From
Our Family to You:From our Family to you . . .
From
Our Family to You:
“Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
--
Charles Dickens
Where
to begin . . . . 1st, an apology for not sending one of these letters
out last year, and 2nd, an apology for sending one this year J
But Barb insists! “We need
to tell everyone what is going on,” she says, looking at me with an eye of
reproachful disbelief. “What’s
going on!,” I reply, “Mayhem! Shear
Mayhem!” J But
I have been reading my Dickens and realize that we have been somewhat like
oysters – shut tight and uncommunicative -- to you for the past two years.
I am also wary of the fact that “Electric communication will never
be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another
person to be brave and true”, but here goes anyway, youngest to oldest.
But
first! Barb insists that I tell you
of our ‘Lympics adventures. It
started with us spending a lot of money buying tickets . . . J
. . . and ended with us spending a lot of money on pins . . .
But it is the only Olympics we’re likely to every see so we decided to
throw ‘caution to the wind’ and provide all the family with at least one
Olympic experience. The Hockey game
was great for the boys (sans Jeff – sorry Jeff) and the girls opted for
soft and cuddly Ice Dancing. Some
of us got to go to the Super G and Barb (along with her Mom and sister) splurged
even more and did Bobsled, Ski Jumping, and Cross-country. The only real ‘adventure’ of the lot came in the
Snowboarding event where, unfortunately, Christie and Jeff and the boys got
mixed up, went to the wrong parking lot, were told that the event had been
canceled because of high winds (it wasn’t’, but ski-jumping was), then after
waiting (when they shouldn’t have, but were told to do so) got on, finally,
the right bus only to have the event end as they were riding up to it.
But hey! Those McDonald’s
burgers and fries were great and they saw a lot of the giant parking lots in
Park City J
All in all we are glad we did it. We
all got updated winter clothes wardrobes – nothing great, but I looked really
good in my beanie cap some said J
. . . Ahem, and others disagreed -- and we had fun as a family.
One question: What is it
with women and Olympic pins!?
Now
where was I? Oh yes . . . youngest
to oldest . . .
Little
Makenzy, now one (and 2 months) is our 2nd Grandchild.
She’s learning to talk and walks up a storm and is a regular little
busybody when she visits Grandma and Grandpa (that’s us!) along with her
sister Haylie. Although our
children are growing older, the world is renewed in innocence by our
grandchildren – thank goodness! J
Abby
(Madame Abigail Ilish) is a dog, literally! . . .
and 2 years old now. Why do
we have a dog? I DON'T KNOW! I wonder the same thing.
Ask Barb.
Turning
to a much more pleasant topic . . .
Then
comes Haylie, our oldest Grandchild, full of life and wonder, very
precocious in word and phrase, and a great blessing to us (all).
Haylie is 3 right now, but will be 4 tomorrow as I write this.
I think we are going bowling for the party – I hope they put those
bumpers up so that I can compete . . . J
Unfortunately, I missed Haylie’s first pre-school singing program due to a
business trip to San Diego, and am poorer for it.
But I get to see the movie! J
Next
comes James, little James, but not so little anymore – 11 years old –
and in Scouts along with Nick. Now
there’s a pair, Nick and James. Over
our bed, viewable when lying flat upon it, stuck to the doors throughout the
house, and in seemingly every nook and cranny are two sheets of paper,
mischievously pasted there by these two. What
are they? Christmas lists –
detailing all demands, complete with hyperlinks and pictures, laid out in very
convenient manner . . . Hmm . . . I don’t remember this being the way I used
to ask Santa . . . J James is doing very well in school, rides
skateboard, wants to snowboard, has his own room now (and sometimes even cleans
it J )
Nick,
is a teenager . . . what?! . . . you didn’t get the public warning message we
sent out!? J He’s in Junior High – doing well, and also
skateboards like James. He’s
asked for a Desk-top stereo system for Christmas along with some really
strangely titled CDs . . and yet
another skateboard. I consider all
of these requested gifts DANGEROUS! J
Now
to Pat – Patrick Hanley to be exact.
Pat is a senior in High School. He
works very hard in school and at Ben Lomond Heating & Air Conditioning
(after all, a guy has got to have money to pay for that truck of his).
Pat has been nominated for the Air Force Academy and, if things work out,
hopes to attend there next year. If
things do not work out, ‘Plan-B’ is to do ROTC at a fine University (which
one? I ask, but remain uninformed. But
BYU or University of Utah seem to come up – although he teasingly keeps
mentioning out-of-state something or other.
Might it be WHATSAMATTAU? J ). Long and
short – Pat wants to be a pilot.
Christie
continues to work at Lil’ Audrey’s Health Spa and date Jeff ‘The Truck’
(I quote from the last newsletter – “so named because of his exceedingly
fine conveyance – much better than ‘The Beast’ he used to drive”).
Chris is doing well and we are glad to have her home with us for a little
while at least.
Melissa,
Brodie and Mika (a beagle ala snoopy) still live in their condo
not far away from us. There’ve
been changes however. Brodie moved
to a new, and much better job, with Maverick Country Stores (An Oil & Gas
Company – 7 states, 170 convenience stores – see www.maverik.com
-- also see www.brodiepeterson.com
for Brodie’s personal web site). Melissa
works full time at the DMV as a manager (a very tough job but she does well at
it) and continues her studies at Weber State University.
Jon,
Misty, little Haylie, and little Mackenzy still live not too far away
also. Misty is a stay-at-home Mom
now; while Jon works at Ben Lomond Heating and AC.
Both work very hard. Jon is
an avid and very skilled fly fisherman who ties his own flies, expertly, and
makes his own rods . . . and sometimes he brings home little water critters so
that he and I can look at them through the microscope.
In regards to Haylie and Mackenzy I can do no better than quote from the
last news letter . . . . “many-a time helped me at the grocery store and then
afterwards paid a visit to the ducks that live near the market . . . moments
neither silver nor gold could ever buy.”
I
(Steve) come next, being younger than Barb (not really . . . she’s two
months younger . . . but this is an on-going controversy and family joke J ).
Me? I’ve sat at basically the same desk and changed companies 3
times (a sign of the times). First Thiokol, which turned itself into Cordant,
which sold itself the Alcoa, which then divvied up the assets and sold the old
Thiokol to Alliant Tech Systems (ATK) -- so
now I work for ATK Thiokol. Did you
get that? Anyway, I have
continued to guard the motherland throughout all this J and work manufacturing systems, programming,
and project management, and sweep the floors, and whatever, etc.
Barb
is, as always, a great Mom and Grandmother (and sweetheart too J). She is Young Women’s President of our LDS Ward and spends a
great deal of time in service to the young women of our neighborhood.
She doesn’t have much time between her children, grandchildren, and her
church service for her Battenburg Bunny tole painting home business, but
she’ll always be ‘Bunny Battenburg’ to us (and a bunch of telemarketers
and junk mail senders too J ). Writing of Barb makes
me reflect on another great Dickens Quote;
“Pride
is one of the seven deadly sins; but it cannot be the pride of a mother in her
children, for that is a compound of two cardinal virtues -- faith and hope.”
We
do try to have Faith. And we do
Hope and Pray that the Holidays will find you in good spirits and in good
health.
You
like good writing? You like good humor? Then don’t visit http://www.xmission.com/~psneeley/
Merry
Christmas!! and have a Happy New Year!