#1

Daisy graduated from 5th grade and is now getting straight A’s in middle school.  She has hit a growth spurt this year; she’s now as tall as Salem (unless she’s passed him in the last few weeks!).  It’s fun to have Daisy in our family.

#2

Daisy was super excited to begin the football season as an official player. She worked hard and earned a starting spot on the defensive line and also spent time playing on the offensive line.  She prepared by riding her bike to the high school 3 times a week this summer for a football conditioning clinic.  She’s handling 3 Bear River linemen here (thanks for the great photos Grandpa Mansfield).

#3

This is the ending of a chess game between Dave and Salem.  Dave proved it actually is possible to promote all eight pawns and finish with nine queens.

#4

Salem played Quarterback and Linebacker again this year.  His team passed a little more this year so he enjoyed hitting the open receivers for big plays.  He is also an excellent rusher and hit the end zone in every regular season game.

#5

In June Salem was helping Dave get some items ready to take to DI and ended up with a nasty cut on his leg from a broken mirror. Several stitches closed it up for him but it wasn’t fun to stay out of the water during the summer.

#6

Daisy participated in the local Punt, Pass and Kick competition again this year and qualified to advance to the sectional competition in Tremonton. She won first place there with a score high enough to qualify for the regional competition at a Denver Broncos game. We were excited to travel to a Denver Broncos game for the competition in which she took 3rd place.  All the participants were recognized on the field at halftime of the football game.  She was especially thrilled that her Aunt Michele flew from Cincinnati to show her support!

#7

Jeff attended his school’s spring formal dance again this year.  He’s pretty particular about his choice in tuxedo – he likes the classics.  Mom helped by sewing the bow tie for him.

#8

Daisy graduated from Edith Bowen Lab School last spring. I think she's the only one of our kids that attended the same elementary school from kindergarten through 5th grade. As a culminating activity, her class performed "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream" by Shakespeare. Most students were assigned 2 parts and the play was given twice so that more could participate. She was assigned as one of the three narrators in the first cast and as a minor role in the second. She not only memorized all of her lines but also the entire play! That came in handy when one student with a substantial role had to leave before the final performance and Daisy was able to easily step in. She also was one of only a couple of students to memorize a long list of famous passages including the Gettysburg Address, part of the "I Have a Dream" speech, and about 6-7 others.

#9

Konner ran with the track team this spring.  His events were usually the mile and the half-mile and even ran the 2 mile a time or two.  He says it was a great way to get in shape for football conditioning over the summer.

#10

We still like to ski when we have the time.  Dave took Salem and Daisy up for a spring ski day at Beaver Mountain.

#11

Konner played Center on the Sky View JV football team.  He works hard and plays well despite the fact that he hasn't inherited much size. The head football coach told me he has all of the "intangibles" he needs to be a great player -- just needs to grow some more. Nevertheless, Konner enjoys playing football.  His team won 1st place in the region this year.

#12

Jeff sure likes to climb.  On a family hike he was the first to scale the reflectors on the top of the mountain and coached the rest of the group up.

#13

Dave can still make a nice cut on a slalom ski.  We spent some time at the lake during the Mansfield Family Reunion this summer.

#14

We found this little guy on our annual Memorial Day hike.  I think that’s Konner’s arm he’s hitching a ride on.

#18

Dave continues to work at Bridgerland Applied Technology College.  He spends most of his time assisting students in the Academic Learning Center.

#15

Salem was the reigning bee champ at Cedar Ridge as he won both the Spelling and Geography Bees again this year.  He was a little disappointed to place 3rd in the District Spelling Bee (next time he’ll ask about alternate pronunciations).  He also scored high enough to participate in the State Geography Bee at Thanksgiving Point and finished about in the middle of the pack there.

#16

All of our family is involved with football in one capacity or another.  Konner, Salem, and Daisy all played this year.  Dave helped to coach a little and painted the field for all of the home games.  Shauna still directs the little league football program and Jeff helps by running errands and cheering the rest on.

#17

Konner is a typical teenager who likes to spend time a lot of time with friends while spending as little time as possible on homework.  He’s a junior this year and is a great help whenever we need it.  He’s recently learned that driving in the snow isn’t as easy as it looks!

#19

Jeff had a unique opportunity this year to participate with the USU Biological Engineering team in the national iGem event at MIT.  He was one of a few students from his high school selected to join the team.  They worked on a project for several months and then traveled to Boston in October to present their findings.

#20

Shauna is still the director of Sky View Youth Football but is looking forward to phasing out over the upcoming year.  The program served 275 players on 13 teams this year.  It’s a big commitment but she gets lots of help from Dave and the kids.

#21

Salem has had a successful year.  He has a lot of talent and seems to excel at most things he tries.  This photo was taken after his last Jr. Jazz basketball game of the year.  The director of the program stopped him on the way out to compliment him on his game.  He specifically noted Salem’s hard work on defense and his unselfish offensive style.  He finished 6th grade with a 4.0 gpa and earned special recognition for being one of 5 students who maintained at least a 98% in pre-algebra all year. He also had perfect attendance (which he's already out of the running for this year).

#22

Dave really enjoys playing with sidewalk chalk.  On special occasions he likes to write messages on the steps in front of our house.  This fall he took the time to write “Four Great Kids Live Here:  Jeff, Konner, Salem, & Daisy.”  Our kids really are great and we really appreciate all that they do.  Too bad it rained a couple of days later and washed it off!

#23

This August Salem and Daisy each started paper routes.  They certainly couldn’t do it without their Dad who helps them on difficult mornings.  They get up at about 5 am on school days so they can get the papers out before catching the bus at 6:45.  There have been some cold mornings this winter!

#24

This is the stack of mail Jeff has received from various universities and colleges during the past couple of years.  His PSAT score earned him recognition as a National Merit Semifinalist. The pile of mail  currently weighs in at over 35 pounds.

#25

On our way to Denver we drove on the Lincoln Highway between Laramie and Cheyenne Wyoming.  It was cold but we stopped to recreate a photo we had taken of Salem and Daisy about 5 years ago.  They can each recite the entire Gettysburg Address from memory!

#26

Basketball is another favorite sport at the Karren home.  Dave plays 3 times a week before work, Salem played on a couple teams, and Daisy had a chance to play this year as well.  Even Shauna and Konner play a little in church games.

#28

Most of us made it to Facebook this year – Dave is the only holdout.  We’re amazed at how easy it is to keep up with friends and family in this environment!

#27

Both Jeff and Konner received their driver’s licenses this year.  Now our driveway is full of older cars and we pay our local AllState agent a chunk of change each month.  It is nice to have some help running errands.

#29

Konner still loves his Flybar (think pogo stick on steroids).  He can easily clear about 5 feet and especially likes to jump off the top of our front steps.  We try not to notice the holes in the lawn that happen when he misses the sidewalk.

#30

Salem had success pitching on his baseball team this year.  When he wasn’t pitching he usually played second base.  He was selected for the All-Star team at the end of the season but wasn’t able to play after he broke his arm.  Daisy wishes we would have signed her up for baseball instead of softball.  She had a lot more fun at Salem’s practices than the less competitive environment on her softball team.  She could have certainly held her own on the baseball team!

#31

Though we don’t have time to attend as many games as we used to, we’re still big Aggie fans.  They had a better football season this year and are looking strong in basketball again.  Jeff plans to attend a semester at USU before he turns 19.

#32

 On Memorial Day we all hiked up the mountain to the reflectors.  The weather was perfect and we enjoyed spending time together.  After we ate some snacks at the top Jeff led the group climbing on one of the reflectors.  It’s much bigger than it looks from the valley!

#33

Jeff is finishing his time at InTech Collegiate High School.  He’ll graduate this spring.  He’s really enjoyed attending the charter school that specializes in science, math, and technology.  He’s had many opportunities that most high school students don’t including taking an engineering class each year!  He’s one of a small group of students who attended the school’s first year as freshmen.

#34

Salem and Daisy won trophies at the Utah Elementary Chess Championship again this year.  It was Salem’s last year to compete at this level.  Salem placed 19th and Daisy was in the top 30 or so.

#35

We still have some active string players at our house.  Salem (Cello) and Daisy (Viola) both participate in the school orchestra.  Jeff hasn’t played the Violin much this year as he’s chosen to focus on the Organ instead.

#36

What would we do without Apple?  Everyone in our family has at least one iPod and Shauna competes with Jeff for time on her MacBook Pro laptop.  Jeff was especially happy to reunite with his iPod touch after it spent a couple months on the local city bus.

#37

Living with Jeff is never dull.  He spends a lot of time in front of the computer yet his homework is often left undone (how does that happen?? see #28).  He’s excited to move on to another stage of life after high school graduation this spring.  He spends time with a small group of close friends and enjoyed a couple backpacking and hiking trips this last summer. 

#38

We picked up this Honda Rebel for the boys to share (though they’ve had to share with Mom too!)  Here’s Konner on his birthday after he’s gotten his license and his cyclist permit.  If we wanted to our entire family could travel on a total of 6 wheels (Dave’s Intruder, Shauna’s scooter, and the Rebel).

#39

Jeff and Konner continue to serve meals at Pioneer Valley Lodge (a retirement community) nearby.  Whenever we have occasion to speak with the residents or the managers of the facility we hear what a good job they do.  It’s nice they can earn a paycheck while learning some life skills.

#40

Dave and Shauna celebrated 20 years of marriage this November.  WOW!

#41

Both Salem and Daisy started club volleyball this fall.  They’ve learned a lot in a month of intense workouts.  At this rate they’ll be outplaying their mom in no time!  They’ll be playing in some tournaments in Idaho Falls in the spring.  Salem doesn’t even mind that he’s the only boy in the club … maybe he’s figured out it could be a great way to meet some cute girls!

#42

Salem and Daisy were selected as team captains for a big game this year.  They really are good friends and are generally very supportive of each other.  A lot of boys wouldn’t be excited to play on the same football team as his sister but Salem seemed to think it was pretty cool.  As a defensive lineman, she loved running him down in practice each night!

#43

On our Memorial Day hike the family climbed on the reflector at the top of the mountain.  Here we are trying to recreate the game show Hollywood Squares.  Shauna stayed on the ground to take the photos.

#44

A couple of weeks before football practice started for Salem he broke his left wrist.  He was heartbroken to learn he would likely miss at least a couple of football games.  As it turned out he was able to play the first game with his cast on and the remaining games with just a splint. Then in the last regular season game he fractured a bone in his left hand!

#45

Shauna continues to enjoy her job with Conservice (a utility management and billing company).  In addition to developing and directing the employee training program, she was asked to manage the marketing efforts of the company this year.

#46

Jeff has continued studying the organ and has mastered some nice pieces. He practices when he can at our church and at the church where he attends seminary. This fall he played an organ solo at church - a version of "How Great Thou Art." He did a very nice job.

#47

This is where we ended up after the Memorial Day hike.  We’re so lucky to have this hand-me-down hot tub from Shauna’s parents.  We use it every day!

#48

Mom’s scooter now has over 4000 miles on it but unfortunately it doesn’t look this good any more.  This fall Jeff took a tumble on it and they were both scraped up quite a bit. We’re all lucky it wasn't worse than it was!