After Christmas Letter

January 6, 2009

Greetings from the Funneefarm,

It is way too late to call this a Christmas letter – even a New Years Letter would be stretching it. I still wanted to write and tell everyone about how blessed we have been this past year and catch you up to date on the Zito happenings!!

John and I put our place up for sale but with the recent economic problems and the changes in our family, we are glad it has not sold. We were going to move to the Billings area where all of our kids (except Leonard) seemed to be congregating. When you see what our family is doing you will understand why we want to stay here. This place is a lot to take care of and we are not sure what to do about the paintball, but we love the peace and quiet. When we were looking for places to move, we couldn’t find any thing that came any where close to what we have and really don’t want to leave. I got a riding mower for the huge yard but that doesn’t help with the watering! So who knows what we will end up doing.

Leonard and his family are doing great. Leonard took a new job after 10 years working as a computer engineer for Intel. He took a service engineer position at Network Appliance or NetApp. They sell PC hardware. One of NetApp's biggest customers is Go Daddy, a web hosting company he is dedicated mostly to the Go Daddy account. Loree is still addicted to scrapbooking – if you need advice, ideas or supplies, talk to her. She is also the blogging queen – if you want to know something about their family, check out her blog. Kaitlyn (10) and Carly (7) are growing like weeds. They were both on the swim team this year and did really great – you should see all the blue ribbons they have. They came and spent the week before our family reunion with us – it was so fun to spend extra time with them. Blake (2) is all boy and seems to keep everyone hopping. Steve got out of the military last spring; he got a job with the Stillwater mine and moved his family to Laurel, Montana. We are not sure what the future of the mine will be, but for now, Steve still has a job. It was sure hard to see April and the kids go after having them live with us for almost 2 years. Sure is quiet around here. April is a stay at home mom right now – probably a good thing with 3 little ones. Seth is 4, Ashlyn will be 3 next month and Brenna will turn 2 in March. It was almost like she took MY kids when she moved because they had been here most their little lives! Seth loves being with his dad and has memorized the 5 house rules. It is so cute to hear him recite them. Ashlyn thinks she is a real live princess and has to be forced to wear “real” clothes. Brenna is just starting to talk and loves to have us hold her – I think she misses us as much as we miss her. When the kids aren’t keeping April totally occupied, she enjoys blogging and has gotten most of the family going on it too. They are after me to start a blog – maybe that will be my next new project.
Nathan and Johnathan are still working hard with their asphalt sealing company. It has more ups and downs than farming if you ask me. One day they are doing great and looking at their first million and the next they are hoping they don’t go broke and lose everything. John and I drove trucks a little for them last summer again – fun to be with them, but nerve wracking to be right in the middle of the roller coaster life they lead. I like hearing from them when the check is in their hand or a crisis has once again been successfully avoided much better.

Nathan's little family is really growing. Heather was born in September, what a happy little baby, she makes it thirteen grandchildren for us. Nathan works hard to keep Z&Z Seal Coating up and running. He is always busy bidding jobs, working with bankers and looking for ways to expand the business. Amber was baptized last spring and we are excited that they are working towards going to the temple. Amber finished up her Physicians Assistant Degree and passed the test – so she is now officially a PA and is looking for a job. Aden (4) loves to help his dad with all the equipment and is a wonderful big brother.

Kris took the final test for his CPA license last fall and passed!! He was really worried. But that is all behind him now. He has accepted a position with a company in Eugene, Oregon. They were here for Christmas and then left the day after to pack their home and move. Kris and Jennifer have wanted to make this change for a long time – they are so excited that it has happened. Jennifer will put her schooling on hold for at least a while but hopes to continue soon. Dominique (7) spent a week with me this summer, we had a lot of fun and now that she is so far away, I am glad I took the opportunity to have her here while I could. Tyler is growing so fast – he is the oldest of the batch of 3 year old grandkids and isn’t afraid to take the lead.

Johnathan is the advancement chairman for his Boy Scout troop – I think they use him for more than that quite often. He often calls for ideas on merit badge requirements and goes on campouts. He loves camping so he probably volunteers for that. He went on camping trips with Leonard last spring and Troy Jaques went with him at Thanksgiving. If you know Johnathan and his camping stories you know that they did well to survive! Anneke is the enrichment counselor in their ward and is doing great. We have fun sharing ideas since I have the same calling in our ward. Josie turned one in October. She is a little shy, but has the cutest smile with only 2 teeth – she is finally getting her top teeth so I suppose she will soon look more grown up.
Merilee completed the courses for her LPN license in December and is working at the local clinic/hospital/rest home. She loves the work and her face lights up when she tells you what she is learning. She has started the RN courses and should complete them this time next year. Eric took a job at the Stillwater mine, but he was one of the 1,100 people that got laid off. He was lucky enough to get his old job back at WyoBen (bentonite plant) here in Greybull. So they won’t be moving to Billings either. We are so lucky to have them close; Lexi (4) and Brandon (almost 3) keep us company and help keep us young. “Chubby arm hugs” are never far away.
Paul is living in Billings. He worked for Nathan and Johnathan last summer. It was fun to watch him work and see how many things he has learned to do. He drives those big old trucks, runs the equipment, blows out the cracks and fills them and some times runs the whole crew. I worked with him on a couple jobs and he works hard and fast. We don’t get to see him much now that summer is over – he has a new girlfriend and is pretty smitten with her so that keeps him occupied. Paul did bring Amanda home for Christmas tho and was fun to get to know her a little.
The kids bought John a really nice fly fishing pole and he has really enjoyed using it. He has gone on a couple of fishing trips and is getting pretty good at it. He also bought a truck that really runs and is not such a gas hog – first time he has ever had a nice truck. He loves having the grandkids over and scaring them to death with scary movies. When he has had enough of them crawling all over him, he simply chases them out and locks the door! I am still busy, busy, busy with respite, crafts, paintball, R.S. calling and grandkids. I know I should give up some of it, but I love every thing it is hard to choose. All in all, it has been a wonderful year for our family. Seems like there is seldom a dull moment and if there is you can bet it won’t last long. We have been blessed with closeness in our family that you don’t often see. All of our children get along very well with each other and are always ready when someone needs a helping hand. It was such a joy to have all of them home last spring for a family reunion. There were 27 of us all under one roof! We still call our place the Funneefarm although the craziness does subside a little bit occasionally.

We love and miss you all,