Happy Birthday to Derick and Julie!!!
Grant's News
Grant's week was painfully slow at work, which was surprising since usually after Thanksgiving it gets pretty busy. On his days off Grant worked on decorating the house for Christmas. He is working on some homemade decorations for the Christmas tree, made from dried fruit.
The Wisconsin Haws
This week has been dominated by Logan's sports events. He had several basketball games. He has shot two three pointers including one tonight. It has been fun to see him participate in basketball this year. I surely never play enough basketball to even be considered on a basketball team. Logan also enjoyed having Cheyenna and Fiona Pilsner over on Saturday through Sunday. The girls live him Mexico City and Logan looks and acts like a brother to the girls. It was fun to have them over.
Lanette has been having difficulties with her Victor, tape recorder/MP3 player/all around entertainment. She ended up having to send the Victor in to be serviced. She is very distressed by this issue.
We enjoyed having Julie, Jeff and Alex over to our house on Sunday. We celebrated Julie's birthday and had a great meal. It was enjoyable to listen to the First Presidency Christmas broadcast together but I must admit that I was a bit drowsy after the meal we had enjoyed.
Mom has been working on Christmas projects, gifts and notions. She really wants to make this a very special Christmas. I have enjoyed doing lots of things. Mom and I spent the morning last Saturday with Sister Atwood. She is a dear wonderful friend that lifts our spirits.
We have been looking forward to Christmas and the countdown is in progress. Grant has decorated our home so nicely that we have a great Christmas atmosphere here. We hope you all have a great week.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
November 27, 2012
The Alaska Haws Family
November 26, 2012
On Thursday Haley and Kayla were excited that they were able to finally put up the Christmas tree. They have already wrapped some presents from their toy box to put under it. Later that day we enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner at the church with members of the ward. On Friday on our way out to do some shopping we saw a moose in front of a neighbor's garage. It was crazy! Andy of course wished that he was able to shoot his guns on post, because that would have been a perfect shot (for those of you who may not know it is legal to shoot moose in Alaska, just not on post). About 3:00 am Saturday morning I was able to see the Northern Lights again. This time they were a lot brighter and more active. We can tell from week to week that our days have been getting shorter. Saturday the sun did not rise until 10:03 am and sat at 3:12 pm. We will be losing 6 minutes of sunlight a day until December 21 when we will have less than 3 hours of sunlight, but then we will start gaining 6 minutes a day. With not having as much sun it is a lot easier to sleep in. Kayla gave a talk in primary on Sunday about being a missionary now. I also received a calling in church to be a Young Woman advisor for the 14 and 15 year olds. I have not been in Young Women’s since I was a teenager, so I hope that I can be a good example to the girls I will be teaching as my Young Women teachers were to me. I am guessing that Andy will be getting a calling soon because they don’t keep you on the sidelines very long at church.
November 12, 2012
These past few weeks have been a little crazy between the girls going to different Halloween parties, gymnastics, and sledding. I also took Haley and Kayla to the eye doctor and to our surprise Kayla needed glasses! So now she is looking just as stylish as Haley is in her new eyewear. The best part of last week was having Andy arrive here safely. It only took him four days to drive from Fort Lee, VA to Fort Wainwright, AK. Of course if the girls and I were with him it would have taken two weeks. I should be starting work at the elementary school soon, but only while Haley and Kayla are in school. On Saturday Haley pulled out her top tooth by herself. Now that her tooth is missing she reminds me of Ellie off of the movie “Up” because of her missing tooth and also she keeps saying “You don’t talk much…I like you!” It has been a little chilly last week with the weather being in the negative 20’s, but we seem to get use to it.
The Pennsylvania Haws family
My apologies for always being behind. We have been very busy over the last several weeks since arriving in the US and I think that everything is progressing well.
The boys are in school and participating in the ESL programs. A major challenge for them is that the ESL programs provide a significant emphasis on Spanish speaking language learners. Of course the number of Spanish speaking immigrants is higher than Portuguese speakers so it makes sense but it provides only a second challenge for the boys as they must learn Spanish to better understand their English classes.
Derick finds the USA to be amazing and loves it. His favorite place is the Disney store at the mall and Renata fully supports visiting as she loves all of the dolls and stuffed animals. He is doing well in school and is possible a little advanced in math over his peers which is good as it will let him focus on English and reading a bit more.
Lucas has been doing well though he misses soccer. We have tried to contact different soccer coaches for club soccer in the area but have not received responses back. School has been going well and he has been learning English very quickly.
Felipe has had a tougher time at school. While Lucas is in 8th grade and gets to go to Middle School Felipe is in 9th and is in High School. There is quite a jump in expected responsibility between High School and Middle School and Felipe has been a bit more lost. To make things worse he Felipe did not have a math teacher at his school in Brazil for the last year and a half so he is behind on his math as well as his English. On a positive note, P.E. is swimming in an indoor pool and he is getting great swimming points. I have tried to see if he would like to participate on the swim team but have not gotten a response yet.
Renata is doing well. Sometimes she feels a little locked in and is trying to find things to do. She has been walking down to meet Felipe at school every day and they walk back together. I think that has been very special for both of them. Being the oldest often Felipe gets less attention and some one on one time is great.
We have ordered a replacement cable for our camera and I hope to send some pictures up in the next couple of days. We visited NYC a couple of weeks ago and have some fun pictures from that trip plus some others that would be fun to share.
Love
Jeff
The Wisconsin Haws Family
In the last couple of weeks we have enjoyed some wonderful days. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with Julie, Jeff, Alex, Grant, Lanette, Logan, Mom and me. We enjoyed great food and time together. Later that day and for several days thereafter we delivered Thanksgiving dinners to wonderful people in our area. They were some of our favorites including Dave Drabek, Milda Atwood, Lueva McCrite and Joan McSweeney. We always come up the being uplifted by our friends.
During the last several weeks we have enjoyed time with Julie and Jeff. It is fun to see Alex walking around and chasing Molly. We look forward to the upcoming visits of Henry, Stacie and Kevin and the much hoped for visits of Jeff, Renata, Felipe, Lucas and Derick.
We have set out the Christmas lights and Grant has decorated the home interiors with a wonderful glowing Christmas spirit.
Lately we have enjoyed watching Logan play basketball with the Columbus Dons. I missed the big play but he recently shot a three pointer. It must have been great.
Lanette has been busy with school and attending Tiny Tigers. Right now the big distress, her Victor (recorder) is on the blink. She hopes to have it repaired before the Christmas holidays.
Thanks to those that have submitted their paragraph 2012 update. I hope to compose a Christmas newsletter to send out to our friends.
November 26, 2012
On Thursday Haley and Kayla were excited that they were able to finally put up the Christmas tree. They have already wrapped some presents from their toy box to put under it. Later that day we enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner at the church with members of the ward. On Friday on our way out to do some shopping we saw a moose in front of a neighbor's garage. It was crazy! Andy of course wished that he was able to shoot his guns on post, because that would have been a perfect shot (for those of you who may not know it is legal to shoot moose in Alaska, just not on post). About 3:00 am Saturday morning I was able to see the Northern Lights again. This time they were a lot brighter and more active. We can tell from week to week that our days have been getting shorter. Saturday the sun did not rise until 10:03 am and sat at 3:12 pm. We will be losing 6 minutes of sunlight a day until December 21 when we will have less than 3 hours of sunlight, but then we will start gaining 6 minutes a day. With not having as much sun it is a lot easier to sleep in. Kayla gave a talk in primary on Sunday about being a missionary now. I also received a calling in church to be a Young Woman advisor for the 14 and 15 year olds. I have not been in Young Women’s since I was a teenager, so I hope that I can be a good example to the girls I will be teaching as my Young Women teachers were to me. I am guessing that Andy will be getting a calling soon because they don’t keep you on the sidelines very long at church.
November 12, 2012
These past few weeks have been a little crazy between the girls going to different Halloween parties, gymnastics, and sledding. I also took Haley and Kayla to the eye doctor and to our surprise Kayla needed glasses! So now she is looking just as stylish as Haley is in her new eyewear. The best part of last week was having Andy arrive here safely. It only took him four days to drive from Fort Lee, VA to Fort Wainwright, AK. Of course if the girls and I were with him it would have taken two weeks. I should be starting work at the elementary school soon, but only while Haley and Kayla are in school. On Saturday Haley pulled out her top tooth by herself. Now that her tooth is missing she reminds me of Ellie off of the movie “Up” because of her missing tooth and also she keeps saying “You don’t talk much…I like you!” It has been a little chilly last week with the weather being in the negative 20’s, but we seem to get use to it.
The Pennsylvania Haws family
My apologies for always being behind. We have been very busy over the last several weeks since arriving in the US and I think that everything is progressing well.
The boys are in school and participating in the ESL programs. A major challenge for them is that the ESL programs provide a significant emphasis on Spanish speaking language learners. Of course the number of Spanish speaking immigrants is higher than Portuguese speakers so it makes sense but it provides only a second challenge for the boys as they must learn Spanish to better understand their English classes.
Derick finds the USA to be amazing and loves it. His favorite place is the Disney store at the mall and Renata fully supports visiting as she loves all of the dolls and stuffed animals. He is doing well in school and is possible a little advanced in math over his peers which is good as it will let him focus on English and reading a bit more.
Lucas has been doing well though he misses soccer. We have tried to contact different soccer coaches for club soccer in the area but have not received responses back. School has been going well and he has been learning English very quickly.
Felipe has had a tougher time at school. While Lucas is in 8th grade and gets to go to Middle School Felipe is in 9th and is in High School. There is quite a jump in expected responsibility between High School and Middle School and Felipe has been a bit more lost. To make things worse he Felipe did not have a math teacher at his school in Brazil for the last year and a half so he is behind on his math as well as his English. On a positive note, P.E. is swimming in an indoor pool and he is getting great swimming points. I have tried to see if he would like to participate on the swim team but have not gotten a response yet.
Renata is doing well. Sometimes she feels a little locked in and is trying to find things to do. She has been walking down to meet Felipe at school every day and they walk back together. I think that has been very special for both of them. Being the oldest often Felipe gets less attention and some one on one time is great.
We have ordered a replacement cable for our camera and I hope to send some pictures up in the next couple of days. We visited NYC a couple of weeks ago and have some fun pictures from that trip plus some others that would be fun to share.
Love
Jeff
The Wisconsin Haws Family
In the last couple of weeks we have enjoyed some wonderful days. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with Julie, Jeff, Alex, Grant, Lanette, Logan, Mom and me. We enjoyed great food and time together. Later that day and for several days thereafter we delivered Thanksgiving dinners to wonderful people in our area. They were some of our favorites including Dave Drabek, Milda Atwood, Lueva McCrite and Joan McSweeney. We always come up the being uplifted by our friends.
During the last several weeks we have enjoyed time with Julie and Jeff. It is fun to see Alex walking around and chasing Molly. We look forward to the upcoming visits of Henry, Stacie and Kevin and the much hoped for visits of Jeff, Renata, Felipe, Lucas and Derick.
We have set out the Christmas lights and Grant has decorated the home interiors with a wonderful glowing Christmas spirit.
Lately we have enjoyed watching Logan play basketball with the Columbus Dons. I missed the big play but he recently shot a three pointer. It must have been great.
Lanette has been busy with school and attending Tiny Tigers. Right now the big distress, her Victor (recorder) is on the blink. She hopes to have it repaired before the Christmas holidays.
Thanks to those that have submitted their paragraph 2012 update. I hope to compose a Christmas newsletter to send out to our friends.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
23 October 2012
The Alaska Haws Family
These past couple of weeks we have been averaging a chilly 15-20 degrees during the day. We also have about 4 inches of snow on the ground and a lot of ice on the road. Haley and Kayla had a lot of fun sledding down the hill by our house. However, they don’t have as much fun when I make them walk home from school in their bulky snowsuits. I was able to see and take a picture of the amazing northern lights a couple of weeks ago; it has beautiful shades of green and purple. From what others have told me, we get to see the aurora borealis quite a bit even though we live in town. Andy has a couple of weeks left until he is finished with school. He has been asked to speak at an AIT graduation on Tuesday, so on top of his school work he had to prepare a speech for the graduation. We are all ready for him to be up here with us.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
Kevin and Stacie were sad to say goodbye to Scott and Chandra on Monday, but so thankful for the wonderful visit. On Wednesday Kevin presented a paper at a colloquium for the department on the Tremulous Hand of Worcester. On Friday Henry's daycare hosted their once-a-month "Parents Night Out," which Kevin and Stacie were happy to take advantage of. While Henry enjoyed extra play time at school, Stacie and Kevin went out for pizza and shakes with their friends Clare and Jeramie. On Saturday Henry had his last swimming lesson. He has gained a lot of great skills through the class and Stacie couldn't be more proud. On Saturday afternoon the Jacksons headed to the other side of the mountain for a family hike. The changing leaves were beautiful; although, Henry couldn't resist eating one, which he threw up all over Stacie (admittedly, it made them laugh).
Grant's News
Grant has had a bumpy road lately at work since now all the pregnant ladies are on maternity leave. That means he is working with a lot of newer employees, which can be frustrating, but it is also a lot of fun to find new work buddies. He has been working a lot of "Expo" shifts, which is the job of putting orders together and sending them out. The job requires knowing the menu perfectly and being able to manage a restaurant full of orders going to the right places. Otherwise, he has a quiet week and had fun today working on his Halloween costume. He is going to be a ghost and was spray painting old clothes with metallic paint to look "shimmery".
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
Tonight Logan and Grant are carving pumpkins. It is a lot of fun to see the carving going on.
This week has been a relatively quite week. It was Stake Conference which was very good. Elder Rhodes of the Seventy was the General Authority at the conference. A lot of wonderful teaching was given with a special emphasis on sharing the Book of Mormon with our friends, preparing our youth for missions and the power of prayer.
Lanette was the high bidder on a baby think it over. She is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the doll in the mail. We will be sure and send a picture when it arrives.
Logan has started basketball. He is really enjoying it. His first game is this Thursday. It will be fun to watch him play. He is the first Haws since your mom to play basketball on a school team.
Mom has been getting the van ready to gift to Jeff and Renata. We are very excited for them to arrive in the States. Mom will be driving out to Pennsylvania to meet them and then will fly back afterwards. Mom is getting things ready for Emily's wedding. I think the veil and dress is all ready. Julie is working on the bouquet.
We hope that you each have a wonderful week.
Love,
Dad
These past couple of weeks we have been averaging a chilly 15-20 degrees during the day. We also have about 4 inches of snow on the ground and a lot of ice on the road. Haley and Kayla had a lot of fun sledding down the hill by our house. However, they don’t have as much fun when I make them walk home from school in their bulky snowsuits. I was able to see and take a picture of the amazing northern lights a couple of weeks ago; it has beautiful shades of green and purple. From what others have told me, we get to see the aurora borealis quite a bit even though we live in town. Andy has a couple of weeks left until he is finished with school. He has been asked to speak at an AIT graduation on Tuesday, so on top of his school work he had to prepare a speech for the graduation. We are all ready for him to be up here with us.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
Kevin and Stacie were sad to say goodbye to Scott and Chandra on Monday, but so thankful for the wonderful visit. On Wednesday Kevin presented a paper at a colloquium for the department on the Tremulous Hand of Worcester. On Friday Henry's daycare hosted their once-a-month "Parents Night Out," which Kevin and Stacie were happy to take advantage of. While Henry enjoyed extra play time at school, Stacie and Kevin went out for pizza and shakes with their friends Clare and Jeramie. On Saturday Henry had his last swimming lesson. He has gained a lot of great skills through the class and Stacie couldn't be more proud. On Saturday afternoon the Jacksons headed to the other side of the mountain for a family hike. The changing leaves were beautiful; although, Henry couldn't resist eating one, which he threw up all over Stacie (admittedly, it made them laugh).
Grant's News
Grant has had a bumpy road lately at work since now all the pregnant ladies are on maternity leave. That means he is working with a lot of newer employees, which can be frustrating, but it is also a lot of fun to find new work buddies. He has been working a lot of "Expo" shifts, which is the job of putting orders together and sending them out. The job requires knowing the menu perfectly and being able to manage a restaurant full of orders going to the right places. Otherwise, he has a quiet week and had fun today working on his Halloween costume. He is going to be a ghost and was spray painting old clothes with metallic paint to look "shimmery".
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
Tonight Logan and Grant are carving pumpkins. It is a lot of fun to see the carving going on.
This week has been a relatively quite week. It was Stake Conference which was very good. Elder Rhodes of the Seventy was the General Authority at the conference. A lot of wonderful teaching was given with a special emphasis on sharing the Book of Mormon with our friends, preparing our youth for missions and the power of prayer.
Lanette was the high bidder on a baby think it over. She is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the doll in the mail. We will be sure and send a picture when it arrives.
Logan has started basketball. He is really enjoying it. His first game is this Thursday. It will be fun to watch him play. He is the first Haws since your mom to play basketball on a school team.
Mom has been getting the van ready to gift to Jeff and Renata. We are very excited for them to arrive in the States. Mom will be driving out to Pennsylvania to meet them and then will fly back afterwards. Mom is getting things ready for Emily's wedding. I think the veil and dress is all ready. Julie is working on the bouquet.
We hope that you each have a wonderful week.
Love,
Dad
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Christmas Info
Hey Pops. Stacie was asking about Christmas and the whole "Homemade" plan for this year. Here is the list of who is giving to who. Mom and I brainstormed a bit this afternoon so we have some ideas if anyone doesn't know what to do. The rules are just that each kid needs to put together something not directly store bought. So it doesn't necessarily have to be 100% homemade, but something each kid and their family has worked on. Below are some websites with ideas. Nothing extravagant or expensive, just something more thoughtful than just going to the store and picking something random out. If you could post this on the family blog that would be great.
Andy and Melanie are giving to Jeff and Renata
Jeff and Renata are giving to Logan
Grant is giving to Traconas
Lanes are giving Jacksons
Jacksons are giving to Lanette
Lanette is giving to Grant
Traconas are giving to Andy and Melanie
Logan is giving to the Lanes
Christmas Info
Hey Pops. Stacie was asking about Christmas and the whole "Homemade" plan for this year. Here is the list of who is giving to who. Mom and I brainstormed a bit this afternoon so we have some ideas if anyone doesn't know what to do. The rules are just that each kid needs to put together something not directly store bought. So it doesn't necessarily have to be 100% homemade, but something each kid and their family has worked on. Below are some websites with ideas. Nothing extravagant or expensive, just something more thoughtful than just going to the store and picking something random out. If you could post this on the family blog that would be great.
Andy and Melanie are giving to Jeff and Renata
Jeff and Renata are giving to Logan
Grant is giving to Traconas
Lanes are giving Jacksons
Jacksons are giving to Lanette
Lanette is giving to Grant
Traconas are giving to Andy and Melanie
Logan is giving to the Lanes
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/11/13/a-do-it-yourself-christmas-34-great-gifts-you-can-make-yourself/
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/giftstomake/tp/HomeMadeGiftIdeas.htm
http://www.moneyhelpforchristians.com/christmas-gift-ideas-personalized-gifts/
Snapfish.com
September 18, 2012
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
Kevin, Stacie, and Henry had a wonderful week with Kevin's parents, Scott and Chandra. They arrived on Tuesday evening and Henry immediately fell in love with his Grandpa Jackson, just staring at him and giving him lots of smiles. On Wednesday morning they all woke up early and trekked out to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for the mass ascension. The Fiesta is the largest hot air balloon launch in the entire world and it was truly amazing. They have sent several pictures for the family Flicker account.
In the afternoon they enjoyed a trip to Tucanos. On Thursday and Friday they enjoyed snuggling with Henry and spending time together. On Saturday they went on a hike up to a cave in Placitas, NM (just a short drive away). Henry was very excited to be outdoors. The hike was beautiful in the autumn leaves.
The Jacksons will be returning home on Monday morning. Stacie and Kevin have been so thankful to have Kevin's parents in Albuquerque. They will be very missed. However, they are now excited to look forward toward coming to Wisconsin for Christmas to spend time with us!
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
Last weekend Mom, Dad and Logan went to the St Paul Temple and visited the temple on Friday night. Logan was able to do two baptisms and confirmations for our ancestors while Mom and I did sealings. That evening we enjoyed dinner at Chili's and then stayed in a hotel. The following morning Mom and I did one an endowment session for two of our ancestors. Later that day Julie and Jeff came to the temple and did sealings. All together we were able to get 2 baptisms and confirmations, one initiatory, two endowments and about 10 sealings done. There was a wonderful spirit in doing the work.
Mom and I have been getting the moving spirit. We looked at a home in Stratford that we loved the first time we came here. We would love to buy it but we have decided that we need to get our home all in order and sold then we can consider other locations. We have no intentions to leave Marshfield. But you know, we are Haws's.
Logan has started basketball. He is very excited. Lanette is bidding on ebay for Baby Think it Over. She is more excited. Mom and I are looking forward to having Jeff and Renata and Felipe, Lucas and Derick join us. We are the most excited.
We love you.
Dad
Kevin, Stacie, and Henry had a wonderful week with Kevin's parents, Scott and Chandra. They arrived on Tuesday evening and Henry immediately fell in love with his Grandpa Jackson, just staring at him and giving him lots of smiles. On Wednesday morning they all woke up early and trekked out to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for the mass ascension. The Fiesta is the largest hot air balloon launch in the entire world and it was truly amazing. They have sent several pictures for the family Flicker account.
In the afternoon they enjoyed a trip to Tucanos. On Thursday and Friday they enjoyed snuggling with Henry and spending time together. On Saturday they went on a hike up to a cave in Placitas, NM (just a short drive away). Henry was very excited to be outdoors. The hike was beautiful in the autumn leaves.
The Jacksons will be returning home on Monday morning. Stacie and Kevin have been so thankful to have Kevin's parents in Albuquerque. They will be very missed. However, they are now excited to look forward toward coming to Wisconsin for Christmas to spend time with us!
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
Last weekend Mom, Dad and Logan went to the St Paul Temple and visited the temple on Friday night. Logan was able to do two baptisms and confirmations for our ancestors while Mom and I did sealings. That evening we enjoyed dinner at Chili's and then stayed in a hotel. The following morning Mom and I did one an endowment session for two of our ancestors. Later that day Julie and Jeff came to the temple and did sealings. All together we were able to get 2 baptisms and confirmations, one initiatory, two endowments and about 10 sealings done. There was a wonderful spirit in doing the work.
Mom and I have been getting the moving spirit. We looked at a home in Stratford that we loved the first time we came here. We would love to buy it but we have decided that we need to get our home all in order and sold then we can consider other locations. We have no intentions to leave Marshfield. But you know, we are Haws's.
Logan has started basketball. He is very excited. Lanette is bidding on ebay for Baby Think it Over. She is more excited. Mom and I are looking forward to having Jeff and Renata and Felipe, Lucas and Derick join us. We are the most excited.
We love you.
Dad
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
September 10, 2012
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
Last week marked a pretty slow week at work for Stacie. She is looking forward to taking this week off and spending lots of time with Henry, Kevin, Scott and Chandra. Kevin continues to work hard in school and is also looking forward to a short break with family. Henry is growing so much and so fast. He is starting to figure out crawling, although he isn't quite ready to get moving yet. Stacie was very happy that Kevin figured out how to fix their camera and she has finally caught up on taking lots of pictures of Henry. Over the weekend the Jacksons enjoyed listening to conference together. On Sunday they went out for a nice walk together.
The Haws Family of Alaska
We have been here in Alaska for almost two weeks now. Getting on the ferry in Bellingham, WA was a little adventurous. I am very glad that my mom was the one parking the vehicle because the guys telling us where to go were trying to fit our full size pickup in a compact car space next to a camper. Luckily they let us back out and park behind the camper instead.
The ferry was an exciting ride to be on. I think the most important part was girls were able to meet new friends on the ferry who were headed to Anchorage. We were also able to see three whales, well the tail ends of them anyways. My mom and I were very lucky because we only got seasick one time for a few hours while we were going over open water. We had the girls turn on a movie while we laid down so we could feel better, well the movie that the girls chose was the Muppets pirate movie, which did not help us any.
After being on the ferry for a few days we got off in Haines, Alaska. I was shocked to see that gas there was $5.30 a gallon! But we needed to fill up the gas cans so we didn’t get stranded. While filling up we met the family from the ferry that was going to Anchorage and decided to a caravan to Tok, Alaska where all of us were going to stay. After filling up, we reached the boarder of Canada and let me tell you that you better be thankful for the roads in the lower 48 states because the roads there were terrible. When the sign told you to slow down, you better slow down because most likely a dirt road is coming up and you wouldn’t want to be going fast on that road.
Finally after 10 hours of driving we arrived in Tok and stayed in a cute little cabin. The people there were very friendly. The next day we headed to Fort Wainwright, Alaska. There were very few spots that had beautiful scenery because of it being the first week of October. Hopefully next summer I will have better pictures of the scenery to show the beauty of Alaska.
At Fort Wainwright we only had to stay in the hotel for a few days before our house was ready to move into. The movers should be delivering our household goods tomorrow which all of us are excited about.
While my mom was here we took a trip to North Pole, AK which is only 15 miles down the road. We went to Santa’s House where the girls were able to see the reindeer. We also stocked up on winter gear that we are going to need.
The ward at church is wonderful! All of the members are very loving and is willing to help with anything that we need. I am so grateful that that is one thing Andy and I do not have to worry about is if there is going to be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where ever the military sends us. The building may be four or 40 miles down the road, but we never have to worry if the church is going to be there. Also at church I was so excited because one of the sisters who used to be my visiting teaching companion at Fort Lee, VA was in this ward! We have already been blessed to eat dinner with two different families from church.
The night I had to take my mom back to the airport we just missed seeing the aurora borealis. Hopefully next time it is out I will try to get a good picture of it. My mom was a little disappointed because we didn’t see a moose or bear while she was here, but I promised her if I see one I will take a picture of it. It was really wonderful to have her be with me as we traveled up to Alaska; it made the trip up here extremely easier since Andy and I were not able travel together.
Haley and Kayla enjoy school. Last Tuesday they had a field trip to see “Riders in the Sky” who sang “Woody’s Round-Up” in Toy Story 3. Haley and Kayla love that we live so close to the school (about 1/2 mile) because I they are able to ride their scooters home from school most days.
Andy made it to Virginia safely. He was able to stop at the Kansas City, Missouri temple and Louisville, Kentucky temple along the way and do temple work for our kindred dead. Andy is glad that he is already done with one week of school but still has four more to go before he can drive up here. We are both ready to be together again.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
We enjoyed the blessing of listening to living prophets and church leaders this weekend. It was comfortable to remain home over the weekend and not having to worry about other activities. We did have the chance to do some yard work and we are at the point that the gardens are ready for the winter. Grant has planted a number of bulbs that promise to surprise us this coming spring.
Logan continues with soccer. His last game is Thursday. He has had a terrific year and is really one of the team leaders. The coach is really pushing to see Logan return to Columbus next year. I am not sure our budget is ready for that but we will have to see.
Lanette spent the weekend with the Elmhorst family. Need I say more...She had a great time.
Mom and I have enjoyed time together this fall. It is such a beautiful time of the year. We have enjoyed spending time with Julie and Jeff while we watch Alex make quick progress. He will be walking in days. Watch out Julie, next comes climbing!!!
We hope that each of you are have a wonderful week.
Love,
Dad
Last week marked a pretty slow week at work for Stacie. She is looking forward to taking this week off and spending lots of time with Henry, Kevin, Scott and Chandra. Kevin continues to work hard in school and is also looking forward to a short break with family. Henry is growing so much and so fast. He is starting to figure out crawling, although he isn't quite ready to get moving yet. Stacie was very happy that Kevin figured out how to fix their camera and she has finally caught up on taking lots of pictures of Henry. Over the weekend the Jacksons enjoyed listening to conference together. On Sunday they went out for a nice walk together.
The Haws Family of Alaska
We have been here in Alaska for almost two weeks now. Getting on the ferry in Bellingham, WA was a little adventurous. I am very glad that my mom was the one parking the vehicle because the guys telling us where to go were trying to fit our full size pickup in a compact car space next to a camper. Luckily they let us back out and park behind the camper instead.
The ferry was an exciting ride to be on. I think the most important part was girls were able to meet new friends on the ferry who were headed to Anchorage. We were also able to see three whales, well the tail ends of them anyways. My mom and I were very lucky because we only got seasick one time for a few hours while we were going over open water. We had the girls turn on a movie while we laid down so we could feel better, well the movie that the girls chose was the Muppets pirate movie, which did not help us any.
After being on the ferry for a few days we got off in Haines, Alaska. I was shocked to see that gas there was $5.30 a gallon! But we needed to fill up the gas cans so we didn’t get stranded. While filling up we met the family from the ferry that was going to Anchorage and decided to a caravan to Tok, Alaska where all of us were going to stay. After filling up, we reached the boarder of Canada and let me tell you that you better be thankful for the roads in the lower 48 states because the roads there were terrible. When the sign told you to slow down, you better slow down because most likely a dirt road is coming up and you wouldn’t want to be going fast on that road.
Finally after 10 hours of driving we arrived in Tok and stayed in a cute little cabin. The people there were very friendly. The next day we headed to Fort Wainwright, Alaska. There were very few spots that had beautiful scenery because of it being the first week of October. Hopefully next summer I will have better pictures of the scenery to show the beauty of Alaska.
At Fort Wainwright we only had to stay in the hotel for a few days before our house was ready to move into. The movers should be delivering our household goods tomorrow which all of us are excited about.
While my mom was here we took a trip to North Pole, AK which is only 15 miles down the road. We went to Santa’s House where the girls were able to see the reindeer. We also stocked up on winter gear that we are going to need.
The ward at church is wonderful! All of the members are very loving and is willing to help with anything that we need. I am so grateful that that is one thing Andy and I do not have to worry about is if there is going to be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where ever the military sends us. The building may be four or 40 miles down the road, but we never have to worry if the church is going to be there. Also at church I was so excited because one of the sisters who used to be my visiting teaching companion at Fort Lee, VA was in this ward! We have already been blessed to eat dinner with two different families from church.
The night I had to take my mom back to the airport we just missed seeing the aurora borealis. Hopefully next time it is out I will try to get a good picture of it. My mom was a little disappointed because we didn’t see a moose or bear while she was here, but I promised her if I see one I will take a picture of it. It was really wonderful to have her be with me as we traveled up to Alaska; it made the trip up here extremely easier since Andy and I were not able travel together.
Haley and Kayla enjoy school. Last Tuesday they had a field trip to see “Riders in the Sky” who sang “Woody’s Round-Up” in Toy Story 3. Haley and Kayla love that we live so close to the school (about 1/2 mile) because I they are able to ride their scooters home from school most days.
Andy made it to Virginia safely. He was able to stop at the Kansas City, Missouri temple and Louisville, Kentucky temple along the way and do temple work for our kindred dead. Andy is glad that he is already done with one week of school but still has four more to go before he can drive up here. We are both ready to be together again.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
We enjoyed the blessing of listening to living prophets and church leaders this weekend. It was comfortable to remain home over the weekend and not having to worry about other activities. We did have the chance to do some yard work and we are at the point that the gardens are ready for the winter. Grant has planted a number of bulbs that promise to surprise us this coming spring.
Logan continues with soccer. His last game is Thursday. He has had a terrific year and is really one of the team leaders. The coach is really pushing to see Logan return to Columbus next year. I am not sure our budget is ready for that but we will have to see.
Lanette spent the weekend with the Elmhorst family. Need I say more...She had a great time.
Mom and I have enjoyed time together this fall. It is such a beautiful time of the year. We have enjoyed spending time with Julie and Jeff while we watch Alex make quick progress. He will be walking in days. Watch out Julie, next comes climbing!!!
We hope that each of you are have a wonderful week.
Love,
Dad
Sunday, September 30, 2012
September 30, 2012
Grant's News
This week was the tenth anniversary for Grant's restaurant and on Tuesday they celebrated by selling a burger, fries, and shake for $4.50 total. And although Grant thought he dodged that bullet when he had the day off, by mid afternoon he was called in to help out. It ended up being an especially crazy night and Grant even had to make a run to the local grocery store to buy a couple hundred hamburger buns. The rest of Grant's week was pretty quiet and he was able to spend an afternoon in the marsh. The trees are turning colors really quick and it was pretty out there.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
On Friday Kevin went with some friends up to Red River, NM to enjoy some fishing. They caught lots of fish and ate plenty of fish tacos. Meanwhile, Stacie & Henry had a lovely weekend of playing. On Friday night there was a fright when a loud knock came to the door. Stacie called out "Who's there!?" but there wasn't an answer. It was dark and windy out and she was nervous about answering the door while home alone. It turned out to just be a door bell ditch of cookies from someone in the ward. Such a pleasant surprise!
On Saturday Henry and Stacie went to their swim lesson. Stacie is still amazed by how great Henry is in the pool. He absolutely loves it. They went on several errands, but Stacie's favorite stop was visiting Michael's to get some craft supplies. She looks forward to making some fun things for Henry. Kevin returned on Sunday afternoon and the Jacksons are all very happy to be together again. In the evening they had the missionaries over for dinner. They look forward to a week of more fun times together, then Stacie is going to take off a week of work to spend time with Henry and Kevin's parents, Scott & Chandra. Scott & Chandra Jackson are coming to Albuquerque for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
This week was marked by another hawk attack on Logan's chickens. Thankfully the problem is solved for at least now. According to Grant the hawks are migrating south so hopefully this will not be a problem during the winter months. Logan has some young chickens that will need to be watched closely when he ultimately lets them out to range. Logan had a lot of fun this week our joint youth activity on Wednesday night. He is well loved by all the youth (especially the young ladies). He has had a busy soccer week with a 2 win and 1 loss performance last week. Logan continues to play very well and has a strong kick.
Lanette has enjoyed a weekend with the Elmhorst. Today in church she was bothered by a string on her knit shirt. She pulled the string and it kept coming. She showed it to me and I pulled a little more then broke the string. To our chagrin the shirt was open all along her side for about 18 inches. Appropriately Mom went home and got a replacement shirt.
Mom has been busy with canning and preserving this last week making more tomato sauce, apple butter jam, apricot-pineapple jam, apple cider (non-fermented), and mango salsa. We have enjoyed a wonderful garden this year. On Thursday Mom and I had an early date together then I left for a trip to Cincinnati. I attended a dialysis and acute kidney injury meeting. It was very good. I was able to met Andy at the Louisville, Kentucky Temple on Thursday night. We enjoy a temple session, a long discussion of the endowment in the celestial room and a good dinner before parting ways.
It was with great joy that I returned home on Saturday night. I was promised in my patriarchal blessing many wonderful opportunities. This was one of them.
Updates on our family
Andy has made it to Virginia. He will be taking a class for 30 days then heading to Alaska with a short stop in Marshfield. Melanie and the girls made it safely to Fairbanks. Nancy, Melanie's mom, helped with the move. She will be flying back to Utah on Monday.
Jeff and Renata and the boys are finishing up the final actions prior to coming to the US. It looks like they will be up here pretty soon. We are getting excited.
Julie and Jeff and Alex are doing well. A little illness this week. They are looking into some job offers including one in the Madison area. We would love that.
This week was the tenth anniversary for Grant's restaurant and on Tuesday they celebrated by selling a burger, fries, and shake for $4.50 total. And although Grant thought he dodged that bullet when he had the day off, by mid afternoon he was called in to help out. It ended up being an especially crazy night and Grant even had to make a run to the local grocery store to buy a couple hundred hamburger buns. The rest of Grant's week was pretty quiet and he was able to spend an afternoon in the marsh. The trees are turning colors really quick and it was pretty out there.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
On Friday Kevin went with some friends up to Red River, NM to enjoy some fishing. They caught lots of fish and ate plenty of fish tacos. Meanwhile, Stacie & Henry had a lovely weekend of playing. On Friday night there was a fright when a loud knock came to the door. Stacie called out "Who's there!?" but there wasn't an answer. It was dark and windy out and she was nervous about answering the door while home alone. It turned out to just be a door bell ditch of cookies from someone in the ward. Such a pleasant surprise!
On Saturday Henry and Stacie went to their swim lesson. Stacie is still amazed by how great Henry is in the pool. He absolutely loves it. They went on several errands, but Stacie's favorite stop was visiting Michael's to get some craft supplies. She looks forward to making some fun things for Henry. Kevin returned on Sunday afternoon and the Jacksons are all very happy to be together again. In the evening they had the missionaries over for dinner. They look forward to a week of more fun times together, then Stacie is going to take off a week of work to spend time with Henry and Kevin's parents, Scott & Chandra. Scott & Chandra Jackson are coming to Albuquerque for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
This week was marked by another hawk attack on Logan's chickens. Thankfully the problem is solved for at least now. According to Grant the hawks are migrating south so hopefully this will not be a problem during the winter months. Logan has some young chickens that will need to be watched closely when he ultimately lets them out to range. Logan had a lot of fun this week our joint youth activity on Wednesday night. He is well loved by all the youth (especially the young ladies). He has had a busy soccer week with a 2 win and 1 loss performance last week. Logan continues to play very well and has a strong kick.
Lanette has enjoyed a weekend with the Elmhorst. Today in church she was bothered by a string on her knit shirt. She pulled the string and it kept coming. She showed it to me and I pulled a little more then broke the string. To our chagrin the shirt was open all along her side for about 18 inches. Appropriately Mom went home and got a replacement shirt.
Mom has been busy with canning and preserving this last week making more tomato sauce, apple butter jam, apricot-pineapple jam, apple cider (non-fermented), and mango salsa. We have enjoyed a wonderful garden this year. On Thursday Mom and I had an early date together then I left for a trip to Cincinnati. I attended a dialysis and acute kidney injury meeting. It was very good. I was able to met Andy at the Louisville, Kentucky Temple on Thursday night. We enjoy a temple session, a long discussion of the endowment in the celestial room and a good dinner before parting ways.
It was with great joy that I returned home on Saturday night. I was promised in my patriarchal blessing many wonderful opportunities. This was one of them.
Updates on our family
Andy has made it to Virginia. He will be taking a class for 30 days then heading to Alaska with a short stop in Marshfield. Melanie and the girls made it safely to Fairbanks. Nancy, Melanie's mom, helped with the move. She will be flying back to Utah on Monday.
Jeff and Renata and the boys are finishing up the final actions prior to coming to the US. It looks like they will be up here pretty soon. We are getting excited.
Julie and Jeff and Alex are doing well. A little illness this week. They are looking into some job offers including one in the Madison area. We would love that.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
September 23, 2012
Grant's News
The main event of Grant's week was planting bulbs on Saturday...which was Hobbit Day by the way. I planted over 300 bulbs around the yard and is excited for all the flowers to come up in spring. He planted tulips, daffodils, irises, hyacinths, and crocus among many other things. Work was somewhat busier this week and Grant ended up working an extra evening to help out with Marshfield's Homecoming, which makes the restaurant extremely busy.
The International Haws Family
Our week was highlighted by water and the lack of it. This morning we
awoke to our third consecutive day without water having left our
reserves depleted for now a second day and my challenge to find a pipe
with some remaining content that I might fill buckets and carry the
water home.
It may be hard to imagine the effects of going without something so
basic. We forget how reliant we are on the delivery of this commodity.
Clothes piled up, along with dishes. Cooking quickly became impossible
and baths needed to be delayed. Toilets can't be flushed and houses can
hardly be cleaned.
How many buckets of water do you need for your day? More than you might
think. And may I say that it is not light or convenient to carry
either.
At about noon today the water returned. It has been something of a
return to civilization, a cleansing, a relief.
Besides that our week was rather uneventful. Children in school, waiting
for the last approvals for us to travel and hopes that all might resolve
quickly, at least before mid-terms is how the prayer seems to go not
that I was aware there were mid-terms in Brazil.
Work has been exciting. Steven has allowed me to participate more in the
web development which is a new area for. Since I have no experience in
web coding we set up a backup site that I can use as my play-ground, a
place where I can have a crash-course without interfering with the users
in the main website.
Love,
Jeff
The Alaska Haws Family
This is a late posting. Melanie sent it to me last week.
This is a late/early newsletter that I am sending. The girls had a hard time saying goodbye to their friends and teachers at school a week ago. We are truly going to miss everyone that we have met in Colorado Springs. There are so many wonderful people there. On Friday Haley woke up in the middle of the night complaining of a sore throat. My first thought was, I hope she is not getting strep because we were leaving Friday morning. Well half way to Utah Haley ended up with a fever of 102, luckily I had some Tylenol and that brought her fever down. Once we got to my dad’s her fever was back, that is when I decided to take her to the ER and not to my surprise she had strep. The doctor gave her a shot and she was back to her old self again the next day. I was very glad that Haley was feeling better, because on Saturday my dad watched the girls so Andy and I were able to spend the day at the Manti temple. It was so wonderful to have Andy by my side again in the House of the Lord. I am truly grateful for the power of repentance and eternal families. While we were at the temple the girls also enjoyed some time playing with their cousins. Monday we had a wonderful visit with Elder and Sister Johnson at the park. On Tuesday we were blessed to be able to spend a few hours at the Temple with my Mom and her husband DJ. On Wednesday we headed out on our adventure after we dropped Andy of at the airport. We made it to Ellensburg, WA Wednesday night. Everyone that I have talked to said that Oregon and Washington are very green; well it was more yellow and dry with smoke in the air than green. Thursday morning my mom and I were blessed to spend time in the Seattle Washington temple serving before we headed up to Bellingham to catch the Ferry on Friday. Seattle was so foggy that you couldn’t even see the angel Moroni on top of the temple. To end the day we went swimming at the hotel.
The Haws Family of Marshfield
It has been a good week here in Marshfield. Logan has had three soccer games this week and he scored his first goal ever. He usually plays midfield but he got a chance at forward. He was pretty excited about that. Logan's coach is really rooting for him to stay at Columbus next year. We will see if they give him a scholarship to help with tuition. Logan enjoyed a movie night with a group of friends last evening.
Lanette had the chance to enjoy a special day and night with the Elmhorst. That is definitely one of her favorite things. She attending Emily's shower which she really enjoyed. She is working at Goodwill and I am looking into the opportunity to for her to volunteer on the pediatric unit at the hospital.
Emily had her wedding shower this week. It was very well attended by friends and family. She received many nice gifts for her kitchen. She is working only one job but making fairly good money there as she saves to go to college.
Mom and I have been working on storing our garden produce. We are learning a lot. We have put up more this year compared to any other for our year supply. This weekend I have planted garlic bulbs for next spring while Grant has planted a wide assortment of bulbs to beautify our yard this coming spring. We have enjoyed wonderful fall weather and marveled at the change in the leaves.
The main event of Grant's week was planting bulbs on Saturday...which was Hobbit Day by the way. I planted over 300 bulbs around the yard and is excited for all the flowers to come up in spring. He planted tulips, daffodils, irises, hyacinths, and crocus among many other things. Work was somewhat busier this week and Grant ended up working an extra evening to help out with Marshfield's Homecoming, which makes the restaurant extremely busy.
The International Haws Family
Our week was highlighted by water and the lack of it. This morning we
awoke to our third consecutive day without water having left our
reserves depleted for now a second day and my challenge to find a pipe
with some remaining content that I might fill buckets and carry the
water home.
It may be hard to imagine the effects of going without something so
basic. We forget how reliant we are on the delivery of this commodity.
Clothes piled up, along with dishes. Cooking quickly became impossible
and baths needed to be delayed. Toilets can't be flushed and houses can
hardly be cleaned.
How many buckets of water do you need for your day? More than you might
think. And may I say that it is not light or convenient to carry
either.
At about noon today the water returned. It has been something of a
return to civilization, a cleansing, a relief.
Besides that our week was rather uneventful. Children in school, waiting
for the last approvals for us to travel and hopes that all might resolve
quickly, at least before mid-terms is how the prayer seems to go not
that I was aware there were mid-terms in Brazil.
Work has been exciting. Steven has allowed me to participate more in the
web development which is a new area for. Since I have no experience in
web coding we set up a backup site that I can use as my play-ground, a
place where I can have a crash-course without interfering with the users
in the main website.
Love,
Jeff
The Alaska Haws Family
This is a late posting. Melanie sent it to me last week.
This is a late/early newsletter that I am sending. The girls had a hard time saying goodbye to their friends and teachers at school a week ago. We are truly going to miss everyone that we have met in Colorado Springs. There are so many wonderful people there. On Friday Haley woke up in the middle of the night complaining of a sore throat. My first thought was, I hope she is not getting strep because we were leaving Friday morning. Well half way to Utah Haley ended up with a fever of 102, luckily I had some Tylenol and that brought her fever down. Once we got to my dad’s her fever was back, that is when I decided to take her to the ER and not to my surprise she had strep. The doctor gave her a shot and she was back to her old self again the next day. I was very glad that Haley was feeling better, because on Saturday my dad watched the girls so Andy and I were able to spend the day at the Manti temple. It was so wonderful to have Andy by my side again in the House of the Lord. I am truly grateful for the power of repentance and eternal families. While we were at the temple the girls also enjoyed some time playing with their cousins. Monday we had a wonderful visit with Elder and Sister Johnson at the park. On Tuesday we were blessed to be able to spend a few hours at the Temple with my Mom and her husband DJ. On Wednesday we headed out on our adventure after we dropped Andy of at the airport. We made it to Ellensburg, WA Wednesday night. Everyone that I have talked to said that Oregon and Washington are very green; well it was more yellow and dry with smoke in the air than green. Thursday morning my mom and I were blessed to spend time in the Seattle Washington temple serving before we headed up to Bellingham to catch the Ferry on Friday. Seattle was so foggy that you couldn’t even see the angel Moroni on top of the temple. To end the day we went swimming at the hotel.
The Haws Family of Marshfield
It has been a good week here in Marshfield. Logan has had three soccer games this week and he scored his first goal ever. He usually plays midfield but he got a chance at forward. He was pretty excited about that. Logan's coach is really rooting for him to stay at Columbus next year. We will see if they give him a scholarship to help with tuition. Logan enjoyed a movie night with a group of friends last evening.
Lanette had the chance to enjoy a special day and night with the Elmhorst. That is definitely one of her favorite things. She attending Emily's shower which she really enjoyed. She is working at Goodwill and I am looking into the opportunity to for her to volunteer on the pediatric unit at the hospital.
Emily had her wedding shower this week. It was very well attended by friends and family. She received many nice gifts for her kitchen. She is working only one job but making fairly good money there as she saves to go to college.
Mom and I have been working on storing our garden produce. We are learning a lot. We have put up more this year compared to any other for our year supply. This weekend I have planted garlic bulbs for next spring while Grant has planted a wide assortment of bulbs to beautify our yard this coming spring. We have enjoyed wonderful fall weather and marveled at the change in the leaves.
Monday, September 17, 2012
September 17, 2012
Grant's News
It has been a pretty quiet week for Grant. There is always a transition time at the restaurant when school starts and suddenly it gets very slow. One day of being slow is fine, but after a week or two Grant goes a little insane. During his time off this week Grant worked on the flowerbeds, pruning things back and getting it ready for planting bulbs this coming week.
News from the Jackson's
I apologize that I haven't provided an update for some time. We are down to one computer and it is also on its last legs. We'll do our best to continue to provide updates. Here is what happened to the Jackson Clan this week:
Last Sunday Stacie and Kevin gave talks in Church on the Atonement and finding peace. After church they invited their friends Jimmy, Terry, Nick and Veronica over fr dinner. Jimmy and Terry are two men from their ward with some mental disabilities, who love to sing hymns and eat enchiladas. They did both.
Last week Kevin witnessed their car suffer through a hit and run while parked in the parking lot by the bus stop. He was able to take it in to the body shop this week and get a rental for a few days. The car was fixed more quickly than anticipated and is back at the Jackson's home, looking much better.
On Saturday Stacie took Henry to his first swimming lesson. He did a wonderful job! They look forward to four more weeks of fun lessons. Afterwards, Kevin, Stacie and Henry went on a nice walk. The temperature has dropped in Albuquerque and they are enjoying the beginning of Autumn. On their walk they saw a coyote, a hummingbird, an inch worm, lots of lizards, lots of dogs, a roadrunner, and a very scary spider. Unfortunately, the spider was on their front door. In the evening they grilled some sausages and enjoyed being together.
This upcoming week Kevin will continue to search for school's to apply to for his doctoral degree. Stacie will try to keep her head above water at work and Henry will get some extra play time on Friday at day care as they have their monthly Parent's Night Out event. Stacie and Kevin are looking forward to their date night.
News from Home
This week we learned the sad news that Jeff Lane's job will be closed down here in Central Wisconsin. That makes it likely that Julie and Jeff will be moving in the new future. We don't know where life will take them but it has been delightful to have them so close for a while. As part of that time together we were able to have family picnic at the Big Eau Pleine Flowage this last Saturday. It was really beautiful. We arrived just before sunset and enjoyed the fall colors, the cool breeze and good company.
We have enjoyed a wonderful garden season and are counter space is filled with cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, peaches, cantaloupe, peppers and much more. Some items we were given, some we bought at the farmer's market and some at the store but the most wonderful blessings have come from our own garden. It has been really wonderful. I must brag that this has been my very best garden ever. Mom did put up lots of canned tomatoes and we are in better shape for the coming winter.
Logan and I have worked on insulating his chicken coop while at the same time the chickens have been very stingy with the eggs.
We have rejoiced in the news that Andy and Melanie spent last Saturday in the Manti Temple. We are delighted with the news that Jeff and Renata are getting closer to completing their documents. Emily and Trent's wedding date is coming soon.
We love you and wish you the best this coming week.
Dad
It has been a pretty quiet week for Grant. There is always a transition time at the restaurant when school starts and suddenly it gets very slow. One day of being slow is fine, but after a week or two Grant goes a little insane. During his time off this week Grant worked on the flowerbeds, pruning things back and getting it ready for planting bulbs this coming week.
News from the Jackson's
I apologize that I haven't provided an update for some time. We are down to one computer and it is also on its last legs. We'll do our best to continue to provide updates. Here is what happened to the Jackson Clan this week:
Last Sunday Stacie and Kevin gave talks in Church on the Atonement and finding peace. After church they invited their friends Jimmy, Terry, Nick and Veronica over fr dinner. Jimmy and Terry are two men from their ward with some mental disabilities, who love to sing hymns and eat enchiladas. They did both.
Last week Kevin witnessed their car suffer through a hit and run while parked in the parking lot by the bus stop. He was able to take it in to the body shop this week and get a rental for a few days. The car was fixed more quickly than anticipated and is back at the Jackson's home, looking much better.
On Saturday Stacie took Henry to his first swimming lesson. He did a wonderful job! They look forward to four more weeks of fun lessons. Afterwards, Kevin, Stacie and Henry went on a nice walk. The temperature has dropped in Albuquerque and they are enjoying the beginning of Autumn. On their walk they saw a coyote, a hummingbird, an inch worm, lots of lizards, lots of dogs, a roadrunner, and a very scary spider. Unfortunately, the spider was on their front door. In the evening they grilled some sausages and enjoyed being together.
This upcoming week Kevin will continue to search for school's to apply to for his doctoral degree. Stacie will try to keep her head above water at work and Henry will get some extra play time on Friday at day care as they have their monthly Parent's Night Out event. Stacie and Kevin are looking forward to their date night.
News from Home
This week we learned the sad news that Jeff Lane's job will be closed down here in Central Wisconsin. That makes it likely that Julie and Jeff will be moving in the new future. We don't know where life will take them but it has been delightful to have them so close for a while. As part of that time together we were able to have family picnic at the Big Eau Pleine Flowage this last Saturday. It was really beautiful. We arrived just before sunset and enjoyed the fall colors, the cool breeze and good company.
We have enjoyed a wonderful garden season and are counter space is filled with cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, peaches, cantaloupe, peppers and much more. Some items we were given, some we bought at the farmer's market and some at the store but the most wonderful blessings have come from our own garden. It has been really wonderful. I must brag that this has been my very best garden ever. Mom did put up lots of canned tomatoes and we are in better shape for the coming winter.
Logan and I have worked on insulating his chicken coop while at the same time the chickens have been very stingy with the eggs.
We have rejoiced in the news that Andy and Melanie spent last Saturday in the Manti Temple. We are delighted with the news that Jeff and Renata are getting closer to completing their documents. Emily and Trent's wedding date is coming soon.
We love you and wish you the best this coming week.
Dad
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Update from Melanie and Andy
September 9, 2012
These past two weeks have been very bitter sweet for us. I was able to spend some time with my dear friend Lisa and her family at the parade in Fountain on Monday. The rest of the week Andy and I were trying to pack and prepare for our movers to come on Tuesday. We have been also able to enjoy some quality time together. Haley and Kayla had a fun time playing with their friend on Saturday. On Sunday it was very emotional because it was the last time being in our ward at church and my last time teaching my Sunday school class. It made me feel better to know that my class really enjoyed my teaching and asked if we could Skype on Sunday’s so I can teach them from Alaska. It was hard to say goodbye to many people from church, but I am very grateful that we were able to live here, meet and become good friends with those Brothers and Sisters from church. I know that the Lord puts us in the places that we need to be either to touch someone’s life or for our life to be touched by them. We have been very blessed to be in this ward and will truly miss it.
These past two weeks have been very bitter sweet for us. I was able to spend some time with my dear friend Lisa and her family at the parade in Fountain on Monday. The rest of the week Andy and I were trying to pack and prepare for our movers to come on Tuesday. We have been also able to enjoy some quality time together. Haley and Kayla had a fun time playing with their friend on Saturday. On Sunday it was very emotional because it was the last time being in our ward at church and my last time teaching my Sunday school class. It made me feel better to know that my class really enjoyed my teaching and asked if we could Skype on Sunday’s so I can teach them from Alaska. It was hard to say goodbye to many people from church, but I am very grateful that we were able to live here, meet and become good friends with those Brothers and Sisters from church. I know that the Lord puts us in the places that we need to be either to touch someone’s life or for our life to be touched by them. We have been very blessed to be in this ward and will truly miss it.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
September 9, 2012
Grant's News
August 26th Entry
This week Grant had a bit more than expected time off due to some scheduling issues at work. And he used it to catch up on some reading and savor the last bits of summer. He ended up reading Julius Caesar, The Audacity of Hope by President Obama, and finally, half of a Princess Diana biography...which has involved a lot of crying. The most traumatic thing that happened this week was when Lanette asked Mom "Why can't Grant just be normal?" Apparently, Lanette meant a different Grant... likely story. Grantis looking forward to this final week of summer and reminds the kids daily of how many days until school starts.
August 19th Entry
This week has been a bumpy one at work. Some days the restaurant is hopping, the next day it is dead. So Grant goes in each day not even knowing what to expect. He is looking forward to school starting because that seems to add some predictability to work and what is going on. On his day off this week Grant worked on dividing some of the perennials in the garden and transplanting them to other areas. On Friday, somehow Grant wasn't working, and he ended up watching the movie Flight 93 with Lanette... which was a difficult movie to describe to her since it jumps from scene to scene pretty rapidly.
The Colorado Haws Family
This is the last blog update as the Colorado Haws Family!
August 26th Entry
These past two weeks have been filled with excitement and blessings. First, Haley started 2nd grade and Kayla started Kindergarten which they were both very excited for, especially because Kayla was with her friends Becca and Emma. Last Monday I was able to spend the day with Andy while he cleared post. While clearing we received a call from the housing office on Fort Wainwright offering us a house in the Junior NCO housing area to stay in. Of course we accepted it and signed the acceptance letter. On Friday however Andy made the SFC (E-7) list for September which was very exciting news, but it made it so we wouldn’t be able to have the house that we accepted. I ended up calling the housing office and as a result of a lot of prayer and faith and having the housing office talk to their supervisor we were able to still keep the house that we were offered. One of the best parts of having that house is we will already know one of the neighbors who I have been corresponding with that will also be in the same ward at church. Another blessing this week is we have been able to sell the things that we needed to prior to moving to Alaska. With both Haley and Kayla in school, Andy and I have been able to go on many lunch dates and just spend time together, which has been long overdue with all of the deployments.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
I have really fallen behind in updating the family blog. We have passed Jeff's 30th birthday and Emily's 19th birthday. We have had campouts, visits to New Mexico, garden's producing all sorts of food and many good memories.
Highlights of the weeks include the following:
School started!!! Grant, Mom, Logan and Lanette were all happy to get back into the more usual pattern of life. This is Lanette's last year in high school and Logan's last year in middle school. Logan will be attending Columbus Catholic School. He has some good friends there. The Saturday before school started he joined with about 6 friends to go canoeing. They had a great time.
Mom's trip to see Henry. That was really great. Henry is very cute and Nana had to go for a visit. Pictures of Henry will be on the flickr account for you to view. Stacie and Kevin were great hosts to Mom. They enjoyed a trip to Tucano's for a great meal. Mom enjoyed every minute of time with Henry while Stacie and Kevin had a chance for a date.
Boy Scouts- Logan and I went on an awesome trip to the Porcupine Mountains along the coast of Lake Superior. We did a 6 or 7 mile hike through some beautiful trails that ran along side two different mountain lakes along with wetlands and forests. Logan received today in a court of honor both his Star and Life Advancement as well as 4 merit badges. Pretty awesome.
Temple opportunities. Logan, Mom and Lanette along with Jeff and Julie were able to attend the St Paul Temple and do temple work on Saturday. I was privileged to watch Alex. It was a great day. Earlier in August I was able to go and do initiatories. We have lots of temple work to do so please contact me if you can help.
Canning. We have had a bumper crop of tomatoes along wtih cabbage, carrots, brussel sprouts (yet to be harvested) and squash. Mom and I have canned quite a bit and have more to go.
Well, I hope that you will enjoy this new update. I would love to hear from you.
Love,
Dad
August 26th Entry
This week Grant had a bit more than expected time off due to some scheduling issues at work. And he used it to catch up on some reading and savor the last bits of summer. He ended up reading Julius Caesar, The Audacity of Hope by President Obama, and finally, half of a Princess Diana biography...which has involved a lot of crying. The most traumatic thing that happened this week was when Lanette asked Mom "Why can't Grant just be normal?" Apparently, Lanette meant a different Grant... likely story. Grantis looking forward to this final week of summer and reminds the kids daily of how many days until school starts.
August 19th Entry
This week has been a bumpy one at work. Some days the restaurant is hopping, the next day it is dead. So Grant goes in each day not even knowing what to expect. He is looking forward to school starting because that seems to add some predictability to work and what is going on. On his day off this week Grant worked on dividing some of the perennials in the garden and transplanting them to other areas. On Friday, somehow Grant wasn't working, and he ended up watching the movie Flight 93 with Lanette... which was a difficult movie to describe to her since it jumps from scene to scene pretty rapidly.
The Colorado Haws Family
This is the last blog update as the Colorado Haws Family!
August 26th Entry
These past two weeks have been filled with excitement and blessings. First, Haley started 2nd grade and Kayla started Kindergarten which they were both very excited for, especially because Kayla was with her friends Becca and Emma. Last Monday I was able to spend the day with Andy while he cleared post. While clearing we received a call from the housing office on Fort Wainwright offering us a house in the Junior NCO housing area to stay in. Of course we accepted it and signed the acceptance letter. On Friday however Andy made the SFC (E-7) list for September which was very exciting news, but it made it so we wouldn’t be able to have the house that we accepted. I ended up calling the housing office and as a result of a lot of prayer and faith and having the housing office talk to their supervisor we were able to still keep the house that we were offered. One of the best parts of having that house is we will already know one of the neighbors who I have been corresponding with that will also be in the same ward at church. Another blessing this week is we have been able to sell the things that we needed to prior to moving to Alaska. With both Haley and Kayla in school, Andy and I have been able to go on many lunch dates and just spend time together, which has been long overdue with all of the deployments.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
I have really fallen behind in updating the family blog. We have passed Jeff's 30th birthday and Emily's 19th birthday. We have had campouts, visits to New Mexico, garden's producing all sorts of food and many good memories.
Highlights of the weeks include the following:
School started!!! Grant, Mom, Logan and Lanette were all happy to get back into the more usual pattern of life. This is Lanette's last year in high school and Logan's last year in middle school. Logan will be attending Columbus Catholic School. He has some good friends there. The Saturday before school started he joined with about 6 friends to go canoeing. They had a great time.
Mom's trip to see Henry. That was really great. Henry is very cute and Nana had to go for a visit. Pictures of Henry will be on the flickr account for you to view. Stacie and Kevin were great hosts to Mom. They enjoyed a trip to Tucano's for a great meal. Mom enjoyed every minute of time with Henry while Stacie and Kevin had a chance for a date.
Boy Scouts- Logan and I went on an awesome trip to the Porcupine Mountains along the coast of Lake Superior. We did a 6 or 7 mile hike through some beautiful trails that ran along side two different mountain lakes along with wetlands and forests. Logan received today in a court of honor both his Star and Life Advancement as well as 4 merit badges. Pretty awesome.
Temple opportunities. Logan, Mom and Lanette along with Jeff and Julie were able to attend the St Paul Temple and do temple work on Saturday. I was privileged to watch Alex. It was a great day. Earlier in August I was able to go and do initiatories. We have lots of temple work to do so please contact me if you can help.
Canning. We have had a bumper crop of tomatoes along wtih cabbage, carrots, brussel sprouts (yet to be harvested) and squash. Mom and I have canned quite a bit and have more to go.
Well, I hope that you will enjoy this new update. I would love to hear from you.
Love,
Dad
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
August 15, 2012
Sorry for the lack of updates on our family blog. I hope that you will enjoy the news.
The Colorado Haws Family
August 12, 2012
This week has seemed to fly by for all of us. On Monday Andy and I were able to set up transportation and then have a date night while Vanesa watched the girls for us. On Tuesday Vanesa and I took the kids shopping at the mall. I took the kids to the play place while Vanesa enjoyed peace and quiet while talking to the sales person at the cell phone company. On Wednesday we took all of the kids to the park and then out for some ice cream, which kind of ended up being their lunch (very healthy I know!) We then adventured off to the commissary with 8 extra hands wanting to get things off the shelves. Luckily nothing ended up broken or ripped opened while shopping. On Thursday we were sad to see Vanesa, Wyatt and Luke leave. Both Haley and Kayla cried for a good hour. They started to cheer up when their friend Sydney came to play. Haley was so excited because Thursday afternoon Andy was able to pull out her loose tooth! I think Andy was kind of excited also because that was the first time he was able to do something like that for Haley. Friday was cleaning day for us, especially going though Andy’s military gear so he can turn it in next week. Saturday was another cleaning and de-clutter day for us. Sunday Kayla gave the scripture and prayer in primary at church which she said she did really good. We also enjoyed having Brother Stewart come over for home teaching.
August 5, 2012
This past week we were very grateful to finally receive the amended orders to go to Alaska. Now we can try to get transportation set up and other tasks accomplished for our move. On Thursday and Friday I took Haley and Kayla to two different end-of-summer parties at two different libraries where they were able to have fun doing activities and eat ice cream. Haley and Kayla were very excited to have their cousins and aunt come for a visit. On Saturday we all went to the zoo. It was a very good day to go because the temperature was 70 degrees with a good breeze. Later that night Vanesa had to take Wyatt to the ER because one of his blisters became infected. On Sunday we all enjoyed the day at church.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
August 5, 2012
Stacie's work has become increasingly busy and crazy this week (making her even more grateful she took that week off to play with Grant and the Hirzes), with lots of changes in administrative staff. However, for the first time in six months she has a supervisor, for which she is grateful. Kevin has been enjoying his last few weeks at home with Henry. This upcoming week will be his last week of vacation until work and school start up. While together, the Jacksons have enjoyed watching the Olympics, making a birthday cake for Harry Potter, and playing with Henry. On Saturday, Stacie tripped and fell while holding Henry. Thankfully both of them are fine, though a little traumatized.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
We have enjoyed some great opportunities since my last addition to the family blog.
In late July and early August Logan and I went to Camp Freeland Leslie for our annual scout summer camp. It was the LDS encampment and we had scouts from all over Wisconsin and Illinois. Elder Gibson of the General Young Men's Presidency attended the camp which was terrific. Logan completed 3 merit badges and partially completed 3 other merit badges. On Sunday he met the Scout Board of Review and earned his Life Rank. That is a huge milestone for a 13 year-old boy.
Lanette of course enjoyed some time with the Elmhorst family and will be having an opportunity to spend time with Julie, Jeff and Alex later this month. She has been attending a program that is a combined daycare for older adults and children. Lanette really loves being with older adults just as much as with little children. She loves talking with them and laughing together.
Emily was able to join us for dinner last Sunday. She is working on her wedding plans but the big challenge for her right now is finding the right dress.
Mom will be making a special visit out to see Stacie, Kevin and Henry in the near future. We wish so much that we could spend time with all of you. She has had the opportunity to spend time with Alex while Julie and Jeff did some activities. She has been getting a lot of her things organized that she inherited from Grandma Stewart. One of these days her craft room will be just right.
I have been having fun with scouts and look forward to an upcoming activity in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We will be hiking on the coast of Lake Superior. I have been busier that usual at work which is really nice. Mom and I will be going to the temple this week which I greatly look forward to.
For news from our family-
Jeff and his family are coming closer to being able to come to the USA. We are very excited. Felipe was able to participate as a player in a celebrity soccer game that was held in Angra. Apparently one of the celebrities was unable to attend so Felipe was recruited.
Jeff and Julie are making progress in getting the Lane's home up and ready for sell. Hopefully that goes smoothly. Alex is crawling and playing and doing all the things a healthy little boy should do.
Grant keeps working hard. Tips go up and down. He has witnessed the tip differential between a pregnant server and a male server. He is trying to figure out how to level the playing field.
The Colorado Haws Family
August 12, 2012
This week has seemed to fly by for all of us. On Monday Andy and I were able to set up transportation and then have a date night while Vanesa watched the girls for us. On Tuesday Vanesa and I took the kids shopping at the mall. I took the kids to the play place while Vanesa enjoyed peace and quiet while talking to the sales person at the cell phone company. On Wednesday we took all of the kids to the park and then out for some ice cream, which kind of ended up being their lunch (very healthy I know!) We then adventured off to the commissary with 8 extra hands wanting to get things off the shelves. Luckily nothing ended up broken or ripped opened while shopping. On Thursday we were sad to see Vanesa, Wyatt and Luke leave. Both Haley and Kayla cried for a good hour. They started to cheer up when their friend Sydney came to play. Haley was so excited because Thursday afternoon Andy was able to pull out her loose tooth! I think Andy was kind of excited also because that was the first time he was able to do something like that for Haley. Friday was cleaning day for us, especially going though Andy’s military gear so he can turn it in next week. Saturday was another cleaning and de-clutter day for us. Sunday Kayla gave the scripture and prayer in primary at church which she said she did really good. We also enjoyed having Brother Stewart come over for home teaching.
August 5, 2012
This past week we were very grateful to finally receive the amended orders to go to Alaska. Now we can try to get transportation set up and other tasks accomplished for our move. On Thursday and Friday I took Haley and Kayla to two different end-of-summer parties at two different libraries where they were able to have fun doing activities and eat ice cream. Haley and Kayla were very excited to have their cousins and aunt come for a visit. On Saturday we all went to the zoo. It was a very good day to go because the temperature was 70 degrees with a good breeze. Later that night Vanesa had to take Wyatt to the ER because one of his blisters became infected. On Sunday we all enjoyed the day at church.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
August 5, 2012
Stacie's work has become increasingly busy and crazy this week (making her even more grateful she took that week off to play with Grant and the Hirzes), with lots of changes in administrative staff. However, for the first time in six months she has a supervisor, for which she is grateful. Kevin has been enjoying his last few weeks at home with Henry. This upcoming week will be his last week of vacation until work and school start up. While together, the Jacksons have enjoyed watching the Olympics, making a birthday cake for Harry Potter, and playing with Henry. On Saturday, Stacie tripped and fell while holding Henry. Thankfully both of them are fine, though a little traumatized.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
We have enjoyed some great opportunities since my last addition to the family blog.
In late July and early August Logan and I went to Camp Freeland Leslie for our annual scout summer camp. It was the LDS encampment and we had scouts from all over Wisconsin and Illinois. Elder Gibson of the General Young Men's Presidency attended the camp which was terrific. Logan completed 3 merit badges and partially completed 3 other merit badges. On Sunday he met the Scout Board of Review and earned his Life Rank. That is a huge milestone for a 13 year-old boy.
Lanette of course enjoyed some time with the Elmhorst family and will be having an opportunity to spend time with Julie, Jeff and Alex later this month. She has been attending a program that is a combined daycare for older adults and children. Lanette really loves being with older adults just as much as with little children. She loves talking with them and laughing together.
Emily was able to join us for dinner last Sunday. She is working on her wedding plans but the big challenge for her right now is finding the right dress.
Mom will be making a special visit out to see Stacie, Kevin and Henry in the near future. We wish so much that we could spend time with all of you. She has had the opportunity to spend time with Alex while Julie and Jeff did some activities. She has been getting a lot of her things organized that she inherited from Grandma Stewart. One of these days her craft room will be just right.
I have been having fun with scouts and look forward to an upcoming activity in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We will be hiking on the coast of Lake Superior. I have been busier that usual at work which is really nice. Mom and I will be going to the temple this week which I greatly look forward to.
For news from our family-
Jeff and his family are coming closer to being able to come to the USA. We are very excited. Felipe was able to participate as a player in a celebrity soccer game that was held in Angra. Apparently one of the celebrities was unable to attend so Felipe was recruited.
Jeff and Julie are making progress in getting the Lane's home up and ready for sell. Hopefully that goes smoothly. Alex is crawling and playing and doing all the things a healthy little boy should do.
Grant keeps working hard. Tips go up and down. He has witnessed the tip differential between a pregnant server and a male server. He is trying to figure out how to level the playing field.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
July 29, 2012
Grant's News
Grant had a great ten days with Stacie, Kevin, Henry, Brent, Claire, and Carolyn in Albuquerque. The trip included adventures to the zoo, a baseball game, Santa Fe, and lots of time playing with the two babies. He was very grateful to spend so much time with such awesome people. Grant flew back early Saturday morning and has been spending the weekend resting before he heads back to work on Monday.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
From July 22nd- late entry
Stacie, Kevin and Henry are giddy with excitement about having Grant and the Hirzes arrive this upcoming week. Work has been increasingly stressful for Stacie, so she especially looks forward to taking a week off to spend time with people she loves. This past week the Jackson's enjoyed eating lots of apricots falling from their neighbor's tree. They recently purchased a Bumbo seat to help strengthen Henry's back and they were glad when it finally arrived. Henry isn't thrilled about it, but he'll warm up to it eventually. Henry still has a cough, but it looks like he is close to recovering.
From July 29th
The Jacksons enjoyed a wonderful week with Grant and the Hirzes. In between trips to the zoo and Santa Fe, they enjoyed playing games, talking, and laughing together. Also, while together both babies reached milestones; Claire Hirz turned 6 months old and Henry turned 5 months old. On Wednesday they were all sorry to say goodbye to the Hirzes, but grateful to continue enjoying time with Grant.
On Thursday they introduced Henry to his first solid- avocado. Henry loved it and kept reaching for more. Stacie and Kevin are excited to help him discover new foods. They also enjoyed a trip with Grant to the Bosque (forest) by the Rio Grande. Then on Friday they took Henry to get professional pictures taken at the mall. It'll be a few weeks until they can share the pictures, but they guarantee that Henry looks very cute.
Kevin and Stacie were sad to say goodbye to Grant on Saturday, but were very thankful for the wonderful time they spent together. They are now counting down until the grandparents can come visit! In the meantime enjoy the many, many pictures that they have shared.
The Colorado Haws Family
These past few weeks have been very busy for us. We had a couple of birthday’s that we went to and finished off the girls swimming lessons. We also have been trying to get things taking care of for our move to Alaska…right now it seems to be at a stop until we get the official orders so we can set up transportation. Despite all of the stress from moving we had a wonderful week. We were able to enjoy some time with Andy’s family in Nauvoo, IL (a church history site). It was very peaceful to be in that area. We learned more about what the saints had to go through, and how they built the beautiful Nauvoo temple and then were driven out by the angry mobs and again had to leave everything that they had to head west after the Prophet Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith was martyred in Carthage, IL. Being in Nauvoo had made me very grateful for those before me who kept the faith and never gave up even with all the hardships that they had to face.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Lanette had an absolutely great time this last week. She stayed at the Elmhorst family and did all sorts of fun things. She treated them to dinner at A & W. She learned that "Celestial Seasonings Sleepy Time Tea" was really good. Grant has had a great time teasing her about the tea. She enjoyed meeting new people, attending a birthday party, watched movies and all sorts of other things.
Logan, Mom and I had an absolutely wonderful time in Nauvoo. We met up with Julie, Jeff & Alex along with Andy, Melanie, Haley and Kayla in Ft Madison on Friday night. Before we arrived they had a great time swimming. On Saturday we moved into our cabin in Nauvoo. Julie, Jeff, Logan and me were privileged to do baptisms for the dead. Jeff did the baptisms and I helped with confirmations. We were able to do the work for a number of our ancestors. That evening we were able to attend the pageant. It was amazing.
On Sunday we attended church and later enjoyed dinner together. Julie, Jeff and Alex had to take off to return to Wisconsin. The rest of us went to Carthage and enjoyed a really great musical "fireside" called "And the story goes on..." The performers were excellent and I could picture many of you as performers in such an exhilarating performance.
On Monday Melanie and Mom enjoyed temple service while we got ready and later joined them in fun activities in Nauvoo including a horse drawn wagon ride through Old Nauvoo. We had fun at the Browning Gun shop, the brickyard and the a midday children's play. That evening we traveled to Carthage and toured the Carthage Jail and then ate pizza together.
Tuesday included an opportunity to ride a horse drawn carriage ride around the perimeter of Old Nauvoo. The narrator was a spirit filled wonderful senior missionary. We were all touched by his testimony. Later we went to the Blacksmith shop and toured the stores of modern day Nauvoo. That evening we watched a play then headed home to our cabin after a terrific meal together at a Mexican restaurant.
That evening I thought a great deal about the meaning of family. I considered the individuals in our own family tree that had waited so long to have the sealing work done. I had in my possession the sealing card for a couple that was dated back to my research work in Higley, Arizona. I knew that they wanted to be sealed as an eternal family. That feeling propelled Mom and I to go to the temple again on Wednesday morning to do the sealing for some of our ancestors. The temple was an amazing place and was the crowning jewel of Nauvoo. I surely appreciate your help in getting this work done for our ancestors. I feel a constant drive to do more for the salvation of our ancestors. Thank you for your help.
After leaving the temple, Mom, Logan and I did a couple of more things and headed home. We had a few missed roads and ended up in Marshfield after Melanie and Andy and the girls were home.
We enjoyed having Emily over for a night. She is working very hard. Logan and I enjoyed lunch at her restaurant on Saturday. Today we enjoyed dinner with Julie, Jeff and Alex.
Love,
Dad
Grant had a great ten days with Stacie, Kevin, Henry, Brent, Claire, and Carolyn in Albuquerque. The trip included adventures to the zoo, a baseball game, Santa Fe, and lots of time playing with the two babies. He was very grateful to spend so much time with such awesome people. Grant flew back early Saturday morning and has been spending the weekend resting before he heads back to work on Monday.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
From July 22nd- late entry
Stacie, Kevin and Henry are giddy with excitement about having Grant and the Hirzes arrive this upcoming week. Work has been increasingly stressful for Stacie, so she especially looks forward to taking a week off to spend time with people she loves. This past week the Jackson's enjoyed eating lots of apricots falling from their neighbor's tree. They recently purchased a Bumbo seat to help strengthen Henry's back and they were glad when it finally arrived. Henry isn't thrilled about it, but he'll warm up to it eventually. Henry still has a cough, but it looks like he is close to recovering.
From July 29th
The Jacksons enjoyed a wonderful week with Grant and the Hirzes. In between trips to the zoo and Santa Fe, they enjoyed playing games, talking, and laughing together. Also, while together both babies reached milestones; Claire Hirz turned 6 months old and Henry turned 5 months old. On Wednesday they were all sorry to say goodbye to the Hirzes, but grateful to continue enjoying time with Grant.
On Thursday they introduced Henry to his first solid- avocado. Henry loved it and kept reaching for more. Stacie and Kevin are excited to help him discover new foods. They also enjoyed a trip with Grant to the Bosque (forest) by the Rio Grande. Then on Friday they took Henry to get professional pictures taken at the mall. It'll be a few weeks until they can share the pictures, but they guarantee that Henry looks very cute.
Kevin and Stacie were sad to say goodbye to Grant on Saturday, but were very thankful for the wonderful time they spent together. They are now counting down until the grandparents can come visit! In the meantime enjoy the many, many pictures that they have shared.
The Colorado Haws Family
These past few weeks have been very busy for us. We had a couple of birthday’s that we went to and finished off the girls swimming lessons. We also have been trying to get things taking care of for our move to Alaska…right now it seems to be at a stop until we get the official orders so we can set up transportation. Despite all of the stress from moving we had a wonderful week. We were able to enjoy some time with Andy’s family in Nauvoo, IL (a church history site). It was very peaceful to be in that area. We learned more about what the saints had to go through, and how they built the beautiful Nauvoo temple and then were driven out by the angry mobs and again had to leave everything that they had to head west after the Prophet Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith was martyred in Carthage, IL. Being in Nauvoo had made me very grateful for those before me who kept the faith and never gave up even with all the hardships that they had to face.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Lanette had an absolutely great time this last week. She stayed at the Elmhorst family and did all sorts of fun things. She treated them to dinner at A & W. She learned that "Celestial Seasonings Sleepy Time Tea" was really good. Grant has had a great time teasing her about the tea. She enjoyed meeting new people, attending a birthday party, watched movies and all sorts of other things.
Logan, Mom and I had an absolutely wonderful time in Nauvoo. We met up with Julie, Jeff & Alex along with Andy, Melanie, Haley and Kayla in Ft Madison on Friday night. Before we arrived they had a great time swimming. On Saturday we moved into our cabin in Nauvoo. Julie, Jeff, Logan and me were privileged to do baptisms for the dead. Jeff did the baptisms and I helped with confirmations. We were able to do the work for a number of our ancestors. That evening we were able to attend the pageant. It was amazing.
On Sunday we attended church and later enjoyed dinner together. Julie, Jeff and Alex had to take off to return to Wisconsin. The rest of us went to Carthage and enjoyed a really great musical "fireside" called "And the story goes on..." The performers were excellent and I could picture many of you as performers in such an exhilarating performance.
On Monday Melanie and Mom enjoyed temple service while we got ready and later joined them in fun activities in Nauvoo including a horse drawn wagon ride through Old Nauvoo. We had fun at the Browning Gun shop, the brickyard and the a midday children's play. That evening we traveled to Carthage and toured the Carthage Jail and then ate pizza together.
Tuesday included an opportunity to ride a horse drawn carriage ride around the perimeter of Old Nauvoo. The narrator was a spirit filled wonderful senior missionary. We were all touched by his testimony. Later we went to the Blacksmith shop and toured the stores of modern day Nauvoo. That evening we watched a play then headed home to our cabin after a terrific meal together at a Mexican restaurant.
That evening I thought a great deal about the meaning of family. I considered the individuals in our own family tree that had waited so long to have the sealing work done. I had in my possession the sealing card for a couple that was dated back to my research work in Higley, Arizona. I knew that they wanted to be sealed as an eternal family. That feeling propelled Mom and I to go to the temple again on Wednesday morning to do the sealing for some of our ancestors. The temple was an amazing place and was the crowning jewel of Nauvoo. I surely appreciate your help in getting this work done for our ancestors. I feel a constant drive to do more for the salvation of our ancestors. Thank you for your help.
After leaving the temple, Mom, Logan and I did a couple of more things and headed home. We had a few missed roads and ended up in Marshfield after Melanie and Andy and the girls were home.
We enjoyed having Emily over for a night. She is working very hard. Logan and I enjoyed lunch at her restaurant on Saturday. Today we enjoyed dinner with Julie, Jeff and Alex.
Love,
Dad
Thursday, July 19, 2012
July 19, 2012
The Haws Family of Brazil
Mom and Dad,
And they're off! Felipe and Lucas have left for a week and a half at
soccer tournaments. That is the big news for the two of them. Both seem
to be doing well and phone conversation suggests that they would prefer
that we called less and just let them have fun.
Derick has been doubly spoiled during with the absence of his brothers.
On Saturday we went to see Ice Age 4 in 3D in the movie theater. The 3D
movie was quite fun. Following the move we did hamburgers and brought
home a neat toy. The toy was a dinosaur clad in clay that we had to use
wooden finger-picks and brushes to clear the clay and uncover the
dinosaur. While Derick and I found our first archaeological dig to be
great fun, Renata decided it was messy and ruled out the hopes of having
another dig.
Renata is doing well. She has been busy as always and missing the boys
while they are gone. Renata's sister is dating and Renata's joy is the
game of cupid and listening to the excitement of her sister's stories.
For me things are going well. At work I am going through a bit of
growing pains as we have set up too many routines and I need to rebuild
some to better manage the computer resources.
Outside of work I have had the chance to learn lots of new things. I
ditched the high costs of Windows and Apple when I came to Brazil
turning to Linux as an alternative. I used Ubuntu since I arrived and
confess that I thought it much better than Windows or Apple. Feeling
adventurous I moved from Ubuntu to a different version of Linux called
Fedora. I continue impressed. I am not sure which version I prefer.
Ubuntu is certainly easier for the non-programmer but Fedora offers some
added simplicity for the power-user (myself). For now I will continue
with Fedora but I might revert back to Ubuntu in the near future.
My suggestion for the week, if you are fed up with having all of the
viruses and headaches of your Windows machine, it might be time to try
Linux. If you are interested you might try out Ubuntu. Highly
recommended.
That is all for me.
Love,
Jeff
The Jackson Family
Stacie, Kevin and Henry are giddy with excitement about having Grant and the Hirzes arrive this upcoming week. Work has been increasingly stressful for Stacie, so she especially looks forward to taking a week off to spend time with people she loves. This past week the Jackson's enjoyed eating lots of apricots falling from their neighbor's tree. They recently purchased a Bumbo seat to help strengthen Henry's back and they were glad when it finally arrived. Henry isn't thrilled about it, but he'll warm up to it eventually. Henry still has a cough, but it looks like he is close to recovering.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
This is kind of strange preparing this blog update. Lanette is gone to the Elmhorsts. Grant is with Stacie & Kevin (and Henry, Carolyn, Brent & Clare). Julie, Jeff and Alex are in Nauvoo. And Molly is at the kennel. Logan, Mom and I ate a very quiet dinner. We had one pizza and lots of left overs. This is really weird. We will be taking off soon to go to Nauvoo. It will be a wonderful chance to see family and perhaps friends (maybe the McKendricks). I need a break from work and Mom and Logan can use some fun.
This past week was wonderful because we had several good and much needed rain showers. The garden and lawn very much appreciate the rain. I must have saved several hours in watering time. My garden is looking pretty good and we are anticipating a good harvest. I do love to go out to the garden early in the morning and enjoy the bird's songs and the cool breeze. This Saturday we attended a branch picnic called heritage days on Saturday and later I was able to help a bit with painting at Julie and Jeff's.
I have been doing quite a bit of family history work this week so that we can do the temple work for our ancestors this week in Nauvoo. At work I have called Jeff for help on computer stuff. Reading his recommendation on computers makes me think that Linux may be my next move.
Mom has been working in her room trying to get it the way she wants. Logan enjoyed a back to school picnic. It was a good opportunity to spend time with friends. He has redecorated his room and had a wonderful time doing it. He is very proud of it.
We enjoyed having Emily over on Sunday.
We love each of you and hope that this finds you happy and safe.
Love,
Dad
Mom and Dad,
And they're off! Felipe and Lucas have left for a week and a half at
soccer tournaments. That is the big news for the two of them. Both seem
to be doing well and phone conversation suggests that they would prefer
that we called less and just let them have fun.
Derick has been doubly spoiled during with the absence of his brothers.
On Saturday we went to see Ice Age 4 in 3D in the movie theater. The 3D
movie was quite fun. Following the move we did hamburgers and brought
home a neat toy. The toy was a dinosaur clad in clay that we had to use
wooden finger-picks and brushes to clear the clay and uncover the
dinosaur. While Derick and I found our first archaeological dig to be
great fun, Renata decided it was messy and ruled out the hopes of having
another dig.
Renata is doing well. She has been busy as always and missing the boys
while they are gone. Renata's sister is dating and Renata's joy is the
game of cupid and listening to the excitement of her sister's stories.
For me things are going well. At work I am going through a bit of
growing pains as we have set up too many routines and I need to rebuild
some to better manage the computer resources.
Outside of work I have had the chance to learn lots of new things. I
ditched the high costs of Windows and Apple when I came to Brazil
turning to Linux as an alternative. I used Ubuntu since I arrived and
confess that I thought it much better than Windows or Apple. Feeling
adventurous I moved from Ubuntu to a different version of Linux called
Fedora. I continue impressed. I am not sure which version I prefer.
Ubuntu is certainly easier for the non-programmer but Fedora offers some
added simplicity for the power-user (myself). For now I will continue
with Fedora but I might revert back to Ubuntu in the near future.
My suggestion for the week, if you are fed up with having all of the
viruses and headaches of your Windows machine, it might be time to try
Linux. If you are interested you might try out Ubuntu. Highly
recommended.
That is all for me.
Love,
Jeff
The Jackson Family
Stacie, Kevin and Henry are giddy with excitement about having Grant and the Hirzes arrive this upcoming week. Work has been increasingly stressful for Stacie, so she especially looks forward to taking a week off to spend time with people she loves. This past week the Jackson's enjoyed eating lots of apricots falling from their neighbor's tree. They recently purchased a Bumbo seat to help strengthen Henry's back and they were glad when it finally arrived. Henry isn't thrilled about it, but he'll warm up to it eventually. Henry still has a cough, but it looks like he is close to recovering.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
This is kind of strange preparing this blog update. Lanette is gone to the Elmhorsts. Grant is with Stacie & Kevin (and Henry, Carolyn, Brent & Clare). Julie, Jeff and Alex are in Nauvoo. And Molly is at the kennel. Logan, Mom and I ate a very quiet dinner. We had one pizza and lots of left overs. This is really weird. We will be taking off soon to go to Nauvoo. It will be a wonderful chance to see family and perhaps friends (maybe the McKendricks). I need a break from work and Mom and Logan can use some fun.
This past week was wonderful because we had several good and much needed rain showers. The garden and lawn very much appreciate the rain. I must have saved several hours in watering time. My garden is looking pretty good and we are anticipating a good harvest. I do love to go out to the garden early in the morning and enjoy the bird's songs and the cool breeze. This Saturday we attended a branch picnic called heritage days on Saturday and later I was able to help a bit with painting at Julie and Jeff's.
I have been doing quite a bit of family history work this week so that we can do the temple work for our ancestors this week in Nauvoo. At work I have called Jeff for help on computer stuff. Reading his recommendation on computers makes me think that Linux may be my next move.
Mom has been working in her room trying to get it the way she wants. Logan enjoyed a back to school picnic. It was a good opportunity to spend time with friends. He has redecorated his room and had a wonderful time doing it. He is very proud of it.
We enjoyed having Emily over on Sunday.
We love each of you and hope that this finds you happy and safe.
Love,
Dad
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
July 11, 2012
The Haws Family of Angra
Mom and Dad,
With a little spare time I thought that I would write a short note on our week.
The boys just went through the last week of testing for the semester. Wednesday begins winter break, yes that was winter I said. Winter break will last until the end of the month and I already feel tired.
Felipe and Lucas should be going to soccer tournaments. Felipe will be playing in Rio and Lucas will be participating in try-outs in São Paulo at a professional team. Both are excited.
Derick is pleased to get a break from school. He has done well and is a very good student.
Renata has been busy. Several of us have been sick on and off over the last couple of weeks and Renata has been overwhelmed trying to take care of everyone.
As to myself, I have been having a lot of fun at work. There are several interesting projects that I have been working on. I had been working through weather data for some time, now that those applications are stable I have been working on a distribution system for managing the increasing number of reports that are being sent. I have also been working on expanding our current set up so that I can manage more computers easily. These tasks have been exciting for me and have taught me to think in very different ways than I had a few months ago. I am very pleased.
That is all from us. We are well and hope you are too.
Love,
Jeff
Grant's News
Grant had a bit of a bumpy week at work. Nothing catastrophic, just a couple of rough days. A friend from work has been gone for the last week on vacation and that throws him off his groove a bit. Otherwise, Grant was excited to be off work the 4th of July, because working in a restaurant over a big grilling day is kind of cruddy. No business at all. So he was thankful to get the spend the day at home relaxing rather than guarding an empty restaurant. Thanks to the hot and muggy weather, the wildflowers here are springing up all over the place. Some of the wildflowers are over a month early. And of course, Grant was excited for July 5th, the official start of back to school sales at stores.
The Haws Family of Colorado
This past week we have been trying to stay busy doing activities as a family. On Monday we went to a Sesame Street play put on by the USO. It was kind of ironic that we went to it because it was about moving to new places and meeting new people. On Wednesday we went swimming to celebrate the 4th of July since they had cancelled all of the other celebrations around town due to the fire. On Thursday we enjoyed the morning at the zoo. The girls were excited because they were able to see the gorillas eating. Saturday Haley and Kayla made a Penske truck at home depot. Luckily we went in the morning, because by the afternoon it was pouring down rain. It also poured down rain after church on Sunday. We are very grateful for the rain even if it does come down all at once.
The Jackson Family of Albuquerque
Kevin, Stacie and Henry has a wonderful week and enjoyed extra time together on Wednesday, since Stacie had the day off of work. They celebrated Canada Day and Independence Day with grilling. On Saturday Kevin was grateful to take some time to golf with his friends. Stacie spent lots of time snuggling Henry. The Jacksons are counting down the days until Grant arrives, along with Carolyn, Brent and Claire Hirz.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
Wisconsin continues to swelter in the heat. Thankful it is a bit cooler but this week compared to last but heat is heat and we specialize in humidity. We could really use some rain for the crops but my garden appreciates the fact that hoses can bring water when the clouds don't.
We have enjoyed soccer games and family time this last few days. On the 4th we went to the branch pancake breakfast. Later that day Logan, Lanette and I went over to Julie and Jeff's to do some painting and helping out. Logan mowed the lawn and Lanette helped hold Alex. It worked out pretty well. That evening we can home to a delicious meal that Grant and Mom had waiting for us.
Logan's final soccer game was last night. They lost but overall they had a very successful season. Logan will be joining the Columbus soccer program in a few weeks so it is nice to have a break for awhile from practices and games.
One of the fun things we have been doing is eating healthier and exercising more. I know that I feel better and I hope everyone else is too.
We are all looking forward to vacations. Grant will be off to Albuquerque. Lanette will stay here. Yes, of course, with the Elmhorst family. Logan, Kellie and I will be off to Nauvoo to meet up with Julie, Jeff, Alex and Andy, Melanie, Haley and Kayla. It will be great to be together and we look forward to seeing all of you during the coming year.
Love,
Dad
Mom and Dad,
With a little spare time I thought that I would write a short note on our week.
The boys just went through the last week of testing for the semester. Wednesday begins winter break, yes that was winter I said. Winter break will last until the end of the month and I already feel tired.
Felipe and Lucas should be going to soccer tournaments. Felipe will be playing in Rio and Lucas will be participating in try-outs in São Paulo at a professional team. Both are excited.
Derick is pleased to get a break from school. He has done well and is a very good student.
Renata has been busy. Several of us have been sick on and off over the last couple of weeks and Renata has been overwhelmed trying to take care of everyone.
As to myself, I have been having a lot of fun at work. There are several interesting projects that I have been working on. I had been working through weather data for some time, now that those applications are stable I have been working on a distribution system for managing the increasing number of reports that are being sent. I have also been working on expanding our current set up so that I can manage more computers easily. These tasks have been exciting for me and have taught me to think in very different ways than I had a few months ago. I am very pleased.
That is all from us. We are well and hope you are too.
Love,
Jeff
Grant's News
Grant had a bit of a bumpy week at work. Nothing catastrophic, just a couple of rough days. A friend from work has been gone for the last week on vacation and that throws him off his groove a bit. Otherwise, Grant was excited to be off work the 4th of July, because working in a restaurant over a big grilling day is kind of cruddy. No business at all. So he was thankful to get the spend the day at home relaxing rather than guarding an empty restaurant. Thanks to the hot and muggy weather, the wildflowers here are springing up all over the place. Some of the wildflowers are over a month early. And of course, Grant was excited for July 5th, the official start of back to school sales at stores.
The Haws Family of Colorado
This past week we have been trying to stay busy doing activities as a family. On Monday we went to a Sesame Street play put on by the USO. It was kind of ironic that we went to it because it was about moving to new places and meeting new people. On Wednesday we went swimming to celebrate the 4th of July since they had cancelled all of the other celebrations around town due to the fire. On Thursday we enjoyed the morning at the zoo. The girls were excited because they were able to see the gorillas eating. Saturday Haley and Kayla made a Penske truck at home depot. Luckily we went in the morning, because by the afternoon it was pouring down rain. It also poured down rain after church on Sunday. We are very grateful for the rain even if it does come down all at once.
The Jackson Family of Albuquerque
Kevin, Stacie and Henry has a wonderful week and enjoyed extra time together on Wednesday, since Stacie had the day off of work. They celebrated Canada Day and Independence Day with grilling. On Saturday Kevin was grateful to take some time to golf with his friends. Stacie spent lots of time snuggling Henry. The Jacksons are counting down the days until Grant arrives, along with Carolyn, Brent and Claire Hirz.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
Wisconsin continues to swelter in the heat. Thankful it is a bit cooler but this week compared to last but heat is heat and we specialize in humidity. We could really use some rain for the crops but my garden appreciates the fact that hoses can bring water when the clouds don't.
We have enjoyed soccer games and family time this last few days. On the 4th we went to the branch pancake breakfast. Later that day Logan, Lanette and I went over to Julie and Jeff's to do some painting and helping out. Logan mowed the lawn and Lanette helped hold Alex. It worked out pretty well. That evening we can home to a delicious meal that Grant and Mom had waiting for us.
Logan's final soccer game was last night. They lost but overall they had a very successful season. Logan will be joining the Columbus soccer program in a few weeks so it is nice to have a break for awhile from practices and games.
One of the fun things we have been doing is eating healthier and exercising more. I know that I feel better and I hope everyone else is too.
We are all looking forward to vacations. Grant will be off to Albuquerque. Lanette will stay here. Yes, of course, with the Elmhorst family. Logan, Kellie and I will be off to Nauvoo to meet up with Julie, Jeff, Alex and Andy, Melanie, Haley and Kayla. It will be great to be together and we look forward to seeing all of you during the coming year.
Love,
Dad
Monday, July 2, 2012
July 2, 2012
Happy 4th of July. What a privilege it is to live in our land of freedom and opportunity.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
The Jacksons were all infected with colds this week. Last week Stacie became ill and unfortunately she passed t on to Kevin and Henry. On Tuesday Henry had his 4 month check up where he weighed in at 13 lbs, 11 oz and measured at 25 inches tall. He is developing well and smiling more and more each day.
On Thursday Kevin's summer course ended and Stacie, Kevin and Henry went to a barbecue at their friend Nick's house with Kevin's classmates. Friday was Henry's last day at day care for a little while. Kevin is excited to spend the next month and a half with his buddy. On Saturday Kevin helped a couple people from the ward move and Stacie made lots of cookies. Today they will celebrate Canada Day with some grilling. This morning they were excited to witness Henry rolling over for the first time.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
It has been sizzling here in the great midwest. Thankfully we have not lost power like the Washington D.C. region. It has been a busy week last week with Logan having soccer games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Their team won all of them. Logan has several games this week and a tournament on July 14th to round out his busy soccer season. He made some really nice plays.
Lanette has been attending school Monday through Friday. On Mondays and Thursdays she has stayed to work at the day care. This week one of the senior citizens gave her a bracelet that she really enjoys. She is very excited about spending time at the Elmhorst home in mid July. Lanette is pretty certain the the North Pole is melting this week and the the Day After Tomorrow is sure to happen in 2012.
Emily came to visit this week. She is working hard and becoming excited about Trent and her upcoming wedding. The date is pretty much set in stone for October 30th. She plans on keeping the plans very simple. Mom and her bought the wedding dress today online so things are going forward step by step.
We have a new car. Mom and I bought the car on Friday night. It is a Mazda CX-7 which is a cross over vehicle. Mom loves the buttons and sunroof. She picked it out and did the lion share of the paperwork and figuring out how to get it into our budget.
Mom and I had the privilege of meeting Julie and Jeff at the temple on Saturday. We were able to accomplish a great deal of work for our family including initiatories done by Mom, an endowment done by me and sealings done by Julie, Jeff and me. Mom enjoyed her grandmotherly opportunity to watch Alex while Julie and Jeff enjoyed the blessing of the temple. We really have a wonderful temple here in St Paul which a delightful temple president and matron. They welcome us going in and leaving and always make us feel important.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
The Jacksons were all infected with colds this week. Last week Stacie became ill and unfortunately she passed t on to Kevin and Henry. On Tuesday Henry had his 4 month check up where he weighed in at 13 lbs, 11 oz and measured at 25 inches tall. He is developing well and smiling more and more each day.
On Thursday Kevin's summer course ended and Stacie, Kevin and Henry went to a barbecue at their friend Nick's house with Kevin's classmates. Friday was Henry's last day at day care for a little while. Kevin is excited to spend the next month and a half with his buddy. On Saturday Kevin helped a couple people from the ward move and Stacie made lots of cookies. Today they will celebrate Canada Day with some grilling. This morning they were excited to witness Henry rolling over for the first time.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
It has been sizzling here in the great midwest. Thankfully we have not lost power like the Washington D.C. region. It has been a busy week last week with Logan having soccer games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Their team won all of them. Logan has several games this week and a tournament on July 14th to round out his busy soccer season. He made some really nice plays.
Lanette has been attending school Monday through Friday. On Mondays and Thursdays she has stayed to work at the day care. This week one of the senior citizens gave her a bracelet that she really enjoys. She is very excited about spending time at the Elmhorst home in mid July. Lanette is pretty certain the the North Pole is melting this week and the the Day After Tomorrow is sure to happen in 2012.
Emily came to visit this week. She is working hard and becoming excited about Trent and her upcoming wedding. The date is pretty much set in stone for October 30th. She plans on keeping the plans very simple. Mom and her bought the wedding dress today online so things are going forward step by step.
We have a new car. Mom and I bought the car on Friday night. It is a Mazda CX-7 which is a cross over vehicle. Mom loves the buttons and sunroof. She picked it out and did the lion share of the paperwork and figuring out how to get it into our budget.
Mom and I had the privilege of meeting Julie and Jeff at the temple on Saturday. We were able to accomplish a great deal of work for our family including initiatories done by Mom, an endowment done by me and sealings done by Julie, Jeff and me. Mom enjoyed her grandmotherly opportunity to watch Alex while Julie and Jeff enjoyed the blessing of the temple. We really have a wonderful temple here in St Paul which a delightful temple president and matron. They welcome us going in and leaving and always make us feel important.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
June 26, 2012
Grant's News
Grant's week was pretty busy at work. For the last two weekends, there has been a youth baseball tournament in town, and that causes the restaurant to be filled to the brim with sweaty and hungry twelve year olds. It ain't cute. On Wednesday he had a day off and he was able to plant a new pine tree in the yard with made him happy. He hasn't planted any trees since the two willows earlier in the spring, so his green thumb was itching. In honor of Midsummer, he read Midsummer Night's Dream. This week he also hit the point where it is less than a month until he gets to go to Albuquerque. He listens to "Santa Fe" from Newsies at least once a day. Grant will get to be there for a week and a half in late July.
The Colorado Haws News
This week has been full of mixed emotions. On Monday we went to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Melanie’s birthday. The food and the service were excellent. On Tuesday the girls had a swim play date with Sydney and Ryan. Then on Wednesday was the big emotional day for Melanie because we were first told that we would be going to Germany where Andy would have been deployed as soon as we got there, and then after Andy fought with branch “big Army” for a little bit we were told that we are going to be moving to Fort Wainwright (Fairbanks), Alaska before school starts. So now we are trying to look at the positive side of things and need to make the best of it. On Saturday we enjoyed the day walking around the temple; and as I enjoyed doing a session Andy took the girls to Deseret Book and Target so they could spend their hard earn dollar on a kite. I am grateful that we have a temple so close which will not be the case at Fort Wainwright because the temple is a 6 hour trip each way. On the way back from the temple, we saw a black bear on the side of the road; the girls thought that was pretty exciting. Sunday at church Haley and Kayla were being a bit rambunctious in sacrament meeting. But all in all it was a great day.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
This week we celebrated Grant's birthday. It was a lot of fun. Julie and Jeff and Emily joined us for the celebration. Grant's special birthday meal was delicious. He received some memorable gifts from family.
Logan and dad went on a campout to Mt Olympus in Wisconsin Dells. There were 7 scouts and 2 leaders. We all had a really good time and Logan went on the very awesome roller coaster called "Hades". It was a great ride but I could only do it once. I think Logan had a great time with all his fellow scouts.
Lanette had a relatively quite week but was excited to know that she will be able to attend Tiny Tigers during the period between the end of summer school and the beginning of the new school year.
Mom and Lanette spent Friday and Saturday together because I used the car for the trip. Mom was able to get some work done on her back room. She has shifted her interest to the shopping for a new car. That is a very exciting possibility on her horizon.
Hope you will all have a great week.
Love,
Dad
Grant's week was pretty busy at work. For the last two weekends, there has been a youth baseball tournament in town, and that causes the restaurant to be filled to the brim with sweaty and hungry twelve year olds. It ain't cute. On Wednesday he had a day off and he was able to plant a new pine tree in the yard with made him happy. He hasn't planted any trees since the two willows earlier in the spring, so his green thumb was itching. In honor of Midsummer, he read Midsummer Night's Dream. This week he also hit the point where it is less than a month until he gets to go to Albuquerque. He listens to "Santa Fe" from Newsies at least once a day. Grant will get to be there for a week and a half in late July.
The Colorado Haws News
This week has been full of mixed emotions. On Monday we went to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Melanie’s birthday. The food and the service were excellent. On Tuesday the girls had a swim play date with Sydney and Ryan. Then on Wednesday was the big emotional day for Melanie because we were first told that we would be going to Germany where Andy would have been deployed as soon as we got there, and then after Andy fought with branch “big Army” for a little bit we were told that we are going to be moving to Fort Wainwright (Fairbanks), Alaska before school starts. So now we are trying to look at the positive side of things and need to make the best of it. On Saturday we enjoyed the day walking around the temple; and as I enjoyed doing a session Andy took the girls to Deseret Book and Target so they could spend their hard earn dollar on a kite. I am grateful that we have a temple so close which will not be the case at Fort Wainwright because the temple is a 6 hour trip each way. On the way back from the temple, we saw a black bear on the side of the road; the girls thought that was pretty exciting. Sunday at church Haley and Kayla were being a bit rambunctious in sacrament meeting. But all in all it was a great day.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
This week we celebrated Grant's birthday. It was a lot of fun. Julie and Jeff and Emily joined us for the celebration. Grant's special birthday meal was delicious. He received some memorable gifts from family.
Logan and dad went on a campout to Mt Olympus in Wisconsin Dells. There were 7 scouts and 2 leaders. We all had a really good time and Logan went on the very awesome roller coaster called "Hades". It was a great ride but I could only do it once. I think Logan had a great time with all his fellow scouts.
Lanette had a relatively quite week but was excited to know that she will be able to attend Tiny Tigers during the period between the end of summer school and the beginning of the new school year.
Mom and Lanette spent Friday and Saturday together because I used the car for the trip. Mom was able to get some work done on her back room. She has shifted her interest to the shopping for a new car. That is a very exciting possibility on her horizon.
Hope you will all have a great week.
Love,
Dad
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
June 19, 2012
Happy Birthday to Melanie. We will are so blessed that Melanie is part of our family!!!
The Haws Family of Colorado
This past Tuesday the girls were excited to have their aunt Vanesa and cousins Wyatt and Luke visit. They were especially excited to have them come to their swimming class and watch them jump off the diving board. Wednesday Andy and I enjoyed going on a date especially because we had a free babysitter at the house. The girls were sad to see their cousins leave, but easily got over it by taking them to the zoo where they were able to feed the giraffe and see a sleeping grizzly bear. On Sunday Haley and Kayla were very glad that their daddy was here to sing to him in church and also for him to hear Kayla say the scripture and prayer in primary.
The Jackson Family of Albuquerque
This week Kevin and Stacie enjoyed some wonderful times with Henry. Kevin likes to eat Henry's many chins, which he calls Henry's jowel bacon. It makes Henry laugh hysterically. On Friday the day care hosted a breakfast for dads. Stacie and Kevin enjoyed the extra time with Henry. Kevin received an imprint of Henry's foot which is now proudly displayed on his office window sill. On Saturday Stacie and Henry ventured out to find something to show Kevin how much they appreciate him. They settled on some grilling things. On Sunday they had a nice breakfast together and enjoyed laughing and singing and playing with their baby boy.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
This week has been a stormy week but despite that we enjoyed some good times. On Sunday for Father's day Logan played the accompaniment for a song sung by the youth and young men/young women's leaders. He did a great job and was complimented by many people in the branch.
Lanette enjoyed time with the Elmhorst family. The disaster was one of her SD cards had some type of malfunction. She has desperately contacted almost the entire family, the high school computer staff and probably everyone else within a hour mile radius looking for the answer. Thankfully Jeff solved the problem and peace has returned to our home.
Emily and Trent joined us for dinner on Sunday. It was fun to have them with us. They are planning on getting married in October but exact details and dates are not set. Emily is learning a lot about financial matters and is making some important choices. They would very much like a car but have found that bicycling and waking works too.
I booked a lot of miles on cars and planes this last week. I traveled to Chippewa Falls and Minocqua on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Then on Friday I drove to Minneapolis and flew out to Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina. I arrived at the hotel a little of midnight then got up about 7 pm and spoke at the meeting in the morning. I enjoyed listening to other speakers during the day and then caught a plane that afternoon and flew back to Minneapolis arriving at home at 2 AM on Sunday. In my patriarchal blessing I was promised that I would have many opportunities in my life. That promised has been fulfilled on many occasions. This is one more of the opportunities.
One of the sad events in my life this week was the death of one of my very special patients in a car accident. It was really sad. I did have the opportunity of going to her viewing and funeral on Sunday and Monday. Life is very fragile. Please be careful in your driving.
Mom has been busy with doing so much for all of us. She had to rent a car for some of her travels while I was out of town. I think she kind of enjoyed that! She has enjoyed time with each of her children whether by long distance calls or personal time at home. She has enjoyed finding special gifts for her son-in-laws and sons for Father's Day. For me she gave me a framed picture of our family for my office and some money to buy hiking shoes.
We hope you will have a wonderful week. We love you all.
Dad
The Haws Family of Colorado
This past Tuesday the girls were excited to have their aunt Vanesa and cousins Wyatt and Luke visit. They were especially excited to have them come to their swimming class and watch them jump off the diving board. Wednesday Andy and I enjoyed going on a date especially because we had a free babysitter at the house. The girls were sad to see their cousins leave, but easily got over it by taking them to the zoo where they were able to feed the giraffe and see a sleeping grizzly bear. On Sunday Haley and Kayla were very glad that their daddy was here to sing to him in church and also for him to hear Kayla say the scripture and prayer in primary.
The Jackson Family of Albuquerque
This week Kevin and Stacie enjoyed some wonderful times with Henry. Kevin likes to eat Henry's many chins, which he calls Henry's jowel bacon. It makes Henry laugh hysterically. On Friday the day care hosted a breakfast for dads. Stacie and Kevin enjoyed the extra time with Henry. Kevin received an imprint of Henry's foot which is now proudly displayed on his office window sill. On Saturday Stacie and Henry ventured out to find something to show Kevin how much they appreciate him. They settled on some grilling things. On Sunday they had a nice breakfast together and enjoyed laughing and singing and playing with their baby boy.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
This week has been a stormy week but despite that we enjoyed some good times. On Sunday for Father's day Logan played the accompaniment for a song sung by the youth and young men/young women's leaders. He did a great job and was complimented by many people in the branch.
Lanette enjoyed time with the Elmhorst family. The disaster was one of her SD cards had some type of malfunction. She has desperately contacted almost the entire family, the high school computer staff and probably everyone else within a hour mile radius looking for the answer. Thankfully Jeff solved the problem and peace has returned to our home.
Emily and Trent joined us for dinner on Sunday. It was fun to have them with us. They are planning on getting married in October but exact details and dates are not set. Emily is learning a lot about financial matters and is making some important choices. They would very much like a car but have found that bicycling and waking works too.
I booked a lot of miles on cars and planes this last week. I traveled to Chippewa Falls and Minocqua on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Then on Friday I drove to Minneapolis and flew out to Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina. I arrived at the hotel a little of midnight then got up about 7 pm and spoke at the meeting in the morning. I enjoyed listening to other speakers during the day and then caught a plane that afternoon and flew back to Minneapolis arriving at home at 2 AM on Sunday. In my patriarchal blessing I was promised that I would have many opportunities in my life. That promised has been fulfilled on many occasions. This is one more of the opportunities.
One of the sad events in my life this week was the death of one of my very special patients in a car accident. It was really sad. I did have the opportunity of going to her viewing and funeral on Sunday and Monday. Life is very fragile. Please be careful in your driving.
Mom has been busy with doing so much for all of us. She had to rent a car for some of her travels while I was out of town. I think she kind of enjoyed that! She has enjoyed time with each of her children whether by long distance calls or personal time at home. She has enjoyed finding special gifts for her son-in-laws and sons for Father's Day. For me she gave me a framed picture of our family for my office and some money to buy hiking shoes.
We hope you will have a wonderful week. We love you all.
Dad
Monday, June 11, 2012
June 11, 2012
The Jackson Family of Albuquerque
Last Sunday Kevin and Stacie celebrated Henry's 100 day old birthday. On Monday Kevin started his summer course on Paleography (the study of ancient handwriting), which meant that Henry had to start day care. It was hard for Stacie and Kevin to leave him there, but Henry seemed to have a good week exploring new things and playing around other babies.
On Saturday Stacie enjoyed taking Henry on a walk to the park in the beautiful weather. In the evening Kevin, Stacie and Henry went to a barbecue at his professor's house. It was fun for them to be around friends and, of course, everyone loved Henry.
This upcoming week they hope to see Henry roll over for the first time. It looks like he is getting really close!
The Colorado Haws Family
June 10, 2012
Welcome home Andy!!! We had long awaited the time for the home coming on Monday night. Haley and Kayla thought we were going to the airport to meet someone else. Needless to say they were very excited that the person we were waiting for was daddy! The rest of this week Haley and Kayla had swim lessons and were even able to jump off the diving board. On Friday we were sad to see my mom fly back to Utah. We had such a great time with her here and Andy and I were even to get in a few dates while she was here.
June 3, 2012
We had a lot of fun this past week hanging out with family and friends. On Monday Haley and Kayla helped my mom with the garden, make bread, feed the dogs and chickens, roasted hot dogs around a campfire (which Haley and Kayla were very excited to do), light some fireworks, and Haley put together a wonderful family home evening on respecting all of Heavenly Fathers creations. On Tuesday went met up with one of my wonderful friend’s Mariam who I have not seen in over 7 years. It was so great to see her and her children. Wednesday we went fishing up Parowan canyon at Yankee Lake where Haley caught her first fish! We were all very excited for her. Both Haley and Kayla even helped gut it, but Haley was the only one who ate some of the fish. Later that night she even asked if she could eat more fish! On Thursday as we were headed up to Manti, my mom started having engine trouble in Beaver. With the result of that, the girls were able to spend three hours playing at the McDonalds play place while we waited for DJ to pick us up. All in all it turned out okay. Friday I was able to spend another wonderful couple of hours at the temple with my mom. I love going to the temple and feeling the peaceful solace. Later we took pictures of Haley and Kayla at the temple. The city has recently put in a reflection pond down from the Manti temple which I thought was beautiful. After taking pictures we went to my sister Jodi’s house. We had a really great time seeing her. I also tried on her stilettos…yeah they are not for me. I had to hold on to both Jodi and my mom to walk in them. Later that night Haley made a scarecrow out of sticks at my dad’s house. On Saturday morning we headed back to Colorado. When we arrived home Haley and Kayla had made some signs for Andy, but they think the signs are for my friend Lisa. Andy’s flight was suppose to leave Kuwait on Saturday, but was delayed until Sunday because of a sandstorm. So he should be here by Tuesday! Sunday we went to church and later my mom helped Haley and Kayla make cookies.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
This has been a busy week for us here in Wisconsin. Logan and Emily both had soccer games so Mom and I had to divide and conquer. We were able to go together on Tuesday to Wisconsin Rapids but Thursday we split up to go to Wausau and Eau Claire. Emily ended her high school soccer career playing against a very good Eau Claire team. She did very well and can be very proud of her success. Logan's team won both games last week.
Lanette has started summer school today and had a really good time. She loves to go and spend time with the kids and adults at the daycare center. She continues to enjoy reading and talking with many people.
Logan and I enjoyed a hiking trip in an area called Levis Mound. It had beautiful overlooks from the "mountains" of Wisconsin. We are preparing as a troop for a 50 mile hike in the Porcupine Mountain State Park this August. We plan on doing preparation hikes throughout the summer as we prepare for the big one.
Mom has been the bastian of stability in our home this week. She nutures all of her children with great love, insight and concern. We are very lucky to have her. I am not so sure how happy she has been with having me. I schedule her, Logan and Lanette on Saturday to go a food storage activity. For some reason she is not too excited about canning peaches this weekend while I am out of town.
Well, I love you all and hope this update finds you in good spirits.
Love,
Dad
Last Sunday Kevin and Stacie celebrated Henry's 100 day old birthday. On Monday Kevin started his summer course on Paleography (the study of ancient handwriting), which meant that Henry had to start day care. It was hard for Stacie and Kevin to leave him there, but Henry seemed to have a good week exploring new things and playing around other babies.
On Saturday Stacie enjoyed taking Henry on a walk to the park in the beautiful weather. In the evening Kevin, Stacie and Henry went to a barbecue at his professor's house. It was fun for them to be around friends and, of course, everyone loved Henry.
This upcoming week they hope to see Henry roll over for the first time. It looks like he is getting really close!
The Colorado Haws Family
June 10, 2012
Welcome home Andy!!! We had long awaited the time for the home coming on Monday night. Haley and Kayla thought we were going to the airport to meet someone else. Needless to say they were very excited that the person we were waiting for was daddy! The rest of this week Haley and Kayla had swim lessons and were even able to jump off the diving board. On Friday we were sad to see my mom fly back to Utah. We had such a great time with her here and Andy and I were even to get in a few dates while she was here.
June 3, 2012
We had a lot of fun this past week hanging out with family and friends. On Monday Haley and Kayla helped my mom with the garden, make bread, feed the dogs and chickens, roasted hot dogs around a campfire (which Haley and Kayla were very excited to do), light some fireworks, and Haley put together a wonderful family home evening on respecting all of Heavenly Fathers creations. On Tuesday went met up with one of my wonderful friend’s Mariam who I have not seen in over 7 years. It was so great to see her and her children. Wednesday we went fishing up Parowan canyon at Yankee Lake where Haley caught her first fish! We were all very excited for her. Both Haley and Kayla even helped gut it, but Haley was the only one who ate some of the fish. Later that night she even asked if she could eat more fish! On Thursday as we were headed up to Manti, my mom started having engine trouble in Beaver. With the result of that, the girls were able to spend three hours playing at the McDonalds play place while we waited for DJ to pick us up. All in all it turned out okay. Friday I was able to spend another wonderful couple of hours at the temple with my mom. I love going to the temple and feeling the peaceful solace. Later we took pictures of Haley and Kayla at the temple. The city has recently put in a reflection pond down from the Manti temple which I thought was beautiful. After taking pictures we went to my sister Jodi’s house. We had a really great time seeing her. I also tried on her stilettos…yeah they are not for me. I had to hold on to both Jodi and my mom to walk in them. Later that night Haley made a scarecrow out of sticks at my dad’s house. On Saturday morning we headed back to Colorado. When we arrived home Haley and Kayla had made some signs for Andy, but they think the signs are for my friend Lisa. Andy’s flight was suppose to leave Kuwait on Saturday, but was delayed until Sunday because of a sandstorm. So he should be here by Tuesday! Sunday we went to church and later my mom helped Haley and Kayla make cookies.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
This has been a busy week for us here in Wisconsin. Logan and Emily both had soccer games so Mom and I had to divide and conquer. We were able to go together on Tuesday to Wisconsin Rapids but Thursday we split up to go to Wausau and Eau Claire. Emily ended her high school soccer career playing against a very good Eau Claire team. She did very well and can be very proud of her success. Logan's team won both games last week.
Lanette has started summer school today and had a really good time. She loves to go and spend time with the kids and adults at the daycare center. She continues to enjoy reading and talking with many people.
Logan and I enjoyed a hiking trip in an area called Levis Mound. It had beautiful overlooks from the "mountains" of Wisconsin. We are preparing as a troop for a 50 mile hike in the Porcupine Mountain State Park this August. We plan on doing preparation hikes throughout the summer as we prepare for the big one.
Mom has been the bastian of stability in our home this week. She nutures all of her children with great love, insight and concern. We are very lucky to have her. I am not so sure how happy she has been with having me. I schedule her, Logan and Lanette on Saturday to go a food storage activity. For some reason she is not too excited about canning peaches this weekend while I am out of town.
Well, I love you all and hope this update finds you in good spirits.
Love,
Dad
Monday, May 28, 2012
May 28, 2012
The International Haws Family
So I am a day early, or several weeks late, depending on your point of view but thought that I would take a moment to tell you about our week and the happenings of our lives.
Really, nothing has changed. I am serious, nothing has really developed over the last couple of weeks.
Lucas is doing exceptionally well at soccer and if we are here he will be participating in a tournament hosted by a professional team in a professional stadium in Sao Paulo. It is a sort of try out/scouting arena. It is quite a privilege. I even had the chance to watch him play a bit and was impressed.
Felipe has had a rough couple of weeks. He decided to break up with a girl that he had liked for almost a year. It was a tough decision but he is certain that it is important for him. That has left him a bit lost, for what is the reason to facebook when you are tortured with pictures of the person you so loved and what is the purpose for life without facebook. Wait, news coming in ... new facebook romance has begun and life has resumed and all is beautiful again.
Derick is doing well. He has struggled lately as some of his friends do not have to go to school and he would like live the life of Huckleberry Finn as well. We had a fun evening last night as the two of us talked about when he was little and the fun things that we used to do together, like how I carried him on my shoulders to school everyday and how he loved Dallin Dalmatian (Renata gave Dallin away while I was gone and Derick has missed him almost as much as he missed me).
Renata is doing well. Busy as mother's tend to be. Renata has worked hard to make sure that I can work in peace while working from home. She has been trying to be more regular in her church going and has been very regular in her Bible study, she tells me that she is in Lucas and enjoying it very much.
As for myself I have been having far too much fun. When I came to Brazil I decided that I wanted to try a new operating system, I have always used Windows at work (as most workplaces do) and have used a Mac regularly for the last two year while working on iPhone/iPad development, now I wanted to get familiar with Linux. I decided to start with the easiest form of Linux to learn, Ubuntu. It has been fun and much easier than I had originally imagined. With this I have become closer to new programming languages and have started to learn Perl. The entire experience has been thrilling! The best part almost everything is free, that is amazing, I have not had to pay for a program yet. I won't even start my rant on the costs in programming environments on Windows or Apple policies for programmers, let's just say 'free' is not an option.
I hope that you are all well.
Love,
Jeff
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
The weeks seems to be flying by for Stacie, Kevin and Henry. Henry turned three months this week and is getting bigger, smarter, and cuter day by day. Kevin is very thankful for his opportunity to spend the last two weeks with his little guy and will miss him very much while he is taking his summer course over the next month. The three amigos are enjoying the long weekend together as a family. On Saturday they redeemed a Groupon for candy covered apples and they did some delicious grilling. They hope that the weather and air are nice on Monday so they can enjoy a walk in the bosque by the Rio Grande. On Sunday Stacie baked some homemade bread, which was lovely, and in the evening they enjoyed Skyping us here in Marshfield. It was neat to have Henry and Alex on Skype together.
The Colorado Haws Family
This week has seemed to fly by. On Monday Haley went on her field trip to an animal sanctuary. Her favorite part of the field trip was seeing the tigers. On Wednesday Haley had her Renaissance assembly and was her last day of school. She was sad to leave the first grade but is very excited to be in second grade next year. On Thursday we made it to Utah to visit family. I was so glad that the girls did very well on the trip, but I was surprised that they stayed up from 3:00 am (when we left) to 9:00 pm that night without even taking a nap! On Friday we were able to enjoy a barbeque at my dad’s house with some of my siblings and their families. I was also very glad that I was able to go to the temple that day with my mom. It is always a wonderful place to be. On Saturday morning, Haley and Kayla ran the first block of the 5k run that my mom was running, not by choice, but because they were with my mom when it started while I was parking the van. They were glad that they did not have to run all of it, but were excited to see Grandma Nancy cross the finish line. Later that morning we met up with Jessica, one of my really good friends that I have not seen in a couple of years. It was so wonderful to see her and her family even though we were getting blown away by the wind. We also were able to visit with my Grandma Keisel for a few minutes before we headed down to Paragonah. Sunday after church the weather was very beautiful so my mom let Haley and Kayla take the dogs for a walk, which Kayla has been begging my mom to do ever since we arrived here. Andy is doing very well because he is headed to Kuwait tomorrow and then is suppose to fly to Georgia on Saturday. We will hopefully be able to be together next Sunday, but if not next Monday for sure. Haley and Kayla still do not know he will be coming home. I have been telling them that they need to make posters for Lisa’s (my friend) friend. I hope that they will be surprised. This has been a long year but being around wonderful family and friends and being positive has made it a whole lot easier!
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
What an amazing week this has been. We saw Emily graduate from Marshfield High School. Logan became our family's newest teenager. Lanette had her nearly weekly visit to the Elmhorst family and finally Mom, Logan and I had a wonderful trip to the St Paul Temple. We were accompanied by Sister McSweeney for the temple trip which was extra special.
Today was a day of work around our place. Many of you will remember the unfinished fence around the fruit trees. Well today it was finished! Now the chicken coop has migrated out there which was no small feat. It looks good.
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and family home evening planning tonight. Grant has encouraged us to make a list of activities to do this summer. We did it last year too but did not get many of the activities done. We hope to do better this year.
The most important news this week is Mom and my anniversary. We have been married 32 years ago as of May 30th. I have been blessed with the best friend I could every dream of. She is my confidant, my advisor, my friend and my encouragement. I hope you know what a wonderful mom you have been blessed with.
Dad
Monday, May 21, 2012
May 20, 2012
It is Logan's birthday this Sunday. Please give him a call or send a card.
Grant's News
May 13, 2012
Grant's work-week was painfully slow. Even Mother's Day, a pretty eventful day in the restaurant business was disappointing. On the upside some of his favorite work buddies, like Goalie, are back from college for the summer and work is a lot more fun with them there. Grant's days off have been spent doing a lot of gardening. Monday he planted willow trees, Wednesday after work he planted ferns, and then on Thursday Mom and him went and hit up Menards and he planted a bunch of new perennials in the garden. He is super excited because his pumpkins and sunflowers started sprouting this week. Grant also finished reading the epic novel Les Miserables this week and is starting on a biography of a woman that was a refugee from Somalia and became a political activist.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
May 20, 2012
This week Stacie returned to work while Kevin enjoyed caring for Henry. Henry had some difficulties with the transition, refusing to eat much on Monday and crying through most of the day. However, by Friday he seemed to be much more adjusted to eating from a bottle and being apart from his mama. Although Stacie missed Henry very much, she is very grateful for the blessing of being employed, especially after receiving news that due to a lack of enrollment Kevin won't have a teaching job over the summer.
After a long week of being apart, Stacie, Kevin and Henry cherished a wonderful weekend. They caught up on lots of cuddling and re-planted their garden (which suffered from an accidental overnight watering). I the evening they went to a baseball game with some friends. It was lots of fun taking Henry out to his first ball game and Kevin really enjoyed watching his favorite sport. Stacie treasured being with her two best friends all day.
Tonight they look forward to watching the solar eclipse from the foothills of the mountain. But don't worry, they won't watch too closely.
May 13, 2012
This week Stacie cherished lots of snuggle time with Henry. She returns to work tomorrow and will be missing him very much. While Kevin was on campus working on finals, Stacie and Henry played at the park and their backyard whenever they could. Since there has been lots of stormy weather in Albuquerque they spent the rest of their time inside cuddling while listening to the severe wind outside. Today Kevin and Henry showered Stacie with love. They picked out some cute new clothes for Henry, a craft store gift card, and beautiful flowers for Stacie. They also made her a delicious dinner ending with chocolate covered strawberries. Needless to say that she feels like a queen.
The Haws Family of Colorado
May 20, 2012
This week Haley had her field day at school and Kayla her end of school celebration. Kayla was sad to leave her teachers Ms. Carrie and Ms. Angelika, but she is excited to move on to Kindergarten next year. I feel like we have been running around all week trying to get things ready for our trip to Utah. Earlier this week Andy received his end of tour awards, and is getting ready to pack up so he can come home. We are all excited because he should be home within the next two weeks!
May 13, 2012
This week seemed to be such a busy week that I don’t remember half of what we did. On Wednesday after Haley had her doctor’s appointment I took them to Coldstone Creamery to get an ice cream. The weather was so beautiful that we decided to eat the ice creams outside. As you can see Kayla very much enjoyed hers. Then they convinced me to let them run though the splash pad by the movie theater. On Friday, Haley was a little sad that her field day had to be rescheduled for Monday because of the weather. I was a little relieved because I had so many things I needed to get caught up on. On Saturday when we went to the commissary the girls were able to take a picture with a big olive and the Egglands Best egg. They thought it was pretty cool. Andy seems to stay busy. We have about 21 more days until he will be home! We are trying to have a surprise homecoming for Haley and Kayla, so they still think he will be coming in July. So please keep it a surprise if you talk to the girls.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
Well it has been a interesting couple of weeks. Mom was hospitalized on May 11th with right sided weakness. I deeply appreciate your prayers including those of you that put Mom's name on the temple rolls of your temple district. Mom stayed for several days including Mother's Day but we are so happy that she came home with no evidence of a stroke. We have enjoyed time together as a family. We celebrated Mom's birthday as a family enjoying a special dinner together at El Mezcal. Last night we had the joy of having Julie and Jeff, Emily, Grant, Lanette, Logan and Mom and me for dinner. It was really nice. Mom joined me for hometeaching two of my very special hometeaching families last night. You have a wonderful Mom.
Logan has been busy with a school play. He did a very good job. He goofed up on one of his lines but I think everyone agrees that it may have been the funniest line of the whole play. Logan and I went camping together at the Eau Pleine flowage on Friday night. On Saturday Logan helped us get the lawn done which was sorely needed.
Lanette has finished her school year. She is very happy and has been making plans for a number of activities. Lanette has mastered the cellphone and the agenda. She will be spending several days this weekend with the Elmhorst and then attend a graduation party.
Emily will be graduating this week from Marshfield High School. She is working two jobs to make ends meet. She is planning to attend the University of Minnesota in one year after she has raised the needed finances. It was fun to have her over on Sunday and to listen to her piano talents once again.
This coming week will be Mom and my 32nd anniversary. It will be wonderful to celebrate such a wonderful experience. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to be married to Mom. She is awesome. She is a friend, a counselor, a confident and the love of my life.
Dad
Grant's News
May 13, 2012
Grant's work-week was painfully slow. Even Mother's Day, a pretty eventful day in the restaurant business was disappointing. On the upside some of his favorite work buddies, like Goalie, are back from college for the summer and work is a lot more fun with them there. Grant's days off have been spent doing a lot of gardening. Monday he planted willow trees, Wednesday after work he planted ferns, and then on Thursday Mom and him went and hit up Menards and he planted a bunch of new perennials in the garden. He is super excited because his pumpkins and sunflowers started sprouting this week. Grant also finished reading the epic novel Les Miserables this week and is starting on a biography of a woman that was a refugee from Somalia and became a political activist.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
May 20, 2012
This week Stacie returned to work while Kevin enjoyed caring for Henry. Henry had some difficulties with the transition, refusing to eat much on Monday and crying through most of the day. However, by Friday he seemed to be much more adjusted to eating from a bottle and being apart from his mama. Although Stacie missed Henry very much, she is very grateful for the blessing of being employed, especially after receiving news that due to a lack of enrollment Kevin won't have a teaching job over the summer.
After a long week of being apart, Stacie, Kevin and Henry cherished a wonderful weekend. They caught up on lots of cuddling and re-planted their garden (which suffered from an accidental overnight watering). I the evening they went to a baseball game with some friends. It was lots of fun taking Henry out to his first ball game and Kevin really enjoyed watching his favorite sport. Stacie treasured being with her two best friends all day.
Tonight they look forward to watching the solar eclipse from the foothills of the mountain. But don't worry, they won't watch too closely.
May 13, 2012
This week Stacie cherished lots of snuggle time with Henry. She returns to work tomorrow and will be missing him very much. While Kevin was on campus working on finals, Stacie and Henry played at the park and their backyard whenever they could. Since there has been lots of stormy weather in Albuquerque they spent the rest of their time inside cuddling while listening to the severe wind outside. Today Kevin and Henry showered Stacie with love. They picked out some cute new clothes for Henry, a craft store gift card, and beautiful flowers for Stacie. They also made her a delicious dinner ending with chocolate covered strawberries. Needless to say that she feels like a queen.
The Haws Family of Colorado
May 20, 2012
This week Haley had her field day at school and Kayla her end of school celebration. Kayla was sad to leave her teachers Ms. Carrie and Ms. Angelika, but she is excited to move on to Kindergarten next year. I feel like we have been running around all week trying to get things ready for our trip to Utah. Earlier this week Andy received his end of tour awards, and is getting ready to pack up so he can come home. We are all excited because he should be home within the next two weeks!
May 13, 2012
This week seemed to be such a busy week that I don’t remember half of what we did. On Wednesday after Haley had her doctor’s appointment I took them to Coldstone Creamery to get an ice cream. The weather was so beautiful that we decided to eat the ice creams outside. As you can see Kayla very much enjoyed hers. Then they convinced me to let them run though the splash pad by the movie theater. On Friday, Haley was a little sad that her field day had to be rescheduled for Monday because of the weather. I was a little relieved because I had so many things I needed to get caught up on. On Saturday when we went to the commissary the girls were able to take a picture with a big olive and the Egglands Best egg. They thought it was pretty cool. Andy seems to stay busy. We have about 21 more days until he will be home! We are trying to have a surprise homecoming for Haley and Kayla, so they still think he will be coming in July. So please keep it a surprise if you talk to the girls.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
Well it has been a interesting couple of weeks. Mom was hospitalized on May 11th with right sided weakness. I deeply appreciate your prayers including those of you that put Mom's name on the temple rolls of your temple district. Mom stayed for several days including Mother's Day but we are so happy that she came home with no evidence of a stroke. We have enjoyed time together as a family. We celebrated Mom's birthday as a family enjoying a special dinner together at El Mezcal. Last night we had the joy of having Julie and Jeff, Emily, Grant, Lanette, Logan and Mom and me for dinner. It was really nice. Mom joined me for hometeaching two of my very special hometeaching families last night. You have a wonderful Mom.
Logan has been busy with a school play. He did a very good job. He goofed up on one of his lines but I think everyone agrees that it may have been the funniest line of the whole play. Logan and I went camping together at the Eau Pleine flowage on Friday night. On Saturday Logan helped us get the lawn done which was sorely needed.
Lanette has finished her school year. She is very happy and has been making plans for a number of activities. Lanette has mastered the cellphone and the agenda. She will be spending several days this weekend with the Elmhorst and then attend a graduation party.
Emily will be graduating this week from Marshfield High School. She is working two jobs to make ends meet. She is planning to attend the University of Minnesota in one year after she has raised the needed finances. It was fun to have her over on Sunday and to listen to her piano talents once again.
This coming week will be Mom and my 32nd anniversary. It will be wonderful to celebrate such a wonderful experience. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to be married to Mom. She is awesome. She is a friend, a counselor, a confident and the love of my life.
Dad
Monday, May 7, 2012
May 7, 2012
This is a month of many birthdays- Andy, Jeff Lane, Haley, Logan and of course Mom, my sweetheart. I hope that everyone will have a wonderful birthday.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
May 6, 2012
It has been a crazy week for the Jackson family. Unfortunately, on Monday Stacie became very ill again. She was prescribed an antibiotic for the infection she developed the week before and, like all antibiotics, it destroyed both the good and the bad bacteria in her body. Her symptoms worsened on Tuesday and Kevin decided to take her into the ER. They were very thankful for a good visiting teacher who was willing to take care of Henry while they were there. She was sent home a few hours later feeling much better.
Stacie spent the rest of her week enjoying lots of time with Henry. Kevin and Stacie took Henry to the pediatrician on Thursday. He weighed in at 11 lbs 7 oz! Afterwards they went out to a great hamburger restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal. On Saturday Stacie had fun taking Henry to the park while Kevin played at a baptism. In the evening they went to a BBQ cook-off hosted by their Elder's Quorum.
This week was the last week of instruction for Kevin's courses. He has been working diligently on tests, presentations and papers this week, in addition to his grading duties for the courses he teaches. We wish him the best of luck for his exams next week. Kevin looks forward to the time he gets to spend with Henry before his summer course commences.
April 30, 2012
Last Tuesday Kevin and Stacie celebrated Henry's two month birthday. They are always amazed by how quickly he is growing and developing. They'll be going to the pediatrician soon to check on his status. Kevin finally cut off his long locks this past week. On Thursday Kevin, Stacie and Henry took tours around some nearby child care centers. They were thankful to find a lovely place near their chapel. On Friday they went disc golfing with their friends.
On Sunday Stacie enjoyed going to church with Henry for the first time in several weeks. She realized that she should soon become good friends with her new visiting teaching companion who had a baby a week after Henry; they often run into each other in the mother's lounge or in the foyer to comfort heir babies on the same schedule.
On Monday Stacie started to experience some severe side effects to some medication. On Tuesday the symptoms worsened and so she went to the ER for assistance. She was sent home with new medications and she is feeling much better; however, she is still experiencing some pain and discomfort. As it is the end of the semester, Kevin is very busy with school and is unable to help as much as he would like to. Please keep them in your prayers as Stacie continues to recover and as Kevin works extra hard this week to complete his work & help his family. Thank you!
The Haws Family of Colorado
Happy birthday this past week to Andy on Thursday, and to Haley a big 7 on Sunday! This week has been very busy for us, mainly running around. On Monday and Tuesday Kayla played with Emma. Wednesday after I helped in Haley’s class, Kayla and I was able to talk with Andy. Kayla let him know that he was getting really, really old because he turned 31. After talking with Andy, Kayla and I enjoyed playing outside in the beautiful weather. On Friday we surprised Haley by eating lunch outside with her at school. She was excited to give her classmates popsicles for her birthday treat. On Saturday I let Haley open up her birthday presents and eat her cake a day early, which she did not oppose. Later that morning we went to see Kayla’s water painting in the art fair at school. Her picture is the one right above her head. On Sunday Haley was very happy that she was able to give a talk in primary on her birthday. Her favorite gift that she received on her birthday was to be able to talk with her daddy twice! Andy is working nonstop, and is ready for his replacements. We are very excited because he will be making his way back to the states in a few weeks!
From Andy:
Dad,
It was great to hear from you, thank you for the email. Things have been going great out here, but I am so ready to re-deploy back home to Melanie and the girls. I am not sure if Melanie told you that GEN Dempsey stopped by and visited us out here(I attached a picture)? As well as, I will be receiving the HONORABLE SAINT CHRISTOPHER Award (I attached a copy of what it looks like)? Then additional I was selected for promotion to Sergeant First Class (SFC/E-7), which is great because I was in a secondary zone (harder to get selected in), with only 9 years time in service which most people do not get picked up for E7 till about 15-18 years.
Things have been going great as far as work, I really do enjoy my job out here, I think that this is the first job that I have ever done that I felt like I have been able to make some major impacts (positive) to an entire Combat Operations. I will have to tell you more of what I have been able to do when I get home, but it has really been a great deployment. That and I have not yet had to fire my weapon at people or have been blown up, like I have in my prior deployments; so that is an added plus. I am excited to get to be coming up to visit you and mom shortly after I redeploy. I think that will be fun going out to Nauvoo and spending time as a family. Well dad thank you again for everything. I love you.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
I have not given you an update on our lives for the last two weeks. I was in Boston last week and did not post anything to the blog. Thank you Stacie for your contributions to the blog both weeks.
For Logan it has been a fun couple of weeks. He along with his friend Audry submitted a project to the school art and science fair. It was a replica of the Washington monument and part of the Washington Mall. It was pretty cool because as soon as you walked into the gym area you saw this huge white pillar towering over everything else. It was the landmark for the entire fair. It turned out great. Logan has made remarkable progress in his grades this last quarter but was disappointed not to be selected for the honors math program. He seems much more focused on doing well in school which makes Mom and me very happy. He has played in a soccer tournament this last Saturday after staying up all night for a school shut in. Needless to say it was probably not his best games ever played.
Emily has continued her soccer season. They are a great team but not with the record anyone one on the team would like. She will have two away games this week and a tournament out of town this weekend. I had the opportunity of going with her to the Solo & Ensemble State event this weekend in Stevens Point. Emily did exceptionally well including her solo. The judge told her that he had been a music teacher for 45 years and he had never heard a high school student play her selection better. I agreed with him despite my strong biases.
Lanette enjoyed the annual Elmhorst pancake breakfast in Neillsville. She had a great time and came home with some interesting stories. She is looking forward to school being out this coming week on May 18th. She continues to arrange visits to people in our branch. She loves to visit the Weiers and the Elmhorst with occasion visits to the McElderry family.
Mom has been keeping our family going with taxi driving and nurturing and loving each one of us by addressing our individual needs. She has been recovering from her relatively recent back surgery and I can tell she is particularly sore after a busy day of physical therapy.
I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling to Boston. It was for a convention called the Pediatric Academic Society which is the big meeting for us pediatric nephrologists. I met up with a number of colleagues and it was fun and stimulating. My greatest privilege was going to the Boston Temple. I rode in a taxi with a gentleman from the former Soviet Union. We had a delightful discussion about the gospel. In the temple I was impressed by the beauty and spirit there. After performing an endowment for one of our ancestors I walked out of the Celestial Room. I was greeted by a temple worker that looked to my eye just like President Monson. It was an amazing similarity. I felt this sudden overwhelming feeling of love exude from this man. He came up to me and asked if I would help with sealings. Of course I said "yes". It was an amazing sealing season. I felt a deep and wonderful spirit that evening and realized in new dimensions the power of the temple sealing. I came out of the temple a renewed man. I encourage each of you to go to the temple and do the work for our ancestors. They are anxious to help us as we make possible their eternal progression in a small but extremely critical way.
Well, Jeff is back with his family and things are going well. We hope that they will be in the States by this summer. Julie and Jeff celebrated Jeff Lane's birth last week with a special dinner at Royal Tokyo. His actual birthday is today, May 7th. They are getting into the swing of things here and Alex is adorable.
Grant is busy planting and replanting trees and bushes in our yard and it is really looking great. His work has varied from too slow to too fast. He is off tomorrow for a well deserved day of rest. He continues to enjoy the marsh next to our home, the yard and of course, teasing his sister, Lanette.
Love,
Dad
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
May 6, 2012
It has been a crazy week for the Jackson family. Unfortunately, on Monday Stacie became very ill again. She was prescribed an antibiotic for the infection she developed the week before and, like all antibiotics, it destroyed both the good and the bad bacteria in her body. Her symptoms worsened on Tuesday and Kevin decided to take her into the ER. They were very thankful for a good visiting teacher who was willing to take care of Henry while they were there. She was sent home a few hours later feeling much better.
Stacie spent the rest of her week enjoying lots of time with Henry. Kevin and Stacie took Henry to the pediatrician on Thursday. He weighed in at 11 lbs 7 oz! Afterwards they went out to a great hamburger restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal. On Saturday Stacie had fun taking Henry to the park while Kevin played at a baptism. In the evening they went to a BBQ cook-off hosted by their Elder's Quorum.
This week was the last week of instruction for Kevin's courses. He has been working diligently on tests, presentations and papers this week, in addition to his grading duties for the courses he teaches. We wish him the best of luck for his exams next week. Kevin looks forward to the time he gets to spend with Henry before his summer course commences.
April 30, 2012
Last Tuesday Kevin and Stacie celebrated Henry's two month birthday. They are always amazed by how quickly he is growing and developing. They'll be going to the pediatrician soon to check on his status. Kevin finally cut off his long locks this past week. On Thursday Kevin, Stacie and Henry took tours around some nearby child care centers. They were thankful to find a lovely place near their chapel. On Friday they went disc golfing with their friends.
On Sunday Stacie enjoyed going to church with Henry for the first time in several weeks. She realized that she should soon become good friends with her new visiting teaching companion who had a baby a week after Henry; they often run into each other in the mother's lounge or in the foyer to comfort heir babies on the same schedule.
On Monday Stacie started to experience some severe side effects to some medication. On Tuesday the symptoms worsened and so she went to the ER for assistance. She was sent home with new medications and she is feeling much better; however, she is still experiencing some pain and discomfort. As it is the end of the semester, Kevin is very busy with school and is unable to help as much as he would like to. Please keep them in your prayers as Stacie continues to recover and as Kevin works extra hard this week to complete his work & help his family. Thank you!
The Haws Family of Colorado
Happy birthday this past week to Andy on Thursday, and to Haley a big 7 on Sunday! This week has been very busy for us, mainly running around. On Monday and Tuesday Kayla played with Emma. Wednesday after I helped in Haley’s class, Kayla and I was able to talk with Andy. Kayla let him know that he was getting really, really old because he turned 31. After talking with Andy, Kayla and I enjoyed playing outside in the beautiful weather. On Friday we surprised Haley by eating lunch outside with her at school. She was excited to give her classmates popsicles for her birthday treat. On Saturday I let Haley open up her birthday presents and eat her cake a day early, which she did not oppose. Later that morning we went to see Kayla’s water painting in the art fair at school. Her picture is the one right above her head. On Sunday Haley was very happy that she was able to give a talk in primary on her birthday. Her favorite gift that she received on her birthday was to be able to talk with her daddy twice! Andy is working nonstop, and is ready for his replacements. We are very excited because he will be making his way back to the states in a few weeks!
From Andy:
Dad,
It was great to hear from you, thank you for the email. Things have been going great out here, but I am so ready to re-deploy back home to Melanie and the girls. I am not sure if Melanie told you that GEN Dempsey stopped by and visited us out here(I attached a picture)? As well as, I will be receiving the HONORABLE SAINT CHRISTOPHER Award (I attached a copy of what it looks like)? Then additional I was selected for promotion to Sergeant First Class (SFC/E-7), which is great because I was in a secondary zone (harder to get selected in), with only 9 years time in service which most people do not get picked up for E7 till about 15-18 years.
Things have been going great as far as work, I really do enjoy my job out here, I think that this is the first job that I have ever done that I felt like I have been able to make some major impacts (positive) to an entire Combat Operations. I will have to tell you more of what I have been able to do when I get home, but it has really been a great deployment. That and I have not yet had to fire my weapon at people or have been blown up, like I have in my prior deployments; so that is an added plus. I am excited to get to be coming up to visit you and mom shortly after I redeploy. I think that will be fun going out to Nauvoo and spending time as a family. Well dad thank you again for everything. I love you.
The Haws Family of Wisconsin
I have not given you an update on our lives for the last two weeks. I was in Boston last week and did not post anything to the blog. Thank you Stacie for your contributions to the blog both weeks.
For Logan it has been a fun couple of weeks. He along with his friend Audry submitted a project to the school art and science fair. It was a replica of the Washington monument and part of the Washington Mall. It was pretty cool because as soon as you walked into the gym area you saw this huge white pillar towering over everything else. It was the landmark for the entire fair. It turned out great. Logan has made remarkable progress in his grades this last quarter but was disappointed not to be selected for the honors math program. He seems much more focused on doing well in school which makes Mom and me very happy. He has played in a soccer tournament this last Saturday after staying up all night for a school shut in. Needless to say it was probably not his best games ever played.
Emily has continued her soccer season. They are a great team but not with the record anyone one on the team would like. She will have two away games this week and a tournament out of town this weekend. I had the opportunity of going with her to the Solo & Ensemble State event this weekend in Stevens Point. Emily did exceptionally well including her solo. The judge told her that he had been a music teacher for 45 years and he had never heard a high school student play her selection better. I agreed with him despite my strong biases.
Lanette enjoyed the annual Elmhorst pancake breakfast in Neillsville. She had a great time and came home with some interesting stories. She is looking forward to school being out this coming week on May 18th. She continues to arrange visits to people in our branch. She loves to visit the Weiers and the Elmhorst with occasion visits to the McElderry family.
Mom has been keeping our family going with taxi driving and nurturing and loving each one of us by addressing our individual needs. She has been recovering from her relatively recent back surgery and I can tell she is particularly sore after a busy day of physical therapy.
I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling to Boston. It was for a convention called the Pediatric Academic Society which is the big meeting for us pediatric nephrologists. I met up with a number of colleagues and it was fun and stimulating. My greatest privilege was going to the Boston Temple. I rode in a taxi with a gentleman from the former Soviet Union. We had a delightful discussion about the gospel. In the temple I was impressed by the beauty and spirit there. After performing an endowment for one of our ancestors I walked out of the Celestial Room. I was greeted by a temple worker that looked to my eye just like President Monson. It was an amazing similarity. I felt this sudden overwhelming feeling of love exude from this man. He came up to me and asked if I would help with sealings. Of course I said "yes". It was an amazing sealing season. I felt a deep and wonderful spirit that evening and realized in new dimensions the power of the temple sealing. I came out of the temple a renewed man. I encourage each of you to go to the temple and do the work for our ancestors. They are anxious to help us as we make possible their eternal progression in a small but extremely critical way.
Well, Jeff is back with his family and things are going well. We hope that they will be in the States by this summer. Julie and Jeff celebrated Jeff Lane's birth last week with a special dinner at Royal Tokyo. His actual birthday is today, May 7th. They are getting into the swing of things here and Alex is adorable.
Grant is busy planting and replanting trees and bushes in our yard and it is really looking great. His work has varied from too slow to too fast. He is off tomorrow for a well deserved day of rest. He continues to enjoy the marsh next to our home, the yard and of course, teasing his sister, Lanette.
Love,
Dad
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