Christmas Letter 2013

Merry Christmas

2013

Each life that touches ours for good, Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;

Thou sendest blessings from above, Thru words and deeds of those who love. (LDS Hymns #293)

Thanks for touching our lives.  We love and appreciate each one of you for the wonderful influence you have been in our lives.  We are grateful for our association with you.  We hope this finds you well and happy.  It has been an eventful year for us.  We would like to share a few highlights with you. 

Ron published and presented a paper at the 2013 ASME mechanisms and robotics conference in Portland in August.  He believes that it and two other papers he is working on will transform linkage mechanism design education.  Several professors have already begun teaching his methods in their classrooms.  He also has a new position on the Magna corporate R&D council.  Half of the council members live in Austria, so he will have the opportunity to go there several times next year.  His first trip there was in November.  He spent one night in a castle built in the 1200’s.  A major deck renovation took most of his spare time this fall and will continue in the spring.   

Ellen has an endless list of projects.  She loves to decorate for each new season.  This summer she finished the “zoo-de-mac” cross state bike marathon.  She rode 51 miles with some friends along the Michigan shoreline into Mackinaw City.  The trillium was in bloom, which made for a beautiful ride.  She still is excited every time she thinks about how far she rode.  Her diligent workouts have paid off.  She enjoys volunteering and teaching to maintain her master gardener certification.  The library loves to have her teach gardening classes each spring.  This year she received a ‘degree’ in hair dressing from Youtube University.  She has used her skill on countless girls in the afternoon before each big dance.

Elizabeth (17) is a senior!!  She keeps warning us that when she moves away we won’t be able to tell her what to do anymore.  She plans to get a business management degree.  She loves to organize events.  She has been on the leadership team at school which plans and conducts the major school events including the dances.  She was inducted into the Nation Honor Society.  She is still employed at Sonic, ‘America’s Drive in’.  They can’t wait until she is 18 and can be a manager.  She spent a week this summer at ‘Girl’s State’ which is a state government simulation activity in Lansing. 

   

Katy (15) finished drivers education and has her driving permit.  She is getting better each week.  She likes high school and has several challenging classes including AP US History.  She went with Elizabeth to EFY this summer in Salt Lake City.  They toured several universities together and visited Dad’s old high school.  She had a great time at Girls camp in Kirtland, Ohio.     

Madeline (13) has finally started growing.  She is 5 feet tall and proud of it.  She loves 7^th grade and is excelling.  Her most exciting class is tech ed.  She likes building things like bridges, tree houses, hot air balloons, magnetic levitation cars, rubber band airplanes, etc.  She enjoys reading.  We are happy to report that Madeline has taken over the job of doing all the family ironing.  Her ulterior motive is that it allows her to watch TV.   

Joel (11) still loves to draw and build things.  He loves to read and has devoured several series of books.  He can’t decide if his favorite for this year was Fabelhaven, Nick of Time, or Septimus Heap.  He is very conscientious about doing his jobs so he can play.  He saved up his money for 6 months to buy a Lego Technic Grand Prix race car.  It took two days to build.  Joel finished his Arrow of Light award and joined Boy Scouts earlier this month. 

Seth’s (8) loves superheroes.  One of the highlights of the year was building Thor’s Hammers and battle axes with Joel and Dad.  He can usually be found in his room building with Legos.  Seth was baptized in February.  His grandparents, other family members and friends came to celebrate with him.  He is glad to be in Cub Scouts. 

What greater gift dost thou bestow, What greater goodness can we know

Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways, Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.  (LDS Hymns #293)

We are grateful to celebrate the life of Christ.  Our association with each of you is among our greatest gifts.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 

Love, Ron, Ellen, Elizabeth, Katy, Madeline, Joel, and Seth

M

December 2013

December 2013
Joel Received his Arrow of light award.  Ron was home in bed with Bronchitis.

We attended a friends wedding and had a great time.

Seth went on a field trip to the natural history museum at the University of Michigan

Ellen spent 10 days in Salt Lake City helping Victoria with her daughter in the hospital.
Ellen was also able to spend some time with her parents while she was there enjoying the sights and sounds of temple square at Christmas.

  

We are ready for Christmas and some time together as a family.
Elizabeth, Madeline and Seth made 191 cookies last night.

Thanksgiving

November is a Birthday month at our home.  Madeline Birthday is at the middle of the month.  She wanted to have a balloon theme birthday.  This happened to be her golden Birthday so she receive a balloon banquet of 13 gold star balloons.  We played balloon party games.  We had a delicious cake shaped like a 13.  Now we have 3 teenagers in our home.

Joel wanted a Lego themed Birthday for his eleventh Birthday.  Grandma and Grandpa G and Aunt Sarah were visiting for his birthday.  Some of the Party activities included Lego Balloon racers, Guess how many Legos are in the jar?, Mini-figure relay, and Lego marble tracks.  Joel had a great day!  Grandpa G took Joel and Seth to the Lego store and to 2 movies.  Joel has been saving for 6 months to buy a Lego Technic race-car.

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving.  Five of my 8 siblings and my parents celebrated with us.  We cooked 5 of our homegrown broiler chickens.  I made 7 pies.  Seth said next year I need to make 4 razzleberry pies because that is his favorite.  Razzleberry is a combination of 3 or more berries.  We went to the Ford Museum and Thrift Store Shopping.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving Week!

Fall Days

September is a busy time at our house:  school begins, garden harvest, and canning season.  We toured the University of Michigan.  Elizabeth is working on her college applications.

Katy and Elizabeth had a great time at High School Homecoming.

I picked a lot of raspberries to fill our freezer.

Madeline and I made 2 scary apple trees for our Ward Halloween Party.  The Halloween Party was a Wizard of Oz theme.

Joel was Gandalf, from the Lord of the Rings.  Seth dressed up as Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody from Harry Potter.  Ron was asked to be the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.  I dressed up as the "Scarecrows Brain."  Madeline was Miss America and Katy dressed up as a Cowgirl.  Elizabeth dressed up as a Sonic employee because she had to work.  

Carving pumpkins was a big hit.

Seth cut open his head at cubs scouts.  He was the proud owner of 3 stitches.

Summer Fun

Elizabeth and Katy were in Utah for 21 days in July.  They attended EFY at the University of Utah.  The girls went on college visits to BYU, Utah State and BYU-Idaho.  They had a great time with their grandparents, aunts, cousins and friends.

On the lake with our neighbors the Fields.
 

Summer Days

Elizabeth and Katy finished school 12 days before the younger kids.  It is fun to have some time just with them.

Elizabeth got her Senior Pictures taken by Jordan Gray Photography.  She did an excellent job. Check out her company on Facebook.  She does a professional job but has very reasonable rates.  

Seth and Joel were messing around in their bedroom instead of sleeping.  We tried to separate them. When we brought Joel down to our bedroom, Seth followed.  We sent Joel back upstairs and Seth followed.  Seth does not like to sleep alone in a room.  Seth got upset put his hands on his hips and said, "I am not going to play your silly little games anymore."  He stormed upstairs and went to sleep.

Ron, Joel and Seth had an excellent time at the Fathers n' Sons camp-out.  They look forward to this every year.  They stayed up until midnight playing capture the flag.  The played Disc golf.  While the boys were camping, we girls went out to dinner with some friends.  Madeline and Katy got pedicures. Elizabeth had to work but we visited her and enjoyed some slushy drinks.

Our summer vacation fund is going to provide us with a new roof.  We will be enjoying a stay-cation this summer.

Companies Coming

We enjoyed several special house guests during the month of May.  Ron's parents, brought a car for Elizabeth to use.  She is very excited to drive a car that will not wake up the neighborhood at 5:45 am when she drives to seminary.  Ron's Mom and Dad are leaving for a 2 year mission to Japan.  Ron and Joel went  turkey hunting in the state land across the street.  They were again unsuccessful.

Katy is taking Driver's Ed.  This after-school class makes for a long school day with early morning Seminary.  She said Driver's Ed is pure torture and the most boring class ever!  She is very excited to get her driving permit.

We celebrated Ron's birthday with Steak and Apple pie.  We played a game of whiffle ball in our yard.  We looked through Ron's childhood pictures.

I went on a Girl's Weekend trip to Boyne Highland, MI.  We rode in the Zoo-De-Mack, a 51 mile bike ride from Boyne Highland to Mackinaw City.  I am still in shock that I finished the ride.  It was a beautiful ride, with trillium covered woods, Lake Michigan, sandy beaches, and beautiful trees cascading over the rode.  We ate at a delicious restaurant in Petoskey.  We attended church in the Petoskey Branch.  The pier in Petoskey was breathtaking.

My Mom, sister Ann (Sissy) and her three kids came for a week long shop-a-thon visit.  We shopped at garage sales, the mall, and two thrift stores.  They managed to stuff every inch of  their car with their "thrifty" finds.  My kids had a great time with their cousins.  It was so much fun to have a baby in the house.  We created some wedding flower arrangements for Ann's friend.  We also crafted some flower hair bows.  We got pedicures, my Mom was so funny.  She acted like she was going to the dentist, not getting a pedicure.  She had a bad experience the last time she got a pedicure  We took the kids swimming at a local pool.