January 2013 Highlights

Our mission is over so we were not sure what to do with out Blog. We decided to go ahead and continue our activities for family history reasons. this means we need to catch up a little, so here goes.

We have started a new phase in our lives. the holidays are over and we are trying to adjust to a family of 10. Andrea is living with us full time with Hanna, Kamary, Alyssa, Kohler, Lauren, and Brinley. Jason is looking for a job and travels between Logan and his family in Salt Lake. School has started with a complex schedule. Hanna goes to Logan High School, Kamary to Logan Middle School, and Alyssa, Kohler, and Lauren to Hillcrest Elementary School. Lauren is in kindergarten and goes in the afternoon. Meanwhile Paul has been asked to teach a new class, ECE 2290 (Electrical Circuits II), for Utah State University. Diane and Paul are auditing a Portuguese class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon. No wonder it has been so hectic.

We have lived in our house for 30 years. After being away for our mission and getting through the holidays we felt the need to make a few changes. We started by putting our musical instrument collection away in the attic and rearranging the living room. Even more severe, we got new windows for the sun room (the deck off from the family room). Several of the windows had broken from storms, letting the rain and snow into the room.

Winter is here

We are making adjustments with the biggest family we have ever had. A lot of energy has been added to our home. Diane is teaching piano to five of our grandchildren. We now have pizza and movie night every Friday. We attend special programs at the schools, such as an international night at Hillcrest with special musical numbers and displays as well as taco salad in a bag (a small bag of Fritos with chili and toppings added). It also means making up a "job list" so everyone knows how to clean the house on Saturday mornings. Even more of a challenge was having to replace the engine of the their 7-passanger van, the only car that holds the whole family (almost). 

We also have more celebrations, such as Alyssa's 10th birthday. Alyssa is very creative and writes plays for her siblings to perform.

Alyssa turns 10-years old

In Honor of Martin Luther King

The stake was having a series of workshops for prospective senior missionaries. We were asked to present our view of what a mission would be like. After much thought and prayer we finally chose the topic of "how to survive an MLS (Member Leader Support) mission". Preparing this workshop helped us put our mission in perspective and hopefully helped others who are considering serving a mission. (At least one other couple who attended is now in the mission field).