October 2006
Mike and Rachel Guymon Family
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Hello Family!!!
I decided to look at my calendar to see what all we did this month and was surprised at how many things there were.
Talia and Sarah had their orthodontic appointments to see what was needed. The DR. decided to put retainers on them until all of their permanent teeth come in. Sarah has a zebra striped one and Talia picked tiger stripe. I think the option when I wore a retainer was pink and ahhh…. pink.
Mason had his 5th birthday on the 6th. He didn’t want a cake so we made brownies instead and put candles in them. He got several boxes of the little Star Wars characters. A BIG hit with Mason and Braden. Even though he could go to Kindergarten, I am going to keep him home with me a little longer and send him next year. Here they do all day every other day.
We had the kids pictures taken as well as a new family pic. The last one was when Mason turned 2. Yikes!! They turned out cute and I already have them on the wall downstairs. Yeah me. (I never even got them up in Sugar City.)
We had fun swimming at Elm Creek twice, a man-made lake that is chlorinated and has a sandy bottom and beach area. Bunker Beach was a fun time with 4 big slides, sand play area, 3 kids slides, and a wave pool.
Mike and I talked in church, and we went to a dinner group with 4 other couples from the ward. Our ward had a “Pirate Picnic” on the day we had a huge storm with hail bigger than golf balls but smaller than baseballs. It was wild. It left holes all over the yard and we need to check our roof to see what kind of damage is up there. We got it on video and we saved some of the biggest hail “balls” in the freezer. Anyway, back to the picnic. The picnic was still on and we had a great time. We were under a pavilion thing and at one point it rained hard and sideways and we all got soaked. The captain for the night made it fun by telling the kids, “Hold on, our ship might be going down.” It only lasted about 10 minutes and then the kids went on a treasure hunt and lots of games followed. Mason is still a pirate every day with his bandana around his head with a stick for a sword stuck in one side of his shorts and a stick shaped like a gun in the other.
We went to the girl’s Open Houses for school. Amberly will be attending Hoover Elementary which is 4 miles away and will be bussed. Her teacher seems very nice. Talia and Sarah will be going to Washington Elementary which is 1 mile away and I will be taking them every day. They are in different classes and the 5 grade here rotate as a class between the 3 teachers everyday for different subjects, i.e. math/social studies, reading/writing, etc. I think it will be great that each teacher just has 2 subjects to teach and it also gives the kids a variety of teaching styles. School starts Sept. 5.
I did a little painting this month. Ok, a lot of painting. We surprised Mike by painting the kitchen and dining room while he was gone on a overnight trip. Five ladies from the ward came and helped me. Mike was quite surprised but mostly he was excited because he didn’t have to do it the night he came home liked we had planned. Then just last week Mike took the three girls to South Dakota with him to a presentation he had to do. They were gone for 3 days and I surprised them by painting their 2 rooms, a desk, 2 desk tops, and a dresser. They had picked out comforters before they left and I matched a tan and a salmon/coral color from them and the rooms look so different. Amazing what a little paint can do to stark white walls.
Well, I guess that is about it! We hope you all are doing ok and able to enjoy life amidst various struggles and problems. We pray for you all everyday and think about you often. Rachel's mom and dad got their mission call to the Munich, Germany/Austria office mission. We love you all and are glad we have such an amazing family.
Love, Rachel and fam |
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Stephanie Guymon Family
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Steph: Six weeks into the school year and I am starting to feel like I’m caught up with planning and everything else. I’m teaching a new “higher” group of kids (1st to 4th grade level as apposed to Pre-K to 1st). We have only seniors this year and it has been tough working with them and their parents to create a transition plan into the next phase of their lives. Legally, Special Ed. Students are entitled to stay in school until the day before their 22nd birthday. Our district has really done away with keeping the mentally retarded students in high school for 8 years. Instead they have several transition programs meant to prepare them (to the best of their abilities) to get jobs. Some of the kids will never work, but most of them can find some kind of employment. The hard part for the kids and their parents is to accept that they have gone as far academically as they can go. Many of the kids believe that they will go on to college because that is what you do after high school. Unfortunately, the teachers that had these kids for the last three years were never really candid with them, and their parents. Lynne Selim and I have had to gently convince them to look toward more realistic goals. The heartbreaker was having to explain to a young LDS boy that he would not be able to serve a ‘traditional’ mission. They require that you read at, at least a 4th grade level and he reads at a 1st grade level. On the other hand, we have some wonderful parents that are very realistic and grateful for what we do for their kids. Alex: is working at Taco Bell and has reached the point where “There is nothing left there that I want to eat! It all tastes the same.” Even though he doesn’t “love” his job, he has enjoyed being away from school for a while. Hopefully he won’t have to work at “the Bell ” much longer, he has gotten all of his papers turned in and is now just waiting for his mission call J Woo Hoo!!!! We’ll keep you up to date on that. Damien: is going to a new school this year and he really likes it. It is a much smaller campus and they have a slightly shorter school day than Peoria . He takes only two courses per “block” and he will be finished in February! He is still working at Domino’s pizza (inside, not as a driver) and he still likes his job. Between work and school, he stays pretty busy and doesn’t skateboard as much as he would like. Somehow, he still finds time for video games. His latest love is Pac Man! Can you believe it? All the latest technology at his fingertips and he’s running around eating dots and ghosts! Jordan: Marching band season is in full swing. Jordan is still in the drum line but playing the bass drum instead of the cymbals this year. Jordan is doing great in school and has a few really good friends that he hangs out with at lunch. Jordan is working on learning how to create his own video games and took at Flash class at GCC over the summer. Jordan is almost 6 feet tall now. Mckaela: will graduate from primary this month. It’s hard to believe my baby is in 7th grade. She has a very active social life and is dealing with all of the wonderful things that middle schoolers have to deal with. There always seems to be some drama going on at school. She started soccer agai!n a few weeks ago and is on the same team as her long time friend Miriam Wheeler, she is really enjoying it. |
Mike and Mary Ferguson Family
September in Twin Falls brought a lot of changes for the Fergusons! The kids like their new school where they have 3 recesses. They are the Sawtooth sabertooth tigers. Lizzie has had a hard time at first adjusting to kindergarten. She has been the first to cry when I took her everyday the first week. Brandon and Katelyn enjoy riding their bikes to school with mom and the kids in tow. We have jumped back into piano lessons and are trying the year round swim team this year. Katelyn and Brandon hit the indoor pool 3 days a week for practice. Dad likes his new job and the people he works with are very nice. He does a lot of team building and motivating his managers to get their call teams to perform their best. Mom likes that his computer stays at work! In his spare time Mike enjoys fantasy football and trying to figure out what is eating our grass. We have lots of brown spots and are hoping to fix it in the spring! We have had a few cold days of 30 degrees and I'm afraid that we all will be very cold this fall. Mary is playing her cello in the Magic Valley Community Orchestra one night a week while the kids have a night with dad. I also started an exercise routine with a friend where we go to the YMCA step aerobics class at 5:30am MWF. Mike got a calling as the 11 year old blazer scout leader. Remember that he is a convert and never went to scouts in Alabama. He is learning a lot and getting to know the boys. we have enjoyed visiting with Becca and Rich and the cousins in Boise. We look fwd to reading the family newsletter and keeping in touch. Thanks Liz for all you hard work putting it together! Love, Mike,Mary,Katie, Brandon, Lizzie, Jacob, and Benjamin
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Adam and Ruth Olson Family
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Adam is working full time at Shenandoah University. He also
needs to finish up his thesis and some video tutorials. On
his unlimited amount of freetime (not) he hangs out with
us-and we ARE so glad when Daddy comes home!
Ruth is looking for work in piano teaching. Trying to keep up with 2 rambunctious boys.
Atom and Josh have made two new, older friends who live next
door and who love to babysit or just come over to play.
Atom is almost done with potty training and Josh is piecing
together words into sentences.
Together we enjoy dancing to music for exercise, watching
Scooby-Doo, or going to the Library. We love our little
townhouse with it's playground in the back. We love our
GREEN Virginia!
Toodles!
Part 2:
On Wednesday
(10-11-06) Ruth woke me up at 8: AM (I have been working
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Jim and Rachel Guymon Family
Hey ya'll. We're about half way through our Maryland
stint and I am already starting to miss the beautiful
landscape here. Sooooo many trees. Sooooo green. If
you're wanting a place to stay while you come and
visit some of the big east coast sites, you've only
got two years left. Bailee has started preschool and
is back in ballet. Olivia is still in, on, under, and
around everything. Rachel is taking a modern dance
class, has finally found some women to play intense
basketball with, and just finished making a dang cool
handbag out of her green corduroys. I'm pulling
teeth, filling teeth, and making teeth (dentures). It
was fun to see Bailee and Atom playing together again
and to have the Olsen family here to visit. Hope you
all are doing well. Take care!
The MD G-mons
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Corky and Liz Clark Family
Hello Family.
The last several months have been very eventful for the Clark family. As you all
know, we moved from CA to Chicago (Naperville-Aurora) Il in June. After some
difficult struggles we have sold our house in CA and have been settling in to
our new home here. We have had all kinds of fun and not-so-fun experiences
in the last few months. We have really enjoyed having visits from
Jim and Rachel and Ruth and Adam and lots of relaxing walks to the nearby lake
and park. Some of our not-so-fun experiences include 4 beehives (One in
our bedroom closet ceiling), lots of humidity, struggles selling our house,
humidity, humidity and humidity. Overall, we are really enjoying the
beautiful scenery and looking forward to our first winter of snow, but not the
severe cold it will bring along with it. We look forward to seeing Grandma
Clark, Karen, Aunt Cerise and then Mike and Rachel in the next few months.
Our door is always open to anyone who wants to come visit and see Chicago.
We LOVE visitors. Haley started 1st grade and is doing really well.
Her eye surgery went well but her eyes have not fully adjusted to the surgery.
She has been patching both her eyes and wearing glasses again (She was excited
to get new glasses). So far, the patching and glasses have not helped and
her eyes have not adjusted to the glasses which is very unusual. She is
only wearing her glasses now and is do for another checkup in a few weeks.
At which time we will have to decide whether she will need another surgery.
This time it would only be one muscle in one eye. After her miserable
experience with her last surgery, she is actually quite excited at the prospect
of another surgery. I think she likes the attention. Donelly is
growing and becoming smarter and more independent each day. She is
learning to get along with her younger brother while her sister is away at
school. Reese is really growing up fast. He is discovering new words
and loves to say "MOMMY" over and over until he drives mommy and daddy crazy.
Corky is enjoying his new job and has been VERY busy at work and with lots of
other jobs around the house. Liz has joined a co-ed softball team with a
few other members of the church. The team consists of Caterpillar
employees and the Naperville 4th Ward R.S. She has been busy taking care
of the kids and house and our new puppy "Shadow."
Take Care,
Corky, Liz, Haley, Donelly and Reese
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Rich and Rebecca Jarvis Family
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Hi everyone!!! We hope this newsletter finds everyone
healthy and happy. We are all doing well here, thankfully.
The school year has started and we are very busy and are
having lots of fun!! One of our big events for September
has been to move the kids bedrooms around. Richy and
Michael moved downstairs into the bedroom with the built in
desk, Brooklynn moved into their old room, and Joseph stayed
in his room but has it all to himself now. This has been
such a blessing!! Rich and I now have our room and bathroom
back!! Hooray!! Brooklynn has her own bathroom with new
shower curtain that is
not
see through(which is why
we have our bathroom back, she used to shower in ours), and
the boys have their own bathroom and are loving it!!!
Joseph's toys are no longer in our room, but are in his
room. Yeah!!
Brooklynn, is loving having her own room, and now has the
freedom to come and go as she pleases to her room(she used
to have limited time in her room because she shared her room
with Joseph, who naps and goes to bed earlier and sleeps in
later than she does). She loves playing with all 3 of her
brothers, yet at times wishes deeply for a sister!! She is
in 3rd grade this year and has an awesome teacher, who we
prayed she would get. She is a family friend and strong
member of the church. She loves to write and is
participating in an after school program once a week called
"Written and Illustrated by..." , where she will learn how
to write and publish her first book. She has an amazing
imagination and is having lots of fun. She is a great help
at home, when she wants to be, and is learning how to
babysit for short periods of time while I run to the library
or post office. (I always take Michael with me, and Joseph
is always napping) She absolutely hates homework and would
say that having a desire to do it is her biggest challenge
in life, well, besides having all brothers. She has quite
the fun sense of humor and can make us all laugh! She is so
fun!
Richy is in 1st grade now and has a very cute teacher. I
think all the little boys in his class have a crush on her.
He is such a good boy in all that he is and does. He
reminds me of Jim sometimes, very honest and exact in
keeping the commandments. He aims to please and is very
loving to the whole family. He is also taking an after
school class once a week about sports. He is learning
basketball, soccer, volleyball, la crosse, and more. He is
having lots of fun and is so excited about life!! He is
such a good little helper around the house and definitely
lightens my load doing chores so willingly. He loves
homework and can't wait to get it done. He is also learning
to do a little bit of babysitting here and there and I think
he'll be like Mike and babysit a lot for the families in our
ward. He is very responsible and I am so glad he is in our
family!! He makes parenting seem easy.
Michael watches Brooklynn and Richy get on the bus each
school day and wishes he could go too. He wears his
backpack and wants to play school at home, so we do! He
dearly misses his brother and sister while they are gone all
day. He is very excited that he can spell his name. He
learned it by singing to the tune of the song "Bingo was his
name oh!" Instead of spelling out Bingo, he spells out
Michael. It is so cute!! He is loving being the oldest one
home during the day and is teaching Joseph lots of important
things, like sharing, eating healthy snacks(ok, that was
sarcastic, this morning he snuck into Joseph's room and was
feeding him choc. chips), and taking anthing and everything
apart just to see how it works. He is at such a fun and
active stage of life at 4 years old and tries to convince me
and everyone else that he's 5, not 4. I get tired just
watching him for an hour. It would be nice to bottle up
some of that energy and take some out when I need it! He is
a very happy and very silly boy! We love him!
Joseph just turned 2 this month and is a delightful terrific
2 yr old. He is so different from the rest of them in that
way.......well, so far. He is so loved by all of us and he
knows it. He has finally stopped tackling everyone during
family prayer and has moved onto walking quietly around
gently hugging and kissing us all, then he folds his arms
just before we say amen. He is so funny!! He is non-stop
talking all day telling us all about everything. And when
he wants to show you something, he just says,"hand please
Mom" and pulls me to whatever it is. He has mastered the
loft stairs or ladder and I am very grateful!! That is one
fun and scary part of my house for little kids. He misses
his daddy and Richy and Brooklynn when they are gone and
will ask me "mom, where's daddy? or Brooklynn, or Richy"
It's pretty cute! I am so glad my kids like each other!!
What a blessing! Joseph is such a fun part of our family!
Rich is ,of course, SUPERDAD!! He juggles things really
well most of the time, and I am so grateful to have him for
my hubby. He is busy being a husband, daddy, Bishopric
member, provider, and friend. He is gone 2-3 nights each
week for bishopric stuff and bearly has time to be home for
an hour or so to eat and get dressed for his meetings. He
is also gone on Sundays until about 5 pm and somtimes has
firesides he needs to attend. He tries so hard to be home
when he is home and to take an acitve role as daddy and
husband, and he is really good at it. We have really
learned to cherish Monday nights, and Friday nights for our
dates! He and his dad and his partner in the company he
works with just invested in a lodge in Wyoming. They are
completely renovating it and will either sell it or keep it
and hopefully have it be a money maker and place we can all
go for family reunions and vacations and stuff. He and his
dad flew there 2 weeks ago for a 2 day trip and got snowed
in. It ended up being a 6 day trip! And he was grately
missed!! But we are glad to have him back safely.
I am staying busy being a wife, a mother of 4, RS secretary,
and singing in a girls choir every week. Life is so fun and
full of it's daily challenges. I am having so much fun
having Mary and Mike live so close! We get together at
least once a month to play and let them go to the temple,
since we have the closest one to them right now. I will be
a little sad in a few years when they build the Twin Falls
that is walking distance from their house, we'll still have
to get together. Our kids are loving getting to be close to
their cousins!! And I am loving having my big sister close
to learn from! Mary, Katelyn, Brooklynn and I just went on
the 5K Women's Fitness walk/run. It is a Cutler tradition
to do this every year and we had a lot of fun being with all
our aunts and cousins!! Life is good!! I am thankful for
my trials, especially when so many around me are struggling
with major things!! I am so grateful for a loving and
faithful husband and for 4 beautiful healthy children!! I
am especially grateful for the gospel and for temples!!
Rich wants me to add that "The Church is True!!" He always
says that! Well, take care all of you!! Can't wait to see
everyone whenever that is!! Know you are always welcome
here anytime!!! Becca
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