December 12, 2010

The Lane's of Virginia

Previously on Virgina is For Lovers.....

FHE this week was held at a friends home were we tested some frozen pizzas to see which was the tastiest. The Walmart Bacon, cheddar, chicken and ranch pizza actually won!! Surprisingly!

Thursday we took food to an invalid whom is dying of cancer and her husband. That was kind of fun. We got to joke with her about attaching ice skates to her hospital bed and Christmas Events to come. Apparently it meant a lot to her and her husband.


Friday was our ward's Christmas party.

Saturday we went to the movie theatres to delight in watching the new Chronicles of Narnia film. WE LOOOOOVVVED It! We won some free matching T-shirts. Then we went to get the last of our Christmas gifts.

Sunday, today, Julie got sustained for two of her three callings.

The International Haws Family

Mom and Dad,

We all hope you had a very Happy Birthday.

This was the last week of school for the kids. With the arrival of summer break kids are jubilant and parents overwhelmed. This year summer break is quite long as Carnival will be late, I believe Carnival ends around 10 March.

For those who are not aware Brazil basically shuts down from December until Carnival and schools do not resume until after all festivities have ended. In general the idea is brace yourself and hope for the best and don’t bother going to the doctor in case of an emergency as they will not be working.

Felipe and Lucas have also been excited with soccer. Last week they went to a city called Paraty, which Renata and I have fond memories of. This week the teams from Paraty came to our neighborhood and played a tournament. Both did exceptionally well. Lucas finished the tournament having scored 5 goals and Felipe 4.

Derick took advantage of the time around other kids to meet some little girls and then convince his mother to take him to the game center at the mall afterwards. I believe that he had a wonderful time and is enjoying his time at home.

Renata too finished school but already received her grades which were very good. She does not enjoy summer break quite as much as the boys and often voices her opinion that it would be better to be able to escape the house and go to school in the evening to relax. Yes school seems rough to kids but wait until parenting to see which is more exhausting.

As for myself, it is work, work, work as usual. Several developments have brought Steven to be more direct in time frame for my return to the US. If all continues to follow the current trend I expect to be in the US in January or February to visit Pennsylvania and locate adequate housing and the sort.

I should be located in Bethlehem, PA. Bethlehem is about 45 miles north of Philadelphia, 200 miles north of Washington D.C. and roughly 1000 from Marshfield. So it is a day drive for many of you (1000 miles at 60 only takes 16.7 hours and I know that none of you drive 60). Of course there is an airport in the neighboring city of Allentown so you could just fly from Wausau to Allentown and round trips cost less than $300.

Love,

Jeff


The Jackson's of Albuquerque

This week Kevin had his last class! He is quite relieved that he has made it through his first semester of graduate school. He only has one paper to go till he can completely relax over the winter intercession. On Friday, Kevin lead out on the cub scout pack meeting. It was a fun activity because several of the boys were earning advancements, including an Arrow of Light advancement (which is the most important one for cub scouts). After the meeting Stacie and Kevin returned home and realized that they had forgotten Stacie's Cub Scout binder at the church. When they returned they ran into a family in the gym preparing for the Ward Christmas Activity. They ended up staying to help build and paint the stable and hang the star. On Saturday, Kevin returned to help set up tables and chairs. Afterwards, Stacie and Kevin headed to Goodwill to pick out something for Kevin's shepherd costume. To their surprise, the store was packed with shoppers. They finally headed over to the activity. Kevin helped as one of the shepherds and Stacie lowered the star. Afterwards, they headed home and tried to watch "Elf" together. However, they were pretty pooped from their busy day and just fell asleep. They look forward to spending more time together this week and preparing to come home to Wisconsin!

The Colorado Haws Family

Well Andy and Melanie and the girls arrived in Colorado. They love their new home but didn't love the fact that it was very messy. The contractor had some one come in to clean again but it still was messy. Ultimately Andy and Melanie cleaned the house up themselves. They enjoy their new surroundings and hopefully will give us a great update soon.

Grant's News

Grant was in Stevens Point last Sunday night. Early Monday morning he had to drive out to Neenah, which is on the eastern side of the state for a corporate meeting where he learned how to cook all the new food on the menu coming out this week. Lanette will be very excited to hear that they are having a Provolone-Stuffed Meatball Sandwich. The rest of the week was Grant working with his new boss, since his last boss was transferred to Wisconsin Rapids at the beginning of the week. Grant was able to be home on Friday and Saturday, escaping being stuck at the restaurant amidst the blizzard.

As a side note: We found all of Grandma Winnie's Christmas treat recipes so Grant is excited to bake to his heart's content next week when everyone is here.

The Wisconsin Haws Family

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...and it did!!! I have shoveled and snowblowed more snow this weekend than I have the entire six years that we have lived here. Grant couldn't get out of the garage today so Mom drove him to work. Church was cancelled and we had sacrament meeting here at home.

The week for Logan has included extra playing time with his best friends who are moving to Chicago at the Christmas break. He did also catch up with the Cheyenne Pilsner on Facebook. She is living in Mexico and probably does not miss the Wisconsin snow too much.

Emily told me today that Phoenix is experiencing unusually high temperatures and has no compassion for her friends complaining of the heat. She did have an opportunity to work at the Christmas light show on the evening the snow started falling but luckily escaped before the heavy down fall.

Lanette is delighted that she was able to stay home an additional week. She also enjoyed going with the family on Saturday afternoon to Narnia. She will be singing a solo at the Christmas program on Friday night at the Branch Christmas party.

Mom had her wish come true when it came to the snowfall but she would be a lot happier with a four wheel drive vehicle. She is doing the Christmas shopping plans so be sure and be good because Mom always knows if you are naughty or nice.

Well, as for me I turned 53 this week. Thank you for the cards. Grant's card topped the list of the most unforgettable. I really appreciate the kind remarks. My favorite part of my birthday actually came the next day when we were able to cut down our own Christmas tree. It is decorated and now standing in the front room. Grant has some great pictures to share.