The Charmer

Gideon is a sweet boy and has always been very charming, but I think we may be in real trouble as he gets older.  Every night we brush our kids teeth.  Dan usually takes one of our younger ones and I take the other.   The last few months Gabby and Gideon have been fighting over whose teeth I do--meaning they both want me to do it.  They both want me to do everything for them and I get frustrated.  Tonight when they were arguing, I asked them why everybody wants me.  Without skipping a beat, Gideon said because you're beautiful.  Well, who can argue with that.  I brushed both of their teeth.

What I have been up to . . .

I think we have most of the boxes unpacked now, but these are a few of the projects I have tacked the last month or so.

Here is our family masterpiece.  I have wanted to do something like this for a long time, and we needed a rather large painting for over our gas insert mantle thing, so I went to Michaels and bought a 3 feet by 4 feet canvas and here we are:

Top row: Dan, Ben, Emma Middle Row:Gabriella, family, Eliza Bottom Row: Gideon, family, Jennifer

We have smaller rooms here than we did in our house in Cheyenne. We also got used to having awesome organized closets that the builder put in for us. I looked at closet organizers, but they were going to be pretty pricey for what I wanted to do, so I did it myself.  I should have taken a before picture, but it is definitely too late now.  Before it was just a bar that went all the way across with a shelf above it. I raised that shelf built the middle shelf cubbies and then installed more removable shelves on the right.  I added a half way bar and there is hanging space for longer objects on the left that you can't see.  I still need to work with the boys on organizing it a little more, but I'll get too that eventually.  

 Spring comes a little earlier here than it did in Wyoming.  We started with some peas and spinach that seem to be doing well.  We planted a couple tomato plant and a pepper plant here.  We also planted a tomato in a whiskey barrel on the balcony off our bedroom upstairs. 

 These are some of our starts.  We had more, but they took a dive off the ledge and were no more.  We have been pleased with our grow light and hope that the fact they get some sun being next to the window will help them with the transition to being outside when the time comes.

 And of course, we can't forget Gabriella.  sometimes it feels like most of my day is spent entertaining her, but we are able to work on projects and we have fun being together.  I just hope she doesn't get too bored with me.

Klamath Falls

We made it! We got here on Thursday, March 1st.  The drive was scary at times including ground blizzards, slick roads, and a complete stop on I80 with the view of sliding trailers on semi trucks in front of us, but we made it without an accident.   Our cars were filthy!  We have settled into our rental house.  It is at a resort about 20 minutes out of town which is a bit of a pain, but very beautiful.  There are a couple of bird feeders outside our house and we have enjoyed watching the different species of birds that come and eat.  We even got an enormous gray squirrel that obviously has not missed too many meals this winter. We have seen lots of black tailed deer and love seeing the variety of trees and other vegetation.

The kids started school yesterday and seemed to have a good day.  It is smaller that their school in Cheyenne and will take some adjusting to, but they seem to like it so far.  The kids are jumping into activities.  Ben starts cub scouts on Thursday and Emma has Young Women's on Wednesday and Eliza has Activity Days also on Wednesday.  We are looking into registering the kids for spring soccer.  Hopefully we can close on our house here soon.  We hit a snag in some of our paperwork for our mortgage.  We were going to close on the 12th, but it looks like it will be at least a week later.

We were asked to speak in Sacrament meeting on Sunday, so we are jumping into the ward here as well.  The ward is smaller than our ward in Cheyenne and the primary is a lot smaller.  We feel really welcomed and feel like we will be needed.

Dan's work had a potluck and invited me to attend.  It was good to meet his coworkers.  I think we are really going to love it here.  Dan and the kids were able to see the house I picked out on Friday and everybody seemed to be happy with it.  We drove around and I showed them the outsides of the houses I didn't choose and everyone wisely agreed that I chose the best one.

We are excited to be here.  It is so beautiful and we feel blessed to have the opportunity to be in this little piece of heaven on earth.  It feels like we are removed from the world just a little bit.  Shopping will be a little bit of a challenge, but I have hound that when it is harder to get stuff, the stuff becomes less important and you have a less materialistic community.  Hopefully my theory is correct as we settle into this area where we hope to live a very long time.

Full Circle

Almost six years ago Dan finally received a permanent job offer.  He had been applying for federal jobs for two years.  He like his job in Salmon, Idaho, but it was a temporary position that would max out at four years.  He then received the job offer in Rawlins, Wyoming.  His boss wanted him in Cheyenne for training for a couple of months.  We (Dan, me, Emma, Ben, Eliza and 5 week old Gideon) went for three weeks.  The first week we stayed at the Comfort Inn and then we stayed at the Hitching Post for two weeks.   The Hitching Post has since gone downhill, but as we moved out of our house this last week we stayed at the Comfort Inn again.

As I think of the last 6 years that we have spent in Wyoming I remember the many friends we made and the fun places we visited.  I never in a million years had thought that I would live in Wyoming, but it has been fun.  It is sad to leave so many friends behind and embrace the new and unfamiliar.  I look forward to the challenge of discovering Klamath Falls and all it has to offer.  I hope to find my way around town and maybe even sink some deep roots.  We hope to stay here until Emma graduates from High School (6 years in the same house), which is almost an eternity for us.  I'm thankful for the last six years we spent in the State of Wyoming and look forward to the future.  Our time in Wyoming has come full circle, but now it is time to move on.

New house

At the end of January I flew to Klamath Falls and found us a house. I took a video, but I can't get it to upload. Here are some pictures that I took. They aren't the best, but they help give an idea of what it is like:

Below is the Family Room

The Kitchen

The Boy's Room

The Master Bath

Emma's Pierced Ears

Emma turned 12. So after 12 agonizing years of waiting, she was finally able to get her ears pierced.  She actually was able to get them done a little early for the sake of volleyball season (which she won't get to play because we are moving).  She and her friend Aubrey got their ears pierced together at Claire's in the mall.  She chose amethyst earrings and is very excited to have them.

Christmas Letter

We didn't get around to mailing our letter this year, but here is our year in review for those who are interested:

Our big news of the year is we are preparing to move – yet again. This time, we’re headed to Klamath Falls, Oregon, and look forward to being closer to family. Dan’s job is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service again and he will be supervising their habitat restoration work and outreach activities.

Emma, Ben, Eliza and Gideon all played soccer. Dan was Emma’s coach in the spring and Eliza’s in the fall. Dan and Jennifer also played in a co-ed adult league, so we all had a lot of fun.

We went to Devil’s Tower in northeast Wyoming and enjoyed hiking around there. We went to New Mexico for spring break and saw the Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument, Bandalier National Park (before the big fire), petroglyphs around Albuquerque, Garden of the Gods in Colorado, and stayed a night at Guadalupe National Park in Texas. We went to Oregon and Washington in the summer to see family, camped at Fort Stevens in the Astoria area, and toured the Tillamook Creamery. We went on some additional day hikes at Curt Gowdy State Park and the area west of Fort Collins. We also went to Water World in Denver for a day. Dan and Jennifer had a trip on their own to Germany in March, visiting Dan’s sister’s family and touring various sites for a couple weeks. Dan, Emma, Ben and Eliza went to Salt Lake for a weekend in October to go to LDS General Conference. Also, this fall we went to Anderson Farms and did the corn maze and various rides there.

We enjoyed having a big garden with various squash, peas, green beans, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, melons, lettuce, onions, peppers, garlic, pumpkins, broccoli, and spinach.

We bought a 2011 used Toyota Sienna minivan in early December after our 2007 Sienna was totaled when we were hit from behind on an icy patch headed to Denver.

Dan – Went through a leadership training for work and stayed busy with coaching and playing soccer, being involved at church in the bishopric the first half of the year, then playing the piano for the Primary (children’s meetings) and is now president of the young men. He is still running several times a week.

Jenn –Involved in book groups (hosted in November), played soccer and ran in the summer, stays busy with teaching children songs at church for the Primary. She went to Denver for a Time Out for Women conference with friends and is currently attending hi-low exercise class twice a week.

Emma – Had her ears pierced in December, and has stayed busy with spelling bee preparation, choir, honors reading, band (flute), volleyball, track and soccer. She also has been old enough (11) to start watching the other kids some, which has really given Dan and Jennifer some additional flexibility. She and Ben have been doing a paper route since August and feel like they’re super rich.

Ben – Started playing the violin this fall and played soccer. He earned his bear badge and is a Webelos in Cub Scouts. He has a variety of Lego creations and currently is into Pokemon.

Eliza – Was baptized in August (after turning 8), had an adventure at the emergency room in January after falling off the McDonald’s play equipment for a birthday party and had four stitches. She also got glasses and can see much better now.

Gideon – Started Kindergarten this fall and stays busy playing various games. He’s in speech therapy and we’ve been able to understand him much better lately. He loves his Boba Fett lego spaceship he received for Christmas.

Gabriella – Enjoys staying at home and is now 3. She is growing up quickly and attended her last session of nursery at church before beginning with the big kids with Primary. Current favorite phrase: “I didn’t mean to.” – said very sweetly after doing anything wrong.

That’s 2011 for us. We hope it was a good one for you and wish you the best in 2012!

Love,

Dan, Jennifer, Emma, Ben, Eliza, Gideon and Gabriella