Melody. Welcome to the family, Beth and Tyler! It was a great wedding and I'm sorry that I missed some of you. You missed out. Jim and Beth went all out. Thanks, you two! I had a most wonderful time. Because it was such a "pilgrimage" for me to get there, it meant a lot to me. I remember the warm sun and the azure blue waters, and was saddened to see that the hurricanes have been ripping through there.
I'm half way through a month-long house sit with two Chihuahuas and a cat. I want to see the Chihuahua movie coming out this month. They are just too cute!
Work is interesting. With the economy and the "vog" from the volcano we are down to about half of what we normally make. Add to that a couple of new shopping centers, and business is tough here. Five stores in the shopping center where Dana worked have already closed; a sixth is rumored. Dana's was number five. However, the LORD is most gracious; Dana already has been hired at my shopping center (King's Shops) at a jewelry store. We hope we will be able to carpool at times. Dana's passion is interior design, so this is a stepping stone for her, I believe. On the plus side, Wheel of Fortune just taped here at the Hilton to be aired in November some time. We sold a couple of outfits that will be seen on the shows, as they required aloha attire.
Doug. You know my news!
Chris went back to BYU at the end of August and now life is back in a routine, which is nice in its own way. Neil will be 50 in October and can still barefoot water-ski and do a barrel roll on the water. He claims to be in the prime of life! Whenever the girls complain about anything, he says, "You won't feel that way when you're in the prime of life!" Kind of reminds me of Dad saying, "You'll get better as you get older!"Mom & Ramon. Ramon's granddaughter Christina turned 8 on July 29th. We were able to attend her baptism in Tremonton, Utah. Then Dan, Nadya, Danil and Andrew came to visit and to go to Yellowstone Park. Danil had his 10th birthday while they were here.
On Aug 9th and 10th we were at Scott and Darla's home for Ramon's grandson's missionary farewell. He is serving in the Johannesburg South Africa Mission.
Laurie, Cassidy and Camille came to Rexburg for a week. The girls attended the EFY at BYU-Idaho. We had a wonderful visit with Laurie, Greg, Kandice and little Zachary. On Laurie's birthday we went to Mesa Falls and to Island Park. We had a great time. It has been a busy summer. We send our Love to all.
Dan. Our big news is that we found out we are having a girl. Her name is Sophia and she is due the first part of February. We are still taking suggestions on a middle name. We are extremely excited as a daughter is what we were both wishing for. Now I can buy paint and get started.
Also, we had a wonderful trip to Rexburg, Yellowstone and Colorado before school started for Danil. We love you all. God's richest blessings to you.
We had our house on the market, but we are tired of competing with all the foreclosures and short-sells in our area so we gave up and decided our timing was off. A few days later Matt got called into the bishopric in our ward, so he's been busy getting use to all the meetings and responsibilities that come with that. I told him he won't be able to take naps during sacrament meeting anymore. School started here the first week in August. Sidney is in 10th grade and just got her drivers permit. I don't know how Mom and Dad lived through 11 teen drivers. Carly is in 7th grade and she is the Queen of Fremont, or so she thinks. She did so great with her ankle. She broke it the first of April at her birthday party and had to have surgery and two screws to put it back together. She was in a cast for about 3 1/2 months and then had therapy 3X's a week all summer long. She had a great attitude through it all. I was really impressed! She ended up with two scars. One looks like the devil's pitchfork and the other a swastika. Why couldn't they look like a heart or a butterfly? She hopes to get back into gymnastics soon. Adri is in 4th grade. She got the Ms. Trunchbowl of the school. I told her she was going to have to kiss up to her, so Adri got to work on making all sorts of crafts for her grouchy old teacher and wrote her the nicest card about how she was so glad to get her this year for a teacher and took it in and gave it to her the first day of school. It seems to be working well for her. At curriculum night Adri's crafts were hanging up all over the classroom. Anyway, how can you resist those bright eyes and golden curls? Adri did swim team through the summer and now she is back to ballet.It was so great to see some of you this summer. You all mean so much to me. I am so proud of my family and I hope we can all get together next summer for a family reunion.
David. We started summer out with a trip to Arizona and a trip to Utah for Dan’s and Doug's weddings. Welcome to the family Nadya and Teresa. It was great to be able to be at these special events, and we wish both families well. After getting home from Doug's wedding I took the family to Idaho for a visit with Mom, Ramon and Jen's mom. We took the kids through Yellowstone Park for the first time and spent an evening at the Riot Zone in Rigby (just south of Rexburg). Dave was the terror of the go cart track, Sabrina mastered the bumper boats, and Dan and Zach drove the kiddie carts. Jen chased the kids around, and beat me on the climbing wall. One of the highlights of the trip was going to the newly opened LDS Rexburg Temple. It is a gorgeous building both inside and out. Going through the temple was a reunion of sorts for me. I ran into my old seminary teacher, and speech/drama teacher. Not to mention everybody from my ward when I was growing up. I spent one evening in the wheat field across from the temple to get a good night shot. The photo gods were with me, and I came out with one of my best pictures ever. It's now in the process of becoming a post card, and the Ensign has expressed interest in publishing it. We also got to spend time with Angela and Will. Dave and I took Will out to the desert for a paintball game. It's not every uncle who will take his son and nephew out to the desert to shoot them. The teams were Dave and Will vs. me. Since the two of them emptied both barrels at me every time I showed my head, I didn't hesitate when Will made the mistake of staying still out in the open. The end result was a big old black bruise the size of a grape fruit on Will's back. Will, if it makes you feel better, I got riddled by a kid with an automatic paintball gun over Labor Day weekend.
The next big event for the family was the 2008 Dance Festival in Tacoma. Dave and the rest of the youth in this area have been practicing for months, learning their dance routines. It culminated in an estimated 2,500 boys and girls from 12 - 18 years old performing at the Tacoma Dome. The starting number had all the youth pouring onto the arena floor at once. Dave's age group danced a basketball type number to Ge'tcha Head in the Game from High School Musical. The white beach balls they were using as basketballs had glow sticks in them. Toward the end of the dance, they turned the arena lights off, and all you could see were hundreds of glowing balls moving in unison (kinda). At the end of that number the floor was rushed by over 700 twelve and thirteen year old girls in 50's style cheerleader outfits. I told Dave it was quite a sight to see that many girls rush the floor. He responded in his newly discovered I-like-girls voice, "Yes, it was!" Jen was dragged in as the video director, something she hasn't done since college (her degree is in video production/broadcasting). Her job was to direct three professional camera men/women and a technical director. Even though she wasn't sure if she was up to the task and was intimidated by working with professionals, everybody that I knew who was on headset couldn't believe what a great job she did. The event's main director said, "To see Jen in her element was amazing". Yes, I know, I married up.
Next there was scout camp. Dave and his troop did a good job and got some merit badges. Other than Dave and his buddy capsizing the canoe in the big end of camp race and getting accosted by raccoons on a nightly basis not a lot happened there.I've been getting back into photography lately. When thinking of different subjects to shoot, Tekoa came to mind. Since Annie needed pictures of Tekoa and the old farm house to help promote her book, Jen and I took a trip over there and spent the day driving around Whitman County taking pictures of Tekoa, the farm, and the surrounding area. We had a great visit with the current owner of the farm, and got the grand tour of what he has been doing to enhance and restore the farm. It looks amazing. Driving around Tekoa and walking around the farm brought back so many memories. It was a great trip. My apologies to Ken for not stopping to visit. I wasn't sure where your home was and the person who knew (Merrily) was taking her Kelsey to Hawaii. On the plus side, I did unknowingly take a photo of the place.
Now school has started. Dave is in junior high (7th grade), Sabrina is in 5th grade and Zach is in 2nd. Daniel is starting preschool. Both Dave and Zach are playing football, and Sabrina is playing soccer (again). We've learned that soccer doesn't have a season. There are just breaks between months of soccer. Daniel is perfecting his skills at being a monkey. I'm still working at Boeing in Everett as an IBM contractor. You can bet the union folks love us there. Jen is holding things together. She really is the magic that keeps this family working. She is also working on her book with continued guidance from Annie. I hope all is well with everybody. We can't wait to see you all again.Amy. We kind of had a big "Archibald" summer this year, so we are hoping for a big "Wolf" summer next year. We took our favorite annual vacation to the Archibald's cabin in Wisconsin. Brian was baptized while we were there. Then we went on an Archibald family history tour in Alberta. We saw their original homestead. It is less than a mile from the Montana border. We saw lots of relatives, and did some hiking, biking, canoeing, and horseback riding. When I was getting off my horse I fell face first into a barbed wire fence and got a nice cut and black eye! It was great having a quick visit from Dan, Nadya & Danil this summer, and seeing Jim, Beth & Tyler, and all their wedding pictures. We wish we could have been there!
Brittany absolutely loves college. The boys are busy with lacrosse and track, and went camping this weekend. I ran a marathon a few weeks ago and qualified for Boston. I'm excited to try it again. Larry has been working from home quite a bit during this hurricane season. With Ike they had to board up all the windows and pack the computer equipment on trucks to take to San Antonio. Luckily they didn't have any damage at the headquarters, but had to close about 150 restaurants around Galveston & Houston because there was no power.
We are having a gorgeous fall here, and it's always nice to get back on a schedule. We are already planning a trip to Utah next month over fall break to visit Brittany -- and see a BYU football game of course. We miss you all!
Merrily. Robert and the boys built us a deck this summer and I LOVE it! His new project at work is a remodel at the WA State Convention Center.
I went to the Wolf reunion in Tekoa and have updates to send you all. Ken went with me. I have facts on paper, but Ken has a much better sense of the people and places in his head. Jane and Dona Eberle are the forces behind the research and dissemination. They’re fantastic!
Kelsey is attending BYU-Hawaii. She loves her classes and loves her job. She works as a tour guide at the Polynesian Cultural Center. The photo is Kaela, Kelsey and I enjoying Matsumoto’s shave ice on my birthday. Yum! Kaela is moving back to Seattle next month and plans to attend community college here. Victor is in 10th grade, Eliahs in 8th, Solomon in 4th, and Abraham in 1st.
Greg & Kandice. Zachary turned one in June and loves to make all kinds of sounds. Some of the most common are
“Ssssh”: Juice
“Ssssh”: Shoes
“Ssssh”: Slide
“Ssssh”: Cheese
“Ssssh”: Outside
How would you like to be the translator?
Greg is in school again this semester and so most of the sounds made by him involve being at school doing homework. He really enjoys being at home with his two and a half favorite people.
“Rrraugh”: Sound made when ticking Zachary.
“I’ll be home in half an hour.”: Sound made one hour before Greg gets home.
“Sorry.”: Sound made after walking in the door late.
“ZZZZZZZ”: Sound made when not playing with Zachary, eating, or doing homework.
Kandice is the sanity of the house. She keeps all of us in line and loves to have fun. She is expecting in February. We are having a boy. She is babysitting a child this semester. Between that and canning is a very busy woman.
“What do you want?”: Trying to decipher Zachary’s “Ssssh.”
“My fingers hurt.”: Sound made when done canning cucumbers, beans, and apples.
“I love you.”: Greatest sound in world. (from Greg).
“Ouch!”: Sound made when the baby kicks a rib.
Baby is getting bigger but as vocal cords have not yet developed, there are no sounds to report. Give it until February then there will only be one sound…
“WWWWAAAAAHHHHH!!!”: This means I’m hungry, I’m poopy, I’m sleepy, I want to play…
We are thankful for the family that we have and are grateful for the wonderful examples every one is to us.
Rob & Shante. We found out that we're having a boy! We are expecting him to make his appearance after Thanksgiving. Everything else is going well with us. Rob had his first business trip a couple of weeks ago to Seattle. He enjoyed the luxuries of having a driver and ordering room service. He's slowly morphing more and more into Allen.
At the end of August Andy and Rachel came back to Utah, and we had a nice reunion at the airport. It’s been really fun to have Andy and Rachel so close. We see them quite often and we're happy they will be here when the baby comes.
Nick & Rachel. Life is going well for a couple of Nelsons in Colorado. We had a great summer and are looking forward to a great fall. Rachel survived another summer of grade-school aged day campers at the YMCA here in Boulder. Now she's back into the swing of the before and after school programs. Her big news is that she is applying for a master's degree program in public administration. She's planning on keeping her job at the YMCA and being a part time student, which means she'll be doing 150% of what she currently does. If any of you husbands out there know how women can do so much more than we can, please let me know.
My major accomplishment this summer was peacefully ending a long-running conflict between myself and an aggressive, bloodthirsty 5 year old. He may look small, but he's a monster with a squirt gun.
I am still a grad student working on a PhD in astrophysics at the University of Colorado. I started teaching early morning seminary this year for the LDS students at our local high school. I love teaching the New Testament and I'm even starting to get used to starting class at 6:10 AM.
Overall we are happy, healthy, and blessed to have such a great family.
Here we are posing on an American tank the Viet Kong got. This was at the Ku-Chi Tunnels just outside of Saigon. The tunnel complex stretched for hundreds and hundreds of miles--all the way to the North Vietnamese border. They had up to 30,000 soldiers in the tunnels at one time. The entire jungle was booby trapped with all sorts of ingenious devices that featured lots of sharp metal spikes. The holes they disappeared down were totally camouflaged and barely big enough for Will to fit in. When the Americans bombed, they wiped out the upper level of the tunnels, but there were two lower levels that were deep enough for safety. We gained a lot of respect for the American soldiers and what they were up against.
NEW!
Annie and Al Morrison
371 Holland Road #14-03
The Serenade at Holland
SINGAPORE 278698
Ken. (Submitted by Aubrey.) I turned 18 in August and Leah just turned 16. I still work at Subway and Leah started working at Dairy Queen a couple of weeks ago.
I ROLLED MY STUPID CAR LAST NIGHT ON THE WAY TO TEKOA! I’m okay though. I had a minor trip to the emergency room. I hurt my shoulder but I will be fine and my car isn’t bad at all either.
I just got half of my senior pictures done. Dad is finally taking the crazy tenants to court to get them out of the house in Spokane. Dad always works; Leah and I always go to school.
We are thankful for the family that we have and love you all very much. If you want, you can read more about our family at gregandkandice.blogspot.com.
Kelsey works in banquet services at the casino in Worley, Idaho. She stays very busy. She called last Wednesday and had already worked 39 hours that week. She leaves for BYU-Hawaii August 1st.
Bryce is doing well and is loving his mission. He says he doesn't know if he will be able to come home because he is so into it. We will have to go to Texas to drag him home I'm sure! Drew and Madison are doing great in school but are excited to see the spring grass so that we can get into the mountains again. This winter has been a hard one. We will have plenty of water in Utah this year. Hope all is well with the family. We love you all!
Chris is still in Cincinnati. He has been in the Cincinnati area for about a year now. He has experienced good and not-so-good companions lately and has learned a lot. He is a hard working, bold missionary and loves what he is doing. We’re so thankful for him.