The McMurdie Family

Success!!!

2009-12-21T14:10:00.001-08:00

Tyler and Mikayla learned how to ride their bikes without training wheels. I am such a proud mommy!!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sweet Moments - Kristine's thoughts 10/13/08

2008-10-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hello All,
I had to write about this past weekend before I forget. For as crazy as it was (of course there aren't many days any more that are not crazy) there were a couple of precious moments that I hope to always remember.
We had Jeff's parents and brother Scott and his family come to our house for the weekend to be a part of Jonathan's baptism. This was one of those moments. As I sat through the service, I was so please that Jonathan was excited for this ordinance. I can tell when he's excited, because all of a sudden, my son who doesn't know how to sit still, is rarely bashful, and prefers his Dad over me 99% of the time, was doing the complete opposite of those things. He wasn't assertive, he sat quietly, and he chose to sit by me. But more than that, for the entire service (40 minutes) there was a peaceful, sweet spirit that attended. It was one of those moments in my life that I never want to end.
The other special moment happened earlier that morning, much earlier. Heather was able to be with the youth for her first trip to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Everyone met at the temple at 6:00 a.m. We had about 20 youth and then the priesthood and another sister and I to help the youth through the process. How different it was for me to be the adult helping the youth. The last time I attended baptisms for the dead was as a youth. I remember how special that time was and how I just knew that this work was important for those people whose names were read. As an adult watching the youth do this work, it was especially moving for me to just be in their presence and to see in their faces that they knew this was important work.
After the baptisms, the bishop took everyone to Jack-in-the Box to have breakfast. It was so interesting to me how that peaceful spirit got into the car with me and then gradually left as we sat in the restaurant. I so wanted that feeling back. Heather and I drove home after that and I tried to recapture the fullness of that feeling, but I couldn't quite get it back.
How sad that I haven't figured out how I can have that sweet spirit with me all the time. But, until I do figure it out, I will take the moments and I'll remember. . .

Kristine

Camping

2008-10-04T18:00:00.001-07:00

Caught in the act, Mikayla!

I gave the camera over to Becca and she shot the rest of these. Heather might have taken some too. Aren't they great?!

This last one is the BEST of the whole bunch. Great job, Becca!

junk in the trunk showdown

2008-09-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

Who's the winner?

Anderson Letter 8/25/08

2008-08-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

School's in!!!! I have been so excited for this day. Now don't misunderstand me. I love and adore my children, but after the past few weeks of bickering, pestering, boredom, etc., I am very glad for today to come. So, today, I sent all four kids to school. After they had left, I paused for a moment and heard quiet. No TV, no radio, no video games, no computer games. Just nothing. And for that moment, it was sweet as well as sad.
I sent my youngest child to school today. There are no more voices in the house from 8-3 each day. No more little helpers, playdates . . . I know you're all asking, what are you going to do now? To be honest, I don't know, but I have a couple of ideas.
But look at how our kids have grown. Somehow this summer was a huge growth spurt for our family. We took the family to DisneyWorld in Florida this summer and we had the greatest time together as a family and with friends. We got to ride on roller coasters, see characters, play with friends, eat amazing food, hear fantastic music and be a family. We also went to Kennedy Space Center. We watched as the kids were blown away when the Space Shuttle crossed in front of our tour bus after it had returned from a mission to space. Yes, the actual Space Shuttle passed no more than 200 feet in front of us! Complete with heat shield tiles burnt off the bottom. You all know I am a horrible photographer, so your just going to have to use your imaginations.
We returned and had another fun-filled week with our friends from Colorado. We went swimming and played games, the kids put on a play . . . I got to go out to a birthday dinner with my best friends, Jeff, Sarah and Bryan.
After they left, we still had things to do. We spent the 4th of July weekend with my family and and played on the lake, and visited with brothers, sisters, and in-laws. And we got to enjoy the fireworks show from Mom and Dad's backyard.
Heather joined the YW for her 1st Girls Camp. This was the first time she had been away from the family, by herself, for longer than one night. She is forever changed. She turned 12 this summer.
August finally showed up and proved it's true colors by starting out just plain HOT. We watched Jill's kids for a week, and we had a great time, considering the average age was 6. And then it was time to prep for school.
Heather's really making us feel old. She's in YW, 7th grade, Dance Team, Drama, babysitting (another plus for me).
Rebecca is starting 5th grade. She is really going to love being in the "oldest" class and especially being the one to take care of the boys at school. Her relationship with Heather is changing a little, and so we'll have to see where that takes us.
Jonathan is smart and he knows it. He will be in 3rd grade, play baseball, and get baptized. He still loves being with Mommy though.
Matthew started Kindergarten today. He is so proud. He kept saying "I kno-ow" to any suggestion or reminder about what to do. It should be a fun year. (Now if I can just get him to stop sucking his fingers. . .)
Jeff and I are trying really hard to stop the aging process. But, considering that every adult before us and around us has failed, I think we are doomed to fail as well. We don't fit with the "young couples" at church anymore. We're not quite in the middle yet, but we are quickly approaching it.
We have had some changes in our service at church. Jeff is still the Ward Clerk, and he is enjoying the association with the Bishopric. I, however, have gone from being Primary Secretary, to Primary Counselor, back to Primary Secretary and as of yesterday, YW Advisor. I had one of those aging moments yesterday, when I realized that I was 2x as old or older than all the young women. NOT a fun moment. But the calling should be fun. I'm not positive which group I've got, yet, as yesterday I was still helping in Primary and I've still got some training to pass along.
So, that's been our summer. We're ready for routine and schedules, but I have a feeling that even with the schedules, we will still be a bit crazy at our house.

All our love,
Kristine, Jeff and kids

Newest McMurdie #18

2008-08-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't heard, Scott and Carrie welcomed their newest child into the mix. Still no name but she weighed 7lbs 2ozs and was 19 1/2 inches long. Sorry no pics yet but we thought that everyone would like to know the latest. Congrats Scott and Carrie.

Anderson Letter 3/2/08

2008-03-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

OK, I know, it's been a while. But truthfully, our lives have been pretty bland until recently. (Or at least in my view they have been.)

Until a week ago, Jonathan was going to school and playing with friends. But he was bored and needed something to focus some untamed energy (you mom's know what I mean). So, he's enrolled in soccer for the spring and then he wants to try baseball, so we'll do that this fall.

Until last month, Rebecca was going to school, and attending Activity Days for Girls. She too was ready for something else to occupy her time and I was ready for her to pick up where we left off, and thus we started weekly piano lessons again. She wanted horseback riding lessons, but we couldn't do both, so we decided to revisit those lessons when she begins middle school in another year and a half.

Until last month, Heather was doing school and attending Activity Days for Girls, just like little sister. Then between her desires to pursue dance and my desires for her to continue piano, we've added tryouts for the dance team and weekly piano lessons.

Matthew hasn't added anything to the schedule. Thank goodness. But he definitely gets tired of tagging along to everyone else's activities.

Until today, Jeff works, occasionally travels, and was serving as Deacon's Quorum advisor/Asst. Scoutmaster. Today, Jeff was sustained as the Ward Clerk. He still travels back and forth to Denver about once a month and has added a couple of trips for various game conventions around the country.

This is a calling he's never had before, so there's quite a learning curve. But he will be instructed well by our new Bishop. Today, our ward received a new Bishopric. We weren't due for a new Bishop yet, but due to his wife passing in January from cancer, it was necessary. And I say Jeff will be well trained by our new bishop because he was previously the Stake Clerk. Training doesn't get better than that.

Until last week, I was focusing on remodeling the house, which for me means repainting everything. I have one bathroom left. And still lots of paint to go through. I don't know how I overestimated. I also still have a guest quarters and Jeff's office to do (up in the hangar), but that will just have to wait until summer. Especially now that my calling in church has been changed from Primary Secretary to Primary 1st Counselor. I've done this before, but I still feel very inadequate. These are different children and they have different challenges to work with. And today I did it myself (the President was out of town, the other counselor had sick kids, and we don't have a secretary, yet.) Somebody kick me if I ever have to do that again. Fortunately, there were plenty of sisters willing to help out and pitch in so the world didn't crumble to badly.

I've decided the Lord figured we had had enough time to adjust and have a break, so he's going to push us a little harder and see if we can stay standing. With all the things our family is doing we are having to make a concerted effort to be together. We read our scriptures and say prayer in the morning before school and we always have family prayer in the evening. When we get more than that we are doing really well.

I wish I could say there was more exciting stuff going on, but our lives are just busy doing what we do.

We send you all our love and pray you are all doing well,
Jeff, Kristine and kids

January Topic

2008-01-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Which are your top two resolutions for this year?

Holiday Letter from the Anderson's 12/26/07

2007-12-26T19:42:00.000-08:00

Most of you have already seen our letter for Christmas, but just for posterity's sake it's included:

To old friends and new friends and family so dear

We hope that you’ve had a wonderful year.

In our little world we’ve had so much to do.

We hope that someday we can stop and say “Whew”.

This summer we made a really big move

Into a new/old new house we are learning to love.

We are becoming quite settled, though you’d never quite know,

As the paint still hasn’t come out of our toes.

The kids love the yard, to run far and wide,

Jeff loves the hangar, to dream far and high.

Heather’s eleven and has the teenager bug,

Sometimes she’s up and sometimes needs a hug.

Rebecca is nine and going on ten;

She’s active and smart and her help never ends.

Jonathan’s seven and quick as a whip,

Just ask him about Star Wars and he knows every quip.

Matthew is four and so ready for school,

Mommy’s just not entertaining or just not that cool.

Jeff working from home and loves every minute,

He’s had a good year, though no plane has been in it.

And me, I’m painting, and planning, and plotting some more.

This new house is becoming ours more and more.

We’ve learned much this year about life and the rest.

But most of all, we’ve learned that the Lord’s made us blest.

We leave you our testimonies of Christ and His love.

We know the reason for His atonement was unconditional love.

May the next year be joyful and filled with His light,

“Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.”

DECEMBER TOPIC

2007-12-01T21:31:00.000-08:00

How do you plan to keep your Christmas Christ-centered this year?

NOVEMBER TOPIC

2007-11-12T15:34:00.000-08:00

What is your favorite thing to do the day after Thanksgiving?

Happy Holidays! We love you and are grateful to be a part of this strong family!

Anderson Letter 10/23/07

2007-10-23T08:01:00.001-07:00

Hello family and friends,

I have definitely gotten out of the habit of writing at least once a month. We just haven’t had much going on at our house.

Jeff was really busy with work throughout September. The company was trying to complete a product for a Christmas release. So throughout September and the first week of October, Jeff was working 12-15 hour days. And somewhere in the middle of that he still had to prepare a deacon’s quorum lesson and attend mutual nights. The project is done and he is much more relaxed and now he can focus on coordinating a couple of events for the game convention he will be attending next month.

Heather has been adjusting pretty well to middle school. Most days are good, but there are a few that she does not enjoy. She is really enjoying dance and got up the courage to audition for performing in one of the school pep rallies. And she made it! She performs this afternoon and is excited and nervous. Her costume for this pep rally will be a zombie, and they will be dancing to the song “Thriller” (you know the one) complete with black lights and smoke.

Rebecca is really quite happy. She was tested for the Gifted/Talented program and was accepted, so once a week, she attends a class with other 4^th graders and the teacher will work through using different thinking skills.

We found out that the GT program here is only in its 2^nd year. And there is one teacher for all 5 elementary schools. Hopefully, they will see the need for encouraging more of this program for the future. (I think we were spoiled in CO.)

Anyway, Rebecca has also found a good friend, who happens to live across the street. YEAH!!! She needed that. Rebecca and Heather are back and forth between our house and the neighbors’ all weekend long. It’s quite a chore to keep up with them.

Jonathan is doing well. He’s in a class in which most of the students are reading above grade level. So the teacher knows how to work with bright children. He too was tested for the GT program and though he didn’t qualify, at least he will be challenged in his current class.

Matthew has started to really develop quite the imagination, complete with friends and stories and sometimes his “friends” accompany us when we run errands. He has really enjoyed Primary and we have started to have play dates, so he can play with someone other than mommy.

As for me, I’m just trying to keep order. And I’m not very good at it sometimes. It doesn’t help when I’m also trying to paint various rooms and that creates a mess in itself. So far the kitchen, dining room and living room are complete. And so far I am really pleased with the look. I have these grand plans, and I never know fi the final result will pan out until it’s done. Right now, it’s good.

The game room is next after Halloween costumes. I’ll try to get pictures sent next time I write, but Heather is going to be Little Red Riding Hood, Rebecca is going to be Felicity from the American Girl book series, Jonathan is going to be John Smith (Pocahontas) for a school book report and with a little makeup, will become a pirate for trick or treating; and Matthew is going to be Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight.

We love you all and hope you are doing well,
Jeff, Kristine and kids

Halloween costumes

2007-10-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

The only costumes that I remember wearing were my sports uniforms for the team that I was participating in the summer before which was usually a baseball uniform with a little make-up on the face to add a little character, i.e. a black eye, gottee, everyonce and a while I would add a sling for a broken arm or something but I figured that as long as I could hold the candy bag anything would be ok.

Halloween costumes - October thought

2007-10-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

There are few costumes I remember vividly. One year I was an angel (though the personality trait didn't always fit). One year I was a hobo (this was one of those last-minute-what-do-I-do-for-a-costume bits). Probably my favorite costumes were not from when I was a kid.

When we lived in Glenn Heights, we had a ward Halloween Party in a member's horse barn. We had just had Jonathan, and so the five of us went as characters from the Wizard of Oz. Heather was Dorothy; Rebecca was the lion (she hated that); Jonathan, yes, Jonathan we wrapped some foil around him for the Tin Man; Jeff was the scarecrow; and you would have thought I'd be something nice, but I was the Wicked Witch of the West. (We won a prize for that combination).

The other costume I liked, was not for Halloween, but I made it around that time just last year. I was a Saloon girl for a "How to Host a Murder" party. The theme was western, and of all the characters I could play, I ended up being the Saloon girl, "Elvira". (We had a great time, but buyer beware, the story line for that particular mystery is not PG.)

Christmas is in 10 weeks!

2007-10-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it?!?!

I was thinking on another idea and wanted to get your input on possibly implementing a new family tradition. This is something that we do with Kimball's family, as well as extended family. I see a lot of good things come from it, so I wanted to share it with our family.

What would you think about starting a cousin gift exchange with the grandchildren? What this means is that each year around this time, we would put all the grandchildren's name in a hat and we would draw out names for each child to give a Christmas gift to one of their cousins, no matter the age. That means that the gift rotation we have already set up would turn into more of an adult/couple gift exchange.

There are always pros and cons to every decision, so here is my case for the pros:

1) I would love to have another reason for my kids to be thinking of a cousin and giving a gift to them for Christmas.
2) As the family gets larger and the cousins get older, it would be a WONDERFUL way for them to be responsible to get to know another cousin a little better in the form of a Christmas gift.
3) It could turn into a really fun tradition that y'all in Texas have--one night soon before Christmas is the Cousin Gift Exchange where all the cousins bring the gifts they've selected for the other and open the one they've received. Kimball and I would make sure to have any gifts for the cousins there in time so that everyone has a gift to open.
4) As my children get older, it is another way for them to be responsible to buy this gift out of their own money, or make it as their talents develop--making it more personal and connecting them more to that cousin.

This is the only con I can think of:

1) As some of the children are very young, I know that means the need to purchase yet another gift for Christmas. It also means that your child will be receiving a gift that they otherwise wouldn't, as well.

Let's think about this and comment your thoughts. Love you guys...

Marianne

RE: October Topic

2007-10-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

I frequently used my dance recital uniforms for my Halloween costumes. I'm sure that pleased my parents to get one more use out of that well spent money. My favorite of all time was a white ballet dress. I think I wore that 2-3 years in a row. I'm sure by year 3 it was looking a little stretched and small, but hey--I loved it! I always thought I looked so dreamy as I went out.

Now it's your turn. It shouldn't take very long and imagine some of the great things that could come out about people!

OCTOBER TOPIC

2007-10-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

What was your favorite Halloween costume to wear as a kid and why?

I have a great idea!

2007-10-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

I found this on another friend's blogspot and thought it would be a GREAT use for this main family blogspot. Each month, I will comme up with a single topic. When you can in that month, respond with a POST, not a comment, replying to that topic. If you don't know how to post, I'm sure someone would gladly teach you. It is very easy and nothing to be afraid of. Just imagine some of the topics and ways that we could converse.

Remember that a response from one person, may not be the same as their spouse, so feel free to have each adult respond.

Blogging for McMurdie's

2007-09-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

(Blogging for Dummies was already taken)

So, you’ve joined the McMurdie craze and created a blog. Welcome to the latest in the reasons there is no end to the Internet. For those of you who think you’ve found the end of the Internet keep searching (you’ll never find it). In fact, I think they should add a verse to "If you could hie to Kolob!"

Tell me what you think:

There is no end to email, There is no end to Bill Gates,
There is no end to RSS feeds, There is no end to the Internet!

I digress ...

The benefits of having a blog are awesome:

It an easy interface for sharing pictures, stories, and videos.
You can do it much more frequently than the monthly or weekly update (Mandie posts almost daily!).
You can do it from anywhere.
If your computer crashes, you don’t lose your posts (more on that later).
No more large emails from Grandpa (just send a link).
It’s free!

All benefits aside, Father McMurdie has expressed concern that as blogging has increased, so has the potential exposure for personal and family safety. Here are a few reasons everyone with a public blog should censor their posts:

A Google employee lost his job after gabbing on a blog about internal goings-on at the Internet search engine giant. Last month, Apple Computer won a court order seeking the identities of bloggers who revealed on-line confidential information about a company product in development.
The online sexual predator can, over time, glean enough information from a blog to put together a personal profile of the author. School name, employer, names of friends, children, siblings, physical addresses, street names, town—anything and everything can be used by the sexual predator. While the author posts what s/he thinks are innocent details, s/he is in reality drawing a roadmap to their house. They are lulled into a false sense of security by what s/he sees as the anonymity of the Internet.

Here's a more personal example, I posted on my own personal blog about the latest company party (i.e., likes and dislikes). Within a week, I had co-workers who didn’t have any idea I had a blog before suggest I change some of the wording.

Most of the blog safety instructions have the following tips:

No personally identifying information. (What!?)
No pictures (But that's all I post, sometimes!)

Your immediate response may be: “Censorship isn’t fair!” or “Why should I feel like I have to omit important details about my latest escapade because of a 1/1000 likelihood of a predator?”

I agree with Dad, however, let’s err on the safe side and take the proper precautions to safeguard our families. In fact, there may be a potential silver bullet: Password Protection. But it has some downsides:

Friends and Family out there can’t Google our sites to learn more about us.
Potential readers without an account can’t access your blog without your permission.

So, here’s the grand idea: Let’s leave McMurdie.com out in the open. It currently lands on mcmurdie.blogspot.com and is the most visible for Google searches. Then we add visible links to everyone else’s blogs, which are “Invitation Only” blogs. Before I go through the trouble of writing instructions and other tips related to this strategy, post your comments and we’ll discuss other options.

It's been a while. . .

2007-08-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

We promise we haven’t dropped off the face of the earth. Our lives have just been in such upheaval and disarray that we haven’t had a chance to communicate with those we love.

Since I last wrote, we moved out of our home in Aurora, CO and we were blessed with parents and friends who sacrificed and shared their home and routines to let us come with nothing but the clothes on our backs and try to function as a family. For about 7 weeks we were blessed to live with Jeff’s parents in Wyoming (5 weeks) and with our dear friends, the Paul’s (2 weeks).

While living out of a suitcase, we got to see and do many things. For the first time, we were able to take the kids on a drive along some Mormon pioneer trails. We got to see the great vistas and plains and mountains with just a glimpse into what the pioneers might have experienced. We climbed Independence Rock and saw pioneers names scratched into the surfaces; we hiked to Devil’s Gate and recognized the beauty of God’s hand; we pulled handcarts and recognized our abundance.

The girls learned some very basic sewing techniques as we made curtains for their new room. The kids played at parks and played games. We learned how to be together and learn more respect for those who have helped us.

We went to Colorado Springs and spent time with my family at our first family reunion. How much fun we had introducing ourselves to cousins we hadn’t met and reacquainting ourselves with those we had! The energy of the children was contagious as well as exhausting.

And here, too, we saw some things we have never seen before like the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo which is built on the mountainside with a gorgeous view of Colorado Springs. The kids fed the giraffes and saw turtles, monkeys, and bears and loved playing on the zoo playground with their cousins. And again we saw the beauty the Lord provides us at Garden of the Gods. To drive around and realize that the rock “sculptures” have been here for so many thousands and thousands of years was truly amazing.

We felt privileged to have Grandpa and Grandma Edwards (Mom’s parents) with us. I’d catch a glimpse of them every once in while chuckling and I’m sure they were thinking “those were the days” or I’d catch them just “people watching” to enjoy what they had started.

The kids really wanted to finish out their school year in Colorado, which was a major reason for our delay in getting to Texas. So after our reunion we returned to Aurora and helped the kids finish out the year, such as it was with all the parties and field trips. They all got to play that “one last time” with their friends before we left more permanently. Heather completed 5^th grade and the school had a ceremony which was sweet (overdone, but sweet).

We returned to Wyoming to await the arrival of the rest of Jeff’s family for the Anderson reunion. By this time, we had all had it with living someplace that wasn’t our own, but we also knew that it was only for a couple more weeks. And yet we still made some really good memories.

More firsts for me, we went to Devil’s Tower in eastern Wyoming and were stunned that out in the middle of the plains was this pillar reaching to the sky. We drove into South Dakota and saw Mt. Rushmore and felt awed at man’s creativity and pride in their country. We saw an abandoned mine and a “jeweled” cavern. We were just in awe. These are things we’ve never seen and may never see again.

And we concluded our long “vagabond” voyage with a long drive to our new home arriving on Saturday, July 7, 2007. 7/7/07 – should be lucky . . .

Thanks to my brothers and sisters-in law who were so gracious in giving up their afternoon to help move the furniture into our new home. It was hot and muggy, but we all got to sleep on a bed that night and the kitchen was functioning. Within the next week the rest of the furniture and toys were unpacked and ready for use.

I still haven’t unpacked pictures. After unpacking everything else, I wanted to wait and see where I thought pictures would go and then I realized I needed color in our home. So after a trip to Home Depot and a purchase of 23 gallons of paint, I have begun the major project of repainting almost every wall in our home. The kitchen is painted and I have made curtains and should finish chair cushions tomorrow.

The kids are registered for school and begin one week from tomorrow. They and I will be so grateful for routine to return to our lives.

Our new/old ward has been very welcoming to us. For those who didn’t know, we moved back into a ward we had previously been in and so we recognized many faces, and yet there are plenty of new ones that we don’t recognize. I was called as the Primary Secretary about a week ago and that will be an interesting challenge for me. I love Primary and the children in it. The gospel is so basic and simple that it is easy to teach these great children.

Jeff has been working from home with an office out in our hangar. He has enjoyed the space and has accomplished a lot while out there. He still makes trips back to Denver every couple of weeks or so for updates and continuity and “team spirit”.

Heather will begin middle school this year in 6^th grade and she is a bit intimidated by the whole prospect. She did go to the school and participate in a new student orientation where she became acquainted with other students new to the area and became more familiar with the school. That was comforting.

Rebecca will be in 4^th grade this year. She won’t have big sister at the school with her, but I don’t think that will hurt her at all. She has a pretty strong personality and will adjust quite well.

Jonathan will be in 2^nd grade. He’s going through a clingy stage right now, but that will go away with some time and routine. He really enjoys playing games with anyone and is still very much the Star Wars fanatic.

Matthew is 4 1/2, so he will be home with me for one more year. He has developed quite an imagination. He can do Jedi battles with just about any object.

We are glad to be in our new home. It’s cozy and comfortable and hopefully it won’t take us too long to make it our own. We still believe it the Lord’s will that we are here and maybe someday we’ll find out why.

I apologize for the length of this letter, but wanted you all to know that we do love you and are grateful for all your support and love.

We send best wishes to you all,

Jeff, Kristine and kids

Bootylicious

2007-08-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

Poor Carrie is stuck in a pair of boots for a while. For those of you that don't know what's going on with her, she'll update you when she gets an "official" diagnosis. For now, she's ordered to stay off her feet and wear these dainty little things. But hey, at least her toes are pretty!

Somebody get these kids some water

2007-07-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

The kids were out swimming and they all disappeared. I think that somebody needs to get them some water. However, I am not exactly sure what Abby needs or what she might be looking for. Any suggestions?

No room at the inn

2007-07-22T15:32:00.001-07:00

I thought that this was such a cute picture. Scott feels that due to the obvious lack of space that there is no more room at the inn. He thinks that we should be done having children because there is no more space on the lawn mower. Unfortunately for him, my parents have a backpack that we used on the family vacation and my children are completely content taking turns using that versus pushing the lawn mower.
One more thing is that we bought "little missy" her first girly toys which included a purse with phone, make-up compact, keys and sunglasses. Boy does she think she is something else.

Woodbadge

2007-07-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I thought I would post a few pictures from Scott's woodbadge court of honor last Friday. He was awarded his Woodbadge (which is the equivalant of an adult Eagle). He has worked really hard and we are really proud of him. He had to go on two weekend long (Friday through Sunday evening) campouts and do five projects. I cannot believe he finished it with everything else that he has going on. Again we are really proud of him and everything he is working hard to accomplish. He was released as scout master but has doubled his school load so he can finish early in November. We are all just being a supportive and loving as we can and remembering that it is better that he finishes early instead of next May. We will all need your prayers for his exam in November (it has a 50% pass rate, is what he has been told). I will remind ya'll when it gets closer. Here are some pictures from Woodbadge.

New blog possible

2007-07-17T10:26:00.001-07:00

So I set up a blog for my family, but no one but me has posted anything since February so I think I will be turning it into our own Eric and Sheena family blog. We have an Ellinger family reunion the first of August and I will show them how to use it again, but if no one is enthusiastic about it I will turn it into our own blog. Question for Mandie or anyone else that knows the answer...Can I change the web address to that blog?

Well I can't write a blog without putting some pictures of my silly daughter in it. With her being my first child, it amazes me the things she learns to do everyday. Here she figured out that she can climb up onto the coffee table by pulling a stool over to it. She thinks she's really hot stuff when she figures these things out.

We played with bubbles and made chocolate chip cookies on Sunday. Now that she's getting older we are trying to do more stuff with her.

Mikayla

2007-07-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll,

I go in spurts in case ya'll haven't noticed. So here are a few other things my children did that cracked me up. First is Mikayla, who is never concerned with her own safety, until apparently she found these irrestible googles and I suppose thought now was a good time for a moment (I emphasize moment) of safety from my ever so fearless child.

Another moment of Mikayla. This goes to show her "McMurdie" flexibility. These are definitely not Harrington joints. The thing is she was happy and got very upset when I removed her from looked like a painful situation. She amazes me with her flexibility.

So this is some of the things that Mikayla has done. I am trying to be better about posting those cute and crazy things. I hope that each of you enjoy them as much as we do. Hopefully, I am not boring ya'll.

Love ya'll!!

Drive thru and cleaning

2007-07-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I know I am completely terrible about posting anything. I think I am the worst of everyone. So here are a few things that were absolutely irrestible that I needed to post about my children. The first is a picture of them playing drive-thru (food). I am almost afraid that indicates a little too much of that happening on my end OR they are just so intelligent that once is all it takes for them to pick up on it. I am going to go with the latter of the two. In the picture, you can see that Tyler is in the restaruant working and Mikayla is pulling up and doing a one stop shop. She is collecting not only lunch but all of her grocery shopping for the month as well. What a restaraunt.

The other thing that Tyler did this evening that made me so proud of him. I was putting Mikayla to bed and then came out to make my lunch because I am working tomorrow. We had already cleaned the playroom once this evening but it got redistroyed. (imagine that)!!! So I thought I would try to politely ask Tyler to clean the playroom. I fully expected that I was going to have to finish the job or do the job completely. But here is what I found instead.

I was completely impressed and blown out of the water. Not only was it clean but he had organized things as well. It looked better than the first time we cleaned it. I am so proud of him. He definitely knows how to clean and organize. Pretty good for a 2 1/2 year old. I hope all is going well for everyone else.

Scott, Carrie, Tyler and Mikayla

More of the Fourth

2007-07-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

Others have posted pictures of our wonderful Fourth of July down here in Texas, but I thought that I would add a few more.

Tyler Swimming and Shooting hoops

2007-07-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Family Fourth

2007-07-05T09:16:00.001-07:00

We all had a great time at the lake, and here are a few pictures that were taken.

Tyler just standing around loving being at the lake

Scott taking Mikayla out on the jet ski

The girls hanging out

Eric and Carrie Duking it Out

2007-07-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com
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Life with a one year-old

2007-06-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

So it's been awhile since we've posted. (Well actually I, Sheena, am the only one that does it.) Anyway, Maryn had her first birthday last week. She is growing, although some people may not think she is because she's still so little. She only weighs 17 pounds so we get to wait some more to turn her around in the car.While my parents were here a couple of weeks ago we celebrated Maryn's birthday. One of her presents was bubbles. At first she was scared and then she loved it.
Maryn keeps me laughing. Here are just a few of the many funny things she does to keep me on my toes:

1.She will take an Easter basket that's in her toy box, put my keys in it, hold it on her arm and wave and say "hi" as she walks around the house. I don't know if that's something she's picked up from me or what. I don't think I do stuff like that. (I don't have a picture of her doing this.)

2.She also has her own little hiding place to the side of the fridge. I know if I can't find something that is the first place that I need to look.

3.We had a star on the ground that we'd been waiting to put up on the wall, she found it behind the couch and somehow got herself stuck. She was crying, but I ran for the camera first to have a documentation of what happened.

4. I let her play in her room by herself for awhile before I go in there to make sure she's okay. One day I hear grunting and groaning coming from there, but was busy doing something so I waited to go in. She became quiet again and went in there later to find her sitting in her dresser drawer that she had pulled out onto the floor.

As for Eric and I, we keep busy trying to keep up with our little munchkin as we hope to have more time for ourselves now that she is all the way weaned! Yay!!!! Finally. It only took 6 months of wanting to. We look forward to the evening that we can go out to dinner AND see a movie; like a real date!

Well my sister is coming to visit on Monday so we will have fun showing her around since she's never been to Texas. That's it for us!

Mark and Michelle

2007-06-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

So Michelle and I decided to start our own blog after much deliberation and dicussion. It is still a work in progress but we think that it will turn out great when we are finished. Here is the address so that you can add it to your favorites and also your personal blogs.

http://markandshell.blogspot.com/

We love you guys and hope all is well.

Tava's first month

2007-05-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Tava is now a month old and cute as ever. Everyday we just look at her and are amazed at the fact that she is here and is ours. It is such a blessing to have her in our lives.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More Tava

2007-05-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

This Sunday the 20th of May we are going to be BLESSING Tava in our ward. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. This is the craziest thing. I am still in shock that I am a dad and now I am going to present her before the Lord to give her a name and a blessing. Can you believe it? Anyways.........Our meetings are at 11 in the morning and would like all possible to be there and in attendance. I know that I have already talked to most of you and we are very appreciative of the support. We are also going to have a Pot Luck Dinner after our block of meetings. Michelle will get ahold of all of you to let you know the details. We love ya'll and will see you later.

The Microwave

2007-05-09T01:49:00.000-07:00

So because our oven is an older style oven, it does not have a timer. Therefore we have to use the microwave for the timer. One lesson that I have learned is to make sure that you push the timer button and not the cook button when you want to time something. I learned that lesson the hard way. 25 minutes of cooking nothing but the microwave will fry the microwave to the point that it will not work. Needless to say, we had to buy a new microwave. You never realize how much you need one until you don't have one for a while.

Our Little Tava

2007-04-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

So on Sunday morning at about 6:00 Michelle woke me up stating that she felt weird and she hadn't felt the baby move for a while and was really scared. So I half way woke up and gave her tummy a little shake and the baby began to move a lot. Michelle also said that she was feeling a lot of pressure about every 15 minutes. I told her to monitor them during the day.
Thanks to Mandie everyone was able to see some pictures of Tava.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sorry we didn't have a chance to post our own pictures until now. C-sections can take a while to heal from. We are all back from the hospital and Michelle is starting to feel much better. She had a fever while at our stay in the hospital and luckily by Thursday there was no sign of a fever and so they let us go home Friday afternoon.

By the way for those that don't know our story of how we choose the name Tava we will let you know. Michelle likes to watch the T.V. channel called T.L.C. and on that channel they have a show called Clean Sweep. The hostess on the show name is Tava Smile, and Mark really took to that name and so did I so that is how we found that name. Nothing special just a unique name that we both agreed on.

Tava Madeline McMurdie

2007-04-25T16:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of little baby Tava. Mark and Michelle haven't had time to get to the computer so I thought I would post some of the ones I took so everyone could see what a precious little runt she is!

Sunday the 22nd

2007-04-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

So Michelle has started to have contractions since yesterday. She woke me up at about 6 in the morning telling me that they were about 10-12 minutes apart. Our doctor told us not to worry too much about them until they were about 5 minutes apart and then he wanted us to call them before we went to the hospital. This is an interesting experience because it will really test the endurance of Michelle. She has been saying that she has wanted to have this baby naturally the whole time but now with these contractions, she told me today that an epidural is sounding more and more enticing. We will see and let you know how things go. Keep her in your prayers.

38 WEEKS and COUNTING

2007-04-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well, we went to the doctor's office for our regular visit and everything is going well. Michelle is still ALL BABY and nothing else. I keep telling her that is a good thing because then she will have less to lose when the baby comes. Michelle is now dialalted to a 2 with a little bit of stretching from the doctor. The doctor said that she could stretch her cervix to a 2 if we wanted, and that it sometimes enduces labor so Michelle was all over that. Other than that, we are at a waiting game now. Our due date is May 1st so any day now would be fine with us. We will keep you updated.

As for me, my work is going great. I will have a new work schedule here come a couple of weeks. I was able to switch with another tech so that I can have 6 days off every other week. This will be really nice later on. It will also make it so that I never have to work a Thursday or Friday unless I choose to. When it starts, I will let you know.

Anderson Letter 4/15/07

2007-04-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Ever since we posted that we were moving, we haven't had much spare time to sit and write about the progress and plans that have been made, changed and updated. We apologize to you all.

Anyway, since our last posting, Matthew celebrated birthday #4. And wow, am I surprised. I thought for sure he would stay my cute and adorable "baby" forever. I was holding some infants in Primary today and our children are growing up. Whether we are ready for it or not, they are growing. Sometimes the growing is really great. For example, Matthew is starting to figure out potty-training, I will be so happy to be done with diapers and pull-ups (we're not there yet, but there is hope). And sometimes the growing up is not so great like when every sentence that comes out of Matthew's mouth in a whine. You know the one "I don't want to", or "I can't", or whatever annoying phrase plus tone of voice it is that indicates their complete and total lack of desire to do anything.

We put our home in Aurora on the market at the end of January and closed on the purchase of our new home in Texas in early February. Everything went smoothly, once we figured out how to print the 100 or so pages of legal documentation and FedEx it back to the title company in plenty of time. And then we found ourselves in the interesting position of owning 2 homes with not really any prospects at the time of selling our home. We sweated that for a week or two and because Jeff's not shy about exploring opportunities, we found buyers for our home in Aurora, got the realtor to take a much reduced commission, and closed on the sale in early March. So, now we own only 1 home, but it's not currently the one we are living in.

We are currently in a rental situation, just staying at the same house. We wanted to stay until the kids finished the school year. With Heather being in 5th grade, we really felt it important for her to finish out her elementary school years with her current classmates. And everyone is alright with that. We also have two family reunions in this area, and we can't afford the travel up here twice within one month.

And then we figured out how to save another month's worth of expenses by living with family,
so, our schedule of places to reach us will be as follows:
Mid-may thru early June - we will be in Casper with Jeff's family;
McMurdie family reunion;
The following two weeks- we will be in Aurora, staying with extremely gracious friends so the kids can finish out the last two weeks of school;
End-June thru early July - back to Casper for Anderson reunion;
Then move into our new home.
(You can send us to the psychiatric ward now. We know we are crazy.)

I know we've talked with some of you about our plans, but for those of you who didn't know, this is what's up.

At the end of February we took the kids to Texas for a long weekend to see the house and meet some of the neighbors. The previous owners planned an ice cream social and invited several of the families from the neighborhood to come and bring their kids and meet us. It was really nice and really gave us quite a boost in feeling comfortable in this new neighborhood.

March was a strange month for us. We closed on the sale of our home, like I mentioned, but I also had the opportunity to go to Chicago to be with Jill's family. I prepared to leave thinking I was helping my sister while she was on bedrest, and arrived to my sister being in the hospital delivering Everett. So I got to babysit some really great kids! I'd like to say Jill and Randy and I had a great visit, but Jill and Randy were at the hospital with a new baby most of the time I was there, so we didn't get a chance to really visit. Emma is completely "alive" every minute of every day. She absolutely relishes in life and all of its ups and downs. I found myself having a hard time keeping up with her. And Ethan loves being loved. My only regret is that we haven't been together more often, because I was still the "babysitter" to them by the time I left.

And when I left, it was not to return home, but to attend my Grandfather McMurdie's funeral. I found out Grandpa was dying as I sat in the hospital with Jill one morning. In the space of just a few minutes, I got to see a brand new life that had come to this world and hear of another life leaving this world. And though this may seem trite, it was a comfort to me to know that birth and death are just parts of life. There is so much of life between birth and death and even more of life that we can't remember before birth and so much to look forward to after death that the processes of birth and death are just "vehicles" to get us to more good stuff. That is probably an oversimplification, but in that moment, though there was sadness, I was comforted that the plan of our Heavenly Father is real.

It wasn't until the viewing that I really put it together that I wouldn't see my grandfather in this life anymore. And at that moment I was truly sad. He wasn't going to be around to make me feel like the most important person, as he did all of us. He wasn't going to be around to play card games with and to get advice from. I know the Plan is real, but in that moment, I was sad for the loss of precious moments throughout the rest of my life on this earth.

And yet, as the family gathered for the funeral, I was amazed at the joy our family felt being around each other. Though I hadn't seen some of my cousins for 15 years, it felt like it was just the next reunion. I am so glad my parents had the foresight to plan family reunions when we were kids. I truly treasure my relationships with my cousins.

With these trips I was away from my family for about a week and I was reminded of how much I love my husband and children. I got home and all I wanted to do was sit with my family cuddled around me. (I didn't quite do that, I got home in time for church and then went home to cuddle.)

Since then, our busy schedule has gotten even busier. Jeff and I made up a calendar to plan what needed to be done and all of our weekends are booked from now until July. Our only free time is during the weeks, and even then the kids have school and sometime in the next week or two I will begin to pack up our home. So if you don't hear from us for the next few months, you'll know why.

March ended with Jeff's birthday which was less than eventful, (I'm going to have to make up for that next year) and a quick weekend trip to Heber to pick up some stuff Mom & Dad left at Grandparents Edwards' house. We had a great trip! But it was waaaay too short. We drove out Saturday morning and came back Sunday evening. And I know Grandpa and Grandma thought it was too short. I wish we could have played a little longer. The kids really enjoyed themselves.

I have always loved going to Heber. I don't know what it is about that place, but everytime I go it's as if the world I live in is not allowed to enter. I am not allowed to be stressed out at my Grandparents' house. I came home feeling so refreshed and it was really only then that I could focus my attentions on what needed to be done in the next several weeks.

I know this letter is long, but I will close with one last event for our family. Today I was released as the Primary President in our ward. And though I had been expecting this for several weeks, it hit me how quickly things are moving for our family. I told Jeff that my release wasn't just for me, but for our family, as much of our life for the last several months revolved around what commitments I had with Primary. This means our family really is moving on. There is not another calling waiting for us in this ward. We both recognized with sadness great friends and families that we would truly miss.

Though today brought a few tears, we are still convinced that Heavenly Father needs us in Midlothian, Texas. We know Heavenly Father answers prayers and has already answered many of our very fervent prayers. The way has been cleared for us to move.

The gospel is true. The plan is real. We know Jesus Christ lives.

All our best to each of you,
Jeff, Kristine and kids

The BABY

2007-04-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we went to the doctor yesterday and Michelle is doing great. We are now on weekly check-ups to make sure that everything is going fine. The doctor said that Michelle is all baby. When we asked how much she thought that the baby would weigh, she said we could be looking at an 8 POUND BABY. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I was not expecting that big but oh well. I guess she will be healthy.

Pictures

2007-04-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of Maryn doing her thing.

Finally!!!

2007-04-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

So, after living with two sets of parents for almost a year now, Eric and I have finally gotten into our own place. We love our apartment. We are working a little bit everyday to get it set up the way we want to. There is one problem and that is the pantry...because there really isn't one. We will probably have to turn the front closet into a pantry with wire shelving and put another shelving unit on the laundry room door to have enough space for everything. Other than that everything is perfect. We have plenty of storage room else where in the two walk-in closets and patio storage. The living room and two bedrooms are perfectly sized and Maryn has plenty of room to roam around looking for trouble.
Last month she started crawling, pulling herself up and cruising around the furniture all in one week. Now we are working on her balance so she can stand up for a few seconds by herself. I won't be surprised if she is walking around by the time she turns one in June. She just wants to grow up way too fast! She seems to be going through a stage of separation anxiety. I can't walk two feet away from her without her screaming. Mothers out there, any ideas?! Still no sign of any teeth coming in either. At least that I can tell. I want to blame some of her fussiness on that, but it doesn't seem to be happening.
Well, our little family is adjusting well to Texas, except for the humidity that we've had the last couple of days...that about did me in. I don't know how I'm going to survive past this first summer here.
Eric has started the first class for his CFP. He'll be gone one day a week until about 9:30. He was going to wait to do it, but we both figured that it'd be better to do it now when we only have one kid. It'll take him about 2 years to get through all the classes and then he'll take the test. We will be going up to Utah at the end of this month so that he can walk in graduation.
As for me, I try to keep my sanity and patience intact each day as I go about doing the most important job I will ever have as a mother. Sometimes when I think about it it's unbelievable that I have a 10-month-old daughter. She really is the most wonderful little girl I could ask for. She brings me joy and frustration. It's funny how the littlest giggle at the end of the day can make you forget about all of the screaming, tearing up the house and changing nasty diapers. It makes it all worth it so that you can get up the next day and do it all over again.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the subject.

Proxy Birthday

2007-03-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Kevin! We wanted to have a birthday party for you, but since you're thousands of miles away, Brian played birthday boy for you. More of the family would have shown up, but we locked outselves out of the house. So instead of having birthday cake we spent half the night trying to figure out how to break into our house. The answer? Smash the tiny front window and squeeze Scott through it. It took Dad, Brian and Eric to lift him up into it. Oh, how I wish I had pictures of that. You'll have to ask the boys about the details.

Anyway, after we got in, Brian and I had a little party for you. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Isn't this a yummy cake? Brian baked the cake and Mandie made the frosting. The frosting is part of the reason why we got locked out of the house.

Boy! 20 candles is a LOT!

Hurry, Brian! We don't want the smoke alarm to go off!

Wait! We forgot to sing Happy Birthday!

Now make a wish!

Yummmm! Licking the candles is the best part!

We needed a big knife for this cake!

Remind you of another picture?

We cut you a big slice. In Brian's words, "oh boy!"

Wow! What a great party! We saved you some frosting.

Mikayla's First Birthday

2007-03-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

These are just a few of the pictures from Mikayla's first birthday party. I'm sure Scott and Carrie will post some of theirs.

Mikayla is a wonderful subject to shoot. She has such beautiful eyes!

Needless to say, Abby loved her cupcake.

During cake, tyler had this strange look on his face. Couldn't figure out what was going on in his head!

I think Carrie had more fun opening the presents than Mikayla did.

Warts and Pregnancy

2007-02-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

So Michelle is doing well. We had a doctors appointment on Monday and we are now about 30 weeks along. Michelle is looking more and more pregnant which a very cute thing. It is fun to watch her stomach move each time the baby moves. We think it is very weird to comprehend the fact that there is a baby inside of her. This picture was taken of her when she was about 6 months along.

In other news, I have had a couple of warts (9 to be exact) on both hands that have been there for a couple of years. Well I decided to get them fozen off the other day and now I can't use my hands that well. my hands look like they are full of blood blisters. They hurt like crazy. Here are my disgusting hands.

I had six warts on the left hand and 3 on the right. I don't recommend them at all.

Reunion 2007 update!

2007-01-29T10:38:00.000-08:00

With the holidays passed, we are looking forward to more planning on the McMurdie Reunion coming up! Most of you know that the date has been changed to hopefully better accommodate the new arrivals coming this spring. The new dates are Thursday, June 7th, arriving around dinner time, through Monday, June 11th, leaving promptly after breakfast.

Second, the next installments of the reunion costs are due! If you have not made arrangements with me already, please send a check to me so that we can all stay on track with our payments. If you are not sure where your family stands, feel free to call me and I will have that information ready for you. The final payment is not due until the end of March.

We love you all and can't wait to spend more time with you in June! BMMK

Our Happenings

2007-01-21T17:39:00.001-08:00

Michelle and I are doing really well. We had a doctor's appointment last week and it went really well. Michelle is now about 26 weeks along and is looking more and more pregnant. She is so cute pregnant. I will send pictures when I can. This past week we got hit with a large "Winter Blast" according to the weather stations. We recieved a lot of rain and it really tested out our place. We have recieved a lot of rain before but not like this. Our porch started to flood and then it began to come into the house. Michelle woke me up after 3 hours of sleep to let me know. So after I had finally woke up, I called up Scott, Brian, and Eric (Thank you again for all the help) to come get soaking wet and stop the water from coming in. 3 hours, a white trash gutter fixer-upper and a trench along the side of our house later we are no longer flooding in the house. I don't think that the owners expected all of these problems and all of these costs. We have also had to spend a pretty chunck of money to have the plumbers come out and find a crack in our main drain line. Luckily for the owners, it is on the city side so they don't have to pay for that fix up. We really like the place we are at and it really is not that many problems we are having but.......

In other news, Michelle has just been called to be the 2nd counselor in the primary presidency. This will be a good calling for her. She will do well at it. She is also substituting at some area schools and babysitting for Carrie while I am working and going to school.

We are having great time and can not complain about anything.

I will post some pictures when I get a chance.

Anderson Letter 1/17/07

2007-01-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

Well, welcome to the new year. (I think.)

It has definitely been an eventful holiday season. Some friends of ours lost their son and Jeff officiated at the funeral (I think I already mentioned this); Christmas came and went somewhere between the snow storms; another friend is currently in the hospital with a broken femur and foot due to a car accident caused by a drunk driver; Mom & Dad McMurdie came to visit for the weekend; we found out Jill's pregancy is getting complicated; and Jeff and I decided to throw a curve-ball into our family's life.

I've held Mom & Dad to secrecy, because Jeff and I wanted to be the ones who shared that our family will be moving back to Texas this summer when the school year ends. The last week or so has been a whirlwind for us of decisions, emotions, and wonderful spiritual experiences. Basically, though we feel like we've been run over by a Mack truck, we've had confirmed to us that moving to Texas is the right thing for us to do. So, we are doing what is necessary to make that happen.

We were concerned that Jeff's current employment would not let him consider this move. Jeff talked with his employer and they have had employees telecommute before and they have agreed to let Jeff do the same. So Jeff will be working from home most days, but will need to travel to Denver on a regular basis just to keep in touch with the projects.

We went to Dallas Monday evening and looked at a couple of homes on Tuesday and signed a contract on a home and then flew home that evening. The home is in Midlothian, TX, back in our old Waxahachie Ward. That in itself is wierd, yet comfortable at the same time. We apologize to all in Texas for not visiting or even cluing you in to what was going on. You can all yell at me later for not at least saying hello.

For your information, here is a link to the home we have under contract, so you can at least see what we are getting.

http://www.eaglesnestestates.org/2740enc.htm

Whatever else happens, we know that this move is supposed to happen. We are both in a bit of a daze, just knowing and not knowing what we are getting into. But, as we told our children in FHE, we have pondered, prayed, and received an answer. It wasn't necessarily what we were looking for, but we will be obedient. Since the move is still a few months away, it hasn't sunk in yet, but as it gets closer the anxiety and excitement will kick in and we will have more to tell you.

We love you all and are so grateful for all of your support and love.

Jeff, Kristine and kids

P.S. Dad & Mom forgot their camera while they were here, but we took a couple of pictures of the temple with my camera-phone, so I thought I'd include those to remind us of the joy and peace that we have received there.

Family Letter January 14 2007

2007-01-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

Another week has passed and we are doing well. This weekend we are in Denver with Kristine and her family. They had a lot of snow just prior to our coming and everything is white. As we flew over the city on our approach it was really interesting. Everything was completely white with black lines running through the white (roads); then there are black dots all over the place where homes dot the countryside. It was really interesting. It is really cold here. It might get to 25 this weekend.

We heard it is not a whole lot better in Dallas where it was raining fiercely yesterday and cold. They cancelled all the stake activities for the day and evening and there was some question if they would have meetings today because of the freezing rain and ice. So I guess we are all fine here inside where it is warm.

Yesterday it rained so hard Mark had some water accumulation in his back yard and it was seeping into the house. He called his brothers who came to help him dig a trench and get rid of the water. Scott called me in the middle of the process (I am sure he was wet), and cursed my name for being such a good organizer and planner of time. It seems that the last few trips we have taken have been at the same time as moves, flooding, or some other labor intensive effort that I was not able to help with. I think it is good planning but he is not convinced of my intelligence. Anyway they got the job done and all seems to be in good hands.

Jill was admitted to the hospital on Friday for contractions. Her body does not like being pregnant and causes contractions. They are concerned of a significantly premature baby so in the hospital she goes. They are treating her to slow down the labor and try to get her stabilized. Anyway, when she is released she will be on bed rest hoping to delay everything for at least 6 weeks. So off to Chicago Mom is going to take care of her and the kids while she is confined. She will be in Chicago until the 31^st and then we go to Salt Lake from the 1^st to 5^th. When we return from Salt Lake she will go back to Chicago from the 6^th to the 15^th. Mom will then go to Washington for Marianne’s baby from the 17^th to the 24^th of February. I am glad we can help out but I do not like her being gone. Sheena (Eric’s wife) does not know it yet but she will be in charge of the house and meals for the next few weeks or until they leave for their own home. With this they may leave sooner than expected. I hope they stay. The house would be lonely without them and I get tired of burning water for meals. Anyway, back to the real issue, please include Jill and her baby in your prayers. She needs all the support she can get.

While Mom is gone I won’t have much idle time. I will substitute for her in seminary, in addition to the employment training, teach gospel doctrine, home teaching, work, temple assignment, and teaching at SMU. So I don’t think I will have much idle time, but I will definitely miss her.

Work has been a real helter skelter time. We took on a new company for all their benefits effective January 1^st. The only problem with it is changing medical plans on January 1 is the same time most other plans change and insurance companies are over loaded. In this case they could not get out group numbers and id cards to the employees. Naturally, many employees need to go to the doctor, renew prescriptions, and some emergencies occur. So we have had to call doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, and other providers of service and make arrangements so the people could get their treatments. This is normally done by the insurance company but since they do not have the group in their system they cannot do anything. So we have had our hands full but it is part of the system. Once the group number and id cards are out (which should be Monday) we are out of the claims business and everything will move smoothly. This is another reason Scott is harassing me. We left Friday and that was the same day several of these things came up, and therefore he has had to handle them.

I am here in the family room of Jeff and Kristine’s house sitting at a table. At another table are all their children playing with figures and building castles and cities. I remember playing with Cowboys and Indians but this is a completely different level of playing toys. Anyway they are really good at playing together. Jeff and Kristine decided about two years ago to get rid of TV in their home and so there is no television to watch unless it is movies. It is really amazing how their kids don’t miss the TV or even know if it exists. I was going to watch the football game yesterday but there was nothing to watch. We made good use of our time and it was really good. It is interesting how we become accustomed to occupying our time with non-important things.

This will be a short note this week but we love you and want the Lord to bless you all. We love to hear from you.

Family Letter January 7 2006

2007-01-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone;

It is a new Sunday and we have a new church schedule and am trying to figure out how to work with this schedule. We are now meeting from 11-2pm and it seems like we have 2 extra hours in the day. Before we were meeting from 1-4. So now what do we do with the extra time?

This week has been really slow for us. Not because there is not a lot going on, but because we have all been going through colds, flu and not feeling well. Mom was sick the first part of the week and that by itself is significant. I slept in a different room one night thinking I could avoid getting sick. When she started to feel a little better I started to feel poorly. Then Eric came down sick. Eric is doing well now but I am still not over the sickness. Now Scott and his family are not well, Brian and his family have been down a little and I guess the whole world is coming to an end. I have clogged sinuses and watering eyes and have no energy. To say the least it is a real pain. I hope in a few days we will all be feeling better and can resume our normal activities, what ever that is.

This week I start a new class at SMU. I am teaching again the same class but with a whole new group of students. I hope the class goes well. I will look up tomorrow to see how many students I have. My last class was 20 students and this one could be as large but we will see. The topic is Employee Benefit Plans and Retirement planning. It is interesting and it keeps me current with information but it is some time consuming. Scott is taking the same class but he will be with a different instructor on a different night.

Brian is working each week in Denver and so he goes there Sunday or Monday and returns on Thursday assuming the weather does not interfere as it has in the past.

Eric has started working at the office but at this point he is just studying to take the Series 7 Securities Exam. This is the license he needs to have to be able to sell or even discuss products with clients. It is a tough exam but he will get it done. So he will be a book worm for a little while. We have some other projects for him to work on but most of his time will be nose to the book.

Mark start some classes at the college next week and he should do well. The classes are online classes and he typically does well with those classes. He has to complete these two classes to move on to the Nursing program. Keep your fingers crossed.

Mom had to cancel her flight to Chicago this last weekend because of being ill. She is now planning to go up in two weeks. She will be there for 4 days but it will be a help to Jill and it will be good to see the grandchildren. I wish I could go with her but that cannot be done. We are going to Denver this weekend to see Kristine, Jeff and their family, but that is the last traveling until we go to Mexico. I don’t like it when Mom is gone but I will have to make do.

I mentioned before of being called as the Stake Employment Specialist. We have reorganized and set a new direction to the employment for the stake. The whole focus is the priesthood quorum. You might think that is simple, but it is not quite that easy. In our case, the Elders Quorum of each ward is responsible for the employment needs, resources, coaching, and support of the members of their ward that they have Home Teaching responsibility for. The High Priests have responsibility for the families they home teach. One of the councilors has direct responsibility and he directs traffic for meeting the needs of the members. Finding resources, addressing needs, supporting, etc. If they need help they can go to the Ward Correlation Council for help or work through Stake specialists to find resources from other wards in the stake. It allows our stake to be self sufficient and lesson the drain on resources from the Bishops storehouse. With all of this my responsibility is to train all the quorums on how to identify and address their quorum needs. Today we had the first of a series of training meetings with three of the wards. It is fun to explorer with them the process and watch them understand and realize the benefit of using the quorum for meeting member needs. We will see how it goes. There is a lot of work to do and I think we can make it happen. I am sure convinced it is the correct approach.

Seminary starts again tomorrow morning for Mom and she is looking forward to meeting with the kids again. I think she missed them and the interaction. She has made muffins for them as a welcome back from the holidays. She likes doing those kind of things. Anyway she has been working on her lessons for this week and once again these kids will be blessed.

I really cannot think of anything else to say. Oh, thank goodness the football season is over for the Cowboys. Maybe now we can have some sanity in our sports world. It has been anything but sane for the past 6 months.

We love you all and we are sure grateful for all you mean to us.

Family Letter December 31 2006

2006-12-31T08:52:00.000-08:00

It is all over but the shouting now. 2006 is behind us and we are off to the races for 2007. Remember years ago when many were talking about the end of the world at 2000, and the second coming. Well, either my calendar or theirs is off. I will stay with mine and keep plugging and hope I can get corrected what I need to get corrected.

Marianne and Kimball arrived last night. They have had a tough trip. It started with some snow on their drive to the airport, but they survived that ok. Then when they arrived to Kimball’s parents house they found a house full of sick people. The day after they arrived the 24 hour flu arrived and all were sick. It must have been a mess and sure spoiled a good time for them there. With that they stayed an extra day there because they did not want to bring the sickness here. Anyway they arrived with smiles and last night they had a good sleep and here we are. Aubrey, Chance and Jaxon are really cute and well behaved children. It is a good thing grandma’s house has toys. I did not realize how many we had but I can see all of them at once on the floors, with little bodies in the middle. They are good to pick up and it is fun to help with the trucks and read the books. I got some cute pictures of them this morning in their Sunday clothes.

Last night Scott, Brian, Mark, and Eric were all here also with their families and so we had the house full. Little voices, games being played, television on with “Cars” in the DVD, pizza on the tables and Wassle on the oven; does it get any better than that? We will have all over for dinner tonight after church and tomorrow night the adults are going to Steak and Ale for dinner. I think this is a good time.

Mom leaves on Wednesday to be with Jill for 4-5 days and she is looking forward to that. It will be good for Jill to get some additional help for a little bit. Jill is doing fine but this is a tough pregnancy for her. Her body does not like being pregnant. She is a trooper and they are doing wonderful things with their kids also.

Then let’s see, we have a trip to SLC the first week of February, then Mom goes to Washington for Marianne’s delivery, and to Chicago for Jill’s delivery and then it is Michelle and Mandie. Somewhere in there we are going to Mexico for a week to relax. I need to buy stock in American Airlines, because I know their revenues are going up.

Eric and Sheen are busy here at the house. They have been out looking for a car and an apartment to move into. They have been surprised in both directions with the cost of living but they have not thrown up their hands and asked to stay here. (not that it would do much good) Reality is setting in and come Wednesday, his first day at the office, lots of things are going to come about and school will be long in the rear view mirror.

Did I tell you we have a website for our business? Look it up or click on the link: http://www.myretirementgroup.com/. There is lots of interesting things there.

We got some rain this past week and it is sure nice to have. Though we got 3 inches in the past 2 weeks, it does not put a dent in the shortage for water that we have. Hopefully we will get a wet winter and drainage will flow to the lakes. It is a big problem. We need the lakes to rise more than 8’ to get half way back to normal. Keep praying for rain. I know Denver has receive it’s fair share and but there is equipment for removing snow. There is not equipment to create water.

I am looking forward to the Sunday School Lesson today. I hope I can present it well. I asked the Bishop for permission to deviate from the manual and he approved. We are going to discuss 10 uses for the manual “Preach my Gospel” in our homes. Other than the missionaries using the manual, how can we use it in our homes on a regular basis? It has been fun reviewing the manual and seeing all the information and uses. I hope we can get through all of them. With a lot of help from above I will get through it and all will benefit. If any of you have not looked thoroughly through it, take the time.

Oh, we found something fun and interesting. I was at the temple the other day and on the computer they had a screen saver of temples of the church around the world. I asked Mark Blackhurst the Recorder where I can get it. He referred me to http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/. (click on the link if you want.) At this website you can download pictures of temples in a number of combinations. It is free and really fun to have on the computer. If my machine is idle for 5 minutes up pops the screensaver and pictures of 60 temples around the world starts to show up. It has the name of the temple and a beautiful picture. It is really fun.

I cannot think of much else, but we love you all and look forward to hearing from you.

Family Letter Dec 24 2006

2006-12-26T09:09:00.000-08:00

If I don’t get anything else done, Merry Christmas to all, and may the blessings of the Lord permeate your homes. We love you all.

Last week I was sick and had absolutely no energy to do anything but the absolute minimum. I went to church, gave my lesson and I was done.

It has been a wonderful year for us and this will be a special Christmas for us. Eric and Sheena left Utah on Thursday and arrived here on Friday evening. It was good to have them here safe and with smiles on their faces. I know it is hard for Sheena being away from her family but we will do our best to make her feel at home. They had a good sleep Friday night and on Saturday we unloaded the truck and delivered the stuff to his friend and returned the truck to the rental store. That took much of the day but it was a good project to get done. Thank you to Mark and Michelle who went to Utah to help them. You were a wonderful help.

Last night the other kids came over for dinner and we made gingerbread houses. We had a bunch of people around the table and four houses went up with all the candy they could put their hands on. The houses turned out to be very cute and it was fun for all to make the houses. We had lawn mowers in some yards, and snowmen, and decorated fronts, and wreaths, and ice cycles, and all you can imagine. I could not see how much candy was eaten versus what was put on the houses but there was a lot of candy gone.

Today was church and our meetings were really good. I have been called as the gospel doctrine teacher and to stir the pot I presented the question of “What is so important about Christmas? If the atonement, which is celebrated at Easter, is the central focal point of the gospel, what is so important about Christmas? Why are we so pre-occupied with commercialization of Christmas if Easter is really the important event?” We had a really good discussion. Let me share some of what was discussed and taught.

1. The scriptures prophesied of the coming of the Savior. So Christmas is the fulfillment of prophesy, right? So what? What does that mean to me? Answer: As a fulfillment of prophesy our faith is increased because it is an example of our Father in Heaven keeping his promises. We can trust his word and his promises. He has always kept his promises and Christmas is celebrating one of his kept promises, so our faith is increased and our trust in the Lord is increased.

2. The scriptures describe Christ as the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is literally the mortal offspring of the Father. Therefore: the birth of Christ is a witness of the nature of our Father in Heaven. Christ as his son was and is the physical offspring of an immortal father. Christmas is a time to testify of the nature of God and his immortality.

3. The scriptures describe the temptation of Christ by Satan. Because of his birth he gained a body that gave him the power to overcome Lucifer in person. He has faced the adversary face to face and overcome him because of the body he gained at his birth. We may not face the adversary in person but we can take comfort in knowing that Christ has, and therefore when he allows temptation to come our way, we can take comfort that he will not allow the adversary to tempt us beyond our ability. Because of Christmas he faced the ultimate challenge and won.

4. The scriptures describe the Law of Moses and that at the time of Christ’s birth the Law was fulfilled and the Law of the Gospel was introduced into the world. The Law of the Gospel that allows Mercy to conquer Justice. The Law of Justice that raises the bar and brings into focus the spirit and the blessings of the spirit in addition to the Law of carnal commandments.

Well that will give you an idea of the lesson. Christmas is about more than the manger, trees, songs of the drummer boy and gifts from the heart. These are worthy and good things. Christmas is also about sacred eternal blessings that are ours if we keep the covenants and stay worthy of the blessings from our Father in Heaven. May the spirit of Christmas be in our homes and bless our lives.

Mom and I had an open house last Monday for the neighborhood. We invited everyone (18) and had about 6 families come over. It was really good to get with them and renew friendships and be a part of their lives and share the spirit of Christmas with them. Then yesterday we walked about the neighborhood and gave Christmas cards to each family and a loaf of homemade bread to the families we know better. It was a good experience and hopefully they all enjoyed the bread. The Christmas card was the little booklet called A Good Turn Daily by President Faust. It was a good message. These are great booklets that Deseret Book publishes. They are talks by the first Presidency at some time. They are great messages to give to our neighbors and co-workers.

It is now Tuesday and we are past Christmas, but it was a wonderful day.

Sunday evening we had the kids over and we are going to begin a new tradition. Christmas Eve with the family and then on Christmas day each individual family can be on their own and have their Christmas without hustle and planning around everyone else. So this Christmas we had all the families over and Mom fixed a Prime Rib dinner which was wonderful. Each of the girls contributed and we ate more than we should have. It was a wonderful evening. After dinner we took pictures of some of the little ones, (I will attach pictures to this e-mail) and open gifts from Mom and Dad to the kids. We sure hope you all like the Book of Mormon Story books. We had such a wonderful time when each of you were growing up to read the Book of Mormon with the books. They were a blessing to us and I hope it is a blessing to each of you. Kevin we also have a set for you.

Monday (Christmas) was different but a good day for us. We slept in until 9am, had breakfast and then opened presents. Sheena was quite excited to get to the presents portion. Mom got a new freezer for the garage and I gave her a new mothers ring. Her last one was loosing stones and the band was cracked, so I replaced it. This ring has 10 stones. One for each of the kids and one for Mom and I. This ring has original stones for each of the birthdates. It is really pretty and I think she likes it. She gave me a lot of clothes that I needed and it was really good. We are surely blessed.

The highlight of the day though was talking to Kevin on the phone. To have all the kids on the phone at the same time and sharing good experiences was such a positive time. We thank our Heavenly Father each day for each of you children. Mom and I are so grateful and proud of all the things you are doing as a family and individually. We see the way you teach your children and take care of yourselves. We see your testimonies and service to others. Thank you for what you are and for what you are trying to become. Kevin we are glad you are where you are. It is a blessing for our family. I know you are being blessed also.

This is such a great time of year, I hope we can carry over this time, feeling, attitude, and memory throughout the entire year.

To all our extended family who receives this letter, we love you all. We are blessed to have your influence, support, and example. We are recipients of a wonderful heritage and we are reminded of that great heritage each week this letter goes out. Our Father in Heaven has blessed us beyond measure. Eight children, Seven daughters/sons-in-law, and 13 grandchildren (4 more in the oven);Two wonderful brothers, and a faithful sister; In-laws who abound in love; nieces and nephews who know and do what is right; Aunts, Uncles and cousins who have been so kind; all of you are a part of a wonderful heritage that means so much to us. Of all the gifts for Christmas, you are the best. Next to the gift of Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ, you are what makes Christmas so special.

May Heavenly Father bless you all abundantly and may our heritage continue to grow and be found worthy in the end to be together for the eternities. Thank you and we love you.

Blizzard of 2006

2006-12-21T13:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, we got snowed-in!!

Wednesday morning we woke up to some dry snow on the ground, and knowing that a big storm was coming up from New Mexico, we had prepared to just stay inside for the day. We had plenty of food to get us through the weekend and gasoline for the generator and propane for the grill. So we just sat and watched the snow.

Around 10 a.m. Brian called and said he was in Longmont and his flight home had been cancelled and he was going to try and make it to our house. We said come on down, and come now, because later will be just too late. What is normally about a 45 min. drive turned into about 2 hours, but he made it, and all in one piece.

And for the rest of the afternoon, Brian and Jeff did work (so Mandie and I can still get the paychecks), and the kids and I watched people get stuck in the neighborhood and get some last little preparations done for Christmas.

As we listened to the radio and read the news, we learned that Denver had basically been cut off from the rest of the country. All the major interstates were closed, the snow plows were working 12-hour shifts, the Governor declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to help motorists who got stuck. And to top everything off, the airport closed. So, Brian was not getting home anytime soon.

In the evening, we watched the drifts continue to pile up in various places around the house and then watch the "streamers" of snow fall outside the kitchen window. Brian got to help Jeff in the workshop on the plane and then we all called it a night.

This morning we awoke to a much calmer morning. Snow was still falling, but not in near the quantities from yesterday. It was actually quite pretty. The reports still said stay home, the plows are trying to catch up, and the airport remains closed until Friday at noon.

We've watched the snow pile up in front of the girl's bedroom window until you couldn't see outside and the drifts in some portions of the yard top out at 3 1/2 - 4 feet high. We took some pictures after lunch so you could all see what we have. They aren't great and white on white doesn't always turn out so well. But, here's what we got.

The kids wanted to get into the snow and see how deep it was. In the back yard, they tried to "climb" through it and as you can see, it's up to Heather's hips.

These two pictures are from just opening the garage. We were not going anywhere until we shoveled through these few feet of snow. Jeff and Brian and I shoveled enough to get all three of our cars out to the street, one at a time. We hope that with our 40 degree weather in the next several days, that a fair portion of the roads will clear off and then shoveling the rest of the drive won't be quite so rough.

This picture is on the side yard next to our dining room and basement windows. The fence is a standard 6-foot fence, so as you can see we got a fair share dumped in this little corner of our yard.

We think that sometime in the night, someone came through who had a plow attached to their truck and they plowed through the streets, very minorly, and so our neighbors car would have to be plowed out. But that was easy for him, he had a major snow blower sitting in his garage.

What would be hard would be the other half dozen vehicles just on our street that got stuck in the street because they couldn't make it into their driveways. And I'm not even sure you can see the cars stuck in this picture, but there are at least 2 besides the Dodge Ram who got stuck after trying to "ram" through some of the snow drifts in the street.

When we found out that Brian was coming, I went out and shoveled half of our drive so he could pull right in and it's a good thing he's on the driveway. If (and that's a big if) we get the snow plows through the neighborhood, you'd much rather have your car on the driveway than in the street.
And this is the view as I opened my front door after we had finished shoveling the driveway. Need I say more.

As you can tell, we got a lot of snow. The kids think it's great and probably tomorrow will go and build at least a snowman, but I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't build a cave or a fort with the amount we've gotten.

We are all safe and sound, though I know Brian is definitely ready to be home. Being in Colorado is nice and all, but if you're not with your family (wife and kids, I mean), it's not so great. (And I must say, the kids were disappointed when they found out Brian was coming, but not with Mandie and Abby.)

It will definitely be a treat to have a white Christmas this year and that will make this year just a little special.

Other than this blizzard, things are going well, relatively. Our ward Nursery has the chickenpox running through it, so we are trying to warn not just our ward, but the other wards that follow us that they've all been exposed. And we are trying to keep it contained by cleaning the toys and letting everyone know what to look for, even if they had the shot.

And Jeff was asked to officiate at a friend's son's funeral. This young man was only 15 and as of now all indications were that he had a more severe than usual asthma attack. The parents are friends from Jeff's game group and they called him the day after it had happened and Jeff has kept in contact with them to provide some comfort through this rough time. I know that Jeff has been affected by this event and it will be something he will never forget.

They say things come in threes. Well, I guess that would be it for us: chickenpox, blizzard, funeral. Are we done? Not likely.

We love you all, and wish you all a Merry Christmas!!!

Jeff, Kristine and kids

Michelle's Graduation

2006-12-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

Make video montages at onetruemedia.com

Michelle graduated from UNT yesterday and it was an exciting day. Her grandparents and brother both suprised her. It was a great day and we are very appreciative of all you who supported her in this.

Anderson Letter 12/4/06

2006-12-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

Winter has definitely showed up in Aurora, CO. Though we may not have inches or feet of snow, it has definitely been cold. (Single-digit cold on some nights.)

We are doing well, in spite of the cold. At this moment, no one is sick, or dealing with a cold, but that could definitely change the more confined to the indoors we are. This week we should get out a fair amount. Our temperatures during the day should reach the upper 40s to low 50s.

We have been busy through the past month. The kids have been off-track so they've had a chance to relax. Apparently all the teachers needed a break too because, none of the kids had projects to do or reading to continue. It has actually been nice to have that break. So the kids have spent the majority of the time playing either with each other or with friends or helping me clean for various things.

For instance, they helped me clean so we could get ready for our week in Casper. We spent Thanksgiving with Jeff's family and had an early Christmas with them. The kids loved it and they were all sufficiently spoiled.

Thanksgiving was especially nice as most everyone was there. We were only missing James (on mission in Nevada). The cousins got along great and really played well. We did figure out that the girls are getting older and need more than blocks and movies to entertain them. So we went to the craft store and got them a project to work on. The kids did nice work. Heather painted a small decorative shelf. Rebecca put together a birdhouse. And Jonathan colored some fuzzy art posters.

For me, the best part of the whole week was going out to dinner to celebrate Tom & Beth's 35th Anniversary. Babysitters were provided for the grandchildren and the immediate children and spouses went to a really nice steakhouse for dinner. It was such a pleasant evening. The memories shared and the comraderie was really nice to be a part of.

Since then, we've put up Christmas and we are really getting into the holiday spirit. We actually put lights on the house this year. Our first Christmas here we were in the rental house and didn't feel like doing too much. Our second Christmas, Jeff was recovering from an appendectomy. And last year we realized that for our style of house we had the wrong type of lights. So, this year, with the right lights and early planning and no one sick, we got lights on the house. And we have gotten rid of our 6 1/2 foot overloaded tree and gained a 9 foot tree with room to add more ornaments. The kids are really amazed at how big it is.

And I am quickly running out of display space for Christmas. I am not quite sure what we'll do next Christmas if I keep acquiring more decorations. (On a side note, anyone who wants to get us something for following years Christmas gifts, holiday decor for the other holidays of the year would be much appreciated. So, when you go shopping through the clearance stuff after the holidays, think of us, if you want.)

Well, I think I've run out of things to say. So, I better return to the mundane of our lives.

We love you all and wish you the best in all of you do.

Jeff, Kristine and kids

Family Letter December 3 2006

2006-12-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone;

First I need to apologize to Hannah for not changing her e-mail address on my address book. I have it changed now. I have been getting your e-mails Hannah and enjoyed your adventure. It is good to hear of your progress and success in your studies, but you are having far too much fun.

This week was a good week for us. Nothing major but lots of good little things for which I am grateful. We had two really fun things happen. One was on Wednesday evening. Scott and Carrie had called to ask if they could come over and show us something. Our thoughts went everything from a pregnancy test to new calling to pictures of their kids doing something special. When the time arrived for them to come, Carrie shows up, then Mandie comes, then Michelle and Mark, and finally Scott and Brian arrived from their responsibilities at Mutual. They gave us a series of packages to open for Christmas. First was a Christmas tree skirt with McMurdie Family embroidered on it. Then the other boxes had diamond shaped cut glass pieces. On each of the pieces was engraved the name of a member our family or the spouse. Other pieces were engraved with the names of the grandchildren. Also on each piece was engraved either the date of birth or the sealing date for that individual. All our kids had gotten together and had these ornaments made. So now we have a family Christmas tree decorated with these ornaments. They also got a picture of Bonnie and I, and the two sets of grandparents and made a special ornament with their picture to go on the tree. It is really cool. Right now we have 35 ornaments on the tree. Next year we will add at least 4 more that we know of. It is really cool and we are so grateful for the thoughtfulness of the kids. That will be a special tree for our Christmas. It is our Family Christmas Tree.

Also this week as usual was my time to serve at the Temple. I was asked to serve at the Recommend Desk at first in the morning. While I was there Elder Quinton Cook of the Seventy came with his wife Mary. My family will know them. Elder Cook served as a counselor to my Dad in the Bishopric. He had just graduated from Stanford Law School and moved into the ward. His brother Joe served for a time as our Stake President. Anyway, it was such a great privilege to see him and welcome him to the temple. He is in Dallas for a stake conference, and to do an overview of the temple. He had a devotional for the temple workers that I snuck into and listened to. It was really good. Let me share with you one of his thoughts that hit me in the heart.

He was serving in the Fiji area as one of his assignments. At that time there was significant political unrest in the area and it was dangerous for people to congregate. It was also the time for the dedication of the Fiji temple. He called President Hinckley to share with him the problems and concerns for having a temple dedication and open house. (First of all can you imagine calling President Hinckley to give advice?) Anyway he indicated that there should be no congregating outside the building, and unless it was absolutely necessary, maybe they should not do the cornerstone laying procedure. President Hinckley told him to keep him informed, that he was leaving for the dedication of a temple in Japan, and two in the Australia area and then the plan was to go to Fiji. The time arrived for Elder Cook to call President Hinckley and he repeated the advice regarding outside activities and the cornerstone. President Hinckley told him they would not have a public dedication or open house, however, Christ is the cornerstone of the church and the temple, and he would not disrespect the Savior by not having the cornerstone prayer and ceremony. So they came, had the cornerstone ceremony, dedicated the temple and left without incident. What a teaching moment. Christ is the cornerstone and he will not disrespect the Savior by not including him as the cornerstone at the Temple. I guess we know how important the cornerstone is literally and figuratively.

Those were the highlights of the week.

We have had some cold weather come in and dust us with snow and sleet. Each morning it is in the high 20’s and low 30’s but by afternoon it is up to a balmy 45-50. Bonnie and I were out visiting a sister on Tuesday evening and when we went in the house we could be in short sleeves. Thirty minutes later when we left we needed heavy coats. The temperature had dropped 20 degrees. In 3 hours that night the temperature dropped 40 degrees and by the next morning it had dropped another 10 degrees. 75-25 in a short time. Some places have the fours seasons through the year, we get them in 24 hours.

Friday night we went out to dinner with President and Sister Ward (Tom and Janice). It is so good to have good friends like them and to share good experiences and feel of their strength. He will do a wonderful job as a Stake President. I am glad he is handling it so well.

We have talked to Jill, Kristine and Marianne, and Eric this week and they are doing well. Kristine was called as the Primary President some time ago and she is in the middle of the challenges. She has a big primary also with about 40 nursery kids and lots of other kids in the primary. It does not go away and they are doing very well.

Jill is taking it real slow and easy with life. She cannot over extend herself with the pregnancy and she is learning how to minimize and get accomplished what is important. Randy is being very supportive and really helping a lot.

Eric is ready to get out of school and move on. He has a big project for school this next week and then he will be floating for the next two weeks until it is all over. His little wife is studying hard and finishing her classes and really enjoying it.

Marianne is taking each day at a time and they are adjusting to the new one that is coming to them. Kimball had called this week for a recipe and Mom got to talk to him. They are doing well.

So our life is very good and we are very blessed. My Sunday School lesson today is on Daniel and Esther and I am learning a lot about sacrifice and wondering how far I would go to sacrifice and take the risks they did to support the kingdom. These principals of sacrifice, covenant, and consecrate are pretty significant and should be a main part of our lives. Their examples are a wonderful witness for us and give us such good direction. I need to do more to get on the train.

I cannot think of much else to say but we love you. Thank you for all your examples.

Update on Us

2006-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

Hello to all,

So as you know, Michelle and I went to the Doctor and we found out that Michelle has a little girl inside of her just waiting to come out to be our little bundle of joy. She (the baby) was very proper during the sonogram. She did not want to open her legs for anyone.

Then at the end, she decided that it was important for us to know what she was so she spread open her legs to let all the world see what she was. It was an exciting moment for both Michelle and I.

As you all know as well, Michelle and I have finally freed ourselves from grasps of endless poverty and found a way to give Mom and Dad their well deserved freedom to be called empty-nesters again. In other words, we moved to our new place and plan on being here for the next few years. Our new address is

3510 Jewel St
Sachse, Tx 75048

It is a cute little 2 bedroom/1 bathroom duplex that is just right for Michelle, baby, and I. We are very excited about this opportunity.

So we have everything pretty much organized except for the second bedroom. That is still a work in progress. The yard needs some work, but as you can tell, it is SNOWING today so I kind of cannot do anything out there right now.

So all is well on our end as you can tell.

We are also waiting for December 16th to come around because that is the day that Michelle finally finishes school and walks across the stage to receive her diploma. This will be a big day for her because she will be the first one in her family (inlaws and direct) to graduate from college. I am so proud of her and her accomplishments.

And by the way I turned 26 today so I finally got my gun safe that I have wanted and needed. How about that, a birthday with snow and a gun safe. Good day huh.

car jackings

2006-11-30T11:47:00.000-08:00

>> Subject: Car Jackings
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> BET IT WORKS TOO ---KENNETH
>>
>>
>> NEW WAY TO DO CAR JACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)
>>
>> Heads up everyone! Please keep this circulating.
>>
>> You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You
>> start the engine and shift into Reverse . When you look into the
>> rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a
piece
>> of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into
>> Park, unlock your doors and jump out of your car to remove that
paper
>> (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view.
>>
>> When you reach the back of your car, that is when the car jackers
>> appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They
>> practically mow you down as they speed off in your car. And guess
>> what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.
>> So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money,
and
>> your keys. Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!
>>
>> BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.
>>
>> If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, just drive
>> away, remove the paper later and be thankful that you read this
>> e-mail.
>>
>> I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to
>> women. A purse contains all kinds of personal information and
>> identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall
>> into the wrong hands. Please keep this going.
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> Lieutenant Tony Bartolome
>> Bureau of Investigations
>> Florida Highway Patrol
>> P.O. Box 593527
>> Orlando, FL 32859
>> --
>> This message has been scanned for viruses and
>> dangerous content by BasinBroadband, and is
>> believed to be clean.
>>

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SEX POLL II

2006-11-27T02:10:00.000-08:00

So I tried this once and got a few responses. Let's try this again. This Tuesday(11-28) we go to have THE sonogram to find out what we are having. Yes, we are going to find out. Michelle and I are too impatient to wait. We want to know what everyone else thinks. The winner gets..............................

So we also moved two weeks ago. I will give out the address later with pictures. It is a great place and we are very excited.

Family Letter November 19 2006

2006-11-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it is Thanksgiving week already!!! I though Christmas was just a few weeks ago. Kevin has been gone 6 months already and it seems like he just left a few days ago. We must be having fun because time is sure flying.

We were in Salt Lake last week and it was a wonderful trip. This past week has been quite uneventful. Lots of work and very little play.

Bonnie had her annual nut order experience this week. Some of you may not know but for about 20-25 year now she has coordinated a holiday nut order. These are baking and entertaining nuts, candies, dried fruits etc. She started with several ladies in the ward. Now some of these people have moved around and others have heard of the order and it has gradually grown. Well this year she ordered about 4,000 pounds ($30,000) of nuts. The boxes and boxes and boxes of nuts are delivered to the church and the people come to pick it up and she distributes it to the people in our ward who she handles. It is really something. There is no service fee or profit in it for us, strictly a cheap way to get a lot of baking supplies. The wholesaler is in Ft. Worth and is very accommodating. Bonnie’s sister in Utah orders a bunch and it is shipped to her there. I helped this Thursday when the order came in. As the people came to pick up their order I would roll out the boxes to their car and off they would go. It is fun to see these people year after year and maintain the relationships. So that was a big deal this week.

For the past several weeks we have had a young lady come to our home for the missionary discussions. It has been a good experience and I think I have told you about her before. Her husband has been less active and they would come to the gospel essentials class I was teaching. After they were married she wanted to have the discussions and through a series of events she asked, after we offered, if we could have the discussions in our home. I began the discussions as a casual conversation and later asked the missionaries to come and continue the discussions. Anyway this week she wrote me a note and asked about scheduling our meeting for the week and then asked, “What would I have to do to be baptized?” Is that a great question or what? I was/am so excited. That is one of the best feelings to have someone want to know and then accept the gospel. I hope I am not getting ahead of myself but I am really excited. She will be coming tomorrow evening for the next discussion and we will see what happens. Her husband should be coming with her and it should be really good.

Mark and Michelle have moved into their new home and they are pleased about it and seem to be doing well. He is taking a lot of extra shifts and that gets him overtime and that is helpful to them. Michelle has only 3-4 weeks left and she graduates. She has worked hard and it will be a great accomplishment for her. She will work some after graduation to add some to the income. And with their baby coming, it will be a time of change and adjustment for them.

Jill has to be very careful with herself with her baby. It seems her body does not like the change of pregnancy and so she has to be very careful and rest a lot. She is managing her life well and making arrangements.

Talked to Marianne this past week and they are doing very well. She is getting bigger and feeling good.

And Mandie (some of you may not know) is also pregnant moving through the days of yuk.

So we will have 4 additions from March to May. Isn’t that wonderful!!! I don’t know where we will put them all in our heart but there is always room for one more. We are very excited.

My family will remember Quentin Cook from San Mateo. He was called to the quorum of 70 many years ago. Well we found out that he will be coming to Dallas a week from Thursday to conduct a Temple Operations review. As part of that review he is having a devotional that afternoon. I am excited to get to see him again and at least say hello. He was such a good friend of Mom and Dad and a good counselor to Dad in the Bishopric. I will let you all know how he is doing.

Our stake is doing the Creche exhibit again this year and though Bonnie and I are not involved as we have been in the past, we are looking forward to inviting someone to go to see it. I did get a call yesterday while mowing the lawn. They were assembling the Nativity scene on the front lawn of the Stake Center. We had built it for the stake and assembled it in years past. Well, they thought it would be simple to do and after some time started to call to see who knew what to do. We had labeled it but they could not figure it out. So I got a call and went to the stake center to help them finish assembling the scene. I will take a picture of it and send it next week.

Kevin is doing well in Italy. His letters are so wonderful and informative. Thank you Kevin. It appears that he and his companion are working hard and getting along well but the work is very hard there. Tradition and influence of the Catholic church are real difficult barriers for them to overcome, but they will succeed. It is the Lord’s work and they are anxiously engaged in it. Those whose hearts are open will receive the message with open arms.

I cannot think of much else to say but we love you and love to hear from you.

carseats!!!

2006-11-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

This is a video I just received from a friend about carseats. I think all parents should see and know this. Hopefully this will come in handy to everyone.

Carrie

just watched this video clip and thought it was an important safety
message for moms/parents of small children.... .

http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=azgBhZfcqaQ

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Anderson Letter 11/6/06

2006-11-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

Well, it's happened. Yet again, I am comfortably serving in the Primary as a counselor, and I am called into the Bishop's office. Yesterday, I was sustained as the Primary President in our ward. I am in the middle of panic mode as I realize the Primary is the support of about 150 children's families.

So, I'm taking a moment to write to family and update you, but also to give me a break to sort out what happens next.

It has been an odd couple of weeks. Our Primary had been spending the last month preparing for our Sacrament Program which turned out beautifully. What a great program. The kids were prepared and we had it well organized and most importantly, the spirit was there and it was such a great program. Then I get this call after church on the same day from the clerk setting up an appointment for Jeff and I to see the Bishop. It takes me all of about 2 minutes to figure out that 1) the calling is not for Jeff, as he's teaching seminary; 2) there are very few reasons for the Bishop to call someone into his office; and 3) within the last year, they have already changed the Relief Society and Young Women's presidencies. So, needless to say I was already keyed up when Jeff and I went to see the Bishop later in the week.

We see the Bishop and he tells me they will be reorganizing the Primary and they will take care of that as soon as I let him know who my Counselors will be. He informed me that this had been in the process for a month already. And after much prayer, the Spirit confirmed that it was to be me. I accepted the call and then left dazed. I was pretty much stunned for the rest of the evening.

For the next couple of days I poured through the ward list and tried to find Counselors. But it wasn't until after I had read an address given by Elder Scott that I really felt like I could commit to anyone and earnestly pray for an answer. Many of you may not know this about me, but I struggle with receiving answers to prayers. Part of it is I'm not sure that the Spirit speaks to me the same way each time, and part of it is I've had experiences where I thought I got answers and then found out later that they weren't. So, the hardest part of choosing Counselors was just to get on my knees and get the answer. Anyway, the address from Elder Scott came from a Worldwide Training session in 2004, called "The Doctrinal Foundation of the Auxiliaries". In it he talks about callings and how they are made. Among many things he talks about, he concludes with counsel on receiving inspiration. He says, "Your sacred callings give you the divine right to inspiration. Confidently seek it." So, just like I have the right to choose how I will live my life, I also have a right to get answers. And more importantly, I should expect answers.

After that "revelation", I prayed and after the most peaceful day I had had in a long time (which I felt was confirmation) I recommended a couple of sisters to be counselors. I found out they were approved and after a long week of fretting about whether or not they would accept, I found out that I had Counselors and the change would be made Sunday. And so I was sustained and set apart yesterday. And it wasn't until later that evening that true "fear" came upon me. We have some changes that need to be made, but before we can tackle that, we need to get together and get the administrative details taken care of.

The kids were really concerned about this after church, and I'm going to have to be a little more sensitive to their needs. I think it was Heather that asked, "So does this mean you are going to be more busy than you are now?" I told her that in the beginning, it might be, but once things are settled, I shouldn't be any busier than I am now. That small exchange was very enlightening to me. I hope I can always remember that.

Other than that, things are good at our house. We did Halloween. I told the kids they could each pick 2 friends and those would be the houses we went to. And they got a fair amount of candy and enjoyed seeing their friends. We've just about dwindled down the supply. Another day or two and we'll probably see the end of the candy (YEAH!)

Yes, I made costumes this year. Heather was dressed in a 50's poodle skirt; Rebecca was a cheerleader from her school; Jonathan was Luke Skywalker (using last year's Qui Gon Gin (sp?) costume; and Matthew wanted to be a tiger. They loved it. Now Matthew has pajamas and the other kids have more dress up outfits.

And school tracks off on Friday, so the kids will be home for the rest of November. They are ready for a break. I just need to figure out how to keep them busy and not watching movies all the time.

Jeff is doing well. He hasn't had much time to work on his plane, as he has been putting in some overtime to get a product shipped on time. But, he is going to take some time off this week to attend the BGG.con in Dallas. He got a "free" pass since he will be volunteering to teach and run games. We apologize if Jeff can't make it to see family while he's there. He may not have a chance to get away.

Well, I'd better close. Laundry awaits.

We send you all our love and prayers,
Jeff, Kristine and kids

Family Letter November 5, 2006

2006-11-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone;

It is good to sit down and write you again and let you all know we are all fine. The weather is good, health is all fine, business is good, the church is true and Bonnie still lets me come home each night. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Mom is doing very well with seminary. I think I have mentioned she has 20-22 kids each morning come to the house at 5:50 and she has a well prepared lesson and I hear lots of giggles and talking among the kids and those are all good signs. She has a few who want to sleep through the class but they are missing out on a lot of good information and testimony building material. But she is enjoying it and learning a lot also. It is interesting to see a change. When she began she went to lots of sources for material and references and tried to put it all in the lesson. She has come to realize that it does no good to try to put that all in the lesson. The materials provided by the CES are wonderful materials and you are hard pressed to include all that information let alone try to add more. So the lessons are becoming easier for her but she still spends lots of time preparing and making sure she is doing the right job to benefit these kids. They are really lucky.

I am jumping into the middle of the employment and having fun with the opportunity. I was over to the Bishops storehouse this week where the Employment Center is and talked to the wonderful sisters there. They have such a wonderful attitude and an abundance of material to help us. It is really good. I will be meeting with the Bishops this week to present the organization change for the stake in developing the employment for the stake. I am excited and ready to make it work. There are a lot of members who need to upgrade their employment and some others who need to get employed. So we will do our best.

Last Sunday I was called to be the gospel doctrine teacher for the ward and I am looking forward to that. I will be sustained today in sacrament meeting and have my first lesson today. It is on Jeremiah and has that been a wonderful experience to study and prepare for the lesson. As a resource I have been watching the BYUTV material on their website. They had a roundtable discussion on the Old Testament with professors of Ancient Scripture. Each presentation has four of the professors discuss a section and it follows with the Sunday School material. So there are about 50 segments of 30 minutes each and it is really good material. So that helps with the preparation and then I work from the Sunday school manual which is really well put together. So it will be a fun experience to teach. I really enjoy teaching and challenging the members to think about what we are doing and how we are progressing to return to our Father in Heaven.

Monday I played golf with some clients and had a really fun time. Scott went with us and we talked and jabbered about many subjects. Scott has just finished the campout portion of Wood Badge and these two guys we went with have been instructors at Wood Badge and so they had a lot in common with the scouting. Scott has known each of them for years but it has been on a youth to adult level and now it is on adult to adult level and it is really fun to watch. So we played golf and had a great time.

Friday I was forced to play golf again with a prospect and it was a good time. He is an older gentleman of 73. I have to be careful with older at 73 because that is getting younger and younger each day. We had a good time meeting each other and discussing all of life’s situations. When you are with a person for 6 hours (between lunch and golf) you get to know them pretty well and learn a lot about who they are. He indicated we would be seeing more of each other after the first of the year to review his investment portfolio and try to do business together.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were hectic days with trying to compact all the other things to do into those days. But we got it done and it was a successful week. Thank goodness for cell phones. You can really make a lot of down time profitable.

Yesterday we went to a baptism for a spouse of a young man in the ward. He had been less active for a number of years and moved to the area to be closer to his dad and to finish his schooling in medical school. They are a really nice couple. When they moved in I was the Ward Mission Leader and we had invited them over to have dinner and get to know them. Since that time we have stayed in touch. The ward has done a great job of working with them and fellowshipping. It has been wonderful to see. She hesitated to have the discussions because she knew that as soon as she started she would know it is true and wasn’t sure about the commitment. She decided to have the discussions and she said that 15 minutes into the first discussion she knew it was true and was ready to be baptized. It was really neat. After the baptism she came up to us and said, “It all started with dinner at your house.” That made us feel really good that we had done something to contribute to the growth of the kingdom. You never know when you have an influence or do something that will make a difference. We just have to be on our toes all the time to try to do our best and share the right example. That was fun.

Mark and Michelle are definitely moving this weekend to their new home. It is really nice and they are quite excited. I am excited they are moving this weekend too. We will be in SLC. I would love to help them and can’t think of anything else I would rather do than move them, but I have this commitment to be in SLC so I cannot help. I feel real bad. We will take them some small house warming gift, maybe that will show our support.

We got notice that Marianne and Kimball are coming right after Christmas to see us and we are excited about that. They will be going to Sherman to see his family first and then come to see us. It will be really fun. Marianne and Kimball are there things you would like to do? We have no snow so that is out.

We have scheduled two trips for next year for ourselves which will be fun. I will be scheduling our trip for us kids soon and we are having a family reunion for our immediate family for the end of May to first of June. Then I need to go to SLC 3-4 times during the year and I have a business conference in Atlanta in October. So it will be a busy year and a fun year. We usually don’t travel that much but we are enjoying the travel and seeing places.

We are leaving on Friday morning for SLC and will return on Monday. I will send a separate note to John, Chat and Nancy of our schedule and what we want to accomplish. We are looking forward to seeing you all there.

I cannot think of much else to say but we love you and love to hear from you.

Exciting news

2006-11-05T08:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of pictures we had taken while at the pumpkin patch!

So we have some exciting news. After many months of bothering Mom and Dad in there house, Michelle and I have finally been able to find a duplex in Sachse that we can afford. It is a 2 bedroom 1 bath, living, dining, kitchen, and a yard. We are very excited. We are going to sign the contract this week and hope to move in on the 11th of Nov. We will send pictures when we get them. There is a little bit of work to do on the outside and some minor details to be taken care of on the inside but those will be little weekend projects for me to do when I am off.

Family Letter October 29 2006

2006-10-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone;

Well another exciting week has passed. Bonnie had been sick with the crud that is going around and then I came down with it. She has almost recovered and resumed her exercise program. I think this week I will have the energy to resume my program. Life is a lot better for us when we are exercising and fully active.

I have been asked to speak in the Spanish Ward on modesty which will be an interesting experience. I can dance pretty well in English, but this will be in Spanish so I will see how it goes. Celeste, thank you very much for your idea. I am going to use it in my presentation. For the remainder of you: She indicated her Stake President has a standard or teaches a standard regarding dress code. It is head, shoulders, knees, and toes. If you put your hands on your head and skin is showing around the stomach the blouse is too short. Put your hands on the shoulders and if you do not touch cloth, your shirt should be changed. Put your hands on your knees and if you back shows or you can see down your shirt, you should change. Put your hands on your toes and if you expose skin or can see down the shirt, you should change. That is good advice and very easy to understand. Thank you Celeste.

I talked to Marianne this week and they are doing very well. Kimball was doing substitute work for another dentist in the office who had surgery. That has ended now and he has returned to doing primarily Medicaid patients. It is good work and he really enjoys it but would like to be even busier. It will progress with time. They are not sure when they will move to Kennewick but they are settling in and making the best of where they are. They are really happy she is feeling really good with her pregnancy. Their kids are growing up. I talked to Aubrey and Chance for a minute and it is fun to hear their little voices and forming words. Keep up the good work Marianne and Kimball.

I talked to Jill also this week and they are progressing also. The disaster they had with the lawn has almost cured itself now and they are back to normal. Their lawn is lush and green. Yesterday she said the temperature in Chicago was 50 which is beautiful. Randy has an interview with the Temple President to become an Ordinance Worker. I am so happy for him. What a great opportunity. I hope they can make their schedules work. It is so hard at this time in young peoples lives to sort out what is important and what is fun. You both will be blessed. Emma is in a pre-school and loves the activities and is progressing very well. Ethan gets to spend lots of time with Mom and they both enjoy that. Jill is feeling well with her pregnancy and all seems to be progressing normally now.

I talked to Kristine also this week and their lives are very active. Their girls are involved in piano and school and the boys are boys through and through. Jeff is building an airplane in the basement. It is something he has always wanted to do and he will do a good job with it. I am particularly interested in how they are going to extend the basement for a runway so he can fly it, but they will figure it out and have fun with it. Jeff is coming to Dallas for a gaming convention in a few weeks. I hope he has some time we can see him and spend a few minutes with us. I know how the conventions are and they take a lot of time but maybe we can find some time.

Mark and Michelle have found a two bedroom duplex to rent and they are quite excited about it. We went to see it Friday and it is very nice. It has a big family room, good size kitchen and two good size bedrooms. It is about 5 minutes from our house and is in the same ward. There is a fenced in back yard and a carport in the back to protect the cars. There are other members of the ward who live close and so it will be a wonderful opportunity for them. They have made some requests from the landlord and if all goes well they will move into the house in two weeks. They are quite excited and it will serve them well. Mark had to work last night and he is in bed now resting for church meetings later today. Michelle feels good but has not gained any weight yet but there is life with a heartbeat inside her.

Brian and Mandy are doing really well. She has been sick also this week but seems to be getting over it. Brian had an interesting opportunity a little while ago. The president of his company called him and wanted to take he and Mandy out to dinner with his wife. What a wonderful opportunity and experience. The president was very complementary and wanted Brian to know they appreciated his work and hoped he would be with them for a long time. That made him feel good and gave him an opportunity to ask questions about his future and what he needed to do. That was great.

Scott is in the middle of the next class for his CFP Certification. It is taking a lot of time (one night a week plus study time) but he is grinding it out. It has been hard on Carrie, but she is being a trooper and handling the home. If that were all they had to deal with it would be easy. But he is also the Scoutmaster of 14 boys and Scott takes those things seriously. So that is extra time away from home. They are doing well and he is really contributing at work. We are preparing for Eric coming in the business in a few months. It is creeping up on us like a big lion.

Eric is trudging through his classes and just waiting to get out and into the real world. His classes are good but he is anxious to move on. He is working 30 hours a week along with his schooling which is a challenge for them but a necessary challenge. His work is frustrating because he is beginning to see ways to improve the operation and the producers are not willing to spend the money to improve. It is interesting to see his observations and a little scary. It will be interesting to see when he is on the other side of the fence and spending his money to see how things change. They are excited to move. Mark and Michelle are going to help them with the move and drive to Texas. That is very kind of them and I know Eric and Sheena are grateful for their help.

Kevin is doing well. He is learning a lot and encountering some interesting experiences. It is particularly interesting to hear the stories he tells. He is the best letter writer of all the boys and it is really fun to hear from him. I am always amazed at the Lord’s decision to send 19 year old boys on missions. It is the perfect time but when you think of 19 year old boys being responsible for the distribution of the most important information the world can receive it is very interesting. So much of the time they are really maturing and doing so many things you would want them to do. But other times they are still 19. I am so glad he is there and serving. I cannot believe he has been gone 6 months already. Kevin we love you and we are so grateful for your choices.

Kevin you asked bout the book Missionary Pal. We did check but it is out of print. Also we asked the other boys about using it on their missions and they indicated their Mission Presidents disapproved it, because it was only used for Bible bashing. I had heard it was not approved because of some of the content. Ask your president if it is ok. If he says ok we will look further. I have seen it and it has some good references and interesting material but I can see where it could be abused. Let us know.

I am getting in the middle of the Employment now and there is a lot to be done. I hope we can organize it and be a real service to the members of the stake. There are some really good resources available. The Dallas area is one of the leaders in the Church in the employment area and I only hope I can contribute and not be a detriment.

I think I mentioned we are going to SLC on the weekend around the 10^th of November and hope to see many of you. Eric if the weather is good, do you want to play golf. Keep us informed. If not is there a football game or something else we can do. Can we get with Sheena’s parents while we are there?

Chat and Linda we want to get with you also. I do not know our exact plans yet but we might want to spend one night, at least with you. Would that work for you? What night would be best?

I cannot think of anything else to say, but we love you.

Our third snowfall of the season 10/26/06

2006-10-29T06:16:00.002-08:00

Yes, our third and fairly significant. I shoveled about 8-10 inches off the driveway. And Jeff and Rebecca built a snowman after school. Hope your fall is just as nice.

Love,
Kristine, Jeff and kids

Pumpkin Patch Adventures

2006-10-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll,
Well I haven't written in a while so I am trying to repent. I thought I would post some festive pictures. A couple of weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch with Brian, Mandie, Abby, Mark, Michelle, and us. It was a really neat place. Thanks for taking us with ya'll, Brian and Mandie.

She thinks my tractor's sexy!

Sitting amongst the pumpkins!

Our little family is just trying to recover from a crazy busy month. As we all heard from Dad's letter they were gone for two weeks so Scott was crazy busy with the office as well as maintaining the usual scouts and work schedule. He also spent two weekends from leaving Friday at 5 am and returning Sunday at 8pm from Woodbadge training. It is the highest level of Scout Leadership training. Last week he was gone on business and returned really late and left for Woodbadge at the crack of dawn again last week. Bless his little hard working soul. I am really proud of him and how hard he is working. Hopefully he will find a little down time with the holidays. He needs a breath of fresh air but I am not sure I can see it in the future for him. What a good man!!!

So the kids and I are trying to recover from missing daddy. We are all trying to kick a cold, everyone except Scott and hopefully he will remain immune. Tyler is well, figuring out how to be a terrible two!!!! What fun for me. I am trying really hard to remember patience is a virtue. Mikayla is doing quite well. She is a much sweeter, content baby and we are enjoying seeing her true personality. So we are staying busy and working hard. We love ya'll and miss those who aren't here.

This would be our sweet son climbing and laying in the shelves with his books. What fun, what fun a two year old can be. I know that Kristine and Marianne have made it through their share of two year old children. My hat is off to you both and you are my inspirations.

SEX POLL

2006-10-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

So Michelle and I had another doctor's appointment today and man oh man are we excited. We got there and they weighed Michelle and then brought us into a room. We had no idea what they were going to do with us today, but Dr. Brough came in and talked to us for a little bit and then said let's listen to the baby's heart beat. This was the coolest thing. We had seen the heart beating in the sonograms but never heard the beat. He said the baby's heart was a good strong beat at 160 a minute. It sounded sooooooo cool. We are very excited. Next month we will find out what it is and let all of ya'll know. We are taking guesses as to what the sex is. I think that it is a boy. All of my co-workers think that it is a girl. Michelle is indifferent. What do you think?

Family Letter October 15, 2006

2006-10-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well, hi to all from us.

We returned from our little excursion on Tuesday evening and today is the first time to write. I would have written from our trip but I turned off my computer incorrectly on the trip and destroyed the registry which means the computer would not start. So I had to have it fixed when I returned and now I can return to living again.

Our trip was an amazing experience and I will try to share some of it with you. I took over 1000 pictures and wanted to send them all but your know how that would be so I printed a few for you to see and will send more each week for a while to give you a flavor of the historical part of this world. The one thing that comes our clear to us all is that when we talk of history in this part of the world it means nothing. 250 years in America is like a Saturday afternoon in a week to them. Most of what we saw was build from 600 BC to 1300 AD and it is an amazing history.

After you visit it and learn of the history you figure out that it is the history of one pompous, greedy, powerful ruler who wanted to control the world after another. Occasionally there is a good one mixed in the middle just to keep you interested. As these rulers took over another they would collect all the valuable pieces from the previous ruler and declare it for themselves. So the wealth they would accumulate is beyond comprehension.

We started in Barcelona a day prior to the ship sailing. Looked around for a day (I will send pictures another time) and set sail on the 25^th.

Our first stop was Marseilles, France. We went on a tour of the country and stopped in a few quaint little towns and had a wonderful lunch along a river.

From Marseilles we went to the port of Lavorno, Italy. Inland from Lavorno is Florence where is the home of much of Michelangelo’s work. The sculpture of David and the birth of Venus are just amazing. It is also Italian Leather area and the pieces of leather are wonderful.

From Lavorno we went to the port of Civitavecchia, Italy which is about an hour from Rome. We got on the train and met our private guide in Rome. UNBELIEVABLE. The Coliseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, to name a few places just takes your breath away. The work of the artists is beyond comprehension. The size, the detail, the emotion, the colors, and, and, and,… To think that Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel in 4 years is amazing. I would like to go back again and spend 2-3 Days in Rome.

We left Rome and went south to Naples. Beautiful, romantic, clean, and very expensive to live. We went to the ruins of Pompeii, where Mt. Vesuvius erupted and covered the city with 36 feet of ash. I have attached some pictures of Pompeii, Amalfi Coast and Sorrento from this part of the trip.

From Naples to Mikanos, Greece where the white houses and windmills are the landmarks of the island. I have a picture of one of the streets and houses.

From Mikanos to Istanbul, Turkey, which is the home of the Blue Mosque, St. Sofia’s palace, and the sultans of Turkey. We learned a lot of their culture and religion. This is where shopping malls began. It is the home of the Grand Bazaar which started about 1300 AD. There is a picture of it for you.

From Istanbul, we went to Ephesus, where the Apostle Paul spoke to the Ephesians in the amphitheatre. It was a city of 250,000 at the time of Paul. It is also the “burial location of the Virgin Mary and John the Beloved”. We can accept the idea about Mary but John?

From Ephesus we went to Athens and saw the Parthenon and the Acropolis. We also visited Mars hill where Paul preached. There is some history in that city.

From Athens we sailed to Venice the floating city. 130 islands make up the city and all the beauty and splendor of an amazing city. I will send pictures. We stayed there 2 ½ days and started our trip home. On the way home we stopped in London and went to the Victoria theatre and saw the play “Wicked”. Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. If you ever have the chance, make it a point to see the play. It is the play that explains the Wizard of Oz and where did the characters come from. The music and staging are magnificent.

We flew home on Tuesday and arrived here about 9pm. We are just now getting accustomed to home and the pace of life here.

Today our Stake Presidency was changed and Tom Ward was called as the new Stake President. We are excited for him and support him 100%. He called Bruce White from Rockwall Ward and Ralph Peterson from Richardson II Ward to be his councilors. They are two good men and will serve well. We had two general authorities here to do the work. Elder Zwick from the 1^st quorum of 70 and Elder Holmes, and area authority 70. Amazing men with testimonies that build us all.

Eric and Sheena are moving done just before Christmas and we are excited about that.

Scott, Carrie, Brian, Mandie, Mark and Michelle were her for dinner today and it was fun to have them and share wonderful experiences.

I am sorry I don’t have much else to say. Mom is not feeling well and I am feeling like she is sharing her good fortune with me. So we will be getting to bed early and see if we can get some strength to fight off the bug.

We love you all and look forward to hearing from you.

Greg and Bonnie McMurdie

901 Glen Meadow Ct.

Garland, TX 75044

972-495-1887

mcmurdie@verizon.net

Anderson Letter 10/10/06

2006-10-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been reading everyone's blogs and I am so jealous. Everyone's doing something fun and interesting. And I'm sitting around trying to keep the laundry from flowing out the door and redoing the job charts so I'm not the only one doing work around the house. We've just settled down lately. Of course, things are just getting started for the holidays.

Last month was pretty slow. We are working with the kids on homework and trying to do it in a "timely" manner. I did just finish parent/teacher conferences and all of the teachers said the kids are doing well and the teachers wish they had clones of each child throughout the class. They are changing report cards here to a standards based system rather than an averaged system. This means that if my child is struggling in math with place value, I will find out on the report card that they are not meeting the standard, whereas with the averaged system, everything is given a point, averaged and you don't know what to work on. And the standards system tells me if the kids understand something above or at grade level or if they are just struggling with it or are not getting it at all. I think I will like the system. It should be a better indicator of how the kids are doing.

We got to watch conference at home. We didn't resubscribe to Dish, but our internet connection is fast enough that we just connected with BYUTV's "tune in now" feature and connected the computer to the TV and "TA-DA" General Conference at home. There were some really great addresses. I am really excited to get the Ensign this next month and re-read those.

Well, I've pretty much run out of stuff to say.

Enjoy these pictures.

Love,
Jeff, Kristine and family

This is one of two horizontal stabilizers for Jeff's plane.
And these are our cute kids.
(At Jonathan's birthday)

4 months on Thursday!

2006-10-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to post a video so here are some pictures of Maryn. She will be 4 months old on Thursday. She has found her feet and it's great because she always has them with her to play with.

My parents rigged up a laundry basket and some pillows so she could sit up and watch them cook dinner. She hates being on the ground where she can't see what is going on.

Here she is surrounded by her toys.

Here is our big smiler! She laughs a lot now and to hear her is the greatest joy I have ever felt.

Look what I can do with my tongue!

2006-10-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

Little Tyler's growing up. Show off!

Let the good times roll

2006-10-08T20:13:00.000-07:00

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

I feel like I haven't been in touch so I got pretty excited to let you all know how things are going. We have had a pretty hectic schedule of late, and we won't be able to relax until Wednesday.

As we entered October it really started to dawn on us that we are moving back to the promised land in December. We are both really excited and both (yes both of us) are pretty nervous. We are really fortunate to be moving close to family and are grateful for all your support. We are trying to get logistics figured out with school, work, moving dates, etc. We both see it as an exciting adventure. For me personally it is another wake up call spiritually. The talk by D. Todd Cristofferson in the priesthood session about "Be a Man" really struck me. Besides getting married and having a baby, I think a transition like this is the biggest a family makes. As priesthood holders we have taken the responsibility to preside over the family and make sure the correct decisions are made with our family's best interest at heart. While the decision is made easier by having family close by and a good job, it has been the hardest decision of our lives. At least when we get married or have a baby, we are told scripturally and doctrinally to do so. It's been 5 years since I've lived in Texas, but never as an adult with a family (hence my nervousness). Sheena's nervousness includes this and then some. The one thing we hold on to are the answers we have received in prayer and meditation with the Lord and each other.

Make no mistake about it. We are ecstatic to begin this new chapter in our lives.

Mark I tried calling you tonight to see what your plans were in December. We would love to have your company on the ride down! (Road Trip!!!....with a baby)

On another note, I received a calling to be the Elders quorum secretary. I made the mistake of not memorizing the elders quorum president's number before I answered the phone. Now it's too late. I am thrilled to be able to participate in the elders quorum in this capacity for the next couple months. It is the first calling in a LONG time for me. (Yet another reason why we can't wait to get established). As the presidency set me apart, it was a moving experience for me to feel the priesthood at work.

We go in for Maryn's four month check up (and shots) on Wednesday. Maryn is just thrilled. So is mommy. Daddy has to work, so he get's to miss the whole experience. He's all torn up inside.

Sheena is chuggin' along in school. Several times we wonder if the sacrifice for an education is worth it. Each time we wonder, we receive confirmation that it will be.

Your prayers and ours have been answered by the BYU financial aid petition committee. They reviewed our petition of revoking the grant given to Sheena and have decided to give it to us after all. YAY!!!!!!!!

We have some video of Maryn that we want to show you all. You will just grin from ear to ear! Sheena will try to post it this week.

BYU and Utah football are on a collision course. In case you missed it, Utah trounced TCU 20-7. You can already feel the tension. I love it!

Enough already. Love you all.

WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-09-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

So Michelle and I had another doctor's appointment. This was the one where we finally got to fill out all of the paperwork, talk with the doctor and see a better picture of the baby. Things are going outstandingly amazing. Our official due date is May 1st. We are 9 weeks and 1 day along. The sonogram was awesome. The baby was moving a lot. We saw it's head moving up and down, the arms moving up and down and we saw the heart beating at 178 beats a minute. This is the coolest thing.

The top picture is with the arm and head up and the bottom is with the arms and head down. I think we can do this. Michelle is doing much better with this one. The doctor gave us some good advise to help Michelle so that she can not feel as nauseous . Other than that, all is good.

Baby Twister

2006-09-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Scott and Carrie came over for Sunday dinner a while back and we took pictures of the girls playing on the floor. They're getting so big and mobile!

2006-09-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Okay I have a few things to update. I haven't done any updating in a while because it seems as though we have been crazy busy. I keep thinking it is going to slow down but it never will, that's just life I guess. Well we started feeding Mikayla solids. I forgot the amount of patience and work that takes. Tyler is starting to say a million words and sentences but it's not all clear and can be quite the guessing game. We spent the last week on a houseboat with my family. It was fun. Tyler loved it!! The kids did well. Tyler played in the sandwith dad. Mikayla sunbathed. Scott and I fished and road the wave runners around. It was fun. Here are a few pictures. It was definitely nice to have a break and get out of the house. Tyler wore himself out as you can see in the picture, he fell asleep just riding along in the houseboat right by the front door. Hope all is going well for everyone.

Lessons for the Week

2006-09-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Lesson one -
Never challenge Mandie if you don't want her to actually accomplish it. She loves to live up to a challenge.

Lesson two -
I hope everyone's taking the time to write Kevin letters. Although he's probably spending way too much time reading these blogs (hint, hint, Kev. Get off the Internet and get to work!), they still aren't enough personal contact. I really think it's a great experience to write a missionary a letter.

Lesson three -
Be sure to root on the Cougars this Thursday when they come to Cowtown to play TCU. This should be a true state of the union appearance for both teams. BYU loses a nail-biter to Boston College, who is now ranked 20th (some say that's underranked). Now they come to a town where they'll probably get a ton of support. I bet the BYU fans out-number TCU fans 2-to-1.

Go Cougs!

"I'm too white and nerdy"

2006-09-23T22:41:00.000-07:00

So I was sent this song from a friend of mine and thought ya'll would like it. If you like Weird Al Yankovic then you will like it, if you don't know him, you will still like it.

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/21/weird-al-ftw/

Stuff on My Cat

2006-09-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

I think this is one of the funnest websites out there. www.stuffonmycat.com is hilarious! If you like cats, it's funny, if you don't like cats, it's funnier!

Rolling Master

2006-09-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

We got repremanded last night for not posting to the McMurdie Blog, so here!

All is well with us. Don't have anything of significance to report, but we're hoping Abby will crawl any day now, so we'll keep you posted!

The other day I put Abs on the floor near the couch and a minute later I turned around and she was in the dining room stuck under a chair. She accomplished all of this by rolling.

"Drinking Coffee...wakeboarding??"

2006-09-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'm not so sure I understood Kevin's little analogy of drinking coffee and wakeboarding. Can someone explain that??? I love getting letters from him though. It is exciting to have the letters from a full-time missionary in our home. I've always felt that missionaries, if they desire, can have the most special spirit about them. Sheena and I talked a little about my mission this week, and it got me yearning for that missionary spirit.

This week was a tough week. Maryn has had a stuffy nose for the past 4 days. We've tried saline drops and tylenol. Anybody have a secret cure for it??? Anyways, because of the stuffy nose, she has a hard time sleeping/breathing. So she is waking up about every 3 hours at night...which we aren't used to at all. The last time she woke up in the middle of the night was probably her second week. I also wouldn't say we're spoiled though. Because she sleeps so much during the night, she cat naps all day and feeds every 2 hours. Granted, this is probably more a pain for Sheena than it is for me. We are attempting to put her on a schedule. We need help!!! Anybody have suggestions on the best way to do this? Earlier this week, we put her down and tried to let her cry herself to sleep. After 15 minutes of the worst cries I've ever heard, we picked her up and she fell right asleep.

Sheena and I are in the middle of school and we think we'll be able to make it work. We had some bad news about Sheena's grant, though. Because she discontinued her classes last semester, she hasn't passed the 70% required by BYU to be eligible for the grant (We thought we were in the clear). Now we have to go through the petition process. So pray for us, please. We had to take a short term loan for now until the petition process is over. We'll keep you posted. On top of that, we thought we had our baby all paid for...until we received a late bill this week. We'll be excited when we can be out of debt 100%. It really does make you feel enslaved. For my financial planning class we are required to make and live by a budget (we're graded on it.). We're also required to do several other things that will help us out as a family.

Other than that, Sheena loves her classes. I like mine, I think. Work was better this week. They've hired yet another assistant to help with the responsibilities. They still haven't found a replacement for me though. They'll never be able to replace Eric McMurdie though!

Sheena gave me a scare yesterday. I was watching football/baby when I see Sheena out of the corner of my eye waving her arms and stuff coming out of her mouth. I couldn't figure it out until I noticed she was stuggling to breathe. She was choking on some banana bread (really good bread:)). I shot up and started pounding her back. Luckily, the bread managed to slide down her tube after a little while. She had tried to drink water to push it down, but it wouldn't, and that was what was coming out of her mouth. It was a "whoa" moment for us. I hope she doesn't scare me like that again, or else she'll be choking and I'll have a heart attack!

Brian and Mandie it was fun to see ya'll last weekend. We loved the concert.

Mark, I'll let you know this week on our moving plans. Right now it looks like Sheena's Mom is going to go down with us, but we'll let you know.

We love and pray for you all, especially those pregnant ones!

Self CPR - What To Do When You're Alone

2006-09-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

Sent by: Connie Harrington via Carrie McMurdie

What are you to do if you have a heart attack while you are alone? The Johnson City Medical Center staff actually discovered this and did an in-depth study on it in our ICU The two individuals that discovered this then did an article on it .. had it published and have even had it incorporated into ACLS and CPR classes. It is very true and has and does work. It is called cough CPR. A cardiologist says it's the truth ... For your info.

Let's say it's 6:15 p.m. and you're driving home (alone of course), after an usually hard day on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. What can you do? You've been trained in CPR but the guy that taught the course, didn't tell you what to do if it happened to yourself. Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed to be in order.

Without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about very two seconds without let up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.

Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.

6 weeks 1 day

2006-09-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

So this is our little contribution to the family. Michelle and I went to the Doctor again to view the progress of the baby and this is what we got. Right now, you can't make out a body, it is just a little ball but we were able to see the heart beating. We will go back in 3 weeks to finally see a doctor and have the real 1st visit. We are so excited.

Gartin Letter

2006-09-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

We haven't written in a while because there hasn't been anything new until the last few weeks. Where should I start. Let me tell you the progress of our kids. Emma has started preschool and is loving it. Everytime she goes, she makes sure that her room has the castle in it. In her preschool room she has a life size castle which takes up 1/3 of the room for play/dress-up time. She also does tumbling in the gymasitc facility next door, learns all types of music with or without instruments. She is learning to use the computer by understanding how to use the mouse. She has been told that the mouse likes its home which is on the pad. She is learning fine motor skills by trying to use the mouse navigate the computer games. Then she has her academics. It is perfect for her. She has 8 classmates and she develops friendships so quickly. I don't know any of them yet. She just completed her 1st week there and still loves. it. She goes every MWF for almost 3 hours. She brought home her first project, and I was so thrilled with it, that it is in the kitchen for all eyes to see. No I don't have pictures of her preschool yet, however the teacher has a disposable camera for her so they will take pictures while she is there.Ethan, my cute Ethan. It has been hard for him since he really wants to go to preschool but I told him he can go if he is wearing big boy pants. We shall see how soon that will start but I am ready for him. Ethan is growing up so fast, loves to cuddle, loves Scooby-Doo, and he is a great jumper. He love to be pushed on the swing and he could be on it forever. I do have pictures of them in the backyard. He is so fun to watch. We are both home today from church because Ethan is sick with lo grade fever and runny nose. They really discourage kids with runny noses in nursery so we are home together. He is asleep while I write.We are still happy in Naperville. We have great neighbors. Funny thing is I really have met more and more neighbors not because I go and meet them but when the kids see other kids, they run to go and play which I end up meeting more and more parents. I have met people from Wichita Falls and Dallas TX. I have met people who have lived here forever. It has been good to meet them.
Randy\'s work is going well and still keeping him busy. He has been busy this past week since he is taking this whole week off while his mom is here to visit. The kids really enjoy being with grandma. Randy got an early promotion at work due to good work. So we are pleased that he is doing well.I am doing well. I have been able to do some small projects around the house that needed some fixing and rearranging but keeping busy with the kids. I have been extended a calling to be a primary teacher and co-leader for the Activity Day Girls for the 8-9 year olds. We start our first activity together this Wed. I am really excited for that.As other matters goes, Randy and I decided to sell our bedroom set and get a king size bed and eventually get a new bedroom set. We are waiting for our bed to arrive this thursday and hopefully we will like it. We ordered a Sleep Number which is air mattress bed and hopefully will help both of us with our backs. Yes the bed is expensive but we hope in the long run it will provide a huge comfort to our health.I have been rather busy with certain other matters involving our yard and our security deposit from our condo while living in Chicago. We had a company come out and assess our yard to tell us what is wrong with it and told us what is needed. Our assessment told us we had a sick lawn. Based on what we agreed to have them do to treat our yard, an interoffice memo did not get posted therefore the things we put in our yard and what they did (which they were not to do but did) to our yard, they eventually burned our yard. So the company is now making amends to fix our yard by aerating(putting holes in our yard to allow to "breathe") and seeding the front and one side yard and re-sod our backyard and other side yard. Well in the process of aerating the yard, they cut our sprinkler line, so we had to get that fix so we can water the seeds into the ground. But because we get so many critters, who knows how much seed is left. I should be getting an landscaper this week to measure"

Randy's work is going well and still keeping him busy. He has been busy this past week since he is taking this whole week off while his mom is here to visit. The kids really enjoy being with grandma. Randy got an early promotion at work due to good work. So we are pleased that he is doing well.I am doing well. I have been able to do some small projects around the house that needed some fixing and rearranging but keeping busy with the kids. I have been extended a calling to be a primary teacher and co-leader for the Activity Day Girls for the 8-9 year olds. We start our first activity together this Wed. I am really excited for that.As other matters goes, Randy and I decided to sell our bedroom set and get a king size bed and eventually get a new bedroom set. We are waiting for our bed to arrive this thursday and hopefully we will like it. We ordered a Sleep Number which is air mattress bed and hopefully will help both of us with our backs. Yes the bed is expensive but we hope in the long run it will provide a huge comfort to our health.I have been rather busy with certain other matters involving our yard and our security deposit from our condo while living in Chicago. We had a company come out and assess our yard to tell us what is wrong with it and told us what is needed. Our assessment told us we had a sick lawn. Based on what we agreed to have them do to treat our yard, an interoffice memo did not get posted therefore the things we put in our yard and what they did (which they were not to do but did) to our yard, they eventually burned our yard. So the company is now making amends to fix our yard by aerating(putting holes in our yard to allow to "breathe") and seeding the front and one side yard and re-sod our backyard and other side yard. Well in the process of aerating the yard, they cut our sprinkler line, so we had to get that fix so we can water the seeds into the ground. But because we get so many critters, who knows how much seed is left. I should be getting an landscaper this week to measure the yard to see how much sod is needed and then the company will resod the yard for me. Well, it looks like they will resod both sides (since the sprinkler line was fix and redug deeper into the ground, they will need to put sod there) and the back yard. Good news that the company is paying for all of the repairs on the yard sprinkler line. But now I am keeping my eyes peeled to make sure nothing else happens. (see pictures)
Then we had to fight with our landlord for our security deposit. They withheld too much money which was not right. So Randy and I sat together to write a letter with proof of agreement that we had with them, pointing out the flaws in their invoice, and how their responsibilities did not fall within the guidelines for tenants\' rights in regards to security deposit. We were afraid that we were not going to get anything back that we were going to have to go to small claims court. The landlord sent us another check later in the week after we sent the letter, which the amount was enough to satisfy us that we will not pursue to get the rest. Advice to anyone, keep all email, letter, and conversation on record. I was really smart to keep all email conversations that I had with them that they couldn\'t oppose it. That help alot.The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous. in the low 70\'s, windows open all day and night. A/C unit is off. It is breezy, and fluffy clouds roll by. People are out on bikes which makes us want to get bikes ourselves. Fall is coming. Nighttime light is coming sooner. Season is changing. (Halloween is on its way and I am constantly being reminded by Emma.)

We hope all is well with you. Keep in touch.

Another Way to Blog

2006-09-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

Want a quick way to submit text to the blog? Just email it to
mandiemcmurdie.texas@blogger.com and it will post it for you. It's a
great, easy way to post your family letter! We haven't figured out how
to do it with pictures though. We'll work on that!

Mandie and I are looking into this further, because right now it shows as Mandie posting the emailed posts. We may create a faux account for people to email posts, if they would like. Make a comment if you like/don't like this idea.

Tales of "the gut"

2006-09-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

(Random Pictures throughout)
So Sheen and I are working out...really. We didn't do too hot this week, but we have a lot of excuses.

Anyways, as Sheena said in the last posting, we start school this week. It's about time we finish our edumacations. We got some really good news this week that Sheena got her education grant. This means that we will be able to finish school without any debt at all. This has been a goal for us from the beginning, and we are so grateful we are going to be able to do it. If you ask either of us, we'll tell you that it is truly a blessing of paying our tithes. To share a quick story, we felt like we were doing pretty well with paying our tithing on a regular basis. I would try to pay 1x a month (2 paychecks/month). Come August, I did a little review of our finances and realized that we were not up to date like we thought we were. We looked at our bank account and there was not enough money, period! We decided that we would put into practice what we have learned and always taught. I got out the checkbook and wrote the check without thinking. I know the Lord blessed us this month, and it looks like we might be in the clear after this month. (This picture is where Sheena and I first kissed!)

Sheena went to a counselor this week to make sure that she was taking all the right classes, so that she can take the rest independent study while we are in Texas. As it turned out, she was signed up for a 3 credit hour class, when she only needed to take a 1 credit hour class on Wednesdays. It makes it so she has a class other than Tuesday or Thursday, but it might lighten her load quite a bit, only taking 13 hours and not 15.

As part of the grants, the amount you receive is in proportion of the hours you are taking. I was only signed up for 9 hours, which would have gotten me 3/4 of the grant. We realized that the difference between tuition for 3/4 time an Full time is about $70. So, I decided to pick up one of Sheena's classes on Monday nights. It's called Religion in the Home. It's completely unrelated to my major, but this way, we can split the homework for the class (split the time in class for that matter), and we get the full grant. It will probably be the easiest $500 I've ever made. The class is actually pretty interesting, so it should be fun to take it with Sheena. It should also lighten the load of Sheena's classes, if we can split the reading and sum up things for each other.

Work has been rough this week. The other assistant was out all week on her honeymoon, leaving me to do all of the processing for the investments and insurance applications (normally, I"ll only process the investments.) I made it through, but not without leaving early on Friday!

Maryn's doing great! She brightens our day everyday. Not sure if this happened to any of the other guys in the family, but (despite the crying/diapers/etc.) it almost feels like Christmas everytime I come home and see my daughter's laughing face. It's better than any rollerblades I got for Christmas. We love her tons.

Brian and Mandie (and Abby), we look forward to seeing you this week. We still aren't sure which show we'll go to. We don't need tickets, do we???

Love you all!

Anderson Letter 9/3/06

2006-09-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

I am much slower than everyone else in responding to Mandie's challenge to post here, but better late than never, right?

It is time for the monthly update on our family and we have quite a bit to update you on. As I mentioned in our last letter, Jeff has had a few changes happen for him. He left Raytheon as of 8/25/06 and began work at a Masque Publishing 8/28/06. What that means for him is a change of scenery, change of project (he is now doing online computer games), and smaller company atmosphere. For the rest of us, it means a change of insurance plans, and we can actually talk to him about work and go see him at work. The transition was smooth and as for how he likes his new job, so far so good. It's only been a week.

He also started teaching seminary on the 21st. He has a class list of 28 or so high school seniors with regular attendance at about 22. It's been a bit of a rough start with the changes happening with work and doing a side project with his friend, but he's starting to get a rhythm going and he will really have a good time. Jeff really enjoys teaching and so he will do a good job with it.

We have semi-finished the unfinished space in the basement. Half still remains the playroom for the kids and the other half has become Jeff's indoor workshop to build his airplane. If you want to know what he is building, look at www.vansaircraft.com and search for the RV-7A model and you can see pictures.

But, if you think that's all, Jeff is also continuing to work on a programming project with his friend, Jason. And during the last two weeks, along with everything else, they have had a major product deadline. They made it but not without losing some sleep.

The kids are doing well. I took them all to a salon and got their hair cut. Jeff came home from work and said, "What did you do to my kids? They've all aged three years!" Yes, haircuts do that. The boys got a nice short boy haircut, and Rebecca got hers cut to a bob, and Heather's is now shoulder length and long layers. All the kids look great. If I can get it figured out I'll try to post a picture, but no promises as everyone knows I am horrible at sending pictures.

The kids have been off track for the last two weeks and will be off this coming week too, so we are going to try and go to the zoo. We are also trying to work on potty-training Matthew. It is going really slowly. As it turns out, I have to teach him how to feel it. He isn't recognizing it on his own. So, maybe by Christmas, we'll have it figured out. He's had some success and he thinks it's great, so we will continue to work with him.

Other than that, all is well and ever-changing at our house. We love you all.

Jeff, Kristine and kids

Catching up on Family Pictures

2006-09-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

We had Eric and Sheena here in June and got the three little babies together. This is Maryn, Mikayla, and Abbie all together sharing their thoughts of the Pre-existance. I wonder what is going through their minds.

We had Kristine and her family her in July for a week and they enjoyed the pool. We also went to the lake and played a lot. It was a great week. Unfortunately they had to go back to Denver to go to school and work.

When Eric and Sheena were here we knew Sheena had just had a baby but we were not aware that Eric was expecting. I guess he needs to get back in shape. This sympathy pains for the wife can be taken a little too far.

My camera was really good here because Tyler is shivering like a leaf but you cannot get him out of the water. He loves to be dunked and comes up wanting more. He doesn't play with anyone but his Dad but he loves to come to swim.

Evening Song Tour

2006-09-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

We're headed off to Salt Lake City next week for our Evening Song "Tour." We're super excited cause we get to sing on Temple Square. This is our biggest gig yet and we hope to impress. We'll make sure to post lots of pictures. Meanwhile, listen to two of my favorite Evening Song songs.

http://media.putfile.com/I-Will-Not-Leave-You-Comfortless

http://media.putfile.com/My-Heart-is-Longing-To-Praise-My-Savior

Sidebar Links

2006-09-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

If your family is starting a blog, or if there is another website you would like to add to the links list on the right sidebar, contact Mandie or Brian and we'll add it.

School starting and no chocolate!

2006-09-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, we've got this thing figured out and I love it! I even set up one for my family. I'm hoping my siblings will do it. It may take a few months for everyone to catch on, but I'm hoping they will at least by the time we move to Dallas. It's a great way to be updated on nieces and nephews and to see how they grow in pictures. Well Eric and I start school on Tuesday. I'm excited to take my classes, but a little worried about how to do homework and everything with a baby. Maryn is doing good. I've given up eating chocolate though because I think it upsets her stomach and makes her spit up more. Oh well. It'll be good for both of us. She can roll from her stomach to her back. I don't know if that's normal for this age, but we as parents are very proud of her. I am on the wrong computer to put any pictures on for this post. I'll put some pictures up later. That is all for us for right now.

update

2006-09-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well, we went to the doctor and had a sonogram taken and found out that we are a little earlier than what we were expecting but that all is still the way it should be for a normal pregnancy. Michelle's blood levels are rising which is a good thing. We are going to be going in next Wednesday to see the doctor (The doctor wanted to see us again next week) to I guess have a few more tests taken. I don't know, but so far all is going grand.

We love you all and appreciate all the support and prayers.

Mark and Michelle

Reunion Update--Oops!

2006-08-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

I was jumping ahead! I'm SO sorry! It's not until the END of September that the first installment is due. I already was deleting a month of the year. Scary, I know... It goes by fast enough. Anyhow, thanks Mark and Michelle for helping me check my dates!--Marianne

Reunion update!!

2006-08-31T14:47:00.000-07:00

The first installment on your reunion accounts is due! Thank you to those who have sent their checks already. For the rest, please send that or contact me for other arrangements ASAP. Thanks! w/love, BMMK Travel

Computer Illiteracy

2006-08-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Hi guys- We aren't very savvy when it comes to technology. We're just seeing if this works. We'll get out another posting and pictures once we do figure it out.

Wish us luck

2006-08-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

Just for the family's information,

Michelle and I are going to the doctor for our first visit tomarrow to see how far along she is in her pregnancy. We had a couple of blood draws this past week and so far all is progressing the way it should be. Tomarrow we will be meeting with the doctor, getting a sonogram and getting a more set date of when we will be due. Right now it looks like it will be an April baby. If you could please keep Michelle in you prayers during this whole process and during this pregnancy it would be very appreciated.

We love all of ya'll and will let ya'll know of any updates.

Tyler's Big Accomplishment

2006-08-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll,
I already wrote this once and lost everything so you aren't going to get the cutsie version this time. Tyler had chewed up all of his pacifiers except for one. He woke up from his nap the other day crying. I went in to find that his last pacifier was broken. He showed it to me and I told him it was broken and we need to throw it in the trash. I got him out of the bed and he marched straight to the trash and threw it out.
I was wondering if he was really sucking on them because it was so ragged and I didn't think he liked the sensation. Everytime I went into his room he was holding it but not sucking on it. At any rate, he threw it out and has not seemed to miss it at all. That night he went to bed without even mentioning it. He doesn't even seem to mind that Mikalya has one and he doesn't. However, we don't think it will be that simple with Mikayla because it seems nothing it going to be with her.
I also wanted to include a picture of Mikayla that Chase took. He seems to find it amusing that she likes to play in such a lady-like manner.
Another picture is to show how fast Mikayla is growing. She will soon out grow her big brother. They love to play together, it is very cute.
Hope everyone is doing well. We love ya'll.
Love always,
Scott, Carrie, Tyler and Mikayla

I am trying.

2006-08-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

I send out the family letter. I am going to try to attach the letter to this blog to see what happens.

Hi everyone;
It is Sunday morning again and another time to write of our experiences of this week. It was a fast and full week but it was mostly work, work, work.

I did play golf yesterday and scored pretty well. But all things are relative in that world. I shot 10 over 82 yesterday and felt good about myself. Then I read in the paper about the professional tour. Tiger is 9 under after three days and probably will be about 12-13 under for the tournament. So if I were to play for four days and shoot a good game I would be 40 over and he is 12 under. He could almost play 5 rounds to my 4 and if we totaled the score for our rounds he would still win. No wonder I am tired after playing and he is fresh. I have a long ways to go.

Bonnie had her first week of Seminary this week and it was a good week. She got better as the week progressed. I did not watch any of the classes but I listened in from a distance for a little bit. She is really good and really works hard to have the spirit with her for her lessons. It is really great. She is not there to impress anyone but just to teach the gospel and invite the spirit into her class. The kids are fortunate.

We went to the temple on Friday to share an experience with a young man in our ward. Mark Woods had just received his mission call to California and he went to the temple Friday to receive his endowments. His dad is not active in the church at all and so his brother served as an escort which was wonderful. We went to support him and to let him know we care and it was a good experience. I remember the first temple experience for me and for each one of our kids. At the end you are in a daze wondering what just happened. Mark looked that way, but he took the time at the end to sit down and just absorb the spirit. It was good for him. Being a little hard headed as I am the spirit takes longer to penetrate my hard heart; but the more I go to the temple the better the experience. It is so nice to be there and feel protected and to feel the promptings there.

We had a fun experience this week. Some good friends of ours in the ward have a son who is quite stubborn and has become less active in the church. Anyway he started dating a really nice girl. She was raised in her church and went often to church. Anyway as they dated they would come to our church occasionally and they sat in the Gospel Essentials Sunday school class I was teaching while called as the Ward Mission Leader. She enjoyed the class. The couple later got married and she asked me to offer a few words at her wedding ceremony. I think I mentioned this experience about a year ago. I was the Mormon preacher in a Baptist Wedding. Anyway, she called a week ago and asked if she could come to our house to go through the missionary discussions. We had told her she was always welcome before and we were quite pleased when she called. Anyway last Tuesday she came and we reviewed all the scriptures of the first half of the first discussion. It was really fun and a wonderful experience. She is coming each Monday night now to continue with the discussions. It is really fun. She is a really good person and I believe it is having a positive effect on her husband, Richard. If he is not working he will be coming to the discussions also. Keep us in your prayers.

Last night Bonnie and I had a unique experience. Chad and Bethany Packard had been asked to sing a song at the quincinllera (15th birthday party) for a girl in their ward and they asked Bonnie to accompany them. This party is a Mexican tradition where the girl is introduced to the public in her first “social” event. It is the father’s opportunity to introduce his daughter to the world as a woman and is an important event in their culture. Well, this was an event. Imagine if you will a magnificent wedding. Add to that and you might approach this party. There was an introductory program with speakers and musical performances. It began with a procession for her to come to the front and sit on a throne in the spotlight, with cameras running. Each chair was draped. Then we moved into the ball room for a sit down dinner for about 300 people. She had her “court” with 6 girls professionally dressed and 6 boys in tuxedos. Then there was the introduction of the girl with a procession of the court and her grand entrance. She was presented with a crown and jewels and presents. There was a 10 piece Mexican band which sang several songs to her and entertained the group. It was unbelievable. I cannot imagine how much was spent.

We are going to Brian and Mandie’s for dinner tonight and we are looking forward to that. They are doing well.

Scott and Carrie came over yesterday afternoon to go swimming. We were on our way out as they came in so we did not see them long.

Mark has taken his first two of 8 exams for his math class and he indicates he is doing well. Michelle starts her student teaching this week and has a little anxiety. She will teach a 4th grad class for 6 weeks and a 2nd grade class for 6 weeks. It will keep her occupied.

Kevin’s letters are great. He is doing well. They are working with several less actives and 1 or 2 investigators and he is excited. He says the language is progressing well. It seems like he has a good first companion which is a blessing.

I have to leave in a few minutes to do audits for two wards. Once I finish these two audits I will complete that function for the next six months. I need to get back to some of the people I am working on for the employment.

I cannot think of anything else to say but we love you and look forward to your letters.

We love you all.