May Newsletter

Please remember all italicized news is fraudulent and intended to be funny.

MOM AND DAD

Back from their mission and raring to go, Dad has decided to make Mom his full time project. He’s already signed them both up for a spinning class, pilates, and yoga at a local health club. Now he just has to break it to her.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

BENGES

Esther is singing loudly into a microphone right now, and I have a headache!  So that is my excuse for being discombobulated.  I am getting sick AGAIN. I have had something or other almost constantly since Hannah got home.  She was called to be her ward organist, by the way, and even had a guy from the single ward ask for her number, so there is progress in her life. And besides that she got to go and see a fireside of a pianist that was knighted by the Queen of England for being the best pianist in the world. I wish we could have all gone, but she did record him on her cell phone, in case Marilyn or someone wants to listen. Hannah is working fewer hours though, which is not good.  This morning Dave left at five-thirty for the airport. He just called a shuttle to pick him up, leaving all three of the cars for us so we don't die!  I will miss him, of course, but I have found the times he's gone go by VERY quickly because life is so busy, and I expect this trip to Minneapolis will be the same.  --He will miss us more!  And I am very sorry to the HArdmans that he cannot be there for Charlie and Eric's sealing. What a dumb time for his boss choose for him to do a presentation at a conference!  This week we found water in the carpet under the whiteboard, and when Dave did some investigating, he discovered that our filing cabinets were "GLUED" to the carpet with mold, and everything underneath dissolving and destroyed. So, that is discouraging.  We do not know how often it is flooded or where the water is coming from, but it is definitely through the wall, and the baseboards and plaster board is all ruined.  But the pipes from the kitchen sink are back there, and COULD be the source, but then we had a big rainstorm yesterday and found a tiny trickle of water afterwards down there. It is not silty though.  Anyway, we have torn up that whole corner of the carpet and will keep watching it. I pray that it is an internal problem because that it much cheaper and easier to repair than the cement walls, but it looks bad.

In April we saw most of you at sometime so there is not much news. We were excited to have Mom and Dad come back to us!  Miriam joined track, but injured her right ankle pretty quickly, so she is not a big asset to the team, but I am proud of her hard work and her HOURS of running because I simple despise it. Enough said. IT was a glorious month because we had a GREAT Easter, a GREAT general conference, and a GREAT visit to Baby Animal Days in Logan during Spring Break (though it was windy and cold and the lines were terrible! I guess it is worth it to pet little chicks and bunnies and hold tiny turtles even if your hands are turning blue!)  Miriam did a really awesome job in her junior high's production of "Shrek". She sang strong, and had wild make-up and hair that looked like a tangle of flames!  And Lucy and Andrew both worked hard to be in " A Midsummer Night's Dream" with the elementary school, though neither of them had auditioned.  It was nice to not be stressed about being front and center stage for them. It was wonderful to see Lucy leading out with her musical skills on the recorder, drum, tamborine, and xylophone, and Andrew got to be a magician out in the Green Show (though he had to fight obnoxious children who were trying to touch and ruin his tricks the whole time.) Joshua went to the zoo with his class and did a big Share-a Book presentation he was proud of, Rachel was Sacagawea at her "Hero Day", Lucy did a powerpoint on bald eagles, and Andrew did a World Report about Taiwan...so we were plenty busy in April and ready now for school to wind down.  The only one things have slowed down for is Gideon, and he has four AP tests to take over the next week!

 This Sunday I would have made a funny online video when I was going over to the church, with just minutes to go, and Esther walked too slowly in her tiny steps. So, I leaned over and tried to hoist her onto my hip---with two bags sliding off my shoulders and the Sunday School poster in my other arm--- and as I shifted to try not to drop her, I let go of the poster board and the wind picked it up in a gust and carried it YARDS across the church lawn. I had to quickly put Esther back down (which made her cry) and chase it, in my heels!!! And the wind kept lifting it away from me again and again!  I was laughing, but also ready to curse...and I kept calling back for Esther to "just stay there and Mommy will come back and get you!"  I finally caught up to the poster when we were nearly off church grounds. It made me late for Sacrament Meeting and sure beat the heck out of the poster, so now I laugh every time I look at it!  I should toss it in the garbage, but it reminds me of the absurd lengths we go to in the church to serve and be a part of God's work, even when we are pushed to extremes and have an opposing wind!

I hope you are all getting through your life's opposition with fortitude and humor...And I hope you are still interested in doing the family newsletter because I LOVE to hear about what you are going through!!!

Love, Susan

      and the Benges

NIELSON C

Charles and Bryony have taken up astrology, and discovered a meteor heading for Earth. It will arrive in five years, and is going to destroy all life on Earth, but for the brief time we all exist the meteor will be known as the Bryony Meteor. Why Bryony, why?

JOHNSON

Hello, all! I vote that we keep doing newsletter. I know that it is hard to come up with news, but I sure love the contact with everyone. Although lately we have been seeing a lot of each other with all the missionaries and wedding stuff, it isn't always like that even when Mom is around. So let's keep the newsletter going.

As for Johnson news, Hyrum said to make sure I let you know that he is just as awesome as ever. And maybe even a little more so because he has a new Scott Sterling Studio C T-shirt.

Bethany is registered for her classes at Snow. Now she just has to figure out exactly where she is going to live and how she is going to pay for it. (Well, and also she has to graduate, but we think they will accommodate her in that endeavor if we keep our fingers crossed!)

Everyone is excited for Summer--just four more weeks of school now!

Mike is turning in a proposal for an animated series for BYU TV. He is also trying to help his technologically-challenged wife to create a blog or a website or something to share the cleaning activities. Any recommendations?

The Payson Temple is beautiful--and we are really busy with all the volunteering and kids practicing for the cultural celebration.

See you all at Mom and Dad's homecoming!

Love from the Johnsons

HARDMAN

Suffering from porcine withdrawal, the Hardmans have given up bacon. Yay, more for the rest of us.

NIELSON J

It is a secret shame that his family has bravely hidden from the world that I now expose: due to his constant exposure to all things girly, John has sadly succumbed to “Brony-ism”.

NIELSON S

Hi, family!

Okay, looks like the total amount for the reunion is going to be $92 per person. We already paid a deposit on the lodging, and the rest is due at the beginning of July. You can either send the money in the mail sometime before then, or just give it to us when you see us! Let us know if there are any problems.

We didn't count the littlest babies, so here are the numbers (let us know if we got something wrong):

Susan and Dave, we counted 10 for your family

Hardmans, 5 (you said Steve can't make it, right?)

Johnsons, 9

John and Liz, 5

Sam and me, 8

Hunts, 4

Adams, 3

Froyds, 3

And Mom and Dad, of course :)

So, that number times $92 will be what you owe. 

Sam and I have been brainstorming lots of ideas for the reunion and we're getting really excited! It's going to be fun. Each family will probably be in charge of a meal or part of a meal, but we'll give you details on that later.

Thanks everyone!

Love,

Sam and Marilyn

HUNT

Ella is potty training herself. Jane doesn't want the fighting and screaming so she has stickers and treats for Ella to have if she does but she's not pushing it. Ella is doing pretty well despite it all and may get potty trained anyway.  She also lost her binky so we are trying to have her live without it. We'll see how that goes.

Gwen just got a kite from all the reading she has done this year. And she got a wooden car that she is currently putting together. She gets to go on a lot of field trips this month so that has been fun for her. Gwen has been enjoying having The Fablehaven series read to her by Jane, already finished two books.

Abe found a bunch of board/card games for sale and has bought lots of new ones for us to try out. It has been fun trying all the new games. Abe will talk about opening a game shop because he likes to buy them so much. Abe went to another Startup weekend, and got voted crowd favorite. He also worked on two other projects as well during that time.

Jane has been helping babysit nieces and nephews this month. And the dogs that came with them have been making her sneeze. She did enjoy coming up with meals for more people and glad the leftovers were down to a minimum.

FROYD

Ronan is starting to get his first teeth. Naya is counting down the days until her birthday, Sandin is in denial about his. And Katy is wishing her body wasn’t a broken down shell.

ADAMS

As we all know, Pam is an addict, to puppies, she now has found an eternal fix, volunteering her days, while Evelyn is in school, at a local animal society. Here Pam can get her joys of puppy love, without the need to walk, feed, or care for the puppies that get her love. Get your love on girl, we support and love you. And when you’re ready to give up your addiction I’m sure we can find a group out there for you, Puppies Anonymous?

Late Johnson News

Hey, Family,

Once again there is not much news from the Johnson clan. Sadie got her hair cut really short. McKaylee also got her hair cut.

We are all looking forward to summer.

The other day we went out to dinner with a family here for conference from Colombia. Mike taught Orlando on his mission. He was baptized, served a mission, married, and has two sons who have served missions. He has served as a bishop, and is still strong in the church. The only problem is that none of his family speaks much English at all. And so it was a chance for me and Mike (but especially me) to realize how little Spanish we speak. Or in my case, how little I understand. When I speak it I can sort of get by with my extremely limited vocabulary, but other people use all kinds of words that I don't know at all. I wonder if I ever did know them. I still am a lot more comfortable discussing the gospel than any other subject.

The kids are all healthy and noisy.

That pretty much covers it.

Love to you all from the Johnsons!

April Newsletter

Just a note, I guess I was having a feminist streak today, so I put the girls initials after the same last names, after all the wives are named Nielson too. Unfortunately I’m too tired to be creative so those who didn’t get news in on time are just not here. Sorry to the Johnsons, and John’s family.

ELDER AND SISTER NIELSON

Dearest Family,

    Our only real news is that we are coming home!  We will be there in just under a month now.  We have had a good experience here and I wonder if we will talk ourselves into doing it again.  First we are going to come home and appreciate being there with all of you.  Family is really what it is all about. Take good care of yours. And thank you for being such a good family for us!  You are the greatest.

    I love you all,

       Mom

BENGES

I guess I will write to my own family this month instead of making poor Dave do it.  Last year he was emailing newsletters to his family, so I just told him to double it and paste it over, but really I just am intimidated because he is a funnier writer than me!  Dave is really busy as he studies to take the place of an associate who is retiring, so maybe this will lessen his stress. We have still been adjusting to life with a Hannah back in it (mostly she is adjusting back to US and having no life to speak of!)  She is getting very busy now though, with a job at Ross Dress-for-Less and one at Target Studios. If only she weren't so tired all the time I think she would be enjoying those! Isaac is at the MTC until April 15th, and he loves some things but pulled his leg muscle in a very painful spot, and has an obnoxious companion who was called to be district leader...and you know how that can be a slap in the face to pride!  Email Dave if you are not getting Anziano Benge's updates.

Miriam is finishing up on her junior high production of "Shrek", which will begin next week, ( she is the voice of the dragon and sings "Donkey Potpie")  She has also joined the track team and ran her first 5K  this month with a friend. Not only does she have asthma, but she had colored powder thrown all over her by the spectators. So she did great at running, and wasn't even tired the next day, but she wheezed the next day for about three hours until she coughed all the chalk out of her lungs. Gideon finished his online class of Health, so we no longer have to worry about him graduating! He was asked to sing his number for solo ensemble at the last concert, and sang "Amarilli, Mia Bella" like an angel. A friend of ours said "It was a transcendent experience". WOW.

He is also going to state with it, and got a 1 at region. He will be starting his mission papers in April. I am NOT ready for that!!! All of his best friends already have their calls in hand.  Oh...we had our Valentines'Day celebration on March 2nd, and we went to ancient Egypt this year.  It was very fun.  The only way this month made HISTORY however is because I did my last potty-training (in eternity, I hope)  Esther breezed through this milestone, was my easiest child, and I am NOT even crying to see it pass!  

Our funny moment this week was at the dinner table when Hannah was making us all laugh over dumb things she has said at work to costumers. Her statement that she is gifted at being awkward made Andrew burst out excitedly with "Hannah...that means we are LITERALLY brother and sister!" It was just too perfect of timing and we belly-laughed till we cried.

My newest delight in the children is that Enoch wakes up from his nap every day singing, at the top of his lungs, before he even gets out of bed.  It is usually "Eye of the Tiger". I wonder what he dreams about?  I made a list of precious things like this that I love once a couple years ago: when Rachel slides down the stair rail, when Isaac comes home covered in mud from a good slide in Ultimate Disc, etc. I encourage you to do the same if you have a day you need cheering up.  Life around here is crazy, and sometimes I cry like crazy too...but life with a family is good and sweet in ways that can't even be explained too.

I love you all, and Happy Resurrection Day!

NIELSONS, B

It’s official. We are unable to have children. Otherwise, life goes on. Mostly work.

Charles & Bryony

HARDMANS

The biggest news for our month is that Jimmy is home! His flight came in at 1 p.m. on March 31st, and he didn't get released until about 6 that evening, so even though he came home and showered, (to get the airplane smell off), he still got dressed in his suit and name tag again afterward. He is so cute and eager and fresh. We love having him back home! I took 2 days off work to be with him, and it has been so fun to have him back. His homecoming is on April 19th at 9 a.m.

Jacob went to California with his choir for tour last week, and had a great time. Abby got the main part in her drama class play. She is loving drama. I always knew she was the most Benge-ish kid in our family.

NIELSONS, M

Well, I usually leave this job to Sam, but I guess I can try to think of something! :)

Sam and Marilyn's family is enjoying baby Theo, who is somehow two months old already. Abe is going on lots of scout campouts and Seb is building lots of model airplanes out of sunflower stems and cardboard. Malachi moved downstairs to the "boys room" and now stays up late talking and telling stories with his brothers instead of staying up late talking and telling stories with his sisters.

The girls have their own little language and are always exchanging glances and singing little songs and giggling at things. Even Goldie is joining in with this, which seems alarming.

Sam did an art workshop in Toronto (Marilyn and Theo got to come too!) and it was really cold there, so they also got to see Niagara Falls all snowy and icy. It was really cool.

Love you all!

Love,

Sam and Marilyn

HUNTS

Ella and Gwen love to spend their time outside when they can now that it is springtime. They get very dirty playing in the sandbox.

Nothing too exciting has happened with us. Abe got a new job doing the exact same thing he is doing now. Jane is planning to come visit you all in July if you have time to see her.

On July 17th Katy and I are planning on doing an older grandkids party for the kids 12 years old and older. It will be at Katy's house at 1 pm, so we would love to have those who can make it come. We just wanted to let everyone know ahead of time. We will keep you updated.

Sent from my iPad

FROYDS

I don’t feel like we have much news from this month. Ronan has discovered screens. He uses his feet to push on the iPad if I’m using it, he’s noticed he can make it do things that way. He likes watching the Muppets, and likes to dance with me and his sister. Linaya is his favorite person, if she’s in the room he watches her constantly, even if she’s not really doing anything, maybe cause she never holds still. He also says “Hi” but we can’t document it. I swear he can tell if he’s on film, he gets a worried look and refuses to say anything. 

We all like to enjoy the spring weather.

Sandin is still struggling to get his medications correct. He had an ultrasound to check out his gallbladder, and they found a polyp in it, but apparently it’s benign. Anyway they have another test scheduled for him.

Linaya is doing well in school, she’s at the top of her class with her math scores. Her reading is about average I guess, but she’s ahead in passing off her reading books. She only has one left.

I’m still struggling with pain, mostly headaches. I think they are as bad as they are because I still don’t get enough sleep. The baby wakes up at least twice a night, sometimes staying awake for an hour, but even when he sleeps well through the night he makes noises in his sleep that wake me, since he’s really close to us and I’m a light sleeper. Oh well, what can you do.

ADAMSES

News from Pamela and Co.

   Well, our really big news this month is no longer news because Dad spilled the beans before I got a chance to tell anyone. So *yawn* Michael is now a bishop.

   That's it folks!

   No really, I can't come up with anything else. So I guess I'll just ramble off about that some more. We got called at the beginning of March, but they wouldn't be able to sustain him and set him apart until the 29th, so we knew for 3 weeks. We thought we would go insane, but surprisingly, we were just filled with a lot of peace and confidence. You know, like Alma 29:9.

   In case anyone is feeling as mad at me as my mother-in-law is for not telling her three weeks ago, we kept it a secret because our Stake Presidency requested that we didn't tell anyone until the 28th. But there might have been quite a few hints dropped. Oops. So I'm not super capable of keeping a life changing secret, and Michael felt like he had to repent every time he told someone he didn't know who the next bishop was. So there was a lot of blushing and fumbling with words and a lot of lousy misdirection. But we made it.

   Evelyn also had no idea until the 28th. We planned an ice cream party and wrote a family mission call that we could open together and discuss that night. When we started to tell her that a change was coming in our life, her first reaction was to exclaim, "Mom's having a baby?!?!" Um....no. Keep praying, babe, it'll happen someday. Then we told her that we have a call to serve. Suddenly Evelyn got a worried look on her face and her index fingers started creeping toward her ears to plug them. I asked her why she wanted to plug her ears and she said she didn't want life to change because it was so good right now. So we had to explain that you can't stop life from changing, and that all you can do is control your attitude about the change. Then we read the mission call.  Here is a copy of it, in case you're interested how we pulled it off without forging the First Presidency. Originally, it sounded way too official and we changed a lot of the wording to help Evelyn understand It better.

Michael Ray Adams and Family

3452 East Ridge Route Road #2

Eagle Mountain, Utah, 84005

26 March 2015

Dear Michael Ray Adams, Pamela Megan Adams, and Jane Evelyn Adams:

Michael has been called to serve as a Bishop in the Willow Springs Ward in the Eagle Mountain Cedar Pass Stake. This calling has come from the Lord through the prophet because of a recommendation from your Stake President, President Richards. It is anticipated that Michael will be serving in this capacity about 5 years. You will begin your labors on 29 March 2015.

As a Bishop there are 5 main areas in this calling. They are to preside over the ward, to help the poor and needy, to take care of the building and its security, manage the ward’s money, and doing what Jesus would do if He were there.

Pamela and Evelyn will also be an important part of making this calling successful. Some of the ways they can help out is by allowing there to be time that Michael can be away from your family to take care of those other families in the ward that need his help. You will need to stay extra close to each other especially at those times that Michael is away. You will need to be good examples all the time, but especially reach out to your ward members and love them as Jesus Christ loves them.

All of you will need to face this calling with faith, grace, and courage. With the help of our Father in Heaven and the Atonement of His Son Jesus Christ, you will meet with great success.

Although challenging at times this calling will bring immense joy and blessings to you and your family as you serve one another and those around you. Some blessings you may experience are: revelation, lasting friendships, growing closer to God and Jesus Christ, feeling closer as a family as we conquer hard things, understanding the power of the Atonement a little better, seeing the love of our Heavenly Father for all His children, being able to use the priesthood keys, and many more.  Remember that “Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.”

Thank you for being willing to serve.

Evelyn wasn't super excited about the calling initially. She was scared she wouldn't see Daddy very much anymore. She was a little comforted that the calling came from Jesus, but she was still hesitant. I think she started to warm up to the idea when we got to the part where she could help, and she was really excited by the time we read the blessings. Of course she suggested that we should be able to get a baby from it, so we told her that now the whole ward is our family, so now she has over 400 brothers and sisters! She liked that too. Then we opened presents to help Sunday go by more easily. Michael got an insulated lunch box. Evelyn and I got a friendship bracelet kit.

Sunday went really well. It was fun to see the mantle on Michael as he took over the third hour. It was supposed to be taught by the high councilor, but he never showed up, so Michael winged it. It turned out great, and it was fun to see the ward members respond to him as bishop too. He was in meetings all day, but it wasn't too bad for either one of us. We've just felt supported by the Lord. It has been a really neat experience.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

I love homemade pizza, if it’s made with a good crust, but making a good crust is either time consuming or complicated or both. Then just last month I found one that I love, of course I modified it a little bit, but it means I’ve made pizza two or three times since. I feel like I may never order pizza again.

Quick and Easy Pizza Crust

1 T. (1 pkg.) of yeast

1 t. white sugar

1 c. warm water

2 1/2 c. flour

2 T. olive oil

1 t. salt

4 T. butter, melted

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. Italian Season

Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450º. In medium bowl (glass or plastic) dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Let stand until frothy, 10-15 min. I keep my yeast frozen so it takes a little longer. Stir in the flour and salt and mix until it sticks together, then add the oil. Need the oil in and it makes it easy to work with. Let rise for  roll it out into pan and let rise 15 minutes, then put on desired toppings. Melt butter and add garlic and seasonings. Baste the edges of your pizza, and grate parmesan cheese over the edges. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

As a note this recipe makes good breadsticks too, just up the garlic butter and parmesan cheese and baste thoroughly and cut into breadsticks before cooking.

February News

ELDER AND SISTER NIELSON

To My Most Precious People,

     I always feel like I should write something profound here since we don't have any news that you don't already know. We did sort of map out our trip home and I think we will be home about May 1st, give or take a day. We are planning to go to Gettysburg, Palmayra, Niagra Falls, and Kirkland.  Any other suggestions?

     I don't know any profound things, so you're out of luck.  I do know this.  You can't possibly know how important each of you are to us. . . and how important you are to each other.  It is so easy to take family for granted, and even be irritated with them at times.  But what would we do without each other?  I have been so pleased with the way that you have looked out for each other.  I can promise you that you won't ever regret the time that you spend loving and serving each other. There isn't a lot else that is important. I am so glad that Dail and I have learned that.  We still get irritated sometimes, but we realize how crazy that is. What is more important than our relationship?  Only our relationship with God. What difference does it really make what anybody else thinks of us? We both have lots of obnoxious faults and we are trying to do better, but meanwhile it is sure nice to love and accept someone, faults and all.  And it is so good to be loved that way in return. Personally I think that really learning that is one of the important missions of our mortal lives. And as you learn it within your family, it naturally spreads to all of your other "brothers and sisters". So there is your lecture for the month.  You each have your very own place in my heart.

    I love you,

         Mom

BENGES

It was great seeing so many of you on Feb. 22 when Isaac spoke. I love being with family, and damage was minimal!

Isaac's coworkers at DQ made him a nice sayonara cake:

And, Hannah made it home safely last night after her previously scheduled flight was canceled because of weather. We felt blessed it all worked out OK. 5 children were performing Joseph the night she arrived and Gideon was working, so Susan, Isaac, Enoch and Esther were the official greeting delegation. And, Hannah had called telling us her approximate arrival date and told us to await an email. The email never came. I thought Susie told me she was flying to New York, but she apparently came to SLC from Newark. Oh! We had no idea what flight she was on.

The Official Greeting Delegation was a couple of minutes late--it is hard to know a flight is early if you don't know what flight it is--but Hannah's previous mission president and his wife were there to greet the lonely returning missionary. And, when the Official Greeting Delegation arrived there was much rejoicing:

Esther turned 2 in February. She is learning that here is a much better place to leave her waste products than in her pants, and runs around with big-girl panties on all the time.

The Wedding Singer is over and Gideon was great. Miriam is one of the stars of Joseph.

Isaac leaves in a few days.

Other things probably happened, too. Much of our life is mundane and routine and not really memorable, but that is more often than not a good thing. I don't think I can handle broken femurs and the like too often.

We love you!

NIELSON, C

Charles and Bryony are still baby-less...and it looks like it may stay that way. Bryony has been diagnosed with something the doctor called M1 Oocyte Maturitation Arrest.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3017334/

Our sweet doctor is going to do another round of In Vitro for us for free though as a "just in case" sort of thing. And you never know. But for the most part, we have sort of accepted that we may never have our own children. That, of course, leaves adoption, which scares us in a whole new way. And we'll just have to see what happens and how things move forward to make that even a possibility or not, etc.

Otherwise, we're just working.

Charles and Bryony

JOHNSONS

Boy, was that a short month!

We saw most of you at Isaac's farewell. That was fun.

We all have dentist appointments this week. Seriously, that is the best news I can think of. Camilla is getting braces today. She is not excited.

Okay, I'm straining my brain to come up with more.

Mike had the zipper on his pants break. Luckily he had a wise mentor some time in his youth who taught him to keep a safety pin or two on his key ring. So he was prepared to deal with the disaster, and after work he went out and bought three new pairs of pants.

Bethany wants you all to know that she loves you. She tries really hard to be a part of things at the family get-togethers, but doesn't feel like she is succeeding. I think she has made some improvements, but it is hard on her.

Risa is taking the ACT test next week, and she is really nervous. I guess she figures that a 3.99 GPA is not enough bragging rights for one person.

Hyrum has been taking things apart to see how they work. Of course, we only let him take apart things that don't work, so I don't know how much he is learning from the exercise.

Camilla is getting braces. I already said that.

McKaylee, Maxwell, and Sadie played a fun game together all afternoon yesterday. You may think that that isn't news, but it is the first time in a long time that they haven't fought all afternoon, so I think it is worthy of mention.

There. I won't waste your time any longer.

Love you all!

The Johnsons

HARDMAN

Jimmy is coming home soon, and we are so excited!

Charlie and Eric are still deep into planning their wedding, and it won't be too long before we send out the announcements. In between their wedding plans, they are making music videos, like the Tibetan throat singing impression posted on Facebook. Who knew they had such hidden and unusual talents.

Jacob passed his road test in Driver's Ed, which is awesome, since it means we are done hauling him to the school every morning at 6 a.m. It's also frightening beyond words. He won't get his license for a while because he doesn't have all his driving hours yet, but it's one step closer.

Abby did super awesome on her pre-ACT at school. I'm not really sure what test it is because they called it the ACT, but she's way too young for that, so maybe they have a junior high version I never knew about.

Sarah is practicing her typing all the time, and working on getting better at that. Jacob has given her a new nickname of Moopie, and it's strangely fitting.

That's about all our family news.

NIELSON, J

Tabetha learned to wiggle her way forward on the ground this month.

Lucy's still trying to convince us that she's "good", with all her straight A's, obedience, and all that.  Anyone else buying that?

Alice got an award at school from her principal for taking notes for an absent friend.  Yay Alice!  She's so good at thinking of others.

Dorothy is in a Dr. Suess play.  Great job Dorothy!

Liz and I are another month older and all the better for it.

NIELSON, S

Abraham has decided to experiment with creating the ultimate designer pet, a chihuahua sized ant. Aftet all what other animal can you train to carry your luggage? He is having difficulty though, his prototype pet won’t stop collecting and storing food. Ick, Good luck man!

HUNTS

Ella is amazing. She already knows most of her letters and some of the sounds that go with them. She talks in complete sentences quite a bit of the time. She's finally sleeping through the night most nights. She doesn't like taking naps but will fall asleep almost immediately at night. When she was sick she learned how to scream and scream and scream. For a few weeks that's what she would do when she got upset. She is now slowly getting past that. She also like to lick mommy and says "yummy, candy cane."

Gwen is getting cuter and cuter. She will says the funniest things sometimes. She told me the other day that zombies were real. Apparently a boy told her that and now she thinks it's true. I told her they weren't real but why would she believe her mother over what a boy says. Almost every night Gwen wants me to tell her memories of my childhood. Now I have to really think about what have I told her and what can I remember about it. She loves the story of the backyard being on fire and John going down the laundry shute, and will ask for those stories again.

Abe is awesome, as always. He had a birthday and is a year older but sadly he will never catch up to me as he likes to remind me that I'll always be older than him. He took me on a trip this month in which we did a lot of fun things. Like go to two plays, we stopped by the robotics competition at Weber, and ate lots of fun food. The hotel he brought me to was a quaint old fashioned place that was fun to be at.

Jane is doing well. It helped to have a break. It it was fun to see everyone who went to Isaac's farewell.

Love you all,

Jane

FROYDS

Well another month, the same old headache. I wish I had news to report. We have a darling baby boy who makes everyone around him happy, a hyper little girl, who is sunshine to our souls, and two people who hurt more often than not. Sandin is still trying to get the correct blend of medications to help him, Naya is getting better at reading and writing, and Ronan is getting cuter by the moment. And that about all folks.

ADAMS

From The Escapees

Hello to you all from Anaheim. We have escaped from reality and are in a temporal state of denial (otherwise known as vacation). It is about 70 degrees and sunny. The grass is green and the flowers are blooming. (Are you all jealous yet? If you're not, I will keep going... of course by the time you all get this we will be back in Utah with you all)

We have been running around Disneyland wearing slippers, eating churros and Ghiradellis, riding "Pirates", and riding a scooter from ride to ride. And we are here for three more days (again, by the time you get this, it will be over).

That's about all we will write about because life before Disneyland was way to stressful to think about. 

Very Respectfully,

Michael Adams

January News

ELDER AND SISTER NIELSON

Dearest Family,

I hope that no news is good news, because that's all we've got.  We are plugging along here and getting our work done.  We are in such a routine that things don't seem exciting or scary so much anymore.  Dail started mapping out routes we might want to take coming home and that sure made the end seem real and close!  I have to ignore it so I can focus here better but I can't help thinking that I will see you all again soon. Here is one little interesting tidbit.  The mission office emailed us and said that our release date was the 14th but they weren't sure when we were really leaving and they are setting up a senior missionary conference on the 15-16th of April and would we be coming?

Dail told them yes. I think they mostly look at sights and play.  It's in Wilmington.  So that will be two days of our last week.  For your info, we will probably leave here on the 22nd. I do have to keep reminding myself that we have a fourth of our mission left!  We will try to make it the best fourth.

    

I love you all,

         Mom

BENGES

January was a blur. Much going on. C'est la vie. Susan still remembers a thing or two, and reminded me of them.

We celebrated the New Year by having friends from our ward come over. It was fun. But, I had a realization that made me a little sad: I don't really have friends anymore and haven't done anything like that for a very long time. I don't mean to be a pariah. It just happened.

Isaac received his temple endowment. That was a great experience and great way to "break in" and appreciate the Ogden Temple. "Break in" isn't really a good term to use for buildings, is it? So, I should say that it was enjoyable to be part of "an initial period of operation during which working parts begin to function efficiently."  Thank you, Merriam-Webster.

Sunday nights we have had guest lectures at our house about becoming better teachers. Susan invited some people from our ward and stake to come to our home to teach us about teaching methods they have learned. It was very, very interesting. I am still geeking out about a visit from our former Stake President on storytelling. Susan's idea was inspired and brilliant. (If inspiration comes from the right source, it will be brilliant.)

Two big musicals are coming up: The Wedding Singer (Gideon) and Joseph (Miriam, Andrew, Lucy, Rachel and Joshua). The following month, Miriam will be starring in Shrek.

Hannah comes home on the 26th of February and speaks on March 8th. Isaac leaves March 4th and will speak on February 22nd.

We are all alive and well. TTFN!

Love, the Benge Family.

NIELSON, C

Charles is working underground for gnome rights, and Bryony has adopted 32 canaries for the cause.

JOHNSONS

Okay, Johnson news:

Umm. . .

I'm not coming up with anything. We are all just same- ol', same- ol'. Hyrum got his learner's permit, but so far we have been so busy that he hasn't even gotten behind the wheel once yet.

We do still have a cat, but if anyone wants her she is still up for grabs. She has been a little less obnoxious, so maybe she will turn out okay.

Mike has been on a diet the entire month of January, but he isn't losing weight quickly. It isn't exciting news, but that has been a big focus this past month.

We are all happy and healthy apart from the coughs and sniffles that we just keep passing around.

What else is there to say about January? It is like the Monday of the year, and we are all just glad we survived it.

We fasted for Charles and Bryony on Sunday. When we were talking to the kids about how they want to have children, Sadie volunteered to let them adopt her and she would go be their little girl. We aren't sure if we should have our feelings hurt, but I think she just meant to be compassionate to Charles and Bryony.

We love you all. Come visit us sometime.

Love, the Johnsons

HARDMANS

The Hardman clan is having a grand old time planning a wedding. For any who haven't heard, Charlie is engaged, and is getting married on May 8th at 11 a.m. in the Jordan River Temple. Why Jordan River? We aren't sure but we suspect from the clues we found in the basement in the form of a bowl with slips of paper in it, that it was the one they drew out of a hat (bowl). All of the temples in the near Utah vicinity had an equal chance of winning (including Ochre Mountain:-) , except Payson, which will not quite be open by May 8th. So that's the first big news for us. The second is that Jimmy is coming on on March 31st, and we are so excited. And that's all our big news for the month!!

NIELSON, J

Dorothy read Harry Potter.  Alice almost beat me at chess.  Lucy made lettuce wraps, and Tabetha learned to make a vampire sound on command.

NIELSON, S

Marilyn has been doing great work with homeschool, with recent units on light and genetics. She is still with child, but her due date less than a month away, so in preparation we sold our minivan and got something much larger: a Nissan NV. We think it’s supposed to be a van, but it looks more like a cross between a van and an SUV. While we’re still trying to figure out how to drive something so big around, the kids have been loving all the extra space and the new car smell.

Sam has been working on all sorts of projects in addition to teaching, and we’re hoping at some point that he’ll have a break between things. His latest adventure was a trip to Vancouver as a presenter in a workshop on creating art for the animation industry. The people running the workshop series liked his presentation enough that they invited him to another workshop in Toronto in March. He is finally getting into the groove of his new job at BYU and starting to really enjoy it.

Abraham got skiing lessons for Christmas, and spent the last four Thursdays on the slopes with some other kids in the ward, only one of which broke a bone while learning. Abe’s knowledge of skiing is now infinitely more vast than Marilyn and Sam’s skiing knowledge combined.

Marigold has finally decided that she wants to talk, and parrots back nearly anything we say to her, when she feels like it. She has also learned how to disassemble a diaper while wearing it, and how to pull any dress or shirt she finds on the floor up around her waist. We have seen multiple combinations of these two abilities over the last few days.

The other kids have been having fun with the genetics unit in school, and enjoying the mild January weather while they ride bikes or otherwise play outside. Life is good.

HUNTS

This last month we all have been fighting off sickness. Some had it worse than others.

Gwen cut a chunk off of her hair. She has also been scared that the house is going to start on fire.

Jane had a fun birthday and is a year older.

Ella is amazing and already knows some of her letters. Gwen and her are still really picky eaters and it feels like they live off of Ramen noodle soup sometimes.

Abe went to a start up weekend again this month and created a fun little game.

FROYDS

We have a cute little baby boy, Ronan, who is very quiet and thoughtful most of the time. He studies a point on the room until he’s ready to eat or sleep. In either case, he is sweet as can be and will smile at us almost constantly when he's awake. 

Now Naya news, as you all know she practically gave Sandin a heart attack by having a seizure on us. We’ve completed all the tests they have for that and the MRI revealed that a portion of her brain has “unusual activity”. Basically it’s misfiring, they don’t know why, or whether it will happen again, so we just get to monitor her for the next year or so. At which point if no other episodes occur she will be able to “resume regular activities.” So for a year she’s not allowed to swing, climb or do anything with heights, or swim alone. 

Sandin continues therapy. Already he says he can tell a difference. He’ll be working for a while though before it will really make a difference. In the meantime, he’s being a good daddy, and enjoys spending time with Ronan.

Me, no news on me, just a whole lot of sleep deprivation.

ADAMS

Michael Adams Fan Club News:

We all celebrated birthdays this month (except Pamela whose is still pending at the time this is being written--but she's totally EXPECTING to celebrate....please somebody remember :D). Michael turned a whopping 17 this year! And he totally looks it! (Finally!) But every once in a while he has these weird days where he feel like he's 33.  Evelyn turned 7 and she's going on 21. And Pamela will be having her ...never mind. She thinks she's 27, but she feels like she's turning 60. But really she's somewhere in between.

We've decided to vote Penny off the island. So we're now dogless. Some of you may ask in that sarcastic tone of voice: "How long for this time?" and we say unto you: "Shut up." (From the way this is written, I think I've been watching too much Dick Van Dyke show...)

Michael is really not excited to be released from his calling sometime at the end of February. He loves being in the bishopric (let me clarify: THE SECOND COUNSELOR in the bishopric!!!)and he much prefers it to a calling that many of the ward members have speculated he will be at the end of February. That's right: Cub Scout Leader. J/k. We're not thinking about this. Change the subject, myself.

New subject: Nothing broke. Nothing's new... um... Not watching the super bowl on Sunday.... Well, that's about it for us!

Oops forgot pics

 Susan and Fam's vacation photos

 Moose

 Grizzly

 Linaya's sweater and hat

Naya in her costume as a knight, (she's holding a pretend sword).

October Retrospective

ELDER AND SISTER NIELSON

Dear Family,

October is gone and along with it has gone one half of our mission!  Time is a funny thing.  It goes fast and it goes slow, but it does keep moving. I don’t know what to write about except that we have really turned a corner and are enjoying our mission!  Today we went out together to collect acorns for our squirrels.  And we spent all morning finding funny pictures to put on slides for the Halloween lesson tonight.  In Utah they have snow removal.  Here they have leaf removal.  Men have been out everywhere all morning with their leaf blowers.  They clear off the sidewalks and the parking lots and streets and lawns.  I think by tomorrow they will have to do it again!  Most of the leaves are still on the trees.  We have five more weeks of lessons before our Christmas break.  That seems so unreal.  I feel like the semester just got started.  It makes me think that the last semester will zoom by too.  I really don’t have any other news.  And we aren’t wearing any costumes (except our badges) to take picture of so I guess I will just give up trying to fill space and close.

I love you all,

       Mom

BENGES

Very first thing, let me re-invite you to Rachel's baptism on Saturday 11/08. There has been a time change from what I sent before: her baptism is now at 3:00 pm. If you would like to share some of your sugar, please bring some cookies for snacking on after her baptism and confirmation. Rachel is very excited to enter the waters of baptism and has been inviting a lot of people locally, too. She has a gift for missionary work.

Very next thing, Isaac should receive his mission call Wednesday. We will, of course, post it to FB, send out emails, make a phone call or two, and shout it from the patio (I'm getting too brittle to shout it from the rooftop). 

Very third thing that pops into my head is a fun little trip to Island Park and Yellowstone. Some friends in our ward (with one 12-yr-old and two teens still at home) have access to a family cabin in Island Park. It is just big enough to fit both families without it being too uncomfortable, although cranky children caused our (meaning me, Susan, Esther and Enoch) room to receive 2 additional occupants by the last night because two more children couldn't handle sleeping in the great room where most of the children were sleeping. Fishing, canoeing, playing games, and exploration ... good stuff. Here are some highlights:

Some may think that our friend, Nathan Haruch, standing behind Gideon and I, is photobombing the picture. Not so. He is standing in for Hannah. (I just spoiled Nate's fun.)

Esther was fun for Halloween. Once she caught on to the process, she would drop her bag and bolt for the candy bowl when anyone answered the door. Another fun thing about Esther is that shushes me every time I start singing. She loves to make me stop.

I should also take a moment to remind everyone that Joseph opens Friday night, and we are excited to watch Gideon (and Miriam, who is in the choir, too). We can get you tickets if you'd like.

And ... my brain is now blank. I certain that much more has happened, and that a small portion of that is possibly interesting. But, this will have to do.

We love you dearly and pray for each of you. Some get prayed for more than others, because of perceived need, but you are all included! Take care and God speed!

Isaac has been called to serve in the Italy Milan Mission. He reports to the MTC on March 4th. I cannot think of an appropriate superlative for the occasion.

His farewell will be ... around the time Hannah gets home. We will keep you posted.

NIELSONS, C

This month we spent working mostly. Our jobs are going well. We decided to have our big Halloween party again this year though. Last time we had it we invited 30 families. This time we invited 40. We had it on the 24th. I thought for sure we'd get more people here this time around because we know people better and have more friends and stuff. Alas, no. I think the turnout was probably slightly less than last time. Because I was worried that we might actually get all 40 families, we decided to have it as an indoor/outdoor party. We set up the basement again for the kids to be able to run around and scream and watch a movie and stuff. But we also set up a portable fire pit in our driveway and had pumpkin shaped marshmallows to roast and make Smores out of. That worked our really well. The younger kids went to the basement and ran around and jumped on the mattresses we had set up down there and screamed to their heart's delight while Monters Inc. played in the background. The slightly older kids mostly sat around the fire and roasted marshmallows. The adults hung out in our kitchen and living room and chatted. So it turned out pretty well. I was a bit disappointed in the turnout, as several families I was absolutely certain would come did not. Moreover, we invited a few "friends of other faiths" and none of them came. Oh well. The pizza quality was also lower this time around. But that's not a big deal. We're still loving our temple assignments.

Otherwise, here's some new Ask Gramps posts:

http://askgramps.org/29928/father-branch-president-can-repent-someone-else

http://askgramps.org/29922/many-priesthoods

http://askgramps.org/29963/say-circumstances-born

http://askgramps.org/30047/can-gain-guilt

Charles and Bryony 

JOHNSONS

Dear everyone,

Hello, from the Johnson clan! We survived October--and that is something to be proud of, I think. It wasn't an easy month.

McKaylee was really sick at the end of September and through the beginning of October. She had an allergic reaction to her antibiotic, and that extended her illness by quite a lot. She finally went back to school after two and a half weeks out, but called home around noon most days for another couple of weeks because she still felt pretty wiped out and had headaches and stomach problems. She is thinner than ever (and McKaylee always was my skinniest kid).

Then, on October 9th, Bethany left to take all the kids to school. Before she had gotten more than a block away from home, she saw her cat, Ripplebrook, lying in the road. Bethany immediately pulled over, and Hyrum ran home to get me. Ripplebrook had been hit, and she was in bad shape, but she was still alive. We took her straight to the vet. Without having to go into the gory details, Ripplebrook didn't make it, and the whole family spent the majority of the next few days crying. Even Mike and Hyrum, who are not cat fans, admitted that Ripplebrook was a cut above the rest. She was a sweet, loving pet. We all miss her, and especially Bethany has really felt the loss of her "baby".

On a less morbid, if not much happier note, we are the proud owners of a new kitten. Her name is Narnia, and she is doing her best to worm her way into our affections. She is cute, playful, and very social.  The only drawbacks are that she likes people food, so she is often obnoxious at meal times, and since she is a family pet and not Bethany's "baby" guess who gets to clean out the litter box. I know. I am the mom, and I could assign it out however I want, but really, as much as I hate cleaning out the litter box, I would hate listening to kids complain about it even more, so either way it is a strike against owning a cat.

Next news:  Halloween. We managed to come up with costumes for everyone who needed them. We did lose part of a Darth Vader costume that we borrowed from a neighbor for Maxwell. (Now what do I do? Should I put the house up for sale quick before she notices it is missing, or what?) Bethany had two dates the week of Halloween, and she wore a different costume to each one. She spent hours creating the costumes for herself and her dates, and made really big messes, too. But she had fun both times, and I think her dates did too. Now we could just move on and forget about the whole miserable holiday if it weren't for the bags of candy kicking all over my house. (And that missing costume piece.) I am really not a fan of Halloween. I had to add that in case you couldn't tell.

That probably covers everything that could reasonably be called "news". I haven't gotten anything productive done all month. It is Risa's fault. She has been reading the Harry Potter books out loud to Camilla, and every time she does, everything comes to a screeching halt while the whole family hovers to listen in. Luckily, they are only a few chapters away from the end of the seventh book, so maybe by the end of November I will have fixed dinner for my family once or twice, or even done a load of laundry or two. That would be big news worth reporting in the next newsletter.

Well, we love you all. We look forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving.

Love,

The Johnsons

HARDMANS

I don't really know what to say. October has been hard. Steve and I are separating for now, and we're sad and struggling. Pray for us.

NIELSONS, J

We made a spook alley in our side yard for Halloween.  It was a ton of work and when we were taking down the massive tent in the wind, it nearly crushed our little girls, the reaper fell on top of Alice, and she screamed the whole as it descended, but everyone turned out fine.

Baby Tabetha is smiling at us now, and she's awesome!  We love her a whole ton.  That's all I've got.

NIELSONS, S

The Nielson clan is doing well. Sebastian works to complete his robot army, though his plans for this army are secret. There are rumors that he wants to replace soldiers in all wars, but another rumor is that he is staging a revolution to become supreme overlord. What the future holds, we don't know, but if it ends badly, please Sebastian, have mercy on us little people.

HUNTS

Gwen dressed up as a cat on Halloween and was very excited to go trick or treating. Gwen made a shrivel apple headed witch at school. It turned out cute. She had a pretty good month although she struggled a bit at school a couple of days.

Ella dressed as a fairy and loved the wings. She's been funny this month but she seems to think that Jane is a playground to jump all over, and she's a mama's girl. She turned two years old and had a great birthday. She loves all the Halloween stuff at the store. She likes scary stuff apparently. She's very talkative and has a cute way of saying things.

Abe is still plowing along with work. He also has a new hobby. He likes to support people on Kickstarter and get cool things.

Jane has been holding it together and actually enjoyed this month. She got a couple new games that have been fun to play. One she plays with Gwen and it's a fun mother daughter time. She is contemplating potty training Ella so wish her luck with that.

FROYDS

  Well, we're still waiting on baby, as you know. Luckily it's been a good month, and a busy one. I've spent time on Naya's costume, picture included, and on cleaning and organizing what I can. My mother-in-law finally brought down a few baby things, so I have a few outfits for the baby (mostly newborn) so at least we won't be bringing a naked baby home from the hospital. We're super excited about Thanksgiving. Mostly because I don't know if or how I'll get to any other holiday parties. I hope I'm well enough to attend, and that I can find someone to drive with me and Naya to the candlelight dinner, (hint hint). I just don't want to drive that far right on top of my due date without a driver that can drive me back in an emergency.

  Anyway, I'm still trying to find ways to fill my day, mostly that means working with Naya. I've been getting her workbooks to supplement her learning at school. I just don't know how well she pays attention, and what actually sticks there, so we've been doing alphabet, number and shape pages here as well. If nothing else it gets her used to doing busy work. Some days she works at them really well, and other days, not so much.

 There's not much else going on with us. Naya lost her second tooth, and Sandin has good days and bad. But that's it. Oh, and I've been creatively cooking again. See recipe below.

ADAMS

It is Christmas in our household! Okay, only sort of Christmas. We put up our tree, but so far have left the rest of our fall decorations out so no one could accuse us of skipping Thanksgiving. But we didn't skip it! We had a lesson on Gratitude in YW's the last week in October, then we came home and had our Christmas dinner! It's just really hard to not get excited for Christmas when I'm working on Christmas songs with all my voice lesson students.

October was....expensive. Stinkin' old cars. Michael's on a trip to Atlanta to make up for some of the expenses. But, frankly, its going to take a few more trips. But at least my car is running like almost brand-new again! Not so with Michael's. We have another laundry list of things to fix of his car. And unfortunately, we'll never get it to run like an even middle-aged car. But it's cheaper than our Soul-searching.

Halloween was fun again this year. We had fun figuring out our costumes. If you want to check them out, visit our family blog at www.oldertomorrow.blogspot.com.

This week marks 11 years since Michael and I started dating. It always gives me a lot to be grateful for.

Speaking of gratitude, Evelyn said in her prayer yesterday, "I think Mommy would like to say thank you for me, because I'm her sweet little angel from heaven." She's right.

I'm trying not to cook Penny in a stew tonight. So sorry, no pug recipe this month.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Sweet Pork Tacos

Sweet Pork:

1 pork roast

1 can of soda (your choice, I used diet cherry Dr. Pepper)

1 c. water

1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles

1/2 T. kosher salt

1 garlic clove, smashed

1 t. onion powder

1/2 c. green taco sauce or enchilada sauce

3/4 c. brown sugar

Fresh pineapple, chopped small.

Sprinkle Roast with salt and 1/2 c. brown sugar. Put in large freezer bag. Pour soda over top. Let sit one hour in fridge (or overnight). Pour contents of bag into crockpot and add tomatoes, water garlic clove, and onion powder. Cook on high 3-5 hours depending on size of roast until it is easily pulled apart with fork. Remove roast from liquid and pull apart. Remove all but 2 c. of liquid from crockpot and add pork back in. Add last of the brown sugar, pineapple and taco sauce and stir. Cook additional 30 min.

Tacos:

Cheddar Cheese

Sour Cream

Taco sauce

Diced tomatoes

Sweet Pork

Black beans with green chills (opt.)

Corn tortillas, pan fried

If you want to add your own toppings, help yourself. But enjoy!