To all those who didn't get the email:

Dear Friends, Family, and Everyone Else,

Wow! What a year we have had! The most exciting news we can reveal is that we have been joined by our precious baby girl, who we’ve named Dakotah Rene. Besides a new baby, we had a great Hayes family reunion where we got to visit with many of you. We also took a trip back to Illinois (Dayne’s first time) to see those of my family who couldn’t make it to the reunion. We had a great time! In fact, being away from the shop for awhile got us to thinking. And, in the grand tradition we began when we met and married so spontaneously, we decided to leave the business to my dad and return to Utah. Yes, we have moved back to Orem and are living in Dayne’s parents’ basement.
This year I thought it would be fun to grace you with some of our favorite hobbies, activities, quotes, and other nonsense.
Since we’ve been in Utah we have been spending more time with Dayne’s brothers. We have discovered the wonders of the Wii, and, let me just say, our family could make a great rock band. Jackson has also gotten very good at beating me at jenga .
I am also getting back into the joys of baking with spelt flour and learning to feed my family more nutritiously. Don’t get me wrong, the kids still get tons of candy and goodies (Dayne will see to that), but we are balancing it with less sugar in our regular food and eating more vegetables. The kids take to it pretty well.
Speaking of the kids, Jackson is in Kindergarten this year. He loves it, I think mostly because he gets away from me every morning. He is learning to read and write and all about homework. We butt heads quite a bit, though, when I correct him. He doesn’t like to be told he’s doing something wrong. Huh . . . I wonder where he gets that from? Oh, well.
Brooklyn has taken over where Jackson leaves off every day. She has an intimidating nature. At least Jackson must think so. He had an accident on his bunk bed one day. When I asked him about it he said, “I couldn’t get down because Brooklyn was down there, and she was going to get me!” I can’t wait until he’s a teenager and I can tease him about being scared of his little sister. Although, I must admit, she scares me too sometimes.
She has become more aware of her father’s affections lately. If mom and dad are hugging or smooching, she has to wiggle her way in between. And when Daddy leaves for work she takes him through a ritual with hugs, kisses, knuckles, five, and an “I luboo, Daddy.” Today she added a prayer too. When I leave I get, “See ya, Mommy.” (I know he’s bribing her with goodies.)
I have discovered the secret to losing that stubborn baby weight. It’s not breastfeeding. It’s breastfeeding a baby with food allergies, and it works! Dakotah developed some pretty severe eczema a couple months ago. Since then I have given up many of my favorite foods including all dairy, soy, sugar, and wheat among other things. I blame Dayne entirely for this because it was his genes that created the problem. However, we have seen a remarkable difference in her skin, and she is once again a happy baby, laughing and cooing loudly.
Let’s see, my last child, Dayne, my pride and joy. Such a good kid, although he needs to work on his romance skills. He really likes his new job. The other mechanics couldn’t figure out why he was skipping around the shop, whistling his favorite tunes on his first day. Little did they know he was feeling the affects of a lack of responsibility. He barely talks to the customers, never sees a bill, and gets to leave at closing time. This job is easy!
Now I’ve run out of room so I better quit. But as long as you’re still reading, I would like to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone we love so much! Wish we could all be together, but I guess it could get pretty crowded in this basement. Plus Dayne wouldn’t be able to sleep with all that breathing at night.

Love you all,
The Godbolds, Dayne, Sarah, Jack Jack, Brookie, and Kotah Bear