Hi everyone,
In 20 minutes, I get done with my first week of the second semester. I will be off to the longest vacation I have taken since before my mission. I can't hardly wait. We will be in pagosa springs on friday, head to St. George on saturday and then meet up with all of you sunday for a week of fun. I seem to have things pretty well under control for the week. Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love you all.
Nick
CAN'T WAIT
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Granger High Alumni
I'll do anything to avoid making dinner, which is what I should be doing at this 5 o'clock hour. I just wanted to tell you about a meeting I attended today. Kent Hart (my best friend Michele's brother-in-law) has been thinking for awhile that he wanted to start a Granger High Alumni Association. He is an attorney, lives in Salt Lake, and is the kind of guy who wants to do good. He is a really sharp guy. He happened to talk to our our principal, Art Cox, who got really excited about the idea since this is GHS's 50th anniversary and there is also a rebuild of Granger in the plans. So Kent emailed a bunch of people a few weeks ago and Mr. Cox hosted a lunch today in the library. There were 12 of us around the table. It was informative, interesting, discouraging and inspiring, all rolled into one.
I have too many thoughts rolling around in my head that I want to say. I really should fix dinner. More later. . . . .
PS Right after that meeting and went and donated blood. Maybe these thoughts are rolling around without enough blood to put them on paper!
I have too many thoughts rolling around in my head that I want to say. I really should fix dinner. More later. . . . .
PS Right after that meeting and went and donated blood. Maybe these thoughts are rolling around without enough blood to put them on paper!
I guess we have a way of picking em...
So Yahoo linked to this article today about the top 10 cities for work and play. Who would have guessed that the the two cities I have spent most of the last 6 years in are both on the list? I was not too surprised to see Austin on the list because everyone is always talking about how awesome Austin is. Plus it's a pretty big, well known city, the capitol of one of the largest states, etc. What surprised me more was to see Provo on the list. Way to go Provo! Really the intermountain West did quite well with Boise and Colorado Springs also on the list.
Another thing that surpised me was that number one was Houston. I've never heard anybody speak too highly of Houston, at least not around here. To hear people talk (I don't really know) you'd think everyone in Houston is trying to get to Austin as fast as they can manage. Anyway, kind of an interesting list. Where have been your favorite cities to live in? Or perhaps, where would you like to live someday (yeah, yeah, we know Utah, but where else sounds fun? :)
Another thing that surpised me was that number one was Houston. I've never heard anybody speak too highly of Houston, at least not around here. To hear people talk (I don't really know) you'd think everyone in Houston is trying to get to Austin as fast as they can manage. Anyway, kind of an interesting list. Where have been your favorite cities to live in? Or perhaps, where would you like to live someday (yeah, yeah, we know Utah, but where else sounds fun? :)
Youth Conference
Hello everyone,
Well, as many of you know, I just got back from my Ward Youth Conference, and I had a ton of fun!! Let me first start out by saying, especially to dad, that no romances started while I was at Youth Conference. Every time I would get home, the first question dad would ask me is, "any romances started" and I would always answer the same answer, "no."
But I really did have a blast! Let me kind of go through my schedule. First day, we had a dinner at the church and then headed over to the church Pasta Factory where we did our service project. Then we came home and watched Little Rascals at the Nelson's house outside on a big projector.
On the second day we met over at the church and then headed over to Camp Williams, which is a military base and they have a section there where youth groups can go. Theres a repelling wall and a bunch of obstacle courses. We ate lunch up there and then headed over to Joe Taylors home, who is my young mens president and he really reminds me of Blaine! We played games like basketball and Wii and Foosball and Air Hockey and Darts and stuff like that. After a while he got a big group together and we played one of my new favorite games called Werewolf. Its pretty much the same as Mafia, just with more characters. I had a lot of fun.
On the third day we met at the church and had a breakfast provided by the Bishopric and then headed straight up to Seven Peaks in Provo. It was so much fun! Oh, and by the way Blaine and Kristi, they have made a new ride there but it wasn't open. I can't remember what its called but it starts out as a slide and then it opens up into this big bowl thing and you spin around that for a while and then drop down into the slide again. It's right next to the Boomerang. So we went on all the tall, steep rides, me, Richard, Tyson, Nate, Bishop Wynn, Caroline, Dejan and some other kids. We went on the Boomerang a bunch of times and ate snacks and hung out and stuff. After Seven Peaks, we headed home and stopped at Wendy's and then some kids went over to Joe's house after showering and stuff and played Werewolf. Then on sunday, we had our testimony meetings. It was a really fun Youth Conference! I love our ward because there aren't little cliques and you can hang out with whoever you really want to. I noticed that especially at Seven Peaks, I first hung out with Richard and Tyson, but only for a little while because we all kind of stayed together. I think Bishop Wynn had a fun time on the big tall slides because every time I would go up there, he would always be in line for one of them. :)
Anyways, I just really love our ward and I had a great time at Youth Conference and I can't wait for next year.
Love you all,
Max
Well, as many of you know, I just got back from my Ward Youth Conference, and I had a ton of fun!! Let me first start out by saying, especially to dad, that no romances started while I was at Youth Conference. Every time I would get home, the first question dad would ask me is, "any romances started" and I would always answer the same answer, "no."
But I really did have a blast! Let me kind of go through my schedule. First day, we had a dinner at the church and then headed over to the church Pasta Factory where we did our service project. Then we came home and watched Little Rascals at the Nelson's house outside on a big projector.
On the second day we met over at the church and then headed over to Camp Williams, which is a military base and they have a section there where youth groups can go. Theres a repelling wall and a bunch of obstacle courses. We ate lunch up there and then headed over to Joe Taylors home, who is my young mens president and he really reminds me of Blaine! We played games like basketball and Wii and Foosball and Air Hockey and Darts and stuff like that. After a while he got a big group together and we played one of my new favorite games called Werewolf. Its pretty much the same as Mafia, just with more characters. I had a lot of fun.
On the third day we met at the church and had a breakfast provided by the Bishopric and then headed straight up to Seven Peaks in Provo. It was so much fun! Oh, and by the way Blaine and Kristi, they have made a new ride there but it wasn't open. I can't remember what its called but it starts out as a slide and then it opens up into this big bowl thing and you spin around that for a while and then drop down into the slide again. It's right next to the Boomerang. So we went on all the tall, steep rides, me, Richard, Tyson, Nate, Bishop Wynn, Caroline, Dejan and some other kids. We went on the Boomerang a bunch of times and ate snacks and hung out and stuff. After Seven Peaks, we headed home and stopped at Wendy's and then some kids went over to Joe's house after showering and stuff and played Werewolf. Then on sunday, we had our testimony meetings. It was a really fun Youth Conference! I love our ward because there aren't little cliques and you can hang out with whoever you really want to. I noticed that especially at Seven Peaks, I first hung out with Richard and Tyson, but only for a little while because we all kind of stayed together. I think Bishop Wynn had a fun time on the big tall slides because every time I would go up there, he would always be in line for one of them. :)
Anyways, I just really love our ward and I had a great time at Youth Conference and I can't wait for next year.
Love you all,
Max
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Happy Father's day
(FYI - this may become one of the most controversial posts in this otherwise family publication.)
What is a father? And why should we honor them? Let me share 5 abstract thoughts...
1. There are lots of different kinds of fathers. There are the founding fathers. There's the Father of medicine. The father of basketball. The father of scouting. There's the father of our family. There are grandfathers. There's the father of our ward. There is our Heavenly Father, and his Son the father of our salvation. And while each father is different from the others, they each can be honored for a similar gift that they give. They saw potential and they planted a seed in fertile ground, and then they cared for it, protected it, ensured it would have what it needed to grow into a healthy individual capable of caring for itself and for others.
2. It's both obvious and remarkable at the same time - every person on the earth has a father. There isn't a single person here who doesn't have a father. It is one of the few truths that is unalterable. You can be separated from your father. You may not know him, and may never know who he is. He may be cruel and impossible to deal with. But the truth is you had a person who planted a seed which made it possible for you to be who you are...both physically and spiritually.
3. Every father had a father. And every father's father had a father...and so on. And so for every father, there are also grandfathers, great grandfathers, etc. etc. There is a continuing unbroken chain of fathers in every person's line. And so looking backwards, is a continuing chain of men who planted seeds to bring forth life and salvation.
4. When you have a child, you become the first father in a new chain. And each child you have will count you as his father. And each child's child will count you as the indisputable seed bearer which gave him life. And so looking forward is a continuing chain of family members who you are responsible for bringing into this life. And a whole new chain of family and fathers is created. We don't see it now, but it will grow into a might tree.
5. You suddenly realize that you are the center. You are the father who links fathers of the past, with fathers of the future. You are the father of the present. And it is what you do now that honors those to whom you belong going backward, and going forward.
Of course I can't quite say it the way I feel it, but I'm grateful to be a father. I am part of a continuous chain of great and wonderful fathers, and at the same time, I am at the head of a continuing chain. What a blessing it is to see my children walk in righteousness and choose to also become fathers and mothers and begin their own branch of the mighty tree.
Loves to all...
What is a father? And why should we honor them? Let me share 5 abstract thoughts...
1. There are lots of different kinds of fathers. There are the founding fathers. There's the Father of medicine. The father of basketball. The father of scouting. There's the father of our family. There are grandfathers. There's the father of our ward. There is our Heavenly Father, and his Son the father of our salvation. And while each father is different from the others, they each can be honored for a similar gift that they give. They saw potential and they planted a seed in fertile ground, and then they cared for it, protected it, ensured it would have what it needed to grow into a healthy individual capable of caring for itself and for others.
2. It's both obvious and remarkable at the same time - every person on the earth has a father. There isn't a single person here who doesn't have a father. It is one of the few truths that is unalterable. You can be separated from your father. You may not know him, and may never know who he is. He may be cruel and impossible to deal with. But the truth is you had a person who planted a seed which made it possible for you to be who you are...both physically and spiritually.
3. Every father had a father. And every father's father had a father...and so on. And so for every father, there are also grandfathers, great grandfathers, etc. etc. There is a continuing unbroken chain of fathers in every person's line. And so looking backwards, is a continuing chain of men who planted seeds to bring forth life and salvation.
4. When you have a child, you become the first father in a new chain. And each child you have will count you as his father. And each child's child will count you as the indisputable seed bearer which gave him life. And so looking forward is a continuing chain of family members who you are responsible for bringing into this life. And a whole new chain of family and fathers is created. We don't see it now, but it will grow into a might tree.
5. You suddenly realize that you are the center. You are the father who links fathers of the past, with fathers of the future. You are the father of the present. And it is what you do now that honors those to whom you belong going backward, and going forward.
Of course I can't quite say it the way I feel it, but I'm grateful to be a father. I am part of a continuous chain of great and wonderful fathers, and at the same time, I am at the head of a continuing chain. What a blessing it is to see my children walk in righteousness and choose to also become fathers and mothers and begin their own branch of the mighty tree.
Loves to all...
Saturday, June 14, 2008
I WENT ON A DATE!!!
Ok I had that as the title because I knew it would get you all excited and suprised! Don't, however, get excited because it wasn't with my favorite boy at work...Jeff. Rather it was another four letter word...Josh. I went to high school with him, he is about 6'6'' and it quite large around too! I had hung out with him and a bunch of other people from high school on Thursday night to celebrate Austin Thorup coming home from his mission, so that night as I was leaving he asked me to go on a date for the next day. Ok I should re phrase that...he made it sound like we were just going to hang out with a bunch of people on Friday and I was really excited, then on Friday he text me to officially ask me! EWWW it is so annoying to me when people can't just make a phone call. Anyways, it was actually pretty fun...for the first three hours! He came and got me at 6:30 and we doubled with one of my favorite people from high school (Matt Jameson-he is just such a good, fun kid..no I am not in love with him) We went to Holladay and played frisbee golf. It was so much fun, we went to like a real live frisbee golf course, it was so cool, and I definitely think we should do it as a family sometime (maybe to replace our Memorial Day walk around the neighborhood!) After finishing the course which took about 2 hours, we went and got the most delicious slushies, they were kind of like Italian Sodas because they had shaved ice, cream, and your desired flavor. Unfortunately he didn't know they did not take cards and only had 2.50, thus we both had an extra small (8 oz) needless to say I think that was the first and last time a boy of his size would get a slushee that small! I was fine with it though. Up to that point I had a great time, I thought it was a nice length for a date and thought it appropriate to go home. But of course, they decided they wanted to do more. So we went and caught a 10:30 showing of The Incredible Hulk (which was quite cheesy and funny by the way!) Now you may all be wondering why I would be so against going and honestly I would have been OK with it if it was a boy I liked....like oh I don't know...Jeff. But when it is a boy you don't like that you know likes you, you spend the majority of the movie trying to keep your hands in 1 of 3 places...folded, in your crotch, or in the popcorn (my personal favorite) :) It was fun, just a little nerve racking. ANyways we got home to a beautiful cling wrap car job on my little car done by none other than my best friend Amber Curtis and some of her buddies. Oh well it is easy to clean up...and it made the door step scene a lot less stressful! In fact I had Matt (the other kid) taking pictures of me and my car at 1:30 in the morning. ANyways it was fun but a little interesting. Love you all.
Love, Rosey
Love, Rosey
Friday, June 13, 2008
What I like about you (Gwen)....
As mentioned in an earlier post, Gwen and I have had a rough time together lately, but as you can imagine there are still plenty of things to love about her....
*Her complete adoration for Blaine. From the moment she wakes up it is, "Where's Dad? When is he coming home?" to when he walks in the door - wherever she is she will run to greet him and jump in his arms and scream "WELCOME HOME!"
* Her love for her brother. She loves Bentley, though he can sometimes drive her crazy, usually she loves talking to him and playing with him and making him laugh.
* I love that she loves all kinds of music, not just kid stuff. Some of her favorite songs are "Hello, Goodbye" by the Beatles; "Starry Eyed Surprise" by Paul Oakenfold, "Accidentally in Love" by SmashMouth, "Chewing Gum" by Annie and countless others.
* It may be too early to tell but I would not be surprised if she has perfect pitch. She sings really well and it is amazing to me how on pitch she is (better than me, which isn't saying too much ; ) ).
* She loves to dance while Blaine plays the piano. It is a fun family tradition and melts away tension in our home.
* She says some of the sweetest prayers
* She is so smart and can memorize things so easily. The other night she told us the story of when Jesus was resurrected so vividly and with so many details! When we see you you should ask her to do it, it was amazing!
* She loves books. Though her zeal for reading has decreased, she loves being read to.
* She looks so funny when she runs, you might say she runs faster than she appears to have the strength to.
*She is a great swimmer
* I think the thing I love the most about her and about Bentley is seeing them together. I hope this lasts because they are so sweet to eachother and adore eachother (I am flashing forward to seeing Bentley jumping on her bed, wearing her bra and reading her journal and she running around screaming how much she dislikes him), I just pray it will last because it adds soooo much sweetness in our home. Having two kids is so much harder than I anticipated, I feel exhausted and like I don't accomplish anything in the day, the house is in ruins, Gwen and I are at eachothers throats constantly, but it is all worth it when I hear her talking to Bentley and when I see him gazing at her and smiling. It's too cute.
Love,
Kristi
*Her complete adoration for Blaine. From the moment she wakes up it is, "Where's Dad? When is he coming home?" to when he walks in the door - wherever she is she will run to greet him and jump in his arms and scream "WELCOME HOME!"
* Her love for her brother. She loves Bentley, though he can sometimes drive her crazy, usually she loves talking to him and playing with him and making him laugh.
* I love that she loves all kinds of music, not just kid stuff. Some of her favorite songs are "Hello, Goodbye" by the Beatles; "Starry Eyed Surprise" by Paul Oakenfold, "Accidentally in Love" by SmashMouth, "Chewing Gum" by Annie and countless others.
* It may be too early to tell but I would not be surprised if she has perfect pitch. She sings really well and it is amazing to me how on pitch she is (better than me, which isn't saying too much ; ) ).
* She loves to dance while Blaine plays the piano. It is a fun family tradition and melts away tension in our home.
* She says some of the sweetest prayers
* She is so smart and can memorize things so easily. The other night she told us the story of when Jesus was resurrected so vividly and with so many details! When we see you you should ask her to do it, it was amazing!
* She loves books. Though her zeal for reading has decreased, she loves being read to.
* She looks so funny when she runs, you might say she runs faster than she appears to have the strength to.
*She is a great swimmer
* I think the thing I love the most about her and about Bentley is seeing them together. I hope this lasts because they are so sweet to eachother and adore eachother (I am flashing forward to seeing Bentley jumping on her bed, wearing her bra and reading her journal and she running around screaming how much she dislikes him), I just pray it will last because it adds soooo much sweetness in our home. Having two kids is so much harder than I anticipated, I feel exhausted and like I don't accomplish anything in the day, the house is in ruins, Gwen and I are at eachothers throats constantly, but it is all worth it when I hear her talking to Bentley and when I see him gazing at her and smiling. It's too cute.
Love,
Kristi
What I like about you....
I perhaps didn't let everyone know, but I was really nervous to have a baby boy. I was afraid he would be wild and unruly and gross, well...turns out I really love Bentley, let me count the ways.
* Even though he can only say two words, he says them in such a manly deep voice, it cracks me up. You can tell it is pretend and that he is trying to talk lower, and he sounds about the same as if I tried to imitate Blaine. (the two words? Dada and baba)
* He growls
* When I give him cheerios or puffs he grabs fistfuls at a time and shoves them all in his mouth. The other day I accidentally dumped out nearly half the package of puffs and he had most of them in his mouth before I could grab them.
* Every time, without fail, he pees in the bathtub; and every time, without fail, Gwen freaks out and gets really mad (understandably). Gwen probably did this too, but it is quite more obvious with Bentley.
* He has a little beer belly (well, milk belly), and I love when he is floating in his swimming float because it pushes that little belly all together and it flops over the side.
* He is so easy to please, happy nearly constantly, gives the worlds best smiles.
*He is entertained by ceiling fans
*You can tell that he loves Gwen more than anything
* Because his hair is so thin he always has to wear hats and he looks so darn cute in them.
*Gwen can make Bentley laugh nearly instantaneously, all she has to do is make a silly face or dance or pretend to fall and Bentley is in hysterics.
*He grins really big whenever he sees me
* He really likes to play with his ear. He will just sneak one little hand there and strum his ear like it is a guitar.
* He loves dancing and swinging and rough play.
* He sometimes screams like a girl.
Anyway, I am excited for you all to see him. Where Gwen was super cute from the get-go, I feel like Bentley has grown into his cuteness. He was a hard baby for me but now he has mellowed out into the most delightful little guy. He can't wait to meet all of you!
* Even though he can only say two words, he says them in such a manly deep voice, it cracks me up. You can tell it is pretend and that he is trying to talk lower, and he sounds about the same as if I tried to imitate Blaine. (the two words? Dada and baba)
* He growls
* When I give him cheerios or puffs he grabs fistfuls at a time and shoves them all in his mouth. The other day I accidentally dumped out nearly half the package of puffs and he had most of them in his mouth before I could grab them.
* Every time, without fail, he pees in the bathtub; and every time, without fail, Gwen freaks out and gets really mad (understandably). Gwen probably did this too, but it is quite more obvious with Bentley.
* He has a little beer belly (well, milk belly), and I love when he is floating in his swimming float because it pushes that little belly all together and it flops over the side.
* He is so easy to please, happy nearly constantly, gives the worlds best smiles.
*He is entertained by ceiling fans
*You can tell that he loves Gwen more than anything
* Because his hair is so thin he always has to wear hats and he looks so darn cute in them.
*Gwen can make Bentley laugh nearly instantaneously, all she has to do is make a silly face or dance or pretend to fall and Bentley is in hysterics.
*He grins really big whenever he sees me
* He really likes to play with his ear. He will just sneak one little hand there and strum his ear like it is a guitar.
* He loves dancing and swinging and rough play.
* He sometimes screams like a girl.
Anyway, I am excited for you all to see him. Where Gwen was super cute from the get-go, I feel like Bentley has grown into his cuteness. He was a hard baby for me but now he has mellowed out into the most delightful little guy. He can't wait to meet all of you!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
We're Cool
Hi Family,
It's a cool summer evening. Dad is at the Stake Center. Janey is on a date, Rosey is at a summer institute class and Max is in the other room calling friends trying to organize night games tonight. And I am keeping company with the computer! Who would have thought? I did just finish a really good book that I want to recommend called "The Secret Life of Bees." Anyone read it? I loved it!
Today Max went with me to clean the cabin. See Winder blog for a full report of our successful day. Max is a good, obedient boy and a hard worker.
I was in charge of our Primary Activity this past Monday. We went to Temple Square. We met at the church and rode Trax downtown. Necia Christensen got us free tokens (regularly$1.75) I had been to Temple Square last week and made up a "treasure hunt" for the kids to do. Kind of a scavenger/treasure hunt. We had 29 kids show up and 10 helpers which is a great turnout for our Primary. Nice Max was one of my helpers and did a great one-on-one job with one of our more lively 7-year-olds. Only once, when Max let go of his hand at the Trax station and Jacob tried to reach out and touch the train speeding by, did I almost have a heart attack. But we all made it back alive and I have even had several parents tell me how much fun their kids had. Oh and I didn't mention the best part, we got to end with a little talk from a real gardener on temple square - complete with drinks and a snack. Thanks again Rosey!
We had a fun Bassett Second Sunday last week with Liz and Jill and families in town. We got to see new little baby Jack. We also enjoyed watching a video that Bobby and Ashleigh made about their engagement. I think they may have posted that on the Bassett site.
I have just noticed that Darleney Chel-c, Brianna and Corinne have all "signed in" to talk to Max. If I am not mistaken, those are all girls! Hmmmm. The only reason Sabrina and Leiana didn't pop up is that he was talking on the telephone to them.
Someing is wong ith or keyboard a I am ick of it. IF I justtype normally, this is howit comes ut. I eephavng to corrct eey sentence I type. There are tons of stuck kys and am ready to screa an think that I btter sign off
But I love you all.
Love, Mom
PS Way to go Nick - his softball team is playing for the championship of the world tomorrow night. They haven't lost a game!
It's a cool summer evening. Dad is at the Stake Center. Janey is on a date, Rosey is at a summer institute class and Max is in the other room calling friends trying to organize night games tonight. And I am keeping company with the computer! Who would have thought? I did just finish a really good book that I want to recommend called "The Secret Life of Bees." Anyone read it? I loved it!
Today Max went with me to clean the cabin. See Winder blog for a full report of our successful day. Max is a good, obedient boy and a hard worker.
I was in charge of our Primary Activity this past Monday. We went to Temple Square. We met at the church and rode Trax downtown. Necia Christensen got us free tokens (regularly$1.75) I had been to Temple Square last week and made up a "treasure hunt" for the kids to do. Kind of a scavenger/treasure hunt. We had 29 kids show up and 10 helpers which is a great turnout for our Primary. Nice Max was one of my helpers and did a great one-on-one job with one of our more lively 7-year-olds. Only once, when Max let go of his hand at the Trax station and Jacob tried to reach out and touch the train speeding by, did I almost have a heart attack. But we all made it back alive and I have even had several parents tell me how much fun their kids had. Oh and I didn't mention the best part, we got to end with a little talk from a real gardener on temple square - complete with drinks and a snack. Thanks again Rosey!
We had a fun Bassett Second Sunday last week with Liz and Jill and families in town. We got to see new little baby Jack. We also enjoyed watching a video that Bobby and Ashleigh made about their engagement. I think they may have posted that on the Bassett site.
I have just noticed that Darleney Chel-c, Brianna and Corinne have all "signed in" to talk to Max. If I am not mistaken, those are all girls! Hmmmm. The only reason Sabrina and Leiana didn't pop up is that he was talking on the telephone to them.
Someing is wong ith or keyboard a I am ick of it. IF I justtype normally, this is howit comes ut. I eephavng to corrct eey sentence I type. There are tons of stuck kys and am ready to screa an think that I btter sign off
But I love you all.
Love, Mom
PS Way to go Nick - his softball team is playing for the championship of the world tomorrow night. They haven't lost a game!
Weddings and Being Single
It was so much fun to read everyone's post. I don't do very well at commenting on posts, but just know that I love them all! I love the family that I belong to and know I don't do very well in keeping in contact with people...especially you Kristi. Sorry I haven't called you back yet, but know that I sure love you. I wish you could have gone shopping with Stef and I the other day...no worries, we didn't buy anything because they were out of everything we wanted. Oh well, thanks again for going Stef, your b-day present is still on the way!
So, last week was Single awarness week. :) Just kidding! My best friend Jessica Longhurst got married so it was an emotional rollercoaster week. Here is a jumble of thoughts and emotions that have run throughmy head:
Although I am sad I had to come home from the mission early, there are blessings that the Lord has given me. I know He is in charge and he has given me little blessings to help make it through what could be hard times. What I mean by that it is that I know that if I was the last of my friends (Angelle and Jessica) to have gone through the temple and be married, I would be really discouraged with my life. But, Heavenly Father knew this ahead of time and let me go through the temple first so I could witness not only these 2 sealings, but 4 others as well (and I recieved my endowment only a year and 2 months ago.) Anyway, I am so grateful that I was able to go to Jessica's sealing. I don't think I have ever seen a bride smile as big as she did. She already has a big smile, and she could not wipe it off her face...I loved it! She was so happy and full of the spirit and I am so happy for her. Again, I am grateful for the blessings of the temple. I remember when I was younger, the greatest part of the wedding day was the reception, wedding luncheon and the pictures on the stairs. But, now I realize that the best part of all is the actual temple sealing. I love the gospel!
The rest of the wedding festivities went well. They had the reception in her backyard and the weather was beautiful. As you all know this is a miracle because the weather here in Utah is still freezing cold and rainy some days! I also had another friend get married so I had to run to the other reception and hurry to make it back before Jessica left. It was a busy but wonderful day. I was also able to go through the temple with Jessica a few days earlier to recieve her endowment and then have a bachlorette (sp?) party with Jess and Angelle.
Like I said, it was an emotion rollercoaster and I never thought it would be that hard or weird to have a best friend get married. I have friends but am not connected at the hip with my friends...such as Rosey and Amber :) but it was kind of hard to realize that she now has another best friend and is moving to a new stage of life. Meanwhile, I am still stuck here in single-ville and finding that sometimes I love it, and sometimes I hate it! At the wedding I realized that now my two friends couldn't see a cute guy and flirt-it-up with them (because they are married)...but I can (Mom is probably laughing because she doesn't think I do this...but I occassionally do). But, then when it comes time to go back to school and find housing I absolutley do not like being single!!!! I'll be honest, I don't want to deal with roommates or eat dinner alone or come home to an apt. of friends, but no one who really cares. I hope that it can all turn out to be a positive experience, but I am just not super excited about it. That is the biggest dilema right now, and I hope I can find the right place so I can have a good year.
Meanwhile, I still love being at home. It is even more fun now that people (Rosey and Marg) are home from school. Life moves forward and the one thing that keeps me going is our big trip and simply getting to see Blaine and Kristi and Gwen and Bentley. I love you all. Sorry this is so long and maybe confusing. It was more of a journal post and I had to get my feelings about certain things written out!
Love, Janey
So, last week was Single awarness week. :) Just kidding! My best friend Jessica Longhurst got married so it was an emotional rollercoaster week. Here is a jumble of thoughts and emotions that have run throughmy head:
Although I am sad I had to come home from the mission early, there are blessings that the Lord has given me. I know He is in charge and he has given me little blessings to help make it through what could be hard times. What I mean by that it is that I know that if I was the last of my friends (Angelle and Jessica) to have gone through the temple and be married, I would be really discouraged with my life. But, Heavenly Father knew this ahead of time and let me go through the temple first so I could witness not only these 2 sealings, but 4 others as well (and I recieved my endowment only a year and 2 months ago.) Anyway, I am so grateful that I was able to go to Jessica's sealing. I don't think I have ever seen a bride smile as big as she did. She already has a big smile, and she could not wipe it off her face...I loved it! She was so happy and full of the spirit and I am so happy for her. Again, I am grateful for the blessings of the temple. I remember when I was younger, the greatest part of the wedding day was the reception, wedding luncheon and the pictures on the stairs. But, now I realize that the best part of all is the actual temple sealing. I love the gospel!
The rest of the wedding festivities went well. They had the reception in her backyard and the weather was beautiful. As you all know this is a miracle because the weather here in Utah is still freezing cold and rainy some days! I also had another friend get married so I had to run to the other reception and hurry to make it back before Jessica left. It was a busy but wonderful day. I was also able to go through the temple with Jessica a few days earlier to recieve her endowment and then have a bachlorette (sp?) party with Jess and Angelle.
Like I said, it was an emotion rollercoaster and I never thought it would be that hard or weird to have a best friend get married. I have friends but am not connected at the hip with my friends...such as Rosey and Amber :) but it was kind of hard to realize that she now has another best friend and is moving to a new stage of life. Meanwhile, I am still stuck here in single-ville and finding that sometimes I love it, and sometimes I hate it! At the wedding I realized that now my two friends couldn't see a cute guy and flirt-it-up with them (because they are married)...but I can (Mom is probably laughing because she doesn't think I do this...but I occassionally do). But, then when it comes time to go back to school and find housing I absolutley do not like being single!!!! I'll be honest, I don't want to deal with roommates or eat dinner alone or come home to an apt. of friends, but no one who really cares. I hope that it can all turn out to be a positive experience, but I am just not super excited about it. That is the biggest dilema right now, and I hope I can find the right place so I can have a good year.
Meanwhile, I still love being at home. It is even more fun now that people (Rosey and Marg) are home from school. Life moves forward and the one thing that keeps me going is our big trip and simply getting to see Blaine and Kristi and Gwen and Bentley. I love you all. Sorry this is so long and maybe confusing. It was more of a journal post and I had to get my feelings about certain things written out!
Love, Janey
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Jordan North 2nd Ward - Sacrament
We live in a special ward. Things - strange things - happen here all the time. And yet people don't let it bother them. They just let it bounce off and they move forward. HEre's a few examples of things that have happened in Sacrament meetings which have kept things interesting through the years...
- A deacon would wear a golf shirt, but because he was told he needed to wear a tie, he would wear the tie with his golf shirt. Hard to argue with him - when you're just glad he was coming.
- A deacon brought his inactive friend to church and showed him the ropes of passing the sacrament. As he was passign the sacrament, I leaned over th my counselor and told him how proud I was of this deacon for bringing his friend. A moment later, my counselor asked if we had ever made his friend a deacon...doh!
- We caught a deacon twice pass the sacrament, but when he returned to the table to hand off his tray, the priest held out the tray back to him for him to take it, and he held up his hand in the no thanks position - he wasn't worthy to take the sacrament....ugh!
- As you probably guessed - these deacon's were all the same person....Zane Bevan
- Rob Osborne was a priest who wore his white tuxedo w/ cane and top hat from Jr. Prom. We asked him not to bless the sacrament as he would be a distraction to the sacredness of the sacrament.
- I was Stake President when Caitie Jolley spoke in Sacrament Meeting prior to leaving on her mission. I was worried - a bit - about whether or not everything would be appropriate for the meeting. When some friends of Caitie's entered the meeting wearing costumes, I really got nervous. One was dressed like Princess Leia from Star Wars. The others were dressed look a wookie, and some little ewoks. I debated about asking them to leave....but I decided to see if they were going to be a distraction beyond that, and they didn't make any further distraction. I continued to be nervous throughout her mission, and when she returned, I checked to see whether or not these same weird friends would return, 'no' was the response.
- Andrew Mitchell was interesting through his teen years. He had so many emotional/mental challenges (which by the way completely reveresed when he served his church service mission). But the strangest thing he did was wear a bikini t-shirt to sacrament. You know, one of those t-shirts that have a woman's body painted on the t-shirt, covered only with a swimming suit. He wore it and after meeting when I saw it, I went up and asked him to change it for the rest of the meeting.
Well, I've got to run...but I'll share more with you soon.
-
- A deacon would wear a golf shirt, but because he was told he needed to wear a tie, he would wear the tie with his golf shirt. Hard to argue with him - when you're just glad he was coming.
- A deacon brought his inactive friend to church and showed him the ropes of passing the sacrament. As he was passign the sacrament, I leaned over th my counselor and told him how proud I was of this deacon for bringing his friend. A moment later, my counselor asked if we had ever made his friend a deacon...doh!
- We caught a deacon twice pass the sacrament, but when he returned to the table to hand off his tray, the priest held out the tray back to him for him to take it, and he held up his hand in the no thanks position - he wasn't worthy to take the sacrament....ugh!
- As you probably guessed - these deacon's were all the same person....Zane Bevan
- Rob Osborne was a priest who wore his white tuxedo w/ cane and top hat from Jr. Prom. We asked him not to bless the sacrament as he would be a distraction to the sacredness of the sacrament.
- I was Stake President when Caitie Jolley spoke in Sacrament Meeting prior to leaving on her mission. I was worried - a bit - about whether or not everything would be appropriate for the meeting. When some friends of Caitie's entered the meeting wearing costumes, I really got nervous. One was dressed like Princess Leia from Star Wars. The others were dressed look a wookie, and some little ewoks. I debated about asking them to leave....but I decided to see if they were going to be a distraction beyond that, and they didn't make any further distraction. I continued to be nervous throughout her mission, and when she returned, I checked to see whether or not these same weird friends would return, 'no' was the response.
- Andrew Mitchell was interesting through his teen years. He had so many emotional/mental challenges (which by the way completely reveresed when he served his church service mission). But the strangest thing he did was wear a bikini t-shirt to sacrament. You know, one of those t-shirts that have a woman's body painted on the t-shirt, covered only with a swimming suit. He wore it and after meeting when I saw it, I went up and asked him to change it for the rest of the meeting.
Well, I've got to run...but I'll share more with you soon.
-
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sweet Summertime!
Firstly I would like to say that I am extremely sorry for not writing in so long...if it makes anyone feel any better, I have not written anyone an email since I left from school, for some reason checking email at school is really fun and exciting but at home it is just a chore that I do not do often enough. I know that is no excuse and I will try to do better!
School was wonderful and home is also wonderful, they are definitely different but they are both so great! I am loving my job as a gardener at temple square, I am loving having our fun family to come home to each day, I am loving delicious home cooked meals, and free laundry/ironing etc. Thanks so much to Mom for all the dirty laundry she does for me each day, I am telling you... gardening is not a clean job, I have discovered cracks in my hands that I did not know existed! I have really enjoyed my job, slightly because I have a small crush on one of the boys I work with named Jeff. He is not the cutest man of all time but he is soooo funny and so fun to just talk to and joke around with! As Dad has reminded me, Mom did not marry him because of his looks, so there may be hope :) A classic story that happened just today about him and how funny he is...
Today (as it has done quite often the past few weeks) it was pouring rain when I got to work (at 6:30 AM might I add!) Sometimes my boss sends us home after we work for a few hours because it is hard to work in the rain, but we decided to stay a full day today. So we all suited up in our amazingly cute rain outfits which look very similar to lobster fishermen gear (yellow suspender pants, gooloshes, and a large yellow rain coat.) We worked throughout the morning and then at noon we went in for lunch, when I went into our work room everyone else on my crew of 7 people had already taken off their gear, Jeff told me to take my time because (quote) "Lunch doesn't start until everybody's clothes are off!" Oh my goodness I thought I would die of laughter, I mean can you imagine hearing your crush tell you that lunch doesn't start until your clothes are off! :) Of course he meant that our 45 minute lunch period would not start until rain gear was removed. It just cracked me up!
On a more spiritual note, I love my job and the joy that comes with being on temple square all day. It is so amazing! The other day I even had Elder L. Tom Perry walk by as I was gardening and told me how wonderful my work was. It was neat.
Other than work, I have just enjoyed playing a lot of b ball with Max and Caroline, going on lots of bike rides with Amber, and just spending time with lots of people I have not seen in a while. It is such a nice break to not worry about school for a few months.
It sounds like everyone is doing well. I sure miss and love you all (especially the Texans!) I can not wait for Disneyland! I will try to tell you all more about my life next week. Love ya!
Love, Rosey
School was wonderful and home is also wonderful, they are definitely different but they are both so great! I am loving my job as a gardener at temple square, I am loving having our fun family to come home to each day, I am loving delicious home cooked meals, and free laundry/ironing etc. Thanks so much to Mom for all the dirty laundry she does for me each day, I am telling you... gardening is not a clean job, I have discovered cracks in my hands that I did not know existed! I have really enjoyed my job, slightly because I have a small crush on one of the boys I work with named Jeff. He is not the cutest man of all time but he is soooo funny and so fun to just talk to and joke around with! As Dad has reminded me, Mom did not marry him because of his looks, so there may be hope :) A classic story that happened just today about him and how funny he is...
Today (as it has done quite often the past few weeks) it was pouring rain when I got to work (at 6:30 AM might I add!) Sometimes my boss sends us home after we work for a few hours because it is hard to work in the rain, but we decided to stay a full day today. So we all suited up in our amazingly cute rain outfits which look very similar to lobster fishermen gear (yellow suspender pants, gooloshes, and a large yellow rain coat.) We worked throughout the morning and then at noon we went in for lunch, when I went into our work room everyone else on my crew of 7 people had already taken off their gear, Jeff told me to take my time because (quote) "Lunch doesn't start until everybody's clothes are off!" Oh my goodness I thought I would die of laughter, I mean can you imagine hearing your crush tell you that lunch doesn't start until your clothes are off! :) Of course he meant that our 45 minute lunch period would not start until rain gear was removed. It just cracked me up!
On a more spiritual note, I love my job and the joy that comes with being on temple square all day. It is so amazing! The other day I even had Elder L. Tom Perry walk by as I was gardening and told me how wonderful my work was. It was neat.
Other than work, I have just enjoyed playing a lot of b ball with Max and Caroline, going on lots of bike rides with Amber, and just spending time with lots of people I have not seen in a while. It is such a nice break to not worry about school for a few months.
It sounds like everyone is doing well. I sure miss and love you all (especially the Texans!) I can not wait for Disneyland! I will try to tell you all more about my life next week. Love ya!
Love, Rosey
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
my first post!!! yes i am alive
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
(I apoligize for being no Shakespeare. I realize I am a bit schizophrenic in my writing. I write exactly as I think, in other words, I think it, I write it, so please over look that shortcoming, I am not mighty in writing :)! )
Hi everybody!!! I am sorry that I haven’t written in awhile. With the lame excuse of not having internet, I decided to type this at home so when I do have internet, I can send it off real quick.
First off I just wanted to say thanks for everything from everyone. Mom and Dad, you guys spoil us so much that I don’t think I could fit all the things in a thank you card. Plus I wanted to switch it up this time. We love our TV trays, two of them are perfect nightstands! Thanks for the birthday money too! Thanks also for the quilt you made mom, it is so cute. I love the colors and I know those take a lot of time to make. Thanks for the money to go towards our stroller too! We really like it (and can’t wait to use it in Disneyland). Dad thanks for always giving us gas money and for letting us borrow your shows. Thanks for taking us to movies too. It’s always fun to be with the family! Janey thanks for the yummy cookies and I am excited to go shop with you next Monday. Rosey thanks for the yummy smoothie stuff. We sure have been having fun with that. Sweet Max, thanks for the cute card, the pretty cards, and the jamba gift card. You are so nice. And thanks again for giving Nick the Cosby show for his b-day, we have already finished the whole season! Kristi thanks for the bosom pads and all the clothes. We love you and really appreciate all you do for us! It’s always fun to talk to you, Blaine, and Gwen on the phone! We just want you all to know how grateful we are for you and all you do for us! Thanks!
So now for the update: I have been formulating this BAWB letter in my head since Blaine said that he would like to hear my feelings on it too (I have forgotten what the it was by now, but I am assuming it is about Baby BretJ being born). Besides being very tired at first (which is getting better by the way) I just felt over come with love for little Bret and for everyone. I felt like it was a blessing from Heavenly Father to have more love in my heart. I know that’s kinda cheesy, but sometimes I just would cry the littlest bit because I was so grateful that everything went smoothly and that little Bret got here safely. What a neat thing it has been to be home with him every day and watch him develop and do new things! He is starting to smile at me and it is the cutest thing. By the way, he is still rolling over from his tummy to his back and he gets better at it every time! Last night we had a record sleep- he almost slept for six hours. It was Heaven, but I was so worried when I finally woke up and saw the time! He was okay though. He has been sleeping more than usual lately so I think he must be having a growth spurt. So we did end up taking him to church on Sunday and that was fun (thanks for asking Mom). He slept all through sacrament meeting and then I took him out of his carseat for the next two meeting. Well that is when it got really exciting. He was grunting and crying the rest of church. Wow, I can’t imagine having more than one to try to keep quiet! To sum it all up, I love being a mom, especially to Bret, he is such a good boy! I can’t wait for Blaine and Kris and kids to see him! It will be so fun.
Well as for the other parts of my life, I love that I am graduated! I also love that I am home all day because I can help others. I have babysat for our neighbors twice this week and I know that is an opportunity I have to help because Bret and I are at home! Its been fun to not have work as well so I can go to Nick’s softball games and enrichment activities. Last night we sewed scripture totes, it was tons of fun.
Well sorry I am such a random writer. My brain is still distracted by all the changes in my life! I love you all and hope that everything is going well! Love, STEF
Gasp, wheeze, gulp, AHHHHH
Our flights are very nearly booked. I say that because my dad actually has to book them (he has a buy one get one free coupon, thanks dad!), but I have told him the flights we want and so there is no turning back. Gulp. Don't get me wrong, we are SO excited to come, I just HATE flying.
So here is the skinny...
We will be coming on June 27th (Friday) getting in around 10:30AM. Blaine will leave home from Salt Lake on July 13th around 5:00PM, and I will be leaving on July 21st at about 1:00PM.
You know what is funny? Our plane tickets to Salt Lake were about $400 a piece, but if we were to have booked to fly in to and out of Los Angeles (aka Disneyland), they would have only been $200 a piece. So this better be a dang fun car ride..... just kidding ;) We are sure it will be, I just thought it was funny that we are paying more so that we can drive with you guys, but really we are totally looking forward to being cramped in a car with y'all. We need to get as sick of you as we can so we won't miss you so much!
Let the planning of parties commence! We would probably like to do something with my family on either the Friday night or Saturday night when we first get there, but other than that we have no plans! What time are we leaving on Sunday?
Yeeeeehawwwww!!!
Oh lets see, I was going to ask Mom...so in our rooms there is a bed and then a couch, right? Do you have the hotels number so I can see if they offer port-a-cribs? It would be a lot easier to get one there than to haul one across the country. And then can I plan on using yours while we are in Salt Lake (I know Nick and Stef probably have dibs for while we are in Disneyland). If they do not offer them, just let me know and we will see if Laurie or someone has one I can borrow.
We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!
So here is the skinny...
We will be coming on June 27th (Friday) getting in around 10:30AM. Blaine will leave home from Salt Lake on July 13th around 5:00PM, and I will be leaving on July 21st at about 1:00PM.
You know what is funny? Our plane tickets to Salt Lake were about $400 a piece, but if we were to have booked to fly in to and out of Los Angeles (aka Disneyland), they would have only been $200 a piece. So this better be a dang fun car ride..... just kidding ;) We are sure it will be, I just thought it was funny that we are paying more so that we can drive with you guys, but really we are totally looking forward to being cramped in a car with y'all. We need to get as sick of you as we can so we won't miss you so much!
Let the planning of parties commence! We would probably like to do something with my family on either the Friday night or Saturday night when we first get there, but other than that we have no plans! What time are we leaving on Sunday?
Yeeeeehawwwww!!!
Oh lets see, I was going to ask Mom...so in our rooms there is a bed and then a couch, right? Do you have the hotels number so I can see if they offer port-a-cribs? It would be a lot easier to get one there than to haul one across the country. And then can I plan on using yours while we are in Salt Lake (I know Nick and Stef probably have dibs for while we are in Disneyland). If they do not offer them, just let me know and we will see if Laurie or someone has one I can borrow.
We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!
Global Warming?
I swear that ever since I heard the phrase "global warming" that our weather has been unseasonably cold. We had an extra cold Winter, a very cool Spring, and today here it is June 4, almost noon, and my outdoor thermometer says 50 degrees. That is one degree away from being in the fortys! I have goosebumps all over my arms and legs and am going to take a hot shower.
On the flip side, we have saved on air conditioning costs this year since and we have hardly had to water our lawn because we have had plenty of rain. The yard and flowers look sooooooo pretty out the window!
It doesn't look hopeful for the big jr. high swim party tomorrow. Even if the sun does come out I think we'll have to require wet suits so no one dies.
On the flip side, we have saved on air conditioning costs this year since and we have hardly had to water our lawn because we have had plenty of rain. The yard and flowers look sooooooo pretty out the window!
It doesn't look hopeful for the big jr. high swim party tomorrow. Even if the sun does come out I think we'll have to require wet suits so no one dies.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Famous Last Words...
I know I've already posted cartoons for this week, and I swore I wouldn't turn this blog into a place for everyone to post their happy little internet 'forwards'. But this was short, and I thought ya'll would like it...so consider it as bait to lure you out to the BAWB.
Famous Last Words!
** I'll get a world record for this.
** It's fireproof.
** He's probably just hibernating.
** What does this button do?
** I'm making a citizen's arrest.
** So, you're a cannibal.
** It's probably just a rash.
** Are you sure the power is off?
** Yeah, I made the deciding vote on the jury, so what of it?
** The odds of that happening have to be a million to one!
** Pull the pin and count to what?
** Which wire was I supposed to cut?
** I wonder where the mother bear is.
** I've seen this done on TV.
** These are the good kind of mushrooms.
** I'll hold it and you light the fuse.
** Let it down slowly.
** Rat poison only kills rats.
** Just take whatever you want, this is a ghost town.
** It's strong enough for both of us.
** This doesn't taste right.
** I can make this light before it changes.
** Nice doggie.
** I can do that with my eyes closed.
** I've done this before.
**Well, we've made it this far.
** That's odd.
** You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on, would you?
** Don't be so superstitious.
** Now watch this.
**What duck?
Famous Last Words!
** I'll get a world record for this.
** It's fireproof.
** He's probably just hibernating.
** What does this button do?
** I'm making a citizen's arrest.
** So, you're a cannibal.
** It's probably just a rash.
** Are you sure the power is off?
** Yeah, I made the deciding vote on the jury, so what of it?
** The odds of that happening have to be a million to one!
** Pull the pin and count to what?
** Which wire was I supposed to cut?
** I wonder where the mother bear is.
** I've seen this done on TV.
** These are the good kind of mushrooms.
** I'll hold it and you light the fuse.
** Let it down slowly.
** Rat poison only kills rats.
** Just take whatever you want, this is a ghost town.
** It's strong enough for both of us.
** This doesn't taste right.
** I can make this light before it changes.
** Nice doggie.
** I can do that with my eyes closed.
** I've done this before.
**Well, we've made it this far.
** That's odd.
** You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on, would you?
** Don't be so superstitious.
** Now watch this.
**What duck?
Monday, June 2, 2008
End of School!!
Hello happy family!!
I'm sorry I haven't written for such a long time and I'm not all the way sure of what to write about but I just need to write something.
First of all, I'm really excited for school to get out. Though this year has been a blast, I am really ready to be done with homework, test, quizzes, etc. for a couple months, I'm sure you all know how I feel.
The last week of school is the best though, because you can see all your friends from school but still don't have to worry about anything in any of the classes.
Today was our year end assembly and the Jazz Band played two songs in it. One of our drummers didn't show up so we had to switch around our songs a little bit. So in the first assembly we played Get it on and Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and in the second assembly we played Get it on and 25 or 6 to 4 which I had a solo on and I didn't think we were playing that so I didn't practice the solo, luckily I did pretty well.
Tomorrow is the 9th grade lagoon day so all the 9th graders will be gone and its going to just be the 8th and 7th graders.
Wednesday is when we get our year books and we have our carnival which is going to be very fun, at least from what I hear. I'm really excited for that though. That is the last day for the ninth graders.
Thursday is just for 8th and 7th graders to come to school. We get out of school around 11:00 because we're just getting our refunds for the end of the year. ( I have finally convinced mom to let me keep the 10 dollars, I hope your not too mad Blaine.)
Just Kidding!!
After that little short day, then at 2:00, we're having a swim party over at the winder pool! I'm very, very, very excited about it. The water is going to be freezing though! The other day when I went swimming, it felt like I was swimming in Sand Hollow on a snowy day. O.k. maybe not THAT cold, but it was really chilly.
After that, school is over and done for and I will officially be in High School! Kind of weird to think of but its coming up soon.
Anyways, I hope this letter was at least a little interesting because I couldn't really think of anything to talk about and I hope it made sense.
Love you all!
Max
I'm sorry I haven't written for such a long time and I'm not all the way sure of what to write about but I just need to write something.
First of all, I'm really excited for school to get out. Though this year has been a blast, I am really ready to be done with homework, test, quizzes, etc. for a couple months, I'm sure you all know how I feel.
The last week of school is the best though, because you can see all your friends from school but still don't have to worry about anything in any of the classes.
Today was our year end assembly and the Jazz Band played two songs in it. One of our drummers didn't show up so we had to switch around our songs a little bit. So in the first assembly we played Get it on and Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and in the second assembly we played Get it on and 25 or 6 to 4 which I had a solo on and I didn't think we were playing that so I didn't practice the solo, luckily I did pretty well.
Tomorrow is the 9th grade lagoon day so all the 9th graders will be gone and its going to just be the 8th and 7th graders.
Wednesday is when we get our year books and we have our carnival which is going to be very fun, at least from what I hear. I'm really excited for that though. That is the last day for the ninth graders.
Thursday is just for 8th and 7th graders to come to school. We get out of school around 11:00 because we're just getting our refunds for the end of the year. ( I have finally convinced mom to let me keep the 10 dollars, I hope your not too mad Blaine.)
Just Kidding!!
After that little short day, then at 2:00, we're having a swim party over at the winder pool! I'm very, very, very excited about it. The water is going to be freezing though! The other day when I went swimming, it felt like I was swimming in Sand Hollow on a snowy day. O.k. maybe not THAT cold, but it was really chilly.
After that, school is over and done for and I will officially be in High School! Kind of weird to think of but its coming up soon.
Anyways, I hope this letter was at least a little interesting because I couldn't really think of anything to talk about and I hope it made sense.
Love you all!
Max
Ward News and More
I wonder why it is so hard sometimes to sit down and write a letter. I love and miss you all so much it shouldn't be as hard as it is.
I have this tendency to tell you what everyone else is doing but since last night at family prayers we all promised we would write, that shouldn't be necessary. From a mom's perspective, however, let me just say that everyone is busy, busy. Max is counting down days of school.They get out on Thursday the 5th. And just so you know, he will NOT be keeping his refund. The $10 is still mine! He, Katherine, Caroline and Elizabeth have invited about 50 friends to a pool party on Thursday afternoon. Max swam for the first time last Saturday and said he has never felt the pool so cold. It took his breath away worse than scout camp he said. So we'll see if anyone swims at the party.
I was the hostess for a Winder wedding shower last Saturday for Alex Winder's fiance, Jamie. That was the first time I have met her and she seems like a nice girl, though very quiet. She turned 20 on Sat. so Alex has 5 years on her. If you think she looks tiny in the wedding picture, you should see her in person! Her mom was really nice and acted so grateful for the shower. There were about 25 of us - thanks again for making the effort Stef! We had Christmas breakfast casserole and Karen's sweetrolls and fruit and it all turned out well. Lots of work to prepare for a shower, but it is worth it.
Dad told you about the big stake reorg. Wow has dad been busy lately! He did such a great job conducting all the business. This has been a huge project and it all came off great. There was a great spirit in that meeting and it's fun to watch dad up in front being inspired for our stake. He continues to amaze me with all he does.
Ward news: Maren Larsen is engaged. She had on a big, pretty diamond at the ward clean-up last Wed. and we met her fiance from North Carolina. Also, Josh Andrus got married. On a down note, it looks like Ned and Cristinne are wanting to move. They even thought they had a buyer (in this awful market) but it fell through. Frankly, the whole thing makes me feel a little bad. I try not to be offended that they don't like this neighborhood. The Thomson's, who they are next door to, got robbed a few months back and I think that started this whole thing. Plus Cristinne is disturbed by what she sees over her fence in the church parking lot (and I don't think it is kids playing hockey) Plus they are really close to Chandi and Brian, who is a realtor. So all those factors combined make them want to move. I think Andrea is the saddest of all but no one really talks about it. Andrea is so good to them to help tend, hold the baby at church, invite Cohen over to play. I just can't figure it out. I would think they would like living here. They even sit next to grandma in church every Sunday! Also, Todd and Monica Poulson are moving. That one I can figure out since their home is only a two bedroom and they want more space. I just hope they find a neighbor with a trampoline or I don't know what those twins are going to do. Since we are the only one with a nice backyard, we share it. Oh and a neighbor with a bike pump, too. We are the bike shop, too. We will miss them. Lets see, there are at least two other homes for sale just on Deno Drive. John Jolley is engaged and coming to church and planning to get married in the temple. The Bevan family just did all the temple work for Zane (who died last year) and that was fun to see them at all church Sunday. Enough ward news. I could go on. . .
I am enjoying my Primary calling. It's fun to be in there with Janey. I also appreciate Rosey and Marg who help every week in the nursery. I don't know what we will do when the college kids go back. We have so many positions that need filling and I am trying to be patient with the bishopric. I'm in charge of our Primary activity next week and I did a trial run today. We are doing a Temple Square field trip. We get to ride trax to temple square, walk around and answer the questions on the paper I made up (i.e. how many seagulls on the seagull monument?) and then end with a little short talk by one of the gardeners - Rosey! She will even have a cooler of drinks and snacks for the kids (we're timing it with her lunch hour) I hope it goes well. It was fun to go today and see Rosey in action and meet her friend Jeff. Rosey, do you want to comment on Jeff?
Hope everyone got the word that Bobby Bassett is engaged to Ashleigh. Enough for today. Max really wants to get on this computer!
Love to all, Mom
I have this tendency to tell you what everyone else is doing but since last night at family prayers we all promised we would write, that shouldn't be necessary. From a mom's perspective, however, let me just say that everyone is busy, busy. Max is counting down days of school.They get out on Thursday the 5th. And just so you know, he will NOT be keeping his refund. The $10 is still mine! He, Katherine, Caroline and Elizabeth have invited about 50 friends to a pool party on Thursday afternoon. Max swam for the first time last Saturday and said he has never felt the pool so cold. It took his breath away worse than scout camp he said. So we'll see if anyone swims at the party.
I was the hostess for a Winder wedding shower last Saturday for Alex Winder's fiance, Jamie. That was the first time I have met her and she seems like a nice girl, though very quiet. She turned 20 on Sat. so Alex has 5 years on her. If you think she looks tiny in the wedding picture, you should see her in person! Her mom was really nice and acted so grateful for the shower. There were about 25 of us - thanks again for making the effort Stef! We had Christmas breakfast casserole and Karen's sweetrolls and fruit and it all turned out well. Lots of work to prepare for a shower, but it is worth it.
Dad told you about the big stake reorg. Wow has dad been busy lately! He did such a great job conducting all the business. This has been a huge project and it all came off great. There was a great spirit in that meeting and it's fun to watch dad up in front being inspired for our stake. He continues to amaze me with all he does.
Ward news: Maren Larsen is engaged. She had on a big, pretty diamond at the ward clean-up last Wed. and we met her fiance from North Carolina. Also, Josh Andrus got married. On a down note, it looks like Ned and Cristinne are wanting to move. They even thought they had a buyer (in this awful market) but it fell through. Frankly, the whole thing makes me feel a little bad. I try not to be offended that they don't like this neighborhood. The Thomson's, who they are next door to, got robbed a few months back and I think that started this whole thing. Plus Cristinne is disturbed by what she sees over her fence in the church parking lot (and I don't think it is kids playing hockey) Plus they are really close to Chandi and Brian, who is a realtor. So all those factors combined make them want to move. I think Andrea is the saddest of all but no one really talks about it. Andrea is so good to them to help tend, hold the baby at church, invite Cohen over to play. I just can't figure it out. I would think they would like living here. They even sit next to grandma in church every Sunday! Also, Todd and Monica Poulson are moving. That one I can figure out since their home is only a two bedroom and they want more space. I just hope they find a neighbor with a trampoline or I don't know what those twins are going to do. Since we are the only one with a nice backyard, we share it. Oh and a neighbor with a bike pump, too. We are the bike shop, too. We will miss them. Lets see, there are at least two other homes for sale just on Deno Drive. John Jolley is engaged and coming to church and planning to get married in the temple. The Bevan family just did all the temple work for Zane (who died last year) and that was fun to see them at all church Sunday. Enough ward news. I could go on. . .
I am enjoying my Primary calling. It's fun to be in there with Janey. I also appreciate Rosey and Marg who help every week in the nursery. I don't know what we will do when the college kids go back. We have so many positions that need filling and I am trying to be patient with the bishopric. I'm in charge of our Primary activity next week and I did a trial run today. We are doing a Temple Square field trip. We get to ride trax to temple square, walk around and answer the questions on the paper I made up (i.e. how many seagulls on the seagull monument?) and then end with a little short talk by one of the gardeners - Rosey! She will even have a cooler of drinks and snacks for the kids (we're timing it with her lunch hour) I hope it goes well. It was fun to go today and see Rosey in action and meet her friend Jeff. Rosey, do you want to comment on Jeff?
Hope everyone got the word that Bobby Bassett is engaged to Ashleigh. Enough for today. Max really wants to get on this computer!
Love to all, Mom
Another batch to lure you out to the BAWB
Father's day is on it's way... good luck to all...
This is how I feel sometimes as I head off into the basement each morning...
We're sorry for any damage to your careers we might have caused
An ode to mothers-in-law everywhere...
Backstreet chimps? It could happen...
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Happy Birthday Grandpa!
Happy birthday grandpa Ned.
Grandpa was the best.
I recently did an analysis on the role of each phase of family. And I decided that nuclear families are to give you people who are so close to you that they see all your faults...and they still love you and support you. Extended families are to give you additional people who you may not see all the time, but you know them and you know their love for you is unconditional and they seek to be with you. Super-Extended families are for gathering stories from each sprouting line and organizing those stories and putting them in histories. Finally Super-duper-extended families are all about telling stories to the younger generation about some hero in the family which all relate to. So you have 'reunions' for one or two superheros at the super-duper extended family level.
Well as I think about who will be the heros that we tell stories about, I think grandpa Ned is probably one of those. I met a man tonight who's son-in-law I set apart as Bishop tonight. And when he found out I was related to Ned, he brightened up and told me he was one of the most beloved men at the Church Office Building. I told him 'thanks' and suggested that the reason Ned was so beloved was because he was so loving.
Think about things you remember about grandpa. His stories may soon become the stuff of family reunions when our family becomes super extended.
Loves to all!
Grandpa was the best.
I recently did an analysis on the role of each phase of family. And I decided that nuclear families are to give you people who are so close to you that they see all your faults...and they still love you and support you. Extended families are to give you additional people who you may not see all the time, but you know them and you know their love for you is unconditional and they seek to be with you. Super-Extended families are for gathering stories from each sprouting line and organizing those stories and putting them in histories. Finally Super-duper-extended families are all about telling stories to the younger generation about some hero in the family which all relate to. So you have 'reunions' for one or two superheros at the super-duper extended family level.
Well as I think about who will be the heros that we tell stories about, I think grandpa Ned is probably one of those. I met a man tonight who's son-in-law I set apart as Bishop tonight. And when he found out I was related to Ned, he brightened up and told me he was one of the most beloved men at the Church Office Building. I told him 'thanks' and suggested that the reason Ned was so beloved was because he was so loving.
Think about things you remember about grandpa. His stories may soon become the stuff of family reunions when our family becomes super extended.
Loves to all!
Diversions
Dear happy family,
Thanks Blaine and Kris for setting such a wonderful example and getting us started on the June BAWB. I too noticed that we've all been slacking. In Feb, Mar, Apr we did about 25 artciles a month, but in May we slipped to only 14. Come on we can do better. I'm hoping in June we can get 30-40 articles. That would be a great Father's day gift!
Let me share with you something that we did this week which I've never done before, but which has been immensely fulfilling. We took 4 wards in our Stake and reorganized boundaries to create 3 wards - thus eliminating a Ward. So we now have the 1,2,3,4,5,6,8 wards and the Lighthouse Branch, but no 16th Ward.
Logistically it was an interesting process. Last week we announced that there would be a change in the boundaries of these 4 wards. And that those boundaries would be announced tonight. Today was testimony meeting and so all the Bishoprics got a chance to say 'goodbye' to their wards, and then tonight we had a meeting with all the members of the 4 wards. It was more crowded than Stake Conference. I told everyone that we were going to divide and dissolve every year just so we could get the participation up.
I had president yorgason and nielson say a few words about change...very good thoughts...except I was a little nervous when Pres N said something about how when he was on his mission the indians had a saying "When the horse is dead, the best strategy is to dismount"... I hope people didn't feel like we were calling their ward a 'dead horse'. Anyway, we then sustained the new boundaries we released all of the members of the 16th Ward. We then released all four Bishoprics. We then had everyone stand up by ward and we sustained each wards new bishopric. I tried to emphasize that we were creating 3 completely new wards. That we weren't taking the old 5th ward and throwing in some stray people...but we were creating a new ward...from scratch. Unity was an important message given by all who spoke. After the business, we called on the bishops (both incoming and outgoing) to bear a short testimony. It was so beatiful. After closing the meeting, we went around and ordained the new bishops and set apart the three new bishoprics. I then got home at about 10:00. So I've been going from 5:00am to 10:00pm. And while I'm physically bushed I really feel happy and energized.
I've named this blog post 'diversions'. Why? Because I believe in diversions. I live for them. I think that no matter how tough life gets, no matter how high the pressure, if we can take a deep breath and get a small diversion, that life can start to feel okay again. I think this trip to disneyland will create a diversion for me which will be wonderful. I think there are lots of wholesome, interesting diversions which if we can do periodically, that we can endure the stresses of our otherwise tough 'regular lives'. That's one reason I love movies - I don't watch them all the time, but when stress and pressure begins to build, I start craving to find a time to watch a movie - it's such a cheap easy diversion, and gets me into another world for an hour or so. I think that poor Gwennie get's it from her grandpa (except I don't know much about Dora).
I'm saying this because I think we all need to find our own set of fun, interesting and wonderful diversions in our lives. We should learn to recognize for our spouse and our children what diversions give them release also.
There are lots of diversions - reading a book or article. Learning a new skill. Making a collection. Searching for deals on craig's list. Trying to learn a new dish to cook for the family. Writing a blog. Reading a blog. Shopping. Watching 'Dora'...making a game of raising kids. blah, blah blah. Thee's tons of diversions. But some only reduce stress so temporarily that you wonder if it created a diversion at all. some people turn to drugs, alcohol to find a powerful diversion. These are the wrong kind of diversion...they have the effect of recuding stress, but the problems associated with addiction which they cause far outweight the help they give associated with the diversion.
The best kind of diversion is not one which creates an overwhelming stimulation, but one that creates an overwhelming opportunity for growth. Spiritual diversions are great - service in the church, reading scriptures, learning a new song on the piano, going home teaching, taking dinner to someone in need. Going on a ward service project. These kind of diversions wipe the stress away, and it lasts.
For example things at work have been crazy. I billed nearly 60 hours labor to my various clients this week. And yet I feel like I'm getting more behind every day. Plus we had the big change in ward boundaries meeting today I needed to get ready for. Plus I had all my other church work to do including getting missionary papers turned in for a couple of elders. Plus yesterday we had scheduled a cleaning assignment at our girls camp for all the father's and sons. I was so overwhelmed I toyed with the idea of not going to the service project (took an hour to get there, 3 hours of work, and an hour to get back) to see if I could catchup. I was almost going to say 'I pass' but mom in her kind and gentle way encouraged me to go, even though I didn't really want to. Well, I rode up with Brent, Kent, and the boys. As we drove the absolutely beautiful mountains, my heart started to soften. We then gathered with 100 brethren who were all ready for work. I felt a lift of joy that so many had come. I then worked with Max. I felt better still. We finished the work - the brethren we were with were happy, they worked hard. I was feeling even better. We then had a devotional on the commemoration of the priesthood and had a great lunch for all the brethren. I felt great. Better than I had felt all week.
It was a diversion from the grind of my crazy week. But as a diversion I was blest. And it stuck with me.
May we all find diversions which will bless our lives. I love you all, and miss being with you. Bury your stress in service. It works for me.
Loves.
Dad
Thanks Blaine and Kris for setting such a wonderful example and getting us started on the June BAWB. I too noticed that we've all been slacking. In Feb, Mar, Apr we did about 25 artciles a month, but in May we slipped to only 14. Come on we can do better. I'm hoping in June we can get 30-40 articles. That would be a great Father's day gift!
Let me share with you something that we did this week which I've never done before, but which has been immensely fulfilling. We took 4 wards in our Stake and reorganized boundaries to create 3 wards - thus eliminating a Ward. So we now have the 1,2,3,4,5,6,8 wards and the Lighthouse Branch, but no 16th Ward.
Logistically it was an interesting process. Last week we announced that there would be a change in the boundaries of these 4 wards. And that those boundaries would be announced tonight. Today was testimony meeting and so all the Bishoprics got a chance to say 'goodbye' to their wards, and then tonight we had a meeting with all the members of the 4 wards. It was more crowded than Stake Conference. I told everyone that we were going to divide and dissolve every year just so we could get the participation up.
I had president yorgason and nielson say a few words about change...very good thoughts...except I was a little nervous when Pres N said something about how when he was on his mission the indians had a saying "When the horse is dead, the best strategy is to dismount"... I hope people didn't feel like we were calling their ward a 'dead horse'. Anyway, we then sustained the new boundaries we released all of the members of the 16th Ward. We then released all four Bishoprics. We then had everyone stand up by ward and we sustained each wards new bishopric. I tried to emphasize that we were creating 3 completely new wards. That we weren't taking the old 5th ward and throwing in some stray people...but we were creating a new ward...from scratch. Unity was an important message given by all who spoke. After the business, we called on the bishops (both incoming and outgoing) to bear a short testimony. It was so beatiful. After closing the meeting, we went around and ordained the new bishops and set apart the three new bishoprics. I then got home at about 10:00. So I've been going from 5:00am to 10:00pm. And while I'm physically bushed I really feel happy and energized.
I've named this blog post 'diversions'. Why? Because I believe in diversions. I live for them. I think that no matter how tough life gets, no matter how high the pressure, if we can take a deep breath and get a small diversion, that life can start to feel okay again. I think this trip to disneyland will create a diversion for me which will be wonderful. I think there are lots of wholesome, interesting diversions which if we can do periodically, that we can endure the stresses of our otherwise tough 'regular lives'. That's one reason I love movies - I don't watch them all the time, but when stress and pressure begins to build, I start craving to find a time to watch a movie - it's such a cheap easy diversion, and gets me into another world for an hour or so. I think that poor Gwennie get's it from her grandpa (except I don't know much about Dora).
I'm saying this because I think we all need to find our own set of fun, interesting and wonderful diversions in our lives. We should learn to recognize for our spouse and our children what diversions give them release also.
There are lots of diversions - reading a book or article. Learning a new skill. Making a collection. Searching for deals on craig's list. Trying to learn a new dish to cook for the family. Writing a blog. Reading a blog. Shopping. Watching 'Dora'...making a game of raising kids. blah, blah blah. Thee's tons of diversions. But some only reduce stress so temporarily that you wonder if it created a diversion at all. some people turn to drugs, alcohol to find a powerful diversion. These are the wrong kind of diversion...they have the effect of recuding stress, but the problems associated with addiction which they cause far outweight the help they give associated with the diversion.
The best kind of diversion is not one which creates an overwhelming stimulation, but one that creates an overwhelming opportunity for growth. Spiritual diversions are great - service in the church, reading scriptures, learning a new song on the piano, going home teaching, taking dinner to someone in need. Going on a ward service project. These kind of diversions wipe the stress away, and it lasts.
For example things at work have been crazy. I billed nearly 60 hours labor to my various clients this week. And yet I feel like I'm getting more behind every day. Plus we had the big change in ward boundaries meeting today I needed to get ready for. Plus I had all my other church work to do including getting missionary papers turned in for a couple of elders. Plus yesterday we had scheduled a cleaning assignment at our girls camp for all the father's and sons. I was so overwhelmed I toyed with the idea of not going to the service project (took an hour to get there, 3 hours of work, and an hour to get back) to see if I could catchup. I was almost going to say 'I pass' but mom in her kind and gentle way encouraged me to go, even though I didn't really want to. Well, I rode up with Brent, Kent, and the boys. As we drove the absolutely beautiful mountains, my heart started to soften. We then gathered with 100 brethren who were all ready for work. I felt a lift of joy that so many had come. I then worked with Max. I felt better still. We finished the work - the brethren we were with were happy, they worked hard. I was feeling even better. We then had a devotional on the commemoration of the priesthood and had a great lunch for all the brethren. I felt great. Better than I had felt all week.
It was a diversion from the grind of my crazy week. But as a diversion I was blest. And it stuck with me.
May we all find diversions which will bless our lives. I love you all, and miss being with you. Bury your stress in service. It works for me.
Loves.
Dad
additions
Just to add a little to Blaine's letter....
Life on the homefront has been a bit trying lately, but also rewarding. I can't explain what is going on with Gwen other than she has really been trying my patience lately. She tends to really just want to lay around and watch TV all day ( I try to limit her to one or maybe two episodes of Dora, usually in the afternoon). The first thing she wants to do when she wakes up is watch a show (hmmm, wonder who she takes after). I argue with her to eat her breakfast, I ask her if she would like to go on a walk. "No". A walk to the PARK??? "NO!". Swimming? "No, I want to watch a show." Finger paints? Play with the puppies? Invite a friend over? No. No. No.
I guess it is particularly frustrating because it would be so easy to let her just watch TV all day. I would get SO much done, she would be so happy (short term), and I would have a free babysitter, and best of all, she would love me for it. Instead I find myself dragging her kicking and screaming, forcefully putting her swimming suit on and making her go swimming. Then at some point she realizes how much fun she is having and when it is time to go, I have to drag her, kicking and screaming home from the pool. Viscious cycle.
Bentley LOVES swimming. The kid was born for the water. Ever since his first bath I knew it. As soon as his first little toe hits the water he just starts kicking ferociously and smiling and laughing and cooing. It is so funny. We have a little yellow float that he sits in in the pool and he just giggles and kicks around in that for as long as we let him. Normally he is the reason we leave the pool though, not for any behaviour issue, but his skin is SO white that I am just so afraid he is going to burst into flames after an hour in the sun. Quite the opposite of his sister.
We went to our neighborhood HOA ice cream social on Saturday which was a lot of fun. In particular because a family in our ward we have been getting closer to was there. They are such a fun family. The parents were high school sweethearts like we were. They have three kids, who I think are about eight, six, and four. The little four year old, Roman, is so cute. I am not the only one who thinks so either. Gwen is smitten. THe last time we went to their house she was holding his hand while they watched a movie, and ever since then we refer to him as her boyfriend. Anyway, he was at the pool swimming ALL by himself on Saturday. Gwen normally has on two water wings and a tube to keep her afloat. She hates getting her face wet, I mean hates. She screams and squints and won't open her eyes until she gets a towel. Something magical happened though while we were swimming Saturday. She was willing to try to swim without her floaties. This was huge. She got dunked under several times but she was brave (she still did the eye squint thing and had everyone at the pool laughing as she would blindly go off in search of her towel with her eyes cinched tightly shut). Anyway, it was reminiscent of the time I did the bungee jump thing at Lagoon, which I did solely because I wanted to appear brave for Blaine and Scott, and I got to be strapped between them. Something about having the ones you have a crush on near, forces you to face your fears.
Anyway, so Gwen's been driving me crazy, which is harder than me for probably most moms because when she drives me crazy it makes me want to stick her in preschool. And when I think about sticking her in preschool, it makes me feel like I will never succeed in homeschooling. Which I know you are mostly all still freaked out about the homeschooling thing, but it is something I would really like to do for her, and I just don't feel like I have the strength and dedication to do, which is really hard. It is a sacrifice I want to make for Gwen, but I really question my ability when she drives me so crazy :). I guess we still have about two years to sort through all this.
The good news is though, when she is not driving me crazy, and even when she is, I love her so much it hurts. I went to a book club this last week (we are reading Jesus the Christ), and the discussion turned to a girl whose niece who was only four years old passed away suddenly when she got the flu. The story was more complicated, but needless to say, tears were flowing. I jumped in the car and drove straight home and just ran in to hug my kids. I love them both so much. More than I knew it was possible to love anyone. I felt so guilty for letting Gwen drive me crazy. I don't care if she just wants to watch Dora all day. I will keep showing her my love by insisting she do other things. She may retaliate (the day before she had told Blaine she didn't want me to come and read stories with the family because she didn't love me. I realize she is three, but it really really hurt. You have to understand, she is my whole life, and if she doesn't love me, I don't have that much .... :) ). but in the long, LONG run; when she is a mother trying to do her best, I just hope she will look back and see that I tried, and mostly, that I loved her in a way that she will only understand when she holds her first baby.
This is such a funny letter. Just wanted to let you know the things I have been going through. We have been so homesick. Especially me. I was trying the other day to talk Blaine into moving back to Utah in a year, ME. I am the one who wanted adventure and now I am the one who wants to come home. I want to see Max's magic show. I want to go camping. I want to go to family meeting. I wanted to take Nick and Stef dinner when they had a baby. I want Bentley and Bret to hang out (both Bret's, actually), I want to go to a Peter Breinholt concert, I want Jane to come over and watch LOST, I want to eat Beef Stew Supreme, I want to help paint the pool and clean the cabin. I want to make you all my oatmeal caramel bars, because I know you all would love them. I want to have family meeting at our house. I want you all to know my amazing kids and see how fast they are growing. I want mom to teach me how to can tomatoes and to let me use her canning equipment, and to show me how to garden, and for pete's sake to organize my cupboards again! They are a mess.
Wow, now I am a big emotional mess. I am just at such a time in my life where I need to be learning things from mothers. I think mother-in-laws drive people crazy because they are always trying to teach you something or correct you on something, and you want to be so grown up an independent and figure it out on your own. I am so sick of figuring things out on my own! I feel like I have so many things I need to learn from my mom or from Wendy and I just don't get to see them enough. Really, I am ready to come home. It's so funny. You really don't appreciate things fully until they are gone.
We really, REALLY miss you guys. It might seem weird but I think I even miss y'all more than Blaine. Don't tell him I said that.
I am afraid to come home to Utah because I think coming back here will be really really hard. The first time I left Utah to come to Texas we had so many adventures in store. New place, new house, new baby, new puppies. Now it is just normal life, as Blaine titled his entry, and I think the reason that we have been able to make it through all of this adventures we go on is because they are just that, adventures. New places and people, etc. We always returned to our normal life full of family and mountains, etc. It is so weird that our normal life now is so far away with no end in site.
Anyway, thanks for listening. We love you, and don't worry, we love Texas too, just not as much.
Life on the homefront has been a bit trying lately, but also rewarding. I can't explain what is going on with Gwen other than she has really been trying my patience lately. She tends to really just want to lay around and watch TV all day ( I try to limit her to one or maybe two episodes of Dora, usually in the afternoon). The first thing she wants to do when she wakes up is watch a show (hmmm, wonder who she takes after). I argue with her to eat her breakfast, I ask her if she would like to go on a walk. "No". A walk to the PARK??? "NO!". Swimming? "No, I want to watch a show." Finger paints? Play with the puppies? Invite a friend over? No. No. No.
I guess it is particularly frustrating because it would be so easy to let her just watch TV all day. I would get SO much done, she would be so happy (short term), and I would have a free babysitter, and best of all, she would love me for it. Instead I find myself dragging her kicking and screaming, forcefully putting her swimming suit on and making her go swimming. Then at some point she realizes how much fun she is having and when it is time to go, I have to drag her, kicking and screaming home from the pool. Viscious cycle.
Bentley LOVES swimming. The kid was born for the water. Ever since his first bath I knew it. As soon as his first little toe hits the water he just starts kicking ferociously and smiling and laughing and cooing. It is so funny. We have a little yellow float that he sits in in the pool and he just giggles and kicks around in that for as long as we let him. Normally he is the reason we leave the pool though, not for any behaviour issue, but his skin is SO white that I am just so afraid he is going to burst into flames after an hour in the sun. Quite the opposite of his sister.
We went to our neighborhood HOA ice cream social on Saturday which was a lot of fun. In particular because a family in our ward we have been getting closer to was there. They are such a fun family. The parents were high school sweethearts like we were. They have three kids, who I think are about eight, six, and four. The little four year old, Roman, is so cute. I am not the only one who thinks so either. Gwen is smitten. THe last time we went to their house she was holding his hand while they watched a movie, and ever since then we refer to him as her boyfriend. Anyway, he was at the pool swimming ALL by himself on Saturday. Gwen normally has on two water wings and a tube to keep her afloat. She hates getting her face wet, I mean hates. She screams and squints and won't open her eyes until she gets a towel. Something magical happened though while we were swimming Saturday. She was willing to try to swim without her floaties. This was huge. She got dunked under several times but she was brave (she still did the eye squint thing and had everyone at the pool laughing as she would blindly go off in search of her towel with her eyes cinched tightly shut). Anyway, it was reminiscent of the time I did the bungee jump thing at Lagoon, which I did solely because I wanted to appear brave for Blaine and Scott, and I got to be strapped between them. Something about having the ones you have a crush on near, forces you to face your fears.
Anyway, so Gwen's been driving me crazy, which is harder than me for probably most moms because when she drives me crazy it makes me want to stick her in preschool. And when I think about sticking her in preschool, it makes me feel like I will never succeed in homeschooling. Which I know you are mostly all still freaked out about the homeschooling thing, but it is something I would really like to do for her, and I just don't feel like I have the strength and dedication to do, which is really hard. It is a sacrifice I want to make for Gwen, but I really question my ability when she drives me so crazy :). I guess we still have about two years to sort through all this.
The good news is though, when she is not driving me crazy, and even when she is, I love her so much it hurts. I went to a book club this last week (we are reading Jesus the Christ), and the discussion turned to a girl whose niece who was only four years old passed away suddenly when she got the flu. The story was more complicated, but needless to say, tears were flowing. I jumped in the car and drove straight home and just ran in to hug my kids. I love them both so much. More than I knew it was possible to love anyone. I felt so guilty for letting Gwen drive me crazy. I don't care if she just wants to watch Dora all day. I will keep showing her my love by insisting she do other things. She may retaliate (the day before she had told Blaine she didn't want me to come and read stories with the family because she didn't love me. I realize she is three, but it really really hurt. You have to understand, she is my whole life, and if she doesn't love me, I don't have that much .... :) ). but in the long, LONG run; when she is a mother trying to do her best, I just hope she will look back and see that I tried, and mostly, that I loved her in a way that she will only understand when she holds her first baby.
This is such a funny letter. Just wanted to let you know the things I have been going through. We have been so homesick. Especially me. I was trying the other day to talk Blaine into moving back to Utah in a year, ME. I am the one who wanted adventure and now I am the one who wants to come home. I want to see Max's magic show. I want to go camping. I want to go to family meeting. I wanted to take Nick and Stef dinner when they had a baby. I want Bentley and Bret to hang out (both Bret's, actually), I want to go to a Peter Breinholt concert, I want Jane to come over and watch LOST, I want to eat Beef Stew Supreme, I want to help paint the pool and clean the cabin. I want to make you all my oatmeal caramel bars, because I know you all would love them. I want to have family meeting at our house. I want you all to know my amazing kids and see how fast they are growing. I want mom to teach me how to can tomatoes and to let me use her canning equipment, and to show me how to garden, and for pete's sake to organize my cupboards again! They are a mess.
Wow, now I am a big emotional mess. I am just at such a time in my life where I need to be learning things from mothers. I think mother-in-laws drive people crazy because they are always trying to teach you something or correct you on something, and you want to be so grown up an independent and figure it out on your own. I am so sick of figuring things out on my own! I feel like I have so many things I need to learn from my mom or from Wendy and I just don't get to see them enough. Really, I am ready to come home. It's so funny. You really don't appreciate things fully until they are gone.
We really, REALLY miss you guys. It might seem weird but I think I even miss y'all more than Blaine. Don't tell him I said that.
I am afraid to come home to Utah because I think coming back here will be really really hard. The first time I left Utah to come to Texas we had so many adventures in store. New place, new house, new baby, new puppies. Now it is just normal life, as Blaine titled his entry, and I think the reason that we have been able to make it through all of this adventures we go on is because they are just that, adventures. New places and people, etc. We always returned to our normal life full of family and mountains, etc. It is so weird that our normal life now is so far away with no end in site.
Anyway, thanks for listening. We love you, and don't worry, we love Texas too, just not as much.
Regular life
Well, if I have to post twice in a row to keep the love alive I guess that's what I'll have to do :) (Well, at least two letters in a row, Dad posted his comics that we all enjoy every week since my last letter but, seriously, c'mon people, those of us who aren't in the circle anymore could really use a little update every once in awhile!!)
So, honestly, it's been hard little bit lately. Well there's been ups and downs. The biggest up was our trip last week--oh, so fun. We've been to a couple beaches since the cruise but they were in Oregon and Minnesota (Great Lakes) and so I forgot how warm the water could be at the more southerly beaches. Holy cow, that water felt so nice! I don't understand how a body of water that big could ever get that warm (it was way warmer than our swimming pool ever is and way way warmer than the Winder pool has ever been :) It was a very short trip but it was great to be together and to have time off work.
Work has been pretty stressful lately but I've been trying to count my blessings. Now that I've been through two periods that it was REALLY hard, I'm realizing that it was just pretty easy at first and I didn't enjoy it enough and now it's pretty hard and still well over 40 hours but it seems like this is probably about normal. And if so that's okay--I just hope that it doesn't slowly get worse and worse and longer and longer hours. Anyway, I'm in the very final stages of my first project and we are planning to ship starting the day before I leave to Disneyland so hopefully we'll finish everything and that board will be shipping by the time I see all you guys. My other project is not is such great shape. This is the one that I took over and that I got from the final stages to start shipping a few months ago. Well, it is just like this problematic project to suddenly have two problems that have forced us to put it on hold (stop shipments) and start looking into whether we need to recall and how we're going to fix the problem. As you can imagine that is pretty bad and pretty stressful so I've been trying to balance my time to make quick progress on that but not drop the ball on the other project because we really need to hit that goal too. Anyway, for how stressful it sounds I've actually been coping pretty well though. I hit my year mark a couple years ago and it's been amazing how much different and more experienced I've felt lately. Part of it is that with the summer we've just gotten a new wave of interns and new employees so that has bumped me way up the line as far as oldness/experience goes. Also, now that I've been through the whole process now, there is a lot less mystery in what it is I have to do--I know the vocabulary, I know who is supposed to do what, I have a network of people that I can go to for help and to get things done quick. All of this adds up to a more fulfilling work life than it's been in a long time, despite the fact that it is still challenging and some days are harder than others and so forth. At least I guess I'm finally starting to fit in my role so that's good.
Really, that's part of what has made things hard lately though, in a way. We've started to feel accostomed to our lifestyle here, we've started to feel stable and settled and all the things you think you always want to feel except, you realize, what you've always wanted to stablize and settle on is this certain picture you have for yourself of life. A picture that is pretty darn perfect and is maybe asking pretty darn much. And so when you see yourself stablizing and getting older and feeling like--okay this is it, it is surprisingly scary and disturbing that your life isn't perfect or isn't what you planned it to be. Does that make sense? I don't know, maybe I'm trying to generalize this to something that everyone goes through and maybe everyone doesn't. Maybe some people's lives do go pretty much like they've planned. (I know a couple people who come to mind :) But for most of us I guess one day it hits us that your life is what you make it to be. That your actual decisions affect you a lot more than your deepest hopes and dreams.
And anyway, we're pretty happy here but Kris and I have both kind of been in a funk. We've had some problems with friends and feeling like we really belong, but there is no real decision to point to that I think was wrong, there is no clear path toward the perfect life of friends and family that we're missing, in fact there's really no perfect life to speak of. There's just regular life (as Gwen would say, like when we said she could earn a prize and she said "what's a regular prize instead of a surprise?") You make choices, you live with their consequences, you learn to be content and happy with what you've got, you thank Heavenly Father for all the blessings he gives you, and you realize that no one has it all and you have it really good when you think about it.
Anyway, where I'm going with this I don't know. We're doing well here and we have a great life. We've all been pretty homesick lately--it's been over a year and we haven't used one vacation day yet (which is not to say I have that much saved up but, eh, that's part of this too I guess...). I think the bottom line that I'm trying to say is that we love you all, we miss you all like crazy--in every facet of life we wish that we could be more a part of you--we are grateful to have such a great family, and we CANNOT WAIT for Disneyland at the end of the month!! (Although it makes me so sad to think of it being over and my vacation time being used up that I almost don't want it to come!)
Write to the Bawb. Love ya!
So, honestly, it's been hard little bit lately. Well there's been ups and downs. The biggest up was our trip last week--oh, so fun. We've been to a couple beaches since the cruise but they were in Oregon and Minnesota (Great Lakes) and so I forgot how warm the water could be at the more southerly beaches. Holy cow, that water felt so nice! I don't understand how a body of water that big could ever get that warm (it was way warmer than our swimming pool ever is and way way warmer than the Winder pool has ever been :) It was a very short trip but it was great to be together and to have time off work.
Work has been pretty stressful lately but I've been trying to count my blessings. Now that I've been through two periods that it was REALLY hard, I'm realizing that it was just pretty easy at first and I didn't enjoy it enough and now it's pretty hard and still well over 40 hours but it seems like this is probably about normal. And if so that's okay--I just hope that it doesn't slowly get worse and worse and longer and longer hours. Anyway, I'm in the very final stages of my first project and we are planning to ship starting the day before I leave to Disneyland so hopefully we'll finish everything and that board will be shipping by the time I see all you guys. My other project is not is such great shape. This is the one that I took over and that I got from the final stages to start shipping a few months ago. Well, it is just like this problematic project to suddenly have two problems that have forced us to put it on hold (stop shipments) and start looking into whether we need to recall and how we're going to fix the problem. As you can imagine that is pretty bad and pretty stressful so I've been trying to balance my time to make quick progress on that but not drop the ball on the other project because we really need to hit that goal too. Anyway, for how stressful it sounds I've actually been coping pretty well though. I hit my year mark a couple years ago and it's been amazing how much different and more experienced I've felt lately. Part of it is that with the summer we've just gotten a new wave of interns and new employees so that has bumped me way up the line as far as oldness/experience goes. Also, now that I've been through the whole process now, there is a lot less mystery in what it is I have to do--I know the vocabulary, I know who is supposed to do what, I have a network of people that I can go to for help and to get things done quick. All of this adds up to a more fulfilling work life than it's been in a long time, despite the fact that it is still challenging and some days are harder than others and so forth. At least I guess I'm finally starting to fit in my role so that's good.
Really, that's part of what has made things hard lately though, in a way. We've started to feel accostomed to our lifestyle here, we've started to feel stable and settled and all the things you think you always want to feel except, you realize, what you've always wanted to stablize and settle on is this certain picture you have for yourself of life. A picture that is pretty darn perfect and is maybe asking pretty darn much. And so when you see yourself stablizing and getting older and feeling like--okay this is it, it is surprisingly scary and disturbing that your life isn't perfect or isn't what you planned it to be. Does that make sense? I don't know, maybe I'm trying to generalize this to something that everyone goes through and maybe everyone doesn't. Maybe some people's lives do go pretty much like they've planned. (I know a couple people who come to mind :) But for most of us I guess one day it hits us that your life is what you make it to be. That your actual decisions affect you a lot more than your deepest hopes and dreams.
And anyway, we're pretty happy here but Kris and I have both kind of been in a funk. We've had some problems with friends and feeling like we really belong, but there is no real decision to point to that I think was wrong, there is no clear path toward the perfect life of friends and family that we're missing, in fact there's really no perfect life to speak of. There's just regular life (as Gwen would say, like when we said she could earn a prize and she said "what's a regular prize instead of a surprise?") You make choices, you live with their consequences, you learn to be content and happy with what you've got, you thank Heavenly Father for all the blessings he gives you, and you realize that no one has it all and you have it really good when you think about it.
Anyway, where I'm going with this I don't know. We're doing well here and we have a great life. We've all been pretty homesick lately--it's been over a year and we haven't used one vacation day yet (which is not to say I have that much saved up but, eh, that's part of this too I guess...). I think the bottom line that I'm trying to say is that we love you all, we miss you all like crazy--in every facet of life we wish that we could be more a part of you--we are grateful to have such a great family, and we CANNOT WAIT for Disneyland at the end of the month!! (Although it makes me so sad to think of it being over and my vacation time being used up that I almost don't want it to come!)
Write to the Bawb. Love ya!
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