Hi from Texas!

We've been freezing down here. It has been raining ice. It immobilized everything. The roads were like ice ponds. We walked on top of frozen rain. It was weird.

We are learning so much. I cannot believe all the office work it takes to run a mission. I think we'll be ready to retire in a year. We spoke at the transfer meeting today. It was really neat. We had missionaries in our office all day. Transfers really are an exciting time.

Russ will be doing lots of driving and taking care of the vehicles.

When we left Nephi we didn't realize our Times News would not be sent. Will you let me know how much it will cost for a year to have it sent here?

The post office does not forward newspapers or magazines.

Hello to everyone. We share your funnies with anyone with a listening ear.

Thank you.

Russ and Colleen

Helen

Dearest family- hope all is well-the snow is and has been so wonderful. Our family christmas day is going to be on Saturday the 26th of July at the Holladay South Stake Pavillion and ball park-where we had it last year. I want to send and e-mail to each family  so they can get it on their calendars. I don't think I have all the current e-mail addresses. Will you please within  this next week e-mail me each of your childrens' e-mail addresses-I will then get them notified immediately.

Have a very special week and know I love you much. Love to you-Helen

Re: Pictures of

Melanie wrote: In the picture of you, Great-grandma and Menetta, is Menetta the one in the back, standing. I am positive she is, but just wanted to double check. Who

is Toni? I seem to have a memory lapse on this individual.

Melanie

Myrna Trauntvein wrote:

Yes, Melanie, that is Aunt Menetta. She had an artifical leg. Toni is the cute little
baby. She belongs to Aunt Jessie's daughter, the lady I call Aunt Betty. (Not really an aunt at all.) Toni married a Disney artist and had twins but I guess they are divorced because in her letter at Thanksgiving time, which I haven't replied to yet, she said Toni was living in Oregon in the same town. It just sounded like they were divorced.

Love, Mom

I'm going to live!

On Friday, February 21, 2003 10:05 AM, Myrna Trauntvein <mandlht@sisna.com> wrote:

I actually think I am going to make it! I have had a bad past week. I had the good old stomach flu--the kind where you can't leave the bathroom. I missed going to the temple and to church. I was beginning to feel better by Tuesday but I was weak. I'd walk to the top of the stairs and have to sit down. Now I feel fine except when I sit down.

The upshot of my physical was that I have an underactive thyrold, my cholesterol count was 309 (the bad was bad and the good was bad), and I have an 8 degree curve of the upper spine to the right and an 8 degree curve of the lower spine to the left (called an "S" curve) so, yes, I do have scoliosis. However, it looks as though mine was caused by the fall I took down the stairs before I married. (That is good news for my granddaughters.) My bone density has continued to improve and I am now well above the fracture level. When I have the old lady hump on my back it won't be because I don't have good bones it will be because I fell down the stairs and fractured everything.

I now take so much medication that I no longer have to eat--I just take pills (hiatal hernia, thyriod, cholesterol, anti-blood clot, and bones). I get my exercise opening bottles. I should soon be in good shape--pills for food and plenty of exercise!

Lots of love, M

LHT: HIP HIP HURRAY 1,000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000ECT----------RAN OUT OF TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leonard Trauntvein

Baby Update

My amnio is scheduled for Tues. March 4th at 11:30am  They will know that night or by Wed. morining when they will induce.  I am currently 80% and at a 2.  Dr. Joseph says I won't make it to the 4th and Tracey (midwife)  says "don't count on it."  I am not counting on it, as I was at a 4-6 full-term with Dane and not in labor.  

However, more than likely we will have our baby girl sometime that first week of March.

Love, Kimberly

More about dress

Mom,

I can view the picture Siovhan sent of her dress, but when I try to save it to a format you can view, it destroys the file format.  Maybe Todd would know some tricks I don't.  Sorry.  I thought I'd be able to save to a format you could use, but it's not working.  Sorry it's been so long.  I haven't logged on for a while.

Love,
Kirsten

I'm Glad

I am glad the testing went well. I loved the humor. I don't know if I could have watched Howard's testing. He would be afraid that I would try to blame all of his bad food choices on the polyps that he had to have removed. I don't think I could have watched the removal of them, either.

I am glad that you were able to sleep. It is sad that sometimes the only sleep that we as mothers get, is the sleep that comes from anesthesia. I know that you have been tired, and I don't think that the extra few hours hurt you any, in fact they probably did more help than harm. Remember that I have a very hard time coming out of the anesthesia? I think we know that it comes from somewhere in your line. I have heard that male hormone has a key to helping people come out of anesthesia better, but Ben is like you and I, so I don't know if I would give to much credence to that logic.


The dog was tested for Addison's disease yesterday, but miraculously he doesn't have it. Addison's disease is the same in humans as it is in animals. It is a malfunction of the adrenal glands. It does have to do with the thyroid, in some cases, but mainly the pituitary gland is the one that malfunctions. They would have put him on a corticoid steroid for the rest of his life. It was very expensive. I did a lot of praying that he wouldn't be ill like that. I have to keep him in the kitchen where it is warm and where I can watch him. So far, it has been okay. He didn't howl all night long, like he has done in the past. He just has been like a big baby. He seems to take to me, I don't know why, but he is like my shadow.

I will talk with you later. I hope that your week goes better than last week.

Love, Melanie

Dog Problems

Mon, 10 Feb 2003 13:57:08 -0700
Mom, 
       How did your test go today? It was a breeze--right? I hope that 
everything was normal and that you didn't have to suffer too much.  
       The dog isn't suffering from the Grub-Ex poison, as we thought. He has 
a disease called Addison's disease. Canines can have the same disease as 
humans. It is a problem with his adrenal glands. Several days worth of tests 
and maybe a life time of medicine will help so that he doesn't go into shut 
down again. The reason he looked so awful last night was because he was 
seizing. I didn't know that a seizure could last so long. He was in full 
seizure mode when I got him to the hospital. I don't know what else to do. I 
guess it is all in the Lord's and the vet's hands. I can't believe that this 
could be so traumatic. I have cried and cried. Amazing for someone who is so 
apathetic. I grumble and complain like an old woman living with a crotchety 
old man, but when the truth comes down to it, I kind of like the old man. 
Anyway, I will let you know more tomorrow (Tuesday) after the vet calls me. 
What a life!  At least it is the dog this time, and not the children. 
       Siovhan made it into the Driver's Ed. class during our winter break. 
She will be going to Driving School from 9 AM until 3 PM for five days. She 
can't wait. After that, she just has to take her manual Driver's Test. I am 
glad, but nervous at the same time.
       Thanks for your words of encouragement. I am glad that you could cheer 
me up.

Love, Mel

CBS Morning Show

I was greatly moved by a young soldier's courage this morning. I was watching the CBS Morning news program, something I don't usually do, when they were interviewing two young soldiers in Kuwait. The soldiers were able to talk to family members and see them via the satellite connection. One young soldier was talking to his wife and two small children, the other was able to talk to his two brothers, two sisters, Mom and Dad, and his brother-in-law. The larger family was being broadcast from Tucson, AZ. The young man with the larger family, was asked a few questions, by his Mom and Dad about the food and his training. He then was asked how he felt about the situation. He remarked to his brother that he knew what he was fighting for, and asked his brother if he remembered the story of one of the greatest Captains in history. I immediately thought of Captain Moroni, and thought with a bit of sadness that most of the world does not know about him. This young, brave soldier then surprised me, and I think he surprised Harry Smith, the anchor man, by explaining that the Captain he was talking about was Captain Moroni. And that this young man was fighting for what was important. He said, paraphrasing, ' We are fighting for our freedom, our peace, our wives, our families and our children.' Some of the soldiers seemed to be mocking him, but he continued to teach a little more about Moroni, and then it was time to let the soldiers say good-bye. I was so moved by his diligence, by his love for his family and for his missionary work.



Melanie

Dress

Grandma,
       This is my prom dress, the one that my Mom talked to you about. We need some help tring to figur out how to add sleeves or large straps. Thanks for your help.

Siovhan


Myrna: Could you, please send the dress as a jpeg? My computer keeps telling me that the file is a movie file and it cannot open it?

Email History

I opened up the email this morning and there was the family history. I have copied it over to Word Perfect so that I can clean up the copy. It copied with two and threes as the quotation marks and a few other computer codes attached. It makes for interesting reading, however. I am fascinated that the name has been attached to so many different areas of the world. It would be interesting to see if where the name originally started.

I love you.

Melanie