Merry Christmas 2019!

This year has been a monumental and blessed year for our family. In August, we were united with all eight children for the first time ever! (Joseph, our last, was born during Andrew’s mission, and when Andrew returned, Chandler was on his mission). Chandler returned from his mission in July, and we all travelled to Utah in August to reunite with Andrew. It was an amazing time! We are looking forward to our first Christmas together in just a couple short weeks.

Andrew (almost 23) is studying biochemistry at BYU (Provo) and working at a storage facility. It’s been great watching Andrew take on the challenges of adulthood and face them with courage and a strong will. He is going to do great things!

Chandler (20) is home from serving his 2 year mission in Anaheim California. He is a freshman at BYU (Provo) probably majoring in Computer Science or some kind of Engineering degree. He continues to program like it’s second nature, and also has an amazing problem-solving mind. We can’t wait to see what impact he has on the world!

Jordan (18) graduated from high school and is at his first semester of college at BYU (Idaho)! He is majoring in Computer Info Tech and minoring in Music Performance and ace-ing his classes. We are looking forward to hearing him tickle the ivories again when he comes home (and share some original compositions as well!)

Seth (15) is a sophomore, taking honors and AP courses, learning to program, playing the cello, and making amazing progress on the piano as well. He has also begun composing music! He joined the high school tennis team this year and just beat his PR of 6:30 for his mile run. He continues to arise consistently at 5am each day to attend seminary in our home - he’s still at 100% attendance since beginning seminary!

Michael (13) is in his last year of middle school (8th grade), and managed to finish his eagle before the year ended! He is also in honors classes, and did well at the Delta Math competition in the spring, placing in the top 25 again. He also plays the cello in the orchestra. Michael continues to impress us with his out-of-the-box thinking and engineering skills.

Bentley (9) is in 4th grade and loves it! He enjoyed going to a few weeks ago (his first 3 days away from home!). Bentley excels at math, and is also excited to be in the upcoming school spelling bee! Bentley continues to wow us with amazing questions, and interesting bits of knowledge that he picks up and shares with us.

Clayton (5) is in Kindergarten and loves school! He is careful and patient in his work, and has the perseverance to work on a project or worksheets to completion. He loves to build legos! He is still a tenderhearted sweet boy. His reading skills improve each day and we love to watch him read to his little brother.

Joseph (2 ½) is a bundle of fun! He’s currently resisting potty training, but still makes us all laugh daily. He loves to “sing” and dance and loves all music .A couple of weeks ago Seth was singing in the church choir. Joseph gave us a good chuckle when he stood on his seat and cried out “yay!” at the end. He is picking up new words every day, and Mom’s favorite is when he grabs her face and gives her a kiss. He brings us so much joy!

Sherie and Greg continue to serve as early morning seminary teachers in our home. We love this calling so much! It is a great sacrifice of time, but the blessings are uncountable. Greg is working for Optum (of United Healthcare) and continues to add to his patent portfolio (moving up on the list of most prolific inventors!). We enjoyed finishing our basement over the last year and a half.  

 Our family enjoyed a vacation to Utah in August (our niece/cousin Samantha got married our there too), and a beautiful week on Lake Michigan at a house we rented with family the last week of summer break. A family campout at Lake Higgins at the end of July left us with some great memories with good friends as well.

We are so grateful for this time of year to remember our Savior Jesus Christ. We love you all and send our love and greetings as you celebrate His birth and the light He brings to the world.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

With Love,

Greg, Sherie, Andrew, Chandler, Jordan, Seth, Michael, Bentley, Clayton and Joseph

Merry Christmas 2018!

Merry Christmas friends and family! 2018 has been a great year for our family. Here are some of the highlights from this past year.

 

Andrew (almost 22) completed his two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Mesa Arizona area, and returned home in May. What a wonderful reunion that was! He got to meet his youngest new brother for the first time! Many tears of joy, laughter and hugs were shared. We enjoyed having him at home as he worked over the summer for Michigan Sugar again. He returned to BYU in the fall, where he continues his studies in Chemistry and girls. We’re not sure which subject he finds more complex! We are looking forward to having him home for Christmas break.

Chandler (19) is in the second year of his mission in the Anaheim California area. He is doing fantastic! We love reading his emails each week, hearing about the progress he is making personally and with those he is teaching. He makes us laugh with every single email as well - his sense of humor is awesome! Chandler is currently serving as a Zone Leader and has learned so much about personal revelation, hard work, and enduring through physical exhaustion and sleep deprivation!

Jordan (17) is in his last year of high school and senioritis hasn’t hit too hard yet! He has a schedule he really enjoys - lots of music classes! He’s taking piano, guitar, choir, (and would be in orchestra as well if there hadn’t been schedule conflicts), AP Calculus, IB English, and Peer to Peer. He’s also tutoring and teaching piano lessons after school. He played a lead role in the school musical this fall (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and continues to amaze us with his performing and musical talents! We’re excited to see what his future holds.

Seth (14) is shining in high school! He’s in his freshman year and keeping stellar grades in his honor classes. He continues to excel in math and science. He finished his eagle project in the spring and is just needing to do the final paperwork to earn his Eagle. Seth is in seminary for the first time this year and is a star student, arising at 5:00am, arriving 15+ minutes every morning and maintaining 100% attendance. He serves in the Teachers Quorum presidency. He is also influencing his family to pick up on his healthy habits of eating better and exercising daily. 

Michael (12) is a 7th grader at middle school and is also an honors student. He loves going to math clubs and participating in intramural sports before school. He is loving being a Boy Scout and camping, fishing, being outside, etc. He was ordained a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood in October and faithfully passes the sacrament each week. He has an inventive mind and is a creative problem solver. A few weeks ago he repaired a Nintendo DS that was in my Ebay “sell for parts” pile (it was completely dead, not charging or turning on). I still don’t know what he did to fix it!

Bentley (8) was baptized over the summer when he turned eight. He chose to have his oldest brother Andrew baptize him. Bentley is loving 3rd grade - he really is! Whenever I ask him how school was, he enthusiastically tells me, great! And tells me some fun thing they did. This is a change from 2nd grade, when it was always a negative response. I think he’s feeling more challenged this year. Bentley started cub scouts over the summer and is loving the outdoor activities as well. Bentley loves to build legos, build in Minecraft, and play with friends.

Clayton (4) is in preschool with his cousin and loving it! He loves to feel more grown-up like his older brothers. He is a great older brother to Joseph and is always watching out for him. Clayton is starting to get into Legos and still loves swords, Star Wars, Mario, and superheroes. He is very kind hearted and is often doing helpful, peacemaking things without being asked. Just the other day, two of his brothers were arguing about a spill and who’s fault it was. Before I could intervene, Clayton had already cleaned it up for them!

Joseph (20 months) is our happy smiley boy! His face lights up for everyone. He is very friendly and happy to go to most everyone, though Mom is his favorite. When Andrew came home from his mission he went right to him, let Andrew hold him for a minute and just smiled at him. He is very curious and quite nimble. We have found him on top of the grand piano, inside the sink with the water turned on, on top nightstands and end tables, and we’re just waiting for the day he crawls right out of his crib. He has refused the high chair and must sit at the table with the family. He is always watching and trying to imitate - if we can do it, he must be able to do it too - all by himself! He’s not speaking a lot of words yet - too many older brothers anticipating his every need. He brings so much joy to our family!

Greg and Sherie have had an eventful year! We both changed church callings. Sherie was released as YW President and Greg as primary teacher; we were both called to be early morning seminary teachers. This means teaching the scriptures to the 14-18 year olds in our ward every school day from 6:00 to 7:00 am. We are loving this calling! It is the first time we’ve worked together in a calling, and though it’s been a great sacrifice of time (and sleep!), we have already seen blessings from it. 

We teach in our home and therefore had a great excuse to finally finish out basement! It has been a monumental task that has taken all our spare time and weekends. We started in July and are feeling pretty close to the end. We held seminary in our dining room until just after Thanksgiving when enough of the basement was ready.

After 20+ years with IBM, Greg has changed jobs. He now works for United Health Group (Optum) and his work is primarily focused on intellectual property and creating patents. We are blessed that he continues to be able to work from home, and he still travels occasionally.  

We are looking forward to a great 2019! Chandler will return home in the summer, and we will be united as a family of 10 for the first time ever! We pray that you and yours have a blessed Christmas, a happy new year, and a memorable 2019! We love you all!

Love,

Greg, Sherie, Andrew, Chandler, Jordan, Seth, Michael, Bentley, Clayton and Joseph

Merry Christmas 2017!

Merry Christmas, our dear friends and family! We send our love and greetings to all near and far. 2017 has been an amazing and full year! 

In April, we welcomed our eighth son in the world! Joseph Nathan Boss was born on April 13th, early in the morning, just hours after his Grandma Skousen arrived from Utah to be there with Mommy and baby in those memorable first couple of weeks. He has been a truly joyful baby to have around. Many of us have declared him to be the “perfect baby,” and only a few times has Sherie had to threaten to take that card away - he really has such a happy disposition, a beautiful face that all who meet him comment on, and a smile that draws in everyone around him. He has just found his voice, and delights us all with his “ya-ya’s” and “da-da’s.”

Clayton (3 ½) is a wonderful older brother. He loves having Joseph as his roommate, and is a great helper for Mom during the day. He has improved dramatically in his speech and can now be understood 90% of the time, which is a great improvement from earlier in the year, when it was more like 30%. He is into Star Wars, airplanes, and Octonauts. He has a giggle that is easy to find and

Bentley (7 ½) is a bright, organized and funny 2nd grader. He loves to be silly, but he has a serious side too. He asks phenomenal questions that stump his mom on a regular basis. He loves playing Star Wars on the piano, playing with his cousin Logan who just moved nearby, having playdates, playing in the snow, playing on the beach, playing in the water, and, yes, also playing video games. He is currently playing basketball and has also enjoyed being a part of running club. We’ll see if soccer makes a comeback next year.

Michael (11) is in middle school now! He continues to be our out-of-the-box thinker and is always creating new things, coming up with great ideas, and being our funny man. He is a great babysitter already, and does a great job entertaining Joseph as well. Michael continues to excel in math, science, minecraft, starcraft, and designing things for the 3D printer. He has started learning the cello, and plays in the school orchestra. He is also in VEX Robotics with his brother Seth at school.

Seth (13 ½) is in his last year at middle school, and is a straight A student - his work is always well done, on time, and impressive. He particularly enjoys math. He serves as Deacon Quorum President and has shown some great leadership qualities in this role. He also continues to play the cello, but misses the piano and has been caught playing on it as well - I think it’s making a comeback. Seth ran for cross country again - this year he earned the Coach’s Award at the end of season awards night. Coach told the story of Seth running ¼ mile sprints for a total of 5 miles, and towards the end of those sprints he wasn’t even getting a break, but he wouldn’t give up! He is a hard worker, full of optimism, does his best on everything he tries, and is a great example for all around him.

Jordan (16) is our oldest at home right now and is driving! He is a great help with his baby brothers, and it’s great to have an errand runner again - okay, Mom was only without one for a couple months, but it was rough! Jordan happily ran 6 errands for her the weekend he got his license. Jordan is a performer and continues to amaze us with each new thing he decides to take on. This year he was in the school play (Grease), playing several parts, and we learned he is a great dancer and singer! He has also decided to pick up the viola, and is learning that while he still continues to play the cello for the orchestras at school (he is playing in both the Concert and Philharmonic this year). He continues to amaze with his piano skills and we love hearing him play. Jordan is still getting great grades, despite also taking a couple AP classes, attending early morning seminary, and serving as 2nd Priest Quorum Assistant.

Chandler (18 ½) had a lot happen for him this year! He graduated from high school and seminary in June. He went on youth conference and high adventure and the next month left to serve a 2-year mission for our church! He is serving in the California Anaheim mission and is really thriving. His last transfer was an assignment to train a new Elder and serve as district leader. His letters are always full of such optimism and excitement. We are always so excited to hear from him. (If you would like to receive his emails, just let Sherie know)

Andrew (almost 21) is in the latter part of his 2-year mission! He will come home next May, and I think all involved would say that the time has just flown. He recently had a baptism that he was in charge of planning the entire program, which felt somewhat intimidating. After the baptism, the woman threw her hands up in the air and called out “Hallelujah!” Andrew is always sending such spiritual and inspiring letters - we are so moved by his emails (you can also get his emails as well if you are interested). It will be exciting to have him come home and meet his brother Joseph for the first time!

Sherie is overwhelmed by the wonderful blessings surrounding her, sometimes disguised as chaos and noise. It is the busiest she has ever felt, but the joy is also unrivaled. She was called as YW President in June, and that has been a humbling and also exciting calling (those girls she’s been praying for all these years….here they are!) Christmas Day is going to be amazing - she can’t wait to talk to both of her missionaries on Hangouts!

In front of the Idaho Falls temple

Greg is still with IBM, and continues to create patents like there’s no tomorrow. It’s amazing that there are still ideas to be found, but Greg is finding them! He now has over 600 patents, ranking him at 70th among all inventors, historical and living. He got a 3D printer this year, and the kids and him have had fun fixing things around the house, printing toys, and designing things just for fun. Chandler especially really shined as he had taken an Engineering CAD class at school and was already familiar with the software. Greg was released from Stake YM President after serving for 5 years, and is now enjoying being the Primary teacher to the 8 year olds. He does a fantastic job at every calling he has. He continues to be the amazing father and husband he always has been.

Solar Eclipse time!

The family has had some great family trips this year. Over the summer we took a trip to Utah, and also travelled to Idaho Falls for the solar eclipse! Being with our Skousen side of the family for a couple weeks was a lot of fun. Jordan also got to attend EFY in Provo, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Most recently, we did a first - a cruise with the kids (well, the ones that are home!). Yes, kind of crazy to take a baby and preschooler along with all the others, but it was a fun and memorable trip! We sure wish our oldest ones could have been with us, but we’ll be making up for it when they’re back (maybe a cruise with just them - then it will be a real vacation for Mom too, haha!). We went with our good friends, the Deibels to the Western Caribbean (Belize, Honduras and Cozumel). The kids enjoyed cave tubing, ziplining, snorkeling, and beach time with Dad, and Mom did some of those with the little ones, along with ship time and relaxation.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year for 2018!

Love,

The Greg and Sherie Boss Family

Greg, Sherie, Andrew, Chandler, Jordan, Seth, Michael, Bentley, Clayton and Joseph!

Merry Christmas 2016!

Merry Christmas to friends near and far! The Boss family has had another eventful year. If you haven’t heard already, we are expecting baby boy number 8! He will make his arrival near the beginning of April next year. The whole family is thrilled!

Elder Andrew Boss (almost 20) is faithfully serving in the Arizona Mesa Mission. He entered the MTC on May 18th, spent 3 weeks there, and flew to Mesa, where he was assigned to his first area in Mesa, serving the Lehi 1st and Monument wards. He gets to attend 6 hours of church every Sunday! We so enjoy reading his letters each week and seeing his testimony and faithfulness continue to grow. He is an obedient and hard-working missionary.

Chandler (17 ½) is a Senior, applying to BYU, and preparing to serve a mission as well. Right now he is preparing to leave next summer, but he’s also considering doing a semester or two of college first. He has continued to take challenging school courses, including AP Physics 2 and an Engineering course. He is in his seventh and final year of playing cello in the school orchestras. Chandler is also part of the Robotics team at the high school for the second year, and has joined the school swim team again this year. He is enjoying dating, driving and having fun with friends, and we are most pleased with his spiritual growth as he has studied the Book of Mormon on his own, has stellar attendance at early morning seminary, continues to serve as Priest’s Quorum 2nd Assistant and serves on the Stake Youth Leadership Committee. No doubt the Lord has great plans for him as a missionary and beyond.

Jordan (15) is having a great sophomore year at Heritage High. He just finished performing as a guard in Shrek the Musical, loves book club and is talking about joining other after-school clubs now that he’s not in play practice every day. He’s just joined the Fiddle club but is playing the bass there instead of the cello. Jordan has also had near-perfect attendance at early morning seminary, and is doing a great job serving as teachers’ quorum president. Jordan also plays cello for the school orchestra and takes a piano keyboarding class at school. The progress he has made on the piano this year has been phenomenal! He plays Pirates of the Caribbean like a pro, and takes on new pieces with ease. Jordan is a great caretaker and despite his busy schedule helps out with the little ones whenever needed, without complaint. He’ll soon be “man of the house” when Chandler leaves, and he will fill that role very well.

Seth (12) is taking on 7th grade like a natural! He is becoming quite the perfectionist, and is still maintaining straight A’s in his honors schedule. He decided to join the cross country team this fall. We were so pleased with how hard he worked, and how dedicated he still is to his studies despite hours of practice every day and 2 meets almost every week. He was sad to miss out on his favorite sport, soccer, but is determined to resume that in the Spring, along with swimming, basketball, and possibly track and field. I think Seth is our sports man! Seth was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood this year and serves dutifully in his Deacon duties every Sunday. Seth sets the bar high for himself, and we are so pleased to see him meet and exceed it in so many ways.

Michael (10) is in his last year of elementary school (5th grade). He is taking on the responsibility of school work and being organized, and we are confident he will do great in middle school next year. Michael is quite the scientist and engineer. He loves all things scientific, loves to build things, take things apart, etc. Earlier this year a Nexus tablet that had been passed down to him stopped working. He figured out that it was the charging port that was damaged, and on his own, googled a fix for it. He watched a video about it on youtube, and ordered the correct part with his dad from Amazon. When the part arrived, despite his mother’s wariness, he took the Nexus apart on his own, replaced the part with some help from his dad, and put it back together. Mom was pretty amazed when it worked! As you can see, Michael is a creative, self-motivated, determined young man!

Bentley (6) is a great 1st grader! He is very organized, and gets out his yellow folder every day after school, and while eating his snack gets all his schoolwork done. We are working on his shyness with other adults, but he has no sign of it when it comes to friends. He loves playdates and recess and all things social. He is such a sweet older brother to Clayton. He very often gives up a toy or item when he sees that Clayton wants it. He is excited to have a new baby brother to help take care of in the spring. With Mom’s morning sickness, Bentley missed soccer this last fall, but is excited to play it in the spring. He also became a much more comfortable in the pool this summer, finally dunking his head all the way and swimming around like a fish. Bentley is hard-working and determined, often serious, but at times bursting with plenty of 6-year-old silliness with his friends and brothers.

Clayton (2 ½) has more and more personality emerging every day! He’s been a little slow to talk, so we’ve had him in speech therapy to help him along. He continues to say more and more and each day, and we love hearing the things he comes up with. He is all about Star Wars, and one of his hands is almost always in a ship or airplane-type formation, with sound effects to boot. He loves kicking balls, throwing balls, hitting balls with a bat, hitting balls with a golf club, and catching balls. Like his brothers, this boy is all boy! He’s mostly been in denial about a new baby brother headed his way, but just recently has begun to understand and accept the news. He likes to pat mommy’s tummy as she rocks him at night. Clayton has a giggle that brightens everyone’s day!

Greg continues to serve as Stake YM President. This year’s youth conference was service-oriented, and Chandler and Jordan had a great time serving with their dad. Greg continues to work for IBM, and is now exceeding over 450 patents filed with the patent office. He is passing on his inventive and problem-solving attributes to his children - several of them have expressed an interest in being an inventor. Bentley was shocked to find out, when saying he wanted to be an inventor when he grows up, that his dad is an inventor! Greg’s travels this year have taken him from coast to coast, as well as to Dublin, Ireland in the spring. He may be traveling to Seoul, North Korea or Germany this next month. Sherie just hopes the trips continue after the kids are raised so she can join him on his worldwide adventures!

Sherie is in the best part of her pregnancy and relishing the 2nd trimester energy. The house is getting purged, the closets are getting re-organized, the pantries are getting stocked! She really is thrilled to have another sweet baby boy to look forward to, and knowing the ropes for boys, is anticipating a smooth transition to 8 children. It’s rather strange adding to the brood as the older ones are leaving, but it feels only like a blessing. Sherie served for a short time in the Primary presidency this year after being released as Activity Days leader, but was recently called as Wolf Den leader, one of her favorite callings. The beginning of next year will bring a lot of changes with a new baby, and a senior graduating from high school and leaving for a mission or college. But change keeps life exciting, right? Sherie tries to keep tabs on some of her hobbies and interests, such as scrapbooking, piano, cello, and baking. Spare time is something that has to made though - that’s for sure!

Our family had a fun “last family vacation before Andrew leaves” in May. We spent a few days at Boyne Mountain here in Michigan (don’t fool yourselves Michiganders - it’s no mountain - just a big hill!). Boyne is a ski resort in the winter, but has other fun activities in the spring and summer. We went on a zipline adventure, played golf and tennis, stayed in a fun resort, and had a blast at the indoor waterpark.

In April, Chandler, Jordan, Greg and Sherie flew to Utah for a few days to take Andrew through the temple for the first time, and see our niece, Sarah Ann get married in that same temple, the new temple in Provo. We also got to attend General Conference in the Conference center, which was a first for all of us, and very memorable. We couldn’t leave without hiking the ‘Y’ and left Utah exhausted and filled with great memories.

In July Greg went with Chandler and Seth on a high adventure to the Porcupine Mountains in the upper peninsula of Michigan. There was a tornado nearby the night they arrived, and over 11 inches of rain fell in one night! The boys ended up traversing rivers that hadn’t been there the night before, making new bridges where they no longer existed, and so on. It was quite literally a high adventure!

Sherie went out to Utah again in August with Chandler and Jordan where we all attended Education Week at BYU and saw our nephew Alex get married in the SLC temple. It’s so nice of our relatives to schedule their weddings so conveniently for us!

We had our last family vacation just before school started. We camped several days on Lake Michigan and had a blast dutch cooking, playing on the beach, playing in the sand, and hiking up the sand dunes. It will be a repeat vacation next year too!

We send our love to all of you! We hope the spirit of Christmas burns bright in your hearts this season as we reflect on the gift of His Son’s birth into mortality.

Love,

Greg, Sherie, Elder Andrew Boss, Chandler, Jordan,

Seth, Michael, Bentley, Clayton, and number 8!