December 5, 2010

The Lane's of Virginia

This week has been busy with cleaning, studying, exercising, and oh, of course, Julie's birthday.

Friday we went to a Japanese Typanyaki grill, Kyoto, and had a lovely dinner. Jeff made a chocolate cake with a layer of caramel in the middle that drizzled out as-you-eat-it-goodness. Thank you to Mom Dad and others for the AWESOME Scrapbook stuff and Stacie and Kevin for the card. It meant a lot to Julie.

Saturday we went to a Greek restaurant and got some gyros with a friend in our ward. Her husband is an OBGYN and she is a nurse in that field as well. She is also a hoot to talk to and really quite thoughtful. Later that day we went to Waynesboro, VA for the adult session of stake conference. We received the only snow fall of the winter so far during the drive, after we committed to the unsalted free way, and it began to fall hard. Perfect timing. People here are kind of crazy for the first couple of weeks of snow! When we got home Jeff's sister called to tell us about what she want for Christmas and ended up telling us some of her crazy ER stories!

Sunday was part two of Stake Conference!

The Jackson's of Albuquerque

On Monday night Stacie and Kevin decided to check out more cars and stopped by Enterprise Rent-a-Car to check out a few vehicles that they saw online. They took a test drive in a great 2009 Chevy Aveo and fell in love. Thankfully, their experience was much better than it was last Saturday. They didn't have to haggle down their price and they felt like the dealership was honest and fair with them. So on Tuesday they returned and signed off for the Chevy Aveo. Although it'll be a while before they can say that they own the car, they are very thankful to have a brand new car that will serve them well at a low cost. They are very thankful for the help and support that they have received from their family members.


On Friday Stacie stayed after work hours to hold a party for her employees. She enjoyed getting to know them better and giving them goofy awards that she created through the week. In return she was awarded, "The Most Magical Muggle Award" and the "Most Like Hermoine Granger" award. She loved both. As she was leaving the university was celebrating "Hanging of the Greens," an old tradition where the university sets up luminarias everywhere. Luminarias are paperbags filled with sand and candles. It was absolutely beautiful.


Kevin and Stacie enjoyed their weekend together. Although Kevin has been working hard on completing a paper, he was able take some time with Stacie to go grocery shopping, out to the gym and then out to dinner. As Kevin nears finals in a couple weeks, the little time that they get to spend together becomes more and more precious. They look forward to a long Christmas break with family.

Grant's Update

Grant has been working every day this week due to one of the managers being out of town for a family emergency. It has been a bit of a crazy week for him. He is excited though because he was able to hire five new servers, which will make his life much easier when it comes to scheduling. Earlier this week Grant was able to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and was a bit disappointed that the first installment ended before they got to the Bellatrix Lestrange/Gringotts scene. Bellatrix is Grant's favorite Harry Potter character. He will be especially disappointed if the final installment doesn't include the Molly Weasley/Bellatrix Lestrange duel. Otherwise, Grant is in Stevens Point tonight. He has an early morning meeting for work in Neenah and decided to drive part-way there tonight so he doesn't have to get up so early Monday morning.

The Home Front

It has been a hard week with scattered periods of sunlight. We did have the opportunity to enjoy hearing Handel's Messiah performed by the Central Wisconsin Symphony and the Stevens Point University Choir. It was inspiring. We are really looking forward to Christmas visits. Please keep us in your prayers.

Andy & Melanie & Girls

We were able to speak with Andy and Melanie today. They were able to spend a couple of days with Melanie's sister, Vanessa, and family. It was a good respite for them. Dewey, Vanessa's husband, and Andy went out to look at guns. Andy came back with a new firearm that he is pretty excited to use. They will be arriving today in Colorado. We hope their new home will be wonderful.

The International Haws Family

This week Derick turned five years old. It is amazing how fast time flies by. Jeff had a cocoa report weekend. That meant lots of extra work. We are excited because there is some tangible evidence of the possible relocation to the United States this spring. That is really exciting.