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!
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