Thursday, November 6, 2014
Oops forgot pics
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:
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!
Sunday, October 5, 2014
October 2014
Just a note to think on, the holiday season approaches quickly, and some of us are wondering what if anything is going to happen. If you want to host Thanksgiving, for example, we would all like to know what's going on, etc. And if this is disjointed, I apologize. Now on to the news.
ELDER AND SISTER NIELSON
To all the most wonderful people in the world!
Welcome to the family to Tabetha Claire! Don't you all just wonder what sweet little personality we will watch unfold there? I'm sure she has talents and gifts to give to each of us as we get to know her. I'm so thankful for another choice spirit that was brave enough to come and join our family!
September went by mighty fast! And I have already sent you all of our news which is pretty slim pickin's anyway. That's why with the newsletter I try to share a thought of some kind. I try to focus on what message I would like to give to my family. This month I had two thoughts! One is my testimony of General Conference. I know that you have that too. But I hope that you are not only planning on watching it, but preparing to watch it. I hope you're praying that you will be able to be in tune and get the messages you need in your lives. And I hope you take some extra time with scripture study and singing hymns and sharing testimony and just getting your minds focused on things of the Spirit. This year it will mean something special to me because I know that you will be watching too and we will be sharing an experience!
The other message is one of love and gratitude to you. I love to hear when you reach out to each other, even in the most simple ways. I think that is one of the greatest ways you can show a mother that you love her- - - by loving her children! Even when I hear, "So-and-so called me today", I am so thrilled. You can bless each other's lives more than you imagine by staying close and serving and helping each other. I am so thankful you are doing that! I think I have the best children in the world, and that includes my in-law children that are just as dear to me. Your children will learn to serve each other too by your great example of what families are and what families mean. I know that our family isn't perfect at that, but as you work to improve it you will bless the lives of your posterity too.
I pray for you all constantly, mostly that you can come to know the Lord better and be strengthened in your faith. I don't want to have any empty seats in heaven, not one!
I love each one of you clear down to Katy's little baby boy that's on the way!
Mom
BENGES
I just got back from the priesthood session of conference with Andrew. (Isaac and Gideon are, unfortunately, both at work.) I am so very grateful for prophets, apostles and other faithful men and women who teach us.
When Moses led the children of Israel, a simple way was provided to heal the people when they were afflicted by poisonous serpents. Today, Ol' Scratch has unleashed hatred, apathy, apostasy, violence, jealousy, infidelity and numerous other poisons. The antidotes may not be quite as easy as looking at a serpent on a pole, but if we look to God we can rid ourselves of these noxious poisons.
Our news is still dominated by musicals. Gideon is working hard for the high school production of "Joseph." A younger, local troupe is also performing "Joseph", and Miriam has landed a spot as one of the narrators for it, and Andrew will be one of the brothers. Rachel, Lucy and Joshua are all part of the cast. It is "Joseph" almost 24/7 around here.
From the "kids-are-so-cute department", last Sunday, I was watched Esther sing along with the family the sacrament hymn, to the best of her ability. At the end of the hymn, Esther yelled "Yayyyyyy!" and clapped her hands. She seemed perplexed when everyone immediately shushed her. Don't we always cheer after we do a good job singing?
You are all invited to Rachel's baptism November 8th at noon, in the church building across the street from us (2375 E 3225 N, Layton). It will be neat to have her baptized on her birthday--maybe she can remember the date that way.
We love you! Take care and God speed!
NIELSONS, C
Well, this was quite a momentous month for us. As you read last month on the newsletter, Bryony had gotten a new job at a company called Lashbrook Designs as a personal assistant, which was great news. So a few weeks back she came home and told me they were thinking of changing web developers because they weren't happy with the company doing their site. So I got on their site and took a look at it. At first I thought it was beyond me, but that night I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep for several hours thinking about it. I came up with all these ideas about how I could handle it and thought over and over to myself, "You can totally do this!", and the like.
Well, when I woke up the next day I didn't feel as confident, but I thought maybe it was inspiration or something so I decided to give it a shot. I figured I didn't stand a chance getting the job with my resume. Whereas my resume is pretty solid on the design, product/process management, and QA side of things, I have no direct experience on there for actual web development. All my web dev work has been personal. So I figured if I was going to have a shot I needed to build a demo. So I took about 3 days and built their website from scratch. In those 3 days I was able to put together about 80% of what their website was (which had, apparently, been in development since Nov).
I had the idea to approach it like a vendor meeting with a company to drum up business rather than approach it like a typical job application. So I had Bryony set an appointment with the boss. He immediately asked for samples of my work, which I sent him, but the work I've done is not the same style of website, and I knew it wouldn't sell me (which is why I was building the demo). After looking at my samples (as I had guessed) he wasn't interested in meeting with me, but Bryony was able to tell him about the demo I was working on and how impressed she was with it, and so he told her to go ahead and set the meeting. I then found out I was meeting with all the heads of the different departments in a larger meeting (which is what I had wanted) rather than just the boss. So I decided to put together a PowerPoint presentation as well where I talked through the development process, and explained why the previous web developers had failed (No management, design, or QA -- three things I had in spades).
The meeting went very well. They sent me and Bry out of the room afterwards for about 10 minutes and then the boss-man brought me into his office and offered me the work. We discussed cost and what type of position it would be, etc., and ultimately settled on fulltime salaried position. I had been under the longstanding impression that if I made the move to try and be a developer (something I've been wanting for many years) that I would have to take a significant pay cut because of my lack of direct resume experience and/or no direct education in computer programming. But I impressed enough with my meeting and demo that I was able to get the same rate I have been making (actually, I asked for a slight increase -- which is about the same as what I think I could go get a QA job for at any point). This is still entry level pay for a developer, but it's more than I could have hoped for. On top of that, he specifically said that he expected we would renegotiate salary for a significant increase in 6mo to a year!
On top of that, I'm still working from home, which I love because I can be so much more productive. This all happened on Thur the week before last. He basically wanted me to start immediately, so I began working the next day. So I just finished two weeks. The new site is almost fully developed (at the level of the previous one, but working better and better design) now and we plan on releasing it next week to replace the old one. Then we'll work on improvements, other features, etc., etc. There's a whole list of wants that we can put on the todo list, and I should have plenty to keep me busy for a long, long time. Speaking of busy, I've been working 12 hour days for the last two weeks, plus some on Saturdays. This hasn't bothered me, as I'm at home, but I do expect things will slow down some once we get the basic website in place next week. He was quite urgent to replace the old, broken site as quickly as possible.
On top of that, my position ultimately entails more than just programming. My official title is Head of Web Development. Right now, that's just me...but if the department expands or anything, I'll be doing the expansion, etc., and so there's some real possibility for growth.
So...more good news on that as well...I called my old boss and told him the deal, and he said he wanted to just keep me on for now. He expects at some point that will change...maybe part-time at nights, but we're just maintaining the status quo for the moment (I don't know how long that will last), which means I'm double paid for the time being. So, financially, we're crazy blessed for the moment. My hope is that the second (original) job can last through until I can get a salary increase in the current job. So now we just need to be ultra wise with the blessings we have, and not start spending like we're rich, but use the money (as long as it lasts) for fertility treatments and paying off debt. It's a bit of a challenge to not loosen up our spending like we're *whoohoo* rich all of a sudden, and keep living like we have no extra income and put it all towards the aforementioned. But I think we can do it. I feel that is the reason the Lord has blessed us so much and I want to use it wisely and according to His will.
Bry is still liking her job and we're pressing forward happy and crazy busy. She has to ask me questions sometimes about how to do something on the computer, but that has been happening less and less as she figures out what she's doing and what the job entails. She gets along well with everyone there and is slowly getting to know everyone's names (there are about 70 employees on site) and loves introducing me around and talking about how awesome I am. (Bry wrote that part...I have no say in how awesome I am or am not.)
This last week we celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary! WOW!
Anyhow, that's about it. Needless to say, I haven't written much in the way of the Ask Gramps posts this time around. Here's one: http://askgramps.org/29669/polyandry-celestial-kingdom
Charles (and Bryony)
JOHNSONS
Dear Family People,
Hello, from the Johnsons. I can't believe that it has been another month already, and still no big news happening here--which is probably something to be really grateful for.
So, small happenings: Bethany had her 18th birthday. That hasn't technically changed anything about any of our lives--except that Bethany has a new Perry T-shirt that she will probably wear everyday until her next birthday. It is a pretty good way to get a new T-shirt every year, because by the time her birthday comes around we are all so anxious to see her in something new. She has been getting lots of mail from colleges all around the country--including Harvard. We are all pretty much in shock that Bethany is really growing up whether she wants to or not, whether she acts like it or not, whether any of us can believe it or not, it's happening.
Our ward had the primary program on Sunday. Camilla was several inches taller than anyone else in the program. She will be really happy to move into Young Women's in December. McKaylee, Maxwell, and Sadie were also cute did well on their parts. Sadie gave us the giggles by singing so loud that she was turning red in the face. She is also growing up. I was realizing this year that it won't be very many years before we won't have any children little enough to entertain us by picking their nose through the primary program. That will be really boring. But then, by the time the sacrament was over Mike and I were so glad to send the kids up front because we were so tired of trying to keep Maxwell and Sadie from kicking each other. I'm assuming they will grow out of that, too.
Hmmm. What else? We were shocked at Parent Teacher Conference to find that Bethany had all A's. Maxwell is also doing better in school this year. Not that he has done poorly in the past. But the norm last year and the year before was to have at least one tantrum a day about having to go to school at all, and then having to do homework when you get home! What a cruel world we live in! But now he goes to school happily, and only cries about homework once or twice a week.
I am loving the solitude of school hours. One of the things I love about it is how much better I like seeing the kids when I have had a nice break from them, so the whole day is more enjoyable. I don't get nearly as much done as I would like to, but I suppose that is better than being bored.
That is all.
Love you all!
The Johnsons
HARDMANS
The news from the Hardmans is that we crashed our Jeep and smashed it all to bits. No one was hurt more than a bit of whiplash and some bruises--it has also caused subsequent anxiety for certain of our numbers. We still haven't heard what insurance is going to do with it. I'm trying to not to stress too much about that.
Charlie broke up with her boyfriend, then got back together with him, all in about a week. I told her never to make life decisions during PMS. Everyone needs to learn that important lesson--because at that point, it is not the Holy Ghost guiding you at all. Charlie is also working at my dentist office during the day learning dental assisting since she could not return to college this fall due to lack of funds.
Besides that, we are doing are best to keep Jacob's grades up, which is always a struggle, and requires a full family effort. He is also working at Sonic, and does a full singing and dance routine while he makes hamburgers and hotdogs for unknowing customers.
Abby and Sarah and beautiful and perfect because they have not fully morphed into teenagers yet, though Abby definitely has her days. In fact, we have decided she has adolescent onset ADD due to her general spaciness in all areas of her life.
And that is all--
Love all around
ooxxoo
NIELSONS, J
Tabetha Claire Nielson was born on Sep 16th at 8:00 A.M. 8 pounds 4 ounces, 21 inches long.
For those of you who didn't hear, her birthday was pretty exciting. Liz and I had timed some sporadic and relatively weak contractions the previous night and finally decided to go to bed.
Liz said that when she woke up in the morning, they were a little stronger, but still pretty irregular. She still worried about getting turned away from the hospital from showing up too early, so she agreed to go in once we finished scripture reading and got the kids sent off to school.
On about her final sentence in scripture reading, her water broke, so we all knew the day had arrived, and the kids and I got pretty excited.
We drove straight to the hospital, and got signed in by about 7:15-7:20, at which point the put us in a "triage" room where they said a nurse would come and verify that Liz (who had shown no signs of laboring to the staff) was indeed in labor.
Here we sat for 20-30 minutes as Liz's labor intensified, that is, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. They had previously told us that she needed to be on an I.V. at least four hours before delivery and according to our previous experiences, we were already closer than that.
So I went and spoke to the staff and tried to communicate some sense of urgency, but they only rolled their eyes and said "Sir, Yes. We are aware that Elizabeth Nielson is here." In their defense, Liz wasn't screaming or putting on any sort of a dramatic show, and we figured they see a lot of paranoid dads, plus, they were right in the middle of a shift change.
None of this made us feel any more at ease as we waited, but finally at 7:38, according to Liz's memory, a nurse came in and checked her, and found that she was already at a 6+.
As she struggled to hide the panic in her voice, she marched out of the room, and in a moment returned with a wheel chair to move Liz to finally move us into the delivery room.
Liz went into the bathroom as I began to unpacking a few knickknacks from our bags.
A moment later, Liz called me in to inform me that in the last minutes the contractions had become stacked and intense to the point that she couldn't move.
There was no one in the room. I presume the nurse had gone to inform the other staff to get ready? Liz expressed concern over the absence of anyone there that might have skills in delivering a baby. I made a feeble attempt to reassure her. I probably should have said something like "we're in a hospital, I'm sure there's a doctor around here somewhere." to Liz it probably sounded more like "I'm pretty sure your mom watched a soap opera with a delivery in it once."
After a heaven sent jolt of guidance, for which I am still grateful, I thought to ask her Mom to call a nurse.
The nurse came in and together, we managed to get Liz over to the bed. This took some effort. I don't mean to compare my troubles to Liz's, but I regret to report that I felt enough of my own, that it nearly made me forget to be sympathetic. The only way I can explain it is by recalling to memory a those action figures that I played with as a kid that had some stiff wires inside their joints. The nice thing about these action figures, was they held their shape well, but trying to get them into the right position, or walk them naturally across the floor was quite the challenge. That's about how it was trying to get Liz to the bed. Her limbs wouldn't move on their own, but with enough force, they could be positioned, and once in place they, they stayed put, stiff as a board.
With this as the process, we finally arrived at the bed and by the time we did, the baby had already crowned.
This part is a whirl of almost cartoon-like memories. I doctors and nurses running in and out of the room, crashing into each other, fumbling with their pans and equipment. I remember the nurse yelling at the other staff to hurry, and holding her hands out under Liz as though to catch the baby like a football. I remember the other doctors yelling things like "Wait, don't push!", and Liz saying something like "I'm not pushing, but my body sure is."
After getting a shoulder stuck for only a minute or two, Tabetha was there, and as quickly as the Mayhem began, it was done.
I'm happy to report that both her and Liz are doing wonderfully well. We're all getting sufficient sleep, and the girls still see the baby as a privilege. That is, they're all generally willing to get their homework and chores done for a chance at holding her.
She's been an awesome blessing, and we love her dearly. We'll be announcing the date, time and location of her blessing some time in the upcoming weeks.
NIELSONS, S
We're pregnant again, due in February. We took one last trip to Disneyland before Sam's silver pass expired. Everybody is enjoying Fall! And not much else to report.
HUNTS
Ella now says "No Way!", to almost anything. I don't know who taughther that. She used to say "No thank you," very politely. Sad. Ellaalso likes to crawl into grandmas bed like a little Goldilocks withher cute blonde hair that curls at the end. She is so cute, and also ahandful and won't let me write this. So if it's confusing then youknow Ella is having fun.
Gwen made a crystal garden at school and because she was walking withit so carefully, it took her fifteen minutes just to make it to thefront of the school. She is also super good and fun to do things withnow that she's older.
Abe is still super awesome and amazing. Jane spent a whole day working on rain gutters and felt very handy. She's also been reading like crazy.
FROYDS
We continue to prepare for the baby, and since it will take time to do Christmas as well. I am also going to start doing Linaya's Halloween costume. She once again wants to be a knight, thank goodness for shiny metallic duct tape. It makes a costume for her very cheap.
Linaya lost her first tooth and is well on her way to losing her second. She's still loving school, and is actually doing better academically than I expected, of course that's because she still see's homework as a fun game. I'm sure that won't continue.
I was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes, so one more thing to struggle with during my pregnancy here. The good news is I'm officially into the third trimester so it's not much longer, and yet still forever.
Sandin is still working out his diagnosis and medications. He's got appointments with doctors and psychiatrists, etc. and we hope he'll be doing better soon.
On a personal note: Thank you to everyone who has pitched in and will pitch in to get our apartment ready for the baby. It's been a huge stress on my mind, and the response from our wonderful family has moved me to tears on more than one occasion (and no it's not pregnancy hormones, at least not completely). And thank you for those who are still planning to help. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all that I can't seem to do, and I'm grateful for the support system we have.
ADAMSES
Michael travelled a lot. And he got an opportunity to use his coaching in his new position! He glowed around here for a few days. He also feels like a big boy because he rides the train to work now! It makes him feel like a more normal person because he can work on the train and so he gets to sleep a little longer.
Pamela.....existed. And finished up 5 seasons of Merlin in two weeks.
Evelyn has been eating us out of house and home. Seriously, I think she'd give the teenage boys a run for their money...if they had any money. She eats a humongous meal and 5 minutes later is begging for more food. I think she must be wanting sugar, so I tell her she can only have things she doesn't love like string cheese or greek yogurt. AND SHE EATS THEM AND BEGS FOR MORE! Weird. Her teacher put her on an advanced spelling list, and she was bringing home what I thought were super-difficult words for First graders like "which" and "their". I was feeling overwhelmed by what people expect now from first graders and feeling proud that Evelyn was pulling off scores like 60 or 70%. Then her teacher decided to let me know she was on an advanced list and wanted to ask me if she should keep her on it. I asked her to put her on the normal list. So now she's doing words like "pig" and "will." It's awesome! No more spelling stress!
Penny keeps eating wheat and looks like a leper-dog.
Oh yeah, and I DID do something productive! I created a new blog about Voice lessons, kind of explaining the method I use and how it helps. I've enjoyed it, but I'm not sure that anyone else would read it. In case you're interested, or if you want to read it and tell me it's boring as mud, the website is www.songoftheheart1.blogspot.com
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
As the weather turns, it makes me crave soups. I have several favorites, tomato spinach, black bean (thanks Marilyn), clam chowder. But unfortunately due to my new dietary restrictions I can't combined with Sandin's, we can't enjoy many of our usual soups. Luckily last winter I stumbled upon a new recipe that has everything I need and the edits I made to it make it mouthwatering. Many of you might recognize it from a favorite restaurant, but I have (as usual) tweaked it. If you want it more like the restaurant version it is available online, otherwise here it is:
Zuppa Toscana
1 lb. sage sausage
3-4 red or yellow potatoes, sliced thin
1 sweet onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch kale, washed and chopped, with stem removed
2 cans chicken broth
1 qt. water
1 pt. whipping cream
Brown sausage in pot with onion and garlic. Add chicken broth and water and stir. Add potatoes and bring to boil. Cook on medium heat until potatoes are tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 10 minutes on low. Add kale and cook for additional 5 minutes. Add cream and heat then serve.
For those who aren't sure about the changes I must at least insist that you follow the instructions regarding the kale. I've found that if you follow most recipes you add it at the end and barely heat it at all. This leaves the kale a little bitter. On the other hand, if you cook the kale for a few minutes it becomes buttery and delicious. Try it and see.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
September Newsletter
ELDER AND SISTER NIELSON
To all of my very favorite people in the whole world,
A whole 'nother month has passed! I have done a lot of thinking since Hannah's last letter. Her feelings about her last six months caught me off guard a little. I wondered "Will I ever feel like that?" And the answer came to me as a resounding "YES"! I am already beginning to feel that this mission is going to go by quickly now and that it is going to be a good experience. And then it will be a memory that we will always look back on as one of the most precious times of our lives. It has made me think that I better get busy appreciating it while it is here. There have been time in my life that I groaned all the way through, and then looked back on and thought what an idiot I was for not just enjoying it and doing all I could to enhance the experience and appreciate it. Dail's time at Purdue was like that for me.
And it was so short. And it is so Gone! This isn't a place that I will ever likely come again and the people are just for now, and maybe in the eternities. I'm going to make the most of it. I hope you are all better at doing that with your lives than I have been. Each funny and interesting and boring and sad newsletter I read is a little bit of your history, and it is invaluable. It is all gone so quickly. Make your lives good. You're all creative!
You already know all of our news which is pretty boring anyway. We are doing good and still butting heads about our lessons a little, but they are turning out better and we are learning. And we are still speaking and loving each other so we are really doing fabulously!
I love when it's newsletter time because I get to hear a little bit more from everybody and it means I am one more month closer to seeing you all. Just because I am going to enjoy it here doesn't mean I won't be eager to see you all again! Make a good month out of September.
I love you all so much,
Me
BENGE
Savior of the World dominated our lives in August, and it is difficult to think of anything else. But I think other things did happen.
Andrew is 12 and now an Aaronic priesthood holder.
We attended the open house of the Ogden Temple and love the beauty and design. We are also glad to use the tabernacle again for our stake conferences.
And SOTW went well. The Egyptian Theatre in Ogden is a beautiful building and a good place to do a show. We hope sharing our testimonies in this way blessed the lives of the attendees. Gideon did a fabulous job as a disciple on the road to Emmaus. He was the only really involved part, but Joshua, Rachel, Lucy, Andrew, Miriam, Susie and I all participated. We are glad it is over, but it was a good experience.
And college football is underway, which is fun for me.
We love you all! Take care and God speed.
NIELSON, C
Bryony got a new job. She's now a personal assistant for the CEO of a ring/men's jewelry company called Lashbrook. It's not as impressive sounding as Para-legal or whatever, but it pays significantly better, so it's better. It also seems to be a better atmosphere. The law office she worked at had a lot of language and stuff that was unpleasant for her.
That's about it. Nothing of major significance. So here's some more Ask Gramps stuff Charles wrote. Not as many this month.
JOHNSONS
Dear Family,
Another month already? Well, I guess things have changed a little since last time we sent news. School started! The kids have all settled into a new routine, and even little Sadie started kindergarten. She loves it, of course. Except today she went off to school crying. Yesterday was her birthday. She got a doll and a lego set with Uni-kitty. She wanted to stay home and play with them today. She was also up late last night, so maybe that was part of the problem.
The biggest change is my life. I went from having seven children bouncing off the walls around here, to absolute empty silence during the day. I cried most of the day on Sadie's first day of kindergarten. But I'm getting more used to it. I sure get a lot more done during the day. I've been indexing again, and you should see how clean my pantry is right now.
It is harvest season. We have been eating a lot of interesting things out of the garden. The Swiss chard was not a hit. The turnips were barely edible when we generously mixed them with bacon--but who wants to waste perfectly good bacon that way? The corn has been heavenly. Mike and I have invented a scrumptious recipe for cucumber salad that we have had several times--and we still have cucumbers that need to be used. Of course we've had lots of zucchini. Anybody want some? We have had garden potatoes a couple of times now. Yesterday we tried the blue potatoes for the first time. They were a hit. Some of the kids insisted that they were the yummiest potatoes they had ever had. But the truth is they really don't taste much different than any other potatoes. They were such a pretty color, though. I'm surprised they don't sell them in fancy restaurants or something, 'cause they were pretty cool. Well, maybe they do sell them in fancy restaurants. How would I know? But I've never seen them before. We would offer to share, but since they were an experiment, we didn't plant very many of them in case they were gross. I'll include a picture, but last time Katy couldn't figure out how to post it on the blog, so maybe you'll see it, and maybe not.
Anything else? Um. . . I got my hair cut. It's going curlier, so I look more like Christy's sister.
Maxwell got a tooth out. (Yes, I think that means that I am really out of news to share.)
Love you all!
The Johnsons
HARDMANS
The Hardmans are hard at work as a new school year begins. Charlie has finally settled onto a career path and has decided to study to become a Vegas hypnotist. She's honing her techniques on other students around her. Meanwhile Jacob has decided the best way to finish high school is with a flair. He has mastered the handstand and will conduct this year upside down, never turning right side up while in the school. Bravo dude, bravo.
News from Elder Hardman:
I'm training? That's cool I guess. And I guess I'm a District Leader now. Also, I learned how to make really good cookies this week. And I'm still in the Dalles. That's about all the news I have. So just pray for me that I won't mess up Junior when he gets here.
NIELSON, J
Liz is having a baby any day now.
NIELSON, S
Sam finished his last days at Avalanche and has started his first days at BYU. No classes taught as of this writing, but a week-long conference of meetings with other faculty. Sam tends to find meetings boring, except for the one lone bright spot, a presentation by the illustrious Mike Johnson.
Marilyn has finished the revolutionary war unit for the kids’ homeschool, and is now moving on to a unit on Shakespeare. She has been spending her evenings working (while Sam catches up on his freelance work) on a photo/memory book for Malachi’s life up until now. She finished Abe and Seb’s already, Daisy is next.
Abraham has a huge collection of Rubix cubes in all shapes and sizes. He mostly spends his time creating patterns with them and having us time him as he solves them.
Sebastian is as dedicated as ever to his new love for electronics. For his birthday this month he got a kit of small screwdrivers and an old television set to disassemble.
Malachi is losing his teeth one at a time. Don’t worry, they’re coming out on their own.
Daisy is enjoying school, but Juniper suddenly feels a little lonely while playing during school time.
Marigold has started walking everywhere quickly enough that we are considering whether to call it running. We still can not count her as a person though since she doesn’t talk yet (in spite of having learned many words).
HUNT
Hunt family is good. Gwen started second grade and is liking it so far. Ella likes to make messes and Jane and Abe are doing well.
I told Susan about this recipe and she requested that I send it with the newsletter so here it is.
CTR Preztels
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ to 3 cups flour
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
melted butter
kosher salt
1. Mix the first five ingredients until they form a ball. Then knead dough until smooth and elastic. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for one hour
2. Pull off sections of the dough and roll into long ropes. Form the ropes into the letters “CTR” or make the shape of the CTR shield.
3. Put the pretzels on a greased cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes at 450 degrees F. Brush pretzels with melted butter. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
When we make it we 3 times it except for the flour (8 cups of flours). Then we just cut it however we want. We’ve done biscuit shapes, bread stick shapes and bite size shapes. They are all good.
FROYD
Linaya has started school. She's loving it. Her best friend in the ward is in her class and they are thick as thieves. Linaya's doing well so far, only it's only been a week. I hope she continues to do well.
In the meantime, Sandin and I decided against moving. We looked into the possibilities, and the timing couldn't be worse with my current health and levels of pain. So we are here for at least another year. We still are doing some cleaning out of many things however. Much will go to D.I. Still more is available to anyone who has interest, including my bicycle and many art supplies. (They are expensive and we don't want to waste them if someone could use them for school or something.)
I've been hurting again, it comes in waves. I'll have a good week, then a week I can barely move, it's been a bad week this last few weeks. But other than the pain I'm healthy and happy. We've come up with a few names we like. Sandin likes unusual names so don't be surprised. And that's about it.
ADAMS
News from Michael and Company
Michael is having a blast playing big boss-man at his work. He spent most of his month training and traveling and it's not over yet. Next week he'll be back in Texas training the new hire that took his place (that's sounds really weird). He's also trying to become a bit more like dad by car shopping. Why can't his 15-year-old Chevy Malibu last forever?! We're liking the Kia Soul right now. I always wanted to buy a Soul...But I'm pretty determined that my Soul won't be black. The green alien Soul is a little strange though...Anyway, we're trying not to just settle on any Soul. I hope I never have to sell my Soul. (Okay, enough puns.)
Pamela is getting skinny with infrared wraps. She LOVES them! There's just nothing better than being wrapped like a mummy and sweating it out while frying your brain on stupid TV shows. (By the way, the TV show Merlin: find it on Netflix and watch it! It's addicting.--especially when it's the first TV show you've seen since "I Love Lucy.") Also Pamela is up to 6 Voice lesson students! Hurrah! Now if we can get them to come more regularly.... She's also trying to learn how to juggle being choir director along with her new calling as Young Women's Second Counselor.
Evelyn LOVES first grade! Really. She told me the other day that she couldn't decide if she liked me or school better. I settled that one quickly by informing her that of course she loves Mommy best. But it's okay because Mommy loves first grade too. 6 whole hours!!!! Evelyn told me her new goal was to learn to snap before she turns 8. "It's not that far away, Mommy, I've got to get to work!" She is improving in her piano, but she still hates learning new songs. She actually has to LOOK at the book, and READ the notes! How awful! But if you come visit us, you will be sure to get many performances of "Row, Row, Row your Boat."
Penny is still a pug. And I DIDN'T buy a bulldog named Precious, or bring home a free tabby kitten! It's very impressive.
Oh, and by the way, we've now been married ten years! we celebrated our anniversary at the beginning of August by spending way too much money. We bought memberships at Thanksgiving point and we've already gotten our money's worth out of them, little Daddy-Shoulder-Devil, so you needn't keep tugging on my ear and telling me to go back to Thanksgiving point.
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
See the Hunt's article. Also note, a dip in a soda bath gives pretzels their distinct color and flavor. Boil water with 1/2 c. baking soda and dip each pretzel for 10-12 seconds. Our favorite dip is cheese sauce, found in Betty Crocker red and white cookbook, with the change that I substitute evaporate milk for the milk. It's yummy.
Monday, August 4, 2014
August 2014
ELDER AND SISTER NIELSON
Dearest Family,
What a month it has been! I hope that you have fun catching up on each other's news. With every month that passes I realize more and more what a treasure my family is to me. All of your little ones will someday be your best friends too. And I hope that you will be best friends to each other. I think the fall schedule is real now but I'm still not positive. We are teaching Book of Mormon and the marriage class for pretty sure. The other one is up in the air at the moment. I think we probably won't teach it. But we will know soon because our first class starts in the middle of August! We teach for 15 weeks and then have a break for Christmas. Then we teach for 15 more weeks and we are done!
I want you all to know that in spite of all of our little problems we are glad we are here. And we are glad that we have each other. It is so good for us to be sharing this challenge. I know that my testimony has been strengthened. I am so glad that we have the Gospel in our lives. I'm thankful that we have opportunities to serve in the great work of the Lord. I know that He loves us and that He is moving us toward the highest happiness that we will allow Him to bring us to. I am so pleased with my children and my wonderful in-law children that I love just like my own. I adore all of my grandchildren and I'm so thankful that they all have good parents. Keep raising them good because they will carry you in your old age!
I don't have anything in the way of news that you don't get anyway. Dail's blog is growing all the time. He is having fun with it. You are likely to get more pictures etc. than you even want. Today in Duke Gardens he was stopping to take pictures about every 20 feet! I think it is fun for him to do though, even though he keeps including pictures of me! Stay close to each other and close to the Lord.
I love you,
Mom
BENGES
I'm back. So I can share my news. If I can remember it.
Isaac and Gideon just returned from their high adventure trip for the priests to Island Park. Gideon came back with a swollen and damaged left hand from an ATV accident, but a helmet saved his head from being crushed. So, I think all is well (although they immediately ran off to play ultimate somewhere so we haven't talked much).
Miriam also returned from YW's camp today. Joshua and I (and a couple of mice) spent one night with them and it was fun. Wednesday evening was the highlight as we commuted over to Huntsville for dinner in the park and then a concert, where I learned that the Nashville Tribute Band is very awesome.
The music reminds me of something kinda cool: watch my relatives, the Redhead Express, in their latest music video if you'd like. These gals' father is my second cousin and a friend who didn't live too far from me in Western Idaho. Fun.
Next week Andrew heads to Wyoming for Scout camp for a week. Whooo!
Lucy went to a one day adventure for Activity Days at Camp Kiesel yesterday.
SOTW is moving along, devouring our time. I doubt it will be professional, but we pray that the spirit will be there and that some lives can be touched. We have tickets available again--I think--for a showing for friends and family of our stake only at stake.northridgeproductions.org on August 21st. That will effectively be our final dress rehearsal. (I just checked online: 87 tickets left. There should be other nights available now, too, at tickets.northridgeproductions.org if you want to give it a try.)
And, of course, if any of you want to come up here to tour the temple and need a place to stay or hang out, let us know!
And, Isaac is just now starting is mission paperwork/computerwork. Exciting!
We took a couple of days to trash a neighbors tent trailer and visit Dinosaurland in Vernal and it's environs at the beginning of the month, and we loved seeing many of you on July 4th.
And I think that covers it! Take care and God speed!
The Benge Family
NIELSON, C
Not a lot of update from the Charles-and-Bryonyleses. Bry has been working on looking for another job. We're at a plateau (for a bit at least) on the fertility thing. We'll probably do some sort of online fundraiser in the near future. We're too stressed about it to make decisions I think, which puts us in a stall.
We're really, really enjoying working at the temple. It's just so great to go there every Saturday. It's been very nice.
Here are some other Ask Gramps posts I've done since the last newsletter. Since we don't have much other news, here's some stuff to read:
http://askgramps.org/29046/jesus-ever-say-longer-need-priesthood (didn't write the Hebrews part)
http://askgramps.org/29177/if-we-do-not-follow-the-commandments-can-we-still-pray-for-things (partially mine - the paragraph with proverbs 29:9)*
*Here's my original answer before someone else wanted to change it, and I didn't care enough to not let them:
Erika,
Not only can we still pray for needed and desired things, but we are commanded to -- always (3 Nephi 18:19).
However, Proverbs 29:9 states "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination."
Does this mean stop praying if you are a sinner? Of course not. If that were true then none of us would every pray. Sinners are commanded to pray too. But when we do pray we should do so with an attitude of "hearing the law" and, of course, doing our best to follow it (which is part of the meaning of "hearing" it). If we purposefully and blatantly disregard the law, refusing to do as the Lord wills while selfishly begging for our needs and desires to be satisfied, we may run the risk of our prayers becoming abominations to the Lord. But I do not think we need fear this be the case because of weaknesses and mistakes in spite of our best intentions and efforts.
As to your scripture reading question -- yes, you would not increase the spirit in your life as much as if you applied those things taught. Would it be okay? That question can't be answered simply. Certainly the reading is okay. Certainly the lack of application is not okay.
None of us are perfect. But we are commanded to be perfect. That means we do what we can to be perfect in spite of the fact that we will fall short. It does not mean it is okay not to try.
Finally, we must remember the law of the harvest. We will reap what we sow. A person who vacuums their living room every day but never vacuums the bedroom cannot expect their bedroom floor to remain clean in spite of their diligence in the living room.
Likewise, diligence at homework may keep one's grades up, but will not keep one healthy if they eat nothing but donuts.
And prayer alone is insufficient. Prayer is only part of the requirement set for blessings we seek. D&C 130:20-21
Quote
20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.
Gramps
Later I found this that also supported my thinking. Alma 34:28
And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.
JOHNSON
Dear Family,
A big hello from the Johnson family. Ummm. . . Yah, that about sums up all the news. We are all still alive, and doing about the same things that we always do. Contemplating this situation is making me feel a little depressed. Although I should be rejoicing. We are all healthy. We all have more clothes than we can manage to get folded and put away. We have a fridge full of food (some that probably is growing mold and needs to be thrown out). We have one car in the garage, and one in the shop getting fixed. We have a front door and a back door, and one of them actually stays closed without having to turn the deadbolt. We have a pretty good life, even if it doesn't make for fabulous newsletter content.
And if I were more creative I might even be able to entertain you with descriptions of our mundane lives. I could tell you that Mike has been shaving his head every Sunday, which means that by Tuesday he has grown a nice rim of Velcro around his head. I don't think that a hurricane could blow the hat off his head on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
I could tell you how we spent several hours one day trying to invent our own version of Qwirkle with Popsicle sticks--since we don't have Qwirkle. It was a flop. But I'm sure we learned important things from that endeavor.
I could tell you about the deep doctrine that Mike and I are learning from having the opportunity to substitute for Sadie's primary class. (Out of the mouth of babes . . .) I could tell you whose grandpa died, but now he is back alive, and whose cousin's dog is so old that she will bite you if you pet her. I could even tell you which adorable, sweet child suddenly starts calling the other class members a stupid-face for no apparent reason--and right in the middle of an inspiring lesson on kindness. But those might be the kinds of things it is better just to keep to yourself.
So, instead of trying to be creative with news, I will just assure you all that you are very dear to us, and we hope to get to see you again someday.
Love,
The Johnsons
HARDMAN
Hardmans just got back from Disneyland!!! We had a great time, and roasted in a lot of lines. The good and the bad of it is as follows: Abby took a tumble down a hill on her scooter the day before we left, and skidded all along the road and scraped up her face, arm, hip and tore up her toe. She was hurting pretty bad, but the good part of it was that we rented her a wheel chair and then we got into all the rides quicker. So, thanks Abby, for taking one for the team! We have nick named her Scabby Abby.
We got to stay at the Grand Californian Hotel, which is the hotel that opens into California Adventure Park, because Steve's work had their big convention there and paid for our room. That was awesome. When we got tired in the day, we just hopped on the monorail and went home to sleep for a bit. We rented a car, so we drove two cars, and Char drove one and Steve drove the other because I hate to drive in strange places with crazy traffic, and we all know how stellar is my sense of direction. Char did awesome, and now she knows her way all around the Disneyland roads.
We made it home safe and sound ready to take on the world again--or whatever.
Love you all!
NIELSON, J
Liz is due in less than two months. She's getting increasingly uncomfortable in her pregnancy, but you wouldn't know it by how upbeat she stays. John is finally done (well, almost done) with crunch times at work and will be able to take some time off to help get ready for the new baby's arrival. Lucy went to girl's camp this year and came home as excited as a jumping bean in a burrito. Alice loves playing Inifinity and asks Daddy to play with her when he gets home from a full week of making it. Dora is really excited for the new baby as well. She denies this, of course, but it is a scientific fact!
NIELSON, S
Marigold walks everywhere now with great confidence. Her speaking is limited to “Da-da” but says it with many nuances in meaning, with most variations leaning toward some sort of demand.
The kids have started school again, and Daisy is starting kindergarten this year with them. Marilyn is beginning with a unit on what Daisy calls the “Resolutionary War.”
Marilyn has been working on “Blurb” books to cover our family history/photo memories for the last several years. This is usually a big project that takes a month or two of dedicated evenings.
Sam has decided to take a job teaching full-time in the Animation program at BYU. He’ll be resigning from Avalanche at the end of August and starting at BYU just a few days later. We’re excited about the opportunities and life changes that will come along with the new job
HUNT
This month Gwen wanted to change our last name to Ancient Dragon and have me purchase her a dragon costume that she could wear every day until she outgrew it. Well we weren't going to change our name so she settled for having me call her that instead. I told her I wouldn't be able to remember to call her Ancient Dragon so she made name tag so I wouldn't forget.
She also has been getting nonfiction library books about animals, motorcycles, exercise, and mummies. I guess she wants to learn about a little of everything. She even said that she wanted to tell her classmates all about the mummies in a report. So she had me write down some facts of her.
We took Ella swimming and she tried to head out on her own. It's hard to hold onto her when she's trying to push out with her feet. I got a good workout. Also one day at the park she didn't want to do anything except walk over to the library and play with some of the toys they have there. She also keeps us very busy all day long keeping out of naughty stuff. She'll climbs up things now and learned how to climb out of her crib so we got her, her own bed to sleep in, which she seems to like very much.
Abe keeps busy with work and treating a few of his nieces and nephews with a play at the Shakespeare Festival. They had a deal for family day where the tickets went pretty cheap. It was fun to go as a family. We went to Comedy of Errors. It was just as funny as I remembered. I helped the In-laws and participated in a yard sale. Abe and I got $70 from it. But it was a lot of work. I had a fun visit with Kari this month which I enjoyed very much and learned a new game to play which I taught my in-laws. They like it too. Well that about sums it up.
FROYD
It's a boy, or so they tell us. Now we just have to figure out exactly how to prepare for that. Now we get to think of names. Woo hoo. My pregnancy has also taken a turn for the worst this past month. My pain level has shot through the roof, particularly whenever the baby moves it feels like I'm being clawed by hot coals. Apparently it's fairly common in pregnancies with fibromyalgia. And it's supposed to get worse, yay (and yes that's sarcasm).
Oh, and we may have to move. We applied for low income housing before we decided to move in with grandma, but figured it wouldn't really matter for a while since they told us it was at least a 3 year waiting list. Well, suddenly it's not. We have jumped to the head of the line, but we can't live in Provo, so we may have to move or lose this opportunity. Since we've been worrying about how in the world we would squeeze a crib in with Naya, not to mention how to baby proof this house, it may be an excellent opportunity. Especially if we get into the apartment that we want to which is located almost exactly between Christy's, Kari's and Mom's. So that may be happening. How and when we don't know, but we may call everyone available to help us. We're not exactly able to do what we need to get this done by ourselves. If and when that happens we'll let you know.
Sandin's still trying to get the right anxiety meds, we'll see how that goes.
Naya starts school in three short weeks. I hope we get everything done that we need to with that. She's excited, mostly because I think she's bored a lot. Especially on days when Sandin and I are both down. Poor girl.
ADAMS
Michael DID get a 4.0 on his Master's/Masters'-- Ah, forget it; when in doubt, skip the apostrophe: Masters Degree. (obviously I DON'T have a Masters'.... let's not start that again!! MBA! Sheesh!) In fact, he got 100% on his capstone project! We were thrilled and went to Hibachi Grill to celebrate. Evelyn spent the whole time cowering under the table from the fire. But the food was good, so we couldn't spank her too much...
Michael has still been waiting to hear back about the raise he asked for over four months ago. We decided that must be a bad sign, in spite of his boss claiming they were working out the details. So Michael starting job hunting. As you all know, job hunting is usually just a formula for going bald. Just as Michael was about to throw up his arms in defeat and join the Air Force as an officer, he received some rather unexpected news. Kirby, Michael's current Project Manager, sent in his resignation letter. Michael was crushed, because everyone in our family loves Kirby for all the free days off that he awards Michael for a job-well-done.
After dealing with the initial disappointment and the resulting determination to find a different job, we realized that meant there was an open position in the company. Kirby had recommended Chris (Michael's coworker and friend) for the position, but Michael turned in his resume' (pretend that's an accent over the 'e') and showed off his new MBA and other accolades.
Four anxious, nail-biting days later, Michael's boss called him and let him know that Michael is the new project manager! So we've been celebrating that too, in spite of the fact that we have no idea of any of the details including pay raise. The company let us know that Human Resources would get back to us with all that information sometime in August. Michael doesn't officially begin the position until the end of August.
And that's the big news. If you want, you can skip the rest. :D
Pamela is doing all the same stuff as last month with no real change except that she is finally recovered from her blasted cold! Yippeee! Life is that much better without a squeaky voice and foggy head!
Evelyn decided she can swim, and spends most of her afternoons trying to give her mother a heart attach by inhaling way more chlorine water than is healthy. (Most of you got a dose of her craziness on the Fourth of July party when she made the discovery.)
This week we were on a business trip up in Ogden. Evelyn never gets much sleep when we're all living in the same hotel room. When she is tired, she gets very wiggly. As Joshua describes her, she is "a blob of quickness," going from one insane stunt to the next. She came home looking like a toddler again, with her forehead covered with goose-eggs and bruises. I'm glad she still has bangs to hide her Quasimodo forehead.
I wanted to thank everyone who helped out with the 4th of July party. It turned out very nicely, with perhaps a bit of a pizza overkill. I loved seeing most of you, and hope you enjoyed yourselves too.
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
I have been having weird cravings with this pregnancy. But mostly I crave fruits and veggies by the bucketload. I really wanted something with breakfast, not the best time for veggies, so I looked to see what I had in the fruit department.The only thing I had in my bare fridge/freezer, was an open bag of blueberries. So this is what I made up. I put it over French toast, but I'm sure it would also enhance waffles, pancakes, german pancakes, or crepes. It really did turn out delicious, so please try it.
Blueberry Syrup
2 c. blueberries, frozen, though I'm sure fresh would work too
1 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1 T. lemon juice
Pinch of kosher salt (opt.)
Bring to boil and boil 30 min. stirring occasionally.
Additional recipe suggestions: A few days after making this recipe we made crepes. I mixed 2 T. sour cream with 1 T. pwd. sugar and put it in the middle with the blueberry syrup. It was super delicious. Of course Linaya loves blueberries. The sour cream adds a bit of tart to the whole thing.
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