JEAN & REX: Wow, what a ride we have been on! It has been truly amazing, exhausting, and truly wonderful! We feel like we haven’t really had time to even stop and catch our breath since we received our call, and particularly since we entered the MTC. That was such a thrilling experience for us to be literally be rubbing shoulders with over 2,000 young elders and sisters. I’ve never seen that many young men at that age all in one place who seemed so happy and enthusiastic and excited to be there. They all treated the seniors like we were very special. They were simply wonderful to be around. When I first read Preach My Gospel, I was very impressed with it, however, now that I have actually been taught from it and learned how it is being used to teach the gospel, I have a whole new respect for it. It is an amazing missionary tool. We love it and its concepts.
We packed up our car until it literally could not hold another item. We headed out the Tuesday before Christmas. We traveled to Denver the first day and stayed overnight with Rex’s sister and her husband. We had an enjoyable visit. The weather was great thus far. The next day Gaylin called us to tell us they now had over a foot of heavy snow. So we felt we had surely been blessed. The next day we traveled until about 10:00 p.m. and had good weather all the way. On our 3rd day we got an early start and figured we’d arrive in Cleveland at 6:00 p.m. All went well until about 4:00 p.m. when there was a huge crash on the freeway, which brought traffic to a standstill. About that time it began to pour rain and the sky turned black. So we found ourselves in rush-hour traffic, surrounded by semis, pouring rain and dark as dark. Then there was another huge accident with a semi rolling over. Instead of arriving at six, we didn’t get there until 9:00 p.m. The local Bishop and the mission president kept calling us to see how we were coming because they wanted to be here to give us the key and greet us. After being in the car for 3 days and feeling exhausted we weren’t really anxious to meet our Mission President for the first time because we definitely looked and felt more than travel weary. We were simply amazed when we arrived at our apartment. It is very nice. The elders had decorated a tree for us, filled Christmas stockings for us and there was a large fruit basket for us from the Mission President. On top of all that the Mission President and his wife brought several bags of groceries for us. The R/S also prepared a basket of goodies and small gifts. They were so sweet and welcoming to us. Once they left we wanted to just drop into bed, but we first had to unload the car and get things put away. So we were up for quite a while just trying to get things organized and then repack our suitcases for our trip to Natalie’s the next day for Christmas.
We really slept well, and we felt deep gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the many tender mercies we experienced as we traveled, even the tender mercy that was extended to us when we were pulled over for speeding before we even got out of Utah. The officer saw our name tags and asked where we were going. He said he’d do what he could to help us. Instead of citing us for 30 miles over, he just cited us for 10 miles over. We were pretty sure he was LDS.
First thing Friday morning, the ward mission leader and his wife came over to welcome us. They brought a large bag full of little helpful gifts and a giant, beautiful poinsettia. They stayed for quite a while, but were very nice. Once they left we packed up the car and headed for downtown Cleveland. Our apartment is about 45 minutes away from there. We met the Robison’s there because their daughter, Danielle, was singing with the Cleveland Youth Choir that afternoon. The program was wonderful and it was fun seeing Danielle perform with them. That was about the first time we’d had time to even think about Christmas. On Saturday we went to the Kirtland Visitor’s Center and met the director and several of the senior couples who work there. We also saw their annual display of Nativity scenes from all over the world. It was wonderful. Natalie’s family baked some cookies and took them to several families in the ward and sang Christmas carols to them. We then had a wonderful dinner and a Christmas Eve program where each person in the family either told a Christmas story or performed a musical number. It was very nice. We went to bed - tired but happy.
Christmas morning was busy getting ready for church at 9:00 a.m. The program they had at church was wonderful. We were able to meet some of the converts that Natalie and Gregg had a direct impact on them joining the church. They expressed their deep love for them and told us how grateful they are to have the gospel in their life.
After church we began opening presents. The Robison’s felt they needed to provide a Christmas for us - and they did just that. They were way too generous and kind to us. After a wonderful dinner, it was time for us to say goodbye and head back to our apartment.
Thank heavens for I-pad’s! We use it constantly for the GPS and for keeping track of all the people we visit, etc, etc.
First thing Monday morning we get a text from the Mission President telling us what to bring to our appointment with him at 10:30 a.m. Since we don’t know how to text it was a challenge for us to respond to him. Rex finally figured out how to text him back with “ok”. Once we arrived, the Mission President ask us if we knew how to text. We had to admit we didn’t. He said he thought so after our “OK” response.
He had the assistant come in with our new mission cell phone and take time to train us on how to use the phone and how to text. He told us that that is the way they communicate with missionaries either thru text or email. Thank heavens for the local full time missionaries, we have to ask them all the time how to do this or that on the phone, and how to get from here to there. They are very helpful.
Anyway, we spent over 4 hours with the mission president with him giving us instruction and counsel and loading us down with study materials, etc. By the time he was thru, we just felt completely overwhelmed by it all. Then they said they wanted to take us to a very late lunch. We did a little shopping came back to our apartment and tried to organize all of the materials he had given us.
Since then we have been reading and studying and watching a ton of church videos that we are suppose to be familiar with. We’ve obtained a list of all the ward members. There are about 450 members and l09 are active. So there is a lot of work to do. We have visited several of the less-actives. We know it is going to take us working with them a lot to get them to come back. One of homes we went in was unbelievable. It’s hard to believe some people are content to live that way. The father almost has no teeth and the ones he does have look worse than awful, but he is the sweetest, nicest man and so is his wife. He has an amazing conversion story. So it’s hard for me to understand why he became less -active after having such a great experience. We picked up a Chinese man who is 24 years old and brought him to church on Sunday. He is an investigator and really wants to join the church, but is afraid of what might happen to him when he goes back to China. Sunday was his last day here. He was going back to China to get married and find out what he needs to do to be able to join the church. He is so enthusiastic and wants to talk with everyone he meets about the church. He first became interested in the church by watching and talking with members he met during an internship here. Pretty neat! We are working out every day contacting people. By the end of the day, we are exhausted but feel good about what we have been able to do. Most of the people are very nice and willing to listen to what we have to say.
Our ward covers about 9 cities. So that presents some real challenges. I really feel for the Bishop. The full time missionaries here are very likable, a little rough around the edges, but they are doing a great job and they are totally serious and dedicated to the work. This area has really been decimated by the down turn in the economy. We see factory after factory closed down. Lots of big huge buildings are just left completely empty. This is a very poor ward. I think our apartment is nicer than almost every home we have been in.
Rex is a great mission companion to have. He is a natural when it comes to talking with people about the church and getting to know them.
We hope that all of you are doing well and that you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a great New Year. We love you.
MATT & HIDEKO HOWELL: Ashley turned ten this past year and is really starting to look like a young woman rather than a little kid. She is very outgoing and has lots of very good friends that she loves to spend her time with. She is quite the piano player and enjoys that very much. She is excited to get her braces off later this month. She is a member of her school’s science club and choir.
Christian turned twelve this past year and is active in his deacons quorum. He enjoys doing puzzles of all sorts (his favorite Christmas gift was a Rubik’s Cube). He is learning to play the guitar and likes it quite a bit. He can even play the Star-Spangled Banner (watch out Jimi Hendrix).
Reagan turned fourteen and is now in the teachers quorum. He likes to talk with his friends. He likes playing the guitar and chess.
Rachel just turned sixteen and is blossoming as a new high school student. She is on the Hillcrest High swim team and swims the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races. She will be starting drivers ed later this month, so make sure your premiums are all paid.
Tiffany started out 2011 at the bottom of a deep valley, facing a very severe cancer condition. Although she never actually said it, we could tell that her oncologist did not have much hope for her. Since then, Tiffany has gone through a five-day chemotherapy every three weeks. Although that has not been at all pleasant for her. she has handled with no complaints. She has been a real example of how one should face adversity and handle trials. As a result of all that, her bone marrow is now less than 5% cancerous (a year ago it was almost 100% cancerous). She still has to keep doing the chemo but things are looking very good now. She attends school nearly every day except for two or three chemo days per round. In November, at a BYU volleyball game, the Make-A-Wish Foundation announced that it was granting Tiffany’s wish to go to the London Olympics this next summer (see accompanying pictures). She is excited for that. Finally, she is currently serving as the president of her Laurels class.
Last February, Brian left the MTC after two months there and flew to Singapore. When he arrived, his president assigned him to work in Bintulu, Malaysia, a rather poor part of Malaysia. He served in that city for about seven months, where he became a senor companion. Then he transferred to Kuching, where he is now serving as a zone leader. He loves the people, his companion, his president, and his mission. He is working hard and that is paying off in baptisms and in personal growth.
Matt and Hideko are just trying to keep up with it all. He spends most of his time at work and she spends lots of hers shuttling the kids from one activity to the next. We hope that things are going well for all of you.
SUSAN & NELSON HOLZER: 2011 had some pretty big milestones for our family. The two biggest would have to be getting two sons off on their missions. Tayson left last January (Frankfurt, Germany Mission), and Parker left right after this last Christmas (New York North Mission). Both are loving the opportunity to serve the Lord and fulfill this lifelong goal. Parker is really looking forward to meeting a variety of people and having some interesting experiences once he gets to New York (we hear rumors that they start new missionaries in the Bronx:). Tayson adjusted very quickly to the German culture and language. He has recently done a lot of cookie baking as part of a “get-the-members excited-about-the-Work” initiative, which really seemed to be effective. He’s in his 4th area and it’s been nice for him to stay there longer than a transfer or two so he can start seeing some of the fruits of his efforts. Nelson, who had a business trip to Frankfurt in November, was able to make a surprise delivery of homemade bread to Tayson’s doorstep, as well as Christmas presents. He secretly watched from across the street, resisting any temptation to actually make contact, as Tayson and his companion came home for the day. Needless to say, he was quite baffled about how the package ended up on his porch.
After High School graduation last spring, Parker went to the U of U, taking classes in physics (his major) and astronomy. He was also thrilled to be able to participate in the U of U marching band and jazz band with his trombone.
Afton is loving her senior year. She likes her classes, a great group of friends, playing her bassoon, and the challenge and excitement of applying for college and scholarships. She already knows that she wants to go into electrical engineering. She’s planning to go to the U of U and would love to figure out how to financially manage living on her own for a while since that seems so fun. You can always tell when Afton is around because she loves to whistle constantly and has actually been mistaken as a bird. She loved her opportunity to stay with Jane and Jaren while attending the BYU music camp with Camille during the summer!
Mataya is now a licensed driver and has a part time job at Winegar’s bakery (dreaming of decorating cakes, but in reality, doing a lot of washing dishes and moping -- don’t we all love first jobs at the bottom of the ladder?). She was excited to get into Concert Choir and is regularly heard singing. She is thick into all the work of her AP classes and trying to figure out how to still have time for the things she loves: shopping; clarinet; chick flicks; exercise; listening to music; etc.
Casia (15) is glad to be in High School, but has found that the competition in the trumpet section of Wind Ensemble is a lot stiffer than she faced in Jr. High. She was excited to make Jazz Band and really loves being involved in that. She continues to love playing the piano, and has been asked to teach piano to a boy in our ward (a good challenge for her and a way to earn some $$). She has played enough Ping Pong this last year (with Taft) to become quite difficult to beat. Also, just a warning for anyone who wants to challenge her to a game of Dutch Blitz (which is actually a very fun, fast-paced card game), you’ll have a very hard time keeping up with her!
Taft (13) watched all of his friends move into the Teacher’s Quorum this last year, leaving him and only one other boy to take care of all Deacon duties. As the President, he is feeling the pressure to arrange for priesthood holders to help pass the sacrament, especially on weeks where we have 2, or even 3 missionary reports on one Sunday, and lots of visitors (we have had so many missionaries coming and going from our ward this last year that sometimes they have no choice but to double or triple them up). Taft has really started enjoying playing tennis with his dad, and is getting pretty good. If the weather is at all conducive, he is asking to go play. He loves to be active, but also doesn’t mind relaxing. We have noticed that his sisters can easily talk him into helping them with their work or other acts of service they want done. During the summer, Taft found out about an Eagle Project through This is the Place State Park in which they needed coffins built for their Halloween themed park. Taft decided this would be a great project. He had only a month to get it done, so it felt like a whirlwind, but was really a blessing. He is finishing up the last few merit badges before getting his Eagle. He is happy playing the baritone and has impressed his older siblings with how quickly and how well he has picked it up. He has even joined the ward choir, along with Afton.
Nelson continues to enjoy riding his bike to work a few times a week. He has successfully finished up two big projects at work this last year and is looking forward to the time when the last of these wraps up this year. He seems to be in demand at church accompanying the choir, Primary, Priesthood meeting and playing the organ for Sacrament Meeting. He is also the membership clerk. He spends each night helping the children with their calculus or physics or other technical homework. When there is a spare moment, he does household repairs or improvements, and likes planning the next trip (we think he could have been very happy with a career as a travel agent:).
Susan was going along very happily enjoying her calling as Primary teacher of 10-11 year old girls, when suddenly she found herself planning all of the food for the ward girls’ camp. Then, the week before camp, she was informed by the bishop that right after camp she would be put in as the new YW President (you know that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach . . . ?) From that moment on, there has been little else in her life. That calling is beyond full-time, and truly the most challenging. It is a blessing, though, for her to be in there with her 3 daughters, and learning how to manage the variety of personalities and issues, while trying to keep up with all of the activities and lessons that constantly need planning and executing. A lot of other things in her life have moved to the back burner for the time being.
Thank you to all who worked on the Cousin Connection! We especially loved getting to know Ralph better and had a great FHE sharing the stories with our children. We are grateful to belong to this wonderful family.
LAURA & LON PERRY: I, Truman Perry, begin my first installment of the Perry Family Newsletter. This is the first time I’ve ever done one, so…
The lightlight of this year for the Perry family was definitely the cruise that we tool to the Caribbean. We spend a week being lazy, getting fat, and going to cool places like Haiti, Jamaica, and the Grand Cayman. We also went on a camping trip to Goblin Valley. Dad remembers it best since he gained a very colorful bruise as he fell going up Ding Canyon. Mom and Dad took a few children (their favorites) to San Francisco, including me, and we had a blast there.
Dad, I mean Lon, dream of finishing (starting) a couple rooms in the basement, but who knows when that will happen? Work takes up a lot of his time. Recently, he was called as the Scoutmaster for our ward, so now Stanford will have the privilege of having Dad as his leader.
Mom, or Laura, is happy to report that she survived the past year. After having years of good health, she was able to experience a little of the opposite. While recovering from a hysterectomy, she was informed that they’d found cancer and it would be necessary to go back in for another surgery. We were relieved when we received word that they’d gotten it all. So now Mom entertains us with her “hot flashes.” She’s grateful to all of you that prayed for her.
Hannah, who is now 18, received the Thomas S. Monson scholarship at BYU, due to her 35 on the ACT and her 4.0 throughout high school. She is now living at college with a bunch of roommates she had never met before. She’s recently decided to major in chemical engineering.
Kate is 17, and running a pretty impressive school year. She’s taking four AP classes, and was recently given a scholarship to the University of Utah. She is working on an amazing cross-stitch of two soldiers in the Civil War, which has occupied her for about a year.
Jessica is 16, and is just as happy as ever. She enjoys making dinner for our family almost as much as we enjoy eating it. This year, she started working at the Gale Center, as a service activity, and has loved it. She got her driver’s license, so stay firmly on the sidewalk unless you wish to depart from this life at an early age.
I turned 15 in November, and now I have my driving permit! So there’s another reason to look out for the Perrys on the road. School’s been really fun, and I am “blessed” to be taking AP Geography, since they brought it to South Jordan Middle School. I’m still taking piano, and I like to tell myself that I am improving. Over the summer, I became acquainted with Summer Homework, and now despise it with a passion. I also went to the Teton High Adventure Camp, where I had a fun time risking my life.
Stanford is 13 years old. He’s been working on his requirements for his eagle, and now he just has to do his project, which we’re hoping will happen any day now. He has found a new talent in rock climbing.
Emma turned 10 in May, and has been bouncing off the walls ever since! She enjoys going to Activity Days with all the other girls her age, and has made a ton of friends. She can’t wait until she’s in Young Women’s, but that’s still two years away. She started taking piano lessons, and loves them!
The Lord has blessed our family in many ways this past year and we’re looking forward to this New Year!
MARVIN & HEATHER HOWELL: Our family has been very blessed and busy in 2011. We once again witnessed a miracle in the birth of our new son Carson Dru. He was due in April, but decided he couldn’t wait that long and came 4 weeks early. As parents we were complete unprepared for an early delivery and feel like we spent the rest of the year trying to catch up. We have loved watching the interactions of Dax (2 years old) and Caleb (almost 10 years old) with this new baby.
Caleb is in 4th grade and loves school, mostly because of recess and his social life. Caleb also has been working hard in Cub Scouts and has earned his Bear. He is looking forward to moving up to Webelos in February. Caleb’s favorite things in life are riding his bike and playing with his little brothers.
Dax spent much of 2011 playing outside, jumping on the trampoline and riding his scooter and trying to keep up with his older brother. Dax’s favorite things in life are doing whatever his big brother Caleb is doing, which usually involves some kind of rough housing.
Heather and Marv have served as Cub Masters in our ward and love the boys and the Cub Scout program. We think this calling is probably the most fun calling in the church. We hope with 3 boys that we have many more years of Cub Scouting callings. Heather works really hard as a mother trying to take care of 4 boys. She has realized that the key to keeping boys happy is keeping the house full of good food. Marv continues to work at Bullfrog Spas where he focusing on business development.
We have truly felt the hand of the Lord in our lives this past year and are so grateful for the gospel and our family.
ANDREW & JULIE HOWELL: The year has gone by quickly, but here is what has been happening in our family.
Andrew: enjoys running, still works for Yellowbook USA and is in the Young Men’s Presidency.
Julie: enjoys running with Andrew, has been doing a lot of reading lately and is in the Relief Society Presidency.
Taylor: is a senior at Alta, is very academic and has taken up running.
Caitlin: is a junior at Alta, bought her own car and is a nanny part-time.
Tanner: is a freshman, has a great part-time job and enjoys spending his money on other people.
Tate: is in 6th grade, received the Priesthood in October, loves to go to the temple and enjoys shooting and horseback riding.
The family traveled to San Diego and San Francisco together. Then each of the children went on individual trips with Julie’s mom to the following: Taylor, Switzerland. Caitlin, China. Tanner, England and France. Tate, England and Belgium.
We are thankful for each of you, and the older we get the more we realize just how important family is. We love all of you and are so grateful for the Hinckley family. We love our Savior and are blessed to be a member of His true church.
MARILEE & ANDRU BLONQUIST: Well 2011 was an interesting year for our family. New Year’s Eve I realized I was pregnant with our 4th child. To say we were surprised is putting it mildly. I will spare you all the details of emotional rollercoaster – especially realizing that Andru was still working in Charleston (3 hours away) during the week. Thankfully I have some wonderful friends that helped a ton – especially during the morning sickness stage. Andru made it home in plenty of time for the birth of our new baby. Sweet Lydia Camille was born 2 weeks early on August 25. She was healthy and after I got over the trauma of natural childbirth (bad decision on my part) all was well. We enjoyed having both my parents and Andru’s parents here for her baby blessing. We are truly blessed by our amazing families.
This summer we took a trip to Ohio and spent a few days with Natalie’s family. Our favorite part was getting to see her girls perform in “This is Kirtland”. Then from there we headed to Chicago for Andru’s sister’s homecoming from her mission in Philippians. What a great experience that trip was. We also spent a week down in Charleston and got home just a couple days before the baby was born!
We couldn’t be happier to report that Andru finished working down in Charleston at the end of December and started working in Greenville at the beginning of 2012! The answer to so many prayers! He helps so much around here that I honestly don’t know how I survived for over 2 years with him only on the weekends!
Annalee and Samuel continue to do well in school. They are also making progress with their piano, but not without much drama about practicing. Annalee loves Activity Days with the 8-11 year-old girls at church. She is an amazing speller and usually wins the class spelling bees. She is gearing up for her first official spelling bee this January. And you’d be hard pressed to find her without a book in her hand.
Samuel is our builder. For Christmas he got his own tool set, a saw, and a bunch of wood. He quickly went to work and built a step stool, a picture frame, a sled, a surf board, and a ladder. Next on his list is a pair of skies. He adores his new baby sister and has a magical way with her – it melts my heart daily.
Lauren graduated from speech! She had a wonderful teacher who she misses lots. But her sweet teacher has kept in touch, sent cards, Christmas gifts, and e-mails. Lauren loves being a big sister to Lydia and feels like she can be in charge of her most of the time. What a great helper.
Andru is thrilled to have changed jobs and to be back with the family full-time. He is busy making improvements to our home. At church he teaches the High Priests and the youth Sunday School classes. He is an excellent teacher. Recently I was called to serve as the 2nd counselor in YW. Other than that I’m just enjoying every precious moment with our new addition and keeping up with the other kids.
We are thrilled that mom and dad received their mission call and made it safely to their mission. We feel our family is already being blessed because of their service!
NATALIE & GREGG ROBISON: Our year began with YW’s basketball in full swing with Miranda, Cami, & Danielle playing with Gregg as their coach. Two non-member girls joined the team, an investigator (Jordan Jones) and a gal from the Community of Christ Church in Kirtland whose dad works with Gregg. It was a phenomenal season and our ward won the championship game at the buzzer! Ira attended his very first Klondike Camp in the freezing cold and loved it! Gregg also attended and stayed up several hours later than the rest of the camp trying to dry out the soaking wet insides of Ira’s boots over the fire. Now that’s love!!
In March, the Jones family was baptized and they have become some of our very best friends! Shortly after their baptism, Natalie was released as YW’s president and made the Gospel Principles teacher. She was thrilled to teach these new converts. In April, Natalie and Gregg had a chance to go to the cannery with a group of non-members, most they’d never met before. While canning, the one lady mentioned she and her husband were actively looking for a church, in fact, they said they’d even been by our church building looking for a posting of meeting times but couldn’t find one. Once we got over our shock, we invited them to our home that coming Tuesday for dinner and to meet the missionaries. To our surprise, they actually came! And again to our amazement, they were at church the next Sunday and each Sunday after that! November 19, on our anniversary, the Wickes were baptized! They too have become some of our dearest friends. Brian Wickes is Ira’s new scout leader and is sooo excited since the ‘be-prepared’ mentality is just one of the reasons they were drawn to the church.
Our girls participated for the 4th summer in a row in “This is Kirtland”, a play about the history of the church in Kirtland. Cami played the part of Sidney Rigdon’s wife, Miranda played a young mother with a new baby (both singing beautiful solos), and Danielle one of the young women in the play. We were especially excited to have our cousin & niece, Tiffany Howell, come out and spend a week with us. We had fun going to Niagra Falls and Palmyra. It was wonderful to experience the Sacred Grove, see the Smith farm home, as well as the Hill Cumorah and the pageant, especially since Gregg’s brother Mark and his new wife, Lisa, were performing in it! We also had fun kayaking at Fairport Harbor back in Ohio where the first missionaries embarked for their missions to the Eastern states. The last week of July Natalie and the girls (including Tiffany Howell, and Jordan Jones from church) all headed to Utah for vacation and EFY. EFY was the best week of their year and they came away on such a spiritual high! This experience completely cemented Jordan’s newly budding testimony. Being a new convert, she was somewhat of a celebrity and was given multiple opportunities to share her conversion story and her testimony. She came back home with new scriptures all marked up and a journal well underway. In October she gave an incredible talk in Stake Conference. Her energy and enthusiasm for the gospel has just blown our girls away! They want to be just like her!
Coming home from Utah was NOT such a treat as we were met by a GIANT dog! (thanks to Gregg & Ira). An Alaskan Malamute to be specific. I locked myself in my room and cried myself to sleep since I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing a dog roaming around in my house, not to mention being scared to death of it. Come morning, my disdain for it overrode my fear, though I have come to accept its existence. On a positive note, it is well behaved in the home.
This past year our stake began the Kirtland Missionary Academy for the 16-18 year-olds. They meet once a month and learn principles from Preach My Gospel and practice implementing them. It is a wonderful program. In addition, the Laurels were given special permission to spend entire days with the sister missionaries. Miranda spent several days over the summer with them and came to love missionary life, from morning studies and planning, teaching discussions, giving tours at Historic Kirtland, doing referral phone calls, and dinner appointments, it was an incredible opportunity. This all came about because Jordan asked if they could!
From August to October TianYi, a 17 yr.old girl from Beijing, China join our family. She was wonderful and gave us a chance to learn about another culture. In the end, her parents decided we were too Christian for their Buddhist ways so she was moved to another home. We will always cherish the time we had with her.
With Fall came all the busyness of the school year: Miranda is participating in the High school symphonic band (flute), marching band (trumpet), Revue Choir, Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony, attending Lakeland Community College classes, working her first job at McDonald’s, taking ACT tests, and applying to BYU-Idaho and BYU-Provo. Cami turned 16 and started driving and is also taking classes at the community college, singing in the Revue Choir at the high school, and being the choir pianist. Danielle and Ira ran on the cross-country team together. Danielle sings in her school choir and the Cleveland Orchestra’s Children’s Choir and Ira plays the trumpet at school. They are fortunate to have great music programs at their schools and all are hoping to continue studying music to some extent once they reach college.
In December, Mom and Dad called us with the best news ever! They received their mission call and were coming here to the Cleveland Mission! We had the privilege of having them stay with us for Christmas before starting their full time missionary service the next day! They were so surprised Christmas morning to see their own personal stockings that hung over our fireplace from all the years we were growing up. They didn’t know they still existed. The highlight for us was being able to hear them share their MTC experiences and feel of their great love for us and for the Lord. When they walked out of our home and the door shut, with all of her heart, Miranda said, “Ohh, I love them soooo much!!” That pretty much summed up how we all felt! We are so proud of them and know they will be great missionaries!
New Year’s Eve we had several families over and enjoyed sending floating lanterns into the night sky, and reflecting on the wonderful blessings of this past year, especially those of family, friends, and the gospel!
We hope you are all have a wonderful new year!
All our love, The Robison’s
BILL & JANIEL PYPER: Life in the Pyper family has been very eventful during the past year! The triplets are now one year olds. We love watching them play together and listen to them laugh each other to sleep at night. They are all walking and love babbling with each other.
Our oldest daughter, Alexa, turned three on Christmas Day. She is full of life and spends most of her time playing with her siblings, baby doll, and stuffed animals. Alexa loves being a big sister and having playmates that are able to interact with her more and more. She is our big helper! We feel extremely blessed to have our four beautiful children.
Janiel is doing remarkably well. She enjoyed spending the summer taking the little ones out and about in our quad stroller. Many people driving by were surprised to see a stroller that fits four. We appreciate all that have helped our family.
Bill is catching his breath after a busy year trying to keep all of the balls in the air. He is busy chasing after the children when he is not at work providing for our family.
Our family has much to be grateful for. We appreciate all of your love and prayers during the past few years. What a blessing to have our wonderful extended family! We love you!
BEN & SARAH HOWELL: Ben has spent the last few years buying and selling foreclosed homes in Las Vegas. Although he has enjoyed doing this, he has always wanted to get back into development. For the past year he has been working on developing a large water park in Las Vegas. He has been successful at getting all the approvals through the city and is hoping to be in the final stages of putting together the funding to make this happen. Needless to say if everything goes well, it will be a very busy up coming year for him.
Sarah is amazed with how time flies and how quickly our five little ones are growing up. She loves and treasures each moment of being a mom. From early morning walks with the kids on the way to the elementary school to the end of the day reading bed time stories and saying prayers she is grateful for that time with our kids. She especially enjoys and treasures any time together as a whole family and time to visit at the dinner table.
Hyrum (9) has really taken onto reading as a hobby. Trying to get him to put a book down to practice the piano is the daily challenge in our household. He looks forward to cub scouts each week and always has a basketball in hand as he goes out the door to scouts, anxiously anticipating the game of basketball and shooting hoops when scouts is over. He still enjoys building with his legos and has an infectious smile to go along with his tender heartedness.
Caroline (7) is definitely our little self starter. She is quick to get started on her homework and just as quick to jump in and help mom even when she hasn’t been asked to. She is eager to please her mom and when asked what her preference is on something, she quite often replies, “what do you like mom?” She is enjoying her tennis classes and can often be heard humming or singing a song. So an invitation to sing in a young girls choir was an answer to channeling that voice.
Grace (5) began kindergarden this last fall. Two weeks into school her kindergarden teacher told us that Grace is very quiet in class, but that when Grace does make a comment she is sure to listen since it is very profound. In addition to being a little thinker, Grace has a very playful imagination and a very matter of fact way about saying things. She loves reading stories to her dolls and playing school with her little sister.
Eliza (3) is full of energy and personality. She loves the early morning walks with mom and now enjoys those walks riding her new bike rather than riding in the stroller. She looks forward to picking her sister up from kindergarden each day and enjoys her letter and sound activities with mom in addition to riding her bike as often as she can.
Isaac (14 months) gave us a scare last February when he ended up in the hospital for six days with RSV. Despite that set back, he has maintained his hearty physique and has pretty much put behind him the days of crawling. He gets a laugh out of reaching up for light switches on the walls and turning them off. He certainly is a sweet and calm little guy, maybe in part to being held all day by his mom in the hospital for six days while hooked up to oxygen as a twelve week old.
DUSTIN & SARA HOWELL: Our family has had a great year. Other than Dustin’s surprise onset of a kidney stone we’ve had a pretty calm year. Dustin continues to be the Ward Mission Leader, and has high hopes that he has proven himself faithful and a release is not too far distant. After all, three years is a LONG time! Work is speeding along well for him at Workman Nydegger and keeps him hopping, but again, we consider that a blessing. When and if there is a spare moment, he is enjoying his new golf simulator. The children have taken quite a liking to it as well. Dustin is a great dad and has decided that homeschooling is O.K. after all. He takes an active role each week in helping the children set their goals as to what their studies will be for the up-coming week. Sara adores him for it!
Sara continues to be the Relief Society pianist. Although she too has had this calling for almost three years, she is ever grateful to occupy the best calling in the church and has no complaints. Sara enjoys watching and helping her children develop their minds and their talents. Each one has such different talents, interests, and abilities which creates an exciting environment.
Lily turned 10 in October. She has many interests including drawing, painting, playing the piano, writing, scrap-booking, reading, and on and on. She somehow manages to read about 5 books at once. We always know where Lily has been because there will be a book opened up, waiting to receive her on her return. She loves historical fiction as well as studying about different countries and people. She is a fantastic big sister and is always the one to remind us to say a prayer before we leave the house. She loves and cares about her neighbors and sends them notes and checks up on them often. She brings an element of maturity and intellect, as well as a great sense of humor, to our home.
Arza turned 8 this year in February. His baptism day was a great experience. Arza very naturally lives the gospel. It is just a part of his nature. He is a wonderful big brother. He helps play with the younger siblings when mom is making dinner or trying to get something done. He is our father figure when Dad is away. He can fix anything, and he knows how everything works. Arza is a little engineer. He loves to build complex machines and robots. Arza is a lover of all things Revolutionary War or Civil War. He knows the people, the facts, and the artillery! He also loves to golf and play Wii Sports.
Simeon turned 5 this year in February. He is a happy, energetic, fun loving little guy. He loves to play with his Trios and build castles with them. We always know when Simeon is awake in the morning because his Trios make a “click” sound as he comes walking up the stairs. He’s always building something. Simeon has a great imagination and loves just having time to think about things. He also loves to paint and draw. Simeon is our Old Testament buff and is known to correct us when we confuse the story lines or facts. He especially has a fascination with David and Goliath. Simeon is a great playmate to Peter who always wants to do whatever Simeon is doing.
Peter turned 2 in June. Since he discovered the power of words, he’s become a non-stop talking machine. The problem is, now he’s decided to be a nail biter. So we can’t understand 50% of what he’s trying to say with his fingers in his mouth. Peter is a happy, energetic guy who has a strange fascination with the mailman, the UPS man, and backhoe loaders. He can spot them from anywhere. He loves to sing and dance. When he goes to the grocery store he immediately starts lip sinking to whatever is playing on the overhead music. There are no dull grocery shopping moments in this house. He loves his brothers and sister and just wants to be a big kid like all of them. He also enjoys being busy with his hands and building blocks, as well as shooting his brothers with his guns.
