March 2007
Ruth and Adam Olson Family
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Well, the Olsons all caught the cold-bug from you guys
online...and it was not pretty, especially for pregnant
mommy who turned into the Grinch. But all is well now.
We are experiencing our second major snow storm here in
Winchester. Schools get closed for 3 or 4 days, or until it
melts. The last one brought freezing rain and Adam nearly
broke a leg when he stepped outside onto a lawn of ice. It
took 2 hours to get our car out. The boys thought it was
cool, until they realized we couldn't go anywhere, really,
or have anyone over. Oh indoors! Too much, too much!
Ruth's 2 Winchester piano students moved away, so her
teaching exists solely on the weekends an hour away. The
boys love a day with the babysitter, treats, and whatever
they can get away with, and mommy tries not to feel sick
through nearly 7 hours of teaching. She works for a great
family company, but when baby comes, this may have to end.
Adam is haunted continually by the VTC boogie man. Ruth
doesn't ask him anymore when it will be done. She just
looks forward to having an unstressed and more available
spouse. School at Shenandoah is challenging and rewarding
for Adam. And he really enjoys the people he works with.
Love to all,
Olson Clan
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Mike and Rachel Guymon Family
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Happy Winter Everyone!! We are in a winter wonderland here and for the most part enjoying it. We didn’t have church last week because of a big snowstorm and then another one hit this week. We have a few feet of snow on the ground right now.
Mike and I finally made it to the St. Paul temple this month, which was fun. Talia and Sarah watched the kids and we are excited that they are old enough to babysit now. In Minn. the legal age to babysit siblings is 11. Hopefully we can get there more often now that they can do that for us. Sarah and Talia are also liking the extra money.
We have just been busy here doing work, school, church assignments, having fun, and trying to stay warm.
Talia and Sarah are doing volleyball at their school this month and Amberly is starting gymnastics. They all love playing in the snow and stay out for hours building, sledding and having fun. Mason likes the snow ok and goes out most everyday but Braden refuses to go out and when I make him, he whines the whole time. He is scared to be on a sled and won’t touch the snow or walk in it! Funny….kind of.
Braden had his 3rd birthday on the 27th and really enjoyed all his toys. He wanted a Darth Maul lightsaber cake. Since he doesn’t like cake or frosting, I decided to make it out of cookie dough. I found a red velvet cake mix in storage and used that for cookie dough to make the blades and some cookie dough I had in the freezer for the handle. He loved it!! He went to his 3 year check-up and he is now in the 46% range for his weight (instead of his 2nd year 10%). The Dr. said no more binky. So today is the day. I am sad to take away his major comfort that he has had since birth and it is his best friend. Sometimes it is so hard to watch our little ones grow up!! I tell him he can’t get big and he has to stay little so I can have my little boy forever. He just giggles and says, “I growing” and I pretend to be mad and say, “No! No growing! Stay little!” To which he squeals and laughs. Good memories!! Oh, and he lives (and most of the time sleeps) in his superman cape. Cutie!
Mason and Braden are best friends and play together so well. The other day Mason went next door to play and Braden cried the entire time he was gone (about an hour). Braden adores him and Mason is a great big brother!! I love Mason’s cheek kisses that he gives me about 20 times a day. He is so sweet!!
Amberly and Braden went to the dentist to get some fillings done. Amber, of course, did great but Braden screamed and won’t open his mouth and it was a nightmare. Now we have to go to a specialist to get the last 3 fillings done!
Mike has traveled a ton this month and the snow storms didn’t make it any easier. We sure appreciate all he does for our family!! He works so hard and he has a hard time once in a while dealing with all the issues people have. He tries not to let it get to him but once in a while it gets to be a little too much. What a great guy he is!!!!
We miss you all so much. Someday we will be closer, we hope. For now, we are enjoying it here and love reading about each of you. Thank you for being a great family. We feel very blessed to be a part of it. Good luck to the pregnant mommies out there!!
Love, The Chilly Guymons in Snowville |
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Mary and Mike Ferguson Family
We had a great month in February. It
started off with Lizzie's 6th birthday party at the Hot Springs pool in
Hagerman. Mike and I had just been sick with the flu the day before and we
decided to rally our strength and go to the hot springs. Nobody got sick that
day but sunday morning Lizzie, baby Ben, and Jacob all were sick. I took the
older two kids and went to stake conference (probably infecting all the people
we were sitting next too). Katie and Brandon lasted a few more days but they
eventually got a little bit of the flu. I don't remember being that sick in a
long time! Katelyn had to take care of us and fix dinner for the kids. Mike
and I were both flat in bed. I almost called Becca and asked if she wanted to
play nurse.
Twin Falls had a cabin fever day where many of the businesses open up their
facilities for free for a few hours. We tried archery with the kids, pottery,
and ice cream. I attached some fun pictures of the day. It was a nice change
from being inside so much. February was a warm month and I even thought an
early spring might be coming but all the neighbors said not to count on it. We
had a lot of snow this last week although it usually melts before the
afternoon. the kids have a blast at recess making gigantic snowballs. The kids
aren't aloud to do snowball fights but they can wrestle around in the snow and
climb all over these huge snowballs.
I decided to start having a girls day for Katelyn with her friends. I farmed
out the other kids to their friends houses and then I let Katelyn invite a few
of her friends over for homemade pizza and Cinderella III. The girls had fun
and thought 3 hours wasn't long enough. They all ended up playing dress up in
Lizzie's play clothes and imagining they were going off to some foreign
countries. I have to admit that I was wiped out when all was said and done. I
think we haven entered the preteen stage and all the drama and emotions that go
with it.
We finished off the month with a swim meet in
Nampa (20 minutes form
Meridian). It was a fast weekend with the cousins and a temple session squeezed
in Friday night while Becca's girlfriend babysat and then the next morning Becca
and Rich went early while I babysat the kidos. It was fun to see the cousins
play together. Jacob looks forward with such eagerness to see his Aunt Becca!
We are planning another visit this next month when Mike's mom flies in to Boise
for Brandon's baptism.
Our temple is coming along and I have attached a picture of us in front of the
construction. Hope you all are well and happy! I have enjoyed the newsletter
and all the pictures!
We had a great month in February. It started off with Lizzie's 6th birthday
party at the Hot Springs pool in Hagerman. Mike and I had just been sick with
the flu the day before and we decided to rally our strength and go to the hot
springs. Nobody got sick that day but sunday morning Lizzie, baby Ben, and
Jacob all were sick. I took the older two kids and went to stake conference
(probably infecting all the people we were sitting next too). Katie and Brandon
lasted a few more days but they eventually got a little bit of the flu. I don't
remember being that sick in a long time! Katelyn had to take care of us and fix
dinner for the kids. Mike and I were both flat in bed. I almost called Becca
and asked if she wanted to play nurse.
Twin Falls had a cabin fever day where many of the businesses open up their
facilities for free for a few hours. We tried archery with the kids, pottery,
and ice cream. I attached some fun pictures of the day. It was a nice change
from being inside so much. February was a warm month and I even thought an
early spring might be coming but all the neighbors said not to count on it. We
had a lot of snow this last week although it usually melts before the
afternoon. the kids have a blast at recess making gigantic snowballs. The kids
aren't aloud to do snowball fights but they can wrestle around in the snow and
climb all over these huge snowballs.
I decided to start having a girls day for Katelyn with her friends. I farmed
out the other kids to their friends houses and then I let Katelyn invite a few
of her friends over for homemade pizza and Cinderella III. The girls had fun
and thought 3 hours wasn't long enough. They all ended up playing dress up in
Lizzie's play clothes and imagining they were going off to some foreign
countries. I have to admit that I was wiped out when all was said and done. I
think we haven entered the preteen stage and all the drama and emotions that go
with it.
We finished off the month with a swim meet in
Nampa (20 minutes form
Meridian). It was a fast weekend with the cousins and a temple session squeezed
in Friday night while Becca's girlfriend babysat and then the next morning Becca
and Rich went early while I babysat the kidos. It was fun to see the cousins
play together. Jacob looks forward with such eagerness to see his Aunt Becca!
We are planning another visit this next month when Mike's mom flies in to Boise
for Brandon's baptism.
Our temple is coming along and I have attached a picture of us in front of the
construction. Hope you all are well and happy! I have enjoyed the newsletter
and all the pictures!
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Liz and Corky Clark Family
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We were truly
blessed this month as Haley's second eye surgery was a
complete success. This is a tremendous relief for all of
us. After 3 boyhood surgeries, Corky's eyes never did get
fixed and his vision was damaged as a result. Needless to
say there had been many struggles and prayers when deciding
whether Haley would undergo surgery to correct her
eyes. Our hope was strong for the second surgery but doubt
was present. You cannot imagine our joy when Haley's
second surgery was a success. We are so happy for our
precious daughter.
Donelly turned 5
this month and had not 1 but 2
Scooby Doo
themed parties because Mom couldn't let her calendar
birthday pass without celebrating. So we had one with her
family and another with all her friends. Donelly loved
having her special day. She is so sweet she definitely
deserved it.
Reese has really
taken to cars. He plays with them constantly. We love
watching him run the cars up and down the walls and hearing
him make racing noises. He is 100% boy made of engine
parts, flannel shirts and boogers. He's a fun contrast to
his emotional doll and pony loving sisters.
Corky and Liz have
discovered that they like living somewhere that has winter.
It provides a nice break from having to mow the lawn and fix
sprinklers. Long evenings of drinking hot chocolate sitting
by the fireplace with the family watching snowfall are
common. With there being far less to do outside because of
the snow and freezing we find that we are spending much more
time together. they have even discovered that there are a
couple of TV shows they like watching together.
We really enjoy
reading your updates and the pictures are absolutely
fantastic. Thank you for sending us these rays of Sunshine
from your part of country each month.
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Jim and Rachel Guymon Family
February was very COLD! We
had a few snow and ice storms and spent
alot of time inside. Jim and the girls had some fun sledding down the hill
in our backyard and made a pretty good snowman too. Luckily one of the
biggest snow storms happened the night before the 14th so Jim and
Bailee's schools were cancelled and we all got to stay home and party all day
for Valentine's and Olivia's birthday. Later that night we braved the ice
and took the girls to Chuck E Cheese's to celebrate big O's turning two
years old. The girls had a blast and Olivia keeps asking if we can go
back.
Olivia had a pink heart cake with chocolate strawberries and actually
liked it this year.
Earlier in the month Jim and I
tried the lottery for some Wicked
tickets. The musical was playing at the Hippodrome this February and every
night
a crowd gathered, put their names in and waited to be drawn for discount
tickets for that night. We were bummed we didn't get in the night we
tried. But a few nights later some friends we saw at the lottery won
some tickets for us, another friend offered to babysit for us and we got to
sit third row orchestra for the show! It was awesome. We definitely
recommend Wicked to everyone who has a chance to see it. It's about
how the
Wicked Witch of the West became the
Wicked
Witch of the West (for
those who don't know) and we absolutely loved it. The music was
fabulous.
Well, that's about all of the big news this month...except that we are
expecting a new addition to our family! and we are all very excited.
Due date is the end of October so maybe if we are lucky the new baby will
be able to meet Grandma and Grandpa.
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Stephanie Guymon Family
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Mckaela is feeling a bit bored now that soccer season is over. I’ve been trying to convince her to take up softball but she’s not interested yet. They have been playing kickball every other week at mutual so she’s still getting a little activity there. She also got her bottom braces this month and she has been in a lot of pain. Jordan went to his first FBLA competition this month and he really enjoyed it. It has been so great for him to be involved in a club with kids that have similar interests. This month they will go to Tucson for two days for another competition. He’s also turning 16 this month! He’s not real anxious to get his drivers license and I have to say I’m not pushing him J He will take Drivers Ed. next year at school. Damien is loving being out of school. He hasn’t really been too bored. Damien is very independent and can’t stand to sit around doing nothing. He has been camping with friends and even took off to Tucson one day just to hike Sabino Canyon and visit some of his old middle school teachers. Alex is working a lot of hours at Sonic and saving all of his money. I think he has decided to go to GCC this summer while he waits for a mission call. It should be great for him to have a new challenge. This month I was given several other options from the head of Special Ed at the district for jobs next year. While very flattering, it has made it a stressful month trying to decide what to do. I just continue to pray for inspiration and enjoy the time I have remaining this year with my students. I hope things are well for everyone. You are in our thoughts and prayer continually. Steph and Fam |
Mel and Shannon Family
The highlight of our February was a visit from Jordan. J spent a long weekend with us, and we explored some of the Seattle sights together, including a 20-min ride in a seaplane! We had a very experienced pilot who gave us an aerial tour of the city and surrounding areas, including our house, and Bill Gates' house. Jordan's verdict was positive -- he even said he'd be willing to do it again! We also took the Boeing factory tour, including a visit to the largest building (by volume) in the world. It was pretty amazing to see the assembly line for those giant airplanes. Other highlights included a trip to the Lego store, and some learning to program in Python. It was great to spend some time with Jordan for a few days. He's definitely getting older. |
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