December 3, 2022

Dear Friends and Family,

I know we said it last year, but…it was a quiet year for our family. No big changes. Hope that doesn’t make our letter TOO boring!

We started the year with Marriner and Christine’s 20th anniversary, which also led to a few weeks home with the family when we got COVID-19. Fortunately, nobody got very sick, and we had a humorous time trying to keep the sick people away from the healthy ones - we kept guessing wrong who was getting sick, and putting the next person to get sick in Ellis and Lillian’s room to sleep. Yet still, Ellis and Lillian never got sick!

Lillian convinced her two best friends to do National History Day with her this year. She also convinced them they wanted to win, and that they should continue on her theme of Deaf history. (Last year, Ellis and Lillian got a special award at the national competition, and Lillian thought maybe she could beat that.) One of her teammates wasn’t sure she wanted to do that much work, and she was quite annoyed at Lillian by the end of the year because they kept winning at each level they went to - obligating her to do more work to prepare for the next level! In the end, they got 1st place in the national competition. Her friend was still mad at her. :) Lillian also started high school this fall, and is checking something off her bucket list by playing in the orchestra for a performance of Handel’s Messiah this Christmas.

Lige landed an internship at the Quantum Optics Lab at NRL this school year. It sounds very glamorous, but it was more stressful than exciting behind the scenes. For his program at school, the Seniors are required to either a.) take 4 college classes b.) have an internship or c.) do an independent research project (which is known to be a major headache!) Lige signed up for choice A, but the college accidentally dropped his classes and by the time we figured it out, it was too late to get them back. So Lige spent his summer emailing people at NRL asking them to take a volunteer intern, so he didn’t have to do the dreaded independent project. He ended up with a great mentor taking him on, and it’s been really fun, except that he still hasn’t been able to go to the lab to work, because the only thing slower at paperwork than a school is a government facility. So he’s going to school half day, then working on his internship remotely the other half day of school. He’s also applying to college and getting ready to put in a mission application. And he started an Ultimate Frisbee club at school.

Ellis, meanwhile, worked very hard at keeping her year calm and unstressful (unlike her siblings). She turned 16, got her driving learner’s permit, helped Lige organize their mutual first date, and volunteered as a youth counselor for the school’s 3-week long freshman orientation camp. She was released as the president of her Young Women’s class at church, but began working as a Stake youth leader soon after, so that’s kept her busy, too!

Jane turned 5, started Kindergarten, and lost her first tooth. She loves all the free snacks at school. :) She’s a cheerful and loving daughter who is easy to get along with.

Martha made peace with her red hair this year. She read Anne of Green Gables, and decided it was ok to have red hair, as long as you call it “ginger” not “red.” She was the cutest Anne of Green Gables ever for Halloween. She’s become a very sweet and caring girl, and a joy to be with.

Sam has developed two attributes this year. One is his off-beat sense of humor and creativity. The other is his kindness and service to others. He’s worked on his cooking and baking skills, and has blessed many people with food surprises! He’s also joined the big-leagues in Ultimate Frisbee - he loved to go watch Lige’s pick-up games, then one day they were short a player and let him join. They realized he could throw, catch and run, and have let him play ever since. He’s also made friends with all the other kids on the street, and even some other streets!

For Marriner the year started off in a very bittersweet way. He served his mission for our church in Ukraine from 1998-2000. When the war started, he reconnected with many people from 20 years ago, which was wonderful - but oh he wishes it could have been in different circumstances. In the midst of that conflict, we have seen so many examples of service, love, charity, courage, self-sacrifice, and true heroism. We continue to pray for that conflict to cease and for the safety of all.

Marriner is enjoying work at the Naval Research Lab and the great opportunity to continue serving in the ASL congregation at church. One of his top highlights this year was that he and a Deaf coworker organized the first “Deaf in DOD Research Symposium” with engineering talks given by Deaf and Hard of Hearing scientists, engineers, faculty, and students. It was probably the most fun he’s ever had at a technical meeting! The other highlight was getting to fly to California for his youngest brother’s wedding. There was something pretty amazing being together with all 10 siblings and their spouses. We were all so happy together! We know there will continue to be trials in life, but I hope we don’t forget the wonderful feeling as we united together to celebrate that great event.

With Jane starting Kindergarten, Christine entered a new phase of life - a season with 6 hours a day by herself! A perfect opportunity came up for how to use her free time - she was called to teach Seminary. This is a before-school scripture/religion class for high school students. It’s been wonderful, she loves every thing about it. Ok, the 6am start time isn’t her favorite. But the students (3 of whom are her own children) and the subject (Old Testament) are the best.

As we have studied the Old Testament this year, our testimonies of the Savior of the World have increased. And our belief that He still lives and leads and blesses us through the Holy Ghost and through a living prophet, Russel M. Nelson. Those people in the Old Testament times weren’t so different from us! They had challenges, and they had the ability to choose how to face those challenges. Joshua said “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” We hope that we can make that choice, too! We get a lot of help from your good examples both now and in the past. Thank you for that, we couldn’t be where we are without it.

Love, Marriner, Christine, Lige, Ellis, Lillian, Sam, Martha and Jane