Marianne Gessel is graduating from BYU in June!

"...after much debate and convincing, and petitioning and everything else, Ohio State agreed to let me take classes here and then graduate from BYU this June. YEAH! I can't wait to be done....

"Ryan, our son, was born on September 20th 2005, and is about the cutest thing ever! He makes everyday exciting and fun...really. Although I have to be honest, it is very tiring at times trying to balance everything. We have wonderful friends out here that are helping with babysitting while I finish my school and Luke is preparing to take the boards, which makes it nice since we are very far away from family."

Susan Hardy was able to spend some holiday time in Washington.

"...in the morning while driving to my parent's house we called my mom! (No one but my father knew we were coming!) We just thanked her for the gifts she had given us which we opened on Christmas Eve morning and chatted about what we were going to do that day. (Pretending we were in Philadelphia) I was still on the phone with her as Jarom, Dave and I walked through the garage door. She was sitting on the couch in the family room. Then she saw Jarom and connected the dots that he wouldn't come alone. It was huge surprise for her exhibited by lots of tears, hugs and kisses! We then proceeded to sneak upstairs and wake the other kids to the surprise. Christmas was wonderful with many gifts, love, family, food and games!"

She includes some words about David's school, "We have pretty much decided that the school district likes to have the kids in school so much because it keeps them off of the streets and prevents many the bad things kids do when their on their own with other teenagers. (And the things these kids do here are way worse then at American Fork High School in Utah-where Dave did his student teaching). The second week of January the school set a record high for Fights in One Day! More than twelve big fights broke out all over the school, they had to call in more police officers but even with the increased numbers of enforcement the fights continued. Thank goodness for the metal detectors the student must first pass through to gain admission into the school because that means at least no guns or knives. Dave hopes that none of the students have seen Bourne Identity because he kills someone with a pen. So we are thinking about home schooling Jarom- anyone have any experience or ideas or thoughts?

Susan started working a few shifts a week as a supervisor and floor nurse at the Rehab Center.