I feel like a one-woman email chain. :) -- Connie

I am determined not to let this die!!!  I want to know what's going on in all of your lives--so I keep chiming, in hopes that you all will.  :)

Well, another section of our fence blew down up on top, and also the left side at the front of our house.  So nice to know that the H.A. will fix it up on top, but we're going to have to replace that front piece, which we've been meaning to do anyway.  I would love for the back fence management to replace the whole fence, and we would even chip in, but looks like they're going to do this piece-meal thing which I will not complain about one bit.  But I do hope this extreme wind we've been having will be short-lived.

It was way windy at the temple yesterday for Brittany Persson's wedding. SO FUN to be there with so much extended family.  We had a Chipotle family luncheon, and the reception was absolutely lovely at the Overlook Chapel.  She sure married a nice guy with a wonderful family! SUPER happy for her/them.

Tonight we head out to Lodi for the NYEve party, so hope we don't have extreme weather for that trip.  Just saw a post about how treacherous that was for someone yesterday and I have no desire to blow off the road and into the surrounding water....ugh....so here's hoping for a less blustery day!  :)

Alison and Chris are staying with us and I have been waiting for hours with biscuits and gravy for them, it's almost noon and they just began stirring up there....so it will be lunch instead of breakfast.  :)  Oh, the good 'ol days of being able to sleep in like that.  The older one gets, the less possible that becomes....and just when one might have time to do it!!  :)  Oh life....it just keeps us on our toes.  :) :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR to each and every one of you!!  Pipe in and tell us all about your lives.  We really hope that all is well with all of you.

Love forever and ever,

Mom

Another Update -- Bryce

Sorry to hear about the fence issues are a continuing saga. I'd be surprised if your home insurance wouldn't replace the whole thing, though, since it's all just about falling over at this point. (Assuming the fence is covered.) Might be worth looking into. 

Oh, and Kev and Mom both: most homeowner and/or renter insurance policies have limited coverage for identity theft issues, usually capped at or under $2K. If either of you end up out any cash, it's worth taking a look through the insurance policy (assuming you have a renter policy, Kev) to see if you can make a claim. In fact, if either of you is continuing to have problems with your bank or the credit agencies, feel free to give me a call and we can talk about what the banks/credit agencies have to do for you. Maybe you can use that info to get them off their keisters. 

We don't have a lot to add to our last update, since all we've done is add nasty colds to the mix. I'm the healthiest, but I still worked from home today to avoid dropping a biological bomb on my office. (I get to work from home more these days because a good friend of ours hooked me up with two huge monitors for free. I need a lot of screen real estate to work effectively, so I used to have to stay at the office late or go in on weekends to have access to my dual monitor setup. Thank heaven for wonderful, generous friends.) We're pulling out of it just fine, though, so it hasn't been a huge deal.

We have Everett's kindergarten information meeting next week, which seems sort of surreal. Good thing we'll fill up the house a little more before he starts school. :)

That's about it for us. As E would say, "I love you all the numbers down to zero!"

Happy New Year's Eve -- Shauna

I'll follow the example of my eldest brother and update you guys on what's going on over here with us :)

As mom hinted at, Mike and I have been trying to get to the temple every week for the last couple weeks. Our second time going together (1st time at Provo) we got asked to be the witness couple :) very cool experience but man I was nervous! Haha last weekend we went to the Timpanogos temple since the Provo one is closed. We were rushing to make it to the last session and barely got in on time (or so we thought) and got asked to be the witness couple again! What are the chances?! So funny! And again, a great experience :) especially in our temple! Love it. Last night we went and did a session at the Salt Lake temple. Seeing it live was an interesting experience but it was a fun thing to go do :) we saw the lights afterward and got some dinner at Panda which was a great way to end our all day date! (We went bowling before and got a couple things done before heading out to Salt Lake for the 5pm session. It was FREEZING!!) 

Other than that, we're just getting caught up on management stuff and enjoying all the time together :) Oh yeah! A couple weeks ago, I sang a duet with Rita for their wards Christmas Musical Fireside so I learned a song in Spanish and it was really fun to bond with my mother in law doing that :) Mike accompanied us (making it his own awesome arrangement of a primary song) and I always love hearing him play!! He really has an amazing musical gift :)

We might play games with all the little brothers tonight (and maybe Ben and Skye) which will be fun! We love those guys.

Oooh! I just remembered another thing that happened! :) Mike and his little brothers were dealing with the snow so I was cleaning out an apartment since the couple had left pretty quickly and didn't have time to clean everything before they left (they wanted to beat the storm that was coming so we said do what you can and we'll charge you for what we have to clean.) they had left a lot of stuff but one thing was a queen mattress. Mike decided it would be fun to put some old snowboards and skis under it (attached with duct tape) and take it sledding. So we called Mike's little brothers, janelle and Darin and Merritt's kids to join us. As we kinda already figured, the mattress was a fail but we still had a ton of fun sledding with the real sleds!

Okay I'm done for real with our update now haha :) Life is great and we're loving it!!

Love you all!! Happy New Years Eve!!

Update -- Connie

Thanks for the update, Brycee!  So sorry about Everett's foot getting hurt, dang it all!  But a cool boot....that'll take some of the sting out of it for sure.  :) 

Wow we've sure got some intense weather going on in this country!  Hope you are all safe and warm and happy on Christmas!!  We will be with each of you in our hearts.

Things are a little rough around here right now.  I am under the weather a bit, so Dad is on Grandma patrol...and we are not together, which reallllly stinks.  It's hard to see the changes in Grandma's personality right now, so if you call her, please be aware that things are not quite 'normal' right now and don't take anything personally.  She might be just fine on the phone, but you never know.  And I know she would love a phone call--even a really short one.

Living on my memories of being together with all of you....just wishing we could all somehow live right next to each other forever....guess that will have to be in our mansions on high. :) I better shape up!!!!  You are all so wonderful and we love you beyond words. 

Let us know how you spent the Christmas money!  We want to make sure you got yourselves something that you really want, otherwise you will force us to buy, wrap and ship in the future, and you may end up with Superman footie pajamas or the like---so FOLLOW THE RULES and spend that Christmas money frivolously!  Every red cent of it!  :) :)  It's okay if you say you're waiting for post-holiday sales....that will be acceptable.  ;)

Happy Christmas Eve....we are counting our many, many, many blessings....and you kids/grandbabies are at the tippy top!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you with all my heart,

Mom

Update -- Kevin

Bummer to hear about Everett’s foot. Hopefully it gets all the way better soon.

As for us, there doesn’t seem to be that much to write about. It’s been nice having a few days off from school, though I have been able to use the time to get caught up with studying a little bit. Rachel’s family has been slowly trickling into town, with Sharla and Jeff’s family getting here late on Monday (Sharla’s b-day). So to celebrate, we went to Outback Steakhouse last night and then went and saw the final Hobbit movie. Not bad, but not one I plan on ever buying.

I think the most entertaining part of our lives is being the parents of a very quotable 2 year old. Seriously, this girl is something else. The other day I told her as she was eating lunch that—if she finished it—she could have a special snack afterwards (i.e., I’m going to eat a snack, and if you finish your meal I’ll share with you). When I promised her the snack, I had forgotten that she had already been snacking before lunch on something she got at church. Rachel kind of tried to do damage control and get us out of the new obligation, but since I really wanted to eat the snack, I just made the executive decision that we would proceed as planned. I said something along the lines of, “It’s okay. We can still have the snack. Daddy makes decisions around here sometimes, too.” (As a side note, I tend to run everything past Mommy before giving permission because I’m not at home enough to learn how things are done here.) In a way that only Audrey can say it, her eyes got wide with excitement and she enthusiastically responded with, “You make GOOD decisions!” I thought Rachel and I would never recover from laughing about that.

As for Esther, I can’t believe how fast she is growing into a cute little chunky baby. She is also getting very good at holding her little head up, and has been able to effectively roll from tummy to back (to the left or right) for well over a month now. I didn’t know that was even possible at this age. She is also sleeping very well at night, but is still very particular about when she wants to be held (always), who she wants holding her (Mommy), and how she wants to be held (any way but the way I’m currently holding her). Okay, it’s not quite that bad, but it feels like it sometimes. At least she has (finally) started warming up to me… “which is nice.”

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Love you lots!

-Kev

Update -- Bryce

Aw yeah, check me out, gettin' my Baptist on with the hand motions and all.

So, we do have a little update for this Christmas Eve. Ginny knocked Haley's harp over on Sunday, and it landed on Everett's ankle. Poor kid was really, really hurt. We iced it and got it wrapped in an ace bandage that night. He still couldn't put weight on it Monday morning, so Haley took him in to the doctor. When she finally got in to see the doctor that afternoon, the doc took one look at his ankle and said, "I'm not charging you for this visit. You need to take him to an orthopedist for x-rays." Pretty cool of the doc to not charge us, but bummer on the extra visit. So Haley took him in to an orthopedist yesterday and dropped Gins off with me at work. Turns out Everett's ankle wasn't broken (or if it was, it didn't require setting or a cast), so they put him in a boot and set up a follow-up appointment for two weeks later. Now he's cruising around, loving being mobile again with his astronaut boot. Meanwhile, Gins and I had a great time at work, especially when we realized a mail cart can double as a red flyer wagon. (It was a very dignified and professional afternoon. :) )

Anyway, Haley had mentioned the harp incident on Facebook so I figured I'd let you know all is well. Love you guys to pieces, and Merry Christmas!

Bryce in Sacrament Meeting -- Connie

You are not going to believe this one.  I was on FB last night (ok, I know you believe that part) and my friend from our branch in Italy posted that she was on her way to Raleigh.  I just said, "hey, our son lives in Raleigh!" and didn't think a thing about it.  Well....just a few minutes ago, Bryce texted me that our friends from Italy were in their ward today!  And I got on here and Patti had TAKEN A PICTURE OF BRYCE WHILE HE WAS GIVING A TALK IN SACRAMENT MEETING  and sent it in a private message, telling me that she just realized who that was, and that he was giving a very sweet, very spiritual talk about the Savior.....

Now I ask you:  WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THAT?!  Pretty darn amazing, if you ask me!!  I love that this happened!  She and her husband had both served missions in Italy, and just as we were getting ready to move back to the states, the Lord sent them to take over Dad's job as being the Italian-speaking-problem-solving-resident-caretaker of our precious little American Branch in Aviano.....I'm not even kidding.  They stepped in just as we stepped out.  It is amazing how the Lord watches over his people, and the entire time we were in Italy, Dad went to doctors, hospitals, landlord disputes--anything where our branch friends needed him to interpret, HE WAS THERE.....and then when we were leaving....in come the Johannsens.  It was amazing.  

Anyway, I'll try to attach that picture....but....I may not know how to do that.... :)  :)

Love to all!  Happy Sabbath!

Mom

"C'mere scorpions! I teh get you ... wif me hammer!"

Noelle has gone from being deathly afraid to go outside (I may have inadvertently influenced her in the beginning of our stay here in Arizona) to being the Rambo of the family. She is fearless. And ruthless. We were on a walk the other day and she saw an innocent grasshopper on the road. 

"AAH!" She let out her darling little high-pitched war cry, ran over and stomped on it as hard as she could. It was a big one too, so there was some gut squirting which only fueled her hate fire. She stomped again for good measure.

"Belle-Belle, you don't need to smoosh the grasshoppers. They're nice bugs." I tried to tell her.

"No. Teh yuck!" 

Yeah, she's got a point. 

She is the spunkiest, goofiest, most temperamental child I have ever encountered. It is so fun to be her mom. Her heart is full of goodness, and we can work with that. She may have regretted giving the Salvation Army bell-ringer her gumball quarter five minutes later, but she gave it. :) I am totally in love with her.

Eve has learned to walk and loves to tangle herself up in my yarn projects. She loves dancing and being tickled, and every syllable that comes out of Noelle's mouth. With Chiara in school my two littles have really developed a sweet little sister bond. Eve can fall down, have tears streaming down her face, and still giggle when Noelle tries to cheer her up. Nothing is sweeter than Noelle being sweet. The opposite is also true. But in Eve's eyes Noelle can do no wrong. Eve is silly and happy and has a hilarious machine gun grunt that makes me laugh every time I hear it. The only things I know she doesn't like are bananas, shoes, socks, and the third hour of church.

Our Chiara girl is a great reader (it's actually become problematic at times ... I'm getting used to the threat of printed words being read aloud at any given moment) and LOVES to learn. Her teacher calls her "velcro brain" and makes her the example of paying attention and remembering what is being taught in school. She's actually talked to me about Chiara's memory being phenomenal, and how I might need to be careful she doesn't imprint on incorrect spellings, rules, etc. because Chiara will remember it the first way she encounters it. I relish the challenge of teaching and nurturing a mind like hers. We have such great discussions, sometimes I forget she's five years old.

Her favorite things to learn about are dinosaurs, sharks, the human body and everything churchy. Her prayers are the most tender words I hear all day. We are trying to teach the girls to tell Heavenly Father the feelings in their hearts and Chiara has really internalized it. Like always.

So ... Christmas 2014 finds us happy, healthy, and hopeful. I am always surprised at how hard my days can be, but there's nothing I'd rather work for than these little girls. Bring it on!

My update will be quick. -- Torrey

I used to say that if you pay me enough, I could stand on my head in the corner for 8 hours a day.  Well, I might get tested on that.  Instead of giving the corner office (Patti’s old office) to the new Director of Financial Planning & Analysis, they decided to give him Shaun’s office.  And since there will probably be another hire shortly, that new person will get my current office.  So, starting tomorrow, Shaun and I will be sharing Patti’s old office.  They’ve put in cubicles with 6 foot walls, but we have a lot less space and privacy than before.  Yes, we’ll have a bathroom.  We might have to use it as a meeting room if any of our direct reports want to visit with us in private or to do annual performance evaluations.   Gives a whole new meeting to a “stand up” meeting. 

The ERP computer conversion project continues to fester.  Reminds me of Grandpa Esplin’s expression:  “It’s like a bad piece of meat.  The more you chew it, the bigger it gets.”  We’re all about to choke on ERP.  : )   I feel like the Grinch.  Sorry about that.  In the big scheme of things, things could be SO MUCH WORSE.  And, if they ever boot me out the door, it’ll probably end up working out just fine.   For now I’ll just be happy with my salary, vacation time and commute.  A lot of people don’t have that many good things about their jobs.

Thank goodness for Christmas and some days off.  Also, my facetime is working on my phone.  We used it with Sheldon/Chiara/Noelle the other day.  Anytime anybody else wants to give us a call would be MORE than fine with us.  : ) 

Xoxoxoxo

Dad

Update -- Torrey

Loved all the banter.  I guess I’m too clueless . . . and possibly email chain challenged . . . to realize how Kevin and Mike didn’t follow the chain.  Didn’t they “reply all” and in order?  Guaranteed I’m messing up the chain, but oh well.

Note to self:  I might also have to do a little sanity-checking of Mom’s claims about things the grandchildren want or don’t want. 

When Bryce mentioned Everett being up all night, it reminded me of our hot chocolate and marshmallow party last Christmas.  I don’t remember what time it was, but I was THRILLED to host that shindig.  I’m pretty sure all the grandchildren want ice cream next time they’re here.  And yes, they don’t just want enough, they want MORE than enough.  : )

My next task . . . hopefully before Christmas . . . is to copy the home video(s) from last year onto DVD’s and send them to all of you.  Yep.  I’m on record.

P.S. – I haven’t helped Mom look for her camera yet.  I tend to actually lift and move things when I look for something.  If I think something might be in the garage, I actually venture beyond the door jam to look.  Just sayin’ is all.   : )  And yes, anytime I can’t find my keys or something, SHE tells ME about having a spot where I always put my stuff.  I HAVE a spot.  It’s called the dining room table.  : )  It’s when I don’t use that spot that things go missing. 

MAN I LOVE THAT WOMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!  : )  As I type this I start smiling just thinking about all the fun / teasing / etc. we’ve had over the years over this kind of stuff.  And yes, she gives as good as the gets . . . sometimes . . . when she remembers things.   : )  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The fun that just keeps giving.   Maybe I should go check the purses in the closet for the camera.

xoxoxoxo

Dad

Update -- Connie

Oh WONDERFUL!!!!  I am so happy that very few have been deleted!  There are seriously pictures on that camera that I CANNOT live without!  So thank you for being awesome and saving those pictures, my darlings!  <3  I am still determined to find my camera.....mostly because I forced Dad to do some 'Grandfatherly' things for a little idea that I have pinging around in my head, so I would hate to have tortured him for nothing.  :)  OH, I do love that man..... :) :)  And here's a tip:  if you want to coerce him into doing something that he might not ordinarily want to do, just say IT'S FOR THE GRANDCHILDREN and you will instantly have your way.  Just sayin'... :)

Bryce--thanks for sharing that sweet experience with Everett!  Audrey asked in her prayers that we "share our hearts with Jesus" and you KNOW that gma and gpa melted into a puddle with that one every time!!  To balance things out though, she also prayed her gratitude for "love and prayers and spit..."  so there was that.  :)  Girlfriend does appreciate a good spit, I guess.  :) :)  Anyway, I am just IN LOVE with my little granddarlings, and hope you will all find a few moments to keep us posted on their hilarity.  :) And preciousness.  And....everything.  :)

Also:  Shelli told us that at Thanksgiving Chiara's class had a little program that some parents attended, so when it was over the parents started taking their kids home.  Several children had already left without much ado, but when Chiara was leaving, EVERY SINGLE CHILD  in the class gave her a hug goodbye!!  That made Dad and I SO happy. (Please disregard if I repeat myself....you KNOW it's inevitable....so just roll with it.  Or you can tease me, as you well know.) :)

You are all raising kind and loving children and we are SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As for Dad and me, we are still playing mad catch-up from our literal MONTHS of being blissfully absent from our real lives.  Sure are glad that Todd is here taking his shift with Grandma or we would be doomed.  She was giving him a run for his money there for awhile, but looks like things are settling down a bit.  We were even able to put up our outside lights last night and drag out our Christmas decor.  Nicole is coming to help me "Elf" as we call it, tomorrow--at her request.  :)  What a darling she is! There is hope that we will have some decor up in time for actual Christmas, thanks to her. In my Gospel Doctrine lesson on Sunday, I told the story of Bryce casting his 'offending' right eye at that girl on his mission, and the whole class just fell apart.  :)  So that secret is out, haha!  Got the shopping done today for our adopt-a-family at Dad's work, so that feels good.  The 17 year old son is special needs, so I wanted to buy him EVERYTHING in the world...just hope he likes what I did get.  Tonight we are having Dad's scouts at the house because they are cleaning the church carpets (Good idea to do that in December...?) so I went and got materials for them to make cards for a little girl in Utah who is dying and her final wish is to get homemade Christmas cards, so Dad loved that idea and he is so swamped at work that I am being a bit of an assistant this week. :)  Somehow I have to hide all my fragile Christmas boxes before they get here!!  Then we're on to the Ward Christmas party this weekend, where we are on the committee which means decorating Friday night, cooking soups on Saturday, making grilled cheese sandwiches....somehow...and serving at the party, all while dressed like train conductors. .... This is what happens when the awesome Norma Bowerbank is in charge.  WE WILL HAVE US A PAR-TAY!!!!  :)  So that's our update.  The next one won't be this long, hopefully.  :)  Oh--also, our debit card fiasco is supposed to be remedied today....all 28 of the fraudulent charges are STILL on our account, and that is SO stressful, so I hope they come through on their promise....their SECOND promise.  The first one was 5 days...yeah -- weeks ago!! 

Now you're all caught up with us--more than you ever wanted to know!!

Good luck with all the tests and rotations and litigations and everything else in your wonderful lives!  Mike and Kevin--I do not think you are bad at email chains--Bryce is just sporting, as he is wont to do.... ;) 

All my love,

Mom

Mom's Camera -- Kevin

I wish I would have responded last night to this, but we still have ALL the pictures that were on your camera, Mom. (You put them on Rachel’s computer.) Granted, she has gone through and deleted some of the ones we weren’t planning on keeping, but they are not permanently gone since she can just go restore (un-delete) them from her computer’s trash bin. So, no worries. We can burn all of those onto a disc for you and send them your way if you don’t find it soon. But I still hope you find your camera, just because it would stink to have to replace it.
 

Anyway, I hope Everett feels better soon, and glad to hear Ginny hasn’t mauled anybody. J  Love you all!
-Kev

RE: Need your help! -- Bryce

Oh Mom, we'll be praying so hard that you find your camera. What a heartbreaker it would be to lose all that. (Not to kick you while you're down, but if you had a smartphone, all those pictures would be backed up automatically, and you could either call it or track it by GPS to find it. Oh hey, and we expect to have an extra iPhone or two when you come visit for the baby blessing. How fortuitous. :) )

Heaven knows I'm all in favor of family email chains. Let's turn this into one!

Everett was up all night on Sunday (although he was happy as a lark all night, we learned on Monday it was an ear infection), and told Haley the next morning, "When I stay up at night, I can feel Jesus's love come down." It was the sweetest thing. I'm mostly sure it was sincere, too, but because he's my son, I have to acknowledge a lingering suspicion that he said that because he knew it would melt our hearts and encourage us to forgive him for the sleep deprivation. 

Oh, and a little shout out to the nieces, too. Ever since we got back from Utah, Gins has undergone a pretty dramatic transformation. She's still a silly little perpetual motion machine, but it kinda seems like she has consciously set aside her wildness (which is to say, she's still always on the go, but she doesn't run around growling all day every day). She's also gotten a lot more snuggly, so it's a win-win. We're pretty sure this change was a group effort by the Lowder and Lyster cousins, but I wanted to acknowledge the Lowder nieces for their part. :)

Hello my darlings! -- Connie

I am calling in the troups on this one.  I have lost my camera....with all the precious pictures from the wedding festivities and our trip to El Paso on it.  They are not saved to our computer because I have no room there....so....in light of recent developments where Heavenly Father restored my lost keys to me (thanks for taking one for the team, Mike) I would really appreciate it if you would all pray that I find my camera.  To me, it's a HUGE deal, so I thank you in advance for any prayers you could offer up for me.

Also, while I have your attention, :)  I would like to tell you what is on my Christmas list.  It would reallllllly be my greatest wish (now that we've all been in the temple together for Shauna and Mike's sealing, so there is room for a new ultimate wish in the #1 spot) that we all make a greater effort to stay in touch.  I KNOW that your time is your most precious commodity, but I am beginning to realize that the chance of any of us living near each other in the future is quite slim....so...as I have pondered this, I realize that even though all of you have so very little time, it would be such a gift to our family as a whole, to make sure we just take a few seconds even to stay in touch.

We have had some wonderful email chains that just sort of die out, and I know that is bound to happen, but I really do want us all to know what we are all doing.  Even if you just write a little blurb on Sunday evenings, or Monday evenings, or whenever--just let us know how things are going.  That is my dream right now.  It was so great to get together, but we should all have some sort of "bonding" in place so that we are aware of what we can specifically pray for for one another, what we can cheer for, what we can help with.....whatever!  We just need to stay in closer touch. 

**THOSE OF YOU WHO BLOG ARE MY FAVORITES** Just throwing that out there!!!  ;)

We are a forever family, and life is always going to be busy, so I hope we can implement something that keeps us bound together as tightly as possible.  So....how does that sound?  Just a few little sentences--we can all share in the hilarity of what those little ones are saying and doing, the horrendousness of what is happening at school or work :)  or just what is happening in all of our lives.

I feel great about that.  :) :) 

Oh, I do love you all so, so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am still on cloud nine from being together, and will quite possibly NEVER get over that!  :)

Love you more than words can say!

Mom