JR MISS

Here is Emily getting ready for Jr. Miss. What a big production it all is! But she looked great!

All dressed up and forced to pose! I had other pictures but they didn't turn out so great so this is all I have.

This is part of the opening number! Oh baby! This was to some song "black and White" I think and the theme of the night was color your world. (I think)

All my pictures of her actually moving in the fitness routine were blurry so here is a cute one at the end when she was...what else posing again!

Here she is in her fancy dress with her friend Eden. She is hold her certificate of Award for winning the talent! Yahoo! She was so awesome! I will try to put on a video of it. I tried already but it wouldn't load with these pictures so I loaded these separately and will give it another try later.

Isn't this a nice official sort of picture! Entering the MTC. Kinda reminds me of George Washington! Such an exciting day.

I thought it was funny that they had a seam ripper at the MTC front desk for picking out the stitching in the pockets of the Elders' new suits! Here's Haley taking care of business for Nick.

I thought we got a pretty good picture of everyone here.


Yikes! I would actually like to delete this picture of me but I don't have the skills! So only look at Nick here!

It was fun to see the boys walking along together all dressed up in their suits. They look much alike.

We have gotten 3 letters from Nick so far. He also wrote to Linz so we have heard a good bit from him. He sounds good. He sounds like he is really enjoying himself. I love to hear what he says. Here are a few quotes.
"I love it here. I wouldn't be any where else. I know this really is God's work."

In his latest letter he said this "I love it here. The only other place I would want to be is in Arizona already but I could definitely use to learn some more so I think I can wait. "

It's funny, he has made reference several times to his companion, Elder Allen, telling the District stories. He was telling us his schedule and he said "After that we go back and my companion Elder Allen usually tells our district a story. I recorded some of them so I'll send my memory card home soon. "

"

December 2008

We have had a wonderful Christmas. It is a rule at our house..you have to have some happy pictures with your gifts! Here is Emily with her new coat! It was evident that Luke did all the shopping and wrapping of Nick's gift himself. Let's see it was wrapped in pink, non Christmas paper and he got a Hannah Montana Christmas Card. See how happy it made him:) Nick did however love the Leatherman! It was much better than the snugglie his was telling us he was sending! Such a comedian!

The gang posing following the traditional re-enactment of the Nativity. I don't know what happened to our costume box, we would have had some better outfits if I could have found our box, but weren't the wisemen creative with their costumes! When I was looking at these pictures I crack up..I should really have had more imput on the costumes I see! Nick made the big effort to get a lampshade and his robe from graduation. Tim's 'crown' reminds me of a hard hat! He made it himself..can you tell! Ashley has been worrying about her costume for days. The Shepherds did quite well, notice the candy cane shepherds crooks. This tradition combines our love of the nativity story with family quirkiness! I hope it doesn't get sacriligious. This year we added music, which actually was very touching.

Here are the wisemen singing "We three Kings" . It was interesting. Nick wasn't into it much but we got a note or two our of him. It still was fun.

This little angel sang "Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria. In excelsi deo" It was great!+

More December photos

Here are our singing Shepherds! Aren't they beautiful!

Mary and Joseph singing "Mary Lullaby" It was really very great. You can count on Lindsey, she had Drew practice with her earlier in the day so of course it was good.

Here is some of the action on the hill thanks to a snowy year! I believe this is what Tim calls a "skeeter" it was Emily's scooter that he modified and made a ski for it to use on the snow.

This is the one picture we have of Nick as he opened his mission call. Emily was in charge of photography and she must have gotten caught up in the excitment! Arizona Tucson, spanish speaking mission. He is leaving March 11th. We are all very excited about it. He was especially excited that he got to go Spanish speaking.

This is a photo from Emily's B. day. Didn't want to neglect her! She mainly spent the day running back and forth from Yakima with her friends but dropped in for some cake and ice cream. Happy 17th.

Coincidence

It was really interesting to take note of how small the world becomes because of our connections in the church. Here are a few of the things I was thinking about this week.

1. Once upon a time Natalie was the roommate to Marci Sabin. (For anyone who doesn't know, Marci is from Mattawa)

2. One day when Mom and Dad were at the temple in Billings Mt. the word was going around that there was a member who needed a ride to Powell and they said that they would take him. It was nighttime. They went to the corner where they were supposed to meet him, it was dark, and they picked him up and according to Mom "Had a wonderfully pleasant visit during the
1 1/2 hour trip home. When he got out of the car Dad had him stand in front of the headlights so he could actually see him since he hadn't been able to see him in the back seat of the car. Later, they were to discover that he was married to Natalie's cousin Amy. His name is Mark, I am not sure of the spelling of his last name I will guess that it is Andresen.

3. Of course there is the connection that Whitney was born in Powell WY. 20 miles from Byron where I grew up.

4. And last weekend we discovered that Lainey had already met Whitney's birth mother because they were in the same group at EFY several years ago.

More fun in Utah

I always put the pictures in the wrong order, but here is Whitney crawling on Luke. She's getting herself around these days. She isn't exactly crawling, but whatever you call it she's movin'. She's the cutest thing around I think!

Before Church on Sunday Luke and Natalie had a luncheon for all the family. Here are Drew, Emily and Lance (Kurt's youngest). This is Lance's favorite expression, so Em. and Drew are making it with him. I don't know if Emily was doing it on purpose or just that involuntary thing you do when you are watching others.

Here's little sleepy Whitney. She was really tired when this pic. was taken but after a short nap she did great during her blessing. Luke gave her a beautiful blessing. Notice the shaved face of Luke. Enough to make a mother smile:) Actually I don't really mind his beard. He's a handsome dog anyway:) (That is an old expression that I can trace to my Mom and Dad!)

Here are my beloved sisters. Beth and Heidi. I guess I have to admit Heidi is a sister-in-law, but that doesn't matter I love them both. Heidi welcomes us into her home at a moments notice and manages the mess like a champion.

Here's a pictures of the Luke Jenne Family. Luke, Natalie and Whitney. Signed, SEALED and delivered. What a beautiful sight!

Thanksgiving

Following Thanksgiving this year we went down to Utah and our sweet Whitney was sealed to Luke and Natalie and of course, therefore to us. What a fabulous thing. This is a picture of most of the family that was there. As I look at it I see that some of Natalie's family must have already left, but this is most of us. We feel so blessed to have Whitney in our family. I enjoyed visiting with the Moline family too. We also got to meet Whitney birthmother and her parents. It was quite emotional to contemplate their gift to us.

This was some of the fun times during our Thanksgiving merry making. The girls were enjoying each other. Notice the collision going on between Lindsey and Emily :)

Here are a few photos of the great "Thanksgiving Bowl". Nick, who is usually a lineman, but was a receiver in this game, is catching a pass! Whoopee for him!

Here he is battling it out with Jefferson!

Two beautiful babes on a bike ride through the vineyard. Such a beautiful fall!