The Colorado Haws Family
We finally made it here to Colorado a couple weeks ago, being blessed with wonderful weather along the way and two little ones that were very well behaved for the long trip. (As well as, having Andy drive the entire way, which he made it from Newport News, VA to just outside St. Louis, MO in one day; while towing Melanie's Nissan Altima with his new Ford F-150 5.4L engine and 4 wheel drive).
Along the way to Colorado we stopped and spent two days at Vanesa and Dewey's house (Melanie's sister), on the outskirts of Fort Riley, KS. While Melanie and Vanesa were out, Dewey and Andy went shopping, in which Andy returned with a brand new, never fired Springfield Armory XDM .40 cal, and Dewey returned with an attachment for his M-4 rifle. Needless to say that Melanie and Vanesa will not let these two go shopping together anymore unless they surrender their debit and/or credit cards, and can only have $20.00 cash each. However, Andy is loving Colorado very much. One of his most favorite things about Colorado is their VERY LOOSE GUN LAWS; (he already has his concealed weapons permit, which should be arriving in the mail any day now). Andy is also enjoying the mountains, the big animals that he and Dewey will be hunting next hunting season (mainly due to the deep freezers' request), as well as the great fishing, shooting areas, places to take his truck off roading and many other things that WE (meaning Andy and Dewey) have been very excited to do. Andy will be checking into Fort Carson, Co on the 28th of December and is currently on orders to go to 4th Infantry Division (ID), 4th Brigade Combat Team (BCT). Which is not suppose to deploy to Afghanistan until Feb. 2012, which will give him about 14 months home between his last deployment and this next one, but we will see what happens.
In other news, this past Monday for Family Home Evening we were able to finally put up the Christmas tree. The girls of course were trying to see who could put the decorations on the fastest.
Haley started school and Melanie was able to help in her class this past Friday with a Christmas breakfast and activities. At the end of the day they had a Christmas program put on by the teachers. The principal had announced that King Elementary (Haley's school) had been adopted by the YOT Club (toy spelt backwards), and has donated a toy for every child in the school with 8 big toys for children's names to be drawn out of a hat. To our surprise Haley's name was drawn for one of the big bikes! She was so excited!
Kayla is very excited also because she will be starting school on the 5th of January, it is crazy how quick they grow up. Kayla was very excited to go backpack shopping for school and finally picked a Tinkerbell backpack, after about three stores.
Melanie has been able to see and spend some time with some of her old friends from various places that we were stationed, and is excited that her friends are stationed at Fort Carson also.
These past two weeks have been very busy unpacking the house and setting everything up; however, we finally finished unpacking this week, which was great. We also received some cold weather in which we got about 1/2" of snow and it dropped to approx 20 degrees, IT WAS VERY TOUGH, especially compared to Wisconsin weather!
The Lane's of Virginia
Hello to all!
We are getting more and more excited for this Christmas!
This week, however,we got our first good snow. I know the people in Wisconsin are probably thinking that is ironic. Jeff had to dodge all the people not used to driving in snow on his way to work extra hours this week.
FHE we went to go look for the Christmas lights. The ones we saw were cool, but they were a little too far and few between. Hopefully, tomorrow's lights will be better!
Julie carved glass plates at enrichment.
Jeff conquered the Bufflo Blazin' Wing challenge: 12 of their "hottest" wings in 6 minutes. The waitress was going crazy about how calm Jeff was with the heat. Jeff's only reply is that was not that hot.
Saturday we watched BYU demolish UTEP in the New Mexico bowl. A&M also edged Arkansas in basketball.
Today we went tithing settlement and we also both got set apart in some more callings. Now we have four callings between the two of us: Elders Quorum teacher, Primary teacher, achievement day leader, and sacrament meeting chorister. When I was getting my primary manual a little girl came up to me all excited that I was going to be her achievement day leader- and it was tender. We also both taught elders quorum and relief society. We tried to get them together, but alas they were separate. The relief society did not enjoy the jeopardy game quite as much as I would have liked, but they liked the discussions that came from it. That is why they are sticking me in the primary- hehehe!
We are a little interested as to whether the rumor that Jeff Haws maybe moving up here this spring is real or not.
Julie
Grant's News
Grant survived the winter storm this week and the restaurant has since been crazy busy thanks to the holidays. It has been a fun adventure this week dealing with the snow, a new menu, and a lot of new employees. The restaurant has also been visited by the regional manager, as well as the lady in charge of all the Applebee's in Wisconsin...so that has meant a lot of work for Grant. However, Grant was able to get his days off. He finished the project of the redoing the upstairs bathroom. (Stage One was finished in summer, This was Stage Two.) He was also off on Friday to go to Wausau with the family and then to Texas Roadhouse...where he was able to eat Catfish again for the first time in years. Grant is also excited because as of Friday when the last package came in the mail, he is officially done Christmas shopping.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Logan went snowboarding this week with some of his friends. He had a great time and wants to go again soon. He is really looking forward to the arrival of his siblings. He is counting down the days. Logan joined Lanette and me to see the Nutcracker on Saturday evening. It was really well done.
Emily has been working at Chips quite a bit in an effort to get some money for Christmas presents. She is getting extra driving practice in including driving me on my hometeaching route tonight.
Lanette performed a solo "No Golden Carriage" for her Christmas performance this week. She did a wonderful job. I am always amazed what a beautiful voice Lanette has developed with so little instruction.
Mom has been doing Christmas preparations. She is anxious for her children to arrive home. She has prepared the study for Stacie and Kevin and we have plans for Emily's room for Julie and Jeff. I have put some additional touches on the basement. It is coming along.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This week Kevin finished off his finals! Phew. He is very happy to have completed his first semester in graduate school. Monday was a difficult day for Stacie as she had to go through to process of terminating an employee for the first time. Thankfully, she had some guidance and assistance from her supervisor. It was a good learning experience in the end. On Tuesday, Stacie joined the young men and women in folding paper bags to make luminarias. In order to fund youth conference and girl's camp, the youth sell luminarias, which are paper bags filled with sand and candles. Setting luminarias out is a New Mexican tradition created to celebrating "leading the Christ child into our homes." They are absolutely beautiful when all lit.
On Friday Stacie and Kevin headed over to a Christmas/End of the Year party with several of Kevin's classmates. They enjoyed preparing for the party by selecting some great white elephant gifts at Goodwill. They were surprised to find a large map of Hitler's home in Oberslazberg, Germany and a set of ACDC beer glasses. At the party they became the hottest and most traded items. They ended up winning an oversized remote and a stuffed elephant. The party was lots of fun. They continue to enjoy creating more friends, even if the crowd is a bit different than their friends at BYU.
On Saturday, Stacie and Kevin were proud to complete the last of their Christmas shopping and to finally pick up the derby car kits for the Cub Scout Pine Derby next month. Today they helped narrate the Christmas program in church. The program was absolutely beautiful with wonderful quotes from the Quorum of the Twelve. They were thankful for the experience to focus on the Christ in Christmas. They look forward to flying home this week and spending time with the family in Wisconsin.
The International Haws Family
Jeff has not sent me a contribution for the blog but he is working diligently on getting things ready for his family to move to the US. He spent some time this week giving Renata a virtual tour of Pennsylvania. Hopefully everyone will get excited about coming here in the future.
Jeff has enjoyed learning some new computer languages permitting him to design new presentation options for Uncle Steven's business. He is Uncle Steven's right hand man. I am recruiting him to help me with a presentation that I have coming up soon.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
December 12, 2010
The Lane's of Virginia
Previously on Virgina is For Lovers.....
FHE this week was held at a friends home were we tested some frozen pizzas to see which was the tastiest. The Walmart Bacon, cheddar, chicken and ranch pizza actually won!! Surprisingly!
Thursday we took food to an invalid whom is dying of cancer and her husband. That was kind of fun. We got to joke with her about attaching ice skates to her hospital bed and Christmas Events to come. Apparently it meant a lot to her and her husband.
Friday was our ward's Christmas party.
Saturday we went to the movie theatres to delight in watching the new Chronicles of Narnia film. WE LOOOOOVVVED It! We won some free matching T-shirts. Then we went to get the last of our Christmas gifts.
Sunday, today, Julie got sustained for two of her three callings.
The International Haws Family
Mom and Dad,
We all hope you had a very Happy Birthday.
This was the last week of school for the kids. With the arrival of summer break kids are jubilant and parents overwhelmed. This year summer break is quite long as Carnival will be late, I believe Carnival ends around 10 March.
For those who are not aware Brazil basically shuts down from December until Carnival and schools do not resume until after all festivities have ended. In general the idea is brace yourself and hope for the best and don’t bother going to the doctor in case of an emergency as they will not be working.
Felipe and Lucas have also been excited with soccer. Last week they went to a city called Paraty, which Renata and I have fond memories of. This week the teams from Paraty came to our neighborhood and played a tournament. Both did exceptionally well. Lucas finished the tournament having scored 5 goals and Felipe 4.
Derick took advantage of the time around other kids to meet some little girls and then convince his mother to take him to the game center at the mall afterwards. I believe that he had a wonderful time and is enjoying his time at home.
Renata too finished school but already received her grades which were very good. She does not enjoy summer break quite as much as the boys and often voices her opinion that it would be better to be able to escape the house and go to school in the evening to relax. Yes school seems rough to kids but wait until parenting to see which is more exhausting.
As for myself, it is work, work, work as usual. Several developments have brought Steven to be more direct in time frame for my return to the US. If all continues to follow the current trend I expect to be in the US in January or February to visit Pennsylvania and locate adequate housing and the sort.
I should be located in Bethlehem, PA. Bethlehem is about 45 miles north of Philadelphia, 200 miles north of Washington D.C. and roughly 1000 from Marshfield. So it is a day drive for many of you (1000 miles at 60 only takes 16.7 hours and I know that none of you drive 60). Of course there is an airport in the neighboring city of Allentown so you could just fly from Wausau to Allentown and round trips cost less than $300.
Love,
Jeff
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This week Kevin had his last class! He is quite relieved that he has made it through his first semester of graduate school. He only has one paper to go till he can completely relax over the winter intercession. On Friday, Kevin lead out on the cub scout pack meeting. It was a fun activity because several of the boys were earning advancements, including an Arrow of Light advancement (which is the most important one for cub scouts). After the meeting Stacie and Kevin returned home and realized that they had forgotten Stacie's Cub Scout binder at the church. When they returned they ran into a family in the gym preparing for the Ward Christmas Activity. They ended up staying to help build and paint the stable and hang the star. On Saturday, Kevin returned to help set up tables and chairs. Afterwards, Stacie and Kevin headed to Goodwill to pick out something for Kevin's shepherd costume. To their surprise, the store was packed with shoppers. They finally headed over to the activity. Kevin helped as one of the shepherds and Stacie lowered the star. Afterwards, they headed home and tried to watch "Elf" together. However, they were pretty pooped from their busy day and just fell asleep. They look forward to spending more time together this week and preparing to come home to Wisconsin!
The Colorado Haws Family
Well Andy and Melanie and the girls arrived in Colorado. They love their new home but didn't love the fact that it was very messy. The contractor had some one come in to clean again but it still was messy. Ultimately Andy and Melanie cleaned the house up themselves. They enjoy their new surroundings and hopefully will give us a great update soon.
Grant's News
Grant was in Stevens Point last Sunday night. Early Monday morning he had to drive out to Neenah, which is on the eastern side of the state for a corporate meeting where he learned how to cook all the new food on the menu coming out this week. Lanette will be very excited to hear that they are having a Provolone-Stuffed Meatball Sandwich. The rest of the week was Grant working with his new boss, since his last boss was transferred to Wisconsin Rapids at the beginning of the week. Grant was able to be home on Friday and Saturday, escaping being stuck at the restaurant amidst the blizzard.
As a side note: We found all of Grandma Winnie's Christmas treat recipes so Grant is excited to bake to his heart's content next week when everyone is here.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...and it did!!! I have shoveled and snowblowed more snow this weekend than I have the entire six years that we have lived here. Grant couldn't get out of the garage today so Mom drove him to work. Church was cancelled and we had sacrament meeting here at home.
The week for Logan has included extra playing time with his best friends who are moving to Chicago at the Christmas break. He did also catch up with the Cheyenne Pilsner on Facebook. She is living in Mexico and probably does not miss the Wisconsin snow too much.
Emily told me today that Phoenix is experiencing unusually high temperatures and has no compassion for her friends complaining of the heat. She did have an opportunity to work at the Christmas light show on the evening the snow started falling but luckily escaped before the heavy down fall.
Lanette is delighted that she was able to stay home an additional week. She also enjoyed going with the family on Saturday afternoon to Narnia. She will be singing a solo at the Christmas program on Friday night at the Branch Christmas party.
Mom had her wish come true when it came to the snowfall but she would be a lot happier with a four wheel drive vehicle. She is doing the Christmas shopping plans so be sure and be good because Mom always knows if you are naughty or nice.
Well, as for me I turned 53 this week. Thank you for the cards. Grant's card topped the list of the most unforgettable. I really appreciate the kind remarks. My favorite part of my birthday actually came the next day when we were able to cut down our own Christmas tree. It is decorated and now standing in the front room. Grant has some great pictures to share.
Previously on Virgina is For Lovers.....
FHE this week was held at a friends home were we tested some frozen pizzas to see which was the tastiest. The Walmart Bacon, cheddar, chicken and ranch pizza actually won!! Surprisingly!
Thursday we took food to an invalid whom is dying of cancer and her husband. That was kind of fun. We got to joke with her about attaching ice skates to her hospital bed and Christmas Events to come. Apparently it meant a lot to her and her husband.
Friday was our ward's Christmas party.
Saturday we went to the movie theatres to delight in watching the new Chronicles of Narnia film. WE LOOOOOVVVED It! We won some free matching T-shirts. Then we went to get the last of our Christmas gifts.
Sunday, today, Julie got sustained for two of her three callings.
The International Haws Family
Mom and Dad,
We all hope you had a very Happy Birthday.
This was the last week of school for the kids. With the arrival of summer break kids are jubilant and parents overwhelmed. This year summer break is quite long as Carnival will be late, I believe Carnival ends around 10 March.
For those who are not aware Brazil basically shuts down from December until Carnival and schools do not resume until after all festivities have ended. In general the idea is brace yourself and hope for the best and don’t bother going to the doctor in case of an emergency as they will not be working.
Felipe and Lucas have also been excited with soccer. Last week they went to a city called Paraty, which Renata and I have fond memories of. This week the teams from Paraty came to our neighborhood and played a tournament. Both did exceptionally well. Lucas finished the tournament having scored 5 goals and Felipe 4.
Derick took advantage of the time around other kids to meet some little girls and then convince his mother to take him to the game center at the mall afterwards. I believe that he had a wonderful time and is enjoying his time at home.
Renata too finished school but already received her grades which were very good. She does not enjoy summer break quite as much as the boys and often voices her opinion that it would be better to be able to escape the house and go to school in the evening to relax. Yes school seems rough to kids but wait until parenting to see which is more exhausting.
As for myself, it is work, work, work as usual. Several developments have brought Steven to be more direct in time frame for my return to the US. If all continues to follow the current trend I expect to be in the US in January or February to visit Pennsylvania and locate adequate housing and the sort.
I should be located in Bethlehem, PA. Bethlehem is about 45 miles north of Philadelphia, 200 miles north of Washington D.C. and roughly 1000 from Marshfield. So it is a day drive for many of you (1000 miles at 60 only takes 16.7 hours and I know that none of you drive 60). Of course there is an airport in the neighboring city of Allentown so you could just fly from Wausau to Allentown and round trips cost less than $300.
Love,
Jeff
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This week Kevin had his last class! He is quite relieved that he has made it through his first semester of graduate school. He only has one paper to go till he can completely relax over the winter intercession. On Friday, Kevin lead out on the cub scout pack meeting. It was a fun activity because several of the boys were earning advancements, including an Arrow of Light advancement (which is the most important one for cub scouts). After the meeting Stacie and Kevin returned home and realized that they had forgotten Stacie's Cub Scout binder at the church. When they returned they ran into a family in the gym preparing for the Ward Christmas Activity. They ended up staying to help build and paint the stable and hang the star. On Saturday, Kevin returned to help set up tables and chairs. Afterwards, Stacie and Kevin headed to Goodwill to pick out something for Kevin's shepherd costume. To their surprise, the store was packed with shoppers. They finally headed over to the activity. Kevin helped as one of the shepherds and Stacie lowered the star. Afterwards, they headed home and tried to watch "Elf" together. However, they were pretty pooped from their busy day and just fell asleep. They look forward to spending more time together this week and preparing to come home to Wisconsin!
The Colorado Haws Family
Well Andy and Melanie and the girls arrived in Colorado. They love their new home but didn't love the fact that it was very messy. The contractor had some one come in to clean again but it still was messy. Ultimately Andy and Melanie cleaned the house up themselves. They enjoy their new surroundings and hopefully will give us a great update soon.
Grant's News
Grant was in Stevens Point last Sunday night. Early Monday morning he had to drive out to Neenah, which is on the eastern side of the state for a corporate meeting where he learned how to cook all the new food on the menu coming out this week. Lanette will be very excited to hear that they are having a Provolone-Stuffed Meatball Sandwich. The rest of the week was Grant working with his new boss, since his last boss was transferred to Wisconsin Rapids at the beginning of the week. Grant was able to be home on Friday and Saturday, escaping being stuck at the restaurant amidst the blizzard.
As a side note: We found all of Grandma Winnie's Christmas treat recipes so Grant is excited to bake to his heart's content next week when everyone is here.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...and it did!!! I have shoveled and snowblowed more snow this weekend than I have the entire six years that we have lived here. Grant couldn't get out of the garage today so Mom drove him to work. Church was cancelled and we had sacrament meeting here at home.
The week for Logan has included extra playing time with his best friends who are moving to Chicago at the Christmas break. He did also catch up with the Cheyenne Pilsner on Facebook. She is living in Mexico and probably does not miss the Wisconsin snow too much.
Emily told me today that Phoenix is experiencing unusually high temperatures and has no compassion for her friends complaining of the heat. She did have an opportunity to work at the Christmas light show on the evening the snow started falling but luckily escaped before the heavy down fall.
Lanette is delighted that she was able to stay home an additional week. She also enjoyed going with the family on Saturday afternoon to Narnia. She will be singing a solo at the Christmas program on Friday night at the Branch Christmas party.
Mom had her wish come true when it came to the snowfall but she would be a lot happier with a four wheel drive vehicle. She is doing the Christmas shopping plans so be sure and be good because Mom always knows if you are naughty or nice.
Well, as for me I turned 53 this week. Thank you for the cards. Grant's card topped the list of the most unforgettable. I really appreciate the kind remarks. My favorite part of my birthday actually came the next day when we were able to cut down our own Christmas tree. It is decorated and now standing in the front room. Grant has some great pictures to share.
Monday, December 6, 2010
December 5, 2010
The Lane's of Virginia
This week has been busy with cleaning, studying, exercising, and oh, of course, Julie's birthday.
Friday we went to a Japanese Typanyaki grill, Kyoto, and had a lovely dinner. Jeff made a chocolate cake with a layer of caramel in the middle that drizzled out as-you-eat-it-goodness. Thank you to Mom Dad and others for the AWESOME Scrapbook stuff and Stacie and Kevin for the card. It meant a lot to Julie.
Saturday we went to a Greek restaurant and got some gyros with a friend in our ward. Her husband is an OBGYN and she is a nurse in that field as well. She is also a hoot to talk to and really quite thoughtful. Later that day we went to Waynesboro, VA for the adult session of stake conference. We received the only snow fall of the winter so far during the drive, after we committed to the unsalted free way, and it began to fall hard. Perfect timing. People here are kind of crazy for the first couple of weeks of snow! When we got home Jeff's sister called to tell us about what she want for Christmas and ended up telling us some of her crazy ER stories!
Sunday was part two of Stake Conference!
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
On Monday night Stacie and Kevin decided to check out more cars and stopped by Enterprise Rent-a-Car to check out a few vehicles that they saw online. They took a test drive in a great 2009 Chevy Aveo and fell in love. Thankfully, their experience was much better than it was last Saturday. They didn't have to haggle down their price and they felt like the dealership was honest and fair with them. So on Tuesday they returned and signed off for the Chevy Aveo. Although it'll be a while before they can say that they own the car, they are very thankful to have a brand new car that will serve them well at a low cost. They are very thankful for the help and support that they have received from their family members.
On Friday Stacie stayed after work hours to hold a party for her employees. She enjoyed getting to know them better and giving them goofy awards that she created through the week. In return she was awarded, "The Most Magical Muggle Award" and the "Most Like Hermoine Granger" award. She loved both. As she was leaving the university was celebrating "Hanging of the Greens," an old tradition where the university sets up luminarias everywhere. Luminarias are paperbags filled with sand and candles. It was absolutely beautiful.
Kevin and Stacie enjoyed their weekend together. Although Kevin has been working hard on completing a paper, he was able take some time with Stacie to go grocery shopping, out to the gym and then out to dinner. As Kevin nears finals in a couple weeks, the little time that they get to spend together becomes more and more precious. They look forward to a long Christmas break with family.
Grant's Update
Grant has been working every day this week due to one of the managers being out of town for a family emergency. It has been a bit of a crazy week for him. He is excited though because he was able to hire five new servers, which will make his life much easier when it comes to scheduling. Earlier this week Grant was able to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and was a bit disappointed that the first installment ended before they got to the Bellatrix Lestrange/Gringotts scene. Bellatrix is Grant's favorite Harry Potter character. He will be especially disappointed if the final installment doesn't include the Molly Weasley/Bellatrix Lestrange duel. Otherwise, Grant is in Stevens Point tonight. He has an early morning meeting for work in Neenah and decided to drive part-way there tonight so he doesn't have to get up so early Monday morning.
The Home Front
It has been a hard week with scattered periods of sunlight. We did have the opportunity to enjoy hearing Handel's Messiah performed by the Central Wisconsin Symphony and the Stevens Point University Choir. It was inspiring. We are really looking forward to Christmas visits. Please keep us in your prayers.
Andy & Melanie & Girls
We were able to speak with Andy and Melanie today. They were able to spend a couple of days with Melanie's sister, Vanessa, and family. It was a good respite for them. Dewey, Vanessa's husband, and Andy went out to look at guns. Andy came back with a new firearm that he is pretty excited to use. They will be arriving today in Colorado. We hope their new home will be wonderful.
The International Haws Family
This week Derick turned five years old. It is amazing how fast time flies by. Jeff had a cocoa report weekend. That meant lots of extra work. We are excited because there is some tangible evidence of the possible relocation to the United States this spring. That is really exciting.
This week has been busy with cleaning, studying, exercising, and oh, of course, Julie's birthday.
Friday we went to a Japanese Typanyaki grill, Kyoto, and had a lovely dinner. Jeff made a chocolate cake with a layer of caramel in the middle that drizzled out as-you-eat-it-goodness. Thank you to Mom Dad and others for the AWESOME Scrapbook stuff and Stacie and Kevin for the card. It meant a lot to Julie.
Saturday we went to a Greek restaurant and got some gyros with a friend in our ward. Her husband is an OBGYN and she is a nurse in that field as well. She is also a hoot to talk to and really quite thoughtful. Later that day we went to Waynesboro, VA for the adult session of stake conference. We received the only snow fall of the winter so far during the drive, after we committed to the unsalted free way, and it began to fall hard. Perfect timing. People here are kind of crazy for the first couple of weeks of snow! When we got home Jeff's sister called to tell us about what she want for Christmas and ended up telling us some of her crazy ER stories!
Sunday was part two of Stake Conference!
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
On Monday night Stacie and Kevin decided to check out more cars and stopped by Enterprise Rent-a-Car to check out a few vehicles that they saw online. They took a test drive in a great 2009 Chevy Aveo and fell in love. Thankfully, their experience was much better than it was last Saturday. They didn't have to haggle down their price and they felt like the dealership was honest and fair with them. So on Tuesday they returned and signed off for the Chevy Aveo. Although it'll be a while before they can say that they own the car, they are very thankful to have a brand new car that will serve them well at a low cost. They are very thankful for the help and support that they have received from their family members.
On Friday Stacie stayed after work hours to hold a party for her employees. She enjoyed getting to know them better and giving them goofy awards that she created through the week. In return she was awarded, "The Most Magical Muggle Award" and the "Most Like Hermoine Granger" award. She loved both. As she was leaving the university was celebrating "Hanging of the Greens," an old tradition where the university sets up luminarias everywhere. Luminarias are paperbags filled with sand and candles. It was absolutely beautiful.
Kevin and Stacie enjoyed their weekend together. Although Kevin has been working hard on completing a paper, he was able take some time with Stacie to go grocery shopping, out to the gym and then out to dinner. As Kevin nears finals in a couple weeks, the little time that they get to spend together becomes more and more precious. They look forward to a long Christmas break with family.
Grant's Update
Grant has been working every day this week due to one of the managers being out of town for a family emergency. It has been a bit of a crazy week for him. He is excited though because he was able to hire five new servers, which will make his life much easier when it comes to scheduling. Earlier this week Grant was able to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and was a bit disappointed that the first installment ended before they got to the Bellatrix Lestrange/Gringotts scene. Bellatrix is Grant's favorite Harry Potter character. He will be especially disappointed if the final installment doesn't include the Molly Weasley/Bellatrix Lestrange duel. Otherwise, Grant is in Stevens Point tonight. He has an early morning meeting for work in Neenah and decided to drive part-way there tonight so he doesn't have to get up so early Monday morning.
The Home Front
It has been a hard week with scattered periods of sunlight. We did have the opportunity to enjoy hearing Handel's Messiah performed by the Central Wisconsin Symphony and the Stevens Point University Choir. It was inspiring. We are really looking forward to Christmas visits. Please keep us in your prayers.
Andy & Melanie & Girls
We were able to speak with Andy and Melanie today. They were able to spend a couple of days with Melanie's sister, Vanessa, and family. It was a good respite for them. Dewey, Vanessa's husband, and Andy went out to look at guns. Andy came back with a new firearm that he is pretty excited to use. They will be arriving today in Colorado. We hope their new home will be wonderful.
The International Haws Family
This week Derick turned five years old. It is amazing how fast time flies by. Jeff had a cocoa report weekend. That meant lots of extra work. We are excited because there is some tangible evidence of the possible relocation to the United States this spring. That is really exciting.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
November 28, 2010
The Lanes of Virginia
Julie and Jeff sent a number of pictures. I will add them in the next 24 hours.
Today Jeff and I received four calling between the two of us: Elders Quorum Teacher (obviously Jeff), Primary 7-8 yr olds again (Julie), ward chorister (Julie), and achievement day leader (Julie, although Jeff would make a great leader). Jeff is excited for his calling, but aware that he is going to be busy planning lessons from now on. I am a little nervous for all three of my callings. However, I substituted for another class today at church, in Primary; which reaffirmed how very much I love the kids!!! We had fun acting out the Belshezzar assassination, part of how Darius came into power, and Daniel in the Lion's Den. Don't worry it was very educational and spiritual. The kids seemed to get the message!
Yesterday, we went to the temple to do some intitories. Jeff did the work for someone named Ulysses S. Grant born in 1878?. I had the opportunity to do the work for three German women and one of those was of the Jewish decent "tochtor Heohne". This women's children would likely have been in the prison camps. She may have even died in one. I was able to, I think, correctly say the name since in college my friend , Jon Robinson, dragged me to all his Hebrew speaking groups. I hope I got it somewhere close because the workers and I had no idea how else to say it!
Friday we went to the "black friday" and got a $300 GPS for $129. Then played with the Christmas gifts we opened this week in our family Christmas! If I had to say that there was one thing Jeff and I really loved that we got Jeff's would likely be the 3 combo Texas A&M t-shirts and mine would be the junior mints that Jeff got me (he found out that they are my favorite candy)! The kitties would be the pile of shredded paper that I saved for them or the glitter tinsel pompoms!
Thanksgiving- I cooked my first TURKEY!!! See pics of the feast I created! We did cook for a family of six! oops! Won't do that again! The kitties enjoyed a fish feast as we had gotten them some of those feeder goldfish! We found out that they did not want to eat them, just kill them! Violent KITTIES! Jeff also had a day full of football to give thanks!
That is about it! Besides cooking and working hard there is not much else for us to say about this week!
We are really excited about the potato peeler and the deodorant for Christmas! Hehehe We vote that we should play hot potato with a baby doll! :)
Julie
The Home Front
This week has been a wonderful week as we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving together. Grant and mom along with Emily's assistance prepared a delicious meal. It has been nice to spend time together and we anxiously look forward to Christmas time. We invited several people to join us for Thanksgiving but it worked out to be an exclusive family event. We were however joined by a winter storm with plenty of cold winds and snow.
Logan has been a great help around the home. He always knows how to lift our spirits. Logan and I have made some adjustments to his chicken coop adding lighting and a heated water trough. This well cared for chickens better produce soon or else!
Emily enjoyed activities with friends including sledding yesterday. She has been working a fair number of hours at Chips and was able to use some of her earnings to go to the midnight sales at Walmart on Black Friday.
Lanette enjoyed extra time away from school. She spent Friday with April Onsager, my former medical assistant, and her family. They are very kind to her. It is especially fun for Lanette since April watches several young children. She was able to hold a small baby which is total joy for Lanette.
Mom and I were able to attend the St Paul Temple on Saturday. We had four ancestors that needed confirmations done. It is interesting because their names had been identified by the extraction program and they had been baptized but it stopped there. I cannot totally explain that they needed all their other ordinances done for them. Yesterday their confirmations and initiatory work was done for them. It was fulfilling to get that done.
The International Haws Family
Mom and Dad,
Our week was busy. As Brazil does not commemorate Thanksgiving we did not get a slower weekend though I did lighten my work load a bit on Thursday.
On the southern hemisphere we are quickly approaching summer and summer break. With the end of the school year at hand Renata and the boys are loaded with assignments and tests. All appear to be safe within range of passing, which is their main concern and that provides comfort and motivation to push through.
Derick is on the count down for his birthday and has a long list of toys that he would like. To his luck Christmas is just around the corner which provide backup on unattended requests.
As to myself, I continue busy at work. There is still much for me to learn just to be able to complete my pending tasks but the challenges have brought excitement and unexpected opportunities.
I hope that your week went so well. Love ,
Jeff
The Jackson's of Albaquerque
Stacie and Kevin had an enjoyable week filled with lots of time with friends to combat their frustration over their car situation. On Wednesday Stacie and Kevin invited several friends from work and school to join them for a pie party the night before Thanksgiving. The party was very enjoyable and included a crazy adventure to make bacon milkshakes. Almost everyone that experienced it actually liked it, but Stacie was not a fan. (See the accompanying pictures to see just how disgusted with her sample.) On Thursday it snowed in Albuquerque for the first time since Stacie and Kevin moved in. Unfortunately, New Mexicans in the area are not used to snow and several streets were shut down due to accidents. Stacie and Kevin joined some friends from Kevin's graduate program for their Thanksgiving meal. They enjoyed playing with their friend's cat, watching A Muppet Christmas Carol, and falling asleep with full stomachs.
On Friday Stacie finished putting up Christmas decorations around the apartment while watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." In the evening Stacie and Kevin joined more friends for a night of fried turkey. They enjoyed fried turkey, fried duck, fried pickles, fried onions (wrapped in bacon), fried jalapenos, fried snickers, and much slower heart rates. Although they may have shortened their life spans by ten or twenty years, it was lots of fun. On Saturday they enjoyed one last party with friends by joining Kevin's fellow graduate student, Nick and his girlfriend, Amanda for a lunch of leftover Thanksgiving food. Afterwards they headed out for an evening of car shopping and left more confused and unsure about what to choose. Hopefully this week they will be able to select an affordable car that will last them longer than the hurt of paying for it.
They have included pictures of their pie party and fried turkey night.
News from Newport News
Andy and Melanie have packed up their belongings. The movers are coming tomorrow and they will soon be on the road to Colorado. They will be visiting the girls cousin, Wyatt, and his parents (Melanie's sister and brother-in-law) on the way. It brings back many a memory of our frequent moves. We wish them well.
Julie and Jeff sent a number of pictures. I will add them in the next 24 hours.
Today Jeff and I received four calling between the two of us: Elders Quorum Teacher (obviously Jeff), Primary 7-8 yr olds again (Julie), ward chorister (Julie), and achievement day leader (Julie, although Jeff would make a great leader). Jeff is excited for his calling, but aware that he is going to be busy planning lessons from now on. I am a little nervous for all three of my callings. However, I substituted for another class today at church, in Primary; which reaffirmed how very much I love the kids!!! We had fun acting out the Belshezzar assassination, part of how Darius came into power, and Daniel in the Lion's Den. Don't worry it was very educational and spiritual. The kids seemed to get the message!
Yesterday, we went to the temple to do some intitories. Jeff did the work for someone named Ulysses S. Grant born in 1878?. I had the opportunity to do the work for three German women and one of those was of the Jewish decent "tochtor Heohne". This women's children would likely have been in the prison camps. She may have even died in one. I was able to, I think, correctly say the name since in college my friend , Jon Robinson, dragged me to all his Hebrew speaking groups. I hope I got it somewhere close because the workers and I had no idea how else to say it!
Friday we went to the "black friday" and got a $300 GPS for $129. Then played with the Christmas gifts we opened this week in our family Christmas! If I had to say that there was one thing Jeff and I really loved that we got Jeff's would likely be the 3 combo Texas A&M t-shirts and mine would be the junior mints that Jeff got me (he found out that they are my favorite candy)! The kitties would be the pile of shredded paper that I saved for them or the glitter tinsel pompoms!
Thanksgiving- I cooked my first TURKEY!!! See pics of the feast I created! We did cook for a family of six! oops! Won't do that again! The kitties enjoyed a fish feast as we had gotten them some of those feeder goldfish! We found out that they did not want to eat them, just kill them! Violent KITTIES! Jeff also had a day full of football to give thanks!
That is about it! Besides cooking and working hard there is not much else for us to say about this week!
We are really excited about the potato peeler and the deodorant for Christmas! Hehehe We vote that we should play hot potato with a baby doll! :)
Julie
The Home Front
This week has been a wonderful week as we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving together. Grant and mom along with Emily's assistance prepared a delicious meal. It has been nice to spend time together and we anxiously look forward to Christmas time. We invited several people to join us for Thanksgiving but it worked out to be an exclusive family event. We were however joined by a winter storm with plenty of cold winds and snow.
Logan has been a great help around the home. He always knows how to lift our spirits. Logan and I have made some adjustments to his chicken coop adding lighting and a heated water trough. This well cared for chickens better produce soon or else!
Emily enjoyed activities with friends including sledding yesterday. She has been working a fair number of hours at Chips and was able to use some of her earnings to go to the midnight sales at Walmart on Black Friday.
Lanette enjoyed extra time away from school. She spent Friday with April Onsager, my former medical assistant, and her family. They are very kind to her. It is especially fun for Lanette since April watches several young children. She was able to hold a small baby which is total joy for Lanette.
Mom and I were able to attend the St Paul Temple on Saturday. We had four ancestors that needed confirmations done. It is interesting because their names had been identified by the extraction program and they had been baptized but it stopped there. I cannot totally explain that they needed all their other ordinances done for them. Yesterday their confirmations and initiatory work was done for them. It was fulfilling to get that done.
The International Haws Family
Mom and Dad,
Our week was busy. As Brazil does not commemorate Thanksgiving we did not get a slower weekend though I did lighten my work load a bit on Thursday.
On the southern hemisphere we are quickly approaching summer and summer break. With the end of the school year at hand Renata and the boys are loaded with assignments and tests. All appear to be safe within range of passing, which is their main concern and that provides comfort and motivation to push through.
Derick is on the count down for his birthday and has a long list of toys that he would like. To his luck Christmas is just around the corner which provide backup on unattended requests.
As to myself, I continue busy at work. There is still much for me to learn just to be able to complete my pending tasks but the challenges have brought excitement and unexpected opportunities.
I hope that your week went so well. Love ,
Jeff
The Jackson's of Albaquerque
Stacie and Kevin had an enjoyable week filled with lots of time with friends to combat their frustration over their car situation. On Wednesday Stacie and Kevin invited several friends from work and school to join them for a pie party the night before Thanksgiving. The party was very enjoyable and included a crazy adventure to make bacon milkshakes. Almost everyone that experienced it actually liked it, but Stacie was not a fan. (See the accompanying pictures to see just how disgusted with her sample.) On Thursday it snowed in Albuquerque for the first time since Stacie and Kevin moved in. Unfortunately, New Mexicans in the area are not used to snow and several streets were shut down due to accidents. Stacie and Kevin joined some friends from Kevin's graduate program for their Thanksgiving meal. They enjoyed playing with their friend's cat, watching A Muppet Christmas Carol, and falling asleep with full stomachs.
On Friday Stacie finished putting up Christmas decorations around the apartment while watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." In the evening Stacie and Kevin joined more friends for a night of fried turkey. They enjoyed fried turkey, fried duck, fried pickles, fried onions (wrapped in bacon), fried jalapenos, fried snickers, and much slower heart rates. Although they may have shortened their life spans by ten or twenty years, it was lots of fun. On Saturday they enjoyed one last party with friends by joining Kevin's fellow graduate student, Nick and his girlfriend, Amanda for a lunch of leftover Thanksgiving food. Afterwards they headed out for an evening of car shopping and left more confused and unsure about what to choose. Hopefully this week they will be able to select an affordable car that will last them longer than the hurt of paying for it.
They have included pictures of their pie party and fried turkey night.
News from Newport News
Andy and Melanie have packed up their belongings. The movers are coming tomorrow and they will soon be on the road to Colorado. They will be visiting the girls cousin, Wyatt, and his parents (Melanie's sister and brother-in-law) on the way. It brings back many a memory of our frequent moves. We wish them well.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
November 21, 2010
Grant's News
Most of this week for Grant centered around Veteran's Day. Applebee's is about twice as busy as a normal Friday that day, so needless to say it got a bit wild. However, it was fun to give out so many free meals and veterans seemed extremely appreciative. Otherwise, Grant has just been trying to survive so many days working without a day off. One of the other managers had a funeral to go to; thus, Grant ended up working on his day off. Luckily, he finally got this past Saturday off. The other fun aspect of Grant's week has been scheduling. He is in charge of scheduling all the bartenders, servers, and hosts...and this week he had to do the schedule for the Thanksgiving weekend. Yeah, so if Grant dies Wednesday it's because one of his employees was displeased that he is making them work. Grant has had a pretty uneventful week otherwise.
The Jackson's of Albquerque
As you know from the last post, Stacie was in an accident this week. On her way to work on Wednesday, she tried to stop for a yellow light but was unable to make it and collided into a car making a left hand turn in the opposite direction. Although their car endured some serious damage, Stacie came out with only a bruise and a sore arm. She was very thankful to have her visiting teacher come and sit with her until Kevin could come home and help her calm down. They have been blessed by the help of several people and are thankful that everything will be okay. Just don't expect very impressive gifts at Christmas. :-) Right now they are waiting for an estimate from the car shop so they can consider whether repairing the car or purchasing a new car will be a better choice.
Stacie took off work on Wednesday and Thursday. She was thankful for the time to emotionally recover and sort out some logistics of moving the car from the tow company's lot and getting it to a shop. After work on Friday, Stacie and Kevin were also thankful for the opportunity to have dinner and play games with several families in their ward. It was nice for them to get away from thinking about all the following issues from the accident. They really enjoyed getting to know more families in the ward and spending time playing some fun board games like "Pit" and "Last Word". Saturday was pretty busy. Of course, Stacie & Kevin wouldn't let their financial and car troubles keep them from seeing Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows. They enjoyed the movie and, afterwards, prepared dinner for the missionaries. After sharing dinner with the missionaries, they headed over to a party at Kevin's professor's house. Again, they enjoyed food and games with friends.
Although it was a difficult week, Stacie & Kevin have much to be thankful for (just in time for Thanksgiving). Most of all, they are thankful for the reminder that life is short and that they are blessed to have one another.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Logan loved seeing Harry Potter. He went to the show with Mom, Dad, Lanette and his friends Quinny and Jenny. He gave the family home evening lesson this week on the Holy Ghost. Our family home evening included a visit to Sister McSweeney, a dear sister in the branch. He is very excited that this will be a shortened week with Thanksgiving on its way. With his help we were able to finish off cleaning up the garage.
Emily finished up the play, Arsenic and Old Lace, this week. She did a great deal with making the set. It took a lot of hard work and Emily was proud of her effort. I was especially pleased with her skill development in construction. I am going to put her to work in the future. She had a good time at several cast parties over the last several weeks.
Lanette was asked to lead the music in sacrament meeting. Her debut was today but we asked that it be postponed for a week so that she could have more time to prepare. She loves Christmas music so this should be a wonderful opportunity for her. I am anxious to see her serve in this capacity. I appreciate our branch presidency for considering her for this opportunity.
Mom has enjoyed time with her children as she attended Harry Potter with Logan and then went the same evening to watch Emily participate in the school play. Some of her favorite activities is talking with Grant at one or two in the morning. As more me I am in REM stage 5 sleep (that means I am past the state of arousal).
It has been a good week for me. I have been reminded of the blessing of the Holy Ghost's guidance in simple things of life including guidance on how to fix some things at home as well as inspiration as a father still trying to "figure out" fathering. My most important blessing this week was Stacie's safety in the car accident.
The International Haws Family
Mom and Dad,
Picture have been uploaded directly to Flickr. Among which you should find my favorite, a picture of the chick flying out of Derick’s hands.
This week was Felipe’s 14th b’day, amazing how old these kids are getting. Brazilians have the habit of breaking eggs on your head on your b’day so Felipe was able to convince his mother to let him stay home from school. His escape was poorly planned as friends invaded the front yard and had at him while Renata and I went to pick up a cake. Next year there will be no escape from school, if you get egged either way may as well study.
Felipe and Lucas enjoyed time at the beach with friends and have loved the warmer weather. The weather has been wonderful for November, generally Angra rains quite a bit during the month. We are in the middle of a La Niña which tends to cause excessive rains in Indonesia and droughts in Ecuador, I am not sure if this has relation to the humidity that reaches us but the kids certainly have enjoyed the month.
Derick has spent most of the past 10 days with a heavy cold and managed to evade school. Tomorrow there will be no escape and school is inevitable. He has enjoyed his pets quite a bit. They got lucky and had some time free as Dallin Dalmatian got into trouble and wound up chained up for the day. Derick loves Dallin dearly but did enjoy having the unnamed rabbit and chicks freed from their cages.
Renata did not have school this week, I am unsure of the reason. She managed to stay busy between Felipe’s b’day and other personal activities. The two of us went to a couples dinner party put on by Derick’s teacher on Friday and Saturday evening. We enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed the opportunity to be around other couples. Renata and I tend to have difficulties finding couples to go out with us.
My week was busy with trying to perfect programs and compare differences in the Uncle Steven’s database against that of one of his clients. Working on the database has been pleasant as time and time again Steven runs into clients and colleagues that spend significantly more time and money trying to do what Steven and I have set up to run with ease. Matthew joined Steven in June and has been guiding me through user interface design, which I must confess is not yet my strong point. In the I am pleased as double the bosses has doubled the work which has provided much welcomed stability. ,
That is about it for us. I hope that you have a wonderful week. Love,
Jeff
Grant's News
This week was another week full of work for Grant. Business was actually slower than normal, so Grant has had to try and find ways to keep himself busy since he works the closing shift, which doesn't end until around one in the morning. On a productive night that means redoing inventory tracking sheets and planning schedules, etc. However, his friend Jessica bartends and one night after the doors were locked they turned down the lights and walked around all creepy-like, somewhat like Mike Meyers from Halloween in the dim light. This week also brought an end to his Facebook marriage to the same Jessica. Apparently she has a boyfriend now. So the weekend was Grant and Jessica acting all heart-broken with eachother. After all a Facebook marriage is the most solemn of all relationships.
The Lane's of Virginia
For “Black Friday,” Jeff has worked extra hours (since that is not a free-bee holiday); which has left Julie some extra study time. Monday, we went to help set up for a funeral but they did not need us. Tuesday, Julie went to help with the clean-up of the same funeral. They told her to be there 4 hours before they actually needed her, so she was stuck at the church during that time. When they finally did the clean-up we found out there was another death in the other ward so they just had her do dishes. To sum up, 4 hours to do 15 min of dishes, highly efficient.
Wednesday and Thursday were just extra hour workdays for Jeff, so Jeff didn’t get to come home for lunch. Friday Jeff and Julie helped serve food at a church. The local churches here take turns assisting the homeless in the winter months; since, the church does not open its door except in times of high emergency, our wards combine with another faith where they help to shelter the homeless during the colder months. It is always a joy to see how much we can help others. If any of you get a chance to help this winter you should consider bringing a relish tray of sorts. The homeless are ALWAYS excited to see the fresh veggies!
After serving, we then caught the tail end of young married’s institute.
Saturday, Jeff went in to work at 6:30 am to finish all but an hour of the time he plans on making up. At ~10 we went to a bishopric member’s house and Jeff and Julie got to shoot a gun. It was a 42 gauge shotgun. Oh boy! It was a lot of fun! We both did really well! Although the gun was WAY toooo big for Julie. It nearly bulled her over when she shot it!
Oh and Julie’s black hair was the spray on kind- as you can see!
After that we spent the day doing odds and ends. Topping it off with a lazy evening at home as Jeff and Julie watched Texas A&M beat Nebraska. Which was a great game to watch!!!! GIG’EM AGGIES!!!!!
News from Newport News
This week has been a busy week for us all. At school Haley had Parent Involvement Education Week where the parents were able to participate with their child in activities. On Monday Kayla and I was able to have lunch with Haley. I don't know which one was more excited Haley because we were there to have lunch with her or Kayla because she finally got to use her Dora lunch box at school. On Wednesday we were able to participate with Haley's class in outdoor activities. Then on Thursday Haley did a math activity at the local grocery store. Kayla has had some fun days this week too. When we went for a walk we found a few huge leaves on the hill; we looked around to try to see the tree that they fell from but it was nowhere in sight. Even though Kayla thought finding the leaves were fun, she seemed to like playing with her friend Emily from church more. Andy is excited because all he has is two more days of school until he graduates ALC (Advanced Leaders Course, formally BNOC). I am grateful that he has been able to come home on weekends, but I am excited to finally have him be home during the weeknights also. This week we will be working on getting things ready for the movers to come and saying our "see-you-later" (not good-byes) to everyone.
Most of this week for Grant centered around Veteran's Day. Applebee's is about twice as busy as a normal Friday that day, so needless to say it got a bit wild. However, it was fun to give out so many free meals and veterans seemed extremely appreciative. Otherwise, Grant has just been trying to survive so many days working without a day off. One of the other managers had a funeral to go to; thus, Grant ended up working on his day off. Luckily, he finally got this past Saturday off. The other fun aspect of Grant's week has been scheduling. He is in charge of scheduling all the bartenders, servers, and hosts...and this week he had to do the schedule for the Thanksgiving weekend. Yeah, so if Grant dies Wednesday it's because one of his employees was displeased that he is making them work. Grant has had a pretty uneventful week otherwise.
The Jackson's of Albquerque
As you know from the last post, Stacie was in an accident this week. On her way to work on Wednesday, she tried to stop for a yellow light but was unable to make it and collided into a car making a left hand turn in the opposite direction. Although their car endured some serious damage, Stacie came out with only a bruise and a sore arm. She was very thankful to have her visiting teacher come and sit with her until Kevin could come home and help her calm down. They have been blessed by the help of several people and are thankful that everything will be okay. Just don't expect very impressive gifts at Christmas. :-) Right now they are waiting for an estimate from the car shop so they can consider whether repairing the car or purchasing a new car will be a better choice.
Stacie took off work on Wednesday and Thursday. She was thankful for the time to emotionally recover and sort out some logistics of moving the car from the tow company's lot and getting it to a shop. After work on Friday, Stacie and Kevin were also thankful for the opportunity to have dinner and play games with several families in their ward. It was nice for them to get away from thinking about all the following issues from the accident. They really enjoyed getting to know more families in the ward and spending time playing some fun board games like "Pit" and "Last Word". Saturday was pretty busy. Of course, Stacie & Kevin wouldn't let their financial and car troubles keep them from seeing Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows. They enjoyed the movie and, afterwards, prepared dinner for the missionaries. After sharing dinner with the missionaries, they headed over to a party at Kevin's professor's house. Again, they enjoyed food and games with friends.
Although it was a difficult week, Stacie & Kevin have much to be thankful for (just in time for Thanksgiving). Most of all, they are thankful for the reminder that life is short and that they are blessed to have one another.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Logan loved seeing Harry Potter. He went to the show with Mom, Dad, Lanette and his friends Quinny and Jenny. He gave the family home evening lesson this week on the Holy Ghost. Our family home evening included a visit to Sister McSweeney, a dear sister in the branch. He is very excited that this will be a shortened week with Thanksgiving on its way. With his help we were able to finish off cleaning up the garage.
Emily finished up the play, Arsenic and Old Lace, this week. She did a great deal with making the set. It took a lot of hard work and Emily was proud of her effort. I was especially pleased with her skill development in construction. I am going to put her to work in the future. She had a good time at several cast parties over the last several weeks.
Lanette was asked to lead the music in sacrament meeting. Her debut was today but we asked that it be postponed for a week so that she could have more time to prepare. She loves Christmas music so this should be a wonderful opportunity for her. I am anxious to see her serve in this capacity. I appreciate our branch presidency for considering her for this opportunity.
Mom has enjoyed time with her children as she attended Harry Potter with Logan and then went the same evening to watch Emily participate in the school play. Some of her favorite activities is talking with Grant at one or two in the morning. As more me I am in REM stage 5 sleep (that means I am past the state of arousal).
It has been a good week for me. I have been reminded of the blessing of the Holy Ghost's guidance in simple things of life including guidance on how to fix some things at home as well as inspiration as a father still trying to "figure out" fathering. My most important blessing this week was Stacie's safety in the car accident.
The International Haws Family
Mom and Dad,
Picture have been uploaded directly to Flickr. Among which you should find my favorite, a picture of the chick flying out of Derick’s hands.
This week was Felipe’s 14th b’day, amazing how old these kids are getting. Brazilians have the habit of breaking eggs on your head on your b’day so Felipe was able to convince his mother to let him stay home from school. His escape was poorly planned as friends invaded the front yard and had at him while Renata and I went to pick up a cake. Next year there will be no escape from school, if you get egged either way may as well study.
Felipe and Lucas enjoyed time at the beach with friends and have loved the warmer weather. The weather has been wonderful for November, generally Angra rains quite a bit during the month. We are in the middle of a La Niña which tends to cause excessive rains in Indonesia and droughts in Ecuador, I am not sure if this has relation to the humidity that reaches us but the kids certainly have enjoyed the month.
Derick has spent most of the past 10 days with a heavy cold and managed to evade school. Tomorrow there will be no escape and school is inevitable. He has enjoyed his pets quite a bit. They got lucky and had some time free as Dallin Dalmatian got into trouble and wound up chained up for the day. Derick loves Dallin dearly but did enjoy having the unnamed rabbit and chicks freed from their cages.
Renata did not have school this week, I am unsure of the reason. She managed to stay busy between Felipe’s b’day and other personal activities. The two of us went to a couples dinner party put on by Derick’s teacher on Friday and Saturday evening. We enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed the opportunity to be around other couples. Renata and I tend to have difficulties finding couples to go out with us.
My week was busy with trying to perfect programs and compare differences in the Uncle Steven’s database against that of one of his clients. Working on the database has been pleasant as time and time again Steven runs into clients and colleagues that spend significantly more time and money trying to do what Steven and I have set up to run with ease. Matthew joined Steven in June and has been guiding me through user interface design, which I must confess is not yet my strong point. In the I am pleased as double the bosses has doubled the work which has provided much welcomed stability. ,
That is about it for us. I hope that you have a wonderful week. Love,
Jeff
Grant's News
This week was another week full of work for Grant. Business was actually slower than normal, so Grant has had to try and find ways to keep himself busy since he works the closing shift, which doesn't end until around one in the morning. On a productive night that means redoing inventory tracking sheets and planning schedules, etc. However, his friend Jessica bartends and one night after the doors were locked they turned down the lights and walked around all creepy-like, somewhat like Mike Meyers from Halloween in the dim light. This week also brought an end to his Facebook marriage to the same Jessica. Apparently she has a boyfriend now. So the weekend was Grant and Jessica acting all heart-broken with eachother. After all a Facebook marriage is the most solemn of all relationships.
The Lane's of Virginia
For “Black Friday,” Jeff has worked extra hours (since that is not a free-bee holiday); which has left Julie some extra study time. Monday, we went to help set up for a funeral but they did not need us. Tuesday, Julie went to help with the clean-up of the same funeral. They told her to be there 4 hours before they actually needed her, so she was stuck at the church during that time. When they finally did the clean-up we found out there was another death in the other ward so they just had her do dishes. To sum up, 4 hours to do 15 min of dishes, highly efficient.
Wednesday and Thursday were just extra hour workdays for Jeff, so Jeff didn’t get to come home for lunch. Friday Jeff and Julie helped serve food at a church. The local churches here take turns assisting the homeless in the winter months; since, the church does not open its door except in times of high emergency, our wards combine with another faith where they help to shelter the homeless during the colder months. It is always a joy to see how much we can help others. If any of you get a chance to help this winter you should consider bringing a relish tray of sorts. The homeless are ALWAYS excited to see the fresh veggies!
After serving, we then caught the tail end of young married’s institute.
Saturday, Jeff went in to work at 6:30 am to finish all but an hour of the time he plans on making up. At ~10 we went to a bishopric member’s house and Jeff and Julie got to shoot a gun. It was a 42 gauge shotgun. Oh boy! It was a lot of fun! We both did really well! Although the gun was WAY toooo big for Julie. It nearly bulled her over when she shot it!
Oh and Julie’s black hair was the spray on kind- as you can see!
After that we spent the day doing odds and ends. Topping it off with a lazy evening at home as Jeff and Julie watched Texas A&M beat Nebraska. Which was a great game to watch!!!! GIG’EM AGGIES!!!!!
News from Newport News
This week has been a busy week for us all. At school Haley had Parent Involvement Education Week where the parents were able to participate with their child in activities. On Monday Kayla and I was able to have lunch with Haley. I don't know which one was more excited Haley because we were there to have lunch with her or Kayla because she finally got to use her Dora lunch box at school. On Wednesday we were able to participate with Haley's class in outdoor activities. Then on Thursday Haley did a math activity at the local grocery store. Kayla has had some fun days this week too. When we went for a walk we found a few huge leaves on the hill; we looked around to try to see the tree that they fell from but it was nowhere in sight. Even though Kayla thought finding the leaves were fun, she seemed to like playing with her friend Emily from church more. Andy is excited because all he has is two more days of school until he graduates ALC (Advanced Leaders Course, formally BNOC). I am grateful that he has been able to come home on weekends, but I am excited to finally have him be home during the weeknights also. This week we will be working on getting things ready for the movers to come and saying our "see-you-later" (not good-byes) to everyone.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
November 14, 2010
News from Newport News
This past week we were very lucky to have Andy home for the majority of the week due to Veterans Day. We are very grateful for him and for all of the service members that have fought for our freedom. Thank you! When I dropped Haley off at school on Veterans Day the school had service members from all branches lined up in the hall handing out "good tickets" to the students; then later in the day the service members helped out in the classrooms by read books to the students. On Saturday I found some really cheap fairy rain boots for the girls. Once I paid for them the girls put them right on and did not want to take them off and of course on Sunday they were trying to find dresses to match their boots thinking that I was going to let them wear their rain boots to church.
The International Haws Family
Mom and Dad,
Allow me to sum up our past two weeks as we did not collaborate last week.
Life has been fairly exciting. There has not been much school due to excess public holidays, tomorrow the kids are off again. On their free time all of the kids have been learning some new skills.
First Derick had his first soccer game last week. His team won the tournament. Derick scored a well kicked goal against his own team but was forgiven as it was just as the second half started and he did not understand that they had switched goals. He still enjoyed himself quite a bit and was even given the trophy the team won.
Derick had more days off of school as he was a bit sick and then decided that he would learn to be an engineer and successfully took his trophy apart. He learned a hard lesson though in organization as he lost some of the pieces and could not fix the mess.
Felipe and Lucas also have been taking up new hobbies. They and their friends started a little musical . Even more impressive is that there was a local party at the neighborhood next to ours and their group sung and danced as part of the entertainment. We were most impressed as Felipe especially is extremely shy.
Renata has been frustrated as days off of school force her to stay home in the evening. She has noted how much of a relief evening classes can be as one escapes some of the mundane house tasks. She has been a good sport though and has helped quite a bit so that I can make changes to some programs including the iPhone app.
My excitement was mostly the approval of the iPhone app that I built for Steven. I am not sure if you have had the chance to view it but it was built to allow users to access the website better through iPhones or iPads. It was quite a project requiring that I learn a new programming language without the auxiliary of classes or tutors. We are still making some adjustments as clients begin to provide reviews and comments.
Besides that I have been excited as Steven has continued to hint at the desire for me to move to Pennsylvania next year. Though much is still unsure I am enthusiastic all might come together in the near future.
As a last note just to make Emily jealous, apparently several of the actors from the Twilight series are in Paraty; possibly as tourist, possibly filming. Paraty is just south of Angra and is one of the two locations where Renata and I go when we need a few days away.
Jeff
Grant's News
Most of this week for Grant centered around Veteran's Day. Applebee's is about twice as busy as a normal Friday that day, so needless to say it got a bit wild. However, it was fun to give out so many free meals and veterans seemed extremely appreciative. Otherwise, Grant has just been trying to survive so many days working without a day off. One of the other managers had a funeral to go to; thus, Grant ended up working on his day off. Luckily, he finally got this past Saturday off. The other fun aspect of Grant's week has been scheduling. He is in charge of scheduling all the bartenders, servers, and hosts...and this week he had to do the schedule for the Thanksgiving weekend. Yeah, so if Grant dies Wednesday it's because one of his employees was displeased that he is making them work. Grant has had a pretty uneventful week otherwise.
The Lane's of Virginia
This has been a relatively low key week on the Shenandoah front.
Monday we had family home evening: We made a football field and a bunch of foot balls (see pics) for a pin the football on the field TURKEY BOWL. (For those who do not know- Jeff LOVES football). UNBEKNOWN to Jeff we had to write something we are thankful for on a paper- the amount of things we had to write varied according to where the football landed on the yard lines. Then we hung them up to remind us all month of what we are grateful for!
Tuesday –Thursday worked on studies. Although on Thursday after Jeff closed the company building, Julie surprised Jeff by spray-coloring her hair black and putting lots of scary make up on! We had joked about how funny it would be for her to look goth! We got a good laugh until after the shower when we looked at the shower aftermath and found it left the shower looking Gothic. Luckily a little comet and elbow grease got it right out.
Friday a girl in our ward got baptized. She had been investigating the church for about 2 years. It was kind of like Grandma Stewart where they tried to give her callings and visiting teaching assignments. It was really neat to see!
Saturday was a leisure Saturday we mostly went and got groceries-got our first turkey! Later that day we walked to an A&W. Delish.
The kitties have begun to think that the big bed is there's. Daddy says other wise!
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This was certainly an interesting week for Stacie and Kevin. On Monday evening they enjoyed going out for pie together. On Tuesday Stacie joined her coworkers in attending the Board of Regents meeting at UNM. The agenda included discussion of the buildings that the Regents plan to tear down in the residence hall areas, which is a big concern for Stacie's department since it will result in lots of lost jobs. However, they couldn't help but feel pride for all the student who showed up to support their cause. Although she fears for the future of her department, she feels comfortable that her job should be secure until the end of Kevin's graduate work at UNM. For mutual that evening, Stacie helped the Mia Maids complete some personal progress values. The new personal progress program permits Young Women, parents and leaders to complete the values multiple times, so Stacie has decided to begin the personal progress program again for herself.
On Friday Stacie was thankful to have the opportunity to leave work early so she could spend more time with Kevin. They enjoyed watching their favorite 80s television show, Remington Steele. On Saturday Kevin tried to attend a Cubmaster training on the other side of town, however he was unable to find the training and decided to go to a Boot Camp workout at the Y. Afterwards, Stacie and Kevin enjoyed eating lunch and going grocery shopping together. Unfortunately, when they left the grocery store they noticed that their car bumper was bent out of shape and soon realized that their car was the victim of a hit and run. Luckily the car still works well, it just doesn't look very nice.
Saturday night Stacie headed over to the World Wide Leadership Training hosted by the First Presidency. Meanwhile, Kevin went to a birthday party for a fellow grad student. After the meeting Kevin brought Stacie some of the meal shared at the party, for which she was very thankful, and they spent the rest of the evening watching more Remington Steele and enjoying the end of their weekend.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Logan had fun this week roller skating with friends at the "famous" Melody Gardens of Marshfield. He also had the chance to have friends over yesterday. His biggest news is that he participated in his last Primary program in sacrament meeting. He gave a talk and sang a number of songs but he is happy to put off his stardom so that he can be in the Aaronic Priesthood. His chickens have become quite a pain in the neck as they are flying the coop a couple times a day despite netting. If they don't start laying eggs soon they are going to be our Thanksgiving meal.
Emily has been very active with stage crew for the high school play Arsenic and Old Lace. Emily has become a great carpenter, painter and general stage crew carpenter. She will actually be in the play next week playing a dead person. She continues to be busy with homework- mainly German, work and all sorts of other things. Her big excitement this coming week is the new installment of Harry Potter. She will be dressing up as Hermoine this Thursday for school and to attend the premier showing.
Lanette had a relatively quiet week at school and home. She is not real happy about the snow. She does not like to wear coats but her biggest disappointment was that her tape recorder broke. She did have the opportunity to talk on the cell phone with some friends which is one of her favorite hobbies (as you probably know).
Mom continues to enjoy time with Grant when he is here in the mornings before he goes off to work. She loves to have him come in late at night or very early in the morning to talk with her for a few minutes. Mom has been the chasing Logan's chickens when they get out during the day. I suspect that will not happen much longer without some fatal consequences for our feathered friends.
I received a call this week from Andy on Veteran's day thanking me for my military service. It caught me off guard because I look at my service in the military as hardly worth acknowledging compared to his devotion and sacrifice. Thank you Andy. I am very proud of my family. It is fun to see Emily's excitement about the play and Logan's enjoyment of time with friends. I appreciate Grant's pumpkin treats and kindness. I love each of you. Each of you brighten my day whether it be helping me with a computer glich or sending a picture of a new hairdo and hope that you will have a wonderful week.
This past week we were very lucky to have Andy home for the majority of the week due to Veterans Day. We are very grateful for him and for all of the service members that have fought for our freedom. Thank you! When I dropped Haley off at school on Veterans Day the school had service members from all branches lined up in the hall handing out "good tickets" to the students; then later in the day the service members helped out in the classrooms by read books to the students. On Saturday I found some really cheap fairy rain boots for the girls. Once I paid for them the girls put them right on and did not want to take them off and of course on Sunday they were trying to find dresses to match their boots thinking that I was going to let them wear their rain boots to church.
The International Haws Family
Mom and Dad,
Allow me to sum up our past two weeks as we did not collaborate last week.
Life has been fairly exciting. There has not been much school due to excess public holidays, tomorrow the kids are off again. On their free time all of the kids have been learning some new skills.
First Derick had his first soccer game last week. His team won the tournament. Derick scored a well kicked goal against his own team but was forgiven as it was just as the second half started and he did not understand that they had switched goals. He still enjoyed himself quite a bit and was even given the trophy the team won.
Derick had more days off of school as he was a bit sick and then decided that he would learn to be an engineer and successfully took his trophy apart. He learned a hard lesson though in organization as he lost some of the pieces and could not fix the mess.
Felipe and Lucas also have been taking up new hobbies. They and their friends started a little musical . Even more impressive is that there was a local party at the neighborhood next to ours and their group sung and danced as part of the entertainment. We were most impressed as Felipe especially is extremely shy.
Renata has been frustrated as days off of school force her to stay home in the evening. She has noted how much of a relief evening classes can be as one escapes some of the mundane house tasks. She has been a good sport though and has helped quite a bit so that I can make changes to some programs including the iPhone app.
My excitement was mostly the approval of the iPhone app that I built for Steven. I am not sure if you have had the chance to view it but it was built to allow users to access the website better through iPhones or iPads. It was quite a project requiring that I learn a new programming language without the auxiliary of classes or tutors. We are still making some adjustments as clients begin to provide reviews and comments.
Besides that I have been excited as Steven has continued to hint at the desire for me to move to Pennsylvania next year. Though much is still unsure I am enthusiastic all might come together in the near future.
As a last note just to make Emily jealous, apparently several of the actors from the Twilight series are in Paraty; possibly as tourist, possibly filming. Paraty is just south of Angra and is one of the two locations where Renata and I go when we need a few days away.
Jeff
Grant's News
Most of this week for Grant centered around Veteran's Day. Applebee's is about twice as busy as a normal Friday that day, so needless to say it got a bit wild. However, it was fun to give out so many free meals and veterans seemed extremely appreciative. Otherwise, Grant has just been trying to survive so many days working without a day off. One of the other managers had a funeral to go to; thus, Grant ended up working on his day off. Luckily, he finally got this past Saturday off. The other fun aspect of Grant's week has been scheduling. He is in charge of scheduling all the bartenders, servers, and hosts...and this week he had to do the schedule for the Thanksgiving weekend. Yeah, so if Grant dies Wednesday it's because one of his employees was displeased that he is making them work. Grant has had a pretty uneventful week otherwise.
The Lane's of Virginia
This has been a relatively low key week on the Shenandoah front.
Monday we had family home evening: We made a football field and a bunch of foot balls (see pics) for a pin the football on the field TURKEY BOWL. (For those who do not know- Jeff LOVES football). UNBEKNOWN to Jeff we had to write something we are thankful for on a paper- the amount of things we had to write varied according to where the football landed on the yard lines. Then we hung them up to remind us all month of what we are grateful for!
Tuesday –Thursday worked on studies. Although on Thursday after Jeff closed the company building, Julie surprised Jeff by spray-coloring her hair black and putting lots of scary make up on! We had joked about how funny it would be for her to look goth! We got a good laugh until after the shower when we looked at the shower aftermath and found it left the shower looking Gothic. Luckily a little comet and elbow grease got it right out.
Friday a girl in our ward got baptized. She had been investigating the church for about 2 years. It was kind of like Grandma Stewart where they tried to give her callings and visiting teaching assignments. It was really neat to see!
Saturday was a leisure Saturday we mostly went and got groceries-got our first turkey! Later that day we walked to an A&W. Delish.
The kitties have begun to think that the big bed is there's. Daddy says other wise!
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This was certainly an interesting week for Stacie and Kevin. On Monday evening they enjoyed going out for pie together. On Tuesday Stacie joined her coworkers in attending the Board of Regents meeting at UNM. The agenda included discussion of the buildings that the Regents plan to tear down in the residence hall areas, which is a big concern for Stacie's department since it will result in lots of lost jobs. However, they couldn't help but feel pride for all the student who showed up to support their cause. Although she fears for the future of her department, she feels comfortable that her job should be secure until the end of Kevin's graduate work at UNM. For mutual that evening, Stacie helped the Mia Maids complete some personal progress values. The new personal progress program permits Young Women, parents and leaders to complete the values multiple times, so Stacie has decided to begin the personal progress program again for herself.
On Friday Stacie was thankful to have the opportunity to leave work early so she could spend more time with Kevin. They enjoyed watching their favorite 80s television show, Remington Steele. On Saturday Kevin tried to attend a Cubmaster training on the other side of town, however he was unable to find the training and decided to go to a Boot Camp workout at the Y. Afterwards, Stacie and Kevin enjoyed eating lunch and going grocery shopping together. Unfortunately, when they left the grocery store they noticed that their car bumper was bent out of shape and soon realized that their car was the victim of a hit and run. Luckily the car still works well, it just doesn't look very nice.
Saturday night Stacie headed over to the World Wide Leadership Training hosted by the First Presidency. Meanwhile, Kevin went to a birthday party for a fellow grad student. After the meeting Kevin brought Stacie some of the meal shared at the party, for which she was very thankful, and they spent the rest of the evening watching more Remington Steele and enjoying the end of their weekend.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Logan had fun this week roller skating with friends at the "famous" Melody Gardens of Marshfield. He also had the chance to have friends over yesterday. His biggest news is that he participated in his last Primary program in sacrament meeting. He gave a talk and sang a number of songs but he is happy to put off his stardom so that he can be in the Aaronic Priesthood. His chickens have become quite a pain in the neck as they are flying the coop a couple times a day despite netting. If they don't start laying eggs soon they are going to be our Thanksgiving meal.
Emily has been very active with stage crew for the high school play Arsenic and Old Lace. Emily has become a great carpenter, painter and general stage crew carpenter. She will actually be in the play next week playing a dead person. She continues to be busy with homework- mainly German, work and all sorts of other things. Her big excitement this coming week is the new installment of Harry Potter. She will be dressing up as Hermoine this Thursday for school and to attend the premier showing.
Lanette had a relatively quiet week at school and home. She is not real happy about the snow. She does not like to wear coats but her biggest disappointment was that her tape recorder broke. She did have the opportunity to talk on the cell phone with some friends which is one of her favorite hobbies (as you probably know).
Mom continues to enjoy time with Grant when he is here in the mornings before he goes off to work. She loves to have him come in late at night or very early in the morning to talk with her for a few minutes. Mom has been the chasing Logan's chickens when they get out during the day. I suspect that will not happen much longer without some fatal consequences for our feathered friends.
I received a call this week from Andy on Veteran's day thanking me for my military service. It caught me off guard because I look at my service in the military as hardly worth acknowledging compared to his devotion and sacrifice. Thank you Andy. I am very proud of my family. It is fun to see Emily's excitement about the play and Logan's enjoyment of time with friends. I appreciate Grant's pumpkin treats and kindness. I love each of you. Each of you brighten my day whether it be helping me with a computer glich or sending a picture of a new hairdo and hope that you will have a wonderful week.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
November 7, 2010
The Wisconsin Haws Family
The week has flown by. We had the roof repaired this week after last week's wind damage. I was most grateful that the cost was minimal. I count it was one of the blessings of the Lord.
Logan participated in his school's major fundraiser. Mom helped out too. It was called Alpine Holidays. They had all sorts of things going on including bands and various musicians, raffles, games (with Logan in charge of one of them), food stands and of course a beer garden. It is Wisconsin you know. I thing Logan enjoyed his part of the activities.
Emily played pep band this week for the Marshfield football team. Much to her amazement and the amazement of most of Marshfield the team won. They are in the state playoffs and will advance now to the quarter finals. Emily is excited to go to the next game but not as excited as the upcoming release of Harry Potter. Emily took her SAT yesterday. We are hoping to hear great results that may pay off with a scholarship.
Lanette has had a pretty quiet weekend. She always likes to visit someone but that did not work out this week. I did take her to the Alpine Holidays to walk around the area as Logan and mom worked.
Mom and I lost a dear friend. Leonard Zilch has been a person in our branch that was always especially kind to mom. He would drop of chocolate to her when she was working in the library. He was a delight in our high priest quorum. He passed away quickly over a few weeks after being identified to have liver cancer. We will be attending his funeral tomorrow.
Yesterday I had hoped to be able to attend the temple and take Lanette so that she could do baptisms for the dead. I had a sick patient come in on Friday evening so I could not leave town but it did give me a chance to build some cabinets that mom wanted me to build. As I was shelving the books I found some random pictures of some of you as children. It brings memories of how blessed I have been to be your dad.
Grant's News
This week was mostly just work, work, work for Grant. His boss was on vacation and that has Grant closing the restaurant every night. And that isn't so bad; however, when he has to go in early to work to finish up some projects and then has to stay until the wee hours of the morning because guests don't want to go home...then it is not too fun. Or like Tuesday, he has to be in Appleton (which is two hours away) for a meeting, then drive back to Marshfield and close the restaurant. Veteran's Day is this coming Thursday, so there has been a lot of preparation for that at work since veterans and active duty military eat free that day. On his day off this week Grant made the family his favorite fall dish, which is cranberry glazed pork roast, smashed red potatoes, brussel sprouts, and pumpkin cornbread. Emily wasn't a fan of the pork and Logan wasn't a fan of the brussel sprouts...but in general, everybody liked it.
News from Newport News
Not too much has happened this week. Andy was suppose to have a class here at Fort Eustis for the week, but since Fort Lee did not schedule a bus to transport the soldiers back and forth each day they canceled the class. Since they canceled the class, Andy decided to surprise the girls and I Monday night showing up at the house, but then had to leave at 3:00 am Tuesday morning to go back to Fort Lee. On Saturday we took the girls to the Home Depot workshop where they built spice racks (which the girls turned them into bookshelves). Leave it to both mommy and daddy to put the "bookshelves" together wrong by placing the backend in the front even when reading the directions!
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This week was crazy at UNM with debates over tearing down dormitories and cutting budgets. Stacie and Kevin continue to be fearful about their future at the university. There are plenty of discussions about cutting employees in Stacie's department and cutting funding in Kevin's program. As they consider schools for Kevin's doctoral program, they are definitely focusing on university funding. Hopefully there will be more outside opportunities for them to excel in their current situation.
Other than that constant worry, the week went pretty well. Stacie helped the Mia Maids lead a combined "Service Scavenger Hunt" where the young men and women helped do small and simple services around local grocery stores. On Friday Stacie and Kevin joined some fellow graduate students for dinner. One of the graduates hosted "Icelandic Fish Stew" night, where they enjoyed a stew of Icelandic haddock, monk fish, baby shrimp, salmon. For dessert they had skyr, a tangy, rich yogurt with fruit and juice. On Saturday Kevin went in to work for much longer than expected to help with sport sign-ups at the YMCA and Stacie ran errands around town. They were very happy to spend the evening together enjoying dinner and a movie.
The week has flown by. We had the roof repaired this week after last week's wind damage. I was most grateful that the cost was minimal. I count it was one of the blessings of the Lord.
Logan participated in his school's major fundraiser. Mom helped out too. It was called Alpine Holidays. They had all sorts of things going on including bands and various musicians, raffles, games (with Logan in charge of one of them), food stands and of course a beer garden. It is Wisconsin you know. I thing Logan enjoyed his part of the activities.
Emily played pep band this week for the Marshfield football team. Much to her amazement and the amazement of most of Marshfield the team won. They are in the state playoffs and will advance now to the quarter finals. Emily is excited to go to the next game but not as excited as the upcoming release of Harry Potter. Emily took her SAT yesterday. We are hoping to hear great results that may pay off with a scholarship.
Lanette has had a pretty quiet weekend. She always likes to visit someone but that did not work out this week. I did take her to the Alpine Holidays to walk around the area as Logan and mom worked.
Mom and I lost a dear friend. Leonard Zilch has been a person in our branch that was always especially kind to mom. He would drop of chocolate to her when she was working in the library. He was a delight in our high priest quorum. He passed away quickly over a few weeks after being identified to have liver cancer. We will be attending his funeral tomorrow.
Yesterday I had hoped to be able to attend the temple and take Lanette so that she could do baptisms for the dead. I had a sick patient come in on Friday evening so I could not leave town but it did give me a chance to build some cabinets that mom wanted me to build. As I was shelving the books I found some random pictures of some of you as children. It brings memories of how blessed I have been to be your dad.
Grant's News
This week was mostly just work, work, work for Grant. His boss was on vacation and that has Grant closing the restaurant every night. And that isn't so bad; however, when he has to go in early to work to finish up some projects and then has to stay until the wee hours of the morning because guests don't want to go home...then it is not too fun. Or like Tuesday, he has to be in Appleton (which is two hours away) for a meeting, then drive back to Marshfield and close the restaurant. Veteran's Day is this coming Thursday, so there has been a lot of preparation for that at work since veterans and active duty military eat free that day. On his day off this week Grant made the family his favorite fall dish, which is cranberry glazed pork roast, smashed red potatoes, brussel sprouts, and pumpkin cornbread. Emily wasn't a fan of the pork and Logan wasn't a fan of the brussel sprouts...but in general, everybody liked it.
News from Newport News
Not too much has happened this week. Andy was suppose to have a class here at Fort Eustis for the week, but since Fort Lee did not schedule a bus to transport the soldiers back and forth each day they canceled the class. Since they canceled the class, Andy decided to surprise the girls and I Monday night showing up at the house, but then had to leave at 3:00 am Tuesday morning to go back to Fort Lee. On Saturday we took the girls to the Home Depot workshop where they built spice racks (which the girls turned them into bookshelves). Leave it to both mommy and daddy to put the "bookshelves" together wrong by placing the backend in the front even when reading the directions!
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This week was crazy at UNM with debates over tearing down dormitories and cutting budgets. Stacie and Kevin continue to be fearful about their future at the university. There are plenty of discussions about cutting employees in Stacie's department and cutting funding in Kevin's program. As they consider schools for Kevin's doctoral program, they are definitely focusing on university funding. Hopefully there will be more outside opportunities for them to excel in their current situation.
Other than that constant worry, the week went pretty well. Stacie helped the Mia Maids lead a combined "Service Scavenger Hunt" where the young men and women helped do small and simple services around local grocery stores. On Friday Stacie and Kevin joined some fellow graduate students for dinner. One of the graduates hosted "Icelandic Fish Stew" night, where they enjoyed a stew of Icelandic haddock, monk fish, baby shrimp, salmon. For dessert they had skyr, a tangy, rich yogurt with fruit and juice. On Saturday Kevin went in to work for much longer than expected to help with sport sign-ups at the YMCA and Stacie ran errands around town. They were very happy to spend the evening together enjoying dinner and a movie.
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