Jeff and Dana Van Horn Family

Well, the beginning of this year has not been the best. Jeff has been hurt since before Thanksgiving. We went to California to visit my brother and do the Theme Park Thing and Jeff was getting over some broken ribs. Then, when we got back he hurt his knee using his foot/leg to try to stop himself. The knee is bad, but if he didn't stick it out he said it would have been worse. I'm not sure how many of you have been in the backcountry of Moab, but "the penalty for failure" can be death. And that is no joke. Needless to say, our charity project was scaled down significantly. I organized (with some help from the kids), before Thanksgiving, a food drive to help our local food bank. It wasn't huge, but between my co-workers and friends we filled the Durango with good stuff - not just canned peas! That happened before I we even discussed the holiday thing. Our original plan (since Jeff was hurt) was to donate $100 per person in our family to our charity of choice. The only stipulation was that it had to be a local charity. There are so many people here who are not as well off as we are. Needless to say, when the bills started coming in for the MRI and the emergency room etc.. etc... we decided to scale down. WAY DOWN. The kids and I have taken two loads of clothes, shoes, blankets and toys to our local non-profit thrift store. We have another load waiting to go in the basement right now. The store is called Wabi Sabi and it was started by local people to help local charities. It works two ways. People make donations of "stuff" to the store - from building supplies to sleds and then the thrift store sells them at very reasonable prices to the locals. The profits raised from the sale go to help other local charities like Seekhaven Women's Shelter and the New Hope Pregnancy Center. There are many more. The cool thing is that most of the people who need these services are the ones that shop at the store! It is a pretty cool concept. Sorry, I wax philosophical. So, that's what we did for our holiday project. Our dear Jeff spends many hours doing community service by way of bike trail maintenance and he also organized a cleanup project for the loop road last summer. Our community is small and we all try to help out where we see a need.
Jeff had his surgery on Monday. They gave him a femoral block before he left there so he was pretty comfortable the first night. Last night - not so much. I stayed home from wok on Tues and today. Must go back tomorrow though. Jeff will be fine for awhile and I can call him to take his meds. I will also come home for lunch and Ian gets home at 3:30. Jeff has a friend with a bum femur who likes to come over and play video games anyway:) We will have some major bills and have put off getting Ian's braces until next year. Our insurance is good, but not that good! I hope that all of you are happy and well. We are happy at least.

Jen and Rick Endsley Family

We really enjoyed the opportunity to focus more on others this Christmas and not the consumerism that typically comes with Christmas. It seems that every year we try to scale down Christmas as our family grows because it seems like a good time to calm down and focus on just spending time together. This year each child received only 2 presents: one, a set of pajamas; the other a small gift for under $20. This helped them focus on the meaning of Christmas because they weren't worried about what they were getting. We opened our door to one of Ariel's friends whose family is struggling. She needed a welcome place for multiple weeks to eat a good meal and to feel a part of a family. I once apologized to her for the noise of the little kids at the table but she said that she loved coming to our house to eat with our family. Her family never eats together (her parents do not cook but snack) and she missed being at a kitchen table with happy faces, albeit 8 happy and hungry faces. She enjoyed watching the Christmas from Temple Square program and spending time discussing Jesus Christ. Her family is not active in any religion.

For the past 6 years we have done Christmas Mouse, which is where we choose 4 families with young children (mostly non-member families who are either are new to the area or who are struggling financially) and "visit" their home for 10 days, bringing a special gift with a rapping on the door. We've also taken food to The Gospel Lighthouse Mission, a soup kitchen in Dayton. We decided not to do those this year but to give additional money to our Stake for the Dayton Branch unit, which takes care of so many who are struggling in the downtown area. We also gave bills of various denominations to our kids to take to the Salvation Army kettle and to personally thank the bell ringers for the service they are providing. We encouraged our kids to perform acts of kindness for each other and spend time doing something another wants to do like play a board game with someone who is younger. Before and after Christmas we discussed how we are a family of plenty in things and number, so we could bless others with our belongings. The kids were willing to go through their clothing, finding clothes that were in good condition, and donating it to the local Goodwill along with some of family belongings that would directly benefit the local Bellbrook Family Resource Center that works with children and teens living in our city's government housing project.

Like John and Jessica, Rick and I are thankful for the year round services we volunteer for as we see them benefit others. This year ends my 8 years of being on the Bellbrook Soccer Association board and Rick finished his third and last year. We are thrilled when we stand out on the soccer pitch and see the kids laughing, enjoying themselves. It was only 5 short years ago that Rick and I developed a grant program, soliciting money from local businesses to pay for fees and equipment for low-income families. To some, the game of soccer may seem frivolous but we've been told that crime is lower during the soccer season because the kids in the government housing have something to keep them occupied. We've been blessed with 6 great kids who are willing to spend cold and hot Saturdays and evenings helping set up nets and goals (yes, even Thomas helps out). I've also been working on the Family Search Indexing program, transcribing census records so that people can have their Temple work done for them as well as working on our family's genealogy records to provide Temple work for our own loved ones.

This tradition is definitely a keeper. We look forward to doing it again next year and with different projects.

Thanks,
Jen Endsley

John and Jessica Van Horn Family

We had a very hard holiday season this year. It started out full of disappointment, empty promises, car accidents/problems, and surprises of the like around every corner. We were very focused on ourselves and how to get out of and around these messes. When Mark suggested we give service to others as our gifts this year, I was very concerned. We didn't know how to donate what we already needed ourselves. Then things turned around. We started doing our family home evenings on Christmas and Christ's birth. We were teaching Breanna about Jesus and how he is so important in our lives, and we started to see that we were looking at Christmas all wrong. We needed to focus on Christ and his life and the example he was and is for us. We stopped looking at ourselves and started finding ways to serve others. When Amy suggested we also donate to the Road Home, we went through our house and found things that we had that we really didn't need. We found all sorts of things that we had in excess that we could donate to those in need. Focusing on others really helped us to have charity in our hearts and through this and focusing on being like Christ, we had a very wonderful Christmas full of fun, laughter, family, and hope. We were really grateful for this opportunity to serve others and give to those who are truly in need. We look forward to making this a tradition not only at Christmas time, but also throughout the year.

Love,
John, Jessica, Breanna, & Brett

Karen and Bob Rutledge Family

I would like to thank Mark and Amy for the great idea, we had so much fun. I would share pictures, but I lost the card from our camera its somewhere between our house and Bob's parents house. Oh well.

We decided to give to the Loomis Fire Department Toy's for Tots. I had spoken to Bob's Grandma and she said that the little girl she watches after schools mother was saying that she hoped that there would be enough donations this year so that Danielle would be able to receive at least 1 gift. So our family went to our local happy K-mart and purchased around 18 different toy's. Afterward we delivered them to the Loomis Fire Station. When we got there it was nice to see a boy's group donating gifts also. The girls got a chance to talk with the fire chief and visit the new fire station.

Please understand that the city of Loomis is quite wealthy but there is a small area there that is very underdeveloped. It is hard for the kids that barley have food to eat going to school with kids that have everything (driving new BMW's to school) I know that this was always hard for Bob since his family didn't have very much money. We hope that just a little something for those in our little community will uplift those children's spirits and make a difference in there lives.

Hope all of you have an amazing New Year and wish you much happiness.

Love
Bob, Karen, Sonoma, Katelyn, and Olivia

Mark and Amy Van Horn Family

We chose to do a few things for our charity gift this year. Our main project was our ward’s Sub-for-Santa service project. We helped our ward provide “Christmas” for 5 Somali refugee families that are living in Salt Lake City. I say “Christmas” because they are Muslim and don’t celebrate Christmas, but they have many needs that we tried to provide for. We, as a family donated cleaning supplies, toys, quilts and clothing. For our ward party we wrapped all the toys, clothing and gifts. Then the Young Women, Young Men and the leaders took all the items and gifts to the families. As a leader, Amy got to meet the families, which was really neat. They were so grateful to receive these things, so many of which we all take for granted.

As a family we decided to donate much needed items to the homeless shelter in Salt Lake City. The girls decided on several extra chores that they could do to earn money and went right to work. They swept floors, folded laundry, wiped counters, and cleaned bathrooms. Each time they finished a chore they were so excited to add the money that they earned into their special jar. Then for family night we all went to the store and the girls chose what they wanted to buy for the shelter. Sara and Ella earned enough money to buy a warm blanket and 2 pillows all by themselves. We delivered our donations to the shelter with Grandma and Grandpa Van Horn and John, Jessica, Brianna, and Brett. This was a special project for the girls. They were always looking for a chore to do so they could earn money. It is sometimes hard for them to understand that not all people have nice home and cozy beds like we do, but they were so excited to help people who were not as materially blessed as we are. It was also very special to be able to spend the day of delivery with their Grandparents and Cousins.

We love the Christmas Season, and we are glad that we could spend time this year serving as our Savior did. Thank you for the opportunity to serve others as our gift to you.

Ann and Bruce (Mom and Dad, or G-ma and G-pa) Van Horn Family

Before the new year begins, ok, it began already, I'll add to the Christmas Gift report. As with Karen, a big thank you to Mark & Amy for passing along this great gift giving tradition, something that I hope we'll consider on an annual basis. I hope you will all detail the experiences & charities you participated in etc.

Amy made us aware of the Homeless Shelters website which lists specific needs for these people-adults & children. I read in the paper that each night it takes care of 1,000 people to provide them with a warm place to sleep out of the cold. We have eaten for years at the Rio Grande Cafe downtown (good mexican food) and driven past that shelter countless times. We've seen people lined up all the way around the block, waiting to be let in. The the day we all went down there, the line had already formed & it was early afternoon!

The items that were most critically needed on the "Road Home" website were highlighted & also in bold letters. With that list in hand, Dad & I went to the friendly Smiths Marketplace downtown to make use of our employee discount to purchase some clothing. I had already used a special discount day-20% off to employees at our store in Bountiful & purchased sheets & 2 dozen very warm & long heavy socks-the kind used for hunting outdoors etc. So we discovered a wonderful sale on quilted, insulated flannel shirt-jackets. They requested very large sizes and we were able to find several XXXL to buy. It was very sobering to us when we figured out that each heavy jacket cost us $13. Hmm, $13 to keep another person warm. We drop that at Hires for burgers. We took advantage of our great find & filled our cart up to overflowing.

We had those items piled downstairs for several days & each time I walked by them I thought how important it was to contribute in some way to help the homeless in our community without judging the whys & who's.

When we went downtown to drop off our things with Mark & John and all their families, we certainly knew it was a right thing to be doing and we need to stop & participate in such activities more than once a year.

We are blessed with the comforts in life. In this very cold season, I find myself impatiently waiting for my heated seat to get hot in my car! How much do we all take for granted?

Certainly it falls on each of us to share our time, talents & energy to pay back to the rest of our fellowmen. Thank you for supporting this "new" tradition. What a wonderful group of caring & loving people our children & their families have become. We love & pray for you all daily.

We know that the Savior knows each one of us & is mindful of our needs & desires to do good with our lives.

Merry 2008! I'll ask Dad to forward some pictures since he's in charge of that department (after 41 years you have to know your talents).
http://picasaweb.google.com/luvbike/FamilyChristmasProjectForTheHomelessShelterDecember2007

Love, Mom & Dad VH; G-ma & G-pa too!!

Scott and Ryan Van Horn Family

Scott, Ryan, Isaac, and Grete are happy to let you know about our holiday charity giving! Please read below...

Our animals bring a lot of happiness to us -- whether it's Grete's appreciative look to a good back-scratch or Isaac's happy squawking to welcome a new day. Unfortunately, not all pets receive the same appreciation back from their families. In 2006, over 32,000 cats and dogs were euthanized in Utah...a similar situation across the nation and the result of low adoption rates, a lack of no-kill shelters, and people who refuse to spay or neuter their pets.

On the feathered side of the world, many parrots are bought as pets by families who are uneducated about the time commitment...pet birds frequently outlive their owners and require hours of attention each day. We like to say that Isaac is as much work as a kid and although we can lock him up when he's being naughty, this kid won't leave the house when he's 18.

This year, we lost sweet SaraCat to intestinal cancer -- she came from a Utah pound and brought over 13 years of joy to us. One week later, our neighbors found a kitten in their garage; she was barely six weeks old, full of fleas and parasites and her lip was almost torn off. No one knew where Grete came from -- and although we are happy to have adopted her, no kitty deserves to be welcomed into the world that way.

We researched two charities and donated to both of them (they both have good track records):

No More Homeless Pets of Utah ( www.utahpets.org): A charity working to spay and neuter thousands of animals across the Wasatch Front and lobbying for change to no-kill shelters. We donated to them earlier this year in memory of Jinx and this time we're donating in honor of Grete.

The Gabriel Foundation (www.thegabrielfoundation.org): A rehabilitation and sanctuary in Colorado that takes in self-mutilating birds (they will often pluck their own feathers out of neglect or malnutrition) as well as birds whose owners have died.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Love and miss each of you!

Scott and Ryan

p.s. Attached are two holiday pictures -- Grete under the tree and Isaac overlooking the tree.