April 2014 Newsletter

Mom & Dad

1) thanks for doing this...wonder how to make it easier for you tho -

2) my "surgery" for my knee is scheduled for next Thursday.  Should be a cakewalk in comparison to the other ones:)  It will require being put under anesthesia but is an outpatient procedure and involves a couple of weeks of therapy afterwards.

3) your dad is back in pulmonary rehab after our jaunt to Colorado.  He's doing well tho -

4) Joey has submitted his application to the "sons of the American revolution".  Once it is approved we ought to consider putting aps for sar and dar for all...think about it.

5) on a genealogy note - I've updated all family records for each of you but I'm VERY desirous to have each date sourced for your families.  So - the easiest way to do that would be for you to scan, fax, or email me a copy of birth certificates and marriage certificates for your families.  Please!!!  I would love to have that all completed and I could send you each the access or a gedcom file or whatever you would like for your records if you want.

6) happy birthday, Wanda!  And - also for April - Lorenzo, Cherstin, Joshua...and happy anniversary Joey and Carlie:)

Robert & Wanda

Robert is busy with work, as I’m sure most of you dads are.  He’s also filling in for the Stake Clerk while he’s on an extended work trip and just accepted an additional calling to serve as the cub scout leader in our branch.  It’d be nice to get sleep at some point.  Wanda is busy trying to keep up with Robert, the kids, schoolwork, therapy, soccer, and primary.  Soccer starts for most of the kids in April, so she might get a lot of books read in the car through April and May.

Joseph has a serious case of senioritis.  He’s really looking forward to being through with school for a while.  However, if he doesn’t get those mission papers in soon, Mom’s going to make him get his school applications done.

Rebekah is really enjoying life, but we don’t know when she finds time to sleep (other than all day Saturday).  She gets up for seminary at 4:30am to beat Rachel for the coveted first-in-the-bathroom slot. After school she tutors in English and then heads off to work.  She closes almost every night so she’s not home until after 10:30.

Girls’ Soccer started at the High School for Rachel.  It took a while to jump through all of the hoops for eligibility, but she’s finally a go.  She’s frustrated that they have more drills than scrimmages.

Mary has feverishly worked to get caught up in school.  She wants to go to the local high school next year and her parents have insisted that she show she can stay on top of her work.  She’s really enjoyed the Divergent series introduced to her by Selma.

Benjamin is a wonderful hermit.  Thankfully soccer will start soon for him and get him out of the house.  Currently he donates his time babysitting for a sister in the ward so she can attend institute each week.

Samuel has loved trying out the local elementary school, but insists that he wants to return to WIVA next year.  We’re baffled because he’s loved all of the extracurricular activities.  He’s been participating in chess club (tournament in April), Word Masters (vocabulary), and Math 64.  

Second grade has been a fun adventure for Ruth.  Her reading has improved greatly and she’s found that she excels in math.  Her favorite subject has been science and her teacher is great at introducing fun science experiments.

Moroni has been learning how to read.  He’s getting better each week.  He’s really good at math.  When Mom asks how he figures a problem out, he says, “my brain just talked to me.”

Adam enjoys sitting with Moroni at his school lessons.  Sometimes Mom has to ask him to be quiet to give Moroni a chance to answer the questions.  

Hyrum is up to about 23 hours of therapy a week.  This really takes up a lot of Mom’s time, but she really enjoys seeing all of the growth he has made.  Hyrum knows the sounds for all 26 letters.  The therapists are even teaching him beginning reading (phonics and sight words).  He’s always surprising us.

Joshua is cruising walls and furniture.  He only crawls now if he has to and even stands for short bursts.  With his first birthday coming up this month, we’re excited to see those first steps.

(Sorry this is so long - I tried to make all the kids’ updates into one paragraph, but it was just overwhelming to look at, so I followed Joey’s example.)

Joey & Carlie

Joey - Enjoying his job as Director of Operations (Vice Commander) in his squadron, he especially enjoys the opportunities he is given to mentor young Airmen doing the same thing he was doing 16 years ago. In church he's real busy  ring a ward missionary, leading services on the Presidio and as the Secretary for the Stake Young Men. He's very excited that he finally got his California Concealed Carry Permit.

Carlie - is busy running kids everywhere, as I know you all are.  Se has been doing a ton of reading this month and recently finished Glenn Beck's Being George Washington as well as The Real Benjamin Franklin.  She has especially enjoyed reading them with Glory and sharing the things they've learned.

Gideon - just had his second concert for the Monterey Youth Orchestra, it was good.  If you want a sample of how he's doing check out joey's FB post where he had the oboe solo throughout.   He's learning to play lacrosse and dad is bugging him about getting his Eagle done.

Glory - has been homeschooling this year. She continues to play the piano.  She loves to babysit and does it for extra cash and as service.  She's still the voracious reader, 1000+ pages a day! as of late we've enjoyed going to see some of her favorite books as movies.

Glory - has been homeschooling this year. She continues to play the piano.  She loves to babysit and does it for extra cash and as service.  She's still the voracious reader, 1000+ pages a day! as of late we've enjoyed going to see some of her favorite books as movies.

Scarlett - just returned from a week at Science Camp. Her first real stay away from home in the Santa Cruz mountains.  She enjoys fifth grade and can always be found with her friends.

Levi - is in first grade and doing great at reading. He always wants to take his turn when we do family scriptures. He has a lot of friends and spends most of his free time outside whenever he can. He is a Tiger Cub and working on his yellow belt in karate.

Reah - our baby, she is attached to mom. Whenever Carlie goes anywhere Reah wants to tag along.  She really loves to play outside too. She is excited any moment she gets to go to the beach.

Joey and Gideon are running a Super Spartan in Las Vegas on the fifth of April and a Spartan Beast on the seventh of June in Monterey. Joey is looking forward to seeing Desi and Felicia in May when he heads to Colorado for a Spartan Race there.

Philip & Hannah

We are settling in here at our new house! We love having so much space and room to stretch out!

Orion is doing well in school. He totally rocked his last spelling test!

William LOVES going to school. His handwriting is improving greatly. I would almost venture to say that Williams writing is as legible as Orions . . .

We are working on potty training Oliver. It isn't going great. It isn't going horribly either. Just not great.

WINSTON IS CRAWLING!! And, he finally pulled himself to a standing position yesterday. He has supposed to be napping though, so I wasn't as thrilled as I should have been. He had his 9 month check up last week. He weighs 20 pounds 12 ounces and is 28 3/4 inches tall. He still isn't gaining weight, so we have an appointment to see a pediatric GI on April 2nd. We also switched his medication. Again. But the good thing is, his lungs sounded really good after his bout with pneumonia.

Philip is doing well at work. I think he is going to apply for a promotion soon. He still isn't thrilled with his calling in church, but I think he is less stressed about it lately.

And I am just busy trying to keep up with everything going on around the house, and with kids. We are all looking forward to spring (It comes in just 70 hours!) and warmer weather. If anyone wants to come to Wisconsin for spring break, we have room at our house. :)

Mike & Desi

We had Emily's baptism this month. Very spiritual and neat experience. Mom & dad, Cherstin and Dan and their kids, Felicia and Tom, and Mike’s parents were able to come out.

We finished putting in the base throughout the house and just finished the master bathroom remodel. We are still waiting on our light fixture. I'll try to take photos in the morning to send along with the email.

Mike’s work is going strong, keeps him busy. Emily is a fairy in the school play, "Peter Pan jr". Emily and mordecai started soccer this month. I still have been running and even shaved time off since I got my inhaler. I'm now under a 10min/mile. Ruby and ivy Are crazy busy which means a lot of cleaning.

Dan & Cherstin

Our house is officially on the market.  We are hoping and praying it sells soon.  It has been quite interesting and busy getting it ready and listed. I am profoundly aware of my non-craftiness and inability to decorate.  Some days I've wished I could twitch my nose a la Bewitched and have Desi come stage my house.  Regardless, it's up on the market.  Any prayers that the family can spare that it will sell would be greatly appreciated.

Otherwise, life is going fine.  My kids are finishing up their last month of school in anticipation of the big move this summer.  Abby currently loves the song What Does the Fox Say and has an imaginary friend "Foxy" that she talks to at night.  Sometimes she gets annoyed because Emmett tries to play along.  Tonight she had an entire conversation with Foxy while sitting on the couch.  Emmett is still swimming with his team until the very last month.  He's also chosen to sign up for a triathlon in May.  Ellie just started reading lessons and is rather excited with her new skills of sounding out three-letter words. Hyrum is a general two-year-old punk.  He has to see the ENT in a few days because one of his ear drums has a probable hole that did not heal when the tube fell out.  The surgery to fix that is to cut around his entire ear to patch the drum.  We're hoping for a conservative wait-and-see approach, but it'll depend on what's really going on.  Lorenzo is learning to walk, but very cautiously so.  He's been standing for MONTHS, but won't brave more than a few steps.  He's currently got pneumonia and is on a ton of medications and is super duper clingy.

Tom & Felicia

We don't have much to report. Tom is loving his work as an addictions counselor. The stay at home mom gig has been a little tough for me to get the hang of though. :/ Noah is doing great. He is loving getting to try all different sorts of solid foods! We can't wait to hear how everyone is doing!

Tom and Felicia: Getting the Marriage License

(Really cool room with a ton of records!)

  "I don't know what county Provo is in!"

   

Taking a wild guess?

  Tom double-checking where his mom was born.

 

Tom signs...

   

...Felicia signs.

 

Felicia makes a lot of funny faces. :)

 

 

More funny faces...

 

 

 

 

 

And, because we found a merry-go-round, I thought these last two pictures would be fun. :)

As per Joey's request here is another update on wedding stuff.
We officially set the date! We're getting sealed August 15th at 1pm in the Nauvoo temple! We couldn't be happier! I've scheduled with the temple to receive my endowment the day before on the 14th at 5pm. I know that's kind of late in the evening but, Tom and I have to go to Carthage that day to get the marriage license. The offices close at 3pm so I scheduled it for 5 just in case something goes awry and we're at the marriage license offices till the very last minute. If that happens having the session at 5 will still give us enough time for us to get back to Nauvoo without stressing about the time. Long story short, I'm expecting (hoping) for you all to be there when I go through the temple.
I met with my Bishop Sunday and started the process for my temple recommend. Now all I have to do is meet with my Stake President and I'm set, I just can't meet with him until the 1st at the earliest. But my Bishop wants to have a brief pre-marital interview with Tom and I this coming Sunday. Same story with Tom's Bishop. Tom has his interview/meeting with his Bishop Thursday and I guess he wants us both there to have a little chat afterward.
We got our engagement photos shot last Monday by Nena. We picked our three favs and those are what we're trying to decide in terms of what to use for the announcements, which hopefully we'll be getting them out sometime this week or early next. I know Mom has forwarded those three to you but there were a lot more so I'll probably post them or something if you guys want to see them.
I found a dress at Candlelight Dresses on Saturday. Their bridal selection was really small, but I guess that's because they're getting rid of their wedding dresses completely. Anyway I found a one, it's cream (don't beat me Desi) and I'm going in this morning before work to meet with the alterations lady to have them make it fit me because currently it is WAY too big.
I talked to Mom on Saturday and she asked about colors for the wedding. When I had thought we were getting married in August I chose yellow and brown because yellow is my favorite color and brown is Tom's favorite color. The only trouble is that brown suits are ridiculously hard to find. Something about duplicating the dyes? Anyway we settled with Yellow, Black, and Gray instead. And when I say yellow I mean: This  shade of yellow. Sunshine yellow.
 or this 
I liked the thought to have the guys where yellow ties and black or gray pants. But I also like the idea to have  the girls where a yellow dress or skirt or something. Except for in the case of Cherstin and Wanda because I understand that having them wear yellow will make them look like they're in liver failure. In the end I'm not too picky. Y'all don't even have to wear those colors if you don't want to.
Also, Mom mentioned the idea of wanting to have our family and Tom's family meet together the Monday before or maybe just the night before for a big FHE type thing. Like we did with Mike's family before their wedding. So be prepared for that. Haha PS. when I talked to Mom about hotel arrangements she mentioned that not everyone would be staying in the same place and that was ok, but I guess now (at least from what I heard from Wanda) she's changed her mind.
Tom booked the stuff for the Honeymoon yesterday. We're going to Branson, MO.
Other than that there is not much else to handle for the wedding I don't think. Mom is handling the wedding dinner and we'll be making the boquet(s ?) together when we get to Nauvoo. I still have to find someone to do my hair and makeup the day of and we have to find a photographer.
I sure am loving not having to stress too much about planning things! :) Hooray for quickie Weddings!!!
Tom and I signed a lease agreement on the place in Springville. We move in August 1st. I'll post pictures when that happens. So far we've bought a bed and a couch, both of which we're supposed to pick up Saturday. If any of you have Brian's number that would be great. I need to get a hold of him to see if he can help us move the stuff. My big concern is the couch. I don't know...maybe we should just rent a u-haul for a day. 

Hey y’all. I was talking to Mom this morning and she said that I maybe might could should be posting stuff to keep you guys aware of what’s going on in terms of wedding planning and to help you feel “connected” as she termed it. I don’t know whether you guys actually really care about any of this stuff, but regardless you’re going to be hearing about it. Well, as all of you know we moved the wedding up about 3 months from November to 20^th in the Denver temple to August 15^th or 16^th in, we’re hoping, the Nauvoo temple. However, I guess Daddy has been having some difficulty recouping from the last trip to Nauvoo, and so depending on what he and Mama find out at his pulminology appt Thursday morning it might switch to Nashville.

First off, I imagine many of you are wondering the reason for the rapid change in time. As we left Nauvoo on our way to St. Louis so that Tom and I could fly back to Provo we were talking about a possible wedding date with mom. I told her then that because of timing and everything I felt like November was the best time because it was the first we would have any sort of substantial break in time after the start of the semester. Well later that day as we were in the airport waiting for our flight home Tom mentioned that he actually liked the idea of getting married in August. I immediately rejected the idea and threw a fit about how August was too soon. Both of us then kind of got into this little “my way or the highway” argument about when we should get married (you would think as protective social workers we would both communicate better than that, haha). Eventually, Tom gave in and said that I was right and that August was too quick and we should go for November instead. I could tell that it was more out of capitulation than out of actually changing his mind. Well, the following Thursday the subject was inadvertently brought up again and we ended up rehashing the entire discussion at 11pm in Tom’s care when we were both extremely tired and not thinking clearly. I at this point realized that I was being a butthead and that I should try to compromise on a date, after all this is Tom’s wedding too, rather than pitching a big fit over getting what I want. During the course of that conversation I kept getting the feeling that I really needed to reconsider the idea of getting married in August. I went home and prayed that night and the following morning (Friday) and I had really good feeling about August. I called Mom on the way to work that morning and discussed the implications with her and she assured me that it was my decision and whatever it was that I did they would support me. I talked to Tom that night and he was kind of hesitant to agree because he said he was worried that the only reason I was agreeing to August was because he had pitched a big enough fit, in reality we both had and he had been the first to try and compromise and be the peacemaker.  I told him that it wasn’t because of anything he had said or done, it was because it was something I felt good about and because of an answer I got from the Lord I guess you could say. And so…we’re getting married in August. Funny thing though, as we were talking on Friday night about getting married August and all that we needed to do to get ready for it Tom looked at me and said: “I’m understanding a bit better why you thought August would be too quick! I’m starting to feel really overwhelmed!” haha I love that boy!

Tom and I have been feverishly looking for a place for us to live come oh…next month. Haha The problem has been mostly that we’re a little late in the game and a lot of places have already been taken. We’ve pretty much narrowed it down to two places. The top portion of this cute little old house in Springville which is about a 10 or 15 minute drive south of BYU or another really cute apt on Center Street in Provo.  The house in Springville is $650 a month and comes unfurnished, however it comes with a washer and dryer, and all utilities are covered in the rent with the exception of internet. The apt in Provo is only $600 a month and it comes furnished but we’re not sure on what utilities will look like; if those are covered in the rent or if we’ll have to pay those separate. If utilities are included in the rent at the apt then we’ll probably go with that one. If they’re not though, I think it’ll be a little up in the air because utilities can get expensive around Provo in the Winter time. I personally, am holding out hope for the house. That’s the one that I like better. But, if it’s cheaper to move in to the apt than that’s the one we’ll go with and I fully support that. We took a look at the house on Sunday afternoon after church and we’re going to view the apt today. I’ll keep you guys update on that stuff. Who knows, maybe I’ll even post pictures of what the one we choose looks like!

Initially, when we made the decision to get married in August we had thought that we just basically elope and not send any sort of invitation or announcement until afterwards, closer to the time that we’ll be holding our reception/open house and for some reason I don’t remember people sending a lot of gifts/cash in the mail when y’all got married. Tom mentioned though on Sunday that his mom had suggested that we might send out just a few invitations beforehand to let people know so that they can send gifts and stuff. That actually made a lot of sense to me. I don’t know, it just seems that people will be more inclined send gifts/cash as you’re getting married rather than after the fact. That being said, Tom and I pretty much made a split second decision to have invitations sent out before the wedding. Last night we took our Engagement photos with Nena as our photographer. We had thought for a minute that we wouldn’t be able to have Nena do them because she’s leaving this week for her own wedding in San Diego next Friday. However, we asked another girl in Tom’s ward who takes pictures and she said she’d do it….for $130! I know that that’s not that much in reality, but for a student, whose pictures are okay but nothing spectacular, Tom and I both thought that was a little bit ridiculous. We did some shifting and we able to work it out so that Nena could take the photos. Nena is such a doll and told us that she wouldn't let us pay her for them, that it was our wedding present, but we were able to finangle her into at least letting us take her and Owen out to sushi afterwards as a thank you. It was really fun and easy to enjoy ourselves with Nena as the photographer and just focus more on how much Tom and I love being together rather than looking good in photos. With editing the light and contrast and using photoshop to remove constructions signs or cars that snuck their way into some of the shots the photos look really nice. I’ll have to post them and get y’all’s opinion on which one’s we should use for announcements. I’ve already talked to Mom and emailed Mama Bibber (Tom’s mom, haha) about doing the same thing for us. We’re hoping to get invitations made and printed out soon, so I guess we’ll wait and see.

As I mentioned before Tom and I have an appt to view an apt tonight se we should be making the final decision soon. We also have an apt to go look at a couch that we found on KSL in the event that wherever we end up is unfurnished. Tomorrow night I’m throwing Nena’s Bridal Shower, which isn’t related to my wedding, but is still wedding-ish. Her wedding is on the 27th and I realized about a week and a half ago that I had heard no mention of anyone throwing her a bridal shower. After all, she is my best friend. She and I were actually talking about that last night after she finished taking our engagments that it's really ironic that we've been best friends basically since we were 3 years old and now we're getting married basically two weeks apart.  I have an apt with Candlelight Dresses (where Cherstin and Desi rented their dresses) to get fitted and pick out a dress on Saturday morning at 11am. My friends Ariel and Jenny are going to be coming with me and possibly Lacey too. I'll have to post pics of that too. Well, not that you've been inundated I shall simply leave the rest for another time. I'll keep you guys posted though!

Wheat Thins

So I was talking to  mom on the phone while I was making my daily batch of crackers, and she thought I should share the recipe with everyone else. My kids really like these, and I add things like flax seed, wheat germ, and chia seeds. I forgot to add salt one time, and I like them better without salt. One of these days I plan to use honey to sweeten it instead of  brown sugar. Oh, and I don't use the buttermilk or buttermilk powder. Since Ollie has an intolerance for milk, I just use water.

If you like the Wheat Thins you buy from the store, give these a try. They're really good!! Almost identical, but better.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 TB brown sugar
1 1/2 TB dry buttermilk powder*
2 TB sesame or poppy seeds (optional)
1/2 cup water
3 TB oil or melted butter

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, salt, baking soda, brown sugar, buttermilk powder and seeds (if using). Add water and oil or melted butter and stir together just until the flour is absorbed to make a soft dough. It will be very sticky. Don't over mix!! Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide the dough in half. Take an 11x15-inch baking sheet (jelly roll pan) and flip it over. Grease thebottom of the pan and place half the dough on the greased pan. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough and roll with a rolling pin right over the wrap. One half of the dough will cover the pan entirely. It will be very thin. When smoothed out, remove plastic wrap. Lightly score the dough into cracker squares with a pizza cutter. Sprinkle dough generously with sal and extra seeds, if desired. Bake fore 14-15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. They might be slightly soft right out of the oven, but should crisp up as they sit. Store in an airtight container.

Note: If you would rather use frest buttermilk, leave out the powder and use 1/2 cup buttermilk in place of the water.

New Recipes

I've been trying out some new recipes that were a big hit here at my house. I thought I'd share them with y'all. These are both quick to make, using veggies that are currently in-season. My favorite was the quesadillas, but they're both good.

Veggie Primavera

Serves 6 comfortably

Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz package bow-tie pasta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 zucchini, washed and diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 3 tomatoes, cubed
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely diced
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in skillet.
3. Saute zucchini and onion for 3-5 min, or until soft.
4. Add tomatoes, garlic, and parsley and cook for 5-7 min.
5. Drain pasta.
6. Add vegetable mixture to pasta.
7. Toss and serve.

The recipe also says you could saute some portobello or snowcap mushrooms with the veggies. Another suggestion is to add feta cheese to the top. It is also says you could skip all the other veggies except the tomatoes and eat it that way.

Zucchini Quesadillas

Serves 5 comfortably. (This one is hard for me to gauge because my kids didn't eat a whole lot due to a snack too close to dinner... Dan and I were both way full off 3/4 of a quesadilla each, though.)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 2 diced zucchini
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 8 flour tortillas
• cheese

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.
2. Heat oil in skillet and saute onion and garlic for 5 min on med-high heat.
3. Add zucchini and peppers. Cook 5 min or until soft.
4. Mix in salsa.
5. On a cookie sheet, layer it like so: tortilla, cheese, veggie mixture, a bit more cheese, another tortilla.
6. Cook at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

You could stretch the recipe by not filling the quesadillas as full of the veggie mixture. You'd just need more tortillas. Instead of doing it in the oven, you could also do it in the microwave. (Though, I like the little crunch the baked tortilla gives.) The recipe also says to give it a bit of pizzazz, you could add 1/2 teaspon cayenne pepper and/or 1 teaspoon chili powder to the salsa mixture and top the quesadillas with some diced tomatoes, black olives, shredded lettuce, sour cream, etc. I guess if you added the toppings it would stretch the meal to feed a bit more.

Sister Trip

So I was talking to Felicia about a friend I have and how they do a "sisters trip" every year. So I was thinking that we should do that. Maybe not every year, but every other year, what do you think? What they do is rotate through where a "sister" lives and do something for a long weekend.  They usually do it at Christmas time, but Felicia and I were thinking that an off time of the year would be better for 2 reason, airfare would be cheaper and husbands wouldn't have to take time off from work to watch kids. Talk it up.