Thursday, July 17, 2008

JULY 2008

Rob & Marci and Family
Hello from Herriman! We hope you are all doing well and surviving the heat! We have been busy as usual, especially with school being out. It is always very "interesting" to all of the sudden have all the kids home all day. My house has never been the same and is impossible to keep clean for more than an hour at any given time. Rob is enjoying work and has been under a lot more pressure with different projects, but is doing well. He has been a big help pinch hitting for the girls’ primary class, which they love. We had a really fun day going to Rob’s work for a family day. We have never been allowed in the plant, so it was fun to see where he works, have lunch with him, etc. He is still enjoying his calling as a teacher for Elder’s Quorum. He had a great time at the Xbox party for the brothers. I am staying busy with the kids being home, playing taxi driver, etc. My business is doing really well, although I am feeling the summer slowdown. I am also overwhelmed with the HUGE landscaping project of our backyard that awaits us. I am bound and determined to do it, but it is going to be a HUGE amount of work and time. It would have been nice to actually have spring instead of going straight from snow to scorching, but oh well. We bought a nice big wood swingset/playset for the kids yesterday that they are excited to get put together. Primary is going well and we continually get new kids each week it seems like. Custer’s services were really nice and we had a really enjoyable time in Ephraim. It certainly brought up all sorts of questions from the kids about death. Ashlee was really curious about him in the casket. She had the most questions about life and death etc. Cayden is enjoying summer break, although I think Cayden would be perfectly content going to school all year. He got his appliance to space his teeth in and we will be going back in, probably in August to get braces. McKell will probably be following suit. Cayden also had to have a tooth pulled but he did great with that. His biggest most exciting news was Pinewood derby. It is his first year and he has been waiting for this event forever! He did a great job designing it, painting it, etc. He and Rob had a fun time working together on it. He was so proud of it and actually took first place as well as Best Paint Job. He was beaming for the rest of the night. He is loving swim lessons and is doing amazingly well! He has advanced to level 3 and is a really good swimmer. He finished a very successful season of soccer and can’t wait to play again in the fall. Ashlee is also loving summer break. Unlike Cayden, Ashlee would be perfectly content to never go back to school. She keeps asking, "Is today a no-school day again?" She is loving swim because she is part fish, however she has requested on more than one occasion that we do swim lessons with no teachers. That way she would have free reign of the pool. No such luck. She is doing well though and is an amazing little swimmer. She has been in a little bit of a downward "slump" with her autism. It seems to go in cycles for her and she has had a rough month or two, but hopefully we are pulling out of it. We got a little pool for the back yard and she loves spending forever in that pool. McKell is having a great summer break. She lost another tooth and is quickly running out of space in her little mouth for bigger permanent teeth to come in. Oh boy. She is also doing great in swim lessons and advancing well. Sadie is growing like a little weed. She is such a sweet sweet baby! Her big news is that she now can crawl! She was a little hesitant at first but then just took off and hasn’t stopped since. She thinks she is quite tricky. She has 2 teeth and is loving the world of real food. She also has said her first word, "hi". She is just a little ray of sunshine in our house. She gave us a real scare with her febrile seizure at the beginning of the month. Thank heavens for Priesthood blessings and Tylenol...in that order. It was a miracle that Rob heard her and was able to take care of her. The kids adore her and she loves them right back. Well, that is it from us. We hope you are all doing well.

Scott & Tiff and Family
June was a busy month for our little family. I got the great idea that it would be fun to coach Ryan and Jaydee's Tee Ball team thinking that Scott could help on the days he didn't have to work. Little did I know that Scott would only make it to 2 games the entire season. So my mom was my assistant coach which I'm sure made for a hilarious sight...two short, chubby women chasing teeballs and trying to teach a bunch of kids how to run the bases. But we survived and had a fun time. Gage was even our little bat boy and had his own uniform that went down past his knees. One of the perks of having your mom as the coach! I did really well with the parents as well considering how onery I've been told I am. There was only one mother that I wanted to knock out with the bat but controlled my pregnancy hormones and just grinned and muttered under my breath words I won't repeat here!! Ryan and Jaydee also completed another round of swim lessons and are working on becoming little fish. They had a ball and Gage actually got to see that the water can be fun. Up until our swimming outing this last week with the family he has never willingly got into a swimming pool. Thanks Dad for taking us up to Camp Williams to do that. Now Gage can't wait to go back. He was so proud of himself for "jumping" into the pool. Granted it was just jumping on to the first step and the water only went up to midcalf, but we'll take anything he willing to give us!! Thanks also to mom and dad for letting me and the kids come down and stay for 5 days. It was a nice change of pace and a good distraction for how big I have become. I think I double in size every morning. We had a fun time going to playdates, going to Wheeler Farm, and getting attacked by the geese. Other fun distractions are our camping trips up to the Uintas. We are loving our trailer and the freedom it brings to just hook it on the Tahoe and to go up in the mountains. I especially love the bathroom feature. It makes it a whole lot easier to camp when you are 9 months pregnant! We bought a raft a couple of years ago and finally got a motor to go with it. The kids are digging the whole trolling thing. Gage thought it was great right up to the point that Scott dropped a fish into the raft. Gage started to scream and wasn't so impressed after that. We'll have to see if he does better next time!! Anyway, we hope everyone is enjoying their summer!








The Olsen's:
We're doing great. Our biggest news lately is that Kyle got into the Nursing program!!! YAY! This is his third time applying to the program. Last semester seemed hopeless after they told him due to the competitiveness he would have to get a 4.0 to get in. He went back and retook classes he already got A-'s and B+'s in and came out with a 3.98 GPA. Low and behold the third time is the charm because he finally got in!!! I'm so grateful for all of his hard work and dedication. He is THE MAN!!! He also received his Associates degree in the mail this week, that he graduated with two semesters ago. They said if we waited until this summer to receive it, then he would have one from Utah Valley University, instead of Utah Valley State College, so we thought it was worth the wait. We're going to buy his first set of scrubs and white shoes this week. This is such a huge blessing in our lives. Another blessing is I just got promoted at FedEx Freight. I work in Team Selling now. And it's a good thing because I was starting to hate my old. I'm handling much bigger accounts now like the Dippin Dots Ice Cream account, and some other bigger accounts that you've probably never heard of. I love this job a lot more. It's more exciting and my accounts send me yummy gifts.. free chocolate!! The most shocking news is probably that Kyle and I just got called to be the Young Men and Young Women Presidents. As Jen says.. it's my Karma:) Because I didn't necessarily enjoy Young women's when I was younger, and unfortunately I think my leaders knew it too. I'll have to send them all sorry letters:) I think they would pass out if they knew I was the president.. so maybe I'll hold off on the letters. We have a small unified ward with just a handful of young men and women, but we love it. Even though I felt like someone dropped a brick on my chest when they asked us to be in this calling, I'm still looking forward to it, and I really have NO idea what I'm doing. I'm glad there's inspiration that comes along with it, or I would be in deep crap. Kyle and I just got back from Cedar City. He coached his swimmers in the summer games down there. He's an amazing coach. If anyone wants to learn how to swim like a champ.. Kyle's your guy. All of his kids got metals. The kids love him, and the parents love him even more. If they could, they would all take him home to live with them. We got to visit Jarry while we were down south. And my mom and Jason joined us for some Cliff diving in St. George. It's always good to see Jared! He's looking great! I also just got back from girls camp a couple of weeks ago. We had a lot of fun! I got to prank all of the girls .... lets just say their tents were filled with Silly string one morning.. Also the whole stake did a spiff on American Idol, but our theme was Under the Sea, so it was "Ocean Idol". We took a popular song, and had to re-do the words to reflect the girls. We did "Murray 8th Girls love to have fun" to Cyndi Laupers "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" I taught the girls how to break out into a wicked awesome Robot-- it was the coolest dancing you've ever seen! We're planning on being in Murray until Kyle finishes school.. we absolutely love it there. Life is good, and even when it's not .... it is.
Love ya-

JAY
Well Happy 4th of July everyone! It's been about three months since I've written, so I've got some catching up to do.I passed my National Board Certification exam for Massage Therapist in April, and so I'm officially a Licensed Massage Therapist, (LMT).Yahoo! I've been concentrating on building my private practice, and working out of my "Studio", in my Apartments' second bedroom.I'm in the process of designing a more "ZEN" like atmosphere and professional setting for people to come to ,so it's a work in progress, but is coming along. The summer heat has hit hard, and early, and I'd like to remind you that I do have an outdoor pool and hot tub at my apartment complex that is available from 10am-10pm for relief from the heat if you need it. You're welcome anytime. Just let me know. I had a great time this year at the Scottish Festival at Thanksgiving Point with Dad, Mom, Alex, Ben, Livy, and Mary, and Michelle. We had a great time, crowd watching, sampling the 'Haggis", and dancing on the field to the music of "The Wicked Tinkers!" On a sadder note, the passing of Uncle "Cutter", I'm sure has touched us all. I'm glad that we were able to get together and sing as a family at his funeral, and also have the honor to be a pall barer. We need to get around the piano more often, and sing together. (Just a thought.) Think of the thousands of dollars spent on music instruction for the family. Can we really afford not to keep a legacy of music going in the family? We're a musical family,. "Families that Sing together, Cling together"....er somethin"....=) Please remember Aunt Bonnie, now widowed, and although she has her immediate family members there in Ephriam with her, I'm sure she has lonely moments and would appreciate a phone call, and expressions of love and concern. Her PHN. # is, 435-283-3045. Friend Josh, will be returning to the states at the end of July. He'll be moving to Phoenix. AZ. He's been accepted into the Executive Masters program at ASU, and will be starting it in the fall. It will be good to have a good friend back in the country again, and just a phone call away. It was great to run into my long lost cousin Mike Neilson at Custer's funeral. We went to lunch together recently, and caught up on each other's life's' story. Wouldn't you have liked to be a fly on the wall of that one?! The following weekend we went into "Music and the Spoken Word" at the conference center. It was very good to see him and catch up with him. He stated that Brian is at "the point of the mountain", and he has given me the paper work to be cleared as a visitor for him. (Matt: 25:41-45) No, I'm NO SAINT,..just trying to do my Christian duty. I'll try to get his contact information for writing, and get it all to you as well. I've enjoyed working in the yard at Dad and Mom's, and spending time with the family. My prayers are with MIki, as I'm sure all of yours are too. She needs our faith and prayers now for healing, so please keep good thoughts and wishes for her in your hearts and minds, and daily prayers, as I'm sure you do. Happy Birthday to all the July babies!!!...And good luck Tiff and Scott with the delivery of yet another July baby coming soon!Well I'm going to wrap up this epistle, and want to thank you all for your Love and Prayers, in my behalf. Have a very happy and safe Summer! See you for "Family Night" at Dad and Moms in July. Since I was given the honor of giving the lesson, I'll be in touch looking for volunteers for some help, and any preparations for the evening. This should be interesting eh? Again, I appreciate all of your love, support, and prayers in my behalf. Thanks for all you do for me!Love Ya,Uncle Jay.


DAD AND MOM
Hello Everyone,
June was a busy month--for Mom. Regular schedule, plus the Temple, plus Custer's and two more funerals in the Ward, plus the usual "meals on wheels". She, as Compassionate Service Leader, and Alisa Aston as Relief Society President have gotten to know each other pretty well. They have done a remarkable service.
Dad just sits around and watches all of the work being done. A huge thanks to Jay for taking care of the lawns and yard. Don't know what we would do-------
Enjoyed having Marilyn and Bruce for a short visit. (the operative word is "visit", not "short".)
We took time for a change to go to Ogden and visit with Guy and Jodene. They have sold their house and are moving out of the apartment that they have been living in, and get in their motor home and just travel for the next few years. They are going to become snowbirds and sunbirds and just follow the sun. They said to tell all hello. And thanks Miriam and Paul for your hospitality and feeding a couple of 'drop-ins'. Enjoyed visiting with you as well as your food.
Dad went to Dr. Smith, his hip doctor and he said that the bone scan didn't show any stress fracture and that everything looked in place, so unless something happens, just to see him next year. That was great news. He said to just don't do anything stupid. Or as the Book Of Mormon says, "Be wise, what more can I say".
Miki's leg is looking a little better. She has to go into the Huntsman Cancer Unit of the IHC Hospital in Murray every day and have an infusion of antibiotics. Take between an hour and a half and two hours. The other thing that she has to do is keep her foot elevated. This thing takes a lot of time to heal.
Enjoyed the family swim trip to Camp Williams. A dollar isn't a bad price. Any time that any of you want to go, let us know.

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