April 2008

Hello Family, April 2008

This last month was relaxing and hectic at the same time. The relaxing process was our vacation in Segrove Beach. It is in the Florida panhandle between Destin and Panama City. We love to go to this area because the beaches are white powdery sand and the water is clear. The weather could not have been better. It rained the whole way down there but once we got there it was great the rest of the week. The kids love to go to the beach. Beth and I took long walks on the beach everyday. Cory and Christian decided that they were impervious to the sun. Cory, Mister “I don't burn I only tan, got fried on Thurs. because it was a little windy so you couldn't feel the burn as much. That same day Christian had put on sunscreen but not very well. He missed a few spots on his legs and his stomach. It is amazing how well sunscreen works. You can always find the spots where you missed. It was too bad because Friday was the best day of the week for the beach and water and the boys had to stay inside the whole day. By the time we left on Saturday Cory had started to blister on his face and chest. By Sunday he looked like a leper with skin falling off everywhere. But he has been diligent and kept Aloe and Neosporin on the places that were burned. Now you cannot even tell he was burned so bad. The place we stayed in was fantastic. It is the nicest place we have ever stayed on vacation. It was a town home that was three stories. The 1^st floor was the garage and a bedroom with a full bath and queensize bed. there was a door leading from this room right in to the swimming pool area. Chris and Cory stayed there. The 2^nd floor was living area that had the living room and kitchen. There was also another full bath there. The floors were all hardwood and travertine tile in the kitchen with Corion counter tops. The view from the living room was of the beach. The 3^rd floor was the Mater bedroom had a King size bed and a huge full bath with a large shower and jacuzzi tub. Alicia loved the tub. She took a jacuzzi bubble bath every day. The shower seemed huge to us because the one we have at home is not all that big. So when I stood in this shower I felt like a little kid. The neatest thing for Alicia was where she got to sleep. At the top of the stairs on the 3^rd floor to the left was a little nook just big enough for a twin mattress. So she got her own little space. We just loved it!!!

Now the hectic part. Lat year our Stake started a tradition of having a Spring Formal for the youth ages 16-18. It is an alternative to the Prom where they can come and have a nice dinner and dance with good music and modest dress. Well the Stake Presidency decided to issue Beth and I a “special appointment” to decorate for the Spring Formal this year. I guess they came to Brittany's reception and decided that we could decorate. The theme was “Evening in Paris”. So I decided that it would be cool to have a big Eiffel tower on the dance floor. Sometimes cool ideas are better left as ideas. But not me... Nooo. I made a 23 foot Eiffel tower decorated with lights. It was a lot of work but turned out great. Then we put twinkling lights across the ceiling. And set off an area of the floor as a cafe with small tables and an awning with a lighted sign that said “Cafe de Flore”. Nancy set a table where someone was making crepes. There was also a drink fountain and a chocolate fountain. To set it all off we downloaded several pictures of Paris sites and had them projected on a large screen. The dinner was before the dance at a different building. We had decorated the tables with a white table clothe and a black topper. There was a round mirror with a small Eiffel Tower on each table that had a tealight underneath. We added 3 more tealights to each table and then sprinkled silver start confetti all over the table. it turned out to be a really nice evening for the youth. I am glad it is over. It wasn't quite as hectic as the reception but came in a close second.

School is almost over and the kids are excited about that. Christian was asked to go to the Prom by a French foreign exchange student that is living with a family in our ward. He went with all of his good friends. He had a good time. They went to P.F. Changs for dinner and then the Prom was at Fernbank Science Museum. After that they went over to a friends house for a few hours.

Alicia has been going to the Orthodontist and has had an appliance in her mouth for a few months. She found out that she has to have a couple of baby teeth pulled to make more room while they straighten up her teeth. She is not happy about that.. But she has promised to be brave.

Can't wait to see everyone at the reunion!

Love,

Jeff, Beth, Christian, Cory and Alicia

February 2008

Hello Family, February 2008

We decided to make our Living Room back into a Living Room. For the past 6-7 years it has been a sewing / crap oops I mean craft room. For the last 6 months it was a storage room for wedding paraphernalia. So once we cleaned that out we decided to make the change. We moved everything up to Alicia's room and brought down the furniture, sofa, chair and table, that was in her room. Alicia's room is huge since it is the bonus room. So with half the room set up as the craft area she still has more room than the boy's do in their rooms. But as it always turns out it is more than just moving furniture. We took down a wallpaper border that was up and re-painted. We added crown molding and had to buy some new accessories. It looks better than it ever has since we moved in. We were going to paint the “dining room” which is really our exercise room at the same time but we ran out of time. Beth had a group of friends coming over for the evening. This became our motivation and deadline to get it all finished. It is funny how that seems to works so much better if you plan an event that gives you a deadline. I was still painting trim the day of but we got it finished. We will get back to the exercise room in due time.

Brittany is enjoying married life. She is really busy. She discovered that if she dropped her French minor that she can graduate in December. It was a no-brainer decision for her. So that was exciting news. She is getting burned out on school and is ready to be done. She and Michael are also going to be running an ice cream shop that is opening up in Provo. It is called Sub-Zero. She and Michael have been working at the one in Orem for awhile and the owner wanted to open another one in Provo. So they have been working to get that opened on March 1^st. So you guys that are in Provo area stop by and have a scoop.

The new store will be taking a Ben and Jerry's location in Brigham's Landing (click for map), which is at the intersection of University Parkway and Freedom Boulevard. So they will be busy. They are going to stay in Provo over the summer to work. I will be going out to Salt Lake in March for work and will get to see them. I can't wait.

Christian continues to work and save. He has had his interview with the Bishop and just needs to talk with the Stake President. So we should know something in the next few weeks about where he will be serving. He has started taking Mission Prep and Temple Prep classes. It is starting to hit him and he is getting a little nervous. I think once he gets his call he will feel more comfortable. Not that he still won't be nervous. He still says he wants to go to New Zealand but we will see. One of the guys in his mission prep class is going there. So he has his fingers crossed.

Cory's rec-league basketball team came in 3^rd place. They played hard and lost only by a couple of points. He had a good time and it was a great experience for him. It gave him much better experience than just playing church ball. Their church team came in second. It was a tough loss. The way the tournament worked out they had a bye the first round but ended up playing two games back to back for the championship. In the championship game they only had 6 players and the other team had at least 15 players. They were able to substitute and keep their players fresh. We just wore out at the end. But again it was fun! Cory is looking forward to next year and is planning on working hard at getting better. He is almost finished writing up his Eagle Project to submit it for approval. once this is done he can start driving. he has had his permit for about 4 months now but the arrangement was that he could not practice driving until he turns in his Eagle Project proposal. So we are cl

ose. That means he may be driving soon....

Alicia is doing great. She misses Brittany a lot. But she is enjoying our new puppy. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that we got a new puppy. It is a Yorkie/Bichon mix. So you can say she is a Yoshon or a Borkie we are not sure which is correct. Her name is Sophie. She is cute as a button. She still pees and poops all the time but at least she is cute when she does it.(ha,ha). She actually has been doing well in that area. It helps having another dog that shows her t

he ropes. It is funny how a couple of months before Brittany left for college we got Jasmine. Now that Christian is leaving in a couple of months we got Sophie. Cory said the other day, “When I leave can you get a big dog? I want a big dog to represent me not some little puny dog.” We made no promises.

All else is well!

Love,

Jeff, Beth, Christian, Cory and Alicia (and the rest of the litter)

January 2008

Hello Family, January 2008

One down three to go. We had a wonderful Christmas holiday. Brittany is now a married woman. I cannot believe that I have a daughter that is married. I am getting old. I know I always sound like I am the first one to ever go through these things. But it still is hard to believe. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and such a solemn ceremony. Brittany looked beautiful in her dress. She was so excited that she was able to wear her dress in the temple. She was afraid that it may have been too ornate. It was cold and overcast outside. But we were told it actually made for better pictures.

Then on to the reception. We worked hard on the decorations but it was worth it. There was not anything that I thought could have or should have gone different. it was one of those rare times when everything went as planned. Some one told us we should decorate for weddings as a profe

ssion. I told them over my dead body. We were so blessed to have so many people helping. Thanks to Nancy and her family and Eric and his family. We could not have done it wit

hout their help. Everything ended around 9:30 and we sent the newly weds of to their honeymoon in Mexico. That is when our fun began. We were making our last trip home from the church at around 1:00 am. We were exhausted but relieved that it was all over.

They were gone for a week and then came back and spent another week with us. It was fun to see them as a married couple. I have to admit it was a little strange that he did not have to go downstairs to the couch at night. Anyway.....

They are now in their new 1 bedroom basement, young, poor, married couple apartment. Over the winter break a pipe burst in their bedroom. So when they got there the carpet was all pulled up and the wall had a fresh coat of sheetrock mud and tape. It took them another week to finish up. So the first week in their first apartment they had to sleep on a mattress on the floor of the living room. So they have a great story to tell their children about when they first got married. So they are back in classes and hitting the books. I asked Brittany if she felt any different. She said it still the same she just doesn't have to go somewhere else at the end of the day. She is happy and that is all we can ask for.

The countdown is on. Christian has started putting in his mission papers. We have got all of his Doctor, Dental stuff out of the way. He has had every immunization that he needs in this country. The dentist said that he has no wisdom teeth on the bottom and the two on the top are so small and far up that they won't pose any problems in the next couple of years and maybe never. So we hope that he will not have to have them removed. he is getting excited and nervous. he is anxious to find out where he is going. Right now he spends most of his time at Nancy's business working and saving his money.

Cory has been working out and practicing basketball. he is wanting to try out for football next fall. They have just started conditioning practices every day after school. He has also joined a Rec League basketball team. this has been good for him because he gets a lot of playing time with boys who are more experienced players. This has really helped his confidence and he has gotten a lot better than when he started.

Alicia is getting so big. She loves to play with her friends on either side of us. She is so outgoing and friendly. I has no trouble making friends. Because to her everyone is her friend. She is able to play with any on that is older or younger than her. She just loves to play. So it has been a blessing that we have several kids that live so close by.

We had a wonderful snowstorm over the weekend. It was still above freezing so it didn't stick well at all. But it sure was pretty. It snowed all day long. Alicia was in heaven. The last time we had significant snow she was only 3 and she doesn't remember it. The kids are hoping that we will get another one soon that sticks tis time. It was enough to make a small snowman and throw a few snowballs. I know that those who are in Utah and Wisconsin are rolling your eyes right now but hey we don't get snow around here very often and it is a big deal. (ha,ha).

Christmas was a little strange because we did not go to North Carolina. It is the first time in 22 years that we have not celebrated Christmas in NC. But Santa still found us though. That was a relief to Alicia. She was a little concerned. We assured her that he would find out where she was. After the wedding Christmas was a breeze and was actually quite relaxing. It was good to see everyone that came to the wedding.

I hope all have a Great and Happy New Year!!!!

Love,

Jeff, Beth, Christian, Cory and Alicia. ( Brittany is own her own now)