Kristen's New blog

I have posted some cute pics of all the kids at our Annual Halloween party. Check them out if you have a minute.

http://krissymissy-ifyoureallywanttoknow.blogspot.com/

Hello from Kristen & Family

I just wanted to stop in and tell everyone how fabulous we are doing in quiet Payson, Utah.

This picture is from our annual summer trip to Lake Agnes in Montana (sorry you couldn't make it Aunt Marilyn, maybe next year.) We had a blast catching hundreds of fish.

The kids are all doing great in school. If you didn' t know, we got custody of Jordin (Jeremy's son) and he is doing quite well. He has made some new friends in school and is playing flag football on a city team. Recently, he has been trying to get used to BRACES. He had a rough time during the first three weeks, but the worst seems to be over. Now were are heading onward to straight teeth and no overbite. Hopefully, the torture won't last long than 2 years.

Marlee just recently signed up for a volleyball clinic at the high school. We will see if she likes it at all. She is a great little helper around our house. She loves to cook dinner and she is always trying to fatten us up with delicious desserts from her Sandra Lee cookbook. I don't know WHERE she got it, but she is also quite the little crafter. She has taken up boondoggles (not sure of the spelling) and has been making key chains, bracelets and such for all the family.

Terrence is becoming a great little reader. He loves Dr. Seuss books and he has begun to read some short chapter books as well. Both Terrence and Jordin are our little gamers of the house. We really have to watch these two or they will veg out in front of the tube all day playing games. I'm just hoping some medical study will come out that says how wonderful certain video games are for kids. Maybe there is some miraculous development that goes on in the brain when kids zone out in front of the tv, I doubt it.

Jeremy is working hard all the time. He works his full time job at the Provo Fire and teaches part time at the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy. He truly enjoys both his jobs. He most recent accomplishment was receiving his Associates Degree in Fire Science. Now he will continue on the path to his Bachelor's degree. He has already completed a couple of the courses and has a plan to complete his degree within the next couple of years.

I have been the busy Mommy. As usual, I procrastinated sewing the kids costumes this year and ended up rushing to get them done before the big Halloween party at Amy's house on Saturday. It was a rough week, but I managed to complete them all and the kids looked adorable. I haven't had a chance to pull pics off my camera yet, but I will post them soon, if anyone is interested.

We love you all and hope to see you real soon.

XOXOXO

Kristen

Look out Germany, Here we Come!

Here we are on our first day in Berlin. It was raining, but that didn't dampen our spirits. After we check into our hotel we took bus 100 which drives by all of the major and important sites in Berlin. One comes by every 15 minutes so you can get on and off as you please. We went in a cathedral, to Checkpoint Charlie and to the History Museum ( we could have stayed days in there) We ate dinner in a little restaurant where they didn't speak english. That was interesting but eventually we got the point across of what we wanted to eat and it was, well OK. The Hotel Ambassador was a refurbished hotel with a great breakfast!

We rented a mini van but we got a tour bus. Fortunately we had our resident fire truck driver with us so we did great . . . . . .Well . . . . . except for the names of the streets changing every couple blocks and the drivers all driving like crazy people. Generally, I am a good driver's assistant . . . but here I had to turn those duties over to Marie. It seemed like everytime I sat in the front seat - we got lost. Marie and Marilyn got to ride the train perhaps we will consider that in the future.

On our way to Wittenberg we drove on the freeway where the drivers in the left hand lane don't have a speed limit. If you need to change lanes, they better be a long way back there or it doesn't go well . . . they really like their horns and to tailgate. I think next time we'll take the train. You can go anywhere on a train or bus. They have an incredible system there. Anyway, the countryside is beautiful. Rolling farm land and big forests and every so often a town springs up, you can tell because there are 2-5 tall wind mills outside the town (not Holland type, California type).

Meissen is incredible it is so pretty with is cobblestone streets and red roofs. This is the royal palace of the Witten family. It sits high up on a hill with the cathedral next to it. It is built just like you would imagine a kingdom would be built in the 12th century. We have some wonderful pictures, way too many to share here, but we are all anxious to tell you about what we saw.

The pictures above show: us walking in the Procession, the wine cellar in the basement of the 5th generation pewter shop, a Meissen City municipal building with the banquet hall located in the wine cellar (our first night in Meissen), the Albrechtsburg Castle home of the House of Wettin, the final Sister Cities banquet and a view of Meissen from the hills overlooking the City.

Speaking of kings and queens, that is how we were treated in Meissen. They were feeding us every time we turned around. We ate a lot of bruts and kraut, along with pigs knuckles and potatoes, oh and the weenies that were a foot long, as big around as your thumb and had really tough skin. We even broke down and ate at McDonalds the day we went to the Freiberg temple, because after a week, we seriously needed American food. They had some awesome appetizers at the get together they had for all their Sister Cities (4 were there).

It was an amazing experience but my two favorite events were the Wine Festival Procession, which included entires from all the vineyards in the area driving wagons filled with cases of their wine. The people in the crowds had glasses and they would just walk up to the wagon and they would get their glasses filled up. We had bought some cowboy hats and as we walked along shaking hands and handing out metal cowboy key chains, we each picked out one person in the crowd that looked like a hat would mean something to. It was awesome. Another favorite was attending the play 'Taming of the Shrew' performed by the High School kids. I can honestly say, you have never seen "Taming of the Shrew" performed like this. They put a modern flare on it and it was hilarious even though we couldn't understand a thing they said.

The most favorite experience was at Ina's house. You may remember Ina and Katja were the two young German girls that can to do interships in Provo for 6 months. They have become very dear friends. In fact Ina calls me her American Mom!

Her parents invited us over to eat with them on Sunday afternoon. They invited Katja and her mother too. This is a picture of us. Ina's sister had decorated the table with tiny little dasies. She had them stuck into the tines of the forks. They had American and Germany flgs on the fence. The food was the best of the whole trip. Ina's dad even made Rod a hamburger out of ground up pork and some incredible kind of seasonings that made it soooooo yummy. They had cucumbers and tomates they had grown in their garden made into side dishes. They even had kiwi trees (you have to have a male and female). It was a delightful, relaxing afternoon with lots of stories, laughs and 'Good Eats!"

We visited Dresden and took a tour through the rebuilt Old City and rode a boat up the Elbe River. We had wienies in the dinner room on the lower deck of the boat . . . oh did I mention that they only drink carbonated water. . . . yes it's true. You have to be really creative when you ask for something to drink. One waiter finally understood when he said, "Oh River Water?" Sometimes saying 'still water' worked but you've never sure until you take a sip.

Hello Family~

We took some video of Alina today singing "This is My Beloved Son" We thought that it would bring a smile to your faces. We are also including some video of Alina giving Kaia a horsie ride, Kaia twirling, and my two Cinderella girls cleaning my floor.

Here's an update:

April has dived right into being the Primary chorister in our ward and has been coming up with (or finding on the internet) fun things to do with the kids to get them to sing and learn their new songs.

Alina is just as talkative as ever and will often break into song. She will probably have the entire children's songbook memorized by the time April is released from her new calling. Her favorite is 'I am Like a Star' and will go get the little version of the songbook and find the words to show us just in case we have forgotten them (not that she will let us). If Kaia is having a hard time falling asleep at night, which lately has been every night, she will sing her songs in hopes that she will stop screaming. Alina is always reassuring us that she will watch over Kaia. They also love to laugh and giggle with each other. We were reading a story the other day and a little frog says, "Oh Golly" and Alina has picked this up. She says it to Kaia and they both break into laughter. Oh, the sweet sounds of parenthood!

Kaia, other than the separation anxiety attacks of falling asleep, is as happy as can be running through our house all day long. If you ever wanted to know what the sound 'trip trap, trip trap' looked like you can just watch her run her laps around our kitchen. She has also become the family shoe retriever. She will every so often go and get your shoes for you and insist on helping you put them on. I'm excited for my Psychopathology class in the fall so that I can learn all about shoe fettishes to see if we can cure it. She loves to brush her teeth and insists every time anybody enters the bathroom. Kaia went to nursery for the first time today. The leader said she was really good she just wanted to be held the whole time. She went in a little bit early to nursery because Matt and I have callings that are not Kaia friendly for the 3 rd hour.

And Matt is enjoying not being in classes and being able to enjoy the evenings without homework for now. He is hard at work getting his presentations ready for the APA Convention in San Fancisco in a couple of weeks. He just got the final dataset last week and has been analyzing everything that he needs so that he can put it all together in time. It should work out just right.

Amidst all that we read Harry Potter and enjoyed it very much, enjoying having the missionaries over for dinner about once a week, and laughing at the funny things that our two little girls do. While we were reading Harry Potter April was able to do lots of projects. I finished our Family Home Evening board, and board for the girls room that says, "Twinkle, twinkle little start do you know how loved you are?" Both of these turned out really cute. Also, she colored lots of Sunday projects for the girls to do during sacrament meeting, and put together some things for singing time. It was nice to read together and get so many much needed projects done. I also just finished a picture board covered in pink fabric to put in our girls room.

So we have had lots of fun lately! We can't wait for April's mom to come visit us on Wednesday this week. Matt also is going to the APA conference on Thursday.

We hope everyone is doing well,

love,
matt, april, alina and kaia

Kevin's Accident

Thankfully, I am writing this from home on Thursday, August 9th and Kevin is doing GREAT!

This is Kevin the day after he got backed over by a Ruibcon jeep. His buddy was backing out of the driveway looking over his right shoulder and Kevin was walking up to the drivers door to get his CD out of the car. His friend turned the wheel to head down the street and it caught Kevin on the back of his left foot and it slammed him to the ground (that caused tears in his right knee and a bone chip - The Dr. says they will heal themselves because they are not complete tears).

His injuries on the front of his body are from the pavement as the car drove up his leg, thigh, back and over is shoulder and because God loves us and listens to the prayers of parents, the 37" tire missed his head as it broke his scapula.

Bailie and I were shopping together when Mick called me to tell me about the accident. It was just on the other end of Grandview Hill from where we live. I thought he was joking with me but then I heard the sirens and my heart dropped. It took us 6 long minutes to get there, just in time to see the paramedics hooking him up to IV's. Needless to say we stoked out. Even writing this brings tears to my eyes and I thank Heavenly Father again for saving my sons life. I gave my keys to Graham, Kevin's friend and asked him to go pick up Rod because as Bailie and I had been driving to the accident she had been calling all our neighbors to get Rod (but none of the 6 were home). When I had left him 30 minute earlier he had a mask on and was using the compresser to paint the inside of the car so I knew he wouldn't hear our phone calls.

It took 5 hours in the ER to finally determine his preliminary injuries. It wasn't until Monday night when his right knee would not quit hurting that they decided to do an X-ray and MRI on his knee. (initially on Sunday night they hadn't even looked at it except to bandage the wound on it.) That meant we had to stay another night so the Radiologists could read the MRI.



The worst wound is the one I didn't even take a picture of and that was his left ankle bone. It has a chunk out of it like someone used a water melon scoop on it.

All the wounds are healing nicely. He looked like a mummy in the hospital because they covered every thing with gauze and ointment. It is amazing for me to look at these pictures because they look sooooooo good compared to what they looked like on Saturday night.

Yesterday after Mike and Drew helped Kevin with his shower we decided to let some of the sores dry out. The road rash on his back is healing great, his legs will take some time and will have huge scabs.

I'm surprised the hospital didn't put up a no visitors sign on his door. He had so much company. Sunday afternoon all his buddies that had been with him that afternoon came in and they had a therapy session. They were quite serious at first and then they lightened up and joked and laughed and it was really good for all of them.
After they left, there was a constant line of friends and family that came to show him how much they cared. His brothers and sisters were so thoughtful in the things they brought and did for him.

I appreciated everyone that came by, it made such a difference in how I viewed the situation and helped Kevin know that he had a huge support group (even though a bunch of you didn't even know it happend until this very minute as you are reading this. I apologize for that . . . it was so tramatic and there were so many things going on, making phone calls just didn't enter my mind, and generally speaking, it is just plan hard to share bad news. I know that all of you care and that we say prayers for each others families all the time. It might even be better to find out after the fact because the worry part is eliminated and the relief knowing that he is OK is the only thing that matters now. If the prognosis had been more serious, I definately would have let you know.

School starts on the 20th, and their first football game is on the 17th. Coach said he could dress and hang out with the guys on the sidelines. That won't eliminate the disappoinment he feels in not being able to play but he will be involved until the Drs. say he can play . . . which hopefully will be in October. They also said it looks really good for wrestling.

Other than this . . LIFE IS GOOD . . . and we are grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves us and answers our prayers. Things could have been so much worse, in fact heart breaking and life changing, but I know Kevin is going to be able to accomplish everything that he was sent here to do.
We love you all so much. Even when you aren't here we feel your love and support because that is a legacy Mom and Dad gave to us . . . and we are passing on to our own children.

Marilyn & Wayne's Wedding

I wanted to share some of the pictures I took at Marilyn and Wayne's wedding. It was a wonderful event in a very beautiful and awesome smelling reception center (alia Flower Shop). Congratulations Marilyn and Wayne . . you are perfect for each other.

We are very happy for you and excited to have Wayne as a member of our family.

WE LOVE YOU GUYS!

Howdy from the Ashton's

Here is yet another update from the Texas desert. Actually we have had very un-desertlike conditions for the past 2 weeks with lots of rain and overcast skies. It's been great to have our lawn stay nice and green without us doing a thing (if only the weeds would disappear now!) and cooler temperatures to let the girls be outside. We got a sand box from a friend a week ago and Alina has not gone a day without getting into it multiple times.

At the end of April we kept ourselves nice and busy with the end of the semester as well as projects at home. April has turned out to be quite the natural seamstress and made some nice and heavy curtains for the girls bedroom so that it is actually somewhat dark when it's time for bed, as well as some new nightgowns for the girls that are not as hot. She's working on some
others for them now as well. With the help of a friend she also made some shelves for our office to put all of the toys and learning things for the girls on. So now our office is fully functional for kids of all ages - except dad. He had to deal with a rather dysfunctional computer during the
final weeks of the semester. Isn't it always that way? Just when you need the computer to type up your final that is due the next day, the hard drive decides to not work. And continues that way for the whole week! We finaly took it in to have someone look at it and basically came to the conclusion that it is not worth the money to fix it up since it's not in good shape in many ways and just plain old and outdated. But we did find a good deal on a new computer that will keep us connected to everything that we need. That should be coming in sometime this week. Then the office will be fully functional for everyone.

Despite no help from the resident technology, Matt managed to finish all of his papers and finals on time with good results so the end of the semester went well. Mostly we are all glad that the semester is over. It was just that time, for everyone involved. It's been nice to have somewhat of a break. I say somewhat because this summer Matt will be getting his second year research project ready to roll in the Fall and as part of that we will be running a pilot study in the summer session so there has been things to get ready for that. It's mostly ready now, just waiting to get approved by the IRB so the final preparations can be made before classes start on the 30th.
In the meantime we get to play. The girls are pretty happy that their dad is home more for now, as is their mother. Even Kaia is giving more hugs to him and not just wanting mom all the time. Kaia has also taken to running through the house screaming and babbling as if everyone knew what she was saying and getting very frustrated when you don't. Alina is still into princesses, especially Cinderalla and can pretty much tell you the whole story if she's in the mood. Since we have limited her to one Cinderella book at a time from the library she has also enjoyed reading all of the other books around the house. If suddenly she is nowhere to be found, usually she is sitting in her bed looking at books or "reading" them to her baby and Bosco (her favorite monkey) before putting them down for a nap.
What funny little girls we have. We love them more and more each day!

We had a fun Mother's Day, with lovely flowers picked out by Alina herself and homemade cards with special decorations by the girls. Then, since it was Sunday and the girls were in wonderfully sleep-deprived states of screaminess they went down early and we were able to enjoy a nice steak dinner just the two of us. Hooray for happy sleeping children to make for a wonderfully romantic Mother's Day evening!

This past week we made a trip to Roswell, NM, to visit the Largeys, our friends from our student ward in Provo, that were there visiting in-laws. We toured the UFO museum (not that exciting), stopped in an alien gift shop and let the kids play with some of the toys (a little more exciting), and then went to the small zoo and nearby park and played the rest of the afternoon (much, much more fun). It was so fun to talk with friends about things and memories from Provo, plus, see a new place besides Lubbock. This week we will be going to visit Doug and Andrea in Aubrey, TX. Speaking of Dougie, it was fun to have him around a little longer than we planned, even though it was rather misfortunate. For those who don't know, Matt's younger brother Doug was passing through Lubbock on his way to a summer internship just outside of Dallas for the summer. He stayed the night and then was on his way to Aubrey when he threw a rod in his engine an hour outside of Lubbock. His car was towed back here and he got to stay with us another day and a half figuring things out. We finally got him off to Dallas while his car was getting fixed up here in Lubbock and now that it's all fixed we will take it to him this week and spend some time at the ranch where he is working. We're glad the misfortune happened close by so that he could work things out at our house and not the middle of nowhere (not that Lubbock is not the middle of nowhere, but at least we're here). Besides that, it's been nice to have two cars the last few days. Thanks Doug! ;)

Strawberries are in season and we have been having fun trying all of the recipes that we have with strawberries in them. We even made some homemade freezer jam yesterday. Yummy! We'll see what other concoctions we can come up with in the next couple weeks while they're still fresh and we're not sick of them.

That about wraps it all up. Life's pretty good here in Lubbock. The weather has been great and extra time has too. All we need now is happy kids in our nursery class. We are in the youngest nursery still and in the last two months have had 3 new kids turn 18 months and join the class as well as another little boy that has not come in awhile. They're still getting used to us. So, we just try and keep as many kids from crying as possible. A couple of the little boys won't let Matt out of their sight (and reach) without crying. It's rather exhausting really. But there are still fun little moments that keep us alive. If anyone has any fun suggestions to keep 18-24 monthers happy we would love to have them. Lovies to all you out there and good luck enjoying all your summer plans.
We know we're going to enjoy ours! matt, april, alina, & kaia

p.s. pictures coming soon - our computer is being dumb so we will wait till we get a new one. I have some cute ones to share. :)

Sisters Retreat

The annual sisters retreat was a blast. Besides being very fun it was educational. We spent the first two days at the BYU Women's Conference attending breakout sessions (100's of different ones) that were very interesting and often very spiritual. On Thursday night we attend a Luau and then participated in the evening of service. It was amazing! We put together 25,000 hygiene kits. It was pretty much rows and rows of assembly lines putting in towels, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and combs into plastic bags and finishing with a little card saying it was from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints. Then they were put into boxes of 10 and taped shut, put on huge pallets till it was full and then wrapped with plastic and it was ready to be put on a plane to help the world. We did this just days before the tornado hit that town back east . . . perhaps some of our efforts went there. The women also assembled school bags for kids, made baby blankets, etc. There were so many ways to do service during the 2 days it is hard to mention them all. During the whole two days we each crocheted dish clothes or hand-made felt hearts that were stitched around the outside for decoration that are given (in a memento) to people who have experienced some kind of tragedy. It was all a very amazing experience.


Saturday found us wandering through Gardner Village. There are about 20-30 little specialty stores each with something really fun to explore. Lunch at the bakery was awesome too. Afterwards, we spent time at Roberts Craft selecting beads to make jewelry.


We spent Saturday night making picture frames with scenes from the Saviors life placed perfectly around the mat. The frame will house "The Living Christ" which is the general authorities testimony that Christ lives.

Sunday we attended 'The Spoken Word" and then went to Carolines house (John's Mom) who is on a mission at Temple Square and made jewelry until Marie had to catch her plane.

None of us brought a camera so you will just have to imagine us with our umbrellas, skipping th rough the rain with big smiles on our faces as we enjoyed a wonderul 4 days together.

Spencer Update

Hi everyone!
Just thought I'd give you all a quick update on what's going on in our corner of the world. Everyone here is doing well but very busy these days.


Jordan is doing well and is looking forward to getting out of school. Spring fever has hit with a vengence. She has really taken to drawing and is really quite good at it. She especially likes to draw Japanese anime characters and I'm always quite impressed at her ability to freehand drawings of people. Where she got the talent I do not know. Her and Amia are both quite wonderful artists. In fact, that is the field Amia has decided on for a career I believe. One of the radio stations was having a contest for a graphic T-shirt design and she was encouraged to enter. I really believe she could have won the contest but in the end she wasn't allowed to enter because she wasn't 18 yet. Bummer. It looks like she will be completely graduated this year after all. She has been working hard to get all the requirements completed so she doesn't have to come back for the 1/4 credit next year. She is planning on beginning college in the fall. I am so proud of her! Mitch is doing well also. Hes trying to get all of his ducks in a row to go back to college in the fall. He has decided to go to law school. I think it's great. He will make a great trial lawyer! He just has that charisma that will make him really good at it. On that note as I was researching schools for him my business partner and I got the brilliant idea to go to law school ourselves. So the next thing I know I'm a full time student again! The have a fast track program here where they condense 16 week courses into 4 weeks. Crazy me I signed up for 15 credit hours in 4 weeks. Needless to say I have been VERY busy but at this rate it should go quickly until I get to the graduate program. I intend to finish my bachelors in Psychology and then go to either TU or OU for grad school. So this time next year we will have three full time college students in the family. Poor Remell has been wonderfully supportive of my insanity and I appreciate him so much. Mom has been busy trucking back and forth to Arkansas to help Brian remodel his daycare so I haven't seen much of her lately. That makes it a little hard to report on her but I think she is doing well. I've been on her to post and she says she will but we will see....I'm attaching some pics of the kids and the latest of Gabs. She's so big! Love to all!!

Ashton Update

Hello Family and Friends,
Our last update was on February 3 and on February 9th Kaia started walking. It was a fun realization for her that she really could walk on her own and no one had to coax her to do so. Kaia loves to bring you books to read to her or toys to open and play with her. She is a very social little girl and loves to be with people. She will not be in a room by herself for very long. She got her third tooth (the first one on the top) just after her first birthday. So now she has a beautiful 3 tooth smile. We celebrated her birthday 3 times this year. We were in Utah just before her birthday so we celebrated with the Ashton's, the Ossmen's, and at home on her real birthday. At home in Texas for her birthday we had miniature ice cream cones which both of the girls loved and ate every last drop of. Today Kaia is starting to run or at least walk a lot faster. She loves to explore and especially loves her Mommy. We have been having some easter egg hunts around our home the last few days and Kaia loves to put the eggs in her bucket.

Alina loves princesses! Her favorites are Cinderella and Little Mermaid. She is always repeating herself about how the stepsisters tore Cinderella's dress apart and her beads broke, but then the fairy Godmother comes and says Bibiddy bobiddy boo and then Cinderella has a beautiful gown on and glass slippers. She knows all about the princesses and sometimes Matt and I don't want to answer anymore questions about them because we have answered them a million times that day already. I made the girls dancing skirts and Alina loves hers because it is blue like Cinderella's beautiful dress. Alina wears her dancing skirt almost every day. She loves to dress up and be beautiful.

One day (march 26th) I let Alina take the scissors and cut some paper. She has always been really good about only cutting paper so I wasn't worried about her. I left and did some things in the office then went back out to check on her. I said, "Alina how are you doing?" to which she replied, "Mom, I'm getting a hair cut." I saw this little pile of curls sitting on her table. I took the scissors away and told her that we don't cut hair with scissors we only cut paper. She cried because she knew she did something wrong and because I caught her in the act of doing something wrong. What a day!

So today (April 5, 2007) Alina had her first real hair cut. I cut her hair to make it more even all around. She did fabulous during the haircut and was asking me questions. She kept asking me if I was cutting off her beautiful curls. I said, "yes, but they will grow back." When we were done and she looked in the mirror she started crying and saying, "Mom you cut off my curls, you cut off my beautiful curls." So Alina has shoulder length hair and it looks a lot shorter than before.
Alina also loves to sing (still) she is starting to sing like Ariel from little Mermaid and it makes me laugh. And she loves her daddy. She always tells Daddy that he is her best friend. Mom and Kaia are friends and Alina and Dad are friends. Mom can't be friends with Alina.
In other news we went back to Utah in March for the weddings of Rosey and Ryan and Doug and Andrea's weddings. They we both beautiful and lovely. All of the little girls we in pink dresses at Rosey's reception and they are so cute dancing together and playing. We had such a wonderful time attending the sealings and receptions of both of these wonderful couples. Our highlights we the sealings (of course) and bowling with the family. We love our family so much and are grateful for all their love and support.

We have had some exciting weather these last few weeks in March. There has been a few tornado watches and some heavy rain. The thunder and lightening storms are amazing. It really sounds like the thunder is right above your house it is so loud. On one Sunday after Sacrament Meeting our bishop asked us to go down stairs and take cover. There had been a few tornados spotted in the area of Lubbock. All in all I think there were 67 tornados reported from that storm (throughout the course of it). We have been amazed by the weather here. We thought Utah weather we very strange and you didn't know what to expect – well here in Texas it is a lot different.

Matt and I are doing well. We are trying to make it through the next few weeks as this semester draws to a close. The last few nights I haven't picked Matt up till about 8 pm and He told me to get used to it for the next little while. Oh, the joys of Graduate school.

We love you all and hope that you have a very fun and enjoyable Easter. We are grateful for our Savior and love Him. We know He loves us and that He lives!
lovies,

matt, april, alina, & kaia

Hello

Sorry it has taken so long for me to do this. Doesn't seem like that much time has passed since the surgery. I want to thank everyone for all their prayers. They worked wonderfully. No pain at all from the second out of surgery. Since then we've been trying to get on with life, bills, you know the American dream. I finally got to meet my new niece Mariah and can I say she is the sweetest little thing. The pictures just don't do either of them, Tommy or Mariah, any justice. We added to our family in the canine sense. We adopted Jarens Pittbull named Jackson. Already trained, can't beat that. She is Dwight's truck dog and my dog on the weekends when they come home. She is only a year old and already has had a litter of pups. Kind of made me feel bad to take her cause Tommy could climb and pull on her and she didn't care. They were growing up together, only now Tommy has a sister to terrorize instead of Jackson. Well that is about all of the news until mom gets on here. Love to all,

Jen

Tea Party at Grandma's

After our trip to Orlando, I thought it would be really fun to have a Granddaughter Tea Party. Almost everyone was there. Meredith had surgery on her hand, but Alex came

The little girls were all dressed up in their prettiest dresses and accessories and were very well mannered and tried a little bit of everything just like a 'Southern Belle' would do.

I'm thinking the ladies had a lot of fun. The little ladies got kind of burned out after 1/2 hour. Next year I think we will try having it in April when we can do it outside.

Yes, this is going to be an annual event.

Kaia is Walking!

So I've been meaning to write and let everyone know that Kaia is walking. She started walking un prompted on February 9th. She walked over to me with out me coaxing her to do so. It is so much fun to have a walker. Some days I still can't believe that she is walking and I will see her go into the other room and remember "Oh yeah she's walking" Kaia loves it. She walks around and around and around going from one thing to another and then picking up things along her way WITHOUT falling. She has amazing balance. It is so fun to watch her!

In other news - I have been sick. I think that I got the rotavirus and now Alina has it. I am hoping that Kaia doesn't get it, but I think it is only a matter of time before she gets it. I am praying that we are all over this before we go to Utah and spread it there. We are coming home for Matt's brother and sisters weddings (yeah that's right there's two) on March 6th. The weddings are the 8th and 10th. It will be a fun trip to see our families.

Well that is about all from us we will have a busy week next week getting ahead so that we can leave with all of our ends tied up. We love you all,
April

What Happened???

Ok guys we were off to a great start and then everyone just petered out! What's up with that?

I assume this blog was meant to keep everyone up on the more everyday aspect of our lives so with that in mind that is how I'm going to post.

We have had an interesting week or two. My business has become involved in Trial consulting and Mock trials. We just finished up one involving a wrongful death with the railroad and another involving a fairly high profile trial here wiht a county commissioner. Unfortunately he was convicted. Next up should be a fairly interesting case that has to do with the government, cock fighting and Indian land. Should be fun.

The house project is finally underway again they dug the footings yesterday. YEA!!! Maybe we will be moved in by summer. That would be nice.

Mitch wrecked my truck last week and it will finally be out of the shop tomorrow. Thank goodness no on was hurt. Gaby went home over the weekend. We had to cut her visit short. She was only here for a week this time. Her mom had something going on that she needed to be there for so everyone here is boo hooing. She's such a hoot. I will try to post some pics soon.

I went to the eye doc for a consultation for laser correction yesterday and found out i'm blind as a bat! My perscription is right on the line of what the FDA will approve for the surgery so the Dr. has to approve it and I have to do some additional tests to see if they will do it for me. I won't know about that till next week.

Everyone else here is doing fine. Working, going to school, blah blah blah. Talk to you all soon! B

WOOD FAMILY

BRADEN COLE WOOD

BIRTHDAY

JAN 27, 2007

7 lb 12 oz 19 in

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY

All is well in Arkansas will post again soon

I HAVE MANY MORE PICTURES TO SHARE

Jones Update

Kevin took 3rd at Region on Saturday and so he gets to go to State. Conventiently, the 5A and 4A State Championships are are UVSC on Wednesday the 7th thru Friday the 9th. That means that Kevin and Keith will be a the same place. Not wrestling in the same competition, cuz we are 4A and they are 5A, but at least we will get to watch these two awesome athletes do their best.

The worst cold bug is going around in Utah. Once you get it, it takes about 3 weeks to kick it. I actually had it for a month, Kevin had it the past two weeks, and Rod came down with it last Friday. He and I stayed home and watched the Super Bowl while all the rest of the family went to Drews to watch it with Mike, Zac and Dakota who came to watch Kevin wrestle. I don't think Rod moved out of the recliner all day, except to blow his nose and eat dinner. I was even successful in talking him out of going for his run. I was afraid I'd have to go looking for him on the trail somewhere. Bailie has been the lucky one so far and escaped the grips of the bug.

Marilyn send pictures of Jaren and Susans new addition. She was born on February 1st. I'm going to post the pictures so you can see the sweet little girl.

connie

This may be the only thing you hear from me because Annette is sitting right here by me and I don't have a clue what I am doing. When she leaves me I will be in big touble.

She even helped me sign up for Womens Conference. Yeah, so now I can come too.

Our family is doing great. Except Hannah keeps cutting her hair. I think she is on round four now. We have a budding hair stylist in our family. I can't believe Alexis graduates this year. She is working for John now for about 15 hours a week. She seems to have time to get everything done. Keith is Wrestling again this year he took 3rd in our region competition last week and goes to State this week. He is sporting hair that is the color of the golden sun. Similiar to the color of Annettes when she was in her experimental stage in High School. Clark took 6th place in his Jr. High wrestling competion and is going great. Blake is starting Super League baseball again and is really excited. Their team is going to Cooperstown New York this summer. Kent starts baseball soon and is also wrestling. Molly just had a sleepover with grandma Sasine. Grandma also took her to New York this last fall for her cousins baptism. Maybe you will get pictures next time if I can figure out how to add them in, no promises.
Bye for now.

Texas Update with pictures

Alright here is the update from Texas. Most of you know that we are living in Lubbock, Texas going to gratuate school here at Texas Tech. Matt is studying Counseling Psychology. He is really enjoying the program and those that he gets to work with daily. He just decided what his 2nd year project is going to be - How personal growth initiative moderates the effects of self and exploratory stress in college students. I don't get it, but he does so that is what counts. I'm sure I will understand more as the project gets underway.

I am trying to make everyone happy in our household. Alina and I do letters once a day and she is learning them very quickly. She loves to point out letters as we are driving around town. I am also trying to have new activities and exciting things to do for my kids throughout the day. My friends Becca and I are making little pink dresses for Matt's sisters wedding in March. I think they will turn out really fun. Her idea is to have all of the little girls be pink princesses. So you can just imagine what these dresses look like - especially with 10 of them. I am also involved with two book groups. One of them is a childrens literature group and one more on an adult level. For the childrens group we read juvenille fiction books and then have a picture book theme. This month we are reading "Trumpet of the Swan"by E.B. White (who also wrote Charlotte's Web) and the picture book theme is Holiday Books. I am in charge of the Holiday books this month and have found some fantastic childrens books. The older book is John Adams biography by David McCullough. I have been very intesting to read (or rather listen to). Other than that we have a playgroup during the week and a preschool on Fridays. We love to get together with the other 2 year olds in our ward.

Matt and I spoke 2 weeks ago in Church about Keeping Faith and keeping Covenants. I thought they went really well. We were actually scheduled to speak on the 14 of January but church was cancelled due to an ice storm. It was probably the weirdest sunday that we have had for a long time. We didn't know what to do all day without 3 hours scheduled. So we spoke on the 21 of January and then as soon as church was over Matt was asked to speak with a High Councilor the following week. So we have had our fill of speaking. We are also nursery leaders in our ward. We have the young nursery and there are two more. In January 2008 we will have 19 sunbeams in our ward. It is really crazy - the funny part is maybe one or two of those will move out and the rest will be sunbeams in this ward. FUN!!!

Okay so now the part you have all been waiting for - THE GIRLS! What have they been up to and what are their new tricks.

Alina - has been singing song. She sings all day long, some the she knows and some that are made up. Right now her favorites are I am a Child of God, and I am like a star - sometimes the words end up being mixed togther. She also loves hinges. For Christmas she received a children's song book and we will sit at the piano for hours (it feels like some days) and she will turn to a page in her book and then ask me to find it in my book and then we sing. Mostly she sings the songs with pictures on them. She also loves to color. We spend the other hours of the day coloring and doing other artsy things. She loves to water color, color with crayons, and colored pencils. She also loves walking Kaia around the house. Alina is a joy to be around and full of funny phrases. She surprises us with her memory. We got a book from the library in November about simon says - there were circus animals in it and simon was an elephant. Well, the other night I was trying the get her pj's on without too big of a fuss and I said simon says take off your shoes. She looked at me and said, "Simon is the elephant Mom" I was amazed that she remember it. She also loves her imaginary spider and shark - they are great motivators when it comes to going to the bathroom or eating the rest of her dinner.

Kaia - loves life. She loves to wave at you if you say Hi. She also says, "Uh, oh" She recently learned how to drink out of a straw which we all love - especially her. She also is pretty close to walking. The other day she took 14 steps down our hallway to come see me in the bathroom getting ready. She loves her sister. Kaia signs milk, more, drink, eat, sister, and sometimes if you catch her just right she signs dad. We were finally able to get Kaia's hair in two piggies - which we love. It makes her look like a little girl and not a baby. She loves to give you (or Mom) wet legs when I am doing the dishes or fixing dinner. She claps whenever you say Yeah, and she loves to give you real kisses. She also blows kisses and that is fun too.

So now you all know what keeps me busy and laughing all day long. Matt and I had a fun date last week. We decided to come up with five words that describe our marriage. We had a lot of fun coming up with words that fit us. I challenge all of you to do this - it can be a really fun part of a date night.

It is so good to hear from all of you who have responded to this already! I hope that some of what you have read has informed you about our life here in Lubbock. Enjoy the picture too!

Love,
matt, april, alina, kaia

The Raney's

Hi Everyone! This is so much fun! It is wonderful to hear about all Ya'lls out in Oklahoma as well as those who live in our neighboring city that we never see. Chris and I are doing well. If seem like we are avoiding anyone it's because we feel bad that we haven't gotten our thank you cards out yet!!! We are so embarrassed! Mostly because we are so grateful for all of your love, support and gifts and even a little card doesn't do justice. Right now we are both working. Ryan (my Brother) started working with Chris a couple of months ago at Pitster the bike shop and they are having lots of fun. Speaking of pit bikes...I started racing in the women's class a couple of months ago and have won myself a 2 and 3rd place trophy!!! I haven't sent any pics out yet because I don't have riding gear, Just my helmet, knee pads and elbow pads, so I think I look funny! Once I get my full gear I will take a few glamour shots and send them out. Races this winter have been up at this track in North Salt lake...just a little get together but there are about 5 or 6 girls that come out and we have lots of fun! I even started to jump a couple of weeks ago and can almost clear one! If you don't believe me ask my parents they came out and watched my first one.

Other than Racing I have been working being the communications specialist in the customer support department where I work. I like the job cause I get to hear the funniest questions from people, for example:

Dear support,

I can't remember my ID#?

Jane
ID#546351

Haha!!! If you don't get it you can email or call me and I will be happy to explain it to you.

School is good...but I can't wait to be done. I have till July 12th!!! Can I make it? I just found out yesterday that my counselor can't get me in to anymore classes down at the Provo campus so I am going to have to drive up to Salt lake once a week to go to class. Boy is it a hastle...4 more classes...5 more months....hang in there it'll be worth it.

Right now Chris and I joke that we have visitation rights with our dog. He can't live with us, our renters won't allow dogs...so for now he is living with Chris' parents...It's hard and funny sometimes we will take him for the day and we meet at the park and ride to drop him off again. How silly are we...Its amazing though how much that dog means to us.

Well, I think I have spent enough time. April...I am surprised! I thought you would be the first one from our family to post! haha. Let us know whats up and get some pictures of those girls on here.

Talk to you all soon!
Love Chelle

I'm excited to try this blogging stuff. I hope that everyone gets involved. Janeen I registered for womens conference and the 5:00 dinner. Thanks Janeen Kristen and Connie for the photos of your family. I'm still waiting for others to send their photos.
I need Single pictures of family members to put on their birthday date and pictures of husband and wife together to put on their anniversary day. I Want to have the calendar done by the 6th of Feb so Eric will get it For valentines day
I love you all and hope that this blog finds everyone well and happy
Annette

Spencer Family

Hi everybody! I love this blogging idea! We love to hear what's going on with all of you, we don't get much news being so far away.

What's going on in our world...let's see...Remell and I bought 10 acres and are building a house. The process is not going well at all thanks to this awful weather. We've been working on this project for 3 months now and only the road is in and the pad site done. Every time the concrete guy comes to do the foundation it rains or snows. Then we have to wait for it to dry up enough to try again. This has been going on since November! UGH! The original plan was to be moved in by March but it looks like that isn't going to happen.

The daycare is going well and is packed to the rafters. We are looking for ways to expand again. We are currently licensed for 125 and are having to turn business away. (I hate to do that!) For those of you that don't know, I started another company last year and have been having a really good time building it. We do Family, Civil and Commercial Mediation and recently we became involved in doing Mock Trials, Trial consulting and Shadow Juries. It has been really interesting and a lot of fun. We recently did some work for the Railroad that could result in our doing business on a National level and that really excited me! Between that, the house project, the kids and everything else we have been extremely busy.

Mitch is doing well, he's working on cars for a living and likes the work but not the pay. He was recently offered the opportunity to go back to school at the University of Texas Pan American on a Cheer Scholorship. The tryouts are in April so he's working on getting back in shape and I think it's a good opportunity for him. He'd like to do something with electronics as he is very talented and loves to figure out how that stuff works. I will confess though it's all quite over my head.

Amia is doing well also. It looks like she is going to graduate early and she's very excited about it. At the end of this year she will only be lacking 2 credits to graduate. She could take a summer class and just be done with it but I think she is going to opt for taking 1 class first semester next year. She will only have to go for an hour in the morning and then she can take some college basic classes in the afternoon. She is looking at some Art Schools and Some Fashion and Design Colleges in Tennessee and one in Washington. I think she is determined to go away for college (sniff!). Connie, didn't you do something in fashion? Perhaps you could give her some advise on what to expect if she chooses that as a career. Frankly I don't have a clue. Where she got the artsy side to her I have no idea because it didn't come from me. I can't draw stick figures. I swam past that gene in the pool.

Jordan is in 6th grade now and just turned 12. She's turning into a beautiful girl but thankfully she has no idea. She is playing the clarinet in band at school and is really getting good at it. We had to twist her arm to do it but she is really enjoying it now. She made 3rd chair out of about 60 clarinet students. She likes to do stuff with her friends and Amia. Amia is determined to be a cool big sister and takes the time to do fun things with just Jordan and her. I really appreciate that about her. Jordan is doing well in school and is just a pleasure to be around.

Gaby is still comming down every two weeks or so. She is getting so big! She just turned 3 in November and is (I'm not kidding) the female reincarnation of Mitch. She is incredibly smart and her parents are in for a world of trouble with her! She spends a lot more time at Mitchell's when she's here now so I kindof have withdrawls even when she's here. I love that little girl to pieces and dread when she goes to school and we wont be able to see her as much. I'm not sure how we will be working that out but I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Remell is great. He's looking forward to warmer weather so he can race his Mustang. He bought a 06' GT and has been working on it since he got it. Right now it's the fasted stock Mustang at the track. After he bought it some friends of ours at the daycare bought one and now they have a little rivalry going on. Every week at the track it's a showdown to see who did what and who's is faster that week. It's really pretty funny. He has plans for more improvements and can't wait until the house is done so he can set up his shop. We have plans for a seperate garage and shop on the property and I think he would be happy to see that go up first! (who cares if the house is done as long as he has a place to work on his car! lol)

Can't wait to hear from all of you to see what everyone is doing. Love to all....

Jones Update

There are 4 of us living in the Jones house right now. Bailie, Kevin, Rod and Janeen. Bailie is working at McGee's Stamp and Trophy doing customer orders and accounting. She keeps busy doing hair in her spare time. Take last weekend as an example, She colored Cassie and Kristen's hair and then Kristen colored Bailie's hair, then several of us got a hair cut. It kind of reminds me of growing up and having the beauty shop in the back of the house.

Kevin is a Junior in High School. Right now he is busy with Wrestling. On Friday this week he will wrestle in the Varsity Region matches with a chance to go to State next week. He is battling a cold and a bruised elbow but those kinds of things haven't stopped him in the past.
He has already started conditioning for baseball. That season starts in March.

Rod keeps busy with new cars to upholster every couple weeks. He has also been very intrigued by coyotes. We are getting quite a number of tales hanging about. The ice is thick at Jordanelle, which lends itself to really good ice fishing. Today he and Jeff and Zachery went fishing and guess who caught the most . . . you guessed it, Zac.

I'm finally starting to feel like myself again. I sure hate being sick. I've taken up machine quilting and it sure is intense. Hopefully, there will come a time when I won't unpick so much. Thursday, Feb. 1 I start taking German lessons. Because of my involvement as the Sister City Coordinator, the Mayor has invited Rod and I to go with him and a group of citizens to Germany in September. When we hosted the German delegation in July, it was really hard not understanding what they were saying and having to use interpretors, so I'm going to learn some basics so at least I can get a basic understanding of what is going on.

Well that was easy . . . I hope that you accept the challenge to keep us all informed of what is going on in your lives . . . because we care . . . a lot . . . and love you tons.

Our New Family Blog

We have been talking about resurrecting our family newsletter and my boss suggested that we investigate this alternative. I think that I can give permission to all of you to add postings to this blog. In this way, we can get updates from parents (children of Wilson & Isabel) and their children (all you cousins) so that we get information about everyone. I know that Mom and Dad want us to stay connected. That is why I think we should give this a really good try. A couple of us are going to give it a test drive and then we will let everyone who has access to a computer and an email address know how to access it.