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!