Well it has been the same old story. Michelle did not get the job at BYU. Scott is learning lots at pre-school we can totally tell a difference with his language in making sentences. Kyle is just being Kyle and a little brother just tormenting Scott. I am just studying for school.
Thanksgiving week was fun. First we watched the BYU vs Utah game (It was sad BYU lost by turnovers) Then on T-Day we played football I could not believe I could get my body to move since my weight gain. It was fun, but I hurt for about 5 days. Then I made my mom's stuffing (its better than that boxed stuff).
On Saturday we went to the SLC Temple because Michelle's brother is going on his mission and went trough for the first time. It was very cool. Also this month I helped Rob move dirt for his yard, and to put up a fence to keep his dog in the yard, I had my kids and they after a bit of thinking from Tamara were playing and having a great time.
Other than that life is same old same old.
The Hopes -Still pressing forward-
Monday, December 1, 2008
2008 November: Bates
Well, Orianna is 5 months old today (crazy! I can't believe how time flies). She is babbling up a storm and frantically trying to keep up with her cousin Adalade who is 3 months older. Orianna doesn't crawl yet, but she certainly tries (especially when she watches her cousin doing it). She will tuck her legs completely under herself and push off with them, but she lacks the upper body strength so it just forces her face into the carpet. But, she is very close to overcoming the friction of the floor. It's been a real blessing to have a cousin so cloe in age to Orianna. She has been able to teach her things very quickly that we have been trying to teach her. I guess Orianna understands that Adalade is the same as her, and so she just assumes that she should be able to do everything her cousin does. It's super fun to watch.
Tamara is in a Play the Relief Society is doing, "The Ten Virgins." She plays one of the foolish-oiless virgins. It seems like an interesting play, but only the RS will ever see it, so I can't know for sure.
I have been working a lot on the house. We put up a fence, and built a kennel for the dog in the garage so that he can be outside all day. Jason helped me move oodles of dirt so that we could put the fence up. By the time we'd moved all the dirt, we both realized how artificially old we were (or out of shape... take your pick).
Recently we've done a few "Baby Theaters" where we will invite all of Tamara's family over (with all their small kids and babies) and we will watch a movie on the projector. It's nice because you don't have to feel bad about noisy babies, because everyone will take their turn eventually.
Other than that, I have just been working a bunch (surprise, surprise).
Well, we hope you are all well, happy, and progressing in all your efforts.
-Rob & Tamara
Tamara is in a Play the Relief Society is doing, "The Ten Virgins." She plays one of the foolish-oiless virgins. It seems like an interesting play, but only the RS will ever see it, so I can't know for sure.
I have been working a lot on the house. We put up a fence, and built a kennel for the dog in the garage so that he can be outside all day. Jason helped me move oodles of dirt so that we could put the fence up. By the time we'd moved all the dirt, we both realized how artificially old we were (or out of shape... take your pick).
Recently we've done a few "Baby Theaters" where we will invite all of Tamara's family over (with all their small kids and babies) and we will watch a movie on the projector. It's nice because you don't have to feel bad about noisy babies, because everyone will take their turn eventually.
Other than that, I have just been working a bunch (surprise, surprise).
Well, we hope you are all well, happy, and progressing in all your efforts.
-Rob & Tamara
2008 November: North
Not much has changed since last month, so this will be a short letter. Becky and I just sold our car yesterday. We sold it for less than we wanted to, but enough to cover our needs. We will use the money to commit to the West Virginia school. They require a substiantial amount of money in order to hold a seat. Luckily the money counts towards the first year's tuition, so I guess it's not quite highway robbery. They will come pick up the car Friday evening and then we will be a one car family. It will be tough for us, but I suppose that if generations of our ancestors could survive without cell phones or cars we can get by with just one car.
Becky and I have been called as ward missionaries in our married ward. The ward mission wants to meet with every family in the ward by the end of the year and encourage them in their missionary work. Becky and I have been assigned 7 or 8 families. We have had great experiences so far. It's fun teaching with Becky. She and I have never had that opportunity before. She must have been a great missionary, because she is still a good teacher after 3 or 4 years. I think the Lord is giving us a chance to work together in a calling, because up until now He's had us work separately. I am grateful for the opportunity.
We hope that you all have a great holiday season and that you have plenty of things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Stewart and Becky
Becky and I have been called as ward missionaries in our married ward. The ward mission wants to meet with every family in the ward by the end of the year and encourage them in their missionary work. Becky and I have been assigned 7 or 8 families. We have had great experiences so far. It's fun teaching with Becky. She and I have never had that opportunity before. She must have been a great missionary, because she is still a good teacher after 3 or 4 years. I think the Lord is giving us a chance to work together in a calling, because up until now He's had us work separately. I am grateful for the opportunity.
We hope that you all have a great holiday season and that you have plenty of things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Stewart and Becky
2008 November: Robertson
Greetings Everyone,
November went by so fast that I really don't know what happened. I know that a lot did. At the beginning of the month I, Derik, took a Saturday to go with the youth of the Branch to a stake Super Saturday Youth day in Rochester. There was a merit badge fair, a beehive conference, and a volleyball tournament. After all of that there was a stake film festival for the youth. Every unit submitted a short film with the theme “everything I need to know I learned in primary” Our branch received third place. The youth were excited about that and have already started making plans to win first place the next time such an activity arises.
The next Saturday we went back to Rochester so Morgan could attend a stake Primary training meeting. Needless to say, we did a fair amount of travel this month, but it could be worse – always tell yourself that. I am still walking to school every day even now that there is snow on the ground (more about that later). I find that on the days that it is really cold, I get to school faster than normal – go figure. But the mile walk really isn't that bad.
Morgan's big news this month is that she attended Twilight the day that it came out. She was going to be patient and wait to see it over Thanksgiving break with her sister, but a friend from the branch called her up and invited her to go. In this case vampires run thicker than blood (pun intended). That same night I invited my Priests quorum young men over to our house (all two of them – brothers at that) for some games and pizza so I could get to know them a bit better outside of a church setting since I am unable to attend their mutual activities (I have class that night). After a fair amount of trash talking, Morgan and I (but mostly Morgan) schooled them and sent them home eating humble pie. That's what they get for calling us “the older generation.” I have to say that was the first time I was referred to in that way It was a fun evening.
School is winding down quickly for me. The light is at the end of the tunnel, and I can see what is outside. One more week and I am done until January (with actually going to class). Too bad I will be scrambling to get my class for next semester set up all the way. I think that it will be a fun class. I am looking forward to it.
Thanksgiving was good to us. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Morgan's grandparents house. The girls really enjoyed all of the food, and everyone was really impressed with how well they behaved themselves at the dinner table (thank goodness!). We had to cut our weekend short, however, since Morgan started having really bad abdominal pain accompanied by a fever. She went to the doctor who sent her through several tests. The final result was telling her that she had a partial intestinal obstruction. He gave her some medicine to help clear it up. She has been taking them for a few days, and slowly but surely, she has been doing better.
Other than that, we are doing the normal things here. We still are feeding the missionaries regularly, and we are still chasing the girls around the apartment almost constantly. The girls are starting to really like going to nursery. Last Sunday they both walked into the nursery room happily on their own without either Morgan or myself anywhere close to the door. It was really good and a first. We are looking forward to the Christmas break and everything that it entails. We wish that we could see all of you this Christmas in person, but we know that can't happen. Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.
God bless,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria Robertson
November went by so fast that I really don't know what happened. I know that a lot did. At the beginning of the month I, Derik, took a Saturday to go with the youth of the Branch to a stake Super Saturday Youth day in Rochester. There was a merit badge fair, a beehive conference, and a volleyball tournament. After all of that there was a stake film festival for the youth. Every unit submitted a short film with the theme “everything I need to know I learned in primary” Our branch received third place. The youth were excited about that and have already started making plans to win first place the next time such an activity arises.
The next Saturday we went back to Rochester so Morgan could attend a stake Primary training meeting. Needless to say, we did a fair amount of travel this month, but it could be worse – always tell yourself that. I am still walking to school every day even now that there is snow on the ground (more about that later). I find that on the days that it is really cold, I get to school faster than normal – go figure. But the mile walk really isn't that bad.
Morgan's big news this month is that she attended Twilight the day that it came out. She was going to be patient and wait to see it over Thanksgiving break with her sister, but a friend from the branch called her up and invited her to go. In this case vampires run thicker than blood (pun intended). That same night I invited my Priests quorum young men over to our house (all two of them – brothers at that) for some games and pizza so I could get to know them a bit better outside of a church setting since I am unable to attend their mutual activities (I have class that night). After a fair amount of trash talking, Morgan and I (but mostly Morgan) schooled them and sent them home eating humble pie. That's what they get for calling us “the older generation.” I have to say that was the first time I was referred to in that way It was a fun evening.
School is winding down quickly for me. The light is at the end of the tunnel, and I can see what is outside. One more week and I am done until January (with actually going to class). Too bad I will be scrambling to get my class for next semester set up all the way. I think that it will be a fun class. I am looking forward to it.
Thanksgiving was good to us. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Morgan's grandparents house. The girls really enjoyed all of the food, and everyone was really impressed with how well they behaved themselves at the dinner table (thank goodness!). We had to cut our weekend short, however, since Morgan started having really bad abdominal pain accompanied by a fever. She went to the doctor who sent her through several tests. The final result was telling her that she had a partial intestinal obstruction. He gave her some medicine to help clear it up. She has been taking them for a few days, and slowly but surely, she has been doing better.
Other than that, we are doing the normal things here. We still are feeding the missionaries regularly, and we are still chasing the girls around the apartment almost constantly. The girls are starting to really like going to nursery. Last Sunday they both walked into the nursery room happily on their own without either Morgan or myself anywhere close to the door. It was really good and a first. We are looking forward to the Christmas break and everything that it entails. We wish that we could see all of you this Christmas in person, but we know that can't happen. Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.
God bless,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria Robertson
Friday, October 31, 2008
2008 October: Hope
Hello All,
Well October has come and gone in a blink of an eye. Michelle has applied for a BYU Hall adviser job and we are hoping we will get a call here soon for an interview.
Her brother got his mission call to the Fort Lauderdale Florida Mission, which is the southern part of the state. He leaves in mid December. My mom and dad are in AZ now on their mission, they are loving it.
Scott and Kyle have had a great time this month with friends and family they got to spend time with my mom and dad before they left to the mission, my brother Brians kids and they loved that. During Halloween they got some pumpkins and drew faces on them with marker some pics will be on the blog. For the 31st Kyle went Trick or Treating for the first time, he really was not sure what to think of if but after a few houses he got down and was running to the next door. Scott also was not sure what do to but with some of his friends there he got the trick and was in the action. Scott was Tigger and Kyle was a dog. They got lots of candy which I will have to check each piece before they eat it :)
We found out that Scott gets to go to pre-school because his vocabulary is like his fathers and not the best, and they think he as a little bit of OCD which talking with Rob everyone has a little OCD in there life, if not nothing would be done that looks good, and ex. would be the Tempels. It will be a great time for him, plus he might be in the same class as one of his friends from the ward.
School is going great but hard. We just finished mid-terms and took 7 tests and I got A's on 5 and B's on 2 so I am very happy with the outcome. In clinic we are now starting to work on each other with probing and exploring, by December we will be doing everything to clean a persons teeth, in which I am very excited. But school is school and you learn something cool everyday. Well life is just the same old thing which I guess makes it good to know everything is not crazy but a little excitement is always good to.
Hope everyone is doing great and is healthy. Talk to you all later.
The Hopes
Well October has come and gone in a blink of an eye. Michelle has applied for a BYU Hall adviser job and we are hoping we will get a call here soon for an interview.
Her brother got his mission call to the Fort Lauderdale Florida Mission, which is the southern part of the state. He leaves in mid December. My mom and dad are in AZ now on their mission, they are loving it.
Scott and Kyle have had a great time this month with friends and family they got to spend time with my mom and dad before they left to the mission, my brother Brians kids and they loved that. During Halloween they got some pumpkins and drew faces on them with marker some pics will be on the blog. For the 31st Kyle went Trick or Treating for the first time, he really was not sure what to think of if but after a few houses he got down and was running to the next door. Scott also was not sure what do to but with some of his friends there he got the trick and was in the action. Scott was Tigger and Kyle was a dog. They got lots of candy which I will have to check each piece before they eat it :)
We found out that Scott gets to go to pre-school because his vocabulary is like his fathers and not the best, and they think he as a little bit of OCD which talking with Rob everyone has a little OCD in there life, if not nothing would be done that looks good, and ex. would be the Tempels. It will be a great time for him, plus he might be in the same class as one of his friends from the ward.
School is going great but hard. We just finished mid-terms and took 7 tests and I got A's on 5 and B's on 2 so I am very happy with the outcome. In clinic we are now starting to work on each other with probing and exploring, by December we will be doing everything to clean a persons teeth, in which I am very excited. But school is school and you learn something cool everyday. Well life is just the same old thing which I guess makes it good to know everything is not crazy but a little excitement is always good to.
Hope everyone is doing great and is healthy. Talk to you all later.
The Hopes
2008 October: Bates
Well Orianna has definitely been the focus of our lives for the past 4 months, and this one is no different.
She will be 4 months old in November, and she is so anxious to grow. She loves to try to crawl and walk. If she is near any object on the floor she will dedicate herself to slowly crawling toward it. If you hold her she will try to stand and walk on any surface. It's pretty crazy.
She is also very independent. She likes to hold things herself and to move them around, and prefers if you let her rather than try to help her.
Babbling comprises a large chunk of her day. She's big into vowel sounds, but occasionally will discover a consonant. She inherited lungs from both sides of the family, so she has some loud noise making skills. It's super fun!
Tamara and I have been working on the house still. We finished patching the cieling, and have wallpapered some of the kitchen. We are still in the process of getting all our yard work done, but I think it may get postponed till Spring.
Other than that, I have just been working a lot. I was considering switching jobs because I had an offer that would get rid of my commute, but I think I've decided to wait until January before I look into it again.
We hope everyone is doing well. Happy Halloween!!!
-Rob, Tamara, & Orianna
She will be 4 months old in November, and she is so anxious to grow. She loves to try to crawl and walk. If she is near any object on the floor she will dedicate herself to slowly crawling toward it. If you hold her she will try to stand and walk on any surface. It's pretty crazy.
She is also very independent. She likes to hold things herself and to move them around, and prefers if you let her rather than try to help her.
Babbling comprises a large chunk of her day. She's big into vowel sounds, but occasionally will discover a consonant. She inherited lungs from both sides of the family, so she has some loud noise making skills. It's super fun!
Tamara and I have been working on the house still. We finished patching the cieling, and have wallpapered some of the kitchen. We are still in the process of getting all our yard work done, but I think it may get postponed till Spring.
Other than that, I have just been working a lot. I was considering switching jobs because I had an offer that would get rid of my commute, but I think I've decided to wait until January before I look into it again.
We hope everyone is doing well. Happy Halloween!!!
-Rob, Tamara, & Orianna
2008 October: North
We are getting a more clear picture of what the future holds for us in regards to medical school. The school in MO put me on the alternate list. That means that if someone who is accepted pulls out they will accept me. The trouble is there's no guarantee, and they don't start accepting alternates until late spring/early summer. WV needs a commitment (a $3000 non-refundable commitment) before the end of the year. I've emailed the MO school for a little bit more information, but unless something changes we'll be heading to WV.
Becky works in an office here at ISU with two other women. For various reasons (good reasons) the two other women are quitting within the next month. That will leave Becky alone to do the work of 3 people, and there's a hiring freeze imposed right now. She might be pulling quite a bit of weight for awhile until they get things worked out. I've told her that if they ask her to do things not in her original job description that she needs to request a pay raise, it's only fair. This could mean a lot of work for Becky.
We attended our married ward this Sunday. I think we will fit in very well. It will take some time for us to get to know people, but we'll enjoy it. For now I am just enjoying having so much free time on Sunday, and not having other meetings during the week.
We hope you are all doing well, and that your families are healthy and strong.
Stewart and Becky
Becky works in an office here at ISU with two other women. For various reasons (good reasons) the two other women are quitting within the next month. That will leave Becky alone to do the work of 3 people, and there's a hiring freeze imposed right now. She might be pulling quite a bit of weight for awhile until they get things worked out. I've told her that if they ask her to do things not in her original job description that she needs to request a pay raise, it's only fair. This could mean a lot of work for Becky.
We attended our married ward this Sunday. I think we will fit in very well. It will take some time for us to get to know people, but we'll enjoy it. For now I am just enjoying having so much free time on Sunday, and not having other meetings during the week.
We hope you are all doing well, and that your families are healthy and strong.
Stewart and Becky
2008 October: Robertson
Greetings all,
Derik had a birthday, shout hooray! We sang to him earlier this month. One year older and wiser too... Happy birthday, Derik, to you! Yes, we started out the month celebrating Derik's birthday. We went to my parent's and celebrated Derik's birthday and my little brother's 16th birthday too. Derik did homework with most all of his “free time” except during key moments, like conference. We really enjoyed listening to what the prophet, apostles, and other leaders had to teach. Derik got a dutch oven for his birthday-he is excited to get to try it out although I'm not sure when that will be. Derik also wants me say thank you for his many warm birthday wishes and birthday gifts. They were all wonderful!
Derik also went to a graduate appreciation dinner and speaker. He felt it a rather pointless event unless “what 15th century students wrote in the margins of their textbook has significance to you.” That and the thought of giving overworked/stressed graduate students a “thank you” by having them listen to a lecture has some serious problems with it as well. But he still thought the dinner itself was nice. Who doesn't like a free dinner?
Morgan was released from her 2 week old calling of a primary presidency 2nd councilor and called to be the Primary president instead. That has kept me pretty busy trying to figure out everything, especially since I am still learning names and faces of people in the branch. It's been a new experience for me, but a good one. I am also giving a talk in church in a week We have also begun feeding the missionaries dinner every other week and we are endeavoring for the “wow” factor with these meals so the missionaries (and us) have a nice, fun dinner to look forward too. This has been fun to do, but also a lot of work. Our last meal was homemade butternut squash tortellini in a brown butter, cranberry-sage sauce (YUMMY!) and cornish game hen. Then there was bread, salad, and a chocolate hazelnut pudding cake for dessert. So, if any of you have any good ideas or recipes, we are always looking and would appreciate any ideas you have to offer!
Kyla and Daria have grown a bit of an attachment to the Muppets this past month. If the TV is off, or if we are watching something different, they will holler and scream and just plain be noisy until we give in and turn the Muppets on for them. I'm trying to break them of this “habit.” I think it might take a while.
Halloween has been a bit strenuous on the girls. There was a church Halloween carnival a few days before Halloween. I went without Derik but with the girls and when we go to church, a few girls in their costumes rushed up to say how cute they looked and spooked the girls pretty badly. They proceeded to scream as soon as anyone came anywhere near them for the next 2 hours. I had a headache that night.
Thankfully, they got over their fears enough for the real Halloween. Kyla decided to be especially festive and choose Halloween morning to trip over a pillow and hit her head on the corner of our coffee table. What's Halloween with out a little blood and gore and a trip to the ER? Derik was out with the car so we walked to the ER...only a block away thankfully, and they glued her cut shut...the perfect Halloween accessory...unless you are Alice in Wonderland-like Kyla and Daria were. Poor Kyla. Later that night, we went to my parents for Trick-or-Treating. Kyla and Daria loved running between houses and up to the doors. As soon as we got to the doors the girls wanted held until they got their candy and could run to the next house. They had a lot of fun and so did mom and dad watching them in their cute outfits having so much fun.
I think that does it for us this month. We look forward to hearing from all of you.
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria Robertson
P.s. in order to see Halloween pictures and others travel to idiosyncraticparade.blogspot.com
Derik had a birthday, shout hooray! We sang to him earlier this month. One year older and wiser too... Happy birthday, Derik, to you! Yes, we started out the month celebrating Derik's birthday. We went to my parent's and celebrated Derik's birthday and my little brother's 16th birthday too. Derik did homework with most all of his “free time” except during key moments, like conference. We really enjoyed listening to what the prophet, apostles, and other leaders had to teach. Derik got a dutch oven for his birthday-he is excited to get to try it out although I'm not sure when that will be. Derik also wants me say thank you for his many warm birthday wishes and birthday gifts. They were all wonderful!
Derik also went to a graduate appreciation dinner and speaker. He felt it a rather pointless event unless “what 15th century students wrote in the margins of their textbook has significance to you.” That and the thought of giving overworked/stressed graduate students a “thank you” by having them listen to a lecture has some serious problems with it as well. But he still thought the dinner itself was nice. Who doesn't like a free dinner?
Morgan was released from her 2 week old calling of a primary presidency 2nd councilor and called to be the Primary president instead. That has kept me pretty busy trying to figure out everything, especially since I am still learning names and faces of people in the branch. It's been a new experience for me, but a good one. I am also giving a talk in church in a week We have also begun feeding the missionaries dinner every other week and we are endeavoring for the “wow” factor with these meals so the missionaries (and us) have a nice, fun dinner to look forward too. This has been fun to do, but also a lot of work. Our last meal was homemade butternut squash tortellini in a brown butter, cranberry-sage sauce (YUMMY!) and cornish game hen. Then there was bread, salad, and a chocolate hazelnut pudding cake for dessert. So, if any of you have any good ideas or recipes, we are always looking and would appreciate any ideas you have to offer!
Kyla and Daria have grown a bit of an attachment to the Muppets this past month. If the TV is off, or if we are watching something different, they will holler and scream and just plain be noisy until we give in and turn the Muppets on for them. I'm trying to break them of this “habit.” I think it might take a while.
Halloween has been a bit strenuous on the girls. There was a church Halloween carnival a few days before Halloween. I went without Derik but with the girls and when we go to church, a few girls in their costumes rushed up to say how cute they looked and spooked the girls pretty badly. They proceeded to scream as soon as anyone came anywhere near them for the next 2 hours. I had a headache that night.
Thankfully, they got over their fears enough for the real Halloween. Kyla decided to be especially festive and choose Halloween morning to trip over a pillow and hit her head on the corner of our coffee table. What's Halloween with out a little blood and gore and a trip to the ER? Derik was out with the car so we walked to the ER...only a block away thankfully, and they glued her cut shut...the perfect Halloween accessory...unless you are Alice in Wonderland-like Kyla and Daria were. Poor Kyla. Later that night, we went to my parents for Trick-or-Treating. Kyla and Daria loved running between houses and up to the doors. As soon as we got to the doors the girls wanted held until they got their candy and could run to the next house. They had a lot of fun and so did mom and dad watching them in their cute outfits having so much fun.
I think that does it for us this month. We look forward to hearing from all of you.
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria Robertson
P.s. in order to see Halloween pictures and others travel to idiosyncraticparade.blogspot.com
Monday, October 6, 2008
2008 September: Hope
Well this has been a very stressful month. I have been going to school for a month now and I am counting down the months until I get done. It has been a fun time learning about all of the subjects but I really enjoy the labs when we actually get to play in the mouth. Right now we are just learning the basic way to sit and hold our arm and were to put our hands when we are cleaning the mouth.
Some other classes are Radiology where we lean about taking x-rays and everything that goes with them. So far we have only taken them on Dexter our x-ray dummy. They are easier than they seem. So if you have any questions about them just ask.
Then Pre Clinic Theory in this class we learn everything you would like to know about biofilm (plaque) and some other stuff. Another class is Embryology, Histology, Morphology as you can guess it is about what happens when you are growing in your Mommy's tummy. It is a very interesting class to know what is going on in there.
Next we have Head and Neck Anatomy which in turn we learn everything that you have from your shoulders to the top of your head, from every bone, muscle, nerve, blood artery and veins.
Then we have Preventive Dentistry in this class we learn how to talk to our patients about brushing their teeth and what to do when something is wrong in the mouth such as dry mouth.
Then we have dental Spanish were we learn Spanish for the dental field. All of the teachers are great but the one I like best is Dr Jason Allan who teaches the anatomy class and then latter next year how to give injections which I am looking forward to:)
So for you that are still in school I am taking 19 credits so it is the most I have taken. Well lets see what else has happened... the boys are doing great as always and they are getting better as telling us that they (mostly Scott) need to go potty.
Michelle is doing great she has been working very hard she has 3 jobs and has dinner ready and the house clean (for the most part if you have kids you know what I mean, you think you have it clean and there are always toys our somewhere.)
Well some other news my parents got the mission call to go to the Phoenix Arizona Mission, they enter the MTC on the 20th of October. Well that is our lives for now. We hope all is well with all of you.
The Hopes
Some other classes are Radiology where we lean about taking x-rays and everything that goes with them. So far we have only taken them on Dexter our x-ray dummy. They are easier than they seem. So if you have any questions about them just ask.
Then Pre Clinic Theory in this class we learn everything you would like to know about biofilm (plaque) and some other stuff. Another class is Embryology, Histology, Morphology as you can guess it is about what happens when you are growing in your Mommy's tummy. It is a very interesting class to know what is going on in there.
Next we have Head and Neck Anatomy which in turn we learn everything that you have from your shoulders to the top of your head, from every bone, muscle, nerve, blood artery and veins.
Then we have Preventive Dentistry in this class we learn how to talk to our patients about brushing their teeth and what to do when something is wrong in the mouth such as dry mouth.
Then we have dental Spanish were we learn Spanish for the dental field. All of the teachers are great but the one I like best is Dr Jason Allan who teaches the anatomy class and then latter next year how to give injections which I am looking forward to:)
So for you that are still in school I am taking 19 credits so it is the most I have taken. Well lets see what else has happened... the boys are doing great as always and they are getting better as telling us that they (mostly Scott) need to go potty.
Michelle is doing great she has been working very hard she has 3 jobs and has dinner ready and the house clean (for the most part if you have kids you know what I mean, you think you have it clean and there are always toys our somewhere.)
Well some other news my parents got the mission call to go to the Phoenix Arizona Mission, they enter the MTC on the 20th of October. Well that is our lives for now. We hope all is well with all of you.
The Hopes
2008 September: Bates
This month has been a hectic one at work again. So, we didn't do much else.
We have been painting our home, and doing several other projects around the house... but they are all in the middle of being done, so our house is currently quite messy.
Orianna is rolling now and making attempts at crawling, but the friction on her knees can't seem to overcome the friction of her clothing on the floor. But, she has fun trying just the same.
Other than that, there really isn't much to report. Good luck to you all this next month.
-Rob & Tamara
We have been painting our home, and doing several other projects around the house... but they are all in the middle of being done, so our house is currently quite messy.
Orianna is rolling now and making attempts at crawling, but the friction on her knees can't seem to overcome the friction of her clothing on the floor. But, she has fun trying just the same.
Other than that, there really isn't much to report. Good luck to you all this next month.
-Rob & Tamara
2008 September: Robertson
Greetings,
I think that I can finally say that the Robertson household has finally settled down as far as Earth shaking events are concerned. We are now plugging away at the hum drum frantic living of everyday life. I (Derik) have been keeping busy with school and with church functions. I have given several presentations at school this past month and have several more scheduled for the months to come. I have read several books this month and have several more to read in the months to come. So far I can say that I am staying on top of my school work – some weeks better than others. I feel that I am doing well and fitting into the department. I have to smile to myself after I catch myself about to call one of my teachers “Brother” or “Sister” after spending so much time at BYU-Idaho. I have started to try and carve out my niche in the department and get myself known. So far, so good.
I spent a weekend taking my young men to a stake young men camp out. The stake Young Men's Presidency played a dirty trick on us and turned it into a training meeting for all of the young men leaders. So all weekend the boys played capture the flag, ultimate Frisbee, and other games while we leaders were subjected to hours upon hours of PowerPoint presentations. I don't know what was worse: those presentations or the food (The sloppy joes and the chili tasted too similar for comfort – both bad)
Morgan has received two callings in the branch. She is the branch chorister and the second councilor in the Primary. She is excited for the primary and relieved that it wasn't as a teacher in the Sunday School. Other than that, she has been busy trying to get us officially settled here in Winona: registering the car, drivers licenses, etc. And, as always, keeping the girls under control – or keep them from being completely wild as she puts it.
Kyla and Daria are growing bigger every day and surprise us with how much they understand. We were under the impression that they only knew how to identify three or four body parts until we started to quiz them and discovered they know closer to a dozen. They are starting to communicate with us using both signs and small words and phrases (they love yelling “Amen” especially during sacrament meeting). They about have everyone in the branch wrapped around their little fingers.
Well I think that does it for us. If you want to see pictures and videos (as well as a list of all the books we've been reading) from our neck of the woods, we have started a blog at idiosyncraticparade.blogspot.com feel free to drop in whenever.
God bless you all,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria
I think that I can finally say that the Robertson household has finally settled down as far as Earth shaking events are concerned. We are now plugging away at the hum drum frantic living of everyday life. I (Derik) have been keeping busy with school and with church functions. I have given several presentations at school this past month and have several more scheduled for the months to come. I have read several books this month and have several more to read in the months to come. So far I can say that I am staying on top of my school work – some weeks better than others. I feel that I am doing well and fitting into the department. I have to smile to myself after I catch myself about to call one of my teachers “Brother” or “Sister” after spending so much time at BYU-Idaho. I have started to try and carve out my niche in the department and get myself known. So far, so good.
I spent a weekend taking my young men to a stake young men camp out. The stake Young Men's Presidency played a dirty trick on us and turned it into a training meeting for all of the young men leaders. So all weekend the boys played capture the flag, ultimate Frisbee, and other games while we leaders were subjected to hours upon hours of PowerPoint presentations. I don't know what was worse: those presentations or the food (The sloppy joes and the chili tasted too similar for comfort – both bad)
Morgan has received two callings in the branch. She is the branch chorister and the second councilor in the Primary. She is excited for the primary and relieved that it wasn't as a teacher in the Sunday School. Other than that, she has been busy trying to get us officially settled here in Winona: registering the car, drivers licenses, etc. And, as always, keeping the girls under control – or keep them from being completely wild as she puts it.
Kyla and Daria are growing bigger every day and surprise us with how much they understand. We were under the impression that they only knew how to identify three or four body parts until we started to quiz them and discovered they know closer to a dozen. They are starting to communicate with us using both signs and small words and phrases (they love yelling “Amen” especially during sacrament meeting). They about have everyone in the branch wrapped around their little fingers.
Well I think that does it for us. If you want to see pictures and videos (as well as a list of all the books we've been reading) from our neck of the woods, we have started a blog at idiosyncraticparade.blogspot.com feel free to drop in whenever.
God bless you all,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria
2008 September: North
Hey guys, sorry I’m a little late this month, I’ve been out of town and I didn’t have access to the internet. I left on the 27th of September. I spent the night in Salt Lake, then caught an early flight to Charleston WV. Sorry I didn’t make contact with either of you Jason or Rob, but I didn’t get to Salt Lake until 9:30 pm and I left at 7:30 am the next morning. I rented a car in WV and drove to a little town called Lewisburg. It’s a small town in rich, mountainous country. It was the scene of a civil war battle. I got a speeding ticket on my way thru...I was kind of angry that he would give me a ticket, but it looks like I’ll have to pay it. I interviewed at West Virginia College of Medicine on Monday Sept 29. The interview went well. They didn’t ask me any off-the-wall questions and I think I came across as very confident and able. Apparently they liked me, because the acceptance letter beat me home. After the interview I got back on the plane and flew to Kansas City, MO. I rented another car and drove to Kirksville, a town that reminded me of the Rexburg from our youth (not the Rexburg of today which is almost double the size it was when we were younger). The man who founded osteopathy, Andrew Stills, started the first osteopathic school in Kirksville back in 1892. The facilities were not as nice, but overall I think the programs were stronger. I interviewed there on Thursday Oct. 2. Again, the interviews went well. I think I came across as confident and eager to learn. I haven’t heard back from them yet. I flew home the following day by way of Minnesota (sorry I didn’t stop in and say hi Derik, but I was stuck in the airport, because I didn’t want to have to go thru security again). All in all I was gone for one week...that’s a long time for a young couple who has never been apart for one night since they were married. Becky had a good week decorating the house. Her mom and sister came and visited as well.
The trip was a great experience for me. I got to get out and see things that I’ve never seen before. The world is a pretty neat place. The bad thing is that now I have a week of school to catch up on. My spanish class moves pretty quick, and I’ll have to work hard to catch up. Rob, I don’t know if I told you or not but I’m studying spanish this year. It’s been fun so far.
Well I’ve gone on long enough now. We wish you all the best of luck in everything you’re doing.
Stewart and Becky
The trip was a great experience for me. I got to get out and see things that I’ve never seen before. The world is a pretty neat place. The bad thing is that now I have a week of school to catch up on. My spanish class moves pretty quick, and I’ll have to work hard to catch up. Rob, I don’t know if I told you or not but I’m studying spanish this year. It’s been fun so far.
Well I’ve gone on long enough now. We wish you all the best of luck in everything you’re doing.
Stewart and Becky
Monday, September 8, 2008
2008 August: Hope
Where to start? Well for a birthday present we got tickets to go to a dinner theater to watch Indiana Bones (an Indiana Jones parody). It was great and we had a great time.
Michelle is doing great she has just started an at home job doing costumer service for a website called Baby to bee, where new parents can get free stuff. I do not know much about it but I think that everyone should take a look. Anyway she is liking that, it reminders her of her last job at Meleuluca or however you spell it. The people for the website are really impressed with her phone skills and how she talks to people.
She is also babysitting a kid in out ward he is 2.5 years old so he plays well with the kids. So with the jobs Michelle is willing to do she is the money maker and I am very grateful for her for willingness to do this when I am going to school.
Speaking of school I started my dental hygiene school. So far it is review so I think in a few weeks it will get crazy. There are 60 of us total and 3 of us are guys. The cool thing is is that I am the tallest one of the bunch and here in a week or so you can see the picture on ucdh.edu under class pictures. There are a lot of the girls that are married which is nice. All of the guys are married. There are 3 to 4 of us from Rexburg and 9 or 10 from Idaho.
Scott is going to the potty in his potty when he tells us and Kyle is starting to get the idea also because he is asking to sit on the potty, so the end of diapers is in sight. YES they are about as bad as gas right now!
Well also this month up at temple square we started hanging up Christmas lights on the trees and now I know why they start so early. It takes a very long time and lots of lights for each tree, just a small tree takes a person 1.5 to 2 days just to finish it and around 3000 lights on the tree I did.
Well I am off once again like others to start homework once more. We will talk to you all later.
The Hopes
Michelle is doing great she has just started an at home job doing costumer service for a website called Baby to bee, where new parents can get free stuff. I do not know much about it but I think that everyone should take a look. Anyway she is liking that, it reminders her of her last job at Meleuluca or however you spell it. The people for the website are really impressed with her phone skills and how she talks to people.
She is also babysitting a kid in out ward he is 2.5 years old so he plays well with the kids. So with the jobs Michelle is willing to do she is the money maker and I am very grateful for her for willingness to do this when I am going to school.
Speaking of school I started my dental hygiene school. So far it is review so I think in a few weeks it will get crazy. There are 60 of us total and 3 of us are guys. The cool thing is is that I am the tallest one of the bunch and here in a week or so you can see the picture on ucdh.edu under class pictures. There are a lot of the girls that are married which is nice. All of the guys are married. There are 3 to 4 of us from Rexburg and 9 or 10 from Idaho.
Scott is going to the potty in his potty when he tells us and Kyle is starting to get the idea also because he is asking to sit on the potty, so the end of diapers is in sight. YES they are about as bad as gas right now!
Well also this month up at temple square we started hanging up Christmas lights on the trees and now I know why they start so early. It takes a very long time and lots of lights for each tree, just a small tree takes a person 1.5 to 2 days just to finish it and around 3000 lights on the tree I did.
Well I am off once again like others to start homework once more. We will talk to you all later.
The Hopes
2008 August: Bates
August: Bermuda Triangle of Weirdness.
Where to start. I guess I'll start with the Normal stuff.
Orianna has been growing great (I know, I need to post all my new photos... I will get to it soon). She is a very happy baby that loves to laugh and she is very smart. Every time she figures something out you can see it in her eyes. She just recently realized that she can affect other objects when she touches them. So she has been hitting her toys, and pulling blankets, and laughs her head off that she can move things. But, she does get very angry at all the things that are out of reach.
Tamara and I have been fixing up our house. We painted the living room and have started to paint the kitchen (but we still have many holes in the ceiling to patch first).
Ok, now for the weird stuff.
So, as many of you know, Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) was planning to build a road on top of our home. Our city council fought it, and the decision was postponed until 2010 or 2011 (depending on when they complete the 1st 2 phases of their "master plan"). All of our neighbors received constant letters from UDOT informing them of what was going on (since August of last year). We never received a single letter. Then (quite suddenly) all of our neighbors sold their houses to UDOT (literally, all our neighbors. Our closest neighbor is now 4 houses away). We still hadn't heard from UDOT.
Well, the other day I was doing dishes and looked out the window at a man taking pictures of my house. I went to the window and stared at him as if to say, "Are you really on my property taking pictures of my house?" He seemed shocked that there was someone in the house, so he came to the door, knocked, and in essence asked, "Why are you squatting in a UDOT-owned house?" He said that UDOT owned all the houses on this street up to a certain house.
I informed him that we owned the house, UDOT had never contacted us, and that we were a little miffed at the whole situation. While telling him to tell his superiors to contact us, I looked over his shoulder at his documents. Our house doesn't exist on his map. They skipped right over it. Wow... that's quite the oversight. I can just see them wheeling in the demolition-mobile into our front lawn, not realizing that they don't own it!
Anywho... that was weird.
Then, the other night at about 10 PM someone knocked on the door. I threw on a robe, answered it, and was confronted with a young man (probably 20) who wanted me to give him my car because he needs one to help his roommate go to the hospital frequently for dialysis. He was quite coherent. He wasn't intoxicated. He just thought he could swindle someone without being a very good liar. He wouldn't take "no" for an answer. I offered him rides, etc... Eventually I just had to tell him that I was convinced that he was lying and listed the reasons why. I wished him better luck on his next attempt, and bid him good-night.
There were some other weird things this month, but I can't remember them right now.
So, till next month: Cheers,
Rob & Tamara & Orianna
Where to start. I guess I'll start with the Normal stuff.
Orianna has been growing great (I know, I need to post all my new photos... I will get to it soon). She is a very happy baby that loves to laugh and she is very smart. Every time she figures something out you can see it in her eyes. She just recently realized that she can affect other objects when she touches them. So she has been hitting her toys, and pulling blankets, and laughs her head off that she can move things. But, she does get very angry at all the things that are out of reach.
Tamara and I have been fixing up our house. We painted the living room and have started to paint the kitchen (but we still have many holes in the ceiling to patch first).
Ok, now for the weird stuff.
So, as many of you know, Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) was planning to build a road on top of our home. Our city council fought it, and the decision was postponed until 2010 or 2011 (depending on when they complete the 1st 2 phases of their "master plan"). All of our neighbors received constant letters from UDOT informing them of what was going on (since August of last year). We never received a single letter. Then (quite suddenly) all of our neighbors sold their houses to UDOT (literally, all our neighbors. Our closest neighbor is now 4 houses away). We still hadn't heard from UDOT.
Well, the other day I was doing dishes and looked out the window at a man taking pictures of my house. I went to the window and stared at him as if to say, "Are you really on my property taking pictures of my house?" He seemed shocked that there was someone in the house, so he came to the door, knocked, and in essence asked, "Why are you squatting in a UDOT-owned house?" He said that UDOT owned all the houses on this street up to a certain house.
I informed him that we owned the house, UDOT had never contacted us, and that we were a little miffed at the whole situation. While telling him to tell his superiors to contact us, I looked over his shoulder at his documents. Our house doesn't exist on his map. They skipped right over it. Wow... that's quite the oversight. I can just see them wheeling in the demolition-mobile into our front lawn, not realizing that they don't own it!
Anywho... that was weird.
Then, the other night at about 10 PM someone knocked on the door. I threw on a robe, answered it, and was confronted with a young man (probably 20) who wanted me to give him my car because he needs one to help his roommate go to the hospital frequently for dialysis. He was quite coherent. He wasn't intoxicated. He just thought he could swindle someone without being a very good liar. He wouldn't take "no" for an answer. I offered him rides, etc... Eventually I just had to tell him that I was convinced that he was lying and listed the reasons why. I wished him better luck on his next attempt, and bid him good-night.
There were some other weird things this month, but I can't remember them right now.
So, till next month: Cheers,
Rob & Tamara & Orianna
2008 August: North
It has been a great month for us. We have made great progress on the medical school front. Let me briefly explain the process to you. The first step is a primary application. All D.O. schools use the same application service, so you only have to do it once. You give them your pre-med resume, a personal statement (which Derik helped me on), and you send a couple of hundred bucks. If the schools like your first application they send you a secondary application. Basically you write a few more essays, answer a few questions, and send some more money. Then if they like your secondary application they invite you to the school for an interview... at your expense of course. If they like you at the interview then they offer you a spot at their school. Okay now back to my situation: I got secondary applications from all 4 schools I applied to (probably thanks to Derik's input on my essay). I only turned in 2 of the secondaries, and both schools have invited me to fly out and interview. So in about 3 weeks I will be flying out to West Virginia and Missouri. I'll be gone for a week. To be honest I'm a little nervous. I've not flown since my mission. It will be a big, exciting trip for me. I'll have some extra time in each city to look around and get a feel for each place. Maybe by the end of October we'll know where we are headed for school. The Lord has been very generous to us!
In other news we spent Labor Day weekend at Becky's parents' farm. The weather wasn't all that cooperative, so we didn't get to go 4-wheeling or shooting, but we had a wonderful time with her family. We played games, watched movies, teased and chatted. It was a great break from reality.
Becky is working at the fair this week. She gets off work at 5, then leaves for the fair at 5:20. She doesn't get home until around midnight. She's been doing it all week. Luckily her last night is tomorrow night. I don't miss the bachelor life.
Now it's time for the "Don't you wish you were at ISU" moment: One of the books I'm required to read this semester is entitled "Red queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature." The book's author is trying to justify the existence of genders using evolutionary tools. It's not going to be my most useful class, I can tell you that.
We're doing well, and keeping busy. God bless you all!
Stewart and Becky
In other news we spent Labor Day weekend at Becky's parents' farm. The weather wasn't all that cooperative, so we didn't get to go 4-wheeling or shooting, but we had a wonderful time with her family. We played games, watched movies, teased and chatted. It was a great break from reality.
Becky is working at the fair this week. She gets off work at 5, then leaves for the fair at 5:20. She doesn't get home until around midnight. She's been doing it all week. Luckily her last night is tomorrow night. I don't miss the bachelor life.
Now it's time for the "Don't you wish you were at ISU" moment: One of the books I'm required to read this semester is entitled "Red queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature." The book's author is trying to justify the existence of genders using evolutionary tools. It's not going to be my most useful class, I can tell you that.
We're doing well, and keeping busy. God bless you all!
Stewart and Becky
2008 August: Robertson
Hello everyone,
Let me see if I can get you all caught up to date on the Robertson family. The move went smooth enough. It took us two days to drive to Rochester, MN from Rexburg. My parents drove the moving van which was a complete life saver. We can never thank them enough. Morgan's family gave us dinner that night and we crashed shortly after that. The next day we drove to Winona since we had an appointment to get our apartment. But, when we showed up to the appointment, the lady wasn't ready for us. She said that she didn't expect us to actually show up and so she had scheduled another appointment over the top of ours. I couldn't believe it. She then wanted to reschedule for a week following, but we explained that we had a moving truck full of stuff that we were expecting to unload into an apartment. She had us come back in an hour. We ended up getting the apartment. It is a two bedroom, two story town house with an unfinished basement. It is a pretty nice place. And we are getting it subsidized – even nicer. The person who “lived” here was a police informant for a rather large drug bust that happened in the area here, but we haven't seen anything to do with that since living here unless you count the random notes that are slipped into our mailbox with large unmarked bills folded into them (cough).
We were able to unload the truck that day and head back to Rochester. We said good-bye to my parents the next day as they went back to Idaho. We miss them and everyone back in that part of the country. We then got back into the car and drove another four hours to Duluth,MN for Morgan's family reunion. During the reunion we drove around Duluth, went for scenic drives, and drove to a light house. Needless to say, I have been avoiding my car like death since we came back to Winona. Duluth was enjoyable and we did get to play in Lake Superior. Well, we watched Kyla and Daria play in Lake Superior while we tried to keep them from going into deep water.
A little over a week after we signed the contract for the apartment, we finally came to our apartment to stay. Unpacking wasn't that bad. We had everything basically unpacked and put away in a couple days. Winona is an interesting town. It is in a very narrow valley with green bluffs on either side. On one side of the valley next to one wall of bluffs is the Mississippi river, on the other side of the valley against the opposite side of bluffs are a few small lakes, in between all said bodies of water is Winona. It gets humid here. There are several large churches in the town and some very nice 1800's old houses. One of the older mansions is for sale. So if you are willing to cough up a couple million dollars and want to live in a house on the national registry of historic landmarks, the mansion is yours.
Morgan and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by going out to dinner. There is no place in this town to have a nice dinner. But if you want a bar and grill or a pub and grille (yes, we have both kinds), this is your town. The place we went to (one of the bar and grill variety – it was recommended), everything of that dining experience can be summed up with this little observation. In the room we were dining in, there was a large hole in the ceiling. Instead of fixing it, the management stuck a stuffed leg with a boot on it into the hole and left it dangling down for the entire world to see. We don't think we will go back.
School started for me already. I am taking three classes (the minimum) and working in the writing center as I prepare my class to teach for the winter semester. The books for my classes ended up costing around $400. I am going through about one and a half books a week plus articles. School has very quickly eaten up all of my time. I am usually gone by 8:30 am and usually get back home at 7:30 pm. It makes for long days for both myself and Morgan. I am enjoying my classes. I have been pleased that so much philosophy has been coming up as I study different theories. My background in philosophy is serving me well.
The branch that we are in is small (60-70 people every Sunday), but everyone there is very friendly to us. So friendly that after the meetings were over on our first Sunday, I was asked to teach the Priesthood lesson for the following Sunday. I ended up teaching the lesson on my second Sunday in the branch blissfully unaware of anyone's name and calling – including the stake president who was sitting right next to me. It was finally pointed out half way through the lesson who and what he was (we were talking about Priesthood keys – someone made a good connection). Ah, ignorance. The young women are enraptured with the girls and mob Morgan and the girls every week after church. They want to babysit and have assured us on several occasions that they are old enough. I have been called as the Young Men's President and am currently trying to get a presidency together. I have three active priests and two active deacons. I am still hazy on how many inactives there are. Morgan is still without a calling, but the primary president is moving out in a couple weeks and the Branch president keeps telling her that they are “waiting for the right spot and the right time.” In the meantime, she plays piano for the Relief Society and has been told to also expect another assignment leading music. Whew! I think that I have covered everything that has happened during this crazy month. We wish you all the best and love you all. If you are every in the Twin Cities area (or Wisconsin, Iowa, or maybe Chicago) let us know and we could try to meet. Our door is always open if you want to take a road trip.
God bless,
The Robertsons
P.S. Here is the new address and phone number:
775 E Belleview St. Apt B
Winona, MN 55987
507.452.1365
P.P.S. we will try and get a blog up and going soon so you can see pictures
Let me see if I can get you all caught up to date on the Robertson family. The move went smooth enough. It took us two days to drive to Rochester, MN from Rexburg. My parents drove the moving van which was a complete life saver. We can never thank them enough. Morgan's family gave us dinner that night and we crashed shortly after that. The next day we drove to Winona since we had an appointment to get our apartment. But, when we showed up to the appointment, the lady wasn't ready for us. She said that she didn't expect us to actually show up and so she had scheduled another appointment over the top of ours. I couldn't believe it. She then wanted to reschedule for a week following, but we explained that we had a moving truck full of stuff that we were expecting to unload into an apartment. She had us come back in an hour. We ended up getting the apartment. It is a two bedroom, two story town house with an unfinished basement. It is a pretty nice place. And we are getting it subsidized – even nicer. The person who “lived” here was a police informant for a rather large drug bust that happened in the area here, but we haven't seen anything to do with that since living here unless you count the random notes that are slipped into our mailbox with large unmarked bills folded into them (cough).
We were able to unload the truck that day and head back to Rochester. We said good-bye to my parents the next day as they went back to Idaho. We miss them and everyone back in that part of the country. We then got back into the car and drove another four hours to Duluth,MN for Morgan's family reunion. During the reunion we drove around Duluth, went for scenic drives, and drove to a light house. Needless to say, I have been avoiding my car like death since we came back to Winona. Duluth was enjoyable and we did get to play in Lake Superior. Well, we watched Kyla and Daria play in Lake Superior while we tried to keep them from going into deep water.
A little over a week after we signed the contract for the apartment, we finally came to our apartment to stay. Unpacking wasn't that bad. We had everything basically unpacked and put away in a couple days. Winona is an interesting town. It is in a very narrow valley with green bluffs on either side. On one side of the valley next to one wall of bluffs is the Mississippi river, on the other side of the valley against the opposite side of bluffs are a few small lakes, in between all said bodies of water is Winona. It gets humid here. There are several large churches in the town and some very nice 1800's old houses. One of the older mansions is for sale. So if you are willing to cough up a couple million dollars and want to live in a house on the national registry of historic landmarks, the mansion is yours.
Morgan and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by going out to dinner. There is no place in this town to have a nice dinner. But if you want a bar and grill or a pub and grille (yes, we have both kinds), this is your town. The place we went to (one of the bar and grill variety – it was recommended), everything of that dining experience can be summed up with this little observation. In the room we were dining in, there was a large hole in the ceiling. Instead of fixing it, the management stuck a stuffed leg with a boot on it into the hole and left it dangling down for the entire world to see. We don't think we will go back.
School started for me already. I am taking three classes (the minimum) and working in the writing center as I prepare my class to teach for the winter semester. The books for my classes ended up costing around $400. I am going through about one and a half books a week plus articles. School has very quickly eaten up all of my time. I am usually gone by 8:30 am and usually get back home at 7:30 pm. It makes for long days for both myself and Morgan. I am enjoying my classes. I have been pleased that so much philosophy has been coming up as I study different theories. My background in philosophy is serving me well.
The branch that we are in is small (60-70 people every Sunday), but everyone there is very friendly to us. So friendly that after the meetings were over on our first Sunday, I was asked to teach the Priesthood lesson for the following Sunday. I ended up teaching the lesson on my second Sunday in the branch blissfully unaware of anyone's name and calling – including the stake president who was sitting right next to me. It was finally pointed out half way through the lesson who and what he was (we were talking about Priesthood keys – someone made a good connection). Ah, ignorance. The young women are enraptured with the girls and mob Morgan and the girls every week after church. They want to babysit and have assured us on several occasions that they are old enough. I have been called as the Young Men's President and am currently trying to get a presidency together. I have three active priests and two active deacons. I am still hazy on how many inactives there are. Morgan is still without a calling, but the primary president is moving out in a couple weeks and the Branch president keeps telling her that they are “waiting for the right spot and the right time.” In the meantime, she plays piano for the Relief Society and has been told to also expect another assignment leading music. Whew! I think that I have covered everything that has happened during this crazy month. We wish you all the best and love you all. If you are every in the Twin Cities area (or Wisconsin, Iowa, or maybe Chicago) let us know and we could try to meet. Our door is always open if you want to take a road trip.
God bless,
The Robertsons
P.S. Here is the new address and phone number:
775 E Belleview St. Apt B
Winona, MN 55987
507.452.1365
P.P.S. we will try and get a blog up and going soon so you can see pictures
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
2008 July: Hope
Hello All, Sorry it has taken so long to get this to Rob, but it has been an interesting month.
To start off it was my birthday on the 18th and we just had some cake and ice cream with friends and family. I got a cool gift from Rob but that will come in the Aug letter.
Michelle is doing great she and the boys went to a family reunion on the 21st to bear lake and was there for a week. They had a great time up there. I missed them.
Scott and Kyle are doing great and are playing well with each other. They are both growing to fast for me and I wish there was some drink that I could give them to slow down the aging.
Work is still work and nothing really big happened this month that I can remember.... besides finding out that we aren't able to get the student loans we need to live off of due to the information that was just told to me that at the school each student can only take out so much money and well I found that out a month before I start so we now have to re-do our money planing for us to live off of $10,000 for two years (not including tax returns which will save out butts) unless we take out a loan from Astrive or some other lender that does not go through the school. Well will see how we hold up this year. But I am excited to start school on the 27th of August. Well it is short and probably not sweet but until school starts that is what it is.
Talk to you all later,
Jason, Michelle, Scott, Kyle
To start off it was my birthday on the 18th and we just had some cake and ice cream with friends and family. I got a cool gift from Rob but that will come in the Aug letter.
Michelle is doing great she and the boys went to a family reunion on the 21st to bear lake and was there for a week. They had a great time up there. I missed them.
Scott and Kyle are doing great and are playing well with each other. They are both growing to fast for me and I wish there was some drink that I could give them to slow down the aging.
Work is still work and nothing really big happened this month that I can remember.... besides finding out that we aren't able to get the student loans we need to live off of due to the information that was just told to me that at the school each student can only take out so much money and well I found that out a month before I start so we now have to re-do our money planing for us to live off of $10,000 for two years (not including tax returns which will save out butts) unless we take out a loan from Astrive or some other lender that does not go through the school. Well will see how we hold up this year. But I am excited to start school on the 27th of August. Well it is short and probably not sweet but until school starts that is what it is.
Talk to you all later,
Jason, Michelle, Scott, Kyle
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
2008 July: Bates
Well, not much happened this month... just kidding: We had a BABY!!!
So, Orianna was born July 1st at 3 PM, wieghed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long. The labor lasted for 4 hours (from when we got to the hospital). Tamara did great, and she still looks great, and she had a fairly easy labor, and our baby is beautiful... so pretty much every woman in our ward hates her right now. We are proud parents and have spent the majority of this month just hanging out together, talking to Orianna, and realizing how alert she is.
On July 4th we went to Tamara's family's house to light fireworks and watch fireworks from Thanksgiving Point. We ditched early to put Orianna to bed. While I was holding her on my chest to burp her, she lifted herself up on all 4s, raised her head, and looked at us. 3.5 days old and she is already strong enough to do that!!! Crazy!!! We may have had super-baby.
The next day she crawled across the bed (not on all 4s, but more of a commando crawl) and she rolled over. We are afraid to leave her alone on the bed or couch because we think she might roll/crawl off it. I thought you were supposed to get a few months of worry-free near-vegetative babyness?!!? Oh well. We are pleased to see her progress and amazed.
Orianna's favorite activity is to experience different senses. She loves to look at lights, shadows, and people. She always gets really intent on figuring out where noises come from (it took her about 30 min to figure out that the meat sizzling in the pan wasn't me making noise while cooking). She LOVES to smell things (particularly Red Vines and Chocolate).
We have greatly enjoyed seeing her use her senses. It's funny how obvious it is.
Other than that, we haven't done much. We put all our house projects on pause, and I haven't worked on Mission Show Box all month.
But, we've enjoyed a slower month of just bonding.
Proud parents,
-Tamara & Rob
and Super-Baby Orianna.
So, Orianna was born July 1st at 3 PM, wieghed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long. The labor lasted for 4 hours (from when we got to the hospital). Tamara did great, and she still looks great, and she had a fairly easy labor, and our baby is beautiful... so pretty much every woman in our ward hates her right now. We are proud parents and have spent the majority of this month just hanging out together, talking to Orianna, and realizing how alert she is.
On July 4th we went to Tamara's family's house to light fireworks and watch fireworks from Thanksgiving Point. We ditched early to put Orianna to bed. While I was holding her on my chest to burp her, she lifted herself up on all 4s, raised her head, and looked at us. 3.5 days old and she is already strong enough to do that!!! Crazy!!! We may have had super-baby.
The next day she crawled across the bed (not on all 4s, but more of a commando crawl) and she rolled over. We are afraid to leave her alone on the bed or couch because we think she might roll/crawl off it. I thought you were supposed to get a few months of worry-free near-vegetative babyness?!!? Oh well. We are pleased to see her progress and amazed.
Orianna's favorite activity is to experience different senses. She loves to look at lights, shadows, and people. She always gets really intent on figuring out where noises come from (it took her about 30 min to figure out that the meat sizzling in the pan wasn't me making noise while cooking). She LOVES to smell things (particularly Red Vines and Chocolate).
We have greatly enjoyed seeing her use her senses. It's funny how obvious it is.
Other than that, we haven't done much. We put all our house projects on pause, and I haven't worked on Mission Show Box all month.
But, we've enjoyed a slower month of just bonding.
Proud parents,
-Tamara & Rob
and Super-Baby Orianna.
2008 July: North
We've spent the month in transit it seems like. I think we left town every weekend of the month. We had family reunions, and a wedding. The wedding was unique, so I'll tell you about it. My old roommate was only active for about a year after his baptism, then the pull of clear water in the reservoir, the feel of water skis on his feet, and the roar of a powerful boat engine pulled him out of activity. He married a girl who is also inactive, but comes from a fairly active family. The wedding was performed on his uncle's large estate. His uncle's house sits right along the canyon in Twin Falls and has a breathtaking view from his backyard. The wedding was performed by her uncle, who is an LDS bishop. It was very thoughtful, and very well done. The bishop probably gave the only sermon that a lot of the attendants had heard in a long time. He ended with a powerful plea to the couple to get their lives in order and go to the temple. Ironically, the soon-to-be-dedicated Twin Falls temple was visible from the wedding site. The wedding reminded both Becky and I how grateful we are for our own eternal vows. We're so blessed aren't we?!
This last weekend we went and watched the opening ceremonies of the International Dance Festival. Becky had never seen them, and it was a weekend that all my family could get together, so we went and enjoyed ourselves. Alex also spoke in church. He sounds/acts/speaks like El. Bednar. He's very mature spiritually. We're proud of him.
We're still playing the waiting game for medical school. I called one of the schools about a week ago to see if they'd received my application yet and they told me it was still too soon, and to try back in the middle of August. We're just waiting, and hoping for the best.
This last weekend we went and watched the opening ceremonies of the International Dance Festival. Becky had never seen them, and it was a weekend that all my family could get together, so we went and enjoyed ourselves. Alex also spoke in church. He sounds/acts/speaks like El. Bednar. He's very mature spiritually. We're proud of him.
We're still playing the waiting game for medical school. I called one of the schools about a week ago to see if they'd received my application yet and they told me it was still too soon, and to try back in the middle of August. We're just waiting, and hoping for the best.
2008 July: Robertson
Hey all,
I figure if I don't get this sent now, it just isn't going to happen. July, as predicted, was insane. And since I am in need of going to bed, I will just give you all the highlights. For the fourth of July my boss at Grand river got us tickets to go to the fireworks show in Idaho Falls. Yes, tickets. We got t go to the Shilo inn to watch the fireworks. While there we were able to show up when we wanted, we got a front row seat. We got to hear an orchestra play as we were catered dinner. I was a good dinner, good show, and good music. We (Morgan and Myself) wowed everyone at our table when we were able to name all of the songs that the orchestra played. We even got the name of the theme song for MASH correct. Bonus points if you know it without googling it. Right after the fireworks, we went out to our car to find that it was dead. We waited for about an hour stranded in Idaho falls at 1 in the morning until my parents could pick us up. We returned the next day to tow it back to Rexburg and take it to a mechanics. Luckily it wasn't anything too major. The piece to replace cost about 9 dollars and labor was about 40 - I am really going into the wrong business.
The next weekend was my family reunion in Blackfoot. That was an adventure. It was the first time that we slept in a tent with the girls. We made it through the night without too much trauma. It was an enjoyable time to spend with family that I haven't seen in years.
School finished up the following week and I about died with all of the last minute things that were going on. But I survived. I received my evaluations. Some bad most good and no one accusing me of being anti-mormon or blasphemous - just being young inexperienced and a bit arrogant. oh-well. But I had some really good reviews and the good reviews were in the majority so I will count the semester with my book a success. Although almost all of my students claimed that they learned a lot on the evaluations and nearly all of them complained about the reading and the work load. Maybe someday they will put two and two together - you get what you put into a class.
We then went to Miriam's graduation ceremony. that was nice to see her get her degree. The usual festivities ensued. But those were nothing compared to what happened the week after that - she was married. Morgan did the flowers for the wedding and they were marvelous despite the headache that she received when she went t pick up her flowers to work with, and a large chunk of them were dead and wilting. She made it work and it only took one extra trip to Idaho falls and despite the fact that she was sick and both of the girls were sick ( I never caught it).The sealing was very nice and very large. We filled the largest sealing room in the Rexburg temple - and in the entire church if you want that little point of trivia. She married Jason Andrus and he is the youngest of 9 kids. We helped with the reception that night. It was a fun and crazy night.
Now we are in the process of moving. We have cleaned and packed all of our apartment. We have the truck loaded and we take off for a new adventure to Minnesota first thing in the morning. With that said. I wont be seeing a computer for any substantial period of time in who knows how long (as soon as we get to Minnesota we are going to Morgan's family reunion). So I need to head off to bed. Good night, and good luck.
Love you all,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria
I figure if I don't get this sent now, it just isn't going to happen. July, as predicted, was insane. And since I am in need of going to bed, I will just give you all the highlights. For the fourth of July my boss at Grand river got us tickets to go to the fireworks show in Idaho Falls. Yes, tickets. We got t go to the Shilo inn to watch the fireworks. While there we were able to show up when we wanted, we got a front row seat. We got to hear an orchestra play as we were catered dinner. I was a good dinner, good show, and good music. We (Morgan and Myself) wowed everyone at our table when we were able to name all of the songs that the orchestra played. We even got the name of the theme song for MASH correct. Bonus points if you know it without googling it. Right after the fireworks, we went out to our car to find that it was dead. We waited for about an hour stranded in Idaho falls at 1 in the morning until my parents could pick us up. We returned the next day to tow it back to Rexburg and take it to a mechanics. Luckily it wasn't anything too major. The piece to replace cost about 9 dollars and labor was about 40 - I am really going into the wrong business.
The next weekend was my family reunion in Blackfoot. That was an adventure. It was the first time that we slept in a tent with the girls. We made it through the night without too much trauma. It was an enjoyable time to spend with family that I haven't seen in years.
School finished up the following week and I about died with all of the last minute things that were going on. But I survived. I received my evaluations. Some bad most good and no one accusing me of being anti-mormon or blasphemous - just being young inexperienced and a bit arrogant. oh-well. But I had some really good reviews and the good reviews were in the majority so I will count the semester with my book a success. Although almost all of my students claimed that they learned a lot on the evaluations and nearly all of them complained about the reading and the work load. Maybe someday they will put two and two together - you get what you put into a class.
We then went to Miriam's graduation ceremony. that was nice to see her get her degree. The usual festivities ensued. But those were nothing compared to what happened the week after that - she was married. Morgan did the flowers for the wedding and they were marvelous despite the headache that she received when she went t pick up her flowers to work with, and a large chunk of them were dead and wilting. She made it work and it only took one extra trip to Idaho falls and despite the fact that she was sick and both of the girls were sick ( I never caught it).The sealing was very nice and very large. We filled the largest sealing room in the Rexburg temple - and in the entire church if you want that little point of trivia. She married Jason Andrus and he is the youngest of 9 kids. We helped with the reception that night. It was a fun and crazy night.
Now we are in the process of moving. We have cleaned and packed all of our apartment. We have the truck loaded and we take off for a new adventure to Minnesota first thing in the morning. With that said. I wont be seeing a computer for any substantial period of time in who knows how long (as soon as we get to Minnesota we are going to Morgan's family reunion). So I need to head off to bed. Good night, and good luck.
Love you all,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria
Thursday, July 3, 2008
2008 June: Hope
Well what has gone on this month???
To start off with, my family came down for the Scottish festival in Lehi, and it was a blast once again. Both my sons tried the caber toss but we only got Scott doing it on picture.
They also came to Temple square to visit me when I was working and letting the boys see the temple and all of the water fountains there. You can see some pictures at our blog: jmskhope.blogspot.com
The rest of the month is about same old same old. I have just went into $50,000 in debt and still need 40-50 more to live off of, so happy times.
My 2nd oldest brother got married on the 28th, all I can say is good luck with that.
I went on a hike to the G with the elders quorum but instead we climbed up to some water falls and it was a blast, they took pictures of us and me in my kilt, all of us but a couple of sisters stood under the waster fall with was the run off of the snow up top, so it was very cold.
Michelle got called to be the Primary chorister and she really likes it so far. I am still the ward mission leader, that is just a big mess right now.
Other than that it has just been get up go to work come home eat and go to bed.
So hope everyone is doing great. Our phone number is 801-802-6113 if anyone needs to get a hold of us.
To start off with, my family came down for the Scottish festival in Lehi, and it was a blast once again. Both my sons tried the caber toss but we only got Scott doing it on picture.
They also came to Temple square to visit me when I was working and letting the boys see the temple and all of the water fountains there. You can see some pictures at our blog: jmskhope.blogspot.com
The rest of the month is about same old same old. I have just went into $50,000 in debt and still need 40-50 more to live off of, so happy times.
My 2nd oldest brother got married on the 28th, all I can say is good luck with that.
I went on a hike to the G with the elders quorum but instead we climbed up to some water falls and it was a blast, they took pictures of us and me in my kilt, all of us but a couple of sisters stood under the waster fall with was the run off of the snow up top, so it was very cold.
Michelle got called to be the Primary chorister and she really likes it so far. I am still the ward mission leader, that is just a big mess right now.
Other than that it has just been get up go to work come home eat and go to bed.
So hope everyone is doing great. Our phone number is 801-802-6113 if anyone needs to get a hold of us.
The Hopes
2008 June: Bates
This month was spent preparing for the birth of our daughter.
We cleaned our whole house, got a crib, put together a nursery, and got all the hospital stuff ready.
It actually all went as planned, and worked out perfectly. So, we are very grateful that it all turned out well.
She wasn't actually born until July... so I'll just let you check out our blog for that information: http://bateses.blogspot.com/
Other than that, I just spent a lot of time working on MissionShoeBox.com which is progressing nicely. I think we should be able to launch in a few months.
Well, we hope you are all doing well,
-Rob & Tamara
We cleaned our whole house, got a crib, put together a nursery, and got all the hospital stuff ready.
It actually all went as planned, and worked out perfectly. So, we are very grateful that it all turned out well.
She wasn't actually born until July... so I'll just let you check out our blog for that information: http://bateses.blogspot.com/
Other than that, I just spent a lot of time working on MissionShoeBox.com which is progressing nicely. I think we should be able to launch in a few months.
Well, we hope you are all doing well,
-Rob & Tamara
2008 June: North
This has been an eventful month for the North’s. I got my MCAT score a week ago. I got a 28M. That’s above average, and good enough for the schools I’ve applied to. I would like to have done better, but this is good enough. I know that the Lord helped me do my best work. He helped me balance my time studying with my other responsibilities. I finished my application to medical school and submitted it about 10 days ago. I had a little help from Derik (thank you again) with my personal statement. Derik told me that I should consider cutting out the segment where I talk about being daring enough to eat a piece of pizza off the lunch room floor in high school, and the part about where I used to burn grasshoppers with a magnifying glass. I don’t quite understand why he said that, but hey, he’s the guy with the English degree. J No seriously, Derik had some helpful comments. Now we’re just waiting to hear back from the schools. Hopefully they invite me to fly out for an interview…hopefully I can afford to fly out for an interview.
This last weekend we had a family reunion on Becky’s side. We spent a few days camping near Vernal Utah. It was beautiful weather. We floated the Green River on Friday. Each boat had a bucket for “bailing water” (we used them more to give the other guys something to bail). It was a wonderful weekend!
On a serious note Alex went in to the hospital in Rexburg about a week ago complaining of abdominal pain. They discovered an abscess in his small intestine (common for Crohn’s patients) and had to operate immediately. They cut out a thin segment of his small intestine. He’s been in the hospital for the last week, and will be out shortly. It has been a challenge for him and for our family. Times like these remind us of how important family is, and how much we love each other. We're grateful to be sealed for eternity so that no matter what happens we will have each other again.
God bless!
Stewart and Becky
This last weekend we had a family reunion on Becky’s side. We spent a few days camping near Vernal Utah. It was beautiful weather. We floated the Green River on Friday. Each boat had a bucket for “bailing water” (we used them more to give the other guys something to bail). It was a wonderful weekend!
On a serious note Alex went in to the hospital in Rexburg about a week ago complaining of abdominal pain. They discovered an abscess in his small intestine (common for Crohn’s patients) and had to operate immediately. They cut out a thin segment of his small intestine. He’s been in the hospital for the last week, and will be out shortly. It has been a challenge for him and for our family. Times like these remind us of how important family is, and how much we love each other. We're grateful to be sealed for eternity so that no matter what happens we will have each other again.
God bless!
Stewart and Becky
2008 June: Robertson
Hey all,
Honestly, my first reaction to reading Rob's little baby-on-the-way announcement (besides that of happiness for Rob and Tamara) was excitement that I could procrastinate writing this for another day. But I thought better of it, and so I am writing it now. June has been a busy month for us. I just know that I will leave something out. So you have my permission to fill in any juicy details that you felt that I left out. I think that my month was mostly lived in the post office. We were sending out birthday presents, father's day presents and what have you presents almost everyday during the beginning of the month. One thing that has facilitated the stepped up trips to the good P.O. is the discovery of Amazon Marketplace. We found that you can post for free until whatever you are trying to get rid of sells - unlike ebay when it is only on for a week and then you have to repay. We are taking a hard look at everything that we own and are seeing what we can get rid off. We decided since we are poor and this move will cost over $1,000, we will try and sell our unwanteds instead of DIing them. So far, it is working rather nicely. We are selling movies, games, books, and other odds and ends. So far we have made about $100 on amazon. We just need to do that 10 more times and we can get this move paid off.
Another big thing that happened - we got a Wii. We found a good deal on it and nabbed it. At the same time, we also got the Wii fit. So we have been exercising on it nightly. The thing is brutal in its honesty and its niceness about it. If you are overweight, which i was, it makes your character plump up accordingly. I watched my little character gain a foot around the waist instantly. Ouch. But, I have lost 10 pounds during June because I have finally started to exercise again. Just need to loose about 12 more pounds to reach my ideal weight. Morgan needs to gain weight to be ideal - at least according to the Wii, I on the other hand think she is already there. And I didn't just write that because she is standing over my shoulder watching me type this.
Father's day was good to me. I got breakfast in bed. Spoiled. Everything else after that was extra spoilage, but I don't want to make the rest of you feel jealous so I wont elaborate. We spent the day down in Blackfoot at my grandparent's house. It was an enjoyable day.
A few days after that, I learned that a student had been plagiarizing all of her assignments. I sent out a couple of general emails and made a class announcement about plagiarizing and what to do if you have or even thought that you have been guilty of it hoping that she would turn herself in. She never did. I called her into my office and asked her point blank if she wrote the papers she turned in. She said that she had. I then pulled out the web addresses of each and every one of her essays and asked her to explain why each of the essays that she has written were on free essay sites on-line. She played dumb and lied to me for a good half an hour as I asked her question after question. Her basic story was that two different people wrote the exact same essay word for word; she turned hers in and the other person posted it on-line. After 30 minutes of that rather painful conversation, I told her that I was going to fail her because she plagiarized her work and then lied to me for a very long time about it. She broke down, and cried that they would kick her out of school and out of the country (she's from Europe). She wanted a chance to make it right. I tried to tell her that I had given her many chances, but she wasn't listening to me. She confessed that she had paid $40 dollars for one of the essays. I asked her about the others, but she still played dumb. She begged me to change my mind for another 5-10 minutes. I couldn't; I wouldn't; I didn't. She ran out crying, and that was about the time that I lost all control that I had managed to keep. That was a miserable conversation that I never want to have again.
Morgan and I then were able to go on a trip by ourselves. My parents took the girls for a weekend and we left Rexburg. We went wherever we wanted to go. We went to see a play and drove around the mountains, went hiking, drove around some more. We went shopping, and spent the entire weekend just relaxing and getting ourselves emotionally prepared for the big push to the end of our stay in Rexburg, Idaho. It was a much needed break. I think it was the first vacation or time away from work or responsibility that I have had since...I can't say for sure. I know that it was really the first vacation that I haven't done any work at at least for the past 3 years – no wonder I am turning into such a dullard. On the way back to Rexburg, our car started having some problems. I just hope that it isn't anything serious since we will be driving the car to Minnesota in a couple of weeks.
Now we are bracing ourselves against the month of July. It will be crazy. Shudder. Good thing that we have rediscovered the joys of audio books. I have a subscription to audible.com and am getting some amazing deals from that place, and we getting the most out of netlibrary.com where you can “check-out” audio books to listen to and download to select portable devices. This month between the two of us we have listened to The Ceiling: How Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, Portuguese Irregular Verbs, Where God was Born – the story of the Bible and the Middle East, Lectures of Faith and Reason, Confessions of St. Augustine, Girl of the Limberlost, Anna Karenina, The Qu'ran:a biography, and Siddartha: an Indian Tale. I think that it will be audio books that pull us through this blasted move. Anyway I think that is everything on our end of the Jell-O belt. Wish you all the best and Heaven's blessings,
The Robertsons
Monday, June 2, 2008
2008 May: Hope
Well for May we moved to Utah on the 8th to Orem. Our new address is 65 E. 600 N. Orem, UT 84057.
On the 12th I started my summer job in Salt Lake on temple square doing gardening around the Church office building. I never knew how many flowers that place had WOW.
Michelle and the kids came from California after being there for 3 weeks on the 18th. Then on the 21 Kyle turned the big 2. We had family and friends come over to sing happy birthday to Kyle. He loves all of his gifts form cars to a baseball mitt and ball from Rob and Tamara. All I can say is that thank goodness it is a soft ball because they love throwing it around the house. Scott and Kyle are playing great together and are getting funner by the day.
Our ward here is great it is a family ward but 90% of the ward is college students so it feels like a student ward. The funny thing about that is that our bishop is 25 years old. One of Michelle's old roommates lives across from us. The ward has been great and we have met some very cool people. One family has 2 boys ages 3 and 2 and the wife's name is Emily and the husbands name is Jason. There are some people in the ward who remind me of people back home or elders in the mission. Well I got a calling to be a ward mission leader, so this shooed be interesting.
I got certified in CPR and AED today for my DH. On Friday morning I was about to leave for work and I got into the car and... (a few months ago my dad was asking me if we ever changed the car battery? I said no not yet (the car is a 2000 year car) why? Well it should be going out one of these days. Then I said probably. My dad said it will probably not start one Friday before you go to work or school. I just laughed and said probably)... what do you know the battery was dead it just had enough juice to start, thank goodness for that. So I changed my first car battery on Friday, it was easier than I thought.
Well thanks all for now. Join us next month for another episode of The Hopes.
Love you all,
Jason, Michelle, Scott, Kyle, and ??????
P.S. J/K there are no episodes just letters.
P.P.S. J/K there is no ????? just us 4 :)
On the 12th I started my summer job in Salt Lake on temple square doing gardening around the Church office building. I never knew how many flowers that place had WOW.
Michelle and the kids came from California after being there for 3 weeks on the 18th. Then on the 21 Kyle turned the big 2. We had family and friends come over to sing happy birthday to Kyle. He loves all of his gifts form cars to a baseball mitt and ball from Rob and Tamara. All I can say is that thank goodness it is a soft ball because they love throwing it around the house. Scott and Kyle are playing great together and are getting funner by the day.
Our ward here is great it is a family ward but 90% of the ward is college students so it feels like a student ward. The funny thing about that is that our bishop is 25 years old. One of Michelle's old roommates lives across from us. The ward has been great and we have met some very cool people. One family has 2 boys ages 3 and 2 and the wife's name is Emily and the husbands name is Jason. There are some people in the ward who remind me of people back home or elders in the mission. Well I got a calling to be a ward mission leader, so this shooed be interesting.
I got certified in CPR and AED today for my DH. On Friday morning I was about to leave for work and I got into the car and... (a few months ago my dad was asking me if we ever changed the car battery? I said no not yet (the car is a 2000 year car) why? Well it should be going out one of these days. Then I said probably. My dad said it will probably not start one Friday before you go to work or school. I just laughed and said probably)... what do you know the battery was dead it just had enough juice to start, thank goodness for that. So I changed my first car battery on Friday, it was easier than I thought.
Well thanks all for now. Join us next month for another episode of The Hopes.
Love you all,
Jason, Michelle, Scott, Kyle, and ??????
P.S. J/K there are no episodes just letters.
P.P.S. J/K there is no ????? just us 4 :)
2008 May: Bates
May, the merry month of memories:
May 3rd- my mom's birthday
May 8th- Tamara birthday
May 10th- our dog's birthday (70 in dog years)
May 11th- Mother's Day
May 15th- 2nd anniversary or working at MasterControl
May 16th- 1st Anniversary of Marriage
So, we had a very busy month of celebration.
We also watched both "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones 4" this month... so it was a movie month as well.
Tamara is now a full 8 months pregnant and we are excited to be parents. She has had a relatively easy pregnancy, and is just now starting to get quite achy, but she has been a trooper throughout.
We have been doing a fair amount of Yard Work. We got 3 loads of dirt dumped in our driveway that we need to move into the back yard (to cover up all the weeds) so we can plant grass there. We also have been looking into fencing in the whole yard. So, we have our work cut out for us.
I have been working a lot on MissionShoeBox, and it is getting close to being able to launch. So, Shaun (my business partner) and I now need to start figuring out the business side of this business (not our strong suit).
We hope you are all well. Take care,
-Rob & Tamara
May 3rd- my mom's birthday
May 8th- Tamara birthday
May 10th- our dog's birthday (70 in dog years)
May 11th- Mother's Day
May 15th- 2nd anniversary or working at MasterControl
May 16th- 1st Anniversary of Marriage
So, we had a very busy month of celebration.
We also watched both "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones 4" this month... so it was a movie month as well.
Tamara is now a full 8 months pregnant and we are excited to be parents. She has had a relatively easy pregnancy, and is just now starting to get quite achy, but she has been a trooper throughout.
We have been doing a fair amount of Yard Work. We got 3 loads of dirt dumped in our driveway that we need to move into the back yard (to cover up all the weeds) so we can plant grass there. We also have been looking into fencing in the whole yard. So, we have our work cut out for us.
I have been working a lot on MissionShoeBox, and it is getting close to being able to launch. So, Shaun (my business partner) and I now need to start figuring out the business side of this business (not our strong suit).
We hope you are all well. Take care,
-Rob & Tamara
2008 May: Robertson
It is pretty dead at work here, so I will take a minute or two and write this thing because I don't know if it will happen otherwise.
I am trying to think of what happened in May and am coming up with a bunch of blanks. I know that we did things and stayed rather busy, but if I am to give specifics, I falter.
I know that I was busy with school. Started summer semester using the book that I wrote, and so far, I have been pleased with the results. I already have ideas of what I will do different if/when I come out with another edition. I started my block class at the beginning of the week and was able to scare over 10 people out of it so far. I have until wednesday to get the class down even more. My regular semester class has warmed up to me and we enjoy good debates. My block class still doesn't know what to think of me since I am still playing the strict teacher role with insane expectations and only let the push-over me come through every once in a while.
We have been keeping busy mostly through attending all of the events surrounding end of school (concerts, recitals, etc) as well as some of the graduation ceremonies. (Eljay and Jarom graduated from high school this month). So we were involved with many family events. Other than that, we are trying to figure out a way to get us moved come July-ish (When is still up in the air). We are getting sickened at the prices of moving (it will be a literal miracle if we can get moved for under $1500).
I guess the other news to report for those of you interested is that Jason Andrus came home from his mission the end of April and a week or two ago he and Miriam announced that they are going to get married. So the date is set for July 26th. I believe that means that every weekend in July is now booked for me except for the 4th - I am not looking forward to the crazy month of July. Oh-well.
I will get this sent off since it is late enough already. Here's wishing all of you the best and God's blessings.
Derik & Co.
I am trying to think of what happened in May and am coming up with a bunch of blanks. I know that we did things and stayed rather busy, but if I am to give specifics, I falter.
I know that I was busy with school. Started summer semester using the book that I wrote, and so far, I have been pleased with the results. I already have ideas of what I will do different if/when I come out with another edition. I started my block class at the beginning of the week and was able to scare over 10 people out of it so far. I have until wednesday to get the class down even more. My regular semester class has warmed up to me and we enjoy good debates. My block class still doesn't know what to think of me since I am still playing the strict teacher role with insane expectations and only let the push-over me come through every once in a while.
We have been keeping busy mostly through attending all of the events surrounding end of school (concerts, recitals, etc) as well as some of the graduation ceremonies. (Eljay and Jarom graduated from high school this month). So we were involved with many family events. Other than that, we are trying to figure out a way to get us moved come July-ish (When is still up in the air). We are getting sickened at the prices of moving (it will be a literal miracle if we can get moved for under $1500).
I guess the other news to report for those of you interested is that Jason Andrus came home from his mission the end of April and a week or two ago he and Miriam announced that they are going to get married. So the date is set for July 26th. I believe that means that every weekend in July is now booked for me except for the 4th - I am not looking forward to the crazy month of July. Oh-well.
I will get this sent off since it is late enough already. Here's wishing all of you the best and God's blessings.
Derik & Co.
2008 May: North
Some good things have happened since I last wrote this email. The biggest, and most relieving is that I took the MCAT. The MCAT is the entrance exam to get into medical school. It costs over $200 just to take the test. It is a 5 hour, brain-pulverizing ordeal. The questions cover chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy, physiology, reading comprehension, and writing. I started preparing for it a year ago. When this last semester ended I began studying for a couple of hours each day. About a month ago I couldn’t even think about it without my stomach bunching up in knots. But with a blessing from my father, and some prayers of family members I felt my anxieties melt away. I woke up the morning of the test feeling clear-headed, calm, and ready to test. I don’t get my grades for another 2 weeks or so, but I feel good about it. I’m confident that I won’t have to take it again. Having that out of the way is a huge burden off my shoulders.
Another big thing I did was to finish reading the Old Testament cover to cover. I started reading it back in the summer of 2001. It only took me 7 years to finish it! I read it a little here and a little there, sometimes taking breaks while I read for a particular institute class, or prepared for elders’ quorum lessons, etc. I finally did it, and I have gained a greater appreciation for that book. The difference between the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon is that in the BoM you can find the gold nuggets without even trying, they’re just laying out there for you. In the OT you have to dig a little to find them.
Today is our one year anniversary. It’s also our golden anniversary. We’ve had a wonderful time. I think we love each other more now than when we started. I’ve been told that the first year of marriage is the hardest; if that’s the case then we will have a wonderful marriage. My life has improved so much since our marriage. Becky’s the best, I love her like crazy.
Have a great month everyone.
Stewart North
Another big thing I did was to finish reading the Old Testament cover to cover. I started reading it back in the summer of 2001. It only took me 7 years to finish it! I read it a little here and a little there, sometimes taking breaks while I read for a particular institute class, or prepared for elders’ quorum lessons, etc. I finally did it, and I have gained a greater appreciation for that book. The difference between the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon is that in the BoM you can find the gold nuggets without even trying, they’re just laying out there for you. In the OT you have to dig a little to find them.
Today is our one year anniversary. It’s also our golden anniversary. We’ve had a wonderful time. I think we love each other more now than when we started. I’ve been told that the first year of marriage is the hardest; if that’s the case then we will have a wonderful marriage. My life has improved so much since our marriage. Becky’s the best, I love her like crazy.
Have a great month everyone.
Stewart North
Monday, May 5, 2008
2008 April: Hope
Well this month has been a hard one for me, my nephew died on the 3rd, he was 18 years old and a great kid. It is hard for me to wright about it but I will miss him and I think of him every day.
I finally got done with BYU-I and ISU and that is so great. I went down to Utah and stayed with Rob and my brother to find a job and a apartment. it was not a fun task to do alone, Michelle was helping all she could form Idaho and California.
Michelle and the kids took a trip to CA to see her family for 3 weeks and it has been hard not seeing them. Michelle is starting to gain some weight which is nice since she has been so skinny, Her last day at her work was on the 25th and she is very happy to quit for a second time :)
Scott and Kyle are doing great and are growing up and turning into little boys, it is scary just to think that they were just born it seems like and just a few days ago they were helpless and could not do anything for themselves but now they really do not want you help. It is funny and cute to see them playing with each other with cars and jumping on the bed and falling down.
Well we hope everyone is doing great. Talk to you all later.
I finally got done with BYU-I and ISU and that is so great. I went down to Utah and stayed with Rob and my brother to find a job and a apartment. it was not a fun task to do alone, Michelle was helping all she could form Idaho and California.
Michelle and the kids took a trip to CA to see her family for 3 weeks and it has been hard not seeing them. Michelle is starting to gain some weight which is nice since she has been so skinny, Her last day at her work was on the 25th and she is very happy to quit for a second time :)
Scott and Kyle are doing great and are growing up and turning into little boys, it is scary just to think that they were just born it seems like and just a few days ago they were helpless and could not do anything for themselves but now they really do not want you help. It is funny and cute to see them playing with each other with cars and jumping on the bed and falling down.
Well we hope everyone is doing great. Talk to you all later.
The Hopes
2008 April: Bates
Well, this month started out with a fun breakfast of eggs, toast, and hashbrowns in a beautiful landscape.
The highlight of the month was our trip to Idaho. My family treated us to a BBQ (the Idaho version of the Fatted-Calf feast for the prodigal son) and was spontaneous enough to accompany us on a whim to Green Canyon hot-springs pool. Then, as if that weren't enough fun, we topped off our vacation with a fun night of games at Jason's house with the entire freakish-four and spouses (quite the rarity).
We also had Jason come down this month and stay with us for a while. He is planning to move to Utah country to continue his education. So, while looking for housing and a job he camped out at our house. While he was here we dragged him to the Tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was fun and, surprisingly enough, there were many tulips and other flowers. It was really pretty (in a manly sort of way... ok, so not really).
At the end of this month I decided to go to Minnesota to check things out for Derik... ok, so I actually went there for a conference. It was a 5-day conference (that equates to about 3.5 months in newly-wed days). Tamara and I were both very happy when the conference was over. I learned a few things, but it was not worth the lengthy separation.
Other than that, we are simply working and preparing for the baby in June.
-Rob & Tamara
2008 April: North
Spring is trying to poke its head thru the clouds here in Pocatello. We’ve had some sun, and also some snow. We had one day with temperatures in the 70’s, and the next day with temperatures in the mid 40’s. It’s been an interesting spring. Today is beautiful though. I’m usually in meetings right now, but because of stake conference we’re home early. The main session of conference was broadcast from Salt Lake. It was broadcast to 67 stakes in South East Idaho. We got to hear from El. Tingey of the 70, Sis. Dalton of the YW’s presidency, El Nelson, and Pres. Uchtdorf. The theme of the conference seemed to be faith, and strengthening families. They also talked a lot about preparing missionaries to serve. Pres. Uchtdorf said something like “you young men don’t need a new truck with big tires, it’ll only drain your savings. You need to prepare to serve the Lord.” I think he might have wrinkled some feathers with that one.
Speaking of missionaries, my little brother came home last week from his mission in Seattle. A sickness he had before his mission flared up again a couple of months ago and he hasn’t been able to work much since. He and his mission president felt it would be best to send him home, and then evaluate it more from there. I don’t know a missionary who was more prepared than Alex, and I don’t know anyone who wanted to serve more than Alex. Luckily his spirits are up and he doesn’t feel like he’s getting cheated out of anything. He’s a good example to me.
This evening I will graduate from Institute. It’s taken me 4 years, one class per semester. I’ve learned a lot and am grateful for the experience. I tell everyone that I’m just grateful to be able to graduate from something. I’ve been here at school for the last 1000 years it feels like, and I’ve still got a long way to go. Becky will also be graduating with an advanced certificate. That means she’s more spiritual than me.
Have a great month everyone, spring is here, and school’s almost done!
We had a great time seeing you all last weekend. Becky and I don't get a lot of chance to hang out with other married couples, let alone high school friends. We are glad to see that everyone is doing well. I'm glad we're keeping in touch. Friendships are worth a lot, and I think we should put forth a little effort to keep them going.
God bless you all,
Stewart & Becky
Speaking of missionaries, my little brother came home last week from his mission in Seattle. A sickness he had before his mission flared up again a couple of months ago and he hasn’t been able to work much since. He and his mission president felt it would be best to send him home, and then evaluate it more from there. I don’t know a missionary who was more prepared than Alex, and I don’t know anyone who wanted to serve more than Alex. Luckily his spirits are up and he doesn’t feel like he’s getting cheated out of anything. He’s a good example to me.
This evening I will graduate from Institute. It’s taken me 4 years, one class per semester. I’ve learned a lot and am grateful for the experience. I tell everyone that I’m just grateful to be able to graduate from something. I’ve been here at school for the last 1000 years it feels like, and I’ve still got a long way to go. Becky will also be graduating with an advanced certificate. That means she’s more spiritual than me.
Have a great month everyone, spring is here, and school’s almost done!
We had a great time seeing you all last weekend. Becky and I don't get a lot of chance to hang out with other married couples, let alone high school friends. We are glad to see that everyone is doing well. I'm glad we're keeping in touch. Friendships are worth a lot, and I think we should put forth a little effort to keep them going.
God bless you all,
Stewart & Becky
2008 April: Robertson
Greetings,
We just put the girls to bed after an entire day of fighting them. OY. I wonder what all I could get done in a day if I had all of their energy. While my bruises are healing, and I’m catching my breathe, I decided to go ahead and write this letter about our month. April - what happened? We started the month celebrating my dad’s 50th birthday, and I finished teaching my first semester of philosophy. My reviews came back mostly good. I had one student say that I was among his/her favorites and another say that I had a gift for teaching philosophy while always inserting truth into the conversation. On the flip side I had one student say that I went out of my way to offend him and shake his testimony. He called me a blasphemer and anti-mormon. He called upon the college to supervise my class because I am out of control and both he and his wife agree that philosophy will make any mormon who studies it question their faith and testimony. So, from that student I learned Mormons should stay as far away from philosophy as possible and I should probably be burned at the stake for heresy. Needless to say, the review caught me completely off guard because I was unaware any of my students felt that way. I knew them all by name and tried to talk with each one before class started. Whoever the student was, either they never came to class or were being a bit two-faced.
I will admit that the review shook me a bit and I find myself hesitating a bit before I jump into class wondering if there is a closed minded student in the class that is not paying attention and will take my words the wrong way. I will admit that philosophy is incredibly dangerous if you approach it with a closed mind, because when that happens, everything in philosophy is perceived to attack you in a very personal way. The constant attacks will beat you down after time. However, if approached with an open mind (read: humility) the truths emerge and the falsehoods fall to the wayside. The more I look at it, close-mindedness is a very real precursor to selfishness and dogmatism (yes - I just implied that dogmatists are selfish - I’m a heretic I can say that) (Morgan: this is turning into a philosophy lesson) (Derik: oops - ranting and raving again - but heck if I’m going to erase what I just wrote - moving on)
I spent the entire week break between semesters grading my students final papers (Don’t get me started on those) and working. My parents, the twins, Miriam, and Lindsay used that time to go on a cruise to Mexico while we enjoyed the snow in Idaho. It was nice seeing everyone at the little get together. Who knows when the next one of those is going to be? (Morgan: eh, July) School started again for me. I’m using the book that I wrote and already had a couple of students calling me on it wondering how much I am making off of it. When I told them nothing - I did it out of charity (and a resume builder) that made them be quiet for a while. I think the majority of my class is going to be a hoot. There are still two students that I am trying to figure out. All in time, I guess.
Morgan and I attended a department dinner for the Humanities and philosophy department up on campus. That was a nice dinner. It was catered by Johnny Carinos in Idaho Falls. It was really good. The professors there started talking Humanities smack - that was a riot to listen to. They were bragging about who had been to the most European countries, who could speak the most foreign languages, who could read Sir Gawain or Beowulf in their original languages, who could name the obscure Italian operetta, etc…I wish I could have taped that conversation and then played it for a business class, ha! Or better yet - the body building class. But the food and company were fantastic, and Morgan and I were the youngest there.
On the home front, the girls are enthralled with patty-cake and Kyla loves to grab your hands and make you do it. So you sing the rhyme, but she will be clapping your hands together and make you go through the motions. She loves to be the grown up. Both girls can now locate their noses on request - Kyla mostly locates the inside of her nose; so much for the grown up thing. Daria is quickly picking up a shoe fetish. She loves shoes. It doesn’t matter who owns the shoes, she wants to wear them. They love to go outside. We just wish that our apartment complex will do the spring cleanup on the lawn areas to get all of the winter trash off of them so we have somewhere to take the girls - some warmer weather would be nice as well.
I asked Morgan what she has done. She’s cared for people and has tried to keep everyone sane and healthy. She has done a wonderful job at that. She really is a wonderful woman. I think that is all that we have to report on for April. Wishing you all the best,
The Robertsons
We just put the girls to bed after an entire day of fighting them. OY. I wonder what all I could get done in a day if I had all of their energy. While my bruises are healing, and I’m catching my breathe, I decided to go ahead and write this letter about our month. April - what happened? We started the month celebrating my dad’s 50th birthday, and I finished teaching my first semester of philosophy. My reviews came back mostly good. I had one student say that I was among his/her favorites and another say that I had a gift for teaching philosophy while always inserting truth into the conversation. On the flip side I had one student say that I went out of my way to offend him and shake his testimony. He called me a blasphemer and anti-mormon. He called upon the college to supervise my class because I am out of control and both he and his wife agree that philosophy will make any mormon who studies it question their faith and testimony. So, from that student I learned Mormons should stay as far away from philosophy as possible and I should probably be burned at the stake for heresy. Needless to say, the review caught me completely off guard because I was unaware any of my students felt that way. I knew them all by name and tried to talk with each one before class started. Whoever the student was, either they never came to class or were being a bit two-faced.
I will admit that the review shook me a bit and I find myself hesitating a bit before I jump into class wondering if there is a closed minded student in the class that is not paying attention and will take my words the wrong way. I will admit that philosophy is incredibly dangerous if you approach it with a closed mind, because when that happens, everything in philosophy is perceived to attack you in a very personal way. The constant attacks will beat you down after time. However, if approached with an open mind (read: humility) the truths emerge and the falsehoods fall to the wayside. The more I look at it, close-mindedness is a very real precursor to selfishness and dogmatism (yes - I just implied that dogmatists are selfish - I’m a heretic I can say that) (Morgan: this is turning into a philosophy lesson) (Derik: oops - ranting and raving again - but heck if I’m going to erase what I just wrote - moving on)
I spent the entire week break between semesters grading my students final papers (Don’t get me started on those) and working. My parents, the twins, Miriam, and Lindsay used that time to go on a cruise to Mexico while we enjoyed the snow in Idaho. It was nice seeing everyone at the little get together. Who knows when the next one of those is going to be? (Morgan: eh, July) School started again for me. I’m using the book that I wrote and already had a couple of students calling me on it wondering how much I am making off of it. When I told them nothing - I did it out of charity (and a resume builder) that made them be quiet for a while. I think the majority of my class is going to be a hoot. There are still two students that I am trying to figure out. All in time, I guess.
Morgan and I attended a department dinner for the Humanities and philosophy department up on campus. That was a nice dinner. It was catered by Johnny Carinos in Idaho Falls. It was really good. The professors there started talking Humanities smack - that was a riot to listen to. They were bragging about who had been to the most European countries, who could speak the most foreign languages, who could read Sir Gawain or Beowulf in their original languages, who could name the obscure Italian operetta, etc…I wish I could have taped that conversation and then played it for a business class, ha! Or better yet - the body building class. But the food and company were fantastic, and Morgan and I were the youngest there.
On the home front, the girls are enthralled with patty-cake and Kyla loves to grab your hands and make you do it. So you sing the rhyme, but she will be clapping your hands together and make you go through the motions. She loves to be the grown up. Both girls can now locate their noses on request - Kyla mostly locates the inside of her nose; so much for the grown up thing. Daria is quickly picking up a shoe fetish. She loves shoes. It doesn’t matter who owns the shoes, she wants to wear them. They love to go outside. We just wish that our apartment complex will do the spring cleanup on the lawn areas to get all of the winter trash off of them so we have somewhere to take the girls - some warmer weather would be nice as well.
I asked Morgan what she has done. She’s cared for people and has tried to keep everyone sane and healthy. She has done a wonderful job at that. She really is a wonderful woman. I think that is all that we have to report on for April. Wishing you all the best,
The Robertsons
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
2008 March: Hope
Tis a very fast month. It seems that I just sent out February's letter.
Well Michelle is almost done with work she is done on the 25 of April, then she is going to California.
I have just been doing the school/work thing and also was in a Ballet over the weekend yes you read correctly a Ballet, and no I did not wear spandex, I was a soldier and I looked like one of the 3 Amigos but with a goatee. It was Carmen. I knew most of the songs due to marching band. It was fun and hard work.
Well Scott and Kyle are really growing now they are growing out of their pajamas. They really loved Easter because they could take something nice and white and dip it into something and it changed colors, they thought it was so funny how it could do that. They they loved finding the eggs. We went to my sister Valon's house to hide the eggs along with fake eggs with candy and money inside. My parents put $25 dollars in plastic eggs and so it makes it even better. Well Kyle made bank he pulled in almost $8 dollars, Scott got $2.35 but when you are that age either you don't care or you are floored with what you get. It was a great time.
Well I have only 10 more days until I am done with school up here, but that darn ISU is still going so I have to keep doing that class.
Well that is all I can think of so hope all is well with you all and have a great day.
Well Michelle is almost done with work she is done on the 25 of April, then she is going to California.
I have just been doing the school/work thing and also was in a Ballet over the weekend yes you read correctly a Ballet, and no I did not wear spandex, I was a soldier and I looked like one of the 3 Amigos but with a goatee. It was Carmen. I knew most of the songs due to marching band. It was fun and hard work.
Well Scott and Kyle are really growing now they are growing out of their pajamas. They really loved Easter because they could take something nice and white and dip it into something and it changed colors, they thought it was so funny how it could do that. They they loved finding the eggs. We went to my sister Valon's house to hide the eggs along with fake eggs with candy and money inside. My parents put $25 dollars in plastic eggs and so it makes it even better. Well Kyle made bank he pulled in almost $8 dollars, Scott got $2.35 but when you are that age either you don't care or you are floored with what you get. It was a great time.
Well I have only 10 more days until I am done with school up here, but that darn ISU is still going so I have to keep doing that class.
Well that is all I can think of so hope all is well with you all and have a great day.
2008 March: Bates
Our lives this month have been spent around the 60 - 70% mark of the gestational progress bar. We are very excited that the baby is coming along well. Tamara is due June 28th. Her sister-in-law just had a baby girl, increasing our baby excitement/anxiety. That is definitely the most notable thing that we are looking forward to.
Both of our dogs are doing fine. The old one is FINALLY starting to tolerate the young'in, but still has a ways to go before we'd use the word "accept." The young one is potty-trained (except for when we leave him home alone for several hours).
As I mentioned last month, I am now the primary pianist. My skills have been steadily progressing (from gut-wrenching 1 month ago to ear-splittingly-tolerable now). I had a major set back this month though. I broke a finger playing basketball. It was my left pinky- which seems like it would be the least used (pinky of the non-dominant hand). This holds true, as far as I've found, in every area but 2: Playing the Piano & Programming.
Anyone who plays the piano will tell you that your left pinky gets used quite a bit (especially in church settings, because you HAVE to play the Bass line, as there are very few people singing it... especially in such a pre-pubescent setting as primary).
Typing is a little more subjective. People vary from 2-finger-hunt-and-peck all the way down to "separate but equal" finger-key-division-of-labor. I myself am an 8 finger (everything but the pinkies) Jazz-Artist typer (♫♪slide the hands to the left ♪♫ & the hands to the right ♫♪ if you hit the right letter it's alright!!! ♪♫). I don't believe in discriminating between fingers and keys. It really doesn't make sense! You cant send Z to the back of the bus: for Pete Sake, he sits right next to A. I also don't believe in Hunt-and-Peck (mainly because I'm afraid by pounding my index fingers repeatedly into keys, I'll end up having those really old arthritic hands... but JUST on my index fingers).
So, when I type, I don't normally use my fingers. HOWEVER, programming is a completely different matter. "Tab" "Shift" "Ctrl" "Alt" and even on occasion "Caps-Lock" (like if I get really ANGRY at my boss or something) are essential. While I don't always hit them with my pinky, there are certain innate-key-behaviors hard-coded into the souls of all programmers. It's like a collectively shared Muscle-Memory. You can't break it... even if you break the finger it needs. So, no matter how cringing each copy-paste is, I still use ol' pinky.
Well, that was a random tangent.
In other news, Tamara and I have been trying to make our yard not look like white trash. At first we thought it would be enough to get rid of all the discarded diapers, beer bottles, cigarrettes, and other random trash. Little did we know the extent of the white-trashiness!
Apparently our house was founded on an ancient civilization of White-Trashers. For our Purposes we will call them clan "Wonder Bread." From 1 inch to 3 feet buried in our soul is evidence of this clan. From discarded bed-sheets to remains of small animals, the trail is fraught with history.
The Wonder Breads had plentiful breeding, as evidenced by the many brimming Huggies and Luvs. They were a merry sort of tribe, clearly seen by the many bottles of used merriment. The most likely had their fair share of battles, because of the shards of discarded bone and many surrendered teeth.
Anywho- despite this fascinating excavation, we are digging up our entire yard to try to get rid of all the trash, kill of the rampant barley, and plant actual grass that doesn't cut bare feet. So here's hoping!
Other than that I have just been working a lot. Overtime at work and multiple side projects makes Rob a dull boy. Luckily Tamara is fun and comes up with fun out-of-the-ordinary things for us to do.
Here's hoping you all do something Fun & Random,
-Rob & Tamara
Both of our dogs are doing fine. The old one is FINALLY starting to tolerate the young'in, but still has a ways to go before we'd use the word "accept." The young one is potty-trained (except for when we leave him home alone for several hours).
As I mentioned last month, I am now the primary pianist. My skills have been steadily progressing (from gut-wrenching 1 month ago to ear-splittingly-tolerable now). I had a major set back this month though. I broke a finger playing basketball. It was my left pinky- which seems like it would be the least used (pinky of the non-dominant hand). This holds true, as far as I've found, in every area but 2: Playing the Piano & Programming.
Anyone who plays the piano will tell you that your left pinky gets used quite a bit (especially in church settings, because you HAVE to play the Bass line, as there are very few people singing it... especially in such a pre-pubescent setting as primary).
Typing is a little more subjective. People vary from 2-finger-hunt-and-peck all the way down to "separate but equal" finger-key-division-of-labor. I myself am an 8 finger (everything but the pinkies) Jazz-Artist typer (♫♪slide the hands to the left ♪♫ & the hands to the right ♫♪ if you hit the right letter it's alright!!! ♪♫). I don't believe in discriminating between fingers and keys. It really doesn't make sense! You cant send Z to the back of the bus: for Pete Sake, he sits right next to A. I also don't believe in Hunt-and-Peck (mainly because I'm afraid by pounding my index fingers repeatedly into keys, I'll end up having those really old arthritic hands... but JUST on my index fingers).
So, when I type, I don't normally use my fingers. HOWEVER, programming is a completely different matter. "Tab" "Shift" "Ctrl" "Alt" and even on occasion "Caps-Lock" (like if I get really ANGRY at my boss or something) are essential. While I don't always hit them with my pinky, there are certain innate-key-behaviors hard-coded into the souls of all programmers. It's like a collectively shared Muscle-Memory. You can't break it... even if you break the finger it needs. So, no matter how cringing each copy-paste is, I still use ol' pinky.
Well, that was a random tangent.
In other news, Tamara and I have been trying to make our yard not look like white trash. At first we thought it would be enough to get rid of all the discarded diapers, beer bottles, cigarrettes, and other random trash. Little did we know the extent of the white-trashiness!
Apparently our house was founded on an ancient civilization of White-Trashers. For our Purposes we will call them clan "Wonder Bread." From 1 inch to 3 feet buried in our soul is evidence of this clan. From discarded bed-sheets to remains of small animals, the trail is fraught with history.
The Wonder Breads had plentiful breeding, as evidenced by the many brimming Huggies and Luvs. They were a merry sort of tribe, clearly seen by the many bottles of used merriment. The most likely had their fair share of battles, because of the shards of discarded bone and many surrendered teeth.
Anywho- despite this fascinating excavation, we are digging up our entire yard to try to get rid of all the trash, kill of the rampant barley, and plant actual grass that doesn't cut bare feet. So here's hoping!
Other than that I have just been working a lot. Overtime at work and multiple side projects makes Rob a dull boy. Luckily Tamara is fun and comes up with fun out-of-the-ordinary things for us to do.
Here's hoping you all do something Fun & Random,
-Rob & Tamara
2008 March: North
Well March is almost over now. It’s time for another email. Becky and I are still in Poky, still working and going to school, not much has changed.
We had a neat experience a couple of weeks ago for a ward Family Home Evening activity (Single’s Wards make FHE a ward activity). There is a church member in the area here who has been to Israel several times and is familiar with their culture. He came and lead us thru a sample Passover dinner. I guess the real deal takes several hours, so we only did a portion of it. We had 4 little cups of “wine” (grape juice), the bitter herb (horseradish sauce), a sweet apple mixture, and unleavened bread. At one point we had to mix some of the horseradish sauce with the apple stuff to symbolize the opposition in all things, let me tell you, that bite was an opposition to all things good.
Bro. Kirkham also put Jesus’ lost supper in context of the Passover dinner. We learned that it was at the saddest part of the Passover meal, the part where they remember the bitterness of captivity in Egypt, and the bitterness of sin that Jesus told the Twelve that one of them would betray him, and then told Judas to go and do what he’d planned. After Judas is gone the mood changes and the Savior can teach his disciples some wonderful things.
It was a great learning experience. It helped me gain some more appreciation for the sacrament which is how we celebrate the Passover after Christ’s death. It also taught me a little bit about our cousins, the Jews.
We’re getting closer to the end of school. Only 5 weeks left. I can’t hardly wait.
We hope you’re getting along well. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know.
Stewart & Becky
We had a neat experience a couple of weeks ago for a ward Family Home Evening activity (Single’s Wards make FHE a ward activity). There is a church member in the area here who has been to Israel several times and is familiar with their culture. He came and lead us thru a sample Passover dinner. I guess the real deal takes several hours, so we only did a portion of it. We had 4 little cups of “wine” (grape juice), the bitter herb (horseradish sauce), a sweet apple mixture, and unleavened bread. At one point we had to mix some of the horseradish sauce with the apple stuff to symbolize the opposition in all things, let me tell you, that bite was an opposition to all things good.
Bro. Kirkham also put Jesus’ lost supper in context of the Passover dinner. We learned that it was at the saddest part of the Passover meal, the part where they remember the bitterness of captivity in Egypt, and the bitterness of sin that Jesus told the Twelve that one of them would betray him, and then told Judas to go and do what he’d planned. After Judas is gone the mood changes and the Savior can teach his disciples some wonderful things.
It was a great learning experience. It helped me gain some more appreciation for the sacrament which is how we celebrate the Passover after Christ’s death. It also taught me a little bit about our cousins, the Jews.
We’re getting closer to the end of school. Only 5 weeks left. I can’t hardly wait.
We hope you’re getting along well. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know.
Stewart & Becky
2008 March: Robertson
Greetings one and all,
This month was rather busy for us. That is probably the biggest understatement I have ever made. Or maybe that was. Either way, we did everything that we could to keep from losing our minds. The month, at the beginning, promised to be somewhat relaxed, and then we received a phone call from Morgan's sister who is a student at BYU-Idaho saying that she was in the hospital because she was hyperventilating and having minor seizures at church. She said that it was over and she was fine, but a couple hours later, we received another call saying that she was having another attack again. We went over to her apartment, and I (Derik) gave her a blessing. We then took her home with us where she spent the next couple of days. She kept saying that she was fine, but we told her that she had to see a doctor. She said that she was ready to go back to her apartment and to her classes, but within an hour of her dropping her off at her apartment, she called us and we picked her up again. We spent the next few weeks taking care of her at our place, driving her to multiple doctor's appointments, driving her to some of her classes, and being caregivers in general. Her hyperventilating finally stopped, but the tremors never did. She would start shaking uncontrollably every now and then, and it would just make her weak and exhausted. Finally, a specialist was brought in who decided that everything was caused by a bad mix of medication with school stress triggering everything. Morgan's mom came out at that point and stayed with us for about a week to see what could be done. The doctors and her bishop decided that it would be best if she just withdraw from school and go home in order to recover and get more help. She left us and Rexburg with three weeks of school to go.
In the middle of that mess, Morgan ended up doing the flowers for two different weddings one week apart from each other. She had been planning on doing one of them ever since January, but at the very beginning of the month, Morgan was contacted by a girl that was getting married a week before the wedding Morgan was already planning. She stepped up and took the job. As soon as the bride (and mother of the bride) of the original wedding found out that Morgan was doing another wedding, sirens began to wail. Since the two families lived fairly close to each other and many of the same people would be attending both receptions, great amounts of consternation were thrown at Morgan because the bride of the original wedding was terrified that 1) the flowers of the weddings would be similar and 2) that one wedding would take precedence over the other. Phone calls were made and many reassurances went out to the agitated party that things would work out. After many hours of lost sleep, Morgan, with the help of my mom who took the girls for the days of floral production, finished the weddings. She received many compliments from the wedding she just picked up. She hasn't heard anything one way or another from the original, agitated wedding – oh well. She is glad that those are over.
As if flowers for weddings weren't enough, Morgan took a bunch of palm frawns to a Relief Society Luau where she decorated the room with them. The next week she taught a Relief Society enrichment night at our house on floral design. She had about double the amount of women show up that she was expecting, but everything went smoothly, and she had a good time.
I have been busy with my classes and my book. The book went into the printers last week and should be on the shelves of the bookstore by April 4th. The other exciting news in our lives came about a week ago when I was accepted into Grad school at a small Liberal Arts College in Minnesota. We were debating whether or not to go there since they only offer a Master's degree and I want a Doctorate; however, we then received another letter from the school saying that I had been awarded a teaching assistantship. This means I automatically get Minnesota residency, a full tuition waver, and a 10,000 dollar salary to go to school there. So, the end of July beginning August, we will be packing up and starting the move to the banks of the Mississippi to spend the next two years of our lives.
The girls are doing well. They enjoy playing with each other, and they love to laugh and make each other giggle. They have recently picked up the habit of yelling “daddy” or “dada” and get really excited every time I come home from work. It's really cute and I can't help but yell back. Morgan just smiles and shakes her head at her three children as we then chase each other around the floor. I think that I have said everything that has happened to us in this busy month. We are hoping that next month is a little more quiet - if for no other reason than for our sanity. We love you all and look forward to the day when we can see you again.
God bless you,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria Robertson
This month was rather busy for us. That is probably the biggest understatement I have ever made. Or maybe that was. Either way, we did everything that we could to keep from losing our minds. The month, at the beginning, promised to be somewhat relaxed, and then we received a phone call from Morgan's sister who is a student at BYU-Idaho saying that she was in the hospital because she was hyperventilating and having minor seizures at church. She said that it was over and she was fine, but a couple hours later, we received another call saying that she was having another attack again. We went over to her apartment, and I (Derik) gave her a blessing. We then took her home with us where she spent the next couple of days. She kept saying that she was fine, but we told her that she had to see a doctor. She said that she was ready to go back to her apartment and to her classes, but within an hour of her dropping her off at her apartment, she called us and we picked her up again. We spent the next few weeks taking care of her at our place, driving her to multiple doctor's appointments, driving her to some of her classes, and being caregivers in general. Her hyperventilating finally stopped, but the tremors never did. She would start shaking uncontrollably every now and then, and it would just make her weak and exhausted. Finally, a specialist was brought in who decided that everything was caused by a bad mix of medication with school stress triggering everything. Morgan's mom came out at that point and stayed with us for about a week to see what could be done. The doctors and her bishop decided that it would be best if she just withdraw from school and go home in order to recover and get more help. She left us and Rexburg with three weeks of school to go.
In the middle of that mess, Morgan ended up doing the flowers for two different weddings one week apart from each other. She had been planning on doing one of them ever since January, but at the very beginning of the month, Morgan was contacted by a girl that was getting married a week before the wedding Morgan was already planning. She stepped up and took the job. As soon as the bride (and mother of the bride) of the original wedding found out that Morgan was doing another wedding, sirens began to wail. Since the two families lived fairly close to each other and many of the same people would be attending both receptions, great amounts of consternation were thrown at Morgan because the bride of the original wedding was terrified that 1) the flowers of the weddings would be similar and 2) that one wedding would take precedence over the other. Phone calls were made and many reassurances went out to the agitated party that things would work out. After many hours of lost sleep, Morgan, with the help of my mom who took the girls for the days of floral production, finished the weddings. She received many compliments from the wedding she just picked up. She hasn't heard anything one way or another from the original, agitated wedding – oh well. She is glad that those are over.
As if flowers for weddings weren't enough, Morgan took a bunch of palm frawns to a Relief Society Luau where she decorated the room with them. The next week she taught a Relief Society enrichment night at our house on floral design. She had about double the amount of women show up that she was expecting, but everything went smoothly, and she had a good time.
I have been busy with my classes and my book. The book went into the printers last week and should be on the shelves of the bookstore by April 4th. The other exciting news in our lives came about a week ago when I was accepted into Grad school at a small Liberal Arts College in Minnesota. We were debating whether or not to go there since they only offer a Master's degree and I want a Doctorate; however, we then received another letter from the school saying that I had been awarded a teaching assistantship. This means I automatically get Minnesota residency, a full tuition waver, and a 10,000 dollar salary to go to school there. So, the end of July beginning August, we will be packing up and starting the move to the banks of the Mississippi to spend the next two years of our lives.
The girls are doing well. They enjoy playing with each other, and they love to laugh and make each other giggle. They have recently picked up the habit of yelling “daddy” or “dada” and get really excited every time I come home from work. It's really cute and I can't help but yell back. Morgan just smiles and shakes her head at her three children as we then chase each other around the floor. I think that I have said everything that has happened to us in this busy month. We are hoping that next month is a little more quiet - if for no other reason than for our sanity. We love you all and look forward to the day when we can see you again.
God bless you,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, and Daria Robertson
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
2008 February: Hope
Well February was a interesting month, some stuff has been happening with Michelle and I. Scott and Kyle are growing up like weeds it seems that every day they get bigger and bigger. Well some good and bad news the good news is that I have A;s in my Bio classes so if that keeps up I will be in DH school this fall. So we will be moving down to Utah probable in May but I will go down in April and look for a job and an apt. The bad news is that ISU declined me once again, knowing that I was retaking the classes that held me back last time. Oh well sorry Stew I guess I will not be joining you at ISU. Scott turned 3 years old this month. WOW I cant believe he is already 3 yrs old. Time flies. Today was a bad day for him, first he was running to come jump on my lap and tripped and fell face first into the computer desk, he cried but nothing was wrong with him just a scary fall. Then about 1 hour later we were playing and I was being the bear and tying to get them (Scott and Kyle) when I went for Scott he went off balance and slammed face first int o the coffee table making him bite a big chunk off inside is lower lip. It was bleeding like crazy, but I was impressed with Scott he really did not cry all that much, he only cried because it scared him. When I was cleaning him up, he was fascinated with the blood, and wanted to know were it was coming from. Then when I got him to stop bleeding he got down and Kyle came up and gave him a big hug and kiss on the cheek, it was so cute. (when you have kids you will understand). Kyle has been getting a funny personality,he loves to copy your facial expressions and then laugh about it (it is one of those you have to be there things). Well hope everyone is doing great. I think I will write every week so I remember what goes on during the month. I know I know it is called a journal. See you all later.
The Hopes
The Hopes
2008 February: Bates
Luckily the frost of the winter is passing here in Utah, and I can emerge from my heavily heated hut. In doing so, I decided to do some Yard work. So, Tamara and I have cleaned out the flower beds so we can plant some flowers, and we're also working on digging up the back yard to plant grass (and hopefully get rid of the rampant barley that has taken over back there).
In "spir-tule" news, I was released as Gospel Doctrine teacher and called as Primary Pianist. I can't really read music, so the poor children are learning to be tone deaf (for their own defense). It's a really nice chance for me to practice though so I can eventually (some day) actually play the piano.
A couple weeks ago Tamara and I got a puppy from a co-worker who had to get rid of theirs due to housing restrictions. He was 12 weeks old and came with the name Max. He is a black-lab & cocker-spaniel mix. He loves our chihuahua even though she still hates him. He is learning (rather slowly) that the carpet is not his personal bathroom, and we have high hopes that he might one day be potty-trained.
The most time consuming event this month was work. I ended up working some over-time to meet all of the deadlines I had. We switched the way we schedule product enhancements, and I hate it. Instead of my boss handling that, the Product Managers get to say what they want each month. We estimate it so they can schedule the right amount. Unfortunately they look at total hours available on our team, not total hours available for each person who needs to be doing the enhancements they want. I am over a very popular product, and ended up with about twice as much stuff as I could possibly do this month. But, with a little help from co-workers, and some over-time, we were able to meet the deadline.
Other than that we are just having fun and getting ready to have a baby (holy weirdness Batman!). We are very excited and overwhelmed to become parents, and hope we are up to the challenge.
-Rob & Tamara
In "spir-tule" news, I was released as Gospel Doctrine teacher and called as Primary Pianist. I can't really read music, so the poor children are learning to be tone deaf (for their own defense). It's a really nice chance for me to practice though so I can eventually (some day) actually play the piano.
A couple weeks ago Tamara and I got a puppy from a co-worker who had to get rid of theirs due to housing restrictions. He was 12 weeks old and came with the name Max. He is a black-lab & cocker-spaniel mix. He loves our chihuahua even though she still hates him. He is learning (rather slowly) that the carpet is not his personal bathroom, and we have high hopes that he might one day be potty-trained.
The most time consuming event this month was work. I ended up working some over-time to meet all of the deadlines I had. We switched the way we schedule product enhancements, and I hate it. Instead of my boss handling that, the Product Managers get to say what they want each month. We estimate it so they can schedule the right amount. Unfortunately they look at total hours available on our team, not total hours available for each person who needs to be doing the enhancements they want. I am over a very popular product, and ended up with about twice as much stuff as I could possibly do this month. But, with a little help from co-workers, and some over-time, we were able to meet the deadline.
Other than that we are just having fun and getting ready to have a baby (holy weirdness Batman!). We are very excited and overwhelmed to become parents, and hope we are up to the challenge.
-Rob & Tamara
2008 February: North
February has been good for Becky and I. We got to see both of our families during the month. Becky’s parents came up here for a Valentine’s Day date. Jim Brickman was here at ISU in concert and Becky’s mom loves Jim Brickman, so we gave them some tickets that we’d gotten a hold of. They were only in town for one night. They treated us to dinner. It was good to get to see them. Then on President’s Day weekend we went and saw my family in Rexburg. I haven’t seen snow like we saw there in Rexburg for a long time. There were piles of snow well over my head. We spent Monday afternoon shoveling snow off the roof of our house, and then shoveling that same snow from our driveway off to the side. It was a rude awakening for my pampered back. For those of you in Rexburg, I will try not to enjoy the sunshine and the warm, spring weather too much, because you’re still in the dead of winter. The roof of the band room at the high school in Rexburg is so close to collapsing that they told my dad not to have any classes in there until they can get it fixed, which might be months.
We just watched the World Wide Leadership Training put out by the church leaders. It was broadcast several weeks ago, but for some reason our stake wanted to tape it and show it tonight. It was a wonderful presentation about how to raise a family in today’s world. It went long, more than two hours, but I really liked some of the things that were said. At the end Pres. Monson spoke briefly. It was my first time hearing him speak after Pres. Hinckley’s death, and when I saw his image flash on the screen I had a feeling of confidence, and trust well up inside me and I thought “He is the new prophet, called of God.” There was never any doubt in my mind, but it is comforting to have my own witness.
The other day was my first experience shadowing a doctor. I spent a couple of hours following him around. The doctor was very courteous and helpful to me. He explained what he was doing and the things he was looking for. He showed me MRI pictures and explained what I was looking at. MRI is an amazing tool, but I did think about Jason as I was looking at the MRI. I know they're expensive. I was amazed at how busy the doctor was. I'll bet we saw 8 patients during the 2 hours that I was there. He never sat down for more than 5 minutes all morning.
We hope that everything goes well for you all. You deserve it.
-Becky and Stewart
We just watched the World Wide Leadership Training put out by the church leaders. It was broadcast several weeks ago, but for some reason our stake wanted to tape it and show it tonight. It was a wonderful presentation about how to raise a family in today’s world. It went long, more than two hours, but I really liked some of the things that were said. At the end Pres. Monson spoke briefly. It was my first time hearing him speak after Pres. Hinckley’s death, and when I saw his image flash on the screen I had a feeling of confidence, and trust well up inside me and I thought “He is the new prophet, called of God.” There was never any doubt in my mind, but it is comforting to have my own witness.
The other day was my first experience shadowing a doctor. I spent a couple of hours following him around. The doctor was very courteous and helpful to me. He explained what he was doing and the things he was looking for. He showed me MRI pictures and explained what I was looking at. MRI is an amazing tool, but I did think about Jason as I was looking at the MRI. I know they're expensive. I was amazed at how busy the doctor was. I'll bet we saw 8 patients during the 2 hours that I was there. He never sat down for more than 5 minutes all morning.
We hope that everything goes well for you all. You deserve it.
-Becky and Stewart
2008 February: Robertson
February has been a busy month for us full of doctors visits. We started the month with Daria developing pneumonia. We woke up on a Saturday morning, and Daria was having a really hard time breathing. We took her into a seven-day-a-week clinic to get her looked at and they declared pretty bad pneumonia. She received two shots there, antibiotics, and a breathing medication. We took her back the next day for more shots, and again on Monday for another checkup. Luckily Kyla never developed it but she did catch a cold – twice.
Kyla went in for a hearing checkup to make sure that the antibiotics that she received when she was born hasn't attacked her hearing. Her general hearing is just fine, but she refused to allow the doctor to put anything in her ear to check if her hearing is 100 percent. Every time the doctor came with the earphones Kyla would scream. The doctor said she was good enough and didn't need any more testing.
Morgan started working and the flowers for a wedding. It has caused her some frustration since the lady she is doing them for didn't really tell her what they wanted as far as flowers go and kept calling her trying to get her to get the flowers at one Internet shop or another. Finally she was able to meet with the brides mom and go over flowers and only after that did the bride herself call and say what she wanted for real. Morgan is now feeling a lot better about the entire situation.
I have been busy with work and my book. I am almost done. I am just waiting for one more copyright to go through so I can include the article and then it is off to the printers. I am fairly pleased with the end result. I am going to start phase two and create some tests and quizzes that will be based off of the readings in the book and try to revamp my syllabus a little for the summer. It promises to be a good class. I am excited for it.
Morgan and I have been called to be teachers for our wards Family History class. We have mixed feelings about the calling. I finally feel like I am being used in the ward, so I am excited. Morgan, who already has two callings, sees this as the unwanted third wheel and approaches it with hesitancy. It might be that I end up teaching the lessons while Morgan corrals the girls during Sunday School. It should be a good experience for us either way. I believe that is all that I have to report from balmy, balmy Rexburg. Hope that this finds you all doing well. Love you,
Daria, Morgan, Kyla, and Derik
Kyla went in for a hearing checkup to make sure that the antibiotics that she received when she was born hasn't attacked her hearing. Her general hearing is just fine, but she refused to allow the doctor to put anything in her ear to check if her hearing is 100 percent. Every time the doctor came with the earphones Kyla would scream. The doctor said she was good enough and didn't need any more testing.
Morgan started working and the flowers for a wedding. It has caused her some frustration since the lady she is doing them for didn't really tell her what they wanted as far as flowers go and kept calling her trying to get her to get the flowers at one Internet shop or another. Finally she was able to meet with the brides mom and go over flowers and only after that did the bride herself call and say what she wanted for real. Morgan is now feeling a lot better about the entire situation.
I have been busy with work and my book. I am almost done. I am just waiting for one more copyright to go through so I can include the article and then it is off to the printers. I am fairly pleased with the end result. I am going to start phase two and create some tests and quizzes that will be based off of the readings in the book and try to revamp my syllabus a little for the summer. It promises to be a good class. I am excited for it.
Morgan and I have been called to be teachers for our wards Family History class. We have mixed feelings about the calling. I finally feel like I am being used in the ward, so I am excited. Morgan, who already has two callings, sees this as the unwanted third wheel and approaches it with hesitancy. It might be that I end up teaching the lessons while Morgan corrals the girls during Sunday School. It should be a good experience for us either way. I believe that is all that I have to report from balmy, balmy Rexburg. Hope that this finds you all doing well. Love you,
Daria, Morgan, Kyla, and Derik
Monday, February 4, 2008
2008 January: Hope
Well January has been a interesting month I Jason started school both at BYU-Idaho and at ISU. So far it has been an easy time (knock on wood). I am taking both the first and second have of human anat/phy at BYU-I, and intro to dental hygiene from ISU. We found out that we have to pay all of the MRI so that really stinks. Well I went down to Utah and stayed with some odd people, but they were nice :) Anyway I had an interview at the Utah College of Dental Hygiene and that day I found out I got accepted. All I can say is it is a big load off my back. Well as long as I pass my anat/phy with a B or above. Well that night the people I was staying with (Rob and Tamara) and Marnie went to a comedy club (like a Who's Line is it anyway place) it was so funny and a great way to end a great day. I think sometime in the summer we all should get together and do something like go camping and stuff like that. Michelle is still working at Meleluca and taking care the the kids. Scott is growing and becoming more and more like a mini me. I know, I know a very scary thought. He loves playing with Kyle and helps my mom and dad with what ever he can. Kyle is running around and loves to copy what ever sound you make. It is a fun time with them. Well other than that every day is like the last day wake up take care of kids go to school study class work sleep. Well hope you all are have a great day talk to you all later.
Jason and Family
Jason and Family
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