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.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
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.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
October 31, 2010
The Wisconsin Haws Family
Logan and I went on a scout campout on Friday night. It was chilly but not too bad. Logan was the head cook and did a terrific job. On Saturday we did a 25 mile bike trip that turned out to be about 28 miles. It was quite a start for working on the cycling merit badge for Logan. It was a great trial taking us along the old railroad path through a beautiful area. There were three very long, damp, dark tunnels that we had to walk the bikes through. That was pretty creepy.
Emily went with friends to a haunted house that sounded like fun. She has been working on an essay about non-transcendentalism and The Scarlet Letter. She read the first portion to me and it is taking shape. She continues to put in a lot of hours with stage crew, work and school but seems to enjoy the diversity.
Lanette was frustrated this week that her school did not put on a halloween dance. That has been a tradition at the school but didn't happen this year. She was further frustrated that halloween was on Sunday. She had hoped to be able to trick or treat. Mom, Lanette and I were able to meet with a social worker to discuss her transition into the Marshfield School system next year. I think we made some good progress.
Mom has picked up a nasty cold. With her immune suppressed state it makes the illnesses more concerning. I gave her a priesthood blessing earlier this week. We were able to attend the temple on Thursday. Mom did a great deal to make the scout trip happen. Once again, thanks Mom (Kellie) for all you do.
Grant's News
This week has been "Adventures in Scheduling" for Grant at work. On Veteran's Day, all active duty military and veterans receive a free meal at Applebee's...which makes for a very busy day at work. (Tell your friends...it's all Applebee's everywhere.) He's been begging employees to work that Thursday and finally got the schedule done ahead of its due date. Grant was lucky enough to get three days off this week, and went on a hike through McMillan Marsh - despite the constant threat of getting shot down by Wisconsin hillbillies amidst hunting season. Wednesday night Grant made a special Halloween dinner, of which the "Snake Sandwiches" were the favorite, as well as the dessert of "Graveyard Dirt". However, the blue "Mummy Flesh" potatoes weren't enjoyed quite as much. Halloween night Grant is working and at a restaurant that means babysitting an empty restaurant with a couple of employees. The tragedy is that he found out Friday he wasn't allowed to dress up, although all the servers are allowed. There is so much unfairness in the world.
News from Newport News
This past week Haley went on a fieldtrip with her class to the pumpkin patch. She likes going on fieldtrips, but seems to think that the bus ride is the best part about the fieldtrip. I tried getting the girls to help clean the "guts" out of the pumpkin but that didn't go too well; they both started screaming "I don't want to touch that!" On Saturday, we took the girls to the Trunk-or-treat at the church. They were able to do Bobbing-for-Cookies, rubber band shooting (which Andy was trying to teach them how to shoot), and throwing a pie at the Bishop. On Sunday Haley was in the Primary program at church with the theme being "I Know My Savior Lives." Haley was able to help write her part for the program which was, "I have faith in Jesus Christ. My faith in Jesus Christ is strengthened when I say my prayers." Both Haley and Kayla seem to be growing up so fast. I am grateful to know that Haley and Kayla are actually listening to us and understanding the things that we are trying to teach and instill in them about the Savior and the gospel, even though we may think that they are not paying any attention. Andy was out in the field this past week for school teaching soldiers how to take over towns and clear buildings.
The International Haws Family
Dad and Mom,
I have already uploaded some pictures to Flickr, most of them of Derick.
Our week was quite enjoyable even though we do not participate in Halloween and all of the excitement of sugar overloads.
There has not been much school, too many holidays. The boys are currently on a 7 day weekend. I am not sure how one is suppose to learn anything, but from the looks around here I have decided that the simply do not learn.
Besides soccer and light school responsibilities Felipe and Lucas has begun kite season. Brazilians have seasons for which they play certain games, which I do not understand as the tropical climate certainly does depreciate ones ability to fly a kite outside of their general kite season but I do not pretend to understand when and how this is determined.
Kite quickly brought their marking presence as kids get lines tangled on power lines and with their heavy pulling manage to damage electrical transformers in the neighborhood. Blackouts become a near daily event and emergency teams less and less swift in repairs. Seems like short school has multiple effects on society including their electrical supply.
Continuing on the general development and organization I have included a picture of the interstate found between our neighborhood and the bus stop to go downtown. The government, in all their intelligence, made speed bumps to slow cars down and allow pedestrians a chance to cross, but only half way across the street. After this crossing guards were removed from the neighborhood and citizens left to their luck to cross. This may have been an adequate solution if the law were enforced, as it is not you should note that the car has avoided the speed bump by crossing into the wrong side of the road, in a no passing zone. So good luck pedestrian, no slowing down now and even worse the construction create danger as cars avoid collision and over-adjusting onto sidewalk.
Leaving complaints behind I had a fun experience as my father-in-law and I went into the rainforest to get bananas. He does this often however I have never joined. It was quite a bit of fun. He showed me several fruit trees thought he fruits were not ripe yet.
Besides banana-hunting I have enjoyed a busy week at work.
Derick had an bit of fun as he brought home two chicks. I hold Logan responsible and expect that he should feel horrible about his influence. Derick certainly has enjoyed them, especially the yellow one. We have not named them as no one supported my recommendations of Kentucky and Colonel. I am not sure if they will have an extended life span as Dallin Dalmatian and Tigre the cat have quite a bit of interested in the newest residents and their salivation can be seen from a distance.
I hope that your week was as enjoyable and that all are well.
Love,
The Lanes of Virginia
I haven't been able to reach Jeff and Julie. I will add their news later.
The Jackson's of Albaquerque
This week had it's ups and downs for Stacie and Kevin, but overall they were reminded of their many blessings. Kevin has been working very hard in school. He did well on his midterms last week and worked throughout this week to finish a paper. Although he did not get the job he recently applied for, we have faith that something better will come along. We ask for your continued prayers that Kevin will get the teaching opportunities that he needs.
Stacie was reminded this week at work of the power of prayer. She was extremely nervous to have a performance review with a certain employee. She prayed all week for assistance and thankfully the meeting went very well. Also, in her mail room her workers were unable to locate a package that a girl needed very much. Stacie had added pressure from her superiors to find the package since she was told that her mail room never had a history of losing a package before. After following all of her options and feeling like there was little hope left, she finally found the package (listed under a different name). There was a lot of jumping for joy. Lastly, she was praying that the interviews she held for a student position would go over well and that she would find a good employee. She was thankful to have an easy pick with a great candidate that she looks forward to working with. It was a remarkable week filled with blessings.
On Tuesday Stacie and Kevin went to their ward Halloween party and Stacie helped out with face painting. On Friday Kevin led a fantastic cub scout pack meeting that focused on the Scout Slogan: "Do a good turn daily." He shared a message from the First Presidency Christmas Devotional by Elder Faust about a family in the Great Depression whose oldest child had no money to spend on presents, so he sent his father a list of the "good turns" he performed each day. Interestingly, Kevin found out that he is related to the family in the story. On Saturday, Kevin had the opportunity to perform some service for some ward members. He helped one family by moving rocks out of their yard so they could plant grass seed. After the service project, ward members joined together and had a nice dutch oven dinner together. Coincidentally, it was the same night that Stacie had signed up to feed the missionaries, so when the missionaries stopped by they joked about providing the best meal they could get.
Logan and I went on a scout campout on Friday night. It was chilly but not too bad. Logan was the head cook and did a terrific job. On Saturday we did a 25 mile bike trip that turned out to be about 28 miles. It was quite a start for working on the cycling merit badge for Logan. It was a great trial taking us along the old railroad path through a beautiful area. There were three very long, damp, dark tunnels that we had to walk the bikes through. That was pretty creepy.
Emily went with friends to a haunted house that sounded like fun. She has been working on an essay about non-transcendentalism and The Scarlet Letter. She read the first portion to me and it is taking shape. She continues to put in a lot of hours with stage crew, work and school but seems to enjoy the diversity.
Lanette was frustrated this week that her school did not put on a halloween dance. That has been a tradition at the school but didn't happen this year. She was further frustrated that halloween was on Sunday. She had hoped to be able to trick or treat. Mom, Lanette and I were able to meet with a social worker to discuss her transition into the Marshfield School system next year. I think we made some good progress.
Mom has picked up a nasty cold. With her immune suppressed state it makes the illnesses more concerning. I gave her a priesthood blessing earlier this week. We were able to attend the temple on Thursday. Mom did a great deal to make the scout trip happen. Once again, thanks Mom (Kellie) for all you do.
Grant's News
This week has been "Adventures in Scheduling" for Grant at work. On Veteran's Day, all active duty military and veterans receive a free meal at Applebee's...which makes for a very busy day at work. (Tell your friends...it's all Applebee's everywhere.) He's been begging employees to work that Thursday and finally got the schedule done ahead of its due date. Grant was lucky enough to get three days off this week, and went on a hike through McMillan Marsh - despite the constant threat of getting shot down by Wisconsin hillbillies amidst hunting season. Wednesday night Grant made a special Halloween dinner, of which the "Snake Sandwiches" were the favorite, as well as the dessert of "Graveyard Dirt". However, the blue "Mummy Flesh" potatoes weren't enjoyed quite as much. Halloween night Grant is working and at a restaurant that means babysitting an empty restaurant with a couple of employees. The tragedy is that he found out Friday he wasn't allowed to dress up, although all the servers are allowed. There is so much unfairness in the world.
News from Newport News
This past week Haley went on a fieldtrip with her class to the pumpkin patch. She likes going on fieldtrips, but seems to think that the bus ride is the best part about the fieldtrip. I tried getting the girls to help clean the "guts" out of the pumpkin but that didn't go too well; they both started screaming "I don't want to touch that!" On Saturday, we took the girls to the Trunk-or-treat at the church. They were able to do Bobbing-for-Cookies, rubber band shooting (which Andy was trying to teach them how to shoot), and throwing a pie at the Bishop. On Sunday Haley was in the Primary program at church with the theme being "I Know My Savior Lives." Haley was able to help write her part for the program which was, "I have faith in Jesus Christ. My faith in Jesus Christ is strengthened when I say my prayers." Both Haley and Kayla seem to be growing up so fast. I am grateful to know that Haley and Kayla are actually listening to us and understanding the things that we are trying to teach and instill in them about the Savior and the gospel, even though we may think that they are not paying any attention. Andy was out in the field this past week for school teaching soldiers how to take over towns and clear buildings.
The International Haws Family
Dad and Mom,
I have already uploaded some pictures to Flickr, most of them of Derick.
Our week was quite enjoyable even though we do not participate in Halloween and all of the excitement of sugar overloads.
There has not been much school, too many holidays. The boys are currently on a 7 day weekend. I am not sure how one is suppose to learn anything, but from the looks around here I have decided that the simply do not learn.
Besides soccer and light school responsibilities Felipe and Lucas has begun kite season. Brazilians have seasons for which they play certain games, which I do not understand as the tropical climate certainly does depreciate ones ability to fly a kite outside of their general kite season but I do not pretend to understand when and how this is determined.
Kite quickly brought their marking presence as kids get lines tangled on power lines and with their heavy pulling manage to damage electrical transformers in the neighborhood. Blackouts become a near daily event and emergency teams less and less swift in repairs. Seems like short school has multiple effects on society including their electrical supply.
Continuing on the general development and organization I have included a picture of the interstate found between our neighborhood and the bus stop to go downtown. The government, in all their intelligence, made speed bumps to slow cars down and allow pedestrians a chance to cross, but only half way across the street. After this crossing guards were removed from the neighborhood and citizens left to their luck to cross. This may have been an adequate solution if the law were enforced, as it is not you should note that the car has avoided the speed bump by crossing into the wrong side of the road, in a no passing zone. So good luck pedestrian, no slowing down now and even worse the construction create danger as cars avoid collision and over-adjusting onto sidewalk.
Leaving complaints behind I had a fun experience as my father-in-law and I went into the rainforest to get bananas. He does this often however I have never joined. It was quite a bit of fun. He showed me several fruit trees thought he fruits were not ripe yet.
Besides banana-hunting I have enjoyed a busy week at work.
Derick had an bit of fun as he brought home two chicks. I hold Logan responsible and expect that he should feel horrible about his influence. Derick certainly has enjoyed them, especially the yellow one. We have not named them as no one supported my recommendations of Kentucky and Colonel. I am not sure if they will have an extended life span as Dallin Dalmatian and Tigre the cat have quite a bit of interested in the newest residents and their salivation can be seen from a distance.
I hope that your week was as enjoyable and that all are well.
Love,
The Lanes of Virginia
I haven't been able to reach Jeff and Julie. I will add their news later.
The Jackson's of Albaquerque
This week had it's ups and downs for Stacie and Kevin, but overall they were reminded of their many blessings. Kevin has been working very hard in school. He did well on his midterms last week and worked throughout this week to finish a paper. Although he did not get the job he recently applied for, we have faith that something better will come along. We ask for your continued prayers that Kevin will get the teaching opportunities that he needs.
Stacie was reminded this week at work of the power of prayer. She was extremely nervous to have a performance review with a certain employee. She prayed all week for assistance and thankfully the meeting went very well. Also, in her mail room her workers were unable to locate a package that a girl needed very much. Stacie had added pressure from her superiors to find the package since she was told that her mail room never had a history of losing a package before. After following all of her options and feeling like there was little hope left, she finally found the package (listed under a different name). There was a lot of jumping for joy. Lastly, she was praying that the interviews she held for a student position would go over well and that she would find a good employee. She was thankful to have an easy pick with a great candidate that she looks forward to working with. It was a remarkable week filled with blessings.
On Tuesday Stacie and Kevin went to their ward Halloween party and Stacie helped out with face painting. On Friday Kevin led a fantastic cub scout pack meeting that focused on the Scout Slogan: "Do a good turn daily." He shared a message from the First Presidency Christmas Devotional by Elder Faust about a family in the Great Depression whose oldest child had no money to spend on presents, so he sent his father a list of the "good turns" he performed each day. Interestingly, Kevin found out that he is related to the family in the story. On Saturday, Kevin had the opportunity to perform some service for some ward members. He helped one family by moving rocks out of their yard so they could plant grass seed. After the service project, ward members joined together and had a nice dutch oven dinner together. Coincidentally, it was the same night that Stacie had signed up to feed the missionaries, so when the missionaries stopped by they joked about providing the best meal they could get.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
October 24, 2010
From the Wisconsin Haws Family
The week has whizzed by for us. Logan had a friend over on Saturday. They had a good time. He is enjoying school at Columbus Catholic School. Today we worked together on a report about Saint Augustine of Cantebury. I think I learned as much as Logan. He will be going on his first scout campout this week. Weather permitting.
Emily has enjoyed a date with several friends this week. She continues to work quite a bit at Chips. She went to a mole (you know 6.02 x 10^23) party on Friday. It sounds like she had a good time. In case you didn't get the connection 10^23 also refers to the date.
Lanette spent Friday night and Saturday with the Elmhorsts. She actually enjoyed going to a Chinesse resturant. Who would have thunk it? She traditionally is very resistent to new things but the Elmhorsts have been very effective in helping her try some new things.
Grant is working right now so I am going to leave this space available for him to add more later.
Mom has been working on various projects for the garage. Those of you that come home this Christmas will be surprised to see a lot less boxes and a little more order in our garage. We entertained the missionaries on Wednesday. On Friday we enjoyed a date together and Saturday we were able to attend Stake Conference together. We are looking forward to a temple trip this Thursday. As a family we completed this week reading the Book of Mormon. We are going to try an experiment and read for scripture time "Standing for Something" by President Hinckley. I will let you know how it goes. We read the first chapter on the virture of "love". I liked it.
I will joining Logan on a campout this coming weekend. We are doing a 25 mile bike hike so that will be our challenge. Logan is planning the menu as part of the Tenderfoot badge. I have been working late into the night on family history work. That is a joy to me and would constitute "dad's hobby". I had the exciting event of finding a person that lived in the 18th century, one of your ancestors, that had not received his temple work. I was researching one family line and noted the birth record of twins. The first name had been found by the Church extraction program but the second name had been overlooked. I verified that there were two people by using my limited French reading ability and secondly by using an index that I found which cited both individuals. I was so excited to think that I had a small role to play in uniting a child with his parents.
News from Newport News
Not too much has happened this week. We had a few days of good weather where Kayla and I were able to spend all day outside exploring different parks. Haley is enjoying school and is doing well at practicing her reading and writing. Andy surprised us Wednesday night when he was trying to break into the house. He was not supposed to be here until Friday but his class got out early. Even though he surprised us Wednesday, he had to get up at 2:00 am to drive back to Fort Lee to make it to class on time.
The International Haws Family
Our week was surprisingly smooth and convenient, though generally uneventful.
A positive note is that we were able to fix our roof. The fix involved a visit to a pool construction store and 45 pounds of some cement-resin mix. So far so good, two days of rain and no drips.
Besides roofing work has gone well. Project continue to unfold and possibilities increase.
Not too much else. I hope that your week brought joy and fulfillment.
Love,
Jeff
The Lanes of Virginia
This week we decorated pumpkins (drill bits work wonders),a skull with drippy candles, and plastic ghosts. We had a Spooky Halloween Party with the cat family. Julie did some face painting for their kids and Jeff played board games with them. We made costumes for the kitties: angel and princess. Princess hated her hat, so that did not last long. Ek Balam had wings and well she did not mind them, but she did mind the 6 little girls chasing after her at the party; however, she found a quite place to sleep.
The rest of the week has been just a normal week here. Except for taking the kitties on a walk in the park. They loved the the play ground. Especially the tunnel and the slide. They learned how to climb the slide after having been gently sent down it a few times by going slowly and taking advantage of the breaks in the slide where the pieces come together. They also loved it when we rolled acorns in a crawl tunnel. They are natural hockey players.
Julie has been baking with pumpkins, including pie, cider, and bread. For the party she made Mummy fingers, Zombie teeth, and brain stew.
When we went on a walk with the kitties, Ek Balam hurt her paws. :(
Today at church we got called out because the bishopric is very frustrated as to where to assign us callings and needed us to to give them a calling-history. oh dar n!
The Jacksons of Albuquerque
On Monday Kevin, Stacie, Scott & Chandra went out to breakfast at a nearby restaurant where they discovered the most delicious tortillas. Afterwards they headed over to "Old Town" to look at some statues and small shops. It was hard to say goodbye to family, but Stacie & Kevin were very thankful to have the Jacksons come to visit. They are excited that they are only two months away from visiting Wisconsin.
On Tuesday the young women planned to go to the temple to perform baptisms, however the temple closed early due to some problems with the pipes. On Friday Stacie attended a great training meeting at work with the LGBTQI Resource Center that focused on creating a "safe zone" environment. She really enjoyed the uplifting activities that focused on kindness and understanding. Friday evening Stacie had a meeting with her Mia Maids to plan upcoming activities. She has really enjoyed working with the young women. Today Stacie & Kevin enjoyed watching the primary program in their sacrament meeting.
Tomorrow Kevin will be interviewing with Kaplan for a teaching position. Since UNM has experienced a lot of budget cuts, Kevin may not have the teaching experience needed for his degree. So we sincerely ask for your prayers that this job may work out for him. Thank you!
The week has whizzed by for us. Logan had a friend over on Saturday. They had a good time. He is enjoying school at Columbus Catholic School. Today we worked together on a report about Saint Augustine of Cantebury. I think I learned as much as Logan. He will be going on his first scout campout this week. Weather permitting.
Emily has enjoyed a date with several friends this week. She continues to work quite a bit at Chips. She went to a mole (you know 6.02 x 10^23) party on Friday. It sounds like she had a good time. In case you didn't get the connection 10^23 also refers to the date.
Lanette spent Friday night and Saturday with the Elmhorsts. She actually enjoyed going to a Chinesse resturant. Who would have thunk it? She traditionally is very resistent to new things but the Elmhorsts have been very effective in helping her try some new things.
Grant is working right now so I am going to leave this space available for him to add more later.
Mom has been working on various projects for the garage. Those of you that come home this Christmas will be surprised to see a lot less boxes and a little more order in our garage. We entertained the missionaries on Wednesday. On Friday we enjoyed a date together and Saturday we were able to attend Stake Conference together. We are looking forward to a temple trip this Thursday. As a family we completed this week reading the Book of Mormon. We are going to try an experiment and read for scripture time "Standing for Something" by President Hinckley. I will let you know how it goes. We read the first chapter on the virture of "love". I liked it.
I will joining Logan on a campout this coming weekend. We are doing a 25 mile bike hike so that will be our challenge. Logan is planning the menu as part of the Tenderfoot badge. I have been working late into the night on family history work. That is a joy to me and would constitute "dad's hobby". I had the exciting event of finding a person that lived in the 18th century, one of your ancestors, that had not received his temple work. I was researching one family line and noted the birth record of twins. The first name had been found by the Church extraction program but the second name had been overlooked. I verified that there were two people by using my limited French reading ability and secondly by using an index that I found which cited both individuals. I was so excited to think that I had a small role to play in uniting a child with his parents.
News from Newport News
Not too much has happened this week. We had a few days of good weather where Kayla and I were able to spend all day outside exploring different parks. Haley is enjoying school and is doing well at practicing her reading and writing. Andy surprised us Wednesday night when he was trying to break into the house. He was not supposed to be here until Friday but his class got out early. Even though he surprised us Wednesday, he had to get up at 2:00 am to drive back to Fort Lee to make it to class on time.
The International Haws Family
Our week was surprisingly smooth and convenient, though generally uneventful.
A positive note is that we were able to fix our roof. The fix involved a visit to a pool construction store and 45 pounds of some cement-resin mix. So far so good, two days of rain and no drips.
Besides roofing work has gone well. Project continue to unfold and possibilities increase.
Not too much else. I hope that your week brought joy and fulfillment.
Love,
Jeff
The Lanes of Virginia
This week we decorated pumpkins (drill bits work wonders),a skull with drippy candles, and plastic ghosts. We had a Spooky Halloween Party with the cat family. Julie did some face painting for their kids and Jeff played board games with them. We made costumes for the kitties: angel and princess. Princess hated her hat, so that did not last long. Ek Balam had wings and well she did not mind them, but she did mind the 6 little girls chasing after her at the party; however, she found a quite place to sleep.
The rest of the week has been just a normal week here. Except for taking the kitties on a walk in the park. They loved the the play ground. Especially the tunnel and the slide. They learned how to climb the slide after having been gently sent down it a few times by going slowly and taking advantage of the breaks in the slide where the pieces come together. They also loved it when we rolled acorns in a crawl tunnel. They are natural hockey players.
Julie has been baking with pumpkins, including pie, cider, and bread. For the party she made Mummy fingers, Zombie teeth, and brain stew.
When we went on a walk with the kitties, Ek Balam hurt her paws. :(
Today at church we got called out because the bishopric is very frustrated as to where to assign us callings and needed us to to give them a calling-history. oh dar n!
The Jacksons of Albuquerque
On Monday Kevin, Stacie, Scott & Chandra went out to breakfast at a nearby restaurant where they discovered the most delicious tortillas. Afterwards they headed over to "Old Town" to look at some statues and small shops. It was hard to say goodbye to family, but Stacie & Kevin were very thankful to have the Jacksons come to visit. They are excited that they are only two months away from visiting Wisconsin.
On Tuesday the young women planned to go to the temple to perform baptisms, however the temple closed early due to some problems with the pipes. On Friday Stacie attended a great training meeting at work with the LGBTQI Resource Center that focused on creating a "safe zone" environment. She really enjoyed the uplifting activities that focused on kindness and understanding. Friday evening Stacie had a meeting with her Mia Maids to plan upcoming activities. She has really enjoyed working with the young women. Today Stacie & Kevin enjoyed watching the primary program in their sacrament meeting.
Tomorrow Kevin will be interviewing with Kaplan for a teaching position. Since UNM has experienced a lot of budget cuts, Kevin may not have the teaching experience needed for his degree. So we sincerely ask for your prayers that this job may work out for him. Thank you!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Updates from Virginia
The Lanes from Virginia
These last two weeks have been busy,but fun.
Before our move we tried to get everything in the apartment cleaned and packed. Taking several trips to the new apartment to ensure that we got all of those pesky, little things like toilet paper, paper towels, etc... over there first.
The 8th, we went to get the kitties! After getting the kitties we went to the house next door for an outdoor luau birthday party, it was Brother Hartman's birthday. He did not want any gifts, so we just got him a bottle of sparkling cider and then put a stuffed monkey from the dollar store on it. It was really cute and they sure loved it.The luau was cool because they had some dancers and a fire dance performance.The kitties did not like that very much, but the kids there loved the kitties, as well as some of the other adults. They were a hit!
We moved last weekend. Thankfully we got some help from the elders quorum with the large and small ticket items!There was so much help that we created an assembly line and passed stuff out and in! Unfortunately, after getting our couch out the cramped apartment we could not get it into the new apartment, even though when we had measured it before we calculated that it should fit.So the couch got donated to a the nearest thrift store:( We are sad to have no couch, but we are sure to live as we look for something that is easier to move!
Sunday was our first anniversary! Yeah! We celebrated by having a candle light dinner and talking about our favorite memories and ways we can become stronger as a couple! We are both grateful for the blessings and opportunities that it brings. Hopefully, there will be millions more to come!
Monday we hung a few decorations. Julie left some of that spider web cotton on the table and noticed that it kept getting smaller and the kitties kept getting a hold of wads of it. They know better than to be on the table, but we think they are very, very sneaky!
Tuesday was mainly unpacking. Well send pictures of apartment later.
Wednesday we got a hankering for Jeff's eggnog. Julie's doc tells her it is okay to have a little somethin' somethin' once a week. Oh, it was delicious. Jeff makes the BESTTTTT EGGGNOGGG!
Thursday took the kitties for a walk. It was so cold that Ek Balam pooped on Jeff while he was carrying her.
Friday, we had the check out of the old apartment, because Julie cleaned the apartment so well she impressed the manager. She said she never had a cleaner apartment. We also had date night later that evening in which we went to IHOP! Yummy! They are the one of restaurants that are still fairly priced here.
Saturday, we grabbed the kitties for a morning wake up call to mama. Ek Balam must have been really excited because she peed the bed and her papa, again. Later that day, we then went out and got some tires. The tire mechanic looked at our tires just once and gasped," Oh yeah, you need NEW tires". Fairly stated because ours were bald. So now we are broke and safe!
Sunday, we had dinner at the bishop's. It was fun. There was another young married's couple there as well. They let us bring the kitties and their kids had a ball with them! They were impressed by how Ek Balam likes to sleep on her back (Which is not usual for cats).
Julie
News from Newport News
This week Haley was very excited to tell me that she won a trophy in PE for good sportsmanship. She also decided to become a “recyclable” fashion designer; she took some grocery bags and tied them all together to make a bag skirt, which I thought was very creative. When coming home from church today, Kayla kept yelling in her loudest voice, “Mommy can you hear me?” I turned around to look at her and noticed that she had a finger in each ear. I asked her, “Why are you yelling?” The only response I received was “Mommy can you hear me?” My thoughts are that she was thinking that no one would hear her yelling if she plugged her ears. Andy is counting down the days when he will be finished with school. The class is not hard, it’s more of the waking up at 3:45 am and not getting done until 10:00 pm and then having to walk up and down four flights of stairs at least 8 times a day when he already has bad knees. Melanie is trying to keep on top of thing and make sure everything is in order for our upcoming move.
These last two weeks have been busy,but fun.
Before our move we tried to get everything in the apartment cleaned and packed. Taking several trips to the new apartment to ensure that we got all of those pesky, little things like toilet paper, paper towels, etc... over there first.
The 8th, we went to get the kitties! After getting the kitties we went to the house next door for an outdoor luau birthday party, it was Brother Hartman's birthday. He did not want any gifts, so we just got him a bottle of sparkling cider and then put a stuffed monkey from the dollar store on it. It was really cute and they sure loved it.The luau was cool because they had some dancers and a fire dance performance.The kitties did not like that very much, but the kids there loved the kitties, as well as some of the other adults. They were a hit!
We moved last weekend. Thankfully we got some help from the elders quorum with the large and small ticket items!There was so much help that we created an assembly line and passed stuff out and in! Unfortunately, after getting our couch out the cramped apartment we could not get it into the new apartment, even though when we had measured it before we calculated that it should fit.So the couch got donated to a the nearest thrift store:( We are sad to have no couch, but we are sure to live as we look for something that is easier to move!
Sunday was our first anniversary! Yeah! We celebrated by having a candle light dinner and talking about our favorite memories and ways we can become stronger as a couple! We are both grateful for the blessings and opportunities that it brings. Hopefully, there will be millions more to come!
Monday we hung a few decorations. Julie left some of that spider web cotton on the table and noticed that it kept getting smaller and the kitties kept getting a hold of wads of it. They know better than to be on the table, but we think they are very, very sneaky!
Tuesday was mainly unpacking. Well send pictures of apartment later.
Wednesday we got a hankering for Jeff's eggnog. Julie's doc tells her it is okay to have a little somethin' somethin' once a week. Oh, it was delicious. Jeff makes the BESTTTTT EGGGNOGGG!
Thursday took the kitties for a walk. It was so cold that Ek Balam pooped on Jeff while he was carrying her.
Friday, we had the check out of the old apartment, because Julie cleaned the apartment so well she impressed the manager. She said she never had a cleaner apartment. We also had date night later that evening in which we went to IHOP! Yummy! They are the one of restaurants that are still fairly priced here.
Saturday, we grabbed the kitties for a morning wake up call to mama. Ek Balam must have been really excited because she peed the bed and her papa, again. Later that day, we then went out and got some tires. The tire mechanic looked at our tires just once and gasped," Oh yeah, you need NEW tires". Fairly stated because ours were bald. So now we are broke and safe!
Sunday, we had dinner at the bishop's. It was fun. There was another young married's couple there as well. They let us bring the kitties and their kids had a ball with them! They were impressed by how Ek Balam likes to sleep on her back (Which is not usual for cats).
Julie
News from Newport News
This week Haley was very excited to tell me that she won a trophy in PE for good sportsmanship. She also decided to become a “recyclable” fashion designer; she took some grocery bags and tied them all together to make a bag skirt, which I thought was very creative. When coming home from church today, Kayla kept yelling in her loudest voice, “Mommy can you hear me?” I turned around to look at her and noticed that she had a finger in each ear. I asked her, “Why are you yelling?” The only response I received was “Mommy can you hear me?” My thoughts are that she was thinking that no one would hear her yelling if she plugged her ears. Andy is counting down the days when he will be finished with school. The class is not hard, it’s more of the waking up at 3:45 am and not getting done until 10:00 pm and then having to walk up and down four flights of stairs at least 8 times a day when he already has bad knees. Melanie is trying to keep on top of thing and make sure everything is in order for our upcoming move.
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