5) loves life. She is a happy, sparkly little girl, who loves people and animals. She is extremely outgoing and loves to entertain. She’s a princess at heart, but happily plays with her two brothers. She does a great job of keeping them in line and she demands that they treat her with the royal treatment she deserves. Clarissa and Kandra have shared a very special “girl” bond this fall. They are both happy to have a sister in the house even though they 9 years apart.

Simon (5) is all boy: Extremely active and intensely sweet. He’s either running, climbing, building and jumping or cuddling and hugging. Even his “affection” can be physical. Watch out if he’s going to give you a hug! Because it often comes in the form of a body slam followed by a suffocating squeeze. You won’t easily forget a “Simon hug”.  He loves cars and sports. Simon adores his siblings. I love it when he walks into the room and says: “Ich brauche meine Leute.” (I need my people)