The Jacksons of Albuqueque
The last few weeks have been very busy for Stacie and Kevin, however they were still able to enjoy some time together throughout the week. On Monday, Stacie enjoyed a day off of work in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Kevin and Stacie enjoyed dinner with their friends, Nick and Amanda, at a Las Vegas style Chinese buffet. On Tuesday, Kevin started off his winter classes. This semester he will be taking a lyric & poetry class and an introduction to Old English course. He has only heard frightening things about the work load and difficulty of his Old English class, so he is thankful that his work schedule has switched around so we can get more rest and spend more time preparing for his tests and work.
On Friday, Stacie was able to have another day off of work because she had put in so much overtime since last Saturday. Kevin and Stacie traveled a few hours south of Albuquerque to visit a national park called Bosque del Apache. It is a bird preservation and they enjoyed bird watching for a few hours. They were impressed by a pond filled with thousands of white geese. They also enjoyed watching hundreds of cranes and spotting a few elk and even some bald eagles. They were also excited to stop at a A&W in Belen which they once overheard an older couple excitedly talking about in the Costco food court.
On Saturday, Stacie and Kevin stopped by The Dollar Store to begin preparing awards for the Pinewood Derby their pack is hosting on Saturday. While on the town they enjoyed browsing through Barnes and Noble and Trader Joes. Although Anthropologie was closed, Stacie was very excited to discover that the fancy home decor and clothing store is nearby. Those of you that saw the nice mugs that Grant gave Stacie for Christmas can understand how excited Stacie was to discover this store, since those mugs come from it.
On Sunday Stacie and Kevin were invited to dinner at their neighbor's home. They enjoyed dinner and playing the game, "Ticket to Ride." They are sad to see their friends, the Thune family, move. They will be helping the Thune's move out on Saturday morning.
The International Haws Family
Mom and Dad,
Our week was busy but enjoyable.
After speaking in more details with Steven, Renata and I have been looking more at rentals. Among things that we have learned have been that apartment complexes don`t like three kids in one room and that low prices generally have hidden problems. Regarding the later we had a fun experience. Among other properties I came across an old home, built in 1900 and maintain and restored over time. The home has four bedrooms and a beautiful lawn with a low fence around the property. To top it off the cost was lower than most of the three bedroom apartments that I have come across. Becoming interested I called the property. I discovered that the property was so well maintained as its owner was located next door, a historic Catholic church and that the lawn was beautifully green due to an uncommon fertilizer for the lawn is a segment of the cemetery grounds that belong to the Catholic church. Renata quickly expressed her concerns and I was not able to get a discount for paranormal encounters so the search continues.
Looking for residence has also included examining the schools and school districts. I have used tools like GreatSchools.org to get some kind of a guide. I also spoke with Mom for suggestions. Toward the end of the week I began examining ESL (English as a Second Language) programs to compare their quality as that is a main concern. To keep the boys excited we also reviewed which schools had better soccer programs in the region. Among these two factors we found a very strong correlation as the experienced, qualified ESL programs tend to also be the schools with better soccer teams. This immediately became obvious, schools with more experience teaching English were generally teaching latinos and the latinos tend to have a significant influence on the quality of the soccer team.
The boys and Renata are all doing well. Mostly enjoying the summer month of beaches and free-time.
I will be traveling to the PA on the 21st of February.
I hope that you are well.
Love,
Jeff
The Colorado Haws Family
This week we were sad to see Nana leave. All of us had a wonderful time with her and Andy especially enjoyed being able to stay up late talking with her one-on-one. Kayla had enjoyed going to story hour this week at the local library and making Polar Bear masks. Haley was glad to get her new glasses and show them off to everyone. One other exciting thing is that Haley has learned to ride her bike without training wheels...Way to go Haley! Other than that not too much has happened this week.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
It was a cold wintry week here in Wisconsin. Mom was gone for the first couple of days so we tried to keep things together. We had the Elders over along with a new family in the branch on Monday night for family home evening. I was suppose to get Lanette to the school bus that evening but the roads were terrible. To my surprise, Lanette was very upset that she could not go to school. Wonders never cease. Thankfully Julie has been calling Lanette on a regular basis and reading Twilight. Lanette is really enjoying it.
Logan and I went camping on Friday night. Logan had a great time playing games and staying warm in the cabin. I decided I wanted to sleep in a snow cave. It actually was quite warm but the big issue was how small it was. It really gave me a feeling of claustrophobia.
Emily received her ACT scores back and is pretty pleased with them. She is anxiously looking into colleges that have music therapy and social work options.
Mom came home with lots of great memories from her trip to Colorado. She had such a great time. It was a terrific chance for her to spend time with Andy and Melanie and Kayla and Haley. Andy sent home a replica of an ox head for me. It will find a special place in our home probably a doorway.
On Saturday night we enjoyed dinner out with Grant. That was enjoyable as expected. It also keep Grant away from unwanted calls from Applebees.
We hope to see the weather warm this coming week. We are planning a temple trip this weekend. We will also be visiting Stephanie Haws who lives in the Twin Cities now. We are looking forward to the upcoming arrival of Jeff and his family this year and a potential visit from Andy and Melanie and girls this summer.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
January 15, 2011
The Lane's of Virginia
As promised here is the week of the Virginia Lanes. We started our January 7th resolutions. Jeff has something against New Years resolutions. They seem superficial, and half the time they are viewed as obligatory. The other 364 days are more likely to be taken seriously and to succeed. We are setting weekly study and exercise goals. So far so good. We tried a local ma and pa dinner this week. It was ok. The burger was a Frisbee and the chicken strips were pencils similar to burger king’s chicken fries. This week we however we also worked on food storage by buying some paint buckets and wheat flour (50lb). not much, but we are proud .we took our kitties to the park and they loved it. All the smells in the dry leaves were intoxicatingly exciting to them.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This week was a difficult week for Stacie with long work hours and nightly church meetings, however she couldn't have made it through without Kevin being such an awesome husband. On Tuesday Stacie enjoyed going to mutual and playing "Hymn Pictionary." On Wednesday she was able to leave work early in order to balance out her work hours and enjoyed the early afternoon with Kevin and her young women's presidency meeting. On Thursday Kevin and Stacie headed over to a cub committee meeting and planned the epic pinewood derby. They look forward to inviting their friend, Doug's son, Mauricio for the event.
On Friday Stacie had the longest work day in history, arriving at work at 6:30am and leaving at 9:00pm. However, it was a productive and positive day overall of check ins, training, and other semester preparations. While Stacie was at work, Kevin headed over to their friends' house, Nick and Amanda for a BBQ wing cook off. After he left to pick up Stacie, they decided to return to the party and continue to enjoy the overly fried food and super hot sauce. However, they had to leave soon because Stacie had to return to work early on Saturday morning to train her new employees. Thankfully, she was able to leave earlier than anticipated. Later in the evening, Stacie and Kevin invited their friends, Amanda and Nick, over for dinner. They enjoyed spending most of the night laughing and talking with their fun friends.
Now, they are both very ready for sleep after a long week.
The International Haws Family
I have spoken with Jeff several times over the last week. The mudslides have not directly affected them but surely many people have lost property and in some cases their lives to the devastation. Thankfully they are safe. Our prayers are with the people of both Brazil and Australia that have lost so much.
The Colorado Haws Family
Mom flew out to Colorado on Thursday. She is having a wonderful time as Nana. It has been fun to hear the voices of Kayla and Haley on the telephone as they talk about their time with Nana.
Grant's News
Grant has been working a whole lot. I have hardly seen him. Hopefully he will be able to post something soon.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Logan went with friends roller skating this week. He had a lot of fun doing that. He still misses his friends that moved recently but it is nice to see new friends moving into a more central role in his life. His chickens are still growing but no eggs yet.
Emily has enjoyed time with Emily Wolfe, a neighbor that shares an interest in music with Emily. They spent time together last night playing with an Apple application called Garage Band (or something similar).
Lanette has a long weekend with Martin Luther King Holiday this week. She spent time with the Elmhorst. A favorite place for Lanette. She loves her Victor, the MP3 player for the blind.
As for Mom, she is out in Colorado having a wonderful time. My week has included receiving help from Logan and Emily to clean the snow off of two widows driveways. Afterwards we went and ate together at El Jalepeno. I have enjoyed the opportunity to watch the Packer football game on Saturday. I abandoned Sunday football games when I was a kid but I still love to watch a Saturday NFL game now and then. This game was impressive. I think the Packers have a chance for the Superbowl!
Have a wonderful week.
As promised here is the week of the Virginia Lanes. We started our January 7th resolutions. Jeff has something against New Years resolutions. They seem superficial, and half the time they are viewed as obligatory. The other 364 days are more likely to be taken seriously and to succeed. We are setting weekly study and exercise goals. So far so good. We tried a local ma and pa dinner this week. It was ok. The burger was a Frisbee and the chicken strips were pencils similar to burger king’s chicken fries. This week we however we also worked on food storage by buying some paint buckets and wheat flour (50lb). not much, but we are proud .we took our kitties to the park and they loved it. All the smells in the dry leaves were intoxicatingly exciting to them.
The Jackson's of Albuquerque
This week was a difficult week for Stacie with long work hours and nightly church meetings, however she couldn't have made it through without Kevin being such an awesome husband. On Tuesday Stacie enjoyed going to mutual and playing "Hymn Pictionary." On Wednesday she was able to leave work early in order to balance out her work hours and enjoyed the early afternoon with Kevin and her young women's presidency meeting. On Thursday Kevin and Stacie headed over to a cub committee meeting and planned the epic pinewood derby. They look forward to inviting their friend, Doug's son, Mauricio for the event.
On Friday Stacie had the longest work day in history, arriving at work at 6:30am and leaving at 9:00pm. However, it was a productive and positive day overall of check ins, training, and other semester preparations. While Stacie was at work, Kevin headed over to their friends' house, Nick and Amanda for a BBQ wing cook off. After he left to pick up Stacie, they decided to return to the party and continue to enjoy the overly fried food and super hot sauce. However, they had to leave soon because Stacie had to return to work early on Saturday morning to train her new employees. Thankfully, she was able to leave earlier than anticipated. Later in the evening, Stacie and Kevin invited their friends, Amanda and Nick, over for dinner. They enjoyed spending most of the night laughing and talking with their fun friends.
Now, they are both very ready for sleep after a long week.
The International Haws Family
I have spoken with Jeff several times over the last week. The mudslides have not directly affected them but surely many people have lost property and in some cases their lives to the devastation. Thankfully they are safe. Our prayers are with the people of both Brazil and Australia that have lost so much.
The Colorado Haws Family
Mom flew out to Colorado on Thursday. She is having a wonderful time as Nana. It has been fun to hear the voices of Kayla and Haley on the telephone as they talk about their time with Nana.
Grant's News
Grant has been working a whole lot. I have hardly seen him. Hopefully he will be able to post something soon.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Logan went with friends roller skating this week. He had a lot of fun doing that. He still misses his friends that moved recently but it is nice to see new friends moving into a more central role in his life. His chickens are still growing but no eggs yet.
Emily has enjoyed time with Emily Wolfe, a neighbor that shares an interest in music with Emily. They spent time together last night playing with an Apple application called Garage Band (or something similar).
Lanette has a long weekend with Martin Luther King Holiday this week. She spent time with the Elmhorst. A favorite place for Lanette. She loves her Victor, the MP3 player for the blind.
As for Mom, she is out in Colorado having a wonderful time. My week has included receiving help from Logan and Emily to clean the snow off of two widows driveways. Afterwards we went and ate together at El Jalepeno. I have enjoyed the opportunity to watch the Packer football game on Saturday. I abandoned Sunday football games when I was a kid but I still love to watch a Saturday NFL game now and then. This game was impressive. I think the Packers have a chance for the Superbowl!
Have a wonderful week.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
January 9, 2011
The Colorado Haws Family
On Monday the girls were soaking up the last day of their vacation before they went back to school. This week Kayla started pre-school and was very excited to use her new backpack. We were also able to go to the temple on Saturday, which the weather and the drive was beautiful. Andy is finishing up his final touches before he turns in his E-7 promotion packet. We won't know until April if he made it or not, so please keep him in your prayers that he will.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Our excitement this week was the plumbing. Our kitchen sink is plunged up big time. I have done everything I can think of to fix it but can't. So the plumber will have to make a house call. We will be washing the dishes in the basement sink. This may be a real challenge for us not to use a dishwasher.
Besides that big excitement, Logan enjoyed going with two friends to see "Gulliver's Travels". It was fun and Logan obviously had a great time. He met with the scout board to receive his tenderfoot advancement award. He did a great job at the board. Everyone was impressed.
Emily has become interested in investigating music therapy as a career field. She would like to learn to play the guitar. We went and looked at guitars this week. She has decided to save up her earnings for that. I think she would do a great job in this field. Of course, like all of us she may change her mind a number of times.
Lanette has thoroughly enjoyed her Victor. The Victor is a MP3 player for the blind with added features including the ability to tape record. You can only imagine how much joy that has given to Lanette.
Mom and I will the help of the Logan took down much of the Christmas decorations. That was a big relief to mom because she hates clutter. It has surprised all of us how much extra space there is in the home. It was with great tears Mom said good bye to Kevin and Stacie this week. It was a huge delight for all of us to have Jeff and Julie and Stacie and Kevin here for Christmas. Mom shed tears as you dropped off some of the most precious people in her life.
I had the opportunity yesterday of having Logan help me take down the Christmas lights at the Winter wonderland display. It is really a great service project. Work is back in full swing. I have also been reading a wonderful book called Fear Not. It is written by the Institute and Seminary director for the Wisconsin area. It is about the Book of Revelations. I highly encourage any of you to consider reading it.
Grant
Grant was very sad to have his buddies, Stacie and Kevin, head back to Albuquerque this week. After living together for a year, and then being away from eachother for so long, it was nice for Grant to be with them again. He was able to spend Monday with the two of them before they left. For the rest of the week Grant has been busy at work. In order to appeal to the new year resolution folks, the restaurant always has a new marketing initiative around the new year for "healthy" meals...and this week kicked off that. His bartenders are all excited for a contest the company is having for them to invent a new drink and get it in the menu. This coming week Grant is excited to go out to Olive Garden in Wausau with two of his friends he works with.
The Albuquerque Haws
Despite their sadness to leave Wisconsin, on Tuesday Stacie and Kevin flew back to Albuquerque. On Wednesday Stacie returned to work and it was very busy. Although it has been crazy, it has been nice to get back into the swing of things. On Friday, Stacie was able to leave a little early to head over to a doctor's appointment. It was nice to spend extra time with Kevin. On Saturday, Stacie and Kevin attended a wedding of two of the graduate students. They were married in a beautiful chapel located on campus. It was a nice wedding and it was nice to continue to get to know the fellow graduate students.
Updates
I do not have written updates from others but I know that Jeff is busy trying to get things in order to bring his family to America. We are surely looking towards their move.
I have not be able to reach Julie and Jeff so I cannot give any updates.
On Monday the girls were soaking up the last day of their vacation before they went back to school. This week Kayla started pre-school and was very excited to use her new backpack. We were also able to go to the temple on Saturday, which the weather and the drive was beautiful. Andy is finishing up his final touches before he turns in his E-7 promotion packet. We won't know until April if he made it or not, so please keep him in your prayers that he will.
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Our excitement this week was the plumbing. Our kitchen sink is plunged up big time. I have done everything I can think of to fix it but can't. So the plumber will have to make a house call. We will be washing the dishes in the basement sink. This may be a real challenge for us not to use a dishwasher.
Besides that big excitement, Logan enjoyed going with two friends to see "Gulliver's Travels". It was fun and Logan obviously had a great time. He met with the scout board to receive his tenderfoot advancement award. He did a great job at the board. Everyone was impressed.
Emily has become interested in investigating music therapy as a career field. She would like to learn to play the guitar. We went and looked at guitars this week. She has decided to save up her earnings for that. I think she would do a great job in this field. Of course, like all of us she may change her mind a number of times.
Lanette has thoroughly enjoyed her Victor. The Victor is a MP3 player for the blind with added features including the ability to tape record. You can only imagine how much joy that has given to Lanette.
Mom and I will the help of the Logan took down much of the Christmas decorations. That was a big relief to mom because she hates clutter. It has surprised all of us how much extra space there is in the home. It was with great tears Mom said good bye to Kevin and Stacie this week. It was a huge delight for all of us to have Jeff and Julie and Stacie and Kevin here for Christmas. Mom shed tears as you dropped off some of the most precious people in her life.
I had the opportunity yesterday of having Logan help me take down the Christmas lights at the Winter wonderland display. It is really a great service project. Work is back in full swing. I have also been reading a wonderful book called Fear Not. It is written by the Institute and Seminary director for the Wisconsin area. It is about the Book of Revelations. I highly encourage any of you to consider reading it.
Grant
Grant was very sad to have his buddies, Stacie and Kevin, head back to Albuquerque this week. After living together for a year, and then being away from eachother for so long, it was nice for Grant to be with them again. He was able to spend Monday with the two of them before they left. For the rest of the week Grant has been busy at work. In order to appeal to the new year resolution folks, the restaurant always has a new marketing initiative around the new year for "healthy" meals...and this week kicked off that. His bartenders are all excited for a contest the company is having for them to invent a new drink and get it in the menu. This coming week Grant is excited to go out to Olive Garden in Wausau with two of his friends he works with.
The Albuquerque Haws
Despite their sadness to leave Wisconsin, on Tuesday Stacie and Kevin flew back to Albuquerque. On Wednesday Stacie returned to work and it was very busy. Although it has been crazy, it has been nice to get back into the swing of things. On Friday, Stacie was able to leave a little early to head over to a doctor's appointment. It was nice to spend extra time with Kevin. On Saturday, Stacie and Kevin attended a wedding of two of the graduate students. They were married in a beautiful chapel located on campus. It was a nice wedding and it was nice to continue to get to know the fellow graduate students.
Updates
I do not have written updates from others but I know that Jeff is busy trying to get things in order to bring his family to America. We are surely looking towards their move.
I have not be able to reach Julie and Jeff so I cannot give any updates.
Monday, January 3, 2011
January 3, 2011
The Colorado Haws Family
This week has been full of adventures. Andy had started in-processing this week and will check into his unit next week. The girls have had a great time being home and playing in the snow from the New Year’s storm that we had. We didn’t have a sled for them to go sledding, so we improvised and used a printer box with a rope tied to it. Needless to say that box did not last very long, so the next day we adventured out on the very icy road to please the girls by buying them a sled. I do have to say that I would be very happy if it did not snow here anymore because I am not one who likes to drive on icy roads. Kayla was so excited today because she now has officially moved from the nursery into the Sunbeam class at church. Haley was excited that Kayla was in primary with her and was being a very good big sister by showing Kayla where her class was and who her teacher was.
News from Wisconsin
It has been such a wonderful couple of weeks. We have been blessed with Julie and Jeff and Stacie and Kevin visiting. There have been many special memories made during this time.
We were able to do a secret Santa for a family in our community. The effort was greatly helped by the "strangers" in our home that dropped things on their doorstep or in one case handed them a card with some special gifts inside. We have had the opportunity to go ice skating and snow shoeing. We had family pictures taken. We played games, ran around the outside of the house barefoot in the snow. Only Kevin and Logan were that crazy. We had wonderful meals prepared by nearly everyone in the home. For some reason I was not invited to prepare one of the meals. We enjoyed several meals at local resturants. We pondered the Savior's birth and enjoyed a wonderful message presented by Kevin and Stacie. We gave and received gifts that will brighten our lives in the days to come. We laughed together and enjoyed a holiday season that was much too short.
It has been so good to spend the time together and makes me want to see a day that all our family can enjoy time together.
One of the biggest pieces of news was that Jeff and Renata and the boys will be coming up to Pennsylvania this spring. I will include a fun story that Jeff sent about their excitement in coming north.
From Jeff
I had a fun experience that I thought I would share.
Tonight Felipe, our oldest, began to show signs of excitement about coming to the US. Renata had been talking to the boys and trying to boost enthusiasm about the idea of going somewhere completely different. Unfortunately for Renata English is not so easy and the pronunciation can become confusing, so much so that amidst her explaining what she had seen online she began confusing the name of the destination.
All of a sudden with excitement in their eyes Renata and the boys came running back asking me to show them pictures of Transylvania. I recognize that I am a horrible person but I could not let this pass. Quickly I started showing them beautiful castles and country side. They were quite impressed but felt the underlying theme of Halloween throughout the Google searches. Felipe asked about Halloween and I tried to explain that Transylvania was home to the sinister stories of Count Dracula. A quick feeling of discomfort began to arouse, Brazilian are just too superstitious.
A picture would have told the whole tale but I laugh far too easily. I could not bear and had to confess that the move was to Pennsylvania.
After some complaints from the crowd along the lines of “This isn’t helping” and “I’m never going to learn that language” all calmed down and we looked through some pictures of the Bethlehem/Allentown area.
This week has been full of adventures. Andy had started in-processing this week and will check into his unit next week. The girls have had a great time being home and playing in the snow from the New Year’s storm that we had. We didn’t have a sled for them to go sledding, so we improvised and used a printer box with a rope tied to it. Needless to say that box did not last very long, so the next day we adventured out on the very icy road to please the girls by buying them a sled. I do have to say that I would be very happy if it did not snow here anymore because I am not one who likes to drive on icy roads. Kayla was so excited today because she now has officially moved from the nursery into the Sunbeam class at church. Haley was excited that Kayla was in primary with her and was being a very good big sister by showing Kayla where her class was and who her teacher was.
News from Wisconsin
It has been such a wonderful couple of weeks. We have been blessed with Julie and Jeff and Stacie and Kevin visiting. There have been many special memories made during this time.
We were able to do a secret Santa for a family in our community. The effort was greatly helped by the "strangers" in our home that dropped things on their doorstep or in one case handed them a card with some special gifts inside. We have had the opportunity to go ice skating and snow shoeing. We had family pictures taken. We played games, ran around the outside of the house barefoot in the snow. Only Kevin and Logan were that crazy. We had wonderful meals prepared by nearly everyone in the home. For some reason I was not invited to prepare one of the meals. We enjoyed several meals at local resturants. We pondered the Savior's birth and enjoyed a wonderful message presented by Kevin and Stacie. We gave and received gifts that will brighten our lives in the days to come. We laughed together and enjoyed a holiday season that was much too short.
It has been so good to spend the time together and makes me want to see a day that all our family can enjoy time together.
One of the biggest pieces of news was that Jeff and Renata and the boys will be coming up to Pennsylvania this spring. I will include a fun story that Jeff sent about their excitement in coming north.
From Jeff
I had a fun experience that I thought I would share.
Tonight Felipe, our oldest, began to show signs of excitement about coming to the US. Renata had been talking to the boys and trying to boost enthusiasm about the idea of going somewhere completely different. Unfortunately for Renata English is not so easy and the pronunciation can become confusing, so much so that amidst her explaining what she had seen online she began confusing the name of the destination.
All of a sudden with excitement in their eyes Renata and the boys came running back asking me to show them pictures of Transylvania. I recognize that I am a horrible person but I could not let this pass. Quickly I started showing them beautiful castles and country side. They were quite impressed but felt the underlying theme of Halloween throughout the Google searches. Felipe asked about Halloween and I tried to explain that Transylvania was home to the sinister stories of Count Dracula. A quick feeling of discomfort began to arouse, Brazilian are just too superstitious.
A picture would have told the whole tale but I laugh far too easily. I could not bear and had to confess that the move was to Pennsylvania.
After some complaints from the crowd along the lines of “This isn’t helping” and “I’m never going to learn that language” all calmed down and we looked through some pictures of the Bethlehem/Allentown area.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
December 19, 2010
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.
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 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.
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