From J Woodward Missionary

Dearest Friends, This year has started out on the same race track as the last year, so much to do and not enough time to do it in, or it sometimes goes in the mode we like the least, "feast or famine". I have found that sometimes the famine isn't all that bad, it gives me time to scrub toilets, mop floors, wash and iron etc. Jack gets to do the vacuuming and car up keep. Those however are mundane tasks and it is a lot more fun to "Preach the Gospel".

We have two Sisters that have become active during the last three months. One is an African Am. Pearline Taylor with two boys 15 and 13, Trent and Diamante. The other is Crystal Davis and her son Adam. Crystal is the mother who was driving the car that killed her daughter last July. The Gospel has literally changed her life and she is now wanting to be taught everything. They have been attending the Gospel Doc. class and of course are hearing things that are totally new to them. We get to go over what they heard that they don't understand and teach them pure doc. and principles etc. It is really a neat experience. We delivered a couple of referrals a couple of weeks ago and have appointments to teach them. That will be great because they are both really nice ladies. The others that we are teaching are doing good. The wife of a member has committed to baptism and we are still working on getting her to attend church enough times to qualify her to be baptized. Something always comes up to prevent her and the family from coming. Sadly enough, the excuses are all legitimist so  far but we know that the opposition will be overcome.

Pearline does not have an oven and just l burner working on her stove. She
 has a crock pot and electric frying pan. Her boys said yesterday that they really like cake and so today we are going to take cake out to them for a surprise. They are really neat kids, honor roll students and Jack talked to them yesterday about being pioneers here in the mid south just like the early Saints were. They are so humble and teachable.

These are a couple of laughs that you will get a kick out of. (Mayzell you can share them with the Fri. night people)

SENIOR CITIZENS ARE THE NATION'S LEADING CARRIERS OF AIDS! HEARING AIDS, BAND AIDS, ROLAIDS, WALKING AIDS, MEDICAL AIDS, GOVERNMENT AIDS, AND--MOST OF ALL, MONETARY AIDS TO THEIR KIDS!

LIFE'S TOUGH, BUT IT'S EVEN TOUGHER IF YOU'RE STUPID

Two women are walking down the street. One notices a compact on the sidewalk and leans down and picks it up. She opens it, looks in the  mirror and says, "Hmm this person look familiar."                                                                                                                              

The second woman says, "Here, let me see!" So the first woman hands her the compact. The second one looks in the mirror and says, "You dummy, it's me!"

We'll love you and leave you with that!! Elder and Sister J&J

Christmas/Birthday Money

Kimberly wrote: 

Toren is still hording his, he spends a bit here and there at the $ store. He now has 2 frogs that he used his money for.

Sorina bought a cushion chair and a Dora the Explorer DVD.  She loves Dora.  In fact, she told us she wants a SUPER DUPER Dora the Explorer Party with cups and plates and forks.  She’s ready for her birthday. 

Brigitta bought clothes.  Returned clothes and bought clothes.

Dane is still thinking.

The Runnin’ Utes

Dane: He turned 11 this month. Wow! He’s going to his first Scout meeting tonight. I just finished putting his uniform together. He also recently got his first suit, so he can look more like the deacons. He gets to attend his first Klondike Derby in latter January. Were did all the time go? He and Toren go off track after next week for the remainder of January. They are hoping for snow. Dane received a new aquarium for Christmas and he and his Dad have had fun getting it all set up. Dane was also excited to find an electronic projects kit at D.I. that was “better” than his old one because it has a meter. Hmmm, I wonder where he gets that from. Dane also got a model rocket for his birthday, which they put together that night, but have been unable to launch because of consistent winds and frequent rain since his birthday.

Brigitta: She turns 14 the beginning of January. Now I do really feel old. Less than 2 years until she has a learner’s permit. Grandpa T. helped her out over Christmas break. He let her back his car out of the driveway, after she complained of being “bored”. She thought that was the best thing she did over Christmas Break. Her Dad was worried – he had the “Over the River and Through the Woods, to Grandmothers house we go” line going through his head while she was practicing. Brigitta also tried the “bored” line on Grandpa W. — but she didn’t get to back out of his driveway. Brigitta is done picking out, and returning, and picking out new clothes (we think). She seemed to be excited about Dane’s fish, and so Dane bought her a Beta and Beta tank for her birthday – she was excited about that. She had a beta when she was younger, but it suffered an untimely demise.

Sorina: She kind of had a hard month. She kept opening her presents, and then cried when they were taken away. She cut her toe on a piece of chimney pipe that she knocked off the desk. She got five stitches and it was not a pleasant ER visit. She still needs “a Dora Band Aid and medicine” on her toe that the doctor hurt. She was traumatized that she could not take a “tubby” for 10 days after she got the stitches. Then she got an ear infection over Christmas. So Grandma and Grandpa hardly saw the whites of her eyes Christmas Eve day. We had to coax her into opening presents Christmas Day and she slept through Sacrament Services. She didn’t get back into the swing of things until the Tuesday after Christmas. And we watched a lot of Dora the Explorer, too much if you ask the rest of the family. Sorina is still our self-proclaimed princess – and she chooses to dress how she wants, from an all out Princess Ensemble, from the crown to the shoes, to a 70’s Go-Go Girl (Dora panties on backwards, too small shirt and high heel shoes) to a Roarin’ 20’s look (cotton decorated slip and headband). She has definite style of her own. It’s sad the she is only 2 _ and I do not still get to dictate her wardrobe choices, and actually have not for quite some time.

Toren: He got a pair of Heeleys for Christmas. He is working on his balancing. And sometimes I think the wheels are out of the shoes more than they are in the shoes. He is improving in his reading and starting to read everything around him. It’s fun to watch a new reader interact with theenvironment. He is looking forward to playing with friends and hopefully in some snow when he goes off track. Toren and his dad caused another boy to hit his mom the other day – honestly, you can’t take them anywhere. Shawn had taken Toren for a medical exam and, while waiting, Toren (who is somewhat physical) playfully smacked his dad on the arm. His dad just smiled, but ignored him otherwise. So Toren hit him on the arm again, then his dad backhanded Toren on the chest, and then they go going back and forth a few times, then stopped. Shawn noticed a little (5 year old about) boy sitting across the room had taken interest in this. His mother missed it all because she was reading a book. Well, the boy smacked his mom on the arm (with about the same playful force Toren had used). She didn’t look up, but said stop that. He waited a few seconds, as Toren had, and then he smacked her again (like Toren had). Well, she was not too pleased with him the second time. Shawn had to explain that they had probably incited the behavior in her son. Toren has shed his bike riding during the winter for playing X-Box games. I am amazed at how well Toren can play the snowboarding game and the new Star Wars game. One of Dane’s friends was over, and did not like the snowboarding game anymore after Toren significantly outscored him.

Family: Late December/Early January

Update: Our furnace went out on the 14th of Dec., the coldest week of the year so far, but Shawn had us back up and running by the afternoon of the 17th. We all got to camp out with sleeping-bags in the basement for 2 nights as it was warmer there and that also seemed to be the best place to run an electric heater. We managed to keep the house in the mid-to-upper 50’s, so it was just like spring camping. I think the kids actually enjoyed it. 

Our Christmas decorations were down by Dec. 28th (in time for Dane’s birthday) and the outside lights were down on the 5th of January. And I did manage to get some Christmas Cards out just prior to Christmas. And since Sorina was so miserable at Christmas, maybe it was good that she had fun opening a few presents early. Our tree never recovered, but it did look better with a few presents stuffed underneath.

We had a nice and quite Christmas. We really enjoyed attending Sacrament Services on Christmas Day--we would love to do that every year. It’s nice to bring the Savior back into the center of the sometimes “frenzied” Christmas Day activities.

The Butcher, The Baker, and the Mammograph Taker

Well, Christmas seemed to come and go so fast. I can’t believe that we are into the third week of January already. We missed getting to see all of you for Christmas as half of us decided that was the perfect time to get sick. (Definitely not Jason through.) All he could do was whine about how unfair it was that they were sick and HE had to stay home. HE wasn’t sick, so HE shouldn’t be punished. I was the meanest mom in the world because I insisted that our family would be together on Christmas, so like it or not we would ALL stay home. We did have a nice turkey dinner and watched Polar Express on Christmas Eve, so you don’t need to feel too sorry for him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
Knowing that AJ is my last makes me treasure all those little moments more. He tells us, “I don’t want to be a Sunbeam anymore.” He enjoyed nursery so much that he misses it (and, of course, Christopher, at the babysitters and they have a lot of fun together. AJ has thoroughly enjoyed his “soonick” although, to my dismay, he insists that it is “music.” He still has to think about it when he says it, but he won’t let you say it wrong. It makes me kind of sad that he is growing up.

Maddie just benchmarked at level “L” in reading, which means that she is reading early chapter books like Junie B. Jones. She loves school but her teacher says that she likes to let her mind wander and mouth jabber. She has quite a few friends in the neighborhood and is always asking to go play.

David has made a new friend down the street and is always begging to go play. He is so excited to go play that several times he has even been the first to get his homework done which is a first at hour house. YEAH!!! School is going pretty well. Multiplication has been going great! He’s always eager to give hugs and kisses. David is such a fun and living boy that he is fun to have around.

Jason was disappointed that his teacher didn’t benchmark his reading, but because he’s already achieved the highest level that they test for in elementary, she didn’t see the point of testing him. He has been very busy doing various projects for book reports and science. He is a very good student which I truly appreciate. He is also a pretty good helper for mom (when he wants to be). 

Eric and I are pretty much the same. Just plugging away a day at a time. Not too much changes for us except when things change for the kids. You know how it is.

'Till next time, Love ya

Oh! Hi! Oh!

Hello family!! Has it been a month already?! Time had sure flown by us.

We have had a lot of visitors come to see our newest addition. First, my mom flew in the day after Hailey and I came home from the hospital. She was here for 10 days and basically took over. It was great!! It was really hard to see her go because it made me realize how much I miss everyone that we used to live close to. 

So two days after Christmas, Todd gave us a wonderful surprise. I was in my bedroom feeding Hailey and it was a about 11:30 p.m. Todd and Michael were on a scout campout and the phone rang. It was Todd saying that they forgot a few things and he was on his way home to grab them and not to be alarmed when I heard the garage door open. So when I heard him come in and head up the stairs, I didn't think much of it until my sister Rachael walked in my room and asked where the guest room was. Todd had secretly flown her to Ohio to spend a week with us and see the baby. I had never been so surprised in my life. What a great husband I have!! You did good Myrna & Leonard!! Then just two days after Rachael left, Leonard and Myrna came for a week. It was really wonderful to have them here and get to know their newest grandchild. Not to mention that Michael, Tyler and Emily thought it was pretty cool to get out of school for a day to spend some extra time with Grandma & Grandpa.

We had a really nice Christmas this year even if it was a little quiet. We are used to running to parties and get together with family and friends during the holiday season. Although it was kind of nice to just stay home with a newborn, we missed seeing you all and spending time with everyone. The kids were spoiled by Santa as always, and I won't bore you with those details. They had over 2 weeks off from school for the holiday break and let me tell you how glad I was when school started back up again.

Michael is staying busy with school, young men’s, and monthly scout campouts. He is still growing faster than the weeds in Utah and is now as tall as I am. It blows me away to know that I now have a child who is bigger than me and could probably take me down whenever he wanted, but he's a good boy and knows that I'm still Mom. Hailey has him wrapped around her tiny little finger, and enjoys being held by her biggest brother. (even in public when girls are watching)! He's doing awesome in school and pulling all A's all the while soaring through 500+ page books faster than I can keep up. And I'm a stay at home mom!

Tyler still loves school and his teacher. He is learning to write in cursive and loves to write everyone's name the "fancy" way. Tyler is my storyteller and is always ready to tell me all about his day he had at school. He loves going to scouts now that he has a new leader who actually shows up every week and is prepared for the boys. Tyler is also playing city basketball this season and has been practicing for 6 weeks now. He says he is sick of practice and is ready to actually start playing the game. Good thing they start next week.

Emily is loving life right now. She FINALLY has a sister, she goes to gymnastics and dance once a week, and has started cheerleading with the city. Except all of the games that she is to cheer at are on Sunday and also during our church time. When I told her when the games were, she just said to me, "Well, I can't miss Primary." I'm really proud of her because I thought she would throw a royal fit, but she really surprised me with her priorities and what is important to her. I talked to her cheer coach about our conflict and she was very understanding. Emily still can go to all the practices to learn the cheers and dances and still gets her own uniform for football this fall when the games are on Saturdays.

Hailey is a joy. She is truly a blessing. She is such a content baby as long as I don't eat the wrong things (like onions). She is even sleeping most of the night 6-7 hours before she wakes me up to eat. I can't complain a bit.! I wish you all could see her. Well, we'll fix that in July. We love you and miss you all.

Best wishes!

Todd, Amy, Michael, Tyler, Emily & Hailey

Boston Baked Boltons

Hello, hello, hello. It’s a wicked, wild life in Massachusetts. Here is how our month in December played out. Howard was in Massachusetts almost all month. He was scheduled to have several days off, but Tyco had some contracts pending in several different countries, which made it hard for Howard to not go in to work. He did manage to be home for several days when Melanie needed help with Young Women stuff. He did some work on the house, but we still aren’t done with the basement. He is still the Gospel Doctrine teacher and gave a wonderful lesson on the influence of the church in England.

Melanie had to plan a retreat for the thirty young women in her ward. It ended up being changed at the last moment due to the weather. The original plan was to have the young women go to Martha’s Vineyard and stay overnight at a church member’s home. The ferries were closed due to high wind, so Melanie had to scramble and pull together a retreat for a weekend, in one afternoon. It was a huge challenge, but it was a wonderful success. If we hadn’t had a ward member with a ten-bedroom home, it wouldn’t have worked out so well. Then Melanie had to change gears to prepare for Siovhan coming home, Christmas and Mikaela’s baptism. With all of the events of December and all she had to do, the month seemed to fly by.

Siovhan came home on the 15th of December and was relegated to babysitting on the 16th, so that her parents could go to Tyco’s Christmas party. She was willing to go everywhere with her mom and run all sorts of errands. She even attended the youth’s training and planning meeting on an early Saturday morning. She became her mom’s third counselor. On the 21st, she had her impacted wisdom teeth surgically removed. We thought that she was doing very well, but she started to vomit shortly after she came home and continued to vomit through the night. The next day, she was so sore and so tired. We all felt so sorry for her. She managed to keep the pain modified pain medication down for the next few days and even managed to enjoy Christmas. When Mikaela went to school on Thursday, she checked on Siovhan and brought her all kinds of things to take cheer her up, including a picture of the two of them together. All the children were so glad to have her home. Siovhan left for Utah on the 6th of January. 

Braden tried out for the school musical, which is the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. He didn’t try out for a lead, which disappointed the director, who had heard about Braden from the other teachers. He is a townsperson, more specifically, the egg seller. He enjoys being active in band, chorus and school musicals. He is studying for finals, which are coming up this next week. He loves going to early morning Seminary and he tries hard to never miss. Sometimes his Dad will try to get him to sleep in, but it makes him more determined to be up and ready on time. We hope he will stay that determined throughout his whole High School career. We have eighteen months more before he and Ben are in the same Seminary class together. 

Benjamin just endured one of the longest scout campouts ever. He forgot to take his raincoat, extra dry shoes, a sleeping bag and a few other items. He came home soaked through and tired. He has a new found appreciation for beds, warm, DRY shoes, mothers who nag about rain jackets and dads who bring relief in the form of dry clothes and hot chocolate. When he was asked to report on the camp out in Priesthood Opening Exercises, he said: “Well we just had a campout on Friday and Saturday. We all had a lot of fun. (Pause.) No, I cannot tell a lie here in church. It was a horrible campout. We all were wet, tired and cold. We all wanted to go home.” Of course all the men in the audience laughed, I am sure it was a laugh of camaraderie and experience. Ben is still working on his preparations to take the SATs at the end of the month. He is a bit nervous that the places close to home were filled and we have to travel to the larger city to take the test. 

Mikaela was so happy that December was finally here. She was looking forward to her baptism. It was more exciting to her than Christmas, which was a good thing for her parents to see. She was also very thrilled to have her sister home for several weeks. She became very emotional when Siovhan left for Utah. She cried even more than her mom did. She is doing well in school and loves to go to Faith in God for Girls. She finally has her own church things to do. She has watched from the sidelines for so long, that she is so excited to finally being doing something while her mother is in Young Women and her brothers are in Scouts. She was baptized on December 31st in the morning. Grandma spoke on the importance of Baptism and Grandpa spoke on the importance of the Holy Ghost. Grandpa was a witness to the baptism and got stand in the circle when Mikaela received the Holy Ghost and was confirmed. The baptism was wonderful! Mikaela looked so beautiful in the dress that Siovhan picked out.

Well, that is about it for the Boltons. Howard is in Australia, Italy and England for the rest of the month. His family is dealing with sub-zero windchill conditions in Massachusetts and wishing we could be warmer.

The Buzzn’ Joneses

Dear Family,

It has been a busy Christmas Season for the Nephi Joneses. This past month, Jim and Dad made 12 trips to California, within a two-and-a-half week span, hauling bees. Jim would drive the night shift and Dad would drive the day shift. They would make a trip together each day, starting Sunday night and ending Thursday day. Then, Jim would take a load by himself Thursday night and return sometime Saturday. I was glad that he could get to go to the football game with everyone because he sure did need a break. Unfortunately, his cheering was slowed up by a terrible cold. He feels sorry that he couldn't enjoy the game more, but he is glad to be over the cold now.

Mary had quite a busy month as well. Since Thanksgiving, she has sprouted four new teeth. She also had the luck to get the stomach flu twice and croup once. I am very thankful that the doctors had her quarantined last year--it is amazing how often she is sick. She sure is a trooper through it all. Jim and I are hoping that all of this sickness makes her stronger and that she will live to at least 94 years old. (Remember President Hinckley’s mother worried about him because he was always sick.) Mary likes photos of the family. She walks around the house and points at people and says their names. She is getting very smart. Her favorite movie is still "Mary Poppins." She goes to bed at night asking where Bert and Mary went. The funny thing is she only watches the parts with the singing and the dancing. She also loves to draw; unfortunately she only will draw with a pen, which can be a little too much freedom at times. We sure do enjoy having her around.! It is so much fun to watch her grow. I think that she is 21 months old going on five years old for as independent as she is becoming.

We sure did enjoy having the family visits with us. The Jones family stayed with us on their way to the BYU game in Nevada. (David went with Jim and the Jones family also.) Of course, we saw many Trauntvein family members during the month. It is nice to have different family members stop by. We sure do love our family. "There'll always be a warm place for you by our fire."

Love,

The Nephites

CAMPING ARTICLE ON THE FAMILY CAMP‏

ARTICLE TITLE IS FAMILY TIME

http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/

Family Time

A Utah council creates a dynamic week of individual learning and family bonding by staging youth and adult leadership courses along with programs for spouses and children.

The Old Folks at Home

Thanks to all of you for the great birthday gifts, the outstanding Christmas gifts and the wonderful family memories. Both Dad and I are grateful for all of you, each family member, and for the joy you bring to our lives.

The trip in early December to see the Nutcracker, which Alyssa danced in, was quite the experience. Siovhan, Mary, Julie and I got on the freeway by UVSC at 5:15 p.m. We arrived, because of the terrible snowstorm, at Thanksgiving Point at 7:20 p.m. The program, thank goodness, was late starting because even the director was late. It was to have started at 7 p.m. It was a great performance and Julie is still speaking to us all (she drove).

We enjoyed the month of December. It was busy with Dad and Jim spending a lot of time with the bees getting them to California for the rest of the winter. We sandwiched in a little shopping, saw a few programs, had two temple parties (I got food poisoning at one) and managed to get the lights up, and, thanks to grandkids, got the trees decorated. We even managed to make some gingerbread houses. Then to top my Christmas wish list, at last, I got the work done for my long-awaited downstairs bathroom! What a joy that is for me. I guess I won’t ever have to turn the washer on and make a mad dash for the upstairs ever again! Whew!!!! Of course, the downside is that I may gain weight from the inactivity.

Having a visit from all of you for Christmas was great. Even Kirsten, Jared and girls got to be here for Christmas, in person. Because of the sadness of Jared’s cousin’s death (He was married to our relative.) they were here for Christmas. (Thanks for going to the funeral and representing the family, Shawn. It was appreciated!) At one time or another during the holidays, Shawn, Kimberly and family; Eric, Amy and family; AnnMarie, Brandon and family; Jim, Julie and Mary; Kirsten, Jared and family; and Erin and Donovin all were here to visit us. We got to see and enjoy all of those family members here. Then we had the joy of going to see the ones who lived out-of state—Melanie, Howard and family; and Todd, Amy and family.

We had a wonderful time being present for Mikaela’s baptism. We appreciated the opportunity to say a few words and share our ideas about the gospel at the baptism. Thanks for asking us to do that, Mikaela. We also had fun with the family going to Mystic Seaport, to the movies, going to Harvard museum where they have everything from dinosaurs to glass flowers that were made in the early 1800s, having a family home evening, celebrating New Year’s Eve and Day and all the other great things we did together, including attending church. Dad even helped shovel snow and put in new lights for Melanie’s living room and computer room.

In Ohio we met little Hailey Maxine who is a beauty. One look at the photos on the CD and you will see that we are not prejudiced at all. What a joy to get to know her and to visit with the family. We were there for the blessing, as planned. In addition, we did a lot of Ohio things. We got to go to the Amish area, visit a cheese factory and a bakery and eat out. We also saw where Todd works, a large basket factory and went to Columbus a couple of times. We visited a great museum where there are all sorts of items of Ohio history from early Indians and pioneers to engines and modern objects. It was a very hands-on place and we enjoyed it. Dad got to go to scouts with Todd and the boys and the girls and I went to Emily’s dance and gymnastics class. Todd has a beautiful home and one of the biggest master bedrooms I have ever seen. It is big enough for some people to have for a house! I know a couple of early log cabins would fit inside.

Next week we will see two grandsons, Dane and Kyle, receive their Arrow of Light awards (in two separate ceremonies). That will be wonderful.