David and Zina Cox Family 2011
David is still teaching (31 years), but this will probably be his last year. Still loves teaching, but wants to do it his way and not the way someone else wants him to do it. He loved teaching the 11-year old Scouts, and got so he didn’t mind leading the choir, but the Singles Stake asked him to be the Executive Secretary in the Lehi 1st Singles Ward, so that is where he is serving in Church now. He is trying to decide how he will keep busy once he retires. There are several options open to him and he is busy weighing the options.
Zina still substitute teaches and did a 6-week long term in March/April for a 5th grade (once again working closely with David was a lot of fun!) and for a 2nd Grade class that ended just before Thanksgiving (also at David’s school). The last 4 weeks, she has been catching up on all the things she put off while teaching full time. On Sunday, I get to teach the Primary Sharing Time once a month and play the piano in Relief Society. Taking the horses out for a spin and giving children rides is still a hobby she loves.
Kadie is handling things alone in Utah while Tony works in construction for the oil fields near Dickenson, North Dakota. They plan to sell their house in American Fork and move as soon as they can get the money together to get a house there. Rental property is very expensive and few and far between. Daniel (13) is growing fast – like 5 or 6 inches in the last year! He is doing an online school. Elisabeth (9) is in the 4th grade, takes piano lessons and likes to sing. Annalisa (1) has had a rough year with illness. She spent several days in the hospital just before Thanksgiving and had a lot of tests taken to try and figure out why she gets fevers. Still no answers, but they are going to document everything and see what turns up.
Ammon and Tiffany are still in Lehi, but that may change if he gets a job in the accounting field that takes them away (he wants to do auditing). He is currently working at the Social Security Administration. Tiffany is expecting our 12th grandchild in late March. She is in the Primary Presidency of her Ward. Preston (6) is doing well in school and loves Star Wars and Legos. Micah (3) is also into Star Wars and anything that involves guns or fighting with lasers. He is always trying to keep up with his older brother and cousins when they get to play together. Nathan (1 ½) loves horses, so whenever he comes to Grandma’s house, he has to be taken out to see the eee-heees!! Nothing is sweeter than a hug from Nathan!
Seth and Carolyn had a job change late last year and the drive from Springville to Draper was a long hour through construction traffic for most of the way, so they bought a house in Lehi and tried to rent out their house in Springville, but that hasn’t worked out very well, so they are trying to do a short sale on it. Two house payments is no fun! Seth is 1st Counselor in the Elder’s Quorum and Carolyn is Choir Director. Jacob (6) is doing well in school and is very talented on the piano and singing. He is also a big fan of Legos. Evelyn (4) enjoys preschool and drawing and singing. I got to pick her up from Preschool one day and she had a carrot in her mouth and took it out long enough to quote me the poem they had memorized about a snowman and a rabbit! So cute! Megan (3) is a busy little girl that likes princesses (as does her older sister) and watching movies at Grandma’s. Justin (7 months) was born in May and makes a wonderful addition to the family with his sweetness and happy smile.
Rachel will be finishing her second Bachelor’s Degree in Music in April and then hopes to find a job somewhere in the field of teaching music or drama. She was chosen to compose a song for the Utah Valley University’s production of Othello and it was well received. She will have another of her compositions performed at the Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration at UVU in January. She had her Senior Recital this month and did a wonderful job. We love hearing her sing. She moved to Orem at the beginning of the school year to room with two of her friends and has enjoyed being there. We do miss her at home though.
Caleb and Bethany have moved into the basement of our home (I knew there was a reason to put a kitchenette down there!) while he finishes his last semester of school at UVU in Psychology. Then it will be off to graduate school in Ohio. Bethany is 8 months pregnant and they hope that their little girl gets here before Caleb starts up his last semester of school in January. We are excited for our 11th grandchild to come and for the chance to get to know her well before they take her off to parts unknown.
Evan has enjoyed living in Provo this last year. He was called as the Elder’s Quorum President in his Student Ward. He works in the Student Transfer and Admissions Office at BYU and also does concessions at sporting and other events at the school. He took the big step of buying his first car this summer. His major has changed to Information Systems instead of accounting.
Alisa is living at home with us. She worked as a nanny for a local family for the summer. Imagine getting paid to take kids to play at the water park, zoo, shopping, amusement park, and anywhere else they went for entertainment and be able do it all yourself at no cost to you! She has decided to start classes at UVU in January, going into Elementary Education and take some photography classes also. She has started a blog to show off some of her photography. Look up http://sugarrushphotos.blogspot.com/ to see what she has done.
We enjoyed a wonderful Petersen Family Reunion in July in Southern Utah in July. It was such a wonderful time to see most everyone in the family. Even Mom and Dad at ages 91 and 95 made the trip!
