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| Church canceled for our snow storm! |
If the year comes in like a lion, will it go out like a lamb? Actually now that I think about it, a wooly white fluffy lamb with it's winter coat on reminds me more of snow than a hot sun orange lion.
Mar
Aaron hasn't left yet but we have a pouch mail address for him so I've sent a letter every week to him so they will be there for him to read when he arrives. I hope they will be there.
Spring break to NY
Twins are on the honor roll
June
Lavender festival brought in over 25,000! Traffic was a long slow snake through town gobbling up every parking place and we hear it was 2 hour ferry lines.
Had a spiritual Feast Saturday and Sunday at a fireside with Br. Avraham Gileadi! I brought my Isaiah books he wrote and had him autograph them. I've learned from him the difference between sin and iniquity. Sin is easy to forgive but iniquity is what's in our heart. Even though we may go through the motions of church and prayer etc, if our heart is not in it and we don't let our heart change to be filled with the love of God, that is iniquity. We must let our heart be changed.
Article in the Sequim Gazette:
Jen fixed a turkey for a Thanksgiving dinner.
This year will bring us a missionary in our family. Aaron has a mission call to Brazil and will leave on the 8th of March for the MTC in Sau Paulo. Can we do this? It's so hard but yes we can. This world is so big, but the spirit of the Lord feels the same everywhere & in this way I hope he can always feel at home because of being familiar with the spirit of the Lord. Aaron has been fixing up our basement and he's made some music cd's and a Clavinova piano disk of him playing his music right out of his head. It's beautiful and I can't believe and have no idea how he can do that!
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| January 2nd |
The girls are doing ok. Jen had a couple Dr. apts this past month and still no diagnosis. Em is still having trouble and had an MRI done while here for holidays and it showed some nearly blocked liver ducts. They said it looked like the ducts were sutured shut! The doc said it looked like it may have happened accidently in the gallbladder surgery or that scar tissue built up thick. She will have an ERCP done soon and I sure hope it will help her. I'm amazed at what these two do despite feeling terrible.
Andrea is getting tubes in her ears tomorrow. She's excited to have her braces off and to have a retainer with a tooth on it! (It fills the hole from a tooth that never grew in.)
Sorensen's came to mutual to teach waltz and swing to the youth. Sam offered Andrew $10 to match him up with Andrea for his dance partner! Andrew didn't fall for the bribe and made him sign the paper for random matching like everyone else! Good for Andrew!!
Feb.
I took Izola Sims over to Olympic Care today for her to play her wonderful ragtime piano music for the old folks. Ha ha, I think she is older than any of them there.
Em's ERCP went great and they said everything looked clear...no blockage at all. Perhaps this is a miracle of the priesthood! How else can it be explained. In the MRI both the technician and Dr. Behrend and even Dr. Heder said the ducts were blocked. The assistant is saying she doesn't know how to explain it but it's great news. I believe in miracles.
Twins are busy working on history day boards. Andrea is doing Amelia Earhart and Andrew's is on Olaf Jansen (Hollow Earth).
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Mar
3-7-05 Tonight Aaron was set apart by the Stake President, as an Elder, a missionary, a servant of God. I know the Lord is as proud of him as we are but it's hard to imagine that He could love him more than we do.
Aaron hasn't left yet but we have a pouch mail address for him so I've sent a letter every week to him so they will be there for him to read when he arrives. I hope they will be there.
(Here's one paragraph from one of the letters): I've been asked to speak at the RS birthday along with the other former ward RS presidents that are here. There were a lot of hard tasks during that calling - one was to help Sis. Tabor pass on from this life to the next. I've had kind-of a motto with this calling which is "Yes, it's hard, but it's possible, therefore it's do-able." As soon as I say that to myself, it seems to give power to the task...if it's possible, it can be done. Maybe this thought can help you as you take on the "giant" of learning a new language in a new land in a short time. I believe you have many "stones" in your "sling" of talents and abilities, that with the Lord's blessing, you can do anything.
3-11-05 Aaron should be in Brazil now but the Brazilian consulate is holding12 visas. I'm happy for the extra time but departure anxiety is painful. Today Aaron and I decided to fast and pray for the consulate to release the visas. At 3pm today, Sonja from the church office called to tell us the good new that the visas have been released! Sweet swift answer to prayer. Visas will be FedEx'd to the church who will get them Monday. They'll process and overnight FedEx it to us to receive Tuesday and Aaron will fly out Wednesday.
Aaron's packet arrived as scheduled. In it was his visa and also his missionary name tag (Portuguese). He will fly with another Elder from Seatac to DC and then join 4 other elders to fly to Brazil. The twins and I will take Aaron to Seattle. I'm so sad that Chris can't come. He will be in Florida on business. It was scheduled earlier but knowing Aaron was leaving then, he had it changed and now feels like he can't change it yet again. When Chris flew out of PA he texted Aaron saying to look for him flying past our house. Aaron went out on the driveway and waved up at him in the plane. Chris texted him again saying that he could see Aaron in the driveway! So cool. I'm sure this is hard for Chris as well.
The day of Aaron's departure was so hard I felt physically ill. It was a sweet sadness because I'm so thrilled that he wants to serve. He has light in his eyes and love for the Lord and a desire to serve. I just never realized how heart wrenching it is to have our kids grow up and go away. At the airport Aaron asked if I would do him a favor. He asked me if I would call Sonja when I got home and thank her for him for all she did to get visas etc and get these boys off on their missions. (I did so and she was very touched that he would think of thanking her.)
It was hard driving home from Seattle with heavy hearts, teary eyes and a complete down pour of rain all the way home to go with it.
I woke up around 5:30am and thought of Aaron and got out of bed and said a prayer for him. Jen told me she set her alarm to wake up early so she could think about Aaron landing in Brazil and the friends he's meeting and Portuguese words he'll be learning. We were happy to get a call from Sonja telling us he made it safely. So sweet of them! I felt happy.
3-19-05 Each one of us got a sweet letter from Aaron. Andrea put hers beneath her picture of Jesus on the wall.
Andrew gave a really well done FHE last night on the 3 degrees of glory. I enjoy as he sits on the sofa in the evening playing the guitar. He sure is good at it.
At work I helped Danell send off around a hundred conference proceedings. I went to the PO to buy 80 cent stamps for the office and Br. Workman asked me if I was doing Aaron's job now ha ha. I said "No. That would be great if I was smart enough to do his job!"
Few other things this month: I taught the parenting class and Chris and I spoke to the YW. Went great. Made pretty little Easter cakes and delivered them around. Got the twins registered for High School. Holy cow!
Andrea enjoyed regional history fair in Redmond and Emily is going to Nauvoo with the school group at the end of this week.
Chris was in the hospital with perforation in the colon from diverticulitis. A nurse gave us a great tip...drink a little aloe vera juice each day to prevent it.
Last night I dreamed I was walking in the snow toward a campus for a choir practice. Ahead of me I watched 3 little girls in white fuzzy coats with fur trimmed hoods, squealing and playing together. They were taking big giant steps on the stairs & then they all held hands and followed their mom, who looked back at me. She smiled when she saw that I was watching them with a huge smile on my face. I saw in those girls my own little Jennifer, Sharilyn and Emily. As they went off ahead into their destiny, I walked on to mine. Soft tears joined my now melancholy smile as I yearned to have a day back in time with my own three little girls.
April
Spring break to NY
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Twins are on the honor roll
So cool that Justin Klingler is called to the same mission as Aaron and will leave at the end of the month! They will spend MTC time together! Aaron is already a district leader.
Andrew cleaned the den...all on his own and vacuumed and washed the windows sparkling clean. He also "cleaned up" the computer of old files and desk top icons & defragmented it. :)
Em tells us that Aaron's power point program is being used as an example in some of her classes! So cool.
Bishops fireside was at our house with a newly returned missionary.
Good to have Emily home. She returned the end of the month.
May
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Em's working at the Early Learning Center and they gave her high compliments and a promotion because of being so impressed with how she deals with children. She comes home dirty from playing on the playground and in the sandbox with the kids! I think it is cute! Kids love her. She had John and Tavis over for breakfast today.
Andrew has been ordained a Teacher. He bore his testimony today - just got up of his own free will and I was so happy and proud of him.
Aaron finished up in MTC and will be going out into the field of Salvador. He & Justin got to be together. We got this note from Justin: "You guys have one of the coolest brothers in the world. I said goodbye to him this morning and he is doing great...Know that really he is going to do amazing work out here. As I walk down the halls I hear people talking about him a lot and how awesome of a kid he is. He was pretty much fluent in Portuguese too. So he is going to rip it up out there in the field...You Kings up there in Washington are awesome people and I'm glad I got to see and chill with Aaron down here."
Jen and Em are in London together. They got to see Mary Poppins on stage.
Business to Berlin (see next page)- first met up with & toured with Jen and Em who were already there, having enjoyed their London adventure. Austria, Croatia, Germany. Lori and Kevin stayed with the twins.
We had a fun surprise when we were coming home from Germany. At the same time that we were flying home, Jen was on her way home for 3 weeks (then on to Rexburg) and Em was also on her way home for the summer. When we landed in the states I texted Jen to let her know we were back in the country. She asked where we were and we said Chicago. She replied "What! - O'Hare?!" We told her we were at gate C-18 waiting for our flight. She said "No way!" and around the corner she walked!! What a surprise! The funny story is that she got tagged in NY to be searched and that made her miss her flight by just a few minutes. She was able to get standby on the next flight and then was on standby for ours and just barely made it on. We were so overjoyed at this miracle and tender mercy! This seemingly bad luck of missing a flight turned into the best thing ever. I bet the Lord was excited to give us this happy moment today.
I'm happy for many things like that story above. Also happy for the Lord protecting Aaron and his comp from the big guy that was following them, by sending little children into the street marching, saluting and speaking something to the elders as they marched along. I'm happy the Lord saved Tom and Shar when their car crashed from icy roads into a semi! He saved Mom and me and my siblings from a huge tire that flew off a truck and was headed into us but then magically lifted up and over our car. I was once driving not long ago and felt something push my car out of harms way - a near collision but I felt a force push me. A couple years ago while riding the kids scooter, the front wheel fell in a hole and I went sailing over the scooter. I would have splatted face down on the road but something lifted me up. I felt a force save me from a possible broken neck. I will always remember the Lord's hand in my life and I know there are many that I will never know about until I go home to Him. I wish I could gather all our dear loved ones and get all of us on a heavenly airplane and fly to heaven. What a happy day that would be just like this fun surprise today.
Aaron had another SSI ad come out in the April Quirk magazine. :)
Irrigation Festival time - twins went on a sunrise hike up Mt. Zion and then home in time to march in the kiddie parade and will march in the big parade next Saturday.
Chris traded our sailboat to Daylin Mitchel for another pongo kayak and a snowboard. Yay, we'll have 4 kayaks now.
June
Andrew is now in the "Order of the Arrow". He survived the overnight ordeal despite being stung by some ground bees.
Andrew bore his testimony again. He was just so calm and pleasant and mentioned gratitude for Aaron being such a great example and for going on a mission and he said he plans to follow his example. I was so proud of him.
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| Father's day king! |
Had a ward talent show. Jen and I practiced a poem duet and Andrea is playing a piano piece she memorized from Pachelbel Canon.
Tom and Shar came for the weekend and gave us happy news that they are expecting baby #2!
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| Pretty deer keep getting in our pretty backyard They get in and have such trouble getting out. They love to eat all our garden. As I looked at this beautiful scene I imagined going out and sitting next to the deer, stroking its fur and we could eat a piece of fruit together. As I was thus lost in thought, down the stairs ran Andrew and Emily with airsoft guns...they had spotted the deer too. ha ha ha. Oh I hope it doesn't get spooked and stuck in our fence. |
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| Em with her kite |
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| Lake LeLand |
Jen flew to Idaho for her summer term at Ricks and then she'll be back to Albany. Oh it's been fun having her back with us and we sure will miss her.
June
I went to Rexburg to help Mom who just had back surgery. Brenda and Karen have done so much and I thought I'd pitch in the week Mom got out of the hospital. I feel a little bad that I'm not closer so that I could help more. Mom's surgery went well and she had to wear a back brace for many weeks. Dad has seemed tired and glad for the help. It's been nice to be here with lots of family and visit Mom Clarke, Jen and even Tom and Shar dropped by on their way to Grace. Jarom captured our hearts - so cute. Paula and Rock came also.
July
On the 4th of July I went to Mom Clarke's and watched the parade from there. Jen staked out spots for us with blankets. Steve marched with his band.
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A friend of mine, Marissa Hana, passed away from a brain tumor and I spoke at her funeral 2 hours after returning home from Rexburg. She wants her temple work done but couldn't do it before passing. Lynette Paul and I will do that for her and got permission from her sons.
After Marissa's service we went to PJ lake. Em is home for the summer and really wanted to do some campouts so this is the first one. It was so beautiful with purple lupine, red columbine, yellow and white somethings...colorful hillsides. There was a beautiful waterfall and then peaceful small PJ lake that we had all to ourselves, except for a resident deer who wasn't at all afraid of us.
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| PJ Lake |
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| Chris and Andrew fishing |
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| Emily |
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| Em is photogenic and lets us take her picture! :) This is so cute |
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It's fun having Em home to think up fun things! We went to the new Willie Wonka movie with Johnny Dep. He makes a great Wonka. We came hone and did mud masks on our faces and watched Charlies Angels ha ha! Em, Andrea and I put up 7 jars of currant juice. We pureed it then squeezed the juice through cheese cloth to get the pulp out. Emily, who claims to be our currant connoisseur, claims 2001 was our best year so we hope this year's will be as good.
It's been a bumper crop of raspberries. We've given many away and let people come and pick them. I put up 8 jars of jam, 4 jars of syrup, a couple gallon ziplocks of pureed raspberry frozen into cubes for smoothies etc and some bags of frozen berries.
Andrea is working on some great value projects (YW) She's finishing up her piano goals. She's learning new songs on the piano and plays beautifully. I'm impressed how quickly she can memorize them. She's starting a project today helping a lady (not of our faith) who is deaf and just had neck surgery and needs help in her house and yard & dog walking. We went to meet her Sunday and as we were walking away from her house we heard her in her kitchen say "Thank you, Lord!" It is fun to serve people with grateful hearts. Drea is also working on a genealogy project tracing the line of the gospel in our family. She's also made a survey on peoples favorite detergent , recipe, game, household tip etc. She will share the info with all who take the survey. Should be fun.
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| Look at those eyes! Do we ever have a beautiful grandson!!! |
Lavender festival brought in over 25,000! Traffic was a long slow snake through town gobbling up every parking place and we hear it was 2 hour ferry lines.
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| Jen at Purple Haze |
6th Harry Potter book came out and sold 6.9 million books in the 1st 24 hours.
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| Nimbus watching Em clean the goldfish aquarium |
Had a spiritual Feast Saturday and Sunday at a fireside with Br. Avraham Gileadi! I brought my Isaiah books he wrote and had him autograph them. I've learned from him the difference between sin and iniquity. Sin is easy to forgive but iniquity is what's in our heart. Even though we may go through the motions of church and prayer etc, if our heart is not in it and we don't let our heart change to be filled with the love of God, that is iniquity. We must let our heart be changed.
Message from Aaron
Aaron is doing well on his mission. He is a gifted thinker and I love his analogies. Here is a piece of the recent letter. "One thing I have learned out here in the mission is that it really doesn't matter what you do in life, as long as you keep the commandments and serve the Lord. You could have no money and always be hungry, but as long as you kept all the commandments and tried hard to serve the Lord, nothing else would really matter. This is a great thing to realize because no matter how hard things are in life, no matter what you have or don't have, nothing matters as long as you are keeping the commandment and serving. ... It reminds me of the rope-toes that we use when we go skiing. Holding onto the rope-toe is all that really matters when you are skiing because if you hold on you will make it to the top of the mountain. If you let go, you will fall back down the mountain. When we are serving and keeping the commandments, we are connected to the rope-toe. Then nothing else matters. If we just hold on, we will make it to the top. Life will pass and things will happen, but as long as we hold onto these things, we will make it."
I love Aaron's analogy. I hope we can all keep being valiant in our testimonies and we "keep our hands on the rope tow" and let it carry us to the top.
August
Message in Aaron's letter: "A mission brings joy that I really can't explain. There is a joy that is derived when you are about the Lord's business. It is great. I'm feeling it more and more, the love and joy of the mission. When we work hard we are happy. When we don't work as hard, we are less happy. Doing what you want to do even just relaxing, seems like it should bring joy. But it is just temporary satisfaction that brings emptiness afterwards. When you do what the Lord wants you to do, it brings an amazing sense of joy. One that last and makes you smile. It's kind of like the difference between simple sugars that give you quick energy but it doesn't last and ends up taking more from you , and complex carbohydrates which give you energy for a long time.
We played ukulele's for FHE again. Kids enjoy it!
Andrew found me a Song of the South dvd on line! It arrived and we see it is a pirated copy - hmmmm - but since I can't buy a legal one we will enjoy this one! I love it! So cool! Thank you Andrew! I don't know how you found it!
Nancy Goldstein laid down in the street in front of her house because she refused to let the gravel truck that came over Keeler come down her "private" road. People on the street refer to her as the crazy lady at the end of the street.
Aaron baptized someone named Emily and for the event he made fudge, brownies, peanut brittle, cinnamon rolls, rolls, doughnuts and mango juice!
Right after that he made a huge cake for zone meeting. Oh my goodness! People love Aaron's cooking and he's gotten good at cinnamon rolls!
Chris and the twins went to Youth Conference in Port Townsend.
Had a fireside at our house with Alison Lloyd talking about her mission. About 43 people came! I made 53 cinnamon rolls. Alison brought Chilean cookies. (tasted like hard kleina without cardamom.) Someone kindly brought a plate of brownies and Lori C brought some berry cobbler.
Had a neighborhood meeting at our house talking about Phase 3 expansion of Mariner's Outlook. I can't believe all the housing developments going in all over town. Boo hoo. Andrew had a lan party in the basement with a bunch of his friends.
President Hinckley has asked us to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year! I felt a rush go through me when he asked that. I will do this and I hope our whole family will do this. Imagine if all active members did this!
We went to Rexburg to take Em back to BYU-I. I love her being around. So miss her when she's gone but she did seem excited to be back in her big friend pool. Was good to see our parents...Mom K is still wearing her back brace. Got a great video of Dad telling us stories from his younger days! We went to Moscow on our way back home and visited Beans.
Sept
Beans came to visit over Labor Day. Jarom is sure a cutie. I fell asleep on the sofa and he tucked a stuffed animal into my arms. He wanted ice-cream and would knock on the freezer door and say "more".
With President Hansen's approval, I've been working on organizing a community garage sale with our ward and with other churches in town for Hurricane Katrina relief. Alice Workman put an add in the Sequim Gazette, Andrew set up a contact email address and Sally Crawford & Denise Nielsen have been a huge help. I've gotten phone calls from people not of our faith, wanting to donate to the garage sale because they know "we don't skim off the top". We're looking for a venue because we aren't allowed to have it in our building. Something to do with tax status. It's just so cool that the church put out a call for hygiene kits in June and when this hurricane kit, they were prepared and off went the kits.
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Andrea has really made big strides in her piano playing! She is memorizing "The Entertainer" and is the pianist in seminary! Andrew is getting amazing at playing guitar. Emily has been called to be RS 1st counselor!
Aaron is still in Petrolina Brazil. His zone baptized 50 people this month and set a mission record. We are so proud of him and miss him and pray for him and hope that he is well. I got an email from Joe Chrisman telling me how much Aaron and our family has meant to him and he's grateful for Aaron's letters. Also heard from Paula that Camber Steel (in the MTC) met Skyler (Elder Eveland) and they made the King connection ha ha! Skyler told Camber that Aaron was his best friend.
A thought came to me that sometimes we can limit our joy & happiness by pursuing joy and happiness without being directed by the Lord. If we follow His will in our life, we will be led to a joy and happiness and treasures so far beyond anything we would have pursued because we never knew they existed.
Went to France (see next page)
I'm thinking that flying is kind of like the Narnia Wardrobe because you step into the plane from your world...close your eyes for awhile and open them and step out into another world and a new adventure.
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| Picnicking at the John Wayne Marina |
October
Our community garage sale was a success!
"A community yard sale for the church's Emergency Response Fund was sponsored by sisters from the Sequim 1st Ward, Port Angeles WA Stake. Pictured are Sally Crawford, Debbie King, Denise Nielsen, Patty Harrison & Ruth Simpson. Sally visited many local churches and invited them to join in the effort. Many donations were received from the community, & the Trinity United Methodist Church worked with us side by side.
Sis King said the idea popped into her head while she was sitting in sacrament meeting. She said "the church doesn't get the muscle or the funds from nowhere. They can only help to the extent that we as members contribute and since we couldn't go help in person, this was the best we could do."
Someone from the Sequim City Council made a contribution to help pay for the rental of the community center. Alice Workman drew up a design for fliers and an ad which the local newspaper ran for a reduced rate. Susan Bazan sponsored a bake sale and Judy Larsen hosted a table with emergency preparedness information.
All together the group was able to raise $4,000. On thousand of which they decide to give to UMCOR, a Methodist Church relief fund, as a thank you to their new friends for all their valued help. Bishop King of Sequim 1st Ward said "Perhaps the real value of the sale is not the money we are sending but the feelings of unity and compassion that grew within our community as a result of this project."
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| Happy Halloween! |
Germany Austria - J & E
Nov
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| Bishop King with Br. Lloyd and Br. Baker |
Mr. Meacham up the road lost all his apples to the elk this year. We lost a whole tree full of apples to crows!
Jen fixed a turkey for a Thanksgiving dinner.
Em got 100% on her humanities report and touched the sisters with her RS lesson today. She's worked with BYU-I and got a custom major designed for her! "Communications with emphasis in design" They're trying to pull strings to get her into some art major classes that will work with her "design" emphasis!
Andrea will receive 4 of her 7 personal progress stickers this Wednesday at Night of Excellence. She had Amanda, Olivia and Calli over for a sleep over.
Andrew let me give him a haircut. He created a beautiful logo and motto for Adrix Geodextro. He had Ted and Kevin over for a lan party.
Jarom colored me a Halloween picture.
Chris didn't get home from San Fran until 3am due to the Hood Canal bridge closing for repair just 4 minutes before he got to it! He had to turn around and take the long way home. (I kept calling him to make sure he didn't fall asleep)
Had to replace our water heater. When the plumber came he saw our dwarf hamster supplies, including the hamster wheel sitting on the floor. He also saw the mouse trap and said "Do you like to give your mice a workout before you do them in?" Ha ha ha!
Victoria - We all went by car this time because it is quite cold. We saw the new Harry Potter movie (book 4) and went to a dance production - interpretive type dance. We loved it. We stayed with Ann and Ned. So good to see them again.
Sunday Chris, Br. Bahrt, Bishop Villet and Bishop Malmrose sang in a quartet at the beginning of RS. They came in and stood in front of us holding their hymn books. Bishop Villet is thumbing through the pages and asks "What are we singing?" ha ha! Then Br. Bahrt says "We're singing Rock Around the Clock" ha ha! Then Bishop Villet says "Don't try this at home, we're professionals" ha ha! Br. Bahrt then says "Ya, we're just not telling you what we're professional at!!" ha ha ha! We all got such a kick out of those two cutting up in front of us! By the way they sang "Ye Elders of Israel".
Thanksgiving morning came with the best surprise for me! Andrew called me upstairs to show me something on his website, then Andrea called me downstairs "to see a huge rip in the sofa". I got to the sofa and off flew the cushions revealing Emily!!! Holy cow I was stunned! So funny that just a few minutes before that I called her to see if she made it safely to Logan and she was talking to me from her own bedroom! ha ha. She got in at 1:30am. She road to Seattle with her roommate and then to Sequim with John Ers who flew in from Portland and his parents picked him & Em up.
Andrea let Nimbus come through the window from outside and he was walking really funny, shaking and shaking his feet. He had gotten into some pine sap and was all sticky. Shar told us rubbing alcohol should take it off so we rubbed him down then showered him to get the alcohol off. He didn't like it but was very patient letting us help him de-sapify.
December
First day of Dec greeted us with snow. I think every kid in town is rejoicing. Nimbus is not amused! It's barely an inch and won't last long but oh how beautiful. I forgot how pretty snow light is at night and how glorious it is by day!
Aaron's apartment got robbed. All electronic stuff was stolen like his cd player, tape player, CD's, watch, flashlight, mp3 player, electric shaver and electric hair cutter, a box of chocolates and sadly, his camera including special photos. He sure has a sweet and good attitude about it and says he's living simply and great and is sad about the photos but compared to the 200 pages of the lost book of Mormon manuscript it's nothing ha ha ha! We will try to send some replacements of things he needs even though he tells us not to worry about it.
I got Aaron's Christmas package sent off and included little gifts for him to give out to the kids that seem to adore and follow him around. I think he will love having things to give to kids. (trinkets, stickers, pencils etc.)
Friday we will pick up Jen in Seattle, go to the temple, spend the night, pick up Em in the morning and then come home.
Dad called and is asking the family to please plead with the Lord to bless Mom because of the terrible pain she is in. She need relief from the terrible pain and I feel so very sad for her. I've visibly seen her legs tighten and cramp up in pain.
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| Twas Der Nacht behind Christmas |
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We did the usual Christmas caroling and sang Hanukkah songs to Munroe's. They invited us in once again to light the menorah candles and hear the reading.
So many people have asked me "Are you ready for Christmas?" and I always think about that word "ready". Everyone preparing every needful thing and whether or not we are ready, Dec 25th will arrive precisely on Dec 25th ha ha! Wouldn't it be amazing if all that preparing for the celebration of Christ's birth went into preparing for His return. People would ask "Are you ready for Jesus to return?" Any holes to fill or last minute things you forgot? Because, whether or not we are ready, that day will come precisely when is is written in the plan!
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| Jen with her digeridoo |
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| Dec 30th - celebrating Aaron's birthday and thinking of him on his mission |
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| Dec 31st New Year's Eve |
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| Getting ready for the countdown |
So happy to report that every one of us has finished reading the Book of Mormon, as challenged to do so by the end of the year. (by Pres. Hinckley) We had several reading sessions and then there was a grand marathon with Jen, Drea & Drew all on Drea's bed listening to it on cd while they followed along or knitted. Ha ha! It thrills me and I look forward to the day to come when we meet our Savior and these great prophets. It was so important to them that we have this book and so we need to drink deeply from its well of spiritual strength. (Drea and Jen are knitting hats. Jen gave Drea a knitting klutz book and they are having fun with it.)
