We Will Be Gone

We will not be home for the next 12 days. We will be, first, in Mass. for Mikaela's baptism and, second, in Ohio for Hailey's blessing. 

Please think of me but do not send emails or they will start coming back because there will be no one here to get the messages and the mail box will fill up.

I love you all and will miss you.

 Don't do anything I would do and you will be OK.

Myrna

Keylene wrote: Have fun! Got your Christmas card and I always get your emails so you do 
have the correct email address!  -k-

Al Pitts wrote: We need a list of, 'What you wouldn't do's al 

Erin and Donovin Visit

Hi Myrna:

You must be excited about having the kids. They were ecstatic about coming up there.

Erin was so sick. I know I really don't need to write this, because I know you will, but, please keep and eye on her. Don't let her get too tired. Let Ann Marie know how sick she is. Bronchial pneumonia isn't something that you just wave off. I miss them already.

You have a wonderful trip back east, and I hope your Christmas was wonderful. We were all sick. So typical. I got sick the day after, but was feeling it all day Christmas day, then was so sick I couldn't move Monday. Bree and David have been sick for a week. It is just stress. We have to find another place to live, more room, and then things will be much better.

Got to go to work, love you, Barbara

Myrna: Thanks for putting a name to it. I was going to call you and find out what was the matter with her. I got her some Triminic chest patches like we use with Matthew who gets bronchitis at the drop of a hat (or germ). That and the inhaler seemed to do the trick and she rested well last night. Bree didn't tell Leonard what was the problem, just that she was sick. Is this her second dose of the antibiotic or the first? 

I appreciate the gift but I really worry about any of you spending any money. Honestly. A kiss on the forehead would be enough.

Love, M

E Knudsen

Dear Myrna and Trauntwein
We hope you had a very merry Christmas and that the new year will be as
happe as this one sounds

Thank for the news of the family. I know I am not good at writing, it seams
like I never get time, I probably are not good at planning, or just tired of
doing my planning. It seams like I never get around to doing what I really
want to do. I made two Christmas socks this year. One for Erling and one for
me, and then we told our kids we thought it was time for us to get a
kalender. They were pretty good about if, there was something in it almost
every day of December. We have a kalender we got from Janne 3 years ago,
that I love to open every year. She mad a big kræmmerhus, with 24 harts in
and on each hart she had written " I love you because and then a reasen,
like you taught me the gospel, or I love you because you made the wacations
of our childhood memory able. I just love to read them again every year.
That is what Christmas is about, The same old traditions, I love to decorate
for Christmas. We have nisser, harts and stuff all over the house and a big
nativity scene cut in wood, so that the children can play with them.
We had all the children with their kids, except Janne and her family because
they were in Silkeborg with Mikkels parents. Then we had 4 missionaries, and
Rita and Jesper, Henrik is in the Utah. Jesper brought a friend from
Ukraine, he did not have anybody to celebrate with and then we had Jytte
Martinussen, our Momsemor. She was my mother frien, and do not have family
except a son, she never sees. because they were in Silkeborg with Mikkels
parents. They will be here tomorrow so they will be Janne and Mikkel wil be
here to morrow, so they can celebrate my 60 years birthday the 28 of Dec
with us. I just can't belive I am already 60 years old. But I feel it
Love Else og Erling

     

Sharon Boyce, Gordon's granddaughter

My daughter, Kirsten, called me from Colorado Springs to tell me that her husband's cousin, had been stationed in Iraq. He had a massive aneurysm of the brain and had had all life support removed. He was married to one of Aunt Pearle and Uncle Fred's granddaughters. Her married name is Sharon Boyce and I was wondering if you knew her or knew of her. Kirsten was unclear who the parents of Sharon are. 

Kirsten said she had spent time with Sharon and her husband when they were living in Colorado before he was called up to serve. She is quite concerned and wonders if there is a way to offer sympathy to the Smith side of the family.

Love, Myrna

Hi Myrna and family,

Sharon Boyce is mom and dad's great granddaughter. She is the granddaughter of Roberta and I. She is the daughter of our daughter Peggy and her husband Ernie Strong.

We have heard some wonderful things about Kirsten and her husband. When Sharon and Tim were living in Colorado, Kristen tended Sharon and Tim's son (Ammon) for her, she brought food to Sharon, and Kirsten's husband fixed Sharon's teeth. I'm sorry that I don't remember Kirsten's husband's name.

We have been so appreciative of how Kirsten and her husband treated Sharon and her family. They performed many acts of kindness. We feel a great deal of love for them, 

Sharon's cancer is in remission right now. However, the damage done to her by the Chemo has been devastating to her health. She is on oxygen, she has a great deal of scar tissue around her heart, she retains a great deal of water in her tissues, and has damage to her mouth and teeth. Sharon is a fighter, and has a positive attitude

Sharon and Tim have a new baby girl who is about two months old. Tim did get to come home and see that new daughter soon after she was born. They didn't think they would be able to have more children after the Chemo.

Apparently, Tim had a congenital aneurysm that ruptured. It is so sad. He was a great husband, father, and grandson in law. We will miss him. 

We had our family Christmas party on December 18, and Sharon, Ammon and Grace (the new baby) were t;here. Grace was Roberta's mother's name.

The viewing will be this Thursday, and the funeral will be at 11:00 a.m. on Friday at a ward in Farmington. That is where Tim's parents live.

Well, our thanks again for your concern, and for Kirsten and her husband's help and love. 

 Love,
Gordon and Roberta

Aneurysm claims Utah soldier


By Leigh Dethman
Deseret Morning News 
      
FARMINGTON — Ammon Boyce isn't ready to fill Daddy's shoes just yet.
      
Just a week before his father's death, the 4-year-old begged Sgt. Timothy Boyce to come back from Iraq.
(Tom Smart, Deseret Morning News photo--Sharon Boyce, wife of Sgt. Timothy Boyce, hugs their son, Ammon, 4, as she holds their 3-month-old daughter, Gracelynn.)     
"Dad, when are you going to come home and be the man of the house," asked Ammon, who turns 5 on Dec. 31. "I'm tired of being the man of the house."
      
But Daddy isn't coming home. Sgt. Timothy Boyce, 29, died Friday from a brain aneurysm. He had been complaining about terrible headaches for weeks, his wife, Sharon Boyce, said.
      
Boyce collapsed just after 5 a.m. Wednesday during physical training at Camp Tiger in northern Iraq, his father, Rick Boyce, said.
      
"It was just like a time bomb in his head," his father said of the growing aneurysm that doctors said had been there since birth.
      
Military officials rushed Boyce to Landstuhl, Germany, after finding out he was an organ donor. He was kept on life support until his brother, Brad, could fly to Germany from Kuwait to comfort him during his last moments of life.
      
By the end of the day, Timothy Boyce's organs saved several lives as doctors were able to harvest his lungs, heart, liver, kidneys and corneas.
      
"The German doctor said it was the cleanest liver he'd ever seen," Rick Boyce said of his son, a devout follower of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which proscribes alcohol and tobacco use.
      
Now Sharon is left to raise Ammon and 3-month-old Gracelynn on her own, no easy task for a woman crippled with health problems.
      
Throughout two deployments, Timothy Boyce worried about his wife's health problems, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and blood clots in her lungs. She walks with an oxygen tank at her side.
"He always took care of me," Sharon said. "He was so amazing. I was very blessed to have him for eight years."
      
Boyce joined the Army two weeks before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He wanted to earn money to pay for his education instead of taking free grants. Boyce was never one to accept handouts, Sharon said.
      
He was assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry's Maintenance Troop, Support Squadron, based at Fort Carson, Colo., where he worked on computer systems on Bradley fighting vehicles.
      
It was his second deployment, and Boyce was scheduled to return to his family around Valentine's Day. The last time he was home was in September when Gracie was born. During the nearly three-week stay, he held on to the little girl and wouldn't let her go.
      
Some days he would hold her all day and night, feeding, rocking and changing her diapers.
      
"He said, 'She's just got me wrapped around her little finger,' " Sharon said of little Gracie.
      
Little Gracie likely won't remember her father, but Ammon knows where Daddy went.
      Hours after his mom broke the news, Ammon told his preschool teacher about his hero, his father.
      
"My dad got really really sick in Iraq and he died and he gets to go and live with Heavenly Father and Jesus," Ammon told his preschool teacher, according to his grandmother, Peggy Strong. "Isn't he lucky?"

VideoMail from David

To view your Video Mail from dvein@charter.net, copy and paste the complete URL below into your web browser to view your Video Mail.

http://videomail2.charter.net/vm/vm_player?vmfile=e9ead5653d89f0ae3d7c577aa85d09d4&vmpid=1006

A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods."
The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"

SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS

One of the joys at Christmas time is the sound of music, not just any music but the beautiful music of the season. There are great gospel principles taught through the messages of our Christmas songs. Remember the Lord said that “the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me.” 

Consider this beautiful song titled “Mary Did You Know”
Mary did you know that your baby would one day walk on water, save our sons and daughters, that He has come to make you new, the child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary did you know, that the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again,
the lame will leap, the dumb will speak.
Mary did you know, that He would calm the storm with his hand, He has walked where angels trod, that when you kiss your baby you have kissed the face of God.
Mary did you know, that your baby boy is the Lord of all creation, that He will one day rule the nations, that He was Heavens perfect Lamb and is the Great I Am. 

It is a thought provoking question – Mary Did You Know. The answer is taught so plainly in the Gospel. YES Mary knew long before the reality of her mortal experience and so did we. She and Joseph were both chosen and pre-ordained, for the marvelous earthly mission of being the parents of the Son of God. Mary to be his mortal mother and Joseph given the responsibility of providing for, nurturing, and loving as a Father would. We also were present in the counsel in Heaven when God offered His Plan of Salvation or as we often refer to it as the Plan of Happiness. This life was to be a test to see if we would obey all of the Gospel principles, laws and ordinances that we had been taught while in the presence of God in our pre-mortal state. God’s plan was based upon the principle of AGENCY, the opportunity to make the choices between good and evil that would allow us to return and live with our Father in Heaven again. With the ability to choose came the test, would we obey the commandments given to us by the principle of FAITH, having truth revealed to us through our hearts and minds by the power of the Holy Ghost rather than by always having to see evidence with our eyes.  

Lucifer, as you will recall, offered a counter plan – that of removing our agency and replacing it with force. His price tag for bringing us all back would be that he would be given all of the credit, power and glory for his accomplishment, in other words he would replace God. One third of our brothers and sisters choose what they thought to be the easy way. We all know the consequences of their choice and that they were cast down without ever having the opportunity to have a mortal body. We also know that Jesus Christ was central to God’s plan in that He offered himself to be our Savior and atone for our sins and shortcomings here on this earth if we would repent.

Yes, Mary knew, and even with the veil of forgetfulness she was valiant in her for- ordained calling to be the Mortal mother of Jesus Christ our savior.  

Would you like to have been there on that Silent Night, Holy Night, when the Angels were heard singing in that sacred setting, Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains, where Shepherds Watched Their flocks by Night, or in the Little Town of Bethlehem where The World In Solemn Stillness Lay To hear the Angels Sing. Would you like to have been there when Mary sang her lullaby to her Boy Child as he lay in a manger, for He had no crib for a bed. There the Stars in the Heavens looked down where He lay, the Little Lord Jesus asleep on the Hay. The cattle were lowing, the poor baby wakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes. Be near us Lord Jesus we ask 
Thee to stay close by us forever and love us we pray. Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care and fit us for Heaven to live with Thee there.  

It is very probable that we were there on that night of all nights where the star led the way to His birth place, and where the choirs of angles, which we very well may have been a part of, heralded His coming and we rejoiced and honored our Lord and our Savior.

Dear friends, we love and appreciate you all. There are gifts that no one can buy because they are priceless and your friendship is one of those. 

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We will see you again in 2006.

Love, 
Elder and Sister Jack and Joyce 

S Trauntvein Family Visit

Kimberly wrote: We are going to come down Christmas Eve late morning/early afternoon. We will need to head back home around 3pm. Will that work? Then we will just stay home Christmas Day.

Childs Cousin Dies in Accident

Toll rising on deadly rural road in Utah
This year, 13 deaths have been tallied in 9 accidents on U.S. 6 
By Nicole Warburton and Jeremy Twitchell
Deseret Morning News        
Much has been said about safety improvements along U.S. 6, but this has been the worst year for fatal crashes on the 128-mile highway since 1998.    
The Utah Department of Transportation reports 13 fatalities along the route this year, most being "cross-overs," where a motorist travels into an oncoming lane of traffic. 
On Sunday, three people traveling on U.S. 6 were killed when their car crossed the center line, collided head-on with a pickup truck and burst into flames.
      
The cause of the accident has yet to be determined. Kimball K. Childs, 46, Juanita Varela Childs, 46, and their son, Mason, 8, were killed in the crash.
      
Juanita Childs was a Spanish teacher at Carbon High School for the past 13 years, said Carbon School District superintendant David Armstrong.       
Mason was a student at one of the district's elementary schools.
      Eva Bennett, 54, and Jay Bennett, 55, both of West Valley City, were in the truck that was hit head-on by the Childs' car. The Bennetts were taken to Castleview Hospital in Price with injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.       
Robert Hull, UDOT director of traffic and safety, could not give a reason for the high number of fatal crashes on U.S. 6 this year. Last year, only five fatalities occurred on the road, and the average over the past four years has been about 10.       
"The roadway has been built to the standards that are out there," he said. "Unfortunately with the nature of the road, in terms of being in a rural area, we end up getting into high-speed situations with impatient drivers, and poor decisions are made. Those conditions lend themselves in many cases to fatal crashes."
      
No crash on the road has ever been attributed to an unsafe road design, according to Hull. Since 1997, UDOT has spent $115 million to enhance the safety of the road, he said. Recent projects include the addition of center-line rumble strips, truck climbing lanes and an upgraded guardrail.       
Sunday's accident occurred in an area where center-line rumble strips were installed.       
Over the next two years, UDOT plans another $50 million in improvements to the road. Plans include the installation of overhead speed signs near the curve where a truck carrying explosives overturned in August, blowing a 70-foot deep crater into the road.       
The signs will register the speed of a vehicle, then tell motorists to slow down if they are over the speed limit. "It is intended to give the drivers information to let them know they are approaching too quickly," Hull said.       
Regardless of the improvements, Jenny Wheeler, a BYU employee originally from Ephraim, says she avoids U.S. 6 whenever possible. She and her family won't drive it during the winter.       
"If I go on 6 at all, I think it's only once or twice a year," she said.       
But for the 4,000 to 12,000 drivers who use U.S. 6 each day to commute, UDOT encourages safe and smart driving. Be patient, said UDOT spokesman Nile Easton. Don't speed or drive drowsy.       
"U.S. 6 has been a priority for the department and will continue to be a priority," he said, "but there is still a responsibility for drivers when they get behind the wheel to follow traffic laws."

Obituaries for Kimball Childs, Varela Childs and Mason Lowry Childs

This is Garth's, David's, and Richard's first cousin. For those who don't know, Garth, David and Richard are Renee Smith Childs' sons. Renee is the oldest daughter of Raymond James Smith (Myrna's grandfather). 
Thursday, December 15, 2005 
Obituary: Kimball K. Childs Price, Carbon County 
Kimball K. Childs was born August 15, 1959, to Parker and Dorothy Lowry Childs. He married the love of his life on December 31, 1992. The birth of his son Mason completed his cherished family. 
Kimball was a humble man with great faith, integrity and a thirst for knowledge. He was eager to be of service to everyone around him. 
Kimball returned to the presence of his Heavenly Father, with his son and wife, on December 11, 2005. He is survived by his mother Dorothy, brother Allen (wife Colleen), sister Debra (husband Steve), sister Diane (husband Bob), Aunt Virginia, Uncle Fred (wife Barbara) and many nieces, nephews and cousins. 
Juanita V Childs 
Juanita Varela Childs was born July 5, 1959, to Henry and Englantina Barela. She married Kimball on December 31, 1992. 
Juanita cherished her family and loved entertaining them with her vivacious personality and sense of humor. She taught Spanish at Carbon High School, she loved to teach and cherished her students and they loved her. She enjoyed decorating and photography. 
Juanita joined her Heavenly Father, with her son and husband, on December 11, 2005. She is survived by her brothers Henry Jr. (wife Vikki), Marcelino, Fausto and Frank, Aunt Pauline, adopted mom Marilyn, brother Bill and grandmother Lorraine, many nieces, nephews and cousins. 
Mason Childs 
Mason Lowry Childs was born May 11, 1997, to Kimball and Juanita Childs. 
He was a loving spirit and a special gift to his parents and family. He loved being with his grandma eating cookies, playing with his goat Daisy, drawing and working on crafts. His smile, laughter and endless enthusiasm will always be remembered. Mason and Isabelle (his best friend) had fun packing puppies, cats and other things into their wagons to get to each others' house. 
Mason returned to his Heavenly Father, with both his parents, on December 11, 2005. 
Combined Funeral Services will be held Friday, December 16, 2005, at 1:00 p.m. at the Price LDS Stake Center (150 So. 500 E., Price). A visitation will be Thursday evening from 6-8:00 p.m. at Fausett Mortuary in Price and also 1 hour prior to the service at the Church. Burial in the Orangeville City Cemetery.