Allen Family Newsletter

2009-01-22T17:07:00.001-08:00

2008-11-23T21:29:00.000-08:00

2008-09-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

Family Newsletter March 2008

2008-04-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

Sid & Jeanne Stephenson

Another month has whizzed by…and I confess it has been packed with goodness. I can see all of you snickering, wondering how senior citizens can have lives packed with goodness (when they are on their way “out”) but wait until you get there and you will discover it is true. Each morning we wake up we decide that it is going to be the best day of our lives, and you know what? The prophecy is always fulfilled. Our health is good, our family is exceptionally wonderful (that’s all of you), we live in the greatest country ever, the earth is beautiful, we have a rich heritage, and we have a knowledge of the Savior and His gospel. It just doesn’t get any better. Thank you for the blessings you bring into our lives!

Early March we spent some time in Utah with Sherri, Spencer and family…you know how we love being with family members and each of you make us feel so welcome and loved. While there, Sherri’s nanny who is attending beauty school, gave me a ‘new look’ with a perm, hair color, manicure and pedicure. I loved the pampering!!!! After leaving Sherri and Spencer’s, we spent some time at Shelly and Dave’s (while they were in Hawaii) and stayed with Ryan. What an enjoyable time we had with him. He is so pleasant and makes no demands, has a charming personality, respectful, and the ideal ‘teen’. (We have quite a few other grandchildren that fit into the same mold.) Upon returning home, we picked up our regular routine of just having our lives filled with the ‘best’ we can.

I picked up a new hobby this past week…I tuned up my harp and have been plucking out some tunes (with one hand to start with). I also enrolled in a new course of study entitled “The Louvre”. It has been especially interesting as there is a lot of history woven into the course. Another challenge that Sid and I have taken up this month is we are attending the Family History classes, which include lessons on the New Family Search that the church has just released. I am grateful for those of you who have shared information with other family members about your forefathers so we can preserve records of our “roots”. I hope we appreciate our ancestry because we wouldn’t be living the good life we live today without their many sacrifices.

We love each of you and DO count our blessings each day for having you a part of our lives. Thanks again Stephanie for your perseverance in keeping the family newsletter rolling….

Love, Mom and Sid

Shelly & Dave Senior

Dear Family,

This picture seems to best sum up the past seven months in Utah. We have had a plethora of snow and are anxiously awaiting sunshine and for me, an opportunity to need a pedicure. Life has been so busy the past few months for us, but we are indeed alive, barely though. Dave and I about two weeks ago were involved in a pretty severe car accident. Needless to say we jack-knifed on the freeway, pulling a trailer going about 50 miles an hour. We were driving the High School drum line equipment to Northern California for Ryan’s school. It is a miracle we

are alive and the most important things in life became a very short list. So first and foremost I am so thankful for my family and am thankful that we are all so close.

Our kids are doing well. Derek is busy as ever with school and his band playing at several BYU events and having a great time. He is teaching Spanish to Dave’s office and hoping he gets paid well for doing it. Scott has done so well this year at BYU and adjusted well to the college life, works a little making Pizza’s and ventures home once in a while so we can see him. Ryan is right in the middle of a hectic drum-line season. They did great at their national competition in Hayward, taking second 9/10 of a point below first place. They did a great job and he loves every minute of it. In between that, he is playing basketball and seems to have enough energy to do it all. I have been traveling with Dave this year so far and have had a lot of fun doing that. It was not the same to go to Hawaii without Craig and Linda there we missed them a lot. It has been great to have Mom and Sid come to visit, see Craig and Linda at Sherri’s for dinner, ski with Steph and Sherri, and see Sandie and Neil (who it has been FOREVER) since I had last seen. We are off to Switzerland with Mom and Sid and very excited to spend time with them. I can’t wait to race Sid to the top of the Matterhorn. Ryan will be meeting us in Rome for Spring break with a couple of his friends and we will train it through northern Italy. I think they would rather be on Vespa’s but a train will have to do. I am hoping for sunshine along the way and a little bit of cheese. I hope all is well the each of you we really do have a renewed appreciation for the most important things in life, a lot of that being family. Happy spring!

Love,

Shelly, Dave and boys!

Stacy & Greg Hansen

March was such a wonderful month for our family. Madelyn celebrated her 10th birthday. We had a party for her and went bowling with 10 girls. It was so much fun. Koby went to Robotics competition in San Diego & won first place on the business plan that he wrote for the team. They are headed to Nationals & koby is so excited to go. Koby also had several debate competions in March & won awads and made it to state. Emma is enjoying her dance classes & preschool. Madelyn is busy getting ready for her dance competitions that start this weekend. At the end of March we took the family and spent an incredible week in California and enjoyed the sunshine every day!! We needed it with our cold and snowy winter! We spent 5 days in Disneyland & California Adventures. It was our spring break and everyone elses so it was crowded! However, we didn't mind because we had sunshine!! We also spent a day at Huntington Beach & watched the surfing competitions. It was so much fun. My kids love the ocean & the sand. We also stopped in St. George and had the chance to see Greg's parents. We toured the Brigham Young summer home and Jacob Hamblin home. They were so neat & worth the stop if you are ever in St. George. We were also fortunate enough to see these incredible scultures of Chirst & times in his life. The lady that sculpted them felt impressed 10 years ago to start sculpting & had never done it before or had any formal training. She is from Arizona & they are on loan in the visitor's center for a few weeks. They are amazing & so detailed that you could never guess she had not been sculpting her whole life. I know she was inspired. As we were driving home from our vacation we came back to a blizzard in Idaho, so we really appreciated the sunshine we had. Spring will hopefully come soon. We love you all & hope you are doing well!

Greg, Stacy, Koby, Madelyn & Emma

Sherri & Spencer Plummer

Spencer has been busy with work again. It is good to see his mind churn again. He has been accepted to Harvard to get his Masters in Business. I am so proud of him! This program is a very difficult one to get accepted to, so he is extremely happy. He is live in Boston for the months of September and October for the next 3 years. He is getting anxious to go. We all know that he will be great. He had an oxcipital occlusion surgery done on his eyes. Basically they burn the tear ducts so that the tears do not drain into the nasal passage, but stay in the eyes. It has really helped and he is doing great (other than the April fools prank he pulled on me that he was blind in one eye.)

I am busy planning a birthday party for Spencer IV. We are planning on about 50 kids to be at the party. Last year he felt so bad for everyone that was not invited that he invited the whole bus to his party, without telling me. I would rather plan on 50 kids and have them come, than to plan on 15 and have 36 come. I have been trying to get more organized, and trying to keep up with my house with the cleaner being out for knee surgery. I love my Sunbeams and they all tell me that they love me as well.

Spencer IV is doing great in soccer, the star, and has done excellent in gymnastics. He took 2nd place on the floor and 3rd place on the double mini at his last competition. He has his state competition on April 19, cross your fingers for him. His report card contained only 4s.

Sabrina has been such a sweetheart. She is so helpful with Sydney and is so good at her jobs (except her room). She is excellent at gymnastics and can do 17 backhandsprings in a row on the ground and is so tiny she can just flip her body in any direction. She is doing well at school, and doing great at soccer. Her first game of the season, she was the only one that scored a goal.

Sammy is doing great at school, and now knows when her birthday is. It is her favorite thing to tell people. She is so addicted to strawberry milk (thank you Shauna). She loves her sisters and brother, and is such a pleaser for me. When Sabrina and Spencer are practicing their gymnastics, she always has to get out there with them and do 30 summersaults in a row. Sammy always has a smile on her face and brings us all such great joy.

Sydney is so much fun. She is now standing a couple times on her own. She is a speedy crawler and hard to catch once she has started her sprint. She is so easy to get to laugh, and her laugh gets everyone else laughing. She really brings our family such happiness. She is our miracle child in more ways that one.

Our family is so blessed to have each other and how willing everyone is to help each other. We love you all!

Spencer and Sherri Plummer Family

Stephanie Farnsworth

We had a good March. We enjoyed Easter and all of the activities it brings Egg hunts, egg decorating and of course Easter Sunday. We have invited the Easter bunny to come the Saturday before Easter. Hopefully he finds us in Arizona next year.

We also enjoyed the boys Spring Break. We spent a few days at the park, a day at the Fort Worth Zoo, a night at "Going Bonkers" and indoor play area, and spent lots of time with friends. It makes me realize how much I miss having Austin home all of the time. We all had a great week.

We had a house fire this month as well. Totally my fault. The house was covered in a layer of ash that took hours of clean up. You never realize how many surfaces are in a home until you have to clean every one of them. We are just grateful it wasn't worse.

Dave had a good month. He is coming along in his thesis reasearch and is working hard to secure a job in Arizona. I don't know how he does all he does in a day and still comes home to help and be a loving dad. I am just grateful. Dave's been working every Saturday. We miss him for baseball games and saturday chores and fun, but soon enough he will be ours on Saturdays. Dave passed out at work last Saturday and the paramedics came. His EKG and blood pressure were normal when checked. They checked him out at the hospital and want him to follow up with a cardiologist. We are confident he will be blessed and things will turn out okay.

I am just surviving. After lighting out house on fire and meeting Dave at the hospital within two days of each other I have felt pretty overwhelmed. Although I have felt much better over that last week or so. I have been super busy being the acting primary president and 1rst counselor. It has been almost too much especially while I wasn't feeling well. I guess sometimes the Lord forces us to stretch ourselves more than we think we can. I spent a lot of time going through things and organizing for our move. It just seems so much more manageable little by little. We have gotten rid of some junk and it feels good. am still enjoying Institute and the weekly uplift I get. Other than that I am just loving my kids and trying my heart out to be a good mom to these sweet little guys I have been blessed with.

Austin had a great moth and enjoyed his break off school. He had so much fun playing with Chase & Blake all day every day. He participated in his Pony Parade this month. He & the rest of the children in kindergarten rode their stick horses around the entire school while parents and all of the kids in the school watched. It was so cute to watch. They went back to their classrooms and had a Texas party. He was excited for days. Austin also proudly presented his year of work at the open house at his school. He saved his best projects and papers from each subject to display. We were so proud of his hard work and were amazed at his growth in just a few short months. He is still enjoying baseball and getting better each week. Austin is beginning to question everything. The "why's" and "why do I have to's". It is good to see him grow and mature, but hard to always have the answers. We love him and his inquisitive ways.

Chase had a good month too. He had a great month at preschool and brought home some really great Easter crafts. He enjoyed his days off for Spring Break too. Chase cracks us up. Everyday he wants to wear his PJ pants whenever he is home. To school he always wants to wear basketball shorts or sweats. He is a man of comfort. More often than not we find random underwear throughout the house. He prefers to be without I guess. I remind him probably at least 4 times a day to put them back on. Chase is so sensitive too. One day I was putting Blake down for a nap and Blakey cried a little bit. Chase was with me while I read to Blake and we gave Blakey hugs. But when I shut the door Chase started to cry too. He told me, "Mom I don't wike it when Bwakey is sad". He has a sense of empathy unprecedented for his age.

Blakey is still our little sunshine. He talks and talks then sings and sings. I just can't believe he is still1. He understands so much. He LOVES books and needs to have a couple in his crib to look at as he goes to sleep and when I hear him talking in the morning I go in to find him reading them again. Blake still loves balls and would play catch all day long if allowed. He can actually catch balls now and can aim and throw pretty accurately. He laughs at himself so much that you can't help but join him. He will do something and crack up then stop then start cracking up again to make sure you join him. Whenever we are just driving in the car he will sting along with his brothers to the songs and actually insert what sound like real words now and then.

Love,
Dave Farnsworth Family

Allen Newsletter March 2008

2008-03-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

Sid & Jeanne Stephenson

Wow! What a month of excitement in the lives of two peculiar people. Who seldom have anyone cross their threshold. We hardly recognize the doorbell when it rings, because it rings so seldom. This month we hit the jackpot. Linda graced our home for a few days on her way to Hawaii. Then my brother Warner R came and stayed four or five days. Next Shelly graced our home for a few days of fun and pleasure. Then Sandie and Neil came over the week end to spend a little time before Neil is confined to the camp when the annual camp invasion begins. We are getting so we know how to party a little with them when they come when we watch an abundance of movies together. We attended the Mesa Temples latest display at the visitor center together called “Reflections of Christ”. It was just outstanding. The end of the month found Sid & me traveling to the Salt Lake area to spend some time with Sherri, Spencer & family. They are so fun to be around. With active kids that think faster than we do. We played games together, ate out a few times, exercised in their beautiful gym, and have lots of good things happen. I got a perm & my hair colored while there. Sherri’s nanny is going to beauty school and I visited her at the school so she could experience a real challenge. She did an extremely great job at bringing life to my hair again. After an exciting week at their home we met Shelly in Salt Lake and she brought us to Highland to watch Ryan for a few days while she & Dave are in Hawaii. Ryan is so pleasant and easy to get along with. We are sure it will be a great week for us, hopefully for him too. Life surely treats us well. We owe our thanks to Heavenly Father for His gospel and for blessing us with our wonderful families. Thanks to all of you who treat us in the most kindly matter.

We love you,

Mom & Sid

Sue & Scott Oelkers

March 2008

Well, it is a shocker to think that I am actually writing something this month. I wonder if you are as shocked as I am?

Megan is approaching her graduation this April. We are so excited to have her come back to Texas. She has applied to two Universities here in Texas for her graduate work. College Station or Austin will be her future home, she hasn’t heard back yet from them…

Myles has been visiting more often and has had some good times with his brothers. One night, Myles showed up to help Marshall and Marc build an eight foot snowman (it was more of a creature of unique shape.) Snow isn’t that common here so they all took advantage of the flakes and played until about 11:00 p.m. It was a priceless night.

Myles is still working for Pizza Hut and is happy there. He is looking for another job to add on, so he can get more hours of work. He is really fun to be around and has such a killer smile!

Marshall just played a marimba solo at the Flower Mound High School Percussion Concert. He had many fans in the audience. Craig, Linda and Cherry and family came to support him. He did such a great job on his solo, his dynamics were incredible and the difficulty of music was at college level. He is meeting with a Percussion Professor at BYU next week to check out their music program, sit in on a class, and audition for him.

Marshall’s biggest (relief) accomplishment was that he finished his project for his Eagle! He is working on finishing up the write up, and completing his last requirements of his merit badges.

Marc has been busy trying to finish up his Spanish class through Texas Tech University. He has a couple of lessons left and his final exam. We will all be happy when that is complete (probably Marc will be the happiest!) Baseball season has begun! Practices are scheduled three times a week. Most of the practices are cancelled, due to freakish weather. Hopefully, that won’t be the case much longer. He seems to be playing on a more capable team, so he really has to work really hard to be noticed. It’ll be a great season for him.

Susan said good-bye to Anna Mae this past weekend. She was here for nine weeks to get away from the cold of Minnesota. We had a great time putting some quilts together, doing major overhauls on some areas in my home that were utterly out of control! I practically live in my car with all the running in several directions with the boys. I have taken to napping in the church parking lot while I wait for Marsh at seminary. (Pretty sad, since I am usually in my PJ’s and have a pillow and blankie to snuggle with.) I pulled off another Enrichment night – the birthday party. So glad that we had it in February and that it’s in the past.

My life doesn’t vary too much.

Scott has been traveling to Asia about ten days a month. He is like the energizer bunny, he just keeps on going, going, going. One very exciting thing that has happened to Scott is that he was invited to run the Olympic torch for a kilometer in China. He will run sometime in the beginning of May in a City not too far from Hong Kong.

Our family is taking a spring break trip to Utah. The boys and Scott and Megan will ski (I’m taking a break this time) and I will visit with friends and family. We will be there for about a week.

Hope your Easter is memorable this year! We love you all.

The Oelkers

Stacy & Greg Hansen

February was a great month for our family! We had two birthdays in our family last month, Emma turned 4 and Greg turned 40! We had a party for Emma and went to a pizza place with an indoor play area. It was a great time for all of them. For Greg we met friends at Olive Garden & they had the table decorated with a Viagra table cloth & other fun things. Random people gave Greg "Over the hill" advice all night & it was so funny. Then we had everyone come to our home for cheesecake (no I didn't make it). We had a blast & I think I got a years worth of laughs in on one night! We also went skiing for Greg's birthday & had so much fun. Even little Emma skiied on her own. She would go straight down the hill & it was hard to keep up, but luckily she turns and stops on her own. It is fun to watch. This past weekend Koby went to San Diego regionals with the Robotics team. He wrote their entire business plan & won first place on the business plan. Their team did very well with their robot and are headed to nationals. He is very excited! This past weekend I had festival with all my piano students. Madelyn performed two pieces also & received a score of 99. All my students did very well & I am so proud of them. I have been busy with Relief Society & have started working on Jr. Miss already. I am the Scholastic chair and have solicited help from many of you to be judges & truly appreciate it! Greg is busy with work & his church calling as executive secretary. For Valentine's Day he gave me ballroom lessons with him. We are learning the Tango & Salsa . We have had a couple classes & it is so much fun! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. We love you all! Greg, Stacy, Koby, Madelyn & Emma

Shauna Allen

Besides becoming semi-pro in guitar hero, this month has been without detriment. Troy and I have made it to the Sand Dunes a couple of times, and needless to say, the last time I went without wrecking. (Anyone who has heard stories of me on my Banshee will know that is a feat.)

I am working hard and loving it. I haven’t been able to travel as much these last 3 months, as work has been a bit more demanding. I have been lucky enough to make it to Mexico about every three weeks, just to get away.

Troy is beginning another house in San Felipe, Mexico, and will be there pretty permanently for the next 6 months. At least till he finds a crew that he trusts enough to come home more frequently. He will be here on most of the weekends and I will probably be a little lonely.

We are trying to plan a big vacation in June, where we can scuba throughout the Caribbean with a lot of our friends.

I am so grateful I have such a wonderful family! I love you all to the moon and back.

Shauna

Sherri & Spencer Plummer

My family is just growing up bigger by the day. We are so blessed to
have good health and be happy.

Spencer just returned from Brazil on his business trip. He enjoyed
it, but loves to be home. He is a Sunday School Teacher for the
15-16 year olds. He is so good to them, and they love him for it.

I had the endometrical ablation surgery done a week ago and am so
pleased with it. I had the opportunity to have Mom and Sid come and
stay with us. They were such a hoot. They were so much fun to be
around. I am a Sunbeam Teacher (Sammy's class) and she loves me to
be around her. I should live it up while she wants me to be around her.

Spencer is back in the swing of things for gymnastics (after being
out for over 3 months). He is progressing very quickly and I am so
proud. He has made the decision to start competing with cutting, and
I am scared to death. He is a good rider, and I am sure that he will
do fine. He gets straight 4s on his report card, and is gearing up
for his first pinewood derby. (We are both novices so we will see
how the car actually turns out!)

Sabrina loves Guitar Hero and Rock Band. She comes home from school
and wants to play with Spencer and Sammy. She is gaining on Spencer
in gymnastics and can do a whip by herself. She is on the waiting
list for the team. She is doing very well in school, and loves to read.

Sammy is just the cutest. She loves to play big sister to Sydney,
and is always having me call her "Mom." She loves school and church
and has so much fun with us.

Sydney is full of smiles and big hugs. She loves mommy the best and
will always stop crying when I pick her up. She is such a good baby
and we are so happy to have her here with us.

Miracles happen every day, I just open my eyes and see everything I
have been blessed with. My kids are the best. We are so grateful
for the gospel and the strength it gives us. We love you all and are
so proud of Stephie for doing this every month.

Spencer and Sherri Plummer Family

Dave & Stephanie Farnsworth

Dave traveled the first three week ends of February to Park City (which
you heard about last month), Nashville & Galveston. He continues
to learn so much from his conferences and is anxious to put all of his
acquired knowledge to work in his business. He has been working hard
towards his thesis and is still enjoying his work at Dr. McGrade's
office. He has almost secured a job in Arizona and will be
interviewing their next month. He is on call on every three weeks or so
and has rarely had to go into Dallas to help someone with their poky
wire. A very different that Will's experience on call I am sure. Dave
has been working out at the gym 4 times a week and has enjoyed such
good health over all. He has found an outlet that has many health
benefits. He looks great. Needless to say, Dave is pretty busy! Dave
works so hard and has helped me so much as I have been so very sick wit
this pregnancy. He never complains as he comes home from a long day
and finds dishes in the sink and laundry to be folded and doesn't think
twice about helping with those and many other tasks. He is such a
great husband and I am so lucky to have him!

Well, this month
was so very hard for me. I have never experienced morning sickness
(well ALL day sickness) like this ever before. I refuse to throw up in
toilets so mainly it is me over the kitchen sink (or parking lots, or
...). There are truly days I do nothing but lay down (and I only get
up to feed the kids or lay them down for naps). So needless to say I
am feeling quite sad at my abilities as a wife and mother lately. I am
truly grateful to be pregnant, I just have had a hard time this round.
On a happier note, on Valentine's day I did feel good and we had a fun
breakfast with cards and treats and a red dinner that night. I love
Holidays and the fun they bring to every day life. We got special
homemade cards from the boys and we shared a list of all of the things
we love about them. It was a great day. We did already decorate for
Easter and have the decorations and our pillow cases out. The kids are
getting excited. I had my first "school project" for Austin this month
as well. He (well mostly I) made a stick horse that can be judged and
trotted on in the Kindergarten pony parade. I wasn't sure how to have
him "make" this. Instead I sewed a horse head and sewed on a yarn mane
and Austin stuffed the horse, glued in a dowel, glued on googly eyes, a
mouth, and a harness out of twine. He was so proud of the final
product. I guess I am just glad it can be checked off the list! I
can't quite explain how Institute has really changed my life. I look
forward every week to my class and to gaining insight into the Old
Testament. It is so fun to relay each story at night to the kids and I
feel like as my testimony grows of the Bible so does theirs. Our
primary president moved to Australia for 10 weeks this month as well.
The bishopbric felt inspired to hold her position as president and for
us to manage while she is gone. So I, who lately can't seem to even
accomplish the small tasks, have taken over and am acting president as
well as 1rst counselor until she returns. Two weeks ago we also got a
new 2nd counselor so I am waiting until she becomes a little more
assimilated to primary before I share some of the responsibility. It
has certainly been busy and somewhat stressful, but I know the Lord
doesn't ask anything that is too much for us to accomplish...even when
frankly it seems like it is.

Austin finished up his
basketball season this month and did such a great job. He is a hard
worker and loved his season. Quickly after the end of basketball
season, baseball season started up. He is playing on the same team
since he was 4. Coach Brian is amazing with the kids and Austin sure
loves it. Austin is doing so great with school and earned his ticket
to 6-flags by reading for 6 hours. I was so proud of him as it was his
choice to read each night. He is starting to read to Chase and Blake
too. Austin is so social and asks for a play date every day. He has
so many good friends. He sometimes rolls his eyes when I say he can
play with his brothers instead. He reminds me a play date is with
someone his own age. Funny guy. He is the best helper with his chores
and picking up around the house. Usually without a fight. He is
growing up so fast and is eagerly trying to gain independence.

Chase
is so so sweet. He is filled with a million "I love you's", snuggles,
hugs and kisses. He is always making jokes. I have been amazed at his
ability to watch out for his little brother. He is so good when Blake
hits him instead of whacking him back he hugs Blake and says "soft".
Chase invited us to a puppet show at his school this month called
"Nanna puddin". It was so cute and the boys loved it. It taught about
making good choices from a Christian perspective. Chasey has been
talking about it ever since. I will miss great things like this when
we leave the Bible belt! Chase still loves his preschool and has
slowly become friends with the girls in his class. He is doing great
with his nightly reading lesson and is feeling pretty big.

Blakey
couldn't be any cuter. He is all smiles and has no qualms about
laughing at his own jokes and stunts (sounds like his mommy and
daddy). He is trying hard to put 3 and 4 words together. A lot of it
sounds like "that is a basketball". He will mimic almost anything
asked of him including naughty things encouraged by his brothers like
diaper and bum bum. Blake has started to sing the Backyardigans theme
song and Diego's back pack song (yes both TV shows as there has been a
lot of TV watching at my house due to my morning sickness).
Nonetheless, he never ceases to amaze me when he sings right on tune.
He is so sweet. He never even hesitates to say "sorry" and offer a hug
if he has done something wrong. He is such a great eater and is the
biggest kid on the block. His sweet smile and chubby cheeks can get
him out of almost anything.

One thing is for sure, *I live with some of the sweetest boys ever.

*this statement is subject to change without notice. especially during the teenage years :)

Lots of love,

Dave Farnsworth family

February 2008 Newsletter

2008-02-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

Sid & Jeanne Stephenson

I’m so glad we can have a family chat via the newsletter each month. Thanks to all who are able to participate and especially “hat’s off” to Stephanie in her desire to publish it. It takes time and a little persuasion to get it all together. As I looked over the calendar for this past month, it started off with a special visit from my Linda, and we were privileged to have her during our “New Year’s Eve” celebration. I think the most exciting thing about the evening was breaking open a bottle of Sparkling Grape Juice and toasting one another. She always brings a breath of sunshine into our lives like each of you do when you visit. Sandie and Neil made a ‘pop-in’ visit and we always enjoy them. Dave Farnsworth also stopped in for an overnight visit with a couple of his friends…what a delight that was. It’s just a prelude of things to come when they move back to Mesa. Other than that…we had a couple of doctor’s visits and the exterminator did his monthly round, neither event being too exciting. The coming months look more promising with a visit to the Salt Lake area in March and we might venture even further away later on….who knows? Thanks to all for your phone calls. I think I am going to be like Grandma Watkins and put your name in my journal if you call. That’s just a public announcement that I am keeping a journal again after taking a vacation from journal writing for the past seven years. Just call it a Sabbatical. Oh yes, I am exercising again…not to slim down, but to maintain my bulging waistline. Sid and I count our blessings for the good health we have as we go through the aging process. The Lord has been good to us to bless us with wonderful families like each of you. Keep in touch please…and we love you very much.

Love, Mom and Sid

Sandie & Neil Taft

We had a lot of rain (around 20 inches) and snow through January. Much more than our roads could handle – so they washed away and became impassable. The bright spot is that since the backhoes did their work and now they are fantastic! No potholes or bumps. They are like new…. And we really appreciate them.
Our creek is flowing just in the creek beds now and not in the road. We have over 14 inches of snow on the ground and I feel like we live in the most beautiful place in the world.

Deer and Elk are outside nibbling on my plants and walking through the snow close by.

Neil and I will be able to fly to Utah this month – we are so excited to see our children and grandchildren. Hopefully we will be able to see Shelly and Sherri while we are there. ari and Curtis will be flying back with us for a week. It will be fun to have her home with us.

Meela and Ben are doing great – they both work hard, are happy and so in LOVE!! She has mentioned a couple of dates to us for their wedding, they are just checking on some Reception Centers availability before they finalize their date.

Kris was in a car accident (rear ended) and has 3 broken ribs – I know it hurts – but he doesn’t complain. He is working hard as usual. Allie is busy going to school, working and taking care if the family. Brenton just turned 13 – he is now a teenager! He has grown up so big and handsome. Taylor and Weslie are so beautiful and great helpers to their parents. Clayton is getting bigger and has had a few health challenges this month. Our prayers have been answered and he is doing a lot better now.

Kari and Jeremy are doing great also. Kari is pregnant and having a bout of morning sickness. She is so happy about having another baby. Curtis is growing so quickly and is such a happy boy. He loves his mom so much he s being too far away from her. Jeremy is doing great at his job – they really appreciate him.

It is hard to explain the mixed feelings that I have when thinking about the passing of our dear prophet. We will miss him. I am happy to know that he is with his beloved Marjorie.

We are so grateful for our new prophet Pres Monson and his new counselors.

I have always loved his talks in conference and how tender he is towards individuals. We are so fortunate to live in such a wonderful time.

Love you all, Sandie

Stacy & Greg Hansen

We started January off in West Yellowstone, Montana. We went snowmobiling & relaxed with 3 other families. It was a nice little get away! Koby, Madelyn & Emma are still busy with all of their regular activities. Madelyn is busy with extra practices preparing for dance competition. Koby is spending extra hours at school building the robot for competition in San Diego. School has been cancelled a couple times due to cold weather -18 (with a windchill of -32) & high winds. Please don't let that keep you from visiting! It is cold, but we have A LOT of snow! I am still busy teaching piano. We are preparing for festival next month (where my students play in front of judges). It is a lot of work! It is worth the effort. I am also helping on the Jr. Miss committee again this year. It is a great experience. Greg is keeping busy with work, his church calling, shoveling snow & all the other great things he does to help out at home. I am so grateful for such a wonderful family. This past fast Sunday my sister in law Keri challenged us to fast and pray for every member of our family by name, including children & their children. We did for both sides of the family. We all have challenges in our lives & I want you to know we pray for all of you. We don't know all the struggles everyone faces, but we can all use the prayers. I thought it would be a good idea to have our family do the same next month, if you would like. I love you all & hope you have a wonderful month!

Stacy, Greg, Koby, Madelyn & Emma

Shauna Allen

Well, another family newsletter passes, and I feel like I don’t have hardly any news. I have been working my little buns off trying to get a big software project off the ground for my practice. It has been, OOOHH, so challenging but very rewarding.

Troy and I are still trying to get away any chance we get, though it seems pretty infrequent lately. We have made it to the Dunes and a nice little cabin in the snow for New Years. It is always nice to get on my bike and race people up the big hills. Just the competitive Allen nature that likes to win so much.

The publication came out for an article I wrote in the Vein magazine, if you want to check it out…It’s just a little blurb on marketing, but I am famous now…ha ha ha. http://www.veindirectory.org/magazine/.

I finally hit the year point in my house, and cannot believe how quickly time has flown by. I still am working on decorating a few rooms that have absolutely nothing on the walls. I hope to have things a little more situated this year.

I love my job, and my life, and I love that I live so close to Mom and Sid, though some days I wish I were retired with them. Well… Love ya all, and miss you to the moon and
back

Stephanie & Dave Farnsworth

January seemed to just fly by. We were saddened by the death of Gordon B. Hinkley, but were grateful to live in a time where he was leader of this church. Our lives have been touched in many ways by his quiet example, steadfast leadership, and immovable testimony. We are anxious to gain a love for President Monson as the new prophet. The morning we told the boys President Hinkley died Austin wanted to say a prayer for President Hinkley's family. So he did and as I praised him for such thoughtfulness Chase was feeling left out and informed me, "Mom I want to say a pwayer for Satan so that he will make good choices today". Cute kids.

Dave was gone for most of the month attending conferences. First to Arizona and next to Park City. Luckily we got to meet him up in Utah. The kids and I had so much fun playing with cousins and frolicking in the snow! We made some wonderful memories. Go to our blog to check out some of our fun pictures! Dave has also had to put in long hours at school to complete his thesis proposal and work on his CV. Now the stress is added as he writes his thesis. I can't wait to see his final product. He never ceases to impress. We also celebrated our 8 year anniversary this last month. Time has seemed to fly by and these last 8 years have certainly been the happiest in my life!

I planned and executed our "Meet the Teacher" primary activity this month as well. It is always busy planning and preparing and so much fun to put it on. It was quite the experiences with all my kids in tow as Dave was out of town. I sure miss having a husband :( (too bad Nanci and I can't live closer to each other and be single mom's together!). Anyway, the rest of the month seemed to pass by with regular motherly responsibilities. We are trying to get more organized and check a few other goals off of our new year's list. Having a week long vacation made it easier to come back and get on track! We also found out this month we are going to have baby #4. We are excited and just so you don't ask... we will be happy with either a boy or a girl :) I have actually been pretty sick. I empathize greatly with those who have morning sickness. Mine seems to get worse with every baby. So my spurts of energy are used to maximize productivity. On most occasions though you might find me over a toilet or on top of a wrinkled bed. So worth it in the end....

Austin is still loving school although he has been swamped with makeup homework from our vacation. He is a trooper. He turned 6 years-old this month. I can't believe how the time has just flown by. He is sure grown up. He has almost completed his basketball season and has progressed so much. He is a good team player and really enjoys sports. He is loving his new primary class (CTR 6) and has the most amazing teacher. Austin is always busy trying to figure out how the world and people work. His questions are endless...but we love it. He is working on earning a pass to 6-Flags with his school by reading for 6 hours by the end of Feb. His reading abilities have increased so much since just the beginning of the year!

Chase is loving preschool too. I had a parent teacher conference with his teacher, Mrs. Kim, this month (who was also Austin's preschool teacher) and she had nothing but praise for Chase. I felt bad as she was telling me that Chase could count by two's and had some incredible pre-reading skills unheard of for his age, my response was "Really?". I guess sometimes as parents middle children sometimes get overlooked as we are experiencing new things with the oldest and taking care of the totally reliant baby. After that I have certainly made a conscious effort to equalize time. Chase is a doll and really is so sweet. He is patient in teaching Blakey right from wrong and continues to make his goals each morning of "not saying bad words, no yelling, helping Blake not to hit, & not touching my poo". l love boys! Chase also became a Sunbeam this month. He is doing SO great in primary and sings the words to every song.

Blakey is SO big. Honestly with every month I feel like he grows a year. He seriously weighs as much as some of his 5 year old nieces! He is just a little man. He never (I mean never)is caught with out some type of ball in his hands and will walk up to anyone and everyone and say "catch". He says so many words "ball, catch, hello, c-ya, bye. momma, dadda, dog, all done, more, horse, all the animal sounds, and more". It seems like this is the stage where it is such a joy to realize how responsive they are to you as they follow through with commands like "please go put that in the garbage", "go get your shoes". or what have you. He is the biggest flirt you will ever meet and says hello and c-ya to anyone who looks in his direction with a HUGE contagious grin. He is almost 100% effective in his tactics to get a smile and a "what a sweet little baby" from strangers and friends alike. He loves to be read to and sings himself to sleep every nap and bedtime (even though we have music playing in the background). He is really such a joy!

Hope all is well with all of you!
Love to all...
The Dave Farnsworth Family

Allen Newsletter January 2008

2008-01-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sid & Jeanne Stephenson

December came in like the wind and was gone as quickly, and we are asking ourselves if we really had 31 days last month. After a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with many family members, we wondered if December could possibly be as exciting. Yes it was…but it came and went so quickly.

Early in December, we had a thrilling week in Salt Lake with Shelly, Dave and family. Their home was so festive and ‘holidayish’. When we arrived, Shelly had the dinner tables set up all Christmasie for 25 people. There were two ‘red plates’ (special!!!) with place cards labeled “Grandma” and “Grandpa”…that was us. And we did feel special. She had invited all of our posterity that lived in the area to come and have an early Christmas dinner together. Iit was a total surprise & so wonderful. Then the next day we had lunch with Dave, shopped the Gateway Mall, saw a movie and joined Dave again for dinner and a Jazz game. Dave took a day off and we just stayed home and watched a Christmas movie and enjoyed each other. Later in the week we went to dinner with all the family members again, then went to see “A Christmas Carol” at the Hale Theater in Orem. What a memorable week, and thanks to the Senior family.

Sherri and her children came to Mesa for a few days mid-December and we surely enjoyed their visit! She surely brought some sparkle into our normally sedated state of being. Parties, dinner, get-togethers, activities…that’s Sherri (and Shauna too!!!) She and her children are just a bundle of fun. Thanks Sherri, for the effort you put forth to bring joy into our home. At Christmas time, we had Sandie and Neil for a few days and they are always so amiable…never ask for any thing (like entertainment). We watched a bundle of movies at home and ate and ate and ate. (We are going to the next size of scales for our weight now!) Shauna and Troy and his children joined Sandie and Neil and us for Christmas dinner and Ron and Dawn came later in the evening and we had a late dinner. Each brought their precious spirit and love with them. There is absolutely nothing that compares to family. Santa Claus found us in spite of my occasional ‘naughtiness’ in being the world’s biggest procrastinator. He left us some ’wannabee’s’ that were nice but not essential. Thanks to all of you who were so kind to share pictures, cards and other items at Christmas time. We have the best family ever.

Love all of you, Mom and Sid

Sandie & Neil Taft

We have had a wonderful couple of months. In November Meela and Ben, Kari Jeremy and Curtis, and each of Kris and Allison's children were able to come for Thanksgiving! It was so great to spend some time with them. Although it was a great disappointment that Kris and Allison could not be here with us.....

We were also blessed to have Mom and Sid, Stacy and Greg and their family, Stephanie and Dave and their boys, and Shauna came up for the day. We appreciate all those that made the effort to drive to Pine. What an awesome family we have!

December passed by quickly and we were able to spend Christmas with Mom and Sid. Shauna and Troy dropped in for awhile also. Mom and Sid always make you feel so welcome, it is such fun to be with them. We were able to visit Grandma Watkins also - she looks great! We went over to Aunt Marva's and she played us a few songs on the piano.

Our children are each doing terrific, working hard and enjoying life. We hope to be able to visit them within the next month or two.

We are so blessed to have had such a wonderful year. As we look back we can see the Lord's hand in our lives many times.

Hopefully, we will draw even closer to him this coming year - by trying to become more obedient to all He has asked of us.

We love you all,

Sandie

Stacy & Greg Hansen

December was filled with many exciting events. Madelyn & Emma performed in the Nutcracker ballet. Koby went to Christmas Dance with a darling girl named Rachael. I had my Christmas piano recital & we also performed at a retirement center. Madelyn played "Angels We Have Heard On High" she performed it very well. I also played at the retirement center "O Little Town of Bethlehem". I enjoyed the short break from piano lessons, carpooling schedules, & homework. We stayed home for Christmas & had friends to Christmas dinner. It was nice to stay home and relax. For New Years we went to West Yellowstone with 3 other families & rode snowmobiles, swam (indoor pool of course), played games & just had a great time. We love the Christmas season & took many opportunities to enjoy the true spirit of Christmas & celebrate our Savior's birth. We love you all & enjoyed your Christmas cards & letters.

Love,

Greg, Stacy, Koby, Madelyn, & Emma

Stephanie & Dave Farnsworth

December is always a favorite month. People are a little more charitable, kind and tend to place a larger focus on the Savior. We hope we can take a little bit of that with us into the New Year.

As a family we did many wonderful activities this month. We first were blessed to have an “anonymous” sender of a fridge to our home. Our fridge went out after we returned home from Arizona and we came home to found a large flood in our kitchen, a broken fridge and rotten food. It was truly a blessing in our life to know that the Lord hears and answers our prayers and knows our needs.

We had many other great experiences this month as well. As a family we were able to attend “A Journey to Bethlehem”. It is a free production that a Baptist church in Grapevine puts on every year. I can honestly say it was one of the most amazing experiences I have had, and the kids really grasped the story of the first Christmas. We started in a small home of a Jewish family and were invited in. A Roman guard came and brought the decree to go and pay taxes. We were all given passports to keep with us at all times. We followed this Jewish family on their journey to Bethlehem. We walked with torches through dark forests following only their family flag (to identify who we were). We were stopped many times by Roman soldiers on horses and were asked for our passports so we wouldn’t be thrown in jail. Along the way we met the three Wiseman, shepherds and were visited by an angel. Each had live animals including: camels, donkeys, sheep, etc. The boys were truly intrigued. Finally we made it to a small scale version of Bethlehem to pay our taxes. It was filled with merchant shops, live animals, dancing children, etc. Then we walked to the Inn and out to the stable where Mary, Joseph and Christ child were and sang with the crowd “Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord”. We certainly felt the spirit (which is testimony that ALL good things come from the Lord). We talked to the children afterwards about what they felt and helped them recognize that it was indeed the spirit. Austin told us “I want to do that every night”.

We also attended our good friends, the Olsen’s, live Nativity and Christmas party which has become a tradition for us over the past few years. The kids all dressed up and performed the nativity with a real life size manger, angels on a tower, and carols. It is always so fun for the kids. Then afterwards each year Mr. & Mrs. Santa Clause burst through the door (as we are singing “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”) with a large red sack of presents filled with pj’s for the kids to put on. Each child gets a turn with Santa and he hands them their gift. We will certainly miss this tradition and have decided it is a must to continue in Arizona.

As a family we also went to a Christmas sing-a-long at our friends the Baird’s home. We were surrounded by all of our closest friends. The kids loved to sing all of the songs and giggled and ate so much junk! We are certainly grateful for wonderful people here in Flower Mound who have touched our lives very deeply.

The Howey family came and stayed with us over Christmas for about 10 days. We enjoyed their company so much and stayed up way too late playing games and talking. Our house was full, but we loved the company. Cherry and Scott were here from New Jersey as well and we enjoyed getting together with them along with Emily and Joe. The Oelkers are always so great to open up their home for the annual “Twas the Night Before Christmas” candy pass and presents galore. Being around family is so much fun and really made the Holidays special!

Dave and I also enjoyed our adult session of Stake Conference this month as well as Stake Conference. Call us crazy, but we always seem to get so much more from the adult session without three darling but wiggly kids in tow.

Dave spent the first week end in December in Arizona for a conference in Scottsdale. I know he enjoyed seeing friends and Kathy. Dave also enjoyed finishing up school on the 14^th and having a nice long break with the family. He was able to attend all of the boys Christmas parties and performances and was so pleased. Dave’s colleagues threw the “First annual twangle dirty mustache and eggnog bonanza” for their Christmas party this year. All the men grew out mustaches and sported Christmas sweaters. It was such a fun time. It is always great to be with Dave and his colleagues because I can’t help but notice the deep respect they have for Dave.

I had one of the craziest months I have had in a long time. I was busy with all of the end of the year primary responsibilities like class changes, binders, primary cd’s, birthday gifts, and writing our presidency goals. I am certainly grateful to have them all behind me now and can now focus on my sharing time (which happens to fall on Ward Conference) and our January “meet your teacher” primary activity. I was in charge of both of the boy’s Christmas parties at their schools and was grateful Dave was available to help. They turned out so great and the kids had a great time. I spent many hours at the school volunteering this month as well. It was great to be with Austin while he decorated candy trains, played Holiday games, etc. This month I also spoke in sacrament on the topic of charity. It was more for me than any one else, but I was grateful for the experience. It just so happened that I was singing a duet on the same day. So it was a Stephanie Farnsworth sacrament meeting whether they liked it or not J. It was fun to get ready for Christmas for the kids and experience some of our fun family traditions Christmas Eve and Morning. I sure love my kids and had so much fun watching their sweet faces on Christmas morning and feeling of their tender spirits. Other than that, I just spent most of my days trying to keep our live running and organized. It doesn’t always work, but I will keep trying.

Austin had a busy month between school, Christmas parties and basketball. He is doing so much better at basketball and enjoys practicing his hoop shots. It has been crazy trying to man all of the kids at the games by myself, but it is worth it to watch Austy play. Austin is doing great in school and has really come so far in his creative and writing abilities. Socially he has always done just fine. I just love going into his classroom to watch him interact with his peers. He really has been blessed with great interpersonal skills. All the kids want to sit by him, show him their crafts, share their treats, etc. He really is everyone’s buddy. Austin is continuing his piano practicing every morning as well as reading every night. He is doing so well with both. Austin got a pre-birthday party at Aloha Fun Park with his cousins too. He had so much fun riding the go-carts, playing mini golf and video games. I can’t believe he is almost 6!!!!

Chase has really grown up this past month. Other than his cute normal developmental speech impediments he is no longer a little boy. He has become so helpful and is so good to help with and play with Blake. I am continually touched at his sweet and sensitive nature because he is such a rough and tumble little boy. I think he is so much like Dave in that way. Chase started reading lessons this month and feels so big. I am proud of his desire to learn. He is doing great with his tickets each night and is saving up for something big out of “Mommy’s Store”! I will have to let you know what he decides to splurge on. He is currently working on trying to sing the ABC’s backwards. It is so funny to hear him try. We are still trying to work on not using potty words. I just wish he didn’t get such a roar from his audiences when he uses them!!

Blakey is all smiles. He communicates so well and tries hard to use language to do so. When that fails he resorts to good ol’ sign language. He is often found laughing until he can no longer breathe at his brothers. He still sings around the house and has added yet another song to his repertoire. I still am amazed when he sings right on tune the melody of twinkle, star wars, and now another song from baby Mozart. He always has a ball in his hand and can throw further (and with better aim) than even his brothers. They think this is so cool. He loves to play catch (well mostly throw). He loves to be chased around the house and often just starts running out of the blue and looks behind him to see if anyone will follow him. He is a busy little boy, but still takes time to sit on my lap and read and snuggles me at nap and bedtime.

Life is good for us…It really is.

The Dave Farnsworth Family

Allen News October 2007

2007-11-06T18:46:00.000-08:00

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them,is the true measure of our thanksgiving." W.T. Purkiser

Sid and Jeanne Stephenson
Another wonderful month of good health and happiness for us!!! How blessed we are to have our lives filled with mobility, the gospel and family. In early October I spent some time with Stephanie, Dave, and family…they run a ‘tight ship’ with fun, schedules, and activities. It was good to get close to our grandchildren and I must have read Blake a hundred books. Their home is filled with learning. Susan joined us for some fun times as well…always bringing sparkle into others’ lives. Then….as if we “didn’t get our fill of Texas” we headed back again the end of October to spend some time with Susan and Scott’s family. It was a privilege to attend football games, baseball games and a special drum line performance of Marshall’s which was incredible. Marc is a pro in athletics and Tony Romo might need to worry a bit about competition in the coming years. I was able to spend a few days alone with Marc while Susan flew to Ohio to Marshall’s national drum line competition…and I understand they took FIRST PLACE. Congratulations!! An added plus while I was in Texas was that I got to spend some time with Emily and Linda. They are both so delightful to be around.
Sid’s last living brother, Charles, passed away in Boise, Idaho the 22nd of October. His health had been poor for quite some time so it was expected. Sid’s consolation is that now his brother can be taught the gospel in the spirit world and hopefully accept it. Charles didn’t want to hear about it here. Thanks to those of you who phoned and sent cards…it was surely appreciated. We are hoping in the next few months that some of you will be able to visit us…remember, the weather is perfect now and if you want a reprieve of wintry weather “This is the place”. Our love to all of you,
Mom and Sid

Sandie and Neil Taft

We have had a very busy month. Neil and I found out that we will be staying at Camp LoMia – at least for a while longer.. We are in the middle of a huge construction project – all the power lines on camp are being buried. In the process, the roads a larger and now being grated. It is looking great. Gone are the narrow, bumpy dirt roads.
We are anxiously waiting for this project to be completed – so we can get ready for our family when they come down for Thanksgiving.

Meela is engaged! I am including a picture of her ring Hopefully, while she and Ben are down here – they will fill us in on a date. We are excited to have him be part of our family. We already love him.

Kris and Allie and the children are doing great - They get together often with Meela and Ben. W can’t wait for our grandchildren to come down – they have all grown so much. We can’t wait to catch up on all that they have been doing lately.

Kari and Jeremy are moving again in the middle of November. It is a busy time for them, packing, and both working hard. Curtis is walking all over the place and feeling like such a big boy now that he can feed himself.

We are so grateful for such a wonderful family and know that we have been blessed.
Love you all, Sandie

Stacy and Greg Hansen

Our family has many blessings to be grateful for. A week ago we got the news that Emma is healed. Truly it is a miracle. She has 20/25 vision now. Thank you for the prayers, putting her name in the temple & for your love and concern. It really gives us strength to know you are praying for us. I know the Savior knows us personally & that He blesses us. I am grateful for the Savior's tender mercies & I see them often in our lives. General Conference was so great & I feel grateful for the messages that were given. I feel renewed strength to work on my weaknesses like journal writing & a few others. Koby had a great month . He won 1st in debate 3 times last month, as presiding officer & speaker of the House. He is working extremely hard & loves it! Koby also went to Sadie Hawkins last night with a cute girl named Courtney. They had so much fun. Madelyn & now Emma are preparing for the Nutcracker ballet next month. Emma is thrilled to go back to dance. Greg & I were supposed to take a trip to San Diego with about 10 couples from our ward to see the BYU game, but because of the fires we cancelled & instead Madelyn & I (Stacy) went to the Hannah Montana concert in SLC. This is her first concert & she did ask if she & Hannah could have their picture together. I told her that she would only see her on stage. In spite of the little disappointment Madelyn said it was a dream come true! We had a great time & took lots of pictures. We also went with a friend & her daughter. Greg & I decided to have a Halloween party last minute & had a great time. We had 18 come & join us in our festivities. We all had a blast. The children all had fun on Halloween. Madelyn dressed up like a cheerleader, Emma dressed up like a pirate. Koby went out on a date & went to his first Haunted House. He said that he thought he was the most scared out of the entire group because he had never been to one before. Greg also went hunting this past month with Koby & unfortunatly they got a 4 point buck. I wasn't too thrilled because I don't care for the meat. We love you all & hope that things are well with all of you.

Greg, Stacy, Koby, Madelyn & Emma

Sherri and Spencer Plummer

We have had a great month in October. Spencer got a job, and I am becoming more organized. We had another fun trip to Hawaii and met Dave and Steph and Chad and Dawn in Las Vegas for the weekend. It was so much fun, but the best part was seeing how amazed Stephie was at such horrible magic (sorry Steph, I couldn't resist) Spencer started working for Buffalo Ranch. He is enjoying working around the horses again, but I sure do miss him at home. He is a Sunday School teacher for the 14-15 year olds. They love learning from him, and even came as a class trick-or-treating to our house looking for him. It was fun to see. I have been working on organizing my home more, and got through a lot of boxes this month. We had a big Halloween Party to get ready for, so I guess I had some motivation. For our Party, we had about 65 people here. It was so much fun that we didn't get people out of here until 1:00 in the morning. I still teach Sabrina's Primary class, and love each of those 13 kids! Spencer IV has been outstanding at gymnastics. He is so fun to watch, but it still scares me at times as well. He had his first gymnastics competition this month, and got two 9s and an 8 out of 10. He competed doing 6 back-handsprings into a tuck. He is such a brain at school, and loves to read more than anything. Sabrina is doing fantastic at gymnastics as well. She has qualified for a "team," but is waiting on a list to get on. She is now able to do a whip on the ground by herself, and also 10 back-handsprings in a row! She loves it, and laughs every time she does a pass because she is so proud of herself. She also loves to read and is such a joy to have around. Samantha is just as cute as can be. She is always making people laugh. She just is so obedient and kind to everyone, that she is always making everyone around her happy. She loves to say her prayers by herself and always thanks him for bubbles. Sydney is such a good baby. She just smiles and laughs all the time. She is teething, but has not been crying that bad. My kids love to help me take care of her, and she loves the attention from her siblings. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family, and am so grateful for the time and effort Stephie puts into these newsletters. We enjoy hearing what is going on in everyone's lives. Love, Spencer and Sherri Plummer

Dave and Stephanie Farnsworth

October was a fun filled month for our family. We enjoyed a great conference week end. The kids did remarkably well with a little activity sheet, conference bingo and some treats. Although we didn’t get to take in as much as we would have like to (with all the boys bouncing off couches and tables) we know our efforts will be recognized. We always have a big conference breakfast with a few close families. It is a nice tradition the kids look forward to.

We spent some fun nights at the pumpkin patch this month. The kids always enjoy the petting zoo, bounce houses, hay mazes & rides. We drove up to Oklahoma last week end to our friend’s “Haunted Cabin”. It was such an amazing day. The kids rode horses, painted pumpkin, got SO dirty, fished, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, and went on a haunted hay ride. It was such a great time. The Fall is so fun and offers so many opportunities to do things together as a family.

We also went to a Blue Angels air show this month in Fort Worth. The kids were in heaven (so was Dave). The boys got to explore an Apache Helicopter and sit inside it along with a bunch of other helicopters and planes. They loved the Blue Angel’s and have since been found playing “US Navy” outside in the backyard.

Halloween was great. The kids dressed up as Star Wars characters. Austy was Jengo Fett, Chase was Darth Vader and Blake was Yoda. Between light saber battles the kids were able to trick or treat and get lots of candy. Grandma Stephenson and aunt Sue were the first to be trick or treated to. The kids got sick on candy the day after Halloween and then traded their candy to the Great Pumpkin for a toy. They were pleased with their choice as the Great Pumpkin left some star wars figurines. How did he know?

Dave had a great month. He had NO conferences this month!!! It was great to have him on Saturdays after work. He is finalizing his new research project (yes his last project after much time, thought and revamping still didn’t work out). He has a positive “back to the drawing board” attitude. He is amazing and hopefully this next project will be better it entails analyzing and comparing specific orthodontic cases. For more info in this area you need to just give him a call. Dave also had a birthday this month (32). I surprised him by having two friends come to Texas (Nate Flake and Dave MacArthur). They had such a great time together. They were great company and I know it was a good birthday for him. Dave is still the best dad in the world. He is so playful with the kids and never gives up and opportunity to teach them something valuable. Blake runs from the other side of the house or yard straight into Dave’s arms whenever he comes home. It is sweet. There is no doubt…Dave is loved. Dave whisked me away to Vegas at the beginning of the month for a few days. We had a wonderful time with our family (Dawn & Chad Howey and Sherri & Spencer Plummer). We had very little sleep and a lot of fun.

I had a good month too. I still love my Old Testament Institute class. I realize each week how little I really know about the Bible and am enjoying the weekly enlightenment. For primary it was a busy month. We had our primary program last week. It turned out wonderful. The kids really did a great job and the spirit was very strong. I made a movie for the primary kids that captured our entire year in primary (scouting, primary activities, sharing times, etc). They LOVED it! We watched it for the sharing time after our program and fed them licorice and string cheese. Anyway, it was so fun to do. Book Club took the backseat again this month… I need to get motivated. My next book to tackle is “A Thousand Splendid Suns”. I spent a few days this month volunteering at Austin’s and Chase’s schools. It is always nice to feel a part of things. I read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to Chase’s class and used a life sock puppet and props. The kids loved it! Chase, Blake and I were able to eat lunch with Austin at school a few times too. It is funny because I get the worst looks ever toting around Chase and Blake with me into the elementary school. They think I am insane to bring my entire rambunctious but cute family, but the trade off of having lunch with Austy is worth it.
I experience my first parent teacher conference this month too. The teacher giggled as I pulled out my notebook with prewritten questions. I was pleased with the report of how great Austin is doing. I am still trying to find the place for mom’s in the public school system. I am finding there is a delicate balance between been too involved and not involved enough. Also, I enjoyed having my mom and dad here this month. They were able to have lunch with Austin and attend some of the kid’s activities. The kids always feel extra special to have Grandma and Grandpa at their activities and they seem to try extra hard and be extra good. I love having my mom & dad here too. It seems like we always get some fun (and some not so fun) projects completed.

Austin was busy this month with baseball practice and games. He was so happy to earn the game ball and took it as his “most special” item for a school project. He had his baseball party at Peter Piper Pizza and got another trophy. Austin is doing great in school and is still so self motivated with projects, homework and responsibilities. It is like he has an internal palm pilot. Sometimes I have to show him my calendar to let him know he can stop stressing about deadlines and that I have them taken care of. Could my OCD be genetic? Austin is still doing well at the piano. Some days he is more motivated than others for sure. He has made some great friends at school and has enjoyed some fun play dates. Some great missionary opportunities have been presented as I have become close with many of the families of his new friends. Austin is a good little missionary.

Chase is so cute. He is loving his little preschool class and every time I ask him about his friends in his class he only tells me about the boys and says how he doesn’t like the girls. It is so funny how different his little personality is from Austin’s. His art projects he brings home are really good. He is super creative and loves to draw (including on some things that aren’t paper). Chase is really funny and loves to make up jokes and funny songs. He is loving books about sharks right now. Every trip we make to the library consists of another fun obsession (i.e. volcanoes, star wars, etc). Chase is becoming such good friends with Blake. It is fun to see them interact and pretend play.

Blake is seriously so cute. He is the most lovable, playful, flirtatious toddler in the world. He loves attention and people. He is full of loves, smiles, giggles and hugs. He loves animals and when he sees pictures of them he says each animal’s sounds. He carries around his animal book and opens the pages to try to name them. Most of them are still “dog”. He loves to sing and really just sings around the house while he plays. He is finding a little sense of humor too and tries to make his brothers laugh. He really is a sweet little boy.

Allen Family News October 2007

2007-10-06T10:27:00.001-07:00

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home."

Johann con Goethe

Sid & Jeanne Stephenson

September was another wonderful month full of ‘the good life’. We count our blessings if we can still jump out of bed…rather than crawl out of bed…each morning.

It’s nice to say that our days aren’t full of doctor appointments, but rather time we are able to spend with some of our children. We feel so blessed to have Shauna and Ron close by. Ron came to the rescue recently and helped out with some electrical problems we were having, and Shauna and Troy stop by regularly just to check on their ‘senior parents’. We always enjoy their company.

Early in the month I had a wonderful week in Texas with Stephanie and Dave and of course I got to be with Susan too. Their children are so precious and are doing the ‘right’ things to bring about achievement and success. Choices are what it’s all about…making the right ones on the little things as well as the big ones. (And…a sneak preview of next month will tell you I’ll be back in Texas again.)

With a few relaxing weeks at home I have started to index my music books. It’s long overdue, but even if it takes me a year or so, the indexing will be worth it. My greatest fear though, is that I might lose my master copy of the indexing. Anyone have a safety deposit box?

The last week in September I spent at Stacy’s home, and what a delight that was. Too bad she had to have surgery in order to have such a memorable week, but while she recuperated we read part of a book together, chatted, cried, laughed, and shared secrets. Just like being “young” again…only with an older body.???? The children were so helpful and polite. Little Emma and I must have read a hundred books together. It was so enjoyable getting reacquainted again. While I was at Stacy’s, Sid was visiting his children and grandchildren. His son, Scott, drove to Idaho Falls with Sid to keep him company while he visited his brother and sisters. Then they picked me up on their way back to SLC and we took our flight back to Mesa. We are so grateful for family… wherever they are. We love your visits here, welcome phone calls, and appreciate any communication we may receive from you. The Family Newsletter brings us all together… Thank you for all who participate in sharing their family experiences. We love you,

Mom and Sid

P.S. Jeff Flake, our home teacher, was visiting us last week and brought us this picture. He said when he was on Air Force One with President Bush last May 18th, and Jeff called Sid to see how he was doing 3 days after Sid's heart attack, President Bush walked into the room and asked if he could speak to Sid also. Jeff said he remembered the press on board the plane had taken a picture while Pres. Bush was talking to Sid (and Jeff is on the phone also). So Jeff asked if he could have a copy of the picture of Pres. Bush speaking to Sid, which Jeff received from the press recently. Jeff was kind enough to share the picture with us. It was a very thoughtful gesture and we truly appreciate it.

Shelly & Dave Senior

Senior Family Newsletter

September was a landmark month as Dave and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary! We were lucky enough to spend it in Martha’s Vineyard, a beautiful place. The provincial Edgartown is beautiful in the fall with lighthouses, beaches, beautiful sunsets, darling cottages and shops with awesome restaurants. Highly recommended to anyone for a romantic getaway.

Scott and Derek are now at BYU and are enjoying being there together. They are embracing the college life complete with football games, acclimating to roommates, associating with old friends and meeting new ones. It is not unusual to have 10-15 kids show up for Sunday dinner at our house. We are lucky to live close enough to share these experiences.

Jeff has enrolled in independent college study and has started working toward an associate degree. This has been a long time coming, but better late than never. With his enrollment we have three enrolled in college coursework.

Ryan is deep into drum line season. He loves playing the tenors, and has had to learn some difficult music but has really enjoyed it. He will be heading to Washington D.C. in a couple of weeks for a National Competition. Late last night a stuffed dummy was left on our doorstep with an invitation for Ryan to the next school dance. He seems to keep on top of his social life despite how busy school and drum line is.

Hope all is well with each of you.

Love,

Dave, Shelly and boys

Stacy & Greg Hansen
This past month we had a few challenges as you all know. We would like to thank all of you for the prayers & fasting for me & Emma. It is a comforting feeling, that often brings me to tears, knowing that so many are praying for us. It makes me feel so close to you all. We truly have felt an abundance of love & a peaceful feeling from the prayers said in our behalf. Emma got shot in the eye with an air soft & has had some major problems with her eye. The doctor has said she cannot attend preschool, dance or nursery for 6 weeks. In the beginning she couldn't see at all out of her eye. After a week of eye drops & many, many prayers her vision has improved considerably. She still cannot see up close to read a book out of her bad eye, but can see things far away. It is a miracle! We will not fully know the extent of the damage for another 4 weeks. Please keep praying for her. I know that miracles happen & I know the prayers have helped her. I had surgery a little over a week ago. Everything went well with the hysterectomy & I am feeling better every day. Mother came & stayed with our family. She is a miracle worker! She ran my carpools, fixed meals, took care of my children (including all of Emma's ailments), read the book Pope Joan to me, did my mending & laundry, & pretty much everything that needed to be done! She truly blessed our family & I know how blessed we are to have her as our mom. Sid & his son Scott came & saw us for a day too. We sure enjoyed their company & cherish the moments we can spend with family. Koby went to his first prom, Homecoming last weekend. He really had a great time, inspite of the difficulties he faced beforehand. He looked so handsome in his Tux! We had over 20 teenagers hang out at our home that night. We truly enjoy having people hang out at our home. Madelyn is busy with her dance team, ballet & gymnastics. She is really enjoying the business of her schedule. She is also working hard on her piano skills. Emma is still struggling, having little to no interaction with her friends, but she is still so good natured. I have started teaching her piano lessons & she really loves it. Greg has taken great care of me, Emma & all the other children in addition to work & church. He has really helped so much! I have been pampered by him, mom, many family members, extended family members, so many friends, people in my ward & people in my previous ward. Thanks for the prayers, fasting, the visits, phone calls, cards, care packages, flowers & more for both Emma & I. They have meant more than you know. It is great to be surrounded by those who care about you & love you when you feel the challenges come. It makes those difficulties much easier to face. I have the best family in the whole world! Keep praying for my little Emma, the prayers are really needed & appreciated! I love you all. Stacy

Shauna Allen

Well, needless to say, it has been a fun but crazy month. Troy and I have sure worked hard to play hard. We started the month at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, and went to Zions National Park. What a pretty part of Utah. We went with another couple, and really roughed it. As we were driving home, Sherri called and invited us to Hawaii, but we only had 3 days in preparation.

What a blast we had. Sherri and Spencer and their family are so much fun to be around. I felt like we could have stayed another two weeks. Sherri and I played cards like mad women, and watched the boys roll their eyes at us. We did get them to play a few games, but after they lost to us world champions, they quickly found other things to play with.

We made it to the Polynesian Cultural Center, thanks to Craig and Linda, and we also had the privilege to see Pearl Harbor. This was Troy’s first time to Hawaii, so I think he seriously fell in love.

We missed our flight, and got to spend our last day with Craig and Linda and Steph (A.K.A. Phenee) We got to see a junior pro surf competition, and little Steph took us to every beach on the North Shore. It was AWESOME.

Troy and I are heading to Mexico this weekend. He has to finalize some architectural plans for his upcoming build there. He is heading to Playa De Carmen for a month to be submerged in a Spanish course that all you do is eat, drink, and sleep Spanish. Of course it doesn’t hurt that it is on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. His Dad is going with him, and it should be fun for both of them.

We have been playing softball for my office. Last game I thought I was a Yankee, and slid into third. Though I made it safely, my ankle didn’t, and now I am in what feels like a 90 lb cast. First bone ever broken. I feel like a complete idiot.

Work is going great. I feel like I am learning so much and that I am constantly being challenged. Isn’t there supposed to be a day when you know it all?

I send my love…

Shauna

Sherri & Spencer Plummer

Well, I will have to write for the last two months, since I forgot to
send it in last month. August was a great month for us. We had
just as much fun at the reunion as everyone else did, and am looking
forward to the next one! The hardest part was seeing everyone
leave. The kids enjoyed their last few weeks of summer before we
started them hitting the books. We travelled up to our cabin and
enjoyed a relaxing couple of days. Samantha and I were able to
celebrate our birthday with Shelly as we met for lunch and icecream.

September was a lot of fun! Spencer and I celebrated our 11 year
anniversary. I can't believe it has been that long! We are so lucky
to have each other. We enjoyed a trip to Hawaii with the kids, and
Shauna and Troy were our nanny for that trip. We went with our
friends Justin and Stacy, and then we had an employee Andy and his
wife Brandy go as well. It was so much fun. The kids could not get
enough of the water. It was so much fun to see. After we returned
home, it was hard for the kids to wake up early and go to school
again. They managed and are back on track for a great year of
learning. When we returned home, I was able to take a day and make
Jalapeno Jelly.

Spencer and I had to plan a big event at the Miller Motor Sports
Park, and it turned out great! Everyone had such a great time, and
99% of it went smoothly. There was one accident on the go carts, but
everyone was okay. All the many hours of preparation paid off. It
was a lot of fun.

Spencer and I are back in Hawaii now without the kids, and are
completely relaxed. We went snorkeling yesterday, and finished the
day off with eating at Mama's Fish House (The most incredible fish in
the world). We are with our good friends, Steve and Chelby, and are
enjoying every minute of being with them, even though we miss our
kids immencely. Since we have been gone (two days), Spencer has
become the star of soccer with his new team (scoring 6 of the 8 goals
at his game),
and we heard that it was snowing.

These are the only pictures I have on my computer, we did take some
normal ones.

Stephanie & Dave Farnsworth

This month was a great one. We spent most of it getting into new routines for new schools, new sports and new responsibilities.

Dave spent most of the week ends this month working on his research project or working at the dental office in Plano. He has really enjoyed his job and seeing how a dental practice is run and operated. He enjoys his staff and the patients he gets to work on. Dave has been working hard to insure that his thesis project (involving rabbits and mini screws) will work. Keep your fingers crossed Dave also spent the month updating his CV and writing personal letters to all (yes all) of the Orthodontists in the Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Queen Creek, Scottsdale area. We put packets together and mailed them out. We hope to find a lead or two to work with. Anyway, Dave took the kids and I along with him to the Southwest Dental Conference in San Antonio a week ago. We had a wonderful time together. Family vacations are great pick me ups & we especially love the drive where we get to chat, sing songs and just spend time together. On the days Dave got home early this month (which are rare but cherished) he took the kids to the pool, the park and practiced baseball with the boys. He is a great dad (& hubby too)!

I had a crazy month. For primary we planned & executed our primary activity, "Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice". I think the primary kids really enjoyed it as Austin assured me "It was really cool, Mom". As a presidency we are now hustling and bustling to get the finishing touches on the primary program. We are anxious to have the primary kids perform. I am the co-room at Austin's school and have enjoyed the few times I have been able to witness the Texas school system in action. I especially love going to lunch with Austin (when I am invited) at his school. It has been sad to have him gone all day every day...I miss him. Chase, Blake & I have enjoyed our time together. We have spent some time at the Fort Worth Zoo, going to story time at the library, and most frequently going to the park. They are funny, funny boys. I spent a nice little chunk of time this month down & out. I had a severe kidney infection that seriously stopped me in my tracks. What? I never get sick...really. I went through the nice cycle of chills, fever, sweat for about 4 days reaching the 104 range several times. Mom's can't get sick!! But luckily my sister Sue was here and she honestly helped me so much with the boys. I was literally helpless. With a couple doctors (& one emergency center visit) I recovered and all is back to normal and well. I also started an Institute class this month. We are studying the Old Testament. I LOVE IT! I honestly look forward to it every week and feel so blessed to learn from the great people that surround me. It is my BIG spiritual upliftment for the week since Sacrament is usually spent juggling kids and I am in Primary for the last two hours of church (not that primary isn't spiritual it is just short intervals of feeling the spirit- very short- rather than one big). My mom came and visited this month too. It is always great to have her here. We love all visitors We had lots of good laughs and good talks. The kids loved having her here too.

Austin is such a big boy. Honestly sky is the limit for this kid. He has more confidence than any other 5 year old I know (or 20 year old for that matter). For the first week of September his goal every morning was to make a new friend at school. By the end of the week when he would follow up at dinner time he informed us "everyone in his class was his best friend" so the following week he moved on to the other kindergarten classes that had recess with him. By the end of the month "everyone in the school was his best friend except some of the 5th graders he hasn't met yet and their teachers". What a riot! I love that he loves people so much. He is doing great in school too. He is so responsible with his morning routine (make bed, pray, get dressed, brush teeth, do chores, practice piano, hug mom). He needs little reminding. Also, he has been amazing at doing his homework without any coaching. I just check it, but he is one self motivated little boy. He is loving piano and is still not minding that mom is his teacher. He LOVES baseball. I think it was wise to switch him from soccer. He is doing great and was so proud to get "game ball" a week ago. He also gave a talk this month in church. He helped write his talk on service. He is doing so well and getting up and talking in front of people. Hopefully this will hold true for the primary program as well!

Chasey is such a cutie. He is so happy to be going to real preschool. He is so obedient to his teachers (which I am kinda surprised about cause sometimes he is a teensy bit ornery). He has lots of friends and is really starting to feel (& act) like a big boy. His new thing is he wants to live every place we go. "Mom I want to live at that book store", "Mom I want to live in that car", "Mom I want to live at the park", you get the idea. He loves our weekly trips to the library and enjoys helping Austin "read" at night. He still has his one true love...star wars. Chase loves to sing. He picks up songs every where and will be caught singing them often. He looks forward to Austy getting home every day & is learning to try to share with his baby brother.

Blake is growing up ever so fast. He is running every where and beginning to speak clearly. He says "Dad, Mom, More (still signing this too), down, uh oh, dog, & that". This is a great stage and we are enjoying every minute of it. Blake honestly has surprised Dave and I to no end. Believe us or not but Blake truly truly will sing tunes to songs. He sings the words "Da, da, da" to the tune of Star Wars, ring around the rosey, and basically will mimic almost anything sung repeatedly to him. We have video proof for all of you doubters:) I am amazed, but he always makes me smile when he breaks out in song in his car seat unsolicited.

We are no doubt doing well. We are anxious to start finalizing our plans to move to Arizona next year. It is a bitter sweet thought for us, but we are certainly ready to start a new chapter in our life. We look forward to being close to lots of family and lots of friends. We hope all of you are well.

Lots of love,

The Dave Farnsworth Family

Allen Family News September 2007

2007-09-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do.
Brigham Young

Jeanne & Sid Stephenson

So glad we can share a few thoughts with each other through our newsletters each month….thanks Stephanie, for making it possible. One of the fun things that occurred in our lives happened just this week as Sherri sent out a little quiz for several of us to take. As I have received copies of the quiz and the answers from my children, I feel like I know them just a little better than before…. not to mention I have had a few laughs as well. If some of you haven’t shared them with me yet, please pass them on.

We were lucky enough to have Stephanie and Dave come and visit when Dave’s brother got married August 11^th. We always enjoy their company and anyone else who will come. The boys were adorable as usual.

I can’t say thanks enough for the wonderful reunion we had at the Plummer’s home in early August. Weren’t they the greatest hosts??? All of the activities were so well thought out and assignments were done ‘par excellence’. Thanks to each of you for your role in making it so successful and enjoyable. I know that many made great sacrifices to be there and I appreciate all the effort you put forth. It was especially nice that Derek’s homecoming and Sydney’s blessing could be included in the week’s activities. How blessed we are to have the family we have…and potential members as well. We love them all! Sid and I don’t have lots of activity in our lives, so we really have to ‘bellow’ when we do. We’ll be talking about the reunion for as long as anybody will listen.

We’re looking forward to a visit from Sandie and Neil next weekend now that summer camp is over. They always bring sunshine into our lives. We have a quick trip planned to Texas to see the Farnsworth’s and Oelkers… some more of out favorite people. We also have a trip planned to Idaho in September and are looking forward to being with Stacy, Greg and family. We surely enjoy being around them. Hope life is beautiful for all of you.

Love, MOM and SID

Sandie & Neil Taft

It was so great being around all of you at the reunion. It is fun to see how the children grow up even though the parents don't seem to grow any older??!!! Sherri and Spencer were very good sports to have all of us in the beautiful home.

Neil and I are still waiting to find out if we are moving to Utah. Hopefully when we find out the news, they will give us a little notice. Maybe it will be after all the electrical is installed underground this winter. Should make the camp a little easier to manage. Every wind or storm branches seem to break and knock out power or phone lines. Thank goodness for good surge protectors!!!

Neil and I are also very busy with our Church callings also. We love our Ward and Stake and feel like we work with the most amazing talented people. I am still with Dr Gordon and learning more each day. He is brilliant and it is like going back to college to be with him.

Meela and Ben are hard workers and both stay very busy with their jobs. They are happiest when they are around each other. Kris and Allison and their family are going great. They have just spent a few days fishing and just being together. The children are excited to be back in school. Kari and Jeremy work hard and both enjoy every minute they spend with Curtis. He weighs 18 lbs now is walking all over the place.

We thank the Lord everyday for such a wonderful family

Sue & Scott Oelkers

This has been the summer of repair. New walls, new ceilings, new carpet, new paint, new plants outside and now sprinklers that work! We are so happy with all our new beginnings just in time for our new beginnings of football, baseball, marching band and school.

We spent a couple of weeks in Minnesota for the boys to complete a wrestling camp at the University of Minnesota. Of course we had just completed a wrestling camp at UNT. Marc also had baseball camp, scout camp. Marshall spent most of his summer at High Adventure (which they refer to as low adventure) and Philmont Scout Camp for two weeks of hiking and backpacking. He also had band camp, drum line camp, drum line sectionals, a correspondence Spanish class (still working on) and yet was able to save a few days before school to complete his summer projects due the first day of school. Me? Well, I was busy running the boys everywhere they needed to be, several times a day!

Marc and I enjoyed our unexpected trip to Utah for the family reunion. I am so happy that it was able to work out for us. It was so much fun being able to be with everyone and laughing, playing and just spending time! I really loved being with my family. Thanks!

Scott, Megan and Myles just worked the summer away. Megan was able to work with Scott this summer. I think she liked it better when her dad was in town. Scott traveled to Asia several times this summer. He was able to fit in a bit of golf with his brothers and he went to the US Open this year with a friend for father’s day! He says it’s the best father’s day gift he ever gave to himself! Megan and Myles took a summer school class together. They both said it was the most worthless class, but hey, they got their humanities credits for it. Not all bad.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ve got my next Taxi run to make! Love ya!

Stacy & Greg Hansen

August was a really fun month for our family. We started off August with
the reunion. It was incredible to see all of you. Thanks for making the
effort to keep our family close even though we live far away frrom each
other. My children loved it & really had a good chance to get to know
everyone better. That is really important to me. After the reunion we got
the chance to stay home for awhile (YEA!). Greg & I had the opportunity to
go to the parade of homes in SLC with people from his work. It was a lot of
fun even though we were kind of dissapointed in most of the homes. Madelyn
took a little ballet in August & tried out for the Dance Depot dance team &
made it! She is really excited for this great opportunity. Lucky for her,
most of her friends that tried out made it also. This will be a great
experience for her even if it means a little more carpooling for me. I love
to do it though. Koby turned 16 on August 14th. I asked him if he wanted
to have a party & he said he would rather go on a date. So a few days after
his birthday he took out a really cute from our old ward. They had a
lot of fun! It is weird having a child that old. Koby & Maddie started
school last week & have really enjoyed it. Maddie is in 4th grade & Koby is
starting his junior year. Koby is taking some tough classes like honors
pre-calculus (something that I can't help him with if he gets lost), debate,
US history, English, Drama (YEA!), Debate , Seminary & robotics. Koby has
already been practicing his debate skills. I think he will have a great
year. Koby's drama teacher actually took Drama with Greg at Woodscross High
School so his teacher already loves him. That class should actually help
him with debate too. I took a mini vacation to Las Vegas with one of my
friends from college (Christine). We went over the weekend to the Celine
Dion concert. It really was fun! We got to eat at fun places like the
Venetian right on the canal & the Paris buffet. We even went to church with
a friend of mine that lives in Vegas at these two darling missionaries
spoke. I love missionaries! It was a great trip! To top off all the
excitement, Greg & I met Shelly & Dave for dinner in SLC and we all went to
the Josh Groban concert together. It was incredible. He really puts on a
great concert! Thanks to Shelly & Dave, we were really close to the stage
(they switched us tickets). Sherri thoughtfully watched Emma so we could
go. Emma can't wait to start her preschool & dance class next week. I
really am lucky to stay home with her! She makes me happy. I love being a
mom & have to say I have great children. I am thankful for that. I hope
all of you are doing well & staying happy. I love you all & feel so
grateful that I have the best family in the world!

Love, Greg, Stacy, Koby, Madelyn, & Emma

Dave & Stephanie Farnsworth

Well August was a busy month for our family.  We spent most of it on  vacation and enjoyed it so much!  We started the month in Utah.  We played with  cousins, went to Lagoon, and enjoyed an amazing family reunion in Fruit  Heights.  It was so much for for adults and kids alike and we stayed up way too  late, ate too much, and laughed until we cried!  We played a family baseball  game, rode horses, had water fights, & relaxed (just a little).  As a family  we feel so strongly about building family relationships and appreciate so much  the effort that went into making it a wonderful time. 

Right after our two week vacation to Utah the kids and I went to Arizona  & met Dave for Steve & Amanda's wedding (thanks to Kathy for getting us there).  It  was wonderful to be together with everyone.  Austin, Chase & Blake enjoyed  so much being with all of their cousins too.  We look forward to a day when  those get-togethers aren't so rare.  We are so happy for Steve & Amanda and  were so happy to be a part of that wonderful day.

After returning home from our incredibly long trip we had laundry &  endless tasks to accomplish. After some hard work we got the kids ready to start  school & for a new semester to begin.

Dave has been working hard to finish his thesis research on the use of mini  screws.  He has been working on rabbits and has put many long hours to make the  project work & had failed a few times and has head back to the drawing  board.  He thinks he has finally ironed out all of the problems and is headed  for a successful research project.  He is enjoying a years worth of  straightening teeth and has taken off some of his first patients braces.  He  loves what he does and works so hard to be the best at what he does.  

I am still trying to get into a groove with the kids school schedules.   This means new charts, new lists & new routines. I was so sad to send Austin  off to all day kindergarten & was even more sad to know that he was not only  capable of being independent all day long but he liked being it too!!!!  I have  been working hard in primary for an upcoming primary activity "Come listen to a  prophets voice" to teach the children about some ancient prophets and help them  get excited to watch our living prophet at conference time.  It is SO much work,  but I have had so much fun working with the kids.  I also finished this month  writing the Sacrament meeting presentation.  Hopefully most of the busy work for  primary is done for a few months!  Now that school is officially in and meet the  teacher & parent orientations are finished I have been able to get so  much more done!  Book club, scrapbooking, & other hobbies took a back  seat and I am ready to dive in.  Hopefully I will be able to get back  into the swing of things soon!

Austin started all day kindergarten this month and feels so big.  He has  already made a new friend everyday he has been at school (this has been his goal  he makes every morning at breakfast) I miss having his sweet personality around  the house all day long and have tried so hard to make the few hours he is home  at night really count.  He is so good about getting up and practicing his piano  & doing his chores & homework when he gets home.  I have no idea how he  grew up so fast.  Austin also started baseball this month.  He is loving coach  pitch and is such a natural. 

Chase started preschool this month as well and feels "big like Austy".  He has the teacher Austin had last year so she knows and loves Chase  already.  Chase is such a sweet boy and loves "Bwakey" so much and helps take  care of him when he is home.  We always laugh at the things Chase says.   His latest items are "I want to live in.... (that car, the gym, that pool, that  tree, those shoes, that church, etc)".  When Chasey gets mad now at anything he  says "I hate...(our car, the gym, our house, etc)".  You can see how  Chase teeters back and forth from loving something so much he wants to live  in or on it and hating it.  He is one funny little boy! 

Blake is SO big.  He runs everywhere.  He LOVES to sing and is found often  just singing "Da, da, da, da, da" and we can almost make out the tune he is  singing to. He is so happy all of the time and enjoys playing and wrestling with  his brothers.  He is already (at 1) proficient with a light saber and will  occasionally use the force when necessary.  He says some fun words now and still  uses sign language for things like "more, down, & drink".  He has added so  much to our family and we love him so much.

We hope this finds all of you well and happy!

The Dave Farnsworth Family

Allen Family News July 2007

2007-07-08T11:19:00.001-07:00

Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart, blushing, whispered the first word of love; it is the home that God has given you that by striving to perfect yourselves therein you may prepare to ascend to him. ~Giuseppe Mazzini

Jeanne & Sid Stephenson

The beginning of June we were honored to have Shelly and Dave here for a couple of days. We surely enjoyed their company and help. Seems like we lean on our children more and more to help us do things we aren’t able to do. Dave spent a few prime hours setting up my new computer which has been “hair-raising” for me to even attempt. Many thanks!!!

Sid had his last eye cataract surgery in early June. He is glad to have the procedures behind him. Now he is waiting for new glasses so he can really be back to normal.

The latter part of June found us in SLC again…attending a wedding reception of the Barr’s daughter and a missionary who served in Latvia. We were able to see so many old friends from our missionary days. Wonderful!

Stephanie, Dave and their boys arrived the last of June to spend a few days here with us. We enjoyed them so much and we were able to get better acquainted with the kids. They are adorable…just like all our grandchildren are. The time went by much too fast. While they were here, we had a dinner party and Ron and Dawn, Shauna and Troy joined with us. Sandie just ‘happened to be here too…it was so nice to have family around.

We are still doing the Stake Baptisms and enjoy that calling very much. Sid carries the majority of the work and I just ‘assist’. Just want to close by telling ALL my children and grandchildren how much we love each of you and we are proud of the choices you are making with your lives.

Sandie & Neil Taft

June has been a wonderful month for our family. So many blessings – we are so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father. Meela went to a new doctor to have her cancer checked again. He cut more out and had another biopsy. It came back cancer free!!! We know that our many prayers have been answered. She is doing great and working hard and enjoying all of her spare hours with Ben Tippets.

Kris is still working long and hard hours. He is the evening supervisor of Cottonwood Youth Academy and is really making a difference with the youth. His family is doing great. The children went to Tayler horseback riding camp and Brenton went scout camp and earned 6 merit badges, he also starts foot ball. Weslie is taking fencing lessons. Clayton is just busy being cute and getting ready for preschool. Everyone is growing so quickly – wish we could have been there to see their big recital. All four Brenton, Tayler, Weslie and Clayton were in Peter Pan. I heard from reliable sources (Meela and Kari) that they each did fantastic. Allison stays busy with classes, teaching preschool and also ballet.

Kari and Jeremy are doing great. Jeremy is working at Discovery and Kari is working at Express. They juggle their schedules to care for little Curtis. He is going so quickly and will soon be walking all over. Kari and Curtis were able to come and visit us the last week of June. We loved every minute although their visit went by too fast!!

Neil and I are still working hard at our jobs and our Church assignments. On the side, we garden, help in the community, visiting teach and home teach 8 families (we are companions), go to the Temple and just plain have fun together.

It was great to be able to seem Mom and Sid, Stephanie and Dave and their boys and Shauna and Troy when we went to the valley last weekend.

Can’t wait to see all of you at the reunion!!!!

Shelly & Dave Senior

The long awaited summer finally dawned and the well earned rest never materialized as each Senior departed in his or her own summer travel marathon. Among the highlights include Ryan's travels to Sonora, Mexico where he learned first hand the blessings of humanitarian service. His basketball team is unique in that it uses basketball as a sort of good-will ambassodor with a team in Mexico. Once a year the team travels to Hermosillo and the surrounding areas and works in orphanages and elderly homes. Language barriers are broken down with smiles, friendship, service and open hearts. He worked all day and then played basketball into the late hours of the night. He returned home exhausted but a better man.

Scott became an official High School graduate!! This was a day that Scott (and at times his parents) thought would never come but it is a significant milestone. Before Scott is off to BYU with his brother in the fall, he was lucky enough to enjoy a trip to the Bahamas at the Atlantis resort. He returned home in time to spend a week in Santa Barbara at EFY. He had a marvelous experience and a strengthening of testimony which is a refesher of the soul. He had a great time and I had to tell him all my stories of being at UCSB with Dad while he was working on his PHD. Dad would drop me at the beach, go to class, and pick me up when he was done. It is one of the many good memories I have of Dad!

Dave and I made our semi-annual pilgrimage to Hawaii for the Student Appreciation Dinner at BYUH. We were able to meet the new BYUH President, Steven Wheelwright. But the most enjoyable part of the trip was, as always, spending time with Craig and Linda. It was a special treat this time because Dawn and Emily and their kids were there, and even Steph made some cameo appearances. They are always so much fun to be with and it was so fun to be there. We always leave feeling grateful for Craig and Linda and their family and the association we enjoy with them. We have spent time with them in Hawaii and London and regardless of the exotic locations, just being with them seems to be the highlight of our travels.

In other news, we leave in two days (on Tuesday, July 10, but whose counting!!) to pick up Derek in Spain!. We are so looking forward to seeing where he served his mission, but mostly are excited to see HIM! He has had a marvelous experience serving as a missionary and I'm certain his live will be altered for good. He sent a letter home this week that he fractured his radius so we will take care of that when we return. More to follow when we have had a chance to get the download from Derek. FYI, he will be speaking in Sacrament Meeting in our Ward in Highland on July 29th at 9:30a. If any of you are in town, we would love to have you and will even provide a lunch afterwards!

Other than that, the boys and Dave just really sit around like slugs and play Guitar Hero. The only time they move is when they hear the garage door open when I come home. At least they get some exercise with that! It has been hot in Utah this summer but we jump in the pool and try not to think about it. Can't wait to catch up with everyone next month when we are all together. I am so excited to see everyone at the reunion. It will be here before we know it. Sorry this is short, but we are alive and sometimes well.

Love you all,

Shelly

Stacy & Greg Hansen

June was a fun month for our family. Towards the beginning of June Emma
had her end of year dance performance & Madelyn performed in the ballet
Copellia. Madelyn also had a fun month of softball. She is a great player
& her team loved her because she was the only one who hit a home run!
Madelyn & Emma are both taking swimming lessons & ballet during the summer.
Koby is busy with his new job at Rockwell on the cleanup crew. He loves
working with the Mexican's because he is learning more Spanish. He got to
take off a couple weeks for our family vacation & EFY. We went on a fun
family vacation last month. We started at Shelly & Dave's & had a fun day
of swimming & a BBQ. We also got to attend my high school dinner group
because we were in town. It was so much fun seeing my friends from high
school. It had been years. On Father's Day we headed down to Saint George
to surprize Greg's dad (they are on their mission there). We had a slight
delay because our car broke down. We did make it, but it wasn't a surprize.
We spent a couple extra days in St. George waiting to find out about our
car & ended up buying a new one because it was $8,000 to fix the Durango.
We were able to make the last couple days of our vacation & we went to
Rosarito beach in Mexico. It was a lot of fun. The children were good
sports because we didn't make it to Disneyland. It is interesting how
even when you have a major change of plans how you can still enjoy yourself
in different ways. The guy who sold us our car in St. George is taking the
missionary discussions because of Greg. His parents are working with him.
Also, as we were sitting along the freeway with our car broken down & it was
95 outside and we had been there several hours, kids fighting, some of us
not having the best attitude, I had been thinking we are stuck out here in
the middle of nowhere & noboby even knows where we are! Almost immediately
I had a strong impression come over me that the Lord always knows where we
are. It helped to know that the Lord really knows all of us & that He is
always there for all of us & always knows where we are. The church is true
& at least that can be a constant in our lives! I love you all! Greg,
Stacy, Koby, Madelyn, & Emma

Shauna & Troy

Well, it sure has been a fun June, since we were gone for most of it, diving in the waters of Cozumel and Cancun. Troy and I went with

2 other couples from my ward and spent 8 days diving and exploring the ruins of Chichen Itza, Coba and Tulum. This was our first dive, out of getting certified. We were so excited to go to one of the top dive sites in the world to do our first dive. The visibility was about 150 ft. We saw stingrays, eagle rays, puffer fish, toad fish, a SHARK (it was a nurse shark…not real interested in swimming with anything that considers me a snack). We did a ship wreck, and a bunch of coral reefs down to ab

out 90 ft in the water.

We were able to bring back a leather copy of the “Tree of Life” or Lehi’s dream for Mom and Sid. Pretty awesome.

Work is going really well. I am working on a pu

blication on one of the procedures we do here in the office from a marketing standpoint, so needless to say, I may be famous one

day…Ha ha…a legend in my own mind.

Sure has been fun hanging out with everyone who comes and visits Mom and Sid. They surely love it…

I miss my sisters and brothers dearly, and wish I could see your lives instead of just hearing about them…Love

you all to pieces…

Sherri & Spencer Plummer

This has been a great month for our family. We have had a clean bill of health for everyone in our family! Who could ask for anything more? The kids have been making new friends, and getting to be better swimmers all the time. Spencer and I went on a trip to Boston and Chicago. We went to Wrigley Field, and to Fennway Park. What an experience that was. It was so much fun. We took Sydney on the trip and she did fabulous! Spencer and I are getting ready for Africa and the family reunion. We are so excited to see everyone! Sydney's Baby Blessing will be on August 5, 2007 at 10:30 in the morning, for all those that want to leave after that, we would love to have you there!! Spencer is just getting better at Gymnastics, doing 6 backhandsrpings into a back flip. Pretty scarry to watch, but he is really good. Sabrina is now riding her bike again without training wheels, and had her first major crash, with major road rash on her knee and face. She is now proud of her "trophies." Sammy is making new friends and getting ready for school in September. She is such a great babysitter for Sydney. Sydney is sleeping between 5-7 hours per night. I love it. We are all doing wonderful and can't wait to see all of you next month. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers during our struggling times! You are all the best!

Love,

Spencer, Sherri, Spencer IV, Sabrina, Sammantha and Sydney (i guess that I could include Max too)

Stephanie & Dave Farnsworth

June was a busy and wonderful month for our family. Our Summer has been full. In Texas is started raining the first week of June and literally has not stopped since!

Dave spent the 1rst week end of June in Austin at a conference. He had a wonderful time (and doesn't mind too much being wined and dined by the reps). He spent most of the other Saturdays working at the dental office in Plano. He has really enjoyed his time there and has made some good new friends. He loves letting the kids know he is "the boss" at work. They think it is pretty cool. We had a great Father's Day this month and are so grateful for Dave. We cooked up his favorite meal and the boys made him a gigantic paper tie that he wore to church. He really is an amazing father. Dave took me to the play "Chicago" this month. It was somewhat entertaining. Although it was basically a bunch of scantily clad women walking around the stage singing. Dave is always so good to make sure we get our date nights in. We were so happy to have him during his break and are sad to see him return to school Monday!

I have stayed busy this month with mommy school, dentist & doctor appointments, summer movies, camps, primary, book club, play dates, swim lessons, you get the idea. We certainly have had full days. The boys are still LOVING mommy school and I have enjoyed interacting with them so much. I feel like we have all learned a little something. Planet Earth week, Detective week, Information and Communication week, and Money week were all huge successes. Crafts, lessons, activities, you name it have filled our rainy days. It has been great to have the kids to myself all day. We have had some great snuggle time and have built some of the biggest forts you have ever seen out of all of the pillow and cushions in our house! I really love being a mommy and playing with the kids. Book club was at my house this month and we read "Persuasion" by Jane Austen. It was a great book and a fun discussion. I had a couple of mindless reads this month as well "Twilight" and "New Moon". They were great for a light, pleasure read! I was able to almost catch completely up on scrapbooking this month while Dave was out of town. There is nothing like staying up late and finishing a project. I really do love to scrapbook....I just wish there were more time in the day to do it more often. For primary I am getting ready for our upcoming Pioneer Day activity that I am in charge of. We will have breakfast, a short program and a parade. It has been fun to coordinate and should turn out great. I was able to take my sister Sue to "Spamelot" this month too. It was such a fun time and I really laughed hard. It was great to hear other adults laugh out loud and just relax. I still am loving having my blog and connecting with friends near and far. I have been able to write a "Grateful Sunday" post each Sunday to help express gratitude for the many blessings in my life. There are so many. We flew to Arizona the 28th of June. The boys were great on the flight and we were so happy to not have to drive. It was so great to be there (but I will write about our AZ trip for July's update). We already miss everyone there!

Austin had a busy month. Besides doing mommy school with me and Chase, he does his reading lesson, math lesson and practices his piano songs everyday. He has such an innate desire to learn. I love that about him. He spent the first week of June in Soccer camp that was coached by professional soccer players from all over Europe. He loved his camp and told me he definitely wants to go back next year. He has enjoyed lots of play dates. He loves his friends.

Chase turned 3 this month! He feels really big now and says "I'm big now" all of the time. He had a pirate cake and a small little party with his two closest friends. Chase has had fun with mommy school too. I am so surprised at what he can pick up on as such a young age. Chase has also enjoyed lots of play dates this Summer. Chase took his first swimming lessons the second week of June. He did so well and can swim without a life jacket in the deep end. We are really proud of him. Although he can be a little stinker he is so sweet.

Blakey turned 1 this month! He is the smiliest and sweetest little boy. He is walking everywhere and enjoys being the shadow of his two older brothers. He is always content and is always willing to give up a hug and a kiss. He really is a little sunshine. We can't wait to watch his personality unfold even more during these next two months.

Love and miss you,

Dave, Steph, Austin, Chase & Blake Farnsworth

Happy Birthday Chase!

Happy Birthday Blake (balloon birthday hat & muffin birthday stars)

At the park...

Austin's soccer camp

Guitar Hero date night...we are rock stars!

June 2007 Newsletter

2007-06-04T20:28:00.001-07:00

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein -

Jeanne & Sid Stephenson

May was ushered in with Sid being tested over and over again to see if his heart is healthy. All tests proved what he already knew….he is!!! Then there was Women’s Conference in Provo with Stacy, Susan and Shelly. How fun that was….and a word of thanks to all the family members who submitted ‘tributes’ of prose and poetry to the beautiful Mother’s Day book that Susan compiled for me. I have the most thoughtful and gifted children in the world. Thanks for being who you are! It was nice for all who attended Spencer IV’s baptism. I was glad it worked out for so many of us to be there. I love the family get-togethers. Mother’s Day was spent in Mesa with Sandie and Neil coming for the weekend. They always spice up our lives and are such a joy to have in our home. Shauna and Troy, Ron and Dawn also came to visit. They are surely good to Sid and me and I love them very much (just like my other kids and their spouses). In mid May I flew to SLC to help Sherri and Spencer’s family while Sherri was in the hospital. Shelly and Stacy were there helping also. They are so fun to be around. Do all of you recognize how good the Lord has been to restore Sherri to good health? Please, always acknowledge his love in the blessings we receive each day. The new baby, Sydney, is beautiful just like the rest of the children. I had my first massage while at Sherri and Spencer’s home. They have a favorite guy who does their massages, named “Ivan the Terrible”….but believe me, I think he is “Ivan the Great” because he helped soothe my broken down knee and feet. Wow, was it great! Just this past week Sid had a cataract removed from one eye and next week he will have one removed from his other eye. He is doing well and is pleased with the results. Tomorrow we have the privilege of having Shelly and Dave visit for a few days. How lucky can we be? I am so fortunate to be blessed with the most wonderful family on the face of the earth. I love you. MOM

Sandie & Niel Taft

Hi everyone. Camp has started and things are going great and yet really busy. Neil has it looking the best it ever has. He works hard and they all love him for it. I love it when those that come here appreciate all that he does. Anyway, Neil stays very busy with the camp and his Ward responsibilities. He is the Executive Secretary again to a new Bishopric that was just called two weeks ago. He spoiled me and had my garden fence put back up (elk had gotten into my garden and kicked my fence down.)

Kris also works at Cottonwood Youth Academy and he not only supervises his assigned areas, they have him fly nationally to pick up the youth offenders or to return them home to either go to prison or be released. He is still working at his other jobs also….I don’t know how he can fit everything in. He works so hard. Allison is still going to school and is also teaching. Everyone loves her. They are letting Brenton, Tayler and Wesley come to visit us for the month of July. We will have so much fun. I already have activities lines up and I know that grandpa wants them to spend some time helping him on the camp
I miss my children and grandchildren so much. It is hard to live so far away. Kari and Curtis will come in June to visit us for a week. We are very anxious to have them come.

She is working at Express at the mall and loving it. Jeremy works with Discovery card and is doing great. Curtis is growing up so quickly.

Our family

is so blessed. We love and support each other through good times and also through our trials. The Lord has been very good to us.

Stacy & Greg Hansen

May was such a great month for us. The biggest highlight was that I finished homeschooling. It was a great experience but it is nice to be finished. Madelyn had her gymnastics, cheer, and jazz reictals. Emma has her dance recital tomorrow. It is great to see all the progress this last year. Madelyn has started softball, and is getting ready for the ballet she is in next week. Koby finally got his drivers license and has started working. Emma read her first word last week CAT. It is great when they know all their sounds and try to sound out words. However COW didn't work out so well. I had my piano recital this past month and koby and Madelyn both performed. I really do enjoy teaching piano. Maybe because I only teach 7 students. I am excited for summer. We will be taking a road trip in June all the way to Mexico. I can't wait! Greg has stayed busy with work & making his pinewood derby car for an activity tonight. I think he has done every trick possible which should make me feel confident that he would win...however I think every man in the ward has done all the tricks to. It should be interesting. I finished the book Twilight and almost the sequel New Moon. I can't believe how much I loved those books! A must read for everyone who is a female! I also had the opportunity to see Sherri while she was in the hospital. I am so glad she is doing better. I am also so glad I got to hold and feed her new baby Sydney. She is darling. That sums up our month! I hope you all are doing well. I was fortunate to talk to many of you during Sherri's ordeal. I love you all. Stacy, Greg, Koby, Madelyn & Emma Sherri & Spencer Plummer

Sherri & Spencer Plummer

Ok, well this month we have experienced the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. But, we are on the up again, and experiencing some more highs. Our new baby Sydney Gabriella Plummer was born on May 10, 2007. She is a doll, and so much fun to have around. When she was first born, she had extremely low blood sugars ( I am sure this was a factor because of the whole pregnancy, my blood sugars kept on going extremely high and extremely low). This put her in the NICU for 5 days. I was able to go home from the hospital on Saturday, and we were able to bring her home on Monday. Tuesday night was when I had my episode, and was put in the hospital for 4 days? I don't know details, you either have to ask Mom, Stacy, Shelly or my husband. They all took care of things while I was out. Spencer III has taken on the role of both husband, new father, and the wife. While I was in ICU, he had everything taken care of (of course with the help of family and friends). Because of the stress of this, I had to take Spencer into the ER to check for Spinal Meningitis. He ended up having a massive migraine, and Strep Throat (Which he decided to share with the entire family). He is now on his trip to Australia, and we are missing him immensely. Spencer and I are planning on going on a baseball trip in June to Chicago, and I can't remember where else. But we will go to a few baseball games. In July we are going on our safari to Africa. Haven't decided whether or not we are taking the baby. We will keep you posted next month on that. Spencer IV has finished soccer and is a star at baseball. He is in the machine pitch category, and has hit 2 home runs, and usually gets at least a double. What a star. He only has a few days left of school, and is looking forward to summer vacations. Sabrina is thrilled to be out of school at the end of the week, and can't wait to go to the beach. Every day she asks if we can go to the beach. She also has finished soccer, and was scoring tons of goals by the end of the season. She is now in Tee Ball, and has not quite got the grasp of it, but is having so much fun. You can't take pictures of her while the game is in progress, because she will stop and pose for the pictures. What a little diva! Samantha has been so cute with Sydney. She absolutely loves her, and is not jealous at all. I could not be more grateful! She loves to wipe her while I am changing diapers, and holds the bottle when I am feeding her, and loves to hold her all the time. I have to keep a close eye on her to not try and pick her up. She always gets me when Sydney makes a peep. She says, "Mom Syd-e-ney is crying. Go get her." She always makes me kiss her and tell her she is so tiny and cute. The only problem is that she has completely regressed in her potty training again. Oh well. I guess eventually we are all potty trained. Our prayers go out to Meela and Cherry, and hope all the results come back positive. We love you all and hope everyone is doing well. Love, Spencer, Sherri, Spencer, Sabrina, Samantha and Sydney Plummer

Dave & Stephanie Fansworth

This month went by fast, but was very enjoyable.

We enjoyed a short trip to San Antonio at the beginning of the month. It was great to spend time as a family and get away. We love to ride in the car as a family and chat. The boys seem to open up a lot and tell us thoughts, concerns and silly jokes.

Dave took Austin and Chase on the father-n-sons campout. They had so much fun playing, getting dirty, and staying up late. It was some great bonding time. Dave also spoke in church on Mothers day. He did a wonderful job and is so comfortable in front of people. Dave went to Seattle for a conference this month for 5 days. He learned a lot of valuable things and was able to network. He was certainly missed!! Dave took me to "Camelot" this month along with "Wicked" (yes again). Our close friends gave us better tickets than we would have ever paid for and we enjoyed it again wit h them. It was a completely different play when you see their faces, costumes and expressions. Date nights are always something I look forward to!

I stayed busy this month with the normal routines of life. We put on a teacher training for primary that we hope turned out successful. It was more of an appreciation/training. Our primary teacher's have been amazing. Our freezer group exchanged one last time before taking a hiatus for the Summer. We did marinated meats for our last meals. They have turned o ut so yummy! Book club was canceled this month, but I still read the book (well... reread) The Hiding Place. It was a nice refresher on the sweet story. I took a great nutrition class at the beginning of the month and have rededicated myself to be better with my family. So far we are all doing great! I survived Dave's trip to Seattle with a couple of girls nights out. It was fun to get together with friends. The kids were really good for me while he was gone. Hopef ully he won't have another long trip any time soon. I am still blogging my life away. It has been great to reconnect with old friends and stay close to family. It is yet just another way to document our life's happenings. We have enjoyed some fruits of our labors in our garden. Or pepper plants have flourished and we are enjoying the first of our tomato crop. It is so nice to go into the backyard and have fresh veggies!!! Hopefully my next few months will be full of doing "mommy school" with my kids this Summer. We have some fun stuff planned and hopefully they learn a little bit too!

Austin "graduated" from preschool this month. He was so pleased and really had such a great year. Do I really have a kindergartener? Austin finished up his swim lessons and feels so comfortable in the pool (which is a relief to me!). He is still practicing the piano and practicing reading. He is so sweet and is such a help. He has perfected waking up and making his bed, saying his prayers, brushing his teeth and getting dressed without being asked. He loves to play with Star Wars toys, ride his bike, and read his books. He is always asking questions and is so inquisitive. I often don't know the answer to the questions he asks and we have fun looking the answers up together. How do you explain to a 5-year-old why Neptune has the most severe weather of all the other planets? He floored us the other day during our Sunday drive , Austin asked "Will Heavenly Father ever stop sending people to the Earth?" "Is there a Heavenly Mother?" "D id Heavenly Father ever live on this Earth?". No joke...he keeps us on our toes and we love it.

Chase is our funny little boy. He makes us laugh all of the time. He is a little ornery and has been known to say "I don't like" and that means you, everything and everyone. Then he smirks and starts to giggle. Chase had his gymnastics recital and did so well. He wasn't even scared to go up and stand on the stage to get his metal. He wears his metal around the house and says "I am going to do a jump kick over the volcano" and jumps as high as he can and lands on the couch) He is learning to recognize his ABC's and like to have his "piano lesson" after Austy (i.e. singing ABC's to random notes on the piano). He copies EVERYTHING Austin does (good or bad).

Austin and Chase also informed me this month that their stuffed pet's birthdays were coming up. So we planned a party. We made cards, made cookies, and invited the cousins over. We ran in the sprin klers and had a lot of fun. I think Ruffus (dog), Crouton (gorilla), Violin (dog), and Guitar (Bear) all felt loved!

Blakey is officially a toddler. He started walking at the beginning of the month. He is into everything and toddles everyw here. He has a few words he tries to mutter and is so sweet. He is our snuggliest baby by far. Naps and bedtime are the best. He places his head on your shoulder and smiles big. We will take all of the snuggles while we can get them! We sure love our family and feel so blessed!

Love to you all,

Dave, Steph, Austin, Chase & Blake

Family Newsletter

2007-05-12T04:56:00.000-07:00

Hello my wonderful family! Here is the format in which we would receive the newsletter each month. It is easier to publish as well as comment. Plus it will archive it for us!!! Please email me your vote if you want to do it this way. I will make this a private site so others won't be able to browse. Thanks!
Steph