The Westover Connection

Blog updates

2010-03-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

I am happy to post blog updates for the Westover Connection. If you send them to me I will post them. You can also check out Casey and Andrea's blog by clicking on their picture on the right and the Stotts family picture to see what they have been up to.

Kitchen Demolition on E Street

2010-03-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN, GRANDMA BEA, EMILIE,CHRISTY, TY, TRUETT AND ELLIE OUR MARCH BABIES!

It has been awhile since I sent an update to family and a few friends on the events of our household. I miss the monthly family newsletter so occasionally send a letter directly on the happenings in your family. I haven't been on face book since I first created my "face". I don't even remember my password! Congratulations Niel on your debut performance with the tabernacle choir. At this moment BYU channel is playing the program with Walter Cronkite that shows the history of the choir. What a great privilege you have Niel.

The big news here is that we have begun the remodel of our kitchen , which the contractor says will take 6-8 weeks. We are beginning week 2. We our removing the wall into the dining room to make that area part of the kitchen and we are removing the wall above the counter and stove into the family room to open the kitchen to the family room. There will be a counter with bar-stools behind the stove area in the FR. Those upper cabinets removed will be replaced in a 3x5.5' island. The 1/4 round table and benches will be gone and in there place on that wall will be a floor to ceiling pantry. I have included a few pictures of the demolition. Some of the old cabinets are going into the garage for storage. I am considering creating a blog so I can include more pictures. Any suggestions on how?

This work is long over due. It is interesting that when you come home after being gone for awhile, that the updating need is more obvious. We are also correcting problems in the original design. I will finally have my broom closet which somehow was ignored though included in the original plan. This will give us more room for family gatherings without falling into the living room from the dining room table. We will have room to turn it the other way when needed.

We have set up our temporary kitchen in the utility room. It is working our quite well with plenty of cupboards and drawers for the necessities. We have the microwave and we bought a two element hot plate. So we have everything we need except an oven. I have more space than in those trailers we lived in on our mission. We will keep you updated on our progress.

Love to you all

Bryce & Laura

2010-03-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hey family, isn't anyone writing in the westover blog anymore. I love hearing what
you are doing. Any way, I hope that we will all do better at writing. Anyway, we just
got back from a cruise to Ensenada Mexico. We just did the 5 day cruise. I don't think
that we have ever eaten so much ever. The kids had a blast and can't stop talking about
it . Go to Laura's face book page and you can see lots of pictures. We also visited Dad
in Fresno. We also went to Disney land on Friday of last week. Any way check out the
pictures of Face book.
Love the Westover's of Slc

Mom & Keith

2009-10-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe we have been home from our mission for three months.

 We are appreciating our home and it's conveniences.  My recovery from

rotator cuff surgery is going slow but as expected.  In 2 1/2 weeks I

can start using my right arm.  I certainly was not born to be a lefty!!

I have physical therapy twice a week...then another month of retrenched

 upper arm. The one upside to this is that I have watched a lot of HGTV

 and I am making lots of plans for much needed updating on the old

homestead starting with the kitchen.  We had three trees taken down in

our oak grove.  They were the smaller ones and having them gone has

opened things up in the backyard quite a bit but without sacrificing

shade where it is wanted.  In the spring we will make more improvements.

  Keith's balance problems seem to be improving with the physical therapy

 he had and exercised he is doing. For those who may be in the neighborhood

 at Christmas, the local family will be sharing Christmas dinner with us

and you are invited to join us if it is convenient.  If you need your gift

 exchange list, let me know.  Start thinking now about that.  Let your

family know when to expect those gifts.  Let them know if finances could

 be a problem.  Home made is great. We love you all so much.  Please take

 care of yourselves.  Love Mom and Dad Walburger

Bryce & Laura

2009-10-04T16:52:00.001-07:00

Hey family.... just wanted to let you know that Jordan is officially an eagle scout

now.  He passed his board of review with flying colors.  He earned a total of 33 merit

badges over his scouting career.  We are so proud of him and all his hard work and

 sacrifice.  We all went to Ice cream to celebrate.  Also last month Spencer

totalled his car right near our house.  Some lady was flying  by on the right shoulder

 and slammed in to his side.  Spencer got hit by the airbag and  some glass but he is

just fine.  We just got him a little  mazda protege'.  He really  likes it a lot too.

  We just thank the Lord that he was ok.  Every one else is doing  great.  We are

starting to get cold and had to turn on the heater this week but we know  that it

 is all a part of living in the mountains. We love and miss you and we'll talk to

ya later.  Love the SLC Westover's

Charlotte and Jared

2009-09-10T06:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome Baby Samuel Booren!

Hi Family,
We would like to officially announce that our 3rd little boy was born Sept 3, 2009. Sorry if you are hearing this for the first time. We sent a mass text message with picture on the 3rd And I've been a litte preoccupied since then... But I wanted to let you all know that he's a very health happy little boy. We named him Samuel Joseph Booren. He was born at 12:09 pm, 7lbs 8oz, 20.5 inches.
We will be blessing him on Sept 27, 11 am Sacrament mtg. With probably food a gathering following. (Anyone up for a second reunion?!) I know most will not be able to make it, so I will accept congratuations in the form of diapers, or checks. :)

I'll attach pictures. We love and miss you all already!

Charlotte

Mom & Keith

2009-09-08T05:27:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe we have been home for two months. I miss Arizona and the friends we made there but I am also grateful to be home. We have really been busy moving moving back in and putting the yard and garden in shape.

The Reunion was a great memory maker and went by too fast. With the help of Maria and Marissa we expanded the size of the patio. Thank you again for all your help. I am grateful for having such great kids and grand kids. I am continually amazed at how you keep your focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a blessing you all are to me.

Andrew and Joel stayed two nights with us while Charlotte and Jared were busy giving birth to Samuel Joseph. He is so cute. The boys were great, never complained or fussed. Tonight they and Casey and family came over to dine on the leftovers from the catered bar-b-q which I had frozen. I wish more of you lived close by. I love it when we get together.

This Thursday I will be having rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder so I am cleaning and preparing food for my days of recuperation. For the first three weeks I have to keep it immobile though I will have some exercises to do. It will be three months before it is completely healed.

We are grateful to have new callings. Keith is teaching the Gospel Essentials class and I am the Primary Activity Days leader for the girls 8-11 years. It has been fun.

It is good to be home.

Love G & G Walburger

Maria & Kelly

2009-09-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

The month of August was great. We loved going to Oregon and visiting with everyone. What wonderful memories we all made! Since we have been back we have enjoyed the last weeks of summer by reading books, hanging out with friends, sleeping in, staying up late watching movies and going to the state fair. Megan and Marissa started on their new soccer teams. Marissa has won her first 2 games and Megan has won 2 of 3 games. She is enjoying getting to know new girls on her 9th grade soccer team. We had fun at the state fair eating and playing. Our favorite treats were the chocolate covered bananas, chocolate covered strawberries, bacon on a stick and lemonade. Today was David's 5th birthday. Amber made a couple great cakes for him (Harry Potter themed and Spiderman). The kids are not quite ready for school to start, but they only have a day left of vacation. Life is about to get really busy! Check out our blog (click our picture on the right) to see more pictures!

Fun at the State Fair

Megan's first high school soccer game

David turned 5!

Casey and Andrea

2009-09-04T08:26:00.001-07:00

Hello family. We sure do miss you all! We've recovered from the reunion and have kept busy with swimming lessons and end of summer activities. Casey's business is wrapping up it's busy season and I must admit, though the money decreases (quite drastically some months) I have a significantly happier husband who's home just a little more often. So that's good! Thankfully, we've been furiosly putting money away for those slow months. As I type this I am waiting for a babysitter to arrive so that I can go to the hospital and meet Baby Samuel Booren. I'm excited to hold a little newborn! We had a little party with the boys and aunt charlotte the day before they went in to the hospital. The girls and I made a cake and uncle Casey bought the boys Lego Star Wars T Shirts. (As well as something for the baby). I think he enjoys buying Star Wars stuff for someone who actually appreciates it. The girls could care less about Star Wars stuff. School starts next week and everyone is anxiously waiting to see who their teacher will be. I have four girls in school this year so it will be a quiet house with just Lydia and me! Well, that's about it. Have a great month and we miss you!

Andie & Layne

2009-06-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, yaa, I know, I'm pretty bad. Life has been nonstop lately and our heads don't seem to be anywhere close to our bodies these days. We're still here at the "ranch" but our house is on the market. No Idea where we will go if it sells, but with the amount of attention our home has been getting it doesn't look like we will be going anywhere soon. No one has been to see the house in about a month. We kind of hope it doesn't happen. I'm looking into boarding horses here and I don't know if that will go down too well with potential customers. Layne has been interviewing and sending resumes but no one is biting. He's working on his business and looking into buying an agency or something.

Our time has been full of baby horse and trees. Sage had a beautiful little colt 3 weeks ago. He is sweet and adorable and looks just like his mom. The name debate has raged for weeks but it looks like he will go by Antares. It is a large red star in the constellation Orion or somewhere and means the rival of Ares (I guess because it's red like Mars). I still like Cowboy or Little Jake after William's character in the play we were in (he reminds me of William) but Nicole wanted something more dignified and majestic sounding. As far as the trees, the pine beetle has struck our place and all of this area pretty well. Layne bought a chain saw and has cut down, with Loren's help, about 50 trees, and has been spraying the rest with some anti-beetle stuff. Wev'e all been hauling trees down the slope and loading them into a trailer and then unloading them at the dump. We've done about 10 loads so far and have 2 or 3 more to go. What fun. The hardest part is keeping everyone moving! The play was great fun!! We made lots of friends and did some new things and hopefully left a good impression of a Mormon family with the rest of the cast.

Loren is at Takashin leadership camp for boy scouts. This is his 3rd and last year serving on staff. He's senior quarter master this year. He loves it. Its a two week gig. The first one is set up, the 2nd week is when the participants arrive and they (staff) get to teach them how to be leaders. It was kind of neat when I dropped him off to see the respect the adults and other staff had for Loren. He was a leader there. Weird and exciting to see him growing up. After camp he's home for a day and then we're off to EFY. The plan so far is for the little kids and I to hang out in Utah for that week so I hope we get to see mom and Keith and Jeremy and whoever else will be in town.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion. Love the Kertamus Crew

Hyrum, Nicole and friend

William and cast mates from "Annie Get your Gun"

Antares

Sage and Antares

Arizona Connection

2009-06-26T07:47:00.000-07:00

This will be our last report from our mission. We leave early Thursday morning and head for Monument Valley, Canyonlands and Arches National Park. Then on to Salt Lake. We will be traveling on Father's Day so will be out of reach by phone.
Yesterday we had a great day with several couples from our little branch going to the St. George temple. We traveled home by way of Zion's National park. I am continually amazed at the beauties of this world! I will have to do a whole album just on them.
Tomorrow we clean our humble home, on Tuesday we send more things home by UPS up at Page and while there, visit Antelope Canyon. On Wednesday we say our final goodbyes to the people we have taught, then pack up the car.
We will arrive at Bryce's home Sunday evening. For the first 3 days we will do more sight seeing and visiting the Family History library to visit with Keith's cousin and a third cousin of mine who is the niece of Elder L. Tom Perry. He is my 2nd cousin once removed! Wow. That was quite a discovery. She said that my great grandmother and his grandfather where brother and sister. When we get home we want to start working on family history so we are taking advantage of these few days to mingle with those who know our histories and hopefully get copies of whatever records are available.
We will celebrate Niel's birthday with him and Christy on Thursday June 25, then join with the Walburger clan for a much anticipated reunion. We got word today that David Walburger is being deployed to Iraq at that time so will miss the family get together. He will certainly be missed. We are looking forward to seeing everyone and going to the Ocher Mt. Temple open house and getting reaquainted with those we haven't seen for a very long time. On Sunday June 28 it looks like we will get to greet the older Westover grandkid cousins coming to attend EFY together. How fun!! And all eight are staying at Bryces. That may be our time to exit unless they need our help transporting them the first day.
This next week and a half will be crammed full of great memory making events and activities. We hope our stamina is up to it!

Our final goodbye from Inscription House Arizona, Elder and Sister Walburger

Casey and Andrea

2009-06-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hello family. We are busy, busy, busy planning the reunion. Casey stayed home from church with a fever and sore throat. When I got home, he was planted at the computer, frantically scanning old photos in for the "grandma Bea and family" slide show. Tomorrow, he's meeting with Rawlin to get more pictures. It's a lot of work but i think he's secretly enjoying it. We've had a great month. Jillian turned 9, we spent a great evening at Papa's Pizza with Grandpa Mel, and for Memorial day, we went mini golfing and then to a BBQ with the Booren's. We also got the flu (the puking kind) all at the same time. That was fun. Casey is SWAMPED with work. He is working 14-15 hour days and then going to do Bishop stuff at night. (I think that's why he is sick today...doing too much) I have to remind myself that the busy season only lasts a few months and that it is very much a blessing even though we miss our husband and daddy. The girls get out of school this Friday. We are leaving the first of July for a 10 day stay with my parents in Utah. (Casey is staying home) So, we are sad that we will miss Grandma and Grandpa's big homecoming. Casey will be there to give you hugs for us though! I'm attaching a few pictures of the kids...one at Camp Putt, the other at Hendricks Park. The rhodies are in bloom!

Arizona Connection

2009-05-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for the birthday wishes through calls, cards and e-mail cards. I had a great day and even had a big party with the Sr. missionaries though they didn't know 'till they arrived that it was my birthday. Our going home party was an adventure through 4-wheel drive country to get to Eggshell arch which is in a canyon behind Inscription House. We can't get to it without going around to the othere side of the canyon. See the picture attached.
After our trek of 6 miles we came back to Inscription House Chapel for a picnic of home made subway sandwiches and fun visiting. We have a great group of Sr's. We will miss them.
We are winding up our teaching of several inactive families and next Saturday we have a baptism of an 8 year old we taught. It will be in Page and we are doing the planning because we have a brand new Primary presidency and they don't know what they are doing. Training them is my goal before we leave. We have one of our reactivated elders going to and addiction recovery program so if he sticks with it he will be a success story. There are so many problems on the reservation that you have to feel good for the small advances that our presence here may have brought about.
We have made many friends and we will keep in touch and keep them in our hearts and albums.
We are anxious to see everyone in a few weeks.

Love to all!

Bryce and Laura Update

2009-05-31T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hey family. We are all getting excited in utah for the fun family reunion. From the schedule we got emailed, it looks like casey and charlotte have been busy busy. It looks like everyday is just packed with a lot of fun.. We will have to pull out our disco clothes. I should have my clothes from the seventies,,, oh wait those clothes probably would not fit since I was only 11 or 12. any way we we'll have to find something with a lot of paisley's or bell bottoms it looks like.

Our kids only have 4 days left of school and then they are out for the summer. Our kids have a full schedule this summer with efy, vacations, priest camp for spencer-not to mention spencer is now a swimming instructor and life gaurd at the local pool and many other youth activities.

We are also going to california at the end of june to go to Six Flags in the Bay area with all our cousins on Laura's side.
We hope you are all doing well and looking forward to seeing you in August.

Maria and Kelly Update

2009-05-07T19:53:00.002-07:00

April was a busy month with Megan and Steven's 14th and 12th birthdays, our 18th anniversary, Marissa's basketball games, David's T-ball games and Amber's track meets. I also enjoyed a wonderful few days in Provo with a great sister and a couple great sisters-in-law. It was so nice to be back at BYU. The classes were great and uplifting. Charlotte and I shared a dorm in Helaman Halls. Good times. Kelly survived on his own with the kids. Amber was inducted into the Honor society last month,too. We are so proud of her! Megan was named a student of the month and was given a presidential award for achievment in academics. The kids enjoy the trampoline being back together again now that the snow is gone. Yeah! We love spring! Megan sang a solo and played her violin in her final choir concert of the year. She can really make beautiful music. We are so excited to see everyone this summer. The kids are dying to play with cousins! Here are some random pictures. Check out our blog for some more.

Charlotte, Niel and Maria in Utah

David at T-Ball

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Steven

Amber signing her Honor Society Pledge Book

Niel and Christy

2009-05-07T19:53:00.001-07:00

I'm writing this update from Aspen, Colorado. I'm attending something called BoostCon. You may be wondering what I'm doing here, and why Christy and Charlie aren't with me... After several months and lots of applications, I finally had some good interviews. One was over breakfast with a couple guys from a company in Orem called Gwava. They liked my resume and pretty much offered me a job right then. They said they would get back to me within a few days with an offer. I was pretty excited, and I told Christy that I wanted to take that job. However, there was another company that also wanted to interview me. I spotted a job posting on Monster.com for a company called Magpie in Salt Lake, and called up the recruiter in charge of it. I saw that I was a pretty good fit for the position, but the recruiter didn't think so. He sent them my resume anyway. Eventually he called back and told me they wanted to have me do an interview with someone from HR. That seemed to go pretty well, and they called me back for a technical interview with a few of the software engineers. They asked me programming questions, and made me write stuff on the whiteboard. I guess I did well enough there because they called me back for a 3rd interview, where I took a programming test, and then they took me to lunch. This was last Tuesday. Later that afternoon, I got a call from the HR lady I interviewed with originally with an official offer from Magpie. I told the guys at Gwava that I had received this offer, and they rushed to get something together by Wednesday afternoon (April 29th). After examining all the pros and cons of both offers, I decided to accept the one from Magpie. So I called to tell them I wanted to accept the offer, and they told me I could start Monday, May 4th. So I wrapped things up at Sensory Sweep, and my last day was Wednesday (before I actually accepted the offer.) All of Charlie's friends were sad to see him go. Poor Charlie won't get to go to work anymore. Thursday morning I got a call from Mike, the guy who interviewed me, and he asked if I was still planning on starting Monday (yesterday). I told him I was, and he told me he wouldn't be there because he had this conference to attend. Then he asked if I wanted to come along. I was pretty speechless. Of course, I said I'd love to go. So me, Mike and Brad, another guy who interviewed me, drove out Sunday afternoon, and I've been in Aspen ever since. Magpie is a subsidiary of TD Williamson, an oil and gas pipeline engineering company, so they have plenty of money to spend. All the meals in Aspen are pretty expensive, but the company's paying for them, so we've been enjoying the free food. This trip has been a great opportunity for me to get to know some of the guys on my team. Christy and I are so relieved that I actually have a paying job now. We've been extremely blessed. I still can't believe I'm in Aspen, and I have a new job! It might take a while to sink in. In other news, we're going to Pocatello, Idaho on Saturday (after I get back) to pick up a sister for Charlie. She's a pomeranian/chihuahua mix and looks just like Charlie. Who knows...she might be his long lost sister! I better wrap this up and leave something for next time. We love you all!

Casey and Andrea update

2009-05-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Hello family. I just got back from the most wonderful "long" weekend.
Charlotte B. and I were able to go out to BYU to attend Women's conference.
We met Maria at the airport, and Christy the next day. We spent the whole
week feeling spiritual and listening to great messages. I would highly
recommend Women's conference to anyone that can make it down to Utah next
year!

Casey was so kind to watch the girls for me for 4 days! The Relief
Society learned that he was going to be alone all week and so they surprised
him with a few meals! Casey was amazed that they would go to the trouble!
He did really great though and I came home to a clean house and two videos
that they had made and edited. They are so cute! The video is titled, "The
Fellowship of the Thing."..written, produced and edited by Casey! In other
news, Jillian celebrated her ninth birthday. The girls also had a voice
recital for their amazing teacher, Aunt Charlotte. We started a blog
(westoverfamilyseven@blogspot.com) and on it, I posted the four songs that
they sang for the recital. Head on over and check out their angelic voices!
(Not to mention Aunt Charlotte's amazing piano skills!) We are continuing
to plan the reunion....we have a theme now but we'll keep it under wraps for
a while! Hope all is well with your families! (I'm attaching pictures of
Easter Sunday, the tax day "tea party" that Charlotte and I attended,
Jillian's birthday and Women's conference. enjoy!

Arizona Update

2009-05-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

Navajo Mountain

We have been very busy with teaching almost every day, but it is frustrating because they are friendly but at the same time are indiferrent to the message. They don't want to go to the trouble of changing thier lives, even though it would improve them. We hope maybe we are planting seeds that one day someone else will harvest. We are looking forward to coming home, though we are concerned for this branch because they are loosing several of their strongest families due to the economy. They are teachers at the local schools and are being let go.

Last Saturday the branch had an activity to climb Navajo Mt. I decided I would try it though I knew I wouldn't make it to the top. I managed to hike uphill about 1 mile. That may not seem like much but I did better than I thought I would at an altitude of between 8,000 and 9,000 feet and very steep

We are planning an excursion to see Antelope Canyon and Eggshell Arch on May 23rd as a farewell party to us and another couple. They did the same trip last fall but we missed it due to Keith's grand daughter's baptism.

The weather has been crazy. Winter is still not letting go and I think we are skipping spring. I am looking forward to working in my garden.

Love to all

Niel and Christy

2009-04-02T20:20:00.001-07:00

Hi family. The last few months have been crazy. I've been looking for a new job because my current job isn't doing so hot with the current economy. The company has shrunk from more than 200 employees a year ago to less than 30 now, mainly because the company can't meet payroll on time anymore. We're still doing OK, and I still get the occasional paycheck every once in a while, but I definitely need a new job. I've had lots of interviews, and I believe there are going to be some job offers soon. If it weren't for our house and the bad economy, we would've sold by now and moved to Oregon. Maybe someday we'll get to leave Utah.

In other news, Christy has been the gospel doctrine teacher for a few months now, and she really loves her calling (she's really good at it, and her life experiences make her a perfect fit to teach Doctrine and Covenants). I'm still the ward organist and financial clerk. We just had stake conference, and Elder Hales came and spoke to us. He's an amazing teacher and speaker. It was a great opportunity to get to hear from an apostle. Elder Jones, an area Seventy was also there with him.

Christy's starting up as a Stampin' Up demonstrator again, and with all the knowledge she's gotten from her job in the call center at Stampin' Up, she's hoping to be able to turn it into a small business. If any of you want to order stamping or scrap booking products, Christy would be glad to help you out.

Love you all,
Niel, Christy and Charlie

Charlotte and Jared

2009-04-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit late, but I thought I'd contribute anyway. At this very moment I have four little boys ages 2-4 sitting at my table playing playdough. Jared's sister, her husband and three of the their kids are going to Salt Lake for General Conf. and we're (I'm) watching their two youngest who are the same age as Drew and Joel for the next four days. I'm just not sure how much giggling about poo poo and pee pee I'm going to be able to take -- when does that stop being funny to boys?

I'm about 18 weeks along now in this pregnancy and I really can't complain. I have it pretty good when it comes to symptoms and side effects, although this time around I have developed a completely non-itchy rash on my face as a bonus gift. If I never looked in the mirror or touched my face, I wouldn't know it was there. And while it doesn't hurt or itch, I do have to look in the mirror periodically and I look like I have a mustache. I'm sure I notice it more than anyone else. The doc says it's just one of the hundreds of random skin conditions that can come with pregnancy.

Jared got all gung ho this last week and mapped out our yard and figured out our garden for this years harvest. So far we've planted the early spring seeds outside, and started some seeds inside.

We're so happy that Casey and Andrea stocked up on food storage for us. We know exactly where to go when disaster strikes! I've been having a lot of fun giving Jillian and Charlotte voice lessons. It makes my job so much more fun when they already have natrually beautiful voices. You are all invited to a recital on the 18th (I guess I should ask Andrea and Casey if that date works --- well, does it?).

Things are great here. We're very happy with our tax returns this year. Because Jared's bonuses get taxed so heavily, we get a lot of it back at tax time.

Can't wait to see you all this summer!

Maria and Kelly

2009-04-01T12:04:00.001-07:00

March is over and we are ready for spring. All the snow was melted until we got two inches today. Bummer. David didn't seem to mind. He put on his snow clothes and went out to play with Zoe (our dog). We spent the month doing the usual. Amber and Megan both had choir concerts, Megan had a symphony concert, Steven earned two more merit badges and achieved the rank of first class in scouts. Amber was accepted into the high school honor society! She is applying for the art honor society as well. That girl is smart and talented! The kids all got great grades for their second trimester. Amber, Megan and Kelly went to a young women's winter camp in Wisconsin and had fun walking on the frozen lake and making new pajama pants (the girls). Marissa fell and got a hairline fracture in her left wrist (she is left handed). Luckily, a brace was all that the doctor recommended. She was able to swim with us at the water parks in Wisconsin Dells for spring break, all indoor, of course. David wasn't sure he would remember how to ride a bike since it has been so long since he actually had a clear street and warm enough weather to try it. He remembered, just like riding .... you know the saying. He loves to ride around our cul-de-sac for as long as I will let him. He especially likes going through the puddles so the mud can splash straight up his back! Kelly has been working a lot and keeping busy with the bishopric. Some Sundays are just crazy with all that we are involved in. Two weeks ago Kelly had meetings starting at 9 then choir at 12 (I am the semi-permanent substitute choir director), the choir sang in sacrament meeting, Kelly taught High Priests group, I taught the 10-12 primary class, filled in for primary and nursery music, then Steven had a priesthood preview until 6. Most Sundays are not very restful! We are happy for the chance to serve in our ward, though. We are looking forward to eating in the backyard, taking bike rides, playing outside at the park and feeling warmth from the sun. For more pictures and updates, check out our blog. Just click on our picture at right.

This is a picture of Amber and her friend Jentry Johnson on frozen Clam Lake in Wisconsin

The kids getting dumped on at a water park in Wisconsin Dells.

David won the Pretty Pretty Princess game!

Casey and Andrea

2009-04-01T07:25:00.001-07:00

Hello family. Hope your March went well! Spring is bursting here in Springfield. (hard to believe for those of you still in snow). The daffodils are up, the lawns are green and lush, and the plum trees are covered in pink flowers. It's a great time to be in Oregon. Unfortunately, the majority of our Spring Break was rainy. We did manage to do a few fun things though. Our family and the Booren family went up to Salem to play at the AC Gilbert Discovery House. (I attached a few pictures) Afterwards, we rode the carousel and went to Dairy Queen for dinner. It was a lot of fun. In other news, our garage has been completely transformed. We have gotten on the food storage kick and when my dad was in town, he built wall to wall shelves in our garage while my mom and I blew $2000 on food storage. (We'd been saving up for this project for a while) We loaded the shelves and the freezer with food storage. We have a long ways to go to get our years supply but it feels so wonderful to walk out to the garage and see so much food. With the economy being as shaky as it is, we've decided to postpone any major changes to our home and just save our money. We have enough money saved so that Casey could be out of work for a year and we'd be able to pay our bills. It's a good feeling...we hope we never have to use it! We are so grateful for our many blessings. There are a lot of folks struggling here in Oregon. Monaco Coach, Country Coach and I think Marathon Coach have all gone out of business. A lot of members of our Stake lost their jobs in the last month because of it. Casey is trying to throw work at as many people as he can, but our business is down significantly as well. I guess people don't want to throw big corporate picnics and parties in a recession.. Who could blame them? To sum up, despite the economic worries, we are all happy and healthy! We count our blessings every day and are so grateful to be members of such a wonderful and hopeful church. We also love all of you and can't wait to see you in August.

Bryce and Laura Update

2009-04-01T07:24:00.001-07:00

Hey family. Hope all is well where you are. We have 70 degrees one day and then 4 inches of snow the next. We can't wait for it to warm up. We almost have everything done in our house. We tiled spencer's bathroom and repainted it as well, and then have almost totally finished our kitchen. All that is left is the can lights in the cieling. Dad was here last weekend and put in our new front door. I just need to paint it. We are also rewiring the garage to add more plugs and then finally rewiring our breaker box and adding a shower surround upstairs. As you can see we have been very busy. We were not sure that we wanted to stay here, so thus the reason we are finally fixing it up. The kids are getting impatient for the summer and have just 2 months left of school like everyone else. It will be great to see all the cousins here for EFY. Hope all of you are surviving winter and are healthy.
Love the Westovers of Salt Lake

Arizona Connection

2009-03-31T05:40:00.000-07:00

Spring on the reservation is nutty!! Last night we had a snow storm
after a day of incredible winds. We woke up to 5" of snow this morning.
Then the sun came out and most of it was gone by this afternoon. The
same thing happened last Sunday. The winds were so strong, there was a
fog of orange dust and sand clouding our view as we traveled home from
Stake Conference in Page. That evening it started to snow. Crazy!! We
traveled 150 miles today to interviews with Pres. Beck. We took the
elders serving in Kaibeto, about 20 miles north, with us. The Sr.
couples provide a potluck lunch for everyone at these meetings. In three
weeks is our Zone conference and Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the Quorum of
the 70 will be a visitor. He will not just be a guest speaker but will
be a trainer on the Atonement. All the missionaries were given copies of
two of his Ensign articles and a page of questions with the answers found
in those articles. It has been marvelous to gain a deeper understanding
of just what the Atonement can mean for us, beyond cleansing from sin.
Did you realize that the Lords grace is the enabling power that makes it
possible for us to overcome ourselves and progress. He is lifting us as
we put our lives in his hands. That is what faith is for because he
can't help us until we exercise faith in him, believing He will be there
to lift, and strengthen in every area of our lives. We are looking
forward to this visit to be taught by one who understands this doctrine.
We finally bought a Navajo blanket or rug. We visited a little old lady
who way sitting and weaving at her loom. She is a member but hadn't been
back to church since her husband died three years ago. Her son was there
and helped us communicate. She showed me how she washed, dyed, hand
carded the wool then spun it into yarn on a long spindle. This was a
true Navajo blanket. The others I had seen were finer and more
professional but the yarn was bought at the local craft store. As I
looked at this one I purchased I could see pieces of twigs woven into it
because the carding didn't get them all out. That made it even more
genuine. It is a horse blanket but since I don't have a horse, it will
go on a wall. She and her son are coming back to church. He has an
alcohol problem and we hope to get him help to overcome it. We now have
a Sr. couple in the mission from the LDS Social Services who provide this
help.
We hope all is well in your home. Love to all.
_____________________________________________

Bryce and Laura Update

2009-03-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hey family, just a quick update. We finally got our kitchen done, although it still needs the can lights put in. I'll show you more when it is totally done. Also this is Jordan's Eagle project. He made a bunch of games and art projects for the kids at Primary Childrens. And finally, Friday was very warm, so the kids decided to run through the sprinklers.
Love, the Westovers

Maria and Kelly Update

2009-03-01T19:06:00.000-08:00

February, already gone? Wow. We keep plugging along. We have dealt with sick kids on and off this month, but I think we are all healthy now. Steven had a fun scout winter camp that Kelly was able to attend. They played capture the flag in frigid temps. but they didn't seem to mind. Kelly and I attended a stake Valentine dance and we had a great time dancing all night. Our feet were very sore the next day. Steven babysat for us since Amber and Megan both had paying gigs that night. Amber and Megan both participated in a choir festival for their respective grades. They enjoyed singing with other talented singers who were serious about singing. Kelly and I realized that school dances are horrible after chaperoning Megan's 8th grade dance. We were offended by some of the very suggestive dancing going on. Our kids really have to be strong to 'be in the world but not of it.' I spent Thursday shoveling 6 inches of fresh snow in 6 degree weather while Kelly was in San Diego enjoying 75 degrees. After meetings he was able to visit his twin brother and his family for a couple days. Winter will end someday, we think. Marissa had her first basketball game yesterday and loved it. She really likes to play basketball and actually has a good shot. Friday night I had a primary class party for the two oldest primary classes, Steven's class and my class. We made homemade pizza, played games and ate brownies for dessert. I think the kids enjoyed getting to know each other outside of church. We had a good time. I have attached a picture of our winter wonderland. Enjoy!

Casey and Andrea update

2009-03-01T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! We have had a pretty good February! We celebrated Allison's 5th birthday and my 36th birthday. On Allison's birthday, we pulled out a bounce house, I made a "Max and Ruby" cake and we had 8 of her cousins and friends over. (We were watching Drew and Joel for the weekend so they were both there anyway!) The only sad part was that Allison came home from school with a fever. We doped her up with Tylenol and went ahead with the party. We just kept her away from everyone as much as we could. We felt bad for her because I think she really wanted to just go to bed. For my birthday, Casey took me to our favorite restaurant, "Hole in the Wall BBQ." (They'll be the ones doing some catering for us at the reunion-Casey did some trade). Anyway, the other notable event this month was the refinance of our house! We lowered our payment by $500 a month and pulled out some money. We got an amazing interest rate (4.875%) so we're pretty happy! We are going to save the extra cash in the hopes that we'll be able to do some home improvements before the reunion. (We're watching the economy closely to try and decide whether to use the cash or just save it for a rainy day.) We have had a blast planning the reunion...I know it seems early but we had to put all of our deposits down by February 1st in order to get the parks and the roller skating rink. We were also very lucky to get the temple on the day we wanted...they fill up very fast! All of this planning has made us realize how much we miss you all! August can't come soon enough! (I include a few pictures that you may have already seen on facebook...a few of Allison's birthday, one of the Allison and Lydia dancing in a downpour and one of the girls one morning before church.)

Arizona Update

2009-03-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

We attended the local "Flea Market" with the Kaibito elders. We walked around and would talk to the venders and after making friends would give them a missionary pamphlet. We encouraged the elders to get out into the crown and "OYM" but they didn't want to leave their vehicle with it's display. After that we tried to find some people on our list, without success. We did run into an interesting woman we met last week, who chattered almost incoherently in a form of Navajo English and whose eyes didn't seem to work together very often. We were suprised to see her in one of the homes we were checking out today. We first met her a couple of days ago when we picked her up on the highway and gave her a ride to the Sr. Center. No one was there so she asked us to take her to the Clinic which is near where we picked her up. On the way she asked us to turn into a drive so she could see her sister. Her sister turned out to be married to a former branch president. We will be giving him a ride to church tomorrow and possibly his wife and a granddaughter. I am sure we will see this little lady again, her name is Susie Tso. I will take a picture of her when I get my camera back from being repaired. It quit working so took it into Best Buy last week. I bought their warrenty on it so it will be repaired or replaced.
We did some exploring this afternoon trying to find Eggshell Arch which we learned is close by. We drove all over dirt roads without any luck. When we got back I checked on Google Earth and realized that I was reading the map I printed earlier, upside down. It is west of us instead of east. I felt very dumb. I know that the top of a map is north. It just looked like we were suppose to go across the street. We will try again next week. I have been wanting to explore the canyon behind us since I heard it was there. The weather is starting to warm up so we are venturing out more.
This last week was a bit disappointing because three of our appointments forgot we were coming and were not home. "Bummer!!"

Scripture of the month: D&C 50:24 Discuss it and write what you think it means. It states clearly what we have been experiencing.
Love to all.

Reunion Calendar

2009-02-26T20:12:00.001-08:00

2009 Reunion Information

2009-02-25T07:33:00.000-08:00

Dear family...

We are actively planning our family reunion for this August. There are a couple of activities that we wanted to make you aware of because some preparation needs to be made. The official reunion will begin Tuesday, August 11th. We will kick off the reunion with a visit to Great Grandma Bea. We are trying to put together a slide show for this event. We have some pictures of Grandma Bea given to us by Aunt Joyce but we need more. If you possess any pictures of you or your families with Grandma Bea would you please scan them and Email them to us? We would truly appreciate it! We have some pictures of her last few birthdays...going back to 2002. Before that, we don't have a lot. Thanks a lot!

Second, on the last day of the reunion (Friday, August 14th) we have made an appointment to do baptisms for the dead at the Portland temple. Obviously, this will include all youth over the age of 12. (we are arranging for all younger children to be babysat at a nearby home). As the family has grown, this will include over half of our group!!! This will give the adults six months or so to get their temple recommends current...if they are not already. Also, as the time draws closer, Casey will Email you with instructions on what to do to get Bishop interviews for your youth. Furthermore, the temple has asked us to provide up to 80 names of our own!! Do you guys think in six months we can come up with that many names to be ready to go through the temple? If you think you have some family names that have not had their work done, will you Email us and let us know? If we as a family can't come up with some, I'm sure we can find some from members of our ward. (It would be pretty neat if we could make them family names though). We are making Portland the conclusion to our reunion so that those that are travelling back home can leave from Portland if they want to get home before Sunday. If not, you are all welcome to come spend Sunday in our awesome Ward! We have a pretty cool Bishop!

Sandwiched in between these two days, we have a ton of fun activities! It should be a great reunion and we can't wait for August!

Thanks guys!
Andrea and Casey

Bryce and Laura Update

2009-02-02T05:05:00.000-08:00

Hey family. We miss all you and can't wait til this summer to see ya'll.
We are really loving talking to all of you on FB. It has been great joking and reading all your creative blogging going on. We really do have a weird family when it comes right down to it. The Blog has also been great too. To see your pictures and hear about you and your kids and see them growing up has been priceless.
We in Utah are in the process of redoing our entire house. We have ordered a new kitchen which comes feb 26th. We just had our roof fixed so that it doesn't leak, retiled the downstairs bathroom, fixed my car, repaneling the sides of our house and maybe painting this summer and then re-sheetrocking our living room due to the previously mentioned roof leak. We really thought about moving but decided to stay and fix up the place so we might want to stay. so needless to say, we are really busy right now with the house.
Jordan just finished his Eagle project and will turn it in this week to Primary childrens hospital, and Spencer just finished his junior yr of swim team. Adam and Kaylee are in piano together and really enjoy it as well. Me and Laura can't wait for the warmer weather to come back soon. Be Safe and can't wait to see you all soon.
Love Bryce, Laura and kids
We also added more pictures to Lauras Face book page.

Maria and Kelly Update

2009-02-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

These weeks don't seem to be too exciting, but I will try to think of something to write. This week was conferences and it was nice to talk to all of the kids teachers. Marissa is a sweetheart at school and doing very well. Her teacher likes her a lot. Megan is doing great and gets along well at school, Steven has good grades even if he isn't using his time to the best of his ability during class (he needs to leave his library books in his locker!) and Amber impresses her teachers all around. It is nice to know that they are doing well, but there are some things that need some work, still. All the kids except Amber had the day off on Thursday, and since I wasn't feeling too well (Kelly's cold caught up to me) I made sure David got breakfast and went back to bed. It is nice to have older kids to hold down the fort so I can sleep. Friday all of the kids were home and we did nothing! One of these weekends I will actually plan to go somewhere, but it sure is nice not to have to do anything! We had the missionaries over for dinner on Saturday and attended the baptism of two friends in primary. Kelly took Amber, Megan and Steven to help an inactive sister in our ward move on Friday night. Not many people were there to help, so they made a big difference. The trip to DQ afterwards was nice, as well. Yesterday was downright warm. David ripped off his jacket and ran around in short sleeves and Megan said it felt like summer. The temp. was about 45 degrees and sunny. We know the winter is not over, but it was a welcome teaser of what lies ahead (in two, maybe three months). We had a nice dinner at a friends home tonight. We had waffles with all of the toppings you could imagine. Yummy! We need to get to bed. We drive for seminary this week, so that means we have to leave the house by 5:40am. Amber is trying to convince us that we don't need our cars tomorrow and just let her drive and park the car at school.

Arizona Update

2009-02-01T21:01:00.000-08:00

We have been in our new area of Inscription House for three weeks and it has been refreshing. The branch has a president that is concerned and involved with the congregation. He has taken us out twice to meet less active members and families. We have started teaching them the missionary lessons and have given two FHE presentations. The branch is small but functioning. Our biggest challenge was the muddy, rut filled dirt roads. We decided we couldn't accomplish our mission with our car. Last Saturday we went into Flagstaff on an SUV hunt. We tossed out all our firm requirement of never buying a brand new car and bought a 2009 Suburu Forester with all the bells and whistles!!!! (heated leather front seats, GPS monitor, all wheel drive and electronic gizmos and gadgets that will take time to learn) Comfort for our old age became more important. We hope to drive it for many years.

We were greeted with more gorgeous Arizona scenery. Our branch takes in Navajo Mt. 40 miles to the north and 5 miles into Utah. We have some active members there. It is a beautiful drive.
Last night we went up to Page to watch a performance by "Living Legends" a BYU dance troop who's dances represent the many Lamanite people of the Southwest, Mexico and the South Pacific Islands. It was a wonderfully colorful presentation. We went with a couple from Navajo Mt. He is a Doctor at a clinic there. They went to Mongolia on a health services mission with the church's measles vaccination program. They feel they are continuing their mission here on the Reservation by helping the branch function. I have been helping her in primary with the music and sharing time. She isn't called to anything but the P. president doesn't always show up. So she fills in as needed. Sound familiar?
Well I will close for now. Happy Birthday William, Andrea, Allison, Layne, Dave, Andy W.
Love to all

Andie and Layne update

2009-01-31T18:21:00.000-08:00

We have had a very busy few weeks. Laynes been travelling around Montana and Idaho giving seminars for Fred Pryor, Loren and Nicole were buried in studying for semester finals (which led to Loren's stress fiiled coments on facebook that caused some concern for a few of his aunts). We celebrated William's 8th birthday Thursday and continued the celebration with a sleepover last night. Talk about unrestrained chaos. i did have some games planned but the evening was intereupted by a call from Loren informing us that his little car was making a horrible sound. The 8 7and 8 year olds were left to their own devices while i arranged a tow truck and another ride to the church activity he was heading for) Williams baptism is being planned for Presidents Day weekend to be held in Utah if everything works out and the weather holds, for those of you who might be interested in attendng.

We are surviving the economic downturn so far. Layne is still working on getting his business up and running. He Loves speaking and His Fred Pryor gigs are only making him better. This really is what he needs to be doing. a job in the interim would be nice but were not holding our breaths right now.

I don't know if this is common knowledge but we have a new dog. Ginger is a Yellow Lab that our friends in the ward couldn't take with them when they moved to Idaho. She is a sweet heart but full of energy. Teneya can only take so much of her and then he hides or asks to go outside.

We're not sure what our summer is going to be like so we're hesitant to make any commitments but so far that last week in June is still OK for us for EFY. we'll let you know when things feel more definite.

Love you all, thanks for keeping track of my kids on facebook. i love that they can stay in contact with their extended family this way.

the Kertamuseses :)

Casey and Andrea update

2009-01-30T14:00:00.001-08:00

Hello family...we've had a pretty good month. We celebrated Lydia's birthday last week. She had a "Wow Wow Wubzy" cake...it was really fun to make. She would look at her cake all day and every time she'd scream "It's Wow Wow!" She is growing up so fast and her vocabulary has exploded. What a joy she is to our family. In other news, we are refinancing our house. We locked into a 4.8 % interest rate...can't beat that right? We were a little disappointed in our appraisal though. We lost $40,000 in value since last February. It was very discouraging...nothing is selling here in Springfield so house prices are plummeting. Oh well, we've decided to just stay in our house for the forseeable future so I'm sure the value will go back up. Casey (and his Ward Mission Leader) just started a very aggressive missionary program in our ward. They are calling whole families to serve as missionaries --children included. They meet every Tuesday and fan out to visit every less active member in the Ward. (We have hundreds of them) Last Sunday, the Ward mission Leader presented the new program and I was the "warm up" speaker. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the very quiet stand. If you have to speak in church to get a quiet, child-free sacrament meeting, then I think it's worth it! Thanks Aunt Charlotte for wrestling with Lydia for the whole meeting. We've enjoyed getting to "chat" with you all on Facebook! Have a great month.

Happy 2nd Birthday Lydia!

Cool Blog Connections

2009-01-18T19:38:00.000-08:00

If you want to check out more about some members of our family, just click on their pictures to the right and it will link you to their blog or website. Jeremy and Christy's picture will send you to their Labradoodle website, Christy and Niel's will send you to Christy's blog, and Maria and Kelly's will send you to their blog. Isn't technology amazing!

Let me know if you have a link you want to me add.

Jeremy and Christy update

2009-01-18T18:29:00.001-08:00

Hi Family. Yes, we are still here in Klamath Falls. We are in full
swing and up to our ankles with puppies (well, 5 at the moment,
anticipating another 25 or so). Our place is a circus (just with tiny
little circus performers). We are excited about the new year. We are
also well aware of the economic challenges (our hospital has laid off 75
full time positions). Thankfully, people keep getting hurt (can you
believe I said that?) and the Emergency Room is still very busy. The
kids are all doing well. Actually there are 12 kids in our family room
right now. We seem to have become the "hangout house" for the youth of
our ward. They are an amazing bunch of kids. We figure we would rather
them all be here having fun in a safe environment playing "Apples to
Apples" than out there smoking crack (you know, like Mom let Bryce and I
do.) Anyway, multiply all of these kids with 10 dogs and the decibel
level is off the charts. I do have to say, having teenagers is a blast.
I think I have actually reached "cool Dad status" lately. It will expire
soon, so I will enjoy it for the time being. We are absolutely excited
about the family reunion, especially since we missed last years. I hope
that everyone will be there. I have included a couple of pictures of
our family. Aren't you amazed at how much all of the kids (and Christy)
have my face? Well, we love and miss you all. Maria, the Blog looks
fantastic! Take care all,

Jeremy and family

Scary!!!!

Arizona Update-new home

2009-01-15T09:17:00.000-08:00

We are now moved into our new old trailer (circa 1970's), have almost everything put away. We are about 65 miles from Page. What a different atmosphere! We have an active branch with an involved Branch President. We had two different members approach us at church Sunday with the names of people they want us to meet and teach. This area is beautiful. We drove to Page where they have a super WalMart to get supplies and groceries. The terrain of mesas, stone pillars and cliffs is amazing. This has been one of those bittersweet experiences for us. We felt we were really making progress and we would be teaching many more people in Cameron whose friendships we were cultivating. We hope the new couple there will be able to pick up where we left off. I will still be using the same email address though I have to access it from on line since I can't access it directly.

Bryce and Laura

2009-01-09T17:39:00.001-08:00

Hey family. sorry this is late but I will try to be better. We are glad to start a new year with new challenges. We had a nice quiet Christmas with laura's family. We then went to Logan to go snowmobiling in the mountains with my brother in law. Me and Jordan had a blast doing hill climbing (not in an avalanche area). We enjoyed getting out of Salt lake for a couple of days. We are excited for this year. We are remodeling our house quite a bit, especially our kitchen. It will be a nice change. We hope you all had great Christmas's. We all Love and miss you and can't wait to see you in the summer.
Love the Westover's of slc

Charlotte and Jared

2009-01-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

Hello family,
A round of applause please for the cool blog we are all now a part of. Christmas and New Year were a lot of fun. We went up to Portland to hang with Jared's family, and as soon as we hit Salem, there was a foot of snow on the sides of the road, and when we hit Woodburn we were forced to drive in some very icy ruts in the road at snails pace, and when we took our exit we were feeling very grateful for Jareds snow tires because I don't think they plow in Portland. There was so much snow on all of the roads to his parents house. I did not think we were going to make it there, but we miraculously had no issues at all -- that is until we turned into the driveway. Then we were stuck, stuck, stuck. A very convenient place to get stuck, though. We did a bit of sledding on the neighbors very steep back yard. If we could have, we would have stayed out there all day long. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I had ever truly gone sledding (a hosed down driveway in the middle of the winter doesn't really count...) Three of the pictures attached are from that, the one with the dog is from a week earlier when it iced over here and we created a makeshift sled out of a laundry basket. The dog is Casey and Andreas. We were training for the Iditerod.
Christmas morning was fun; I think Joel was more excited than Drew (who woke up at six, and actually fell back to sleep after asking if Santa came...) Joel was determined to head up to see what Santa brought. New Years was very quiet. We were in bed by 11, Jared was asleep by 11:30 and then startled awake at Midnight when all the neighbors set off fireworks -- very funny, because, by the look on his face, you'd think we were under attack. At the moment, I am home as usual, but with two sickly children who both caught the same cold bug floating around, and at 11:30 am they both decided to take naps... So I am enjoying some rare quiet, alone time in the middle of the day, hence the reason I am so long winded while writing this -- there are no children climbing up on my lap repeatedly asking if they can play the computer. Jared is in Bend tonight, and then off to San Diego for three days of training next week.
We miss you all!

Maria and Kelly

2009-01-06T09:05:00.000-08:00

It was great to sleep in all break and wake up when we wanted to. It is nice that our kids like to sleep in as well! This will be difficult, but it was worth it. We had fun with Stephanie, Kelly's youngest sister, here. She got to go to the gym with me a few times. We also went sledding two times. The first time the hill was a sheet of ice and was soooo scary, but fun. The second time it had snowed and slowed us down a bit, but it made it much easier to climb the hill. We will add the pictures to our blog so you can check it out (www.thestottsseven.blogspot.com or click on our family picture on the right), but here is a teaser.

On the 31st we took Stephanie ice skating in downtown St. Paul. It was only about 6 degrees outside on the rink. David did pretty well, but got cold early so I HAD to stay with him in the warming house. Kelly and the other kids got pretty good and Stephanie can now say that she has been ice skating and didn't kill herself. Stephanie, Megan and the younger kids hung out here for New Year's Eve while Kelly and I chaperoned the regional youth dance that Amber and her friends attended. We had a great time dancing and spying on Amber. Once, Amber even brought her dance partner over while we were swing dancing and asked us to teach them. Kelly danced with Amber and I danced with the guy and then switched back after a short lesson. Stephanie got off okay on Thursday and we prepared for a New Year's celebration that night (since we were gone the night before). We had about 40 people here and lots of yummy food. We played some fun games and visited with friends. The rest of the week was pretty calm and relaxing. Amber decided to get sick Saturday night and threw up. Luckily, she kept it to herself. She slept most of the day and is feeling better now. I was released as primary music leader and called as a valiant 10/11 teacher. It is nice to have a new challenge, but I will miss leading the music. We had a choir potluck at our home Sunday. It was great to have so many people from our ward socializing and singing. We had a good group of youth, as well. We are getting back into our busy schedule of music lessons, church activities, and school. We hope you have a great new year!

Transferred!!

2009-01-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

We have surprising and unexpected news. We were informed this morning at our Zone Interviews that we are being transferred to a place even smaller and more remote than Cameron. It is called Inscription House and is about 50 miles NE of us. It is a bittersweet situation because we were finally making headway with our efforts here in Cameron....but we are excited for a new area and new opportunities. We were told it is a beautiful location. We now know what we are doing and it won't take so long to settle in. There haven't been any missionaries in this new area for several months. Pres. Beck wants us to be moved by Jan. 13th, next Tuesday! We have a few appointments this week and tomorrow I am giving a haircut and permanent. On Saturday the Sorensen's, our replacements, will be coming from Tuba City for us to orient them and show them around so they can step right in to continue with those we are teaching and those we were preparing for teaching by fellow shipping.
We don't have an address yet but we always have e-mail.
Another change that is coinciding with this change is that the Grand Canyon Branch is being taken out of the mission and attaching it to the Flagstaff stake. The trailer was going to have to be moved anyway but was to old to qualify for the permanent trailer park. The church didn't want to invest in a new trailer. They will call someone from the stake to do what we did, who have their own travel trailer. The park will provide an appropriate location I guess. We will go up Sunday to remove what few things we have up there. I will miss that beautiful canyon!

Elder and Sister Walburger

Casey and Andrea

2009-01-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

Hello family...well, with heavy hearts, we set off tomorrow to meet Aunt Christy at Willamette pass to give her our beloved dog so that she can have her second litter of pups. The girls are very sad and are already planning the trip to Klamath Falls to pick her back up in March. In happier news, we survived Christmas! It was so quiet compared to last Christmas. No one came into to town so it was just the seven of us. We spent the day in our pajamas, ate leftovers and played with toys and video games. Due to the economy, we scaled back our Christmas quite a bit and we met the challenge of staying within a pretty tight budget. It felt so good to finish Christmas knowing that we hadn't spent a fortune on stuff that probably would only be used a few times. We did all the traditional stuff- the Santa letter (written by a very talented Santa), jammies on Christmas Eve and a big Christmas Eve dinner with our friends, the Farleys. (We sure missed the Boorens this year) I'm including a few pictures of our fun holiday. The kids are now back in school, the house is getting put back in order, and I can get back into a normal routine. That's it for us... Have a great month.

Grandma and Grandpa Westover Update

2009-01-05T15:53:00.000-08:00

Well hello family. Because the end of the month comes too soon, I am writing this on the 24th of December. Mel and I are still alive and well. We have been incredibly busy these last few months. Mel and I are still doing ACN. We are doing very well. Mel has about 450 representatiaves and about 3000 customer points in his organization. We both go to work during the day and have ACN meeting several times a week at night. We have met the most wonderful people. We went to a convention in Detroit in September and we just got back from one in Los Angeles at the beginning of December. Our next one is in San Diego at the end of February. We are hoping that Mel will be promoted to team coordinator at that convention. Mel and I are going to an ACN leadership training in Palm Springs January 2. Only certain leaders are invited to attend, so we are very honored to be asked.

My class this year is much easier than last year's class. Either that, or I am more used to the second grade child. Our Christmas program was great. I usually pick out the music and then lead all the second grade classes. This year we sang "Where are you Christmas, and Welcome Christmas" from the Grinch. Bryce records the music for me on a C.D. and then we play it as the children sing. It was OUTSTANDING. No other second grade teacher is interested in music, so it is pretty much me. Right now I am looking for next years music.

Cassie is spending Christmas with us. She is flying in tonight and we will pick her up at the airport and then start having a lot of fun. We are also looking forward to seeing Adam, Erica and the girls in January. We are hoping to stop by San Diego on our way to Palm Springs to see Aaron and Family.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year. We love you all!!

Arizona Connection

2009-01-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

Now that the Holidays are over we can get back onto a regular schedule again. On Tuesday I cut the hair and gave a permanent to one of the elderly ladies in the branch that we are teaching and preparing for the temple. This Tuesday I will do the same for another sister. Tomorrow is "Interviews" in Polacca, about 1 1/2 hour drive. We will leave here about 6:45 to carpool with other Srs. in Tuba City. Pres. Beck will be there interviewing all the young elders and any Srs. who want an interview. Afterward when we get back to Tuba City we will pick up an older sister from Cameron staying with a niece, take her grocery shopping then take her home to Cameron. Her home is six miles into the desert on a dirt road. The local tribal council has been trying to convince her to move into town with no luck. We are joining the battle. We are trying to help her see that she is totally at the good will of friends to get into town and see to her needs because she has no phone or transportation. She has to hope someone will decide to visit. We hope she is starting to realize her situation is not at all good.

Our Christmas was spent with Matt and Kristin in Flagstaff. It was a very white Christmas. We left shortly after dinner because it was snowing and was to continue all night. We are enjoying the books and pictures we received. Thank you kids!! All of the books are wonderful and useful both personally and with mission helps.

When we were in the Philippines we bought a carved nativity to bring home. We decided we should have one from the Navajo's as a remembrance of our Christmas here. They had the perfect one down at the Cameron Trading Post and on sale. I have attached pictures. The artist is not Navajo but she makes nativities representing many cultures and studies the clothing and traditions. It is ceramic and then painted. The figures are approx. 3" tall. The "Holy Family and Shepherd are in Navajo dress and the wise men are dressed to represent other tribes bringing their gifts from afar. On the blankets are typical household items and turquoise jewelry. Can you find the rabbit and tortoise? Baby Jesus is laying on his side. It has been fun to look at. (I am easily entertained!)

We woke up to snow this morning but by the time church started it was about gone. That means flagstaff and the Canyon got a new blanket.

One project for the new year is to start a parenting class and opening it to those in the community who want to attend. It is one of the programs we can offer through the LDS Social Services. They really need it here. Another one is ARP, Addiction Recovery Program. We don't feel quite so qualified for that but we are told everything is in the manual. We are just "guides". We will see about that one. They really need it here also. We have less than 5 months left and want to make our time full and effective.