Peek-a-Beuk News 2005

Dan and Dee De Birk

Dan has been working St. George a great deal of the time. He has finished remodeling the cabin, now we can go and enjoy using it. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Gary De Birk

Gary manages the Dollar Tree and is raising Nick, who is 10 years old and a 5th grade honor student. Nick was involved in the State Science Fair.

Bill and Amber De Birk

We are now proud grandparents of a baby Granddaughter - Indy, she was born on Aug 14, 2005. They are living in Sugar House so we are not far and get to see our granddaughter as often as we can.

John and Lynda De Birk

Linda went through some cancer treatment this year. She has completed it and is now back to work. John is counting the days (2 years, 1 month and four days) until he is able to retire. We spend time at the cabin, the condo and sometimes even at there real residence. Merry Christmas to ALL and a Happy New Year.

Rob and Anndrea De Birk

Anndrea is a graduate in Anthropology. Rob is attending college and is a 7 year senior in English and looking toward grad school.

Mike and Maija De Birk

Mike married Maija this Summer. He has graduated with a ME Degree and is working at Utah Medical as a Engineer working with their product lines.

Joanna De Birk

Is at home and is attending the U of U as a junior in Photography. We wish you a great Holiday Season.

Bill and Denise De Birk

We are living in Murray now and I am working at the Harley Davidson Store in Salt Lake City. I am a Trained Phoenix. Denise is staying home taking care of Sara's children while she works. Merry Christmas to everyone.

Heidi and Jeff Bates

Are living in Rock Springs. Jeff took over the Ogden Carpet Outlet in Rock Springs and now own the franchise. They have two children, Alexis 3, and Clayton 1. Heidi has her hands full with kids.

Lauky and Paul Dame

There was a big change in our lives this year. We sold our home on 4125 South and moved into a Retirement Center in the Brickyard. That was a big change. Lunch and dinner are provided, our rooms cleaned etc. We thought it was too much. We were just not ready for that. So Anneke is now finishing a basement apartment for us in her home and at the end of November we will move in there! We will have one nice bedroom, a bathroom with a shower, a kitchen with plenty of cabinet space and a big livingroom with a fireplace.

We are both still healthy and enjoy many things, especially the fact that we are still together. So many people our age have lost their partners and that is hard when you have been together for soo long. It will be 57 years of married life for us in January.

We love you all,
Louky and Paul.

Louise Dame

I have been living in Hyrum for 2 years. I like the quiet here. Allen is in 6th grade at Spring Creek Middle School. It is hard to get used to 7 classes and 7 teachers. He is learning archery. He loves art and drawing and he is becoming a good cook. Love you all, Louise.

Christopher and Melissa Strickland

Well another year has come and gone for the Stricklandre trying to find a house to buy, so that we can get out of the rent trap. We both work full time and then some.

Christopher is still on Active Duty with the Air Force in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While on active duty he works for the 75th Logistics Readiness Squadron in War Readiness (Mobility Bags). His section was just recognized as the best in the Air Force during the recent Operational Readiness Inspection. He has been promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant. He still maintains his reserve duties with the 419th Medical Squadron. He is the Non-commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of Education & Training, and the NCOIC of Public Health.

Melissa is still working for REM Utah, she is the highest paid manager is the company; she currently manages two homes, something no other managers do. She takes care of five elderly adults with disabilities. Her job is very challenging, she had one of her consumers pass away last winter, and the corporate office recognized the job she did in holding her staff together though a very trying time. Somehow she still finds time to volunteer at Jocelyn and Ethanctively. She is hoping to move into the office and go back to school next year and get a degree.

Axell is 18 and a senior at Cottonwood High School. He is looking forward to graduation. He is a budding actor and has had several bit parts in some Disney Films. He is a budding photographer and graphic designer.

Carly is 15 and a sophomore at Murray High School, she got a 4.0 GPA on her last report card. We are very proud of the effort she puts into her school work. She is currently taking drivers education, and should receive her drivers license when she turns 16 in March. Carly is a member of the choir and the Debate team. She does a lot of volunteer work with the Boys & Girls club of Murray. In October she was voted youth of the month and has been nominated for youth of the year. Her picture was in the newspaper in September for all the services she does for the community. All of the teachers and staff love her and say that she is a great help to them.

Beriet just turned 13, she is in her first year of Junior High school she enjoys it a lot, but she thinks that they give way too much homework. Beriet is taking French at school as seems to really enjoy it. Like her brother she has a couple of bit parts in some Disney films. She is just waiting to be discovered.

Jocelyn is now 7 years old and in the first/second grade split, she is great at math and art and good at reading and English. She loves school and is great student. She tries to read everything she can. She is a very busy child, she never holds still. She loves to draw, and play with her Barbiending time with others. She is growing like a weed and is very flexible and in great shape. She is a beautiful girl.

Ethan is now three years old and attends Head Start, he goes full time and learns the things needed to prepare for kindergarten. He loves his teachers and the activities they offer. He loves to play with cars, trains, airplanes. He loves Scooby Doo and watches his cartoons daily. If it is Scooby Doo he loves it. When he gets his own room when we buy a house he is getting a Scooby Doo border for his room. His hair is so curly, people comment all the time that they want his curly hair. He is becoming a handsome young man.

Anneke and Ernie Robison

What a wonderful year this has been, we became grandparents and it is the greatest experience. We just love those new babies and then when they have a dirty diaper or get fussy, we just hand them back to their mothers.

Ernie is still busy with his business and The Ability Foundation. He placed over 300 pieces of medical equipment with needy Children, schools and families last year. He finished his Salt Lake Temple Painting about one month ago after three years and entered it into the Church Art exhibit contest. He is now the Employment Specialist for the Stake and Ward and helping people utilize all of the wonderful employment opportunities that the church has.

Anneke is still the Relief Society President and very busy with that. This experience has made us realize how blest our family is. She still works at the business everyday and even has a small crib there so she can baby-sit and enjoy her granddaughters. Anneke has also been fixing up the basement apartment that they have so that her parents can move in and live with them.

Korrin and Spencer Dickson

Korrin and Spencer Dickson had a baby girl (Ella) on June 29th and Elizabeth and Ben Nicholson had a baby girl (Sadie) on May 19th. What a great blessing for our family.

Elizabeth and Ben Nicholson

What a fantastic year this has been, after waddling around for several months we delivered a beautiful new baby girl on May 19th. Saidi is an awesome addition to our family, she brings so much joy and happiness, we can't imagine what it was like not having her here. Ben is still working for Schiff, he has the night shift and Elizabeth is working at Primary Childrenal part time in the morning.

We bought a new home and are in the process of moving in, it has a little more space and a very large unfinished yard. We hope to live here for a real long time. We hope all of you have a wonderful Holiday Season.

Marc and Karrie Robison

Karrie is working for IHC and Marc works for his dad and for Skywest Airlines. They bought an old 3 apartment home behind the Capitol Building and are fixing it up so that they can move into one of the apartments and rent out the other two. It is a lot of work and since Marc is an perfectionist it is taking a lot of time. The house was old in the first place and needed an update. It is also a historic house so he needs to get approval to do any remodeling on the outside of the building. He is very handy and is doing most of the work himself.

Jared Robison

Jared works for RX America and was trained to answer questions about the new Government Prescription Medical programs. He is also going to school at the U of U full time. He bought himself a 1967 Ford mustang that he is fixing up. It now runs and he drives it all over the place. He had it painted a dark blue and it looks wonderful. His parents and Jared decided to drive down State Street in his 67 Ford mustang and go to the Sonic Drive-in for dinner one night. It was fun but not like the old days, Ernie said.

Emily Robison

Emily is going to school at the U of U and decided to move out into an apartment with some friends the first part of July. She is moving back home next month. She found out how expensive it is to live. She works for her dad at his business and is becoming quite the design artist. She has a flair for art and is doing the art that Korrin used to do for the business.

Sonny and Susan Dame

We are still living in LaVerkin. Susan is working for Prax Air and has been there about 2 years in St. George and 10 years total. John works for Walmart as a truck driver. We both love living in LaVerkin. We are enjoying life and enjoy taking care of our animals.

Cassey Lamb

Dave and Cassie Dave and Cassie got married in June of this year. Dave is still working at the pawn shop but trying to get on at St. Mark Nate is 5 now and in Kindergarten and doing very well. He loves playing basketball and Video games. Ari is now 4 and going to Head start, she is very advanced for her class and working on a first grade level in math. She loves playing dress up and wants to be a ballerina. Cheyenne is now 15 months and still trying to cut her first tooth. She is walking and expanding her vocabulary daily. She enjoys being read to and gets upset if she is not read to about 10 times a day.

Rodney and Inna Dame

Inna is still living in Germany waiting for the time that they can live together. They have been married almost 2 years but still live on different continents, thanks to the paper work of the United States. Rodney is a communication Specialist for the Government and works out of North Carolina. He goes all over the U.S. setting up communications for the Military. Rodney bought a house in Reyford, N.C. (close to Charlotte).

Tina and Doug Rino

It's been another busy and fun year. We went on vacation to San Antonio, Texas. The Riverwalk, Sea World, Six Flags Fiesta and then down to Corpus Christi to touch the water at the gulf coast and seeing the USS Lexington was great and a lot of fun. Doug is keeping busy at work and working with the youth in church. Tina is still busy sewing for a sports company and when not sewing for the sports company she is busy sewing and taking care of her family.

Scott is thoroughly enjoying his missionary experiences and enjoys being in Maryland. He'll be home sometime in July.

Rachel is attending Hillcrest High School. She joined the track team and the cross-country team and has done very well running. Rachel likes the quicker races better than the l o n g runs. She enjoys being the only child.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous New Year.

Shannon and Brian Haymore

This year has been an eventful one for us. On June 22nd Jacquelyn Mariam Haymore was born at 2:46 p.m. She weighed 6 lbs 71/2 oz and was 19 inches long. She knows what she wants and makes sure her parents are aware of it. It is fun to have a little girl. It is amazing how quickly they grow and how quickly they change.

I (Shannon) am still in the Primary Presidency and am loving it. I am still teaching piano lessons and keeping busy around the house and with our two kids.

Brian still works for the Center for High Performance Computing at the University of Utah. He is our wards Computer Specialist and the Bishop is keeping him busy with that calling.

Alex is almost three. He loves to help with his baby sister and help around the house. He is very creative and loves to ask lots of questions. He is a very smart kid which scares his mom! He can't wait until he can go to school like the big kids in the neighborhood. He loves trains, playing in the dirt, playing on the computer and playing with his car and tailor toy.

We have also done quite a bit of fishing and camping this year. Was interesting doing those things with baby but she seemed to enjoy herself. Other than the little and big projects around the house and little weekend getaways that is about all that has changed for us this year. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Jason and Mary Rino

Both us have been very busy. Mary works full time for Ballet West in their costume shop as a stitcher. Mary is also currently attending SLCC working on finishing her generals. I (Jason) am working for the Law Firm of Bennett & DeLoney (full time) in their IT Department. So, I pretty much work on computers all day long. I am also attending the University of Utah (full time). Because of both of us being so busy we don't have much time for much else. We are having fun.

Ellen and Michael Bradley

The Bradley family is doing fine.

Michael is still working at Kennecott and doing his business out of our garage. Repair and service for ATV, dirt bikes and snowmobiles.

In April, Ellen went to SOS Temporaries and got a temp job at Ballard Medical. She works from 4:30 to 3:00 am, Monday thru Thursday. Selling Avon and sewing bags for Anneke. In between all that she might get some sleep.

Ben is now a Marine reservist. A LAV driver (Light Armour Vehicle crewman). He graduated in March. He goes to Camp Williams for his 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks out of the year training. He found a job at Sorensen Construction now. For his 2 week training he went to the Republic of Georgia in Europe. He was home for 2 weeks and got appendicitis and had to have an appendectomy. Never a dull moment with Ben.

Erica graduated from West Jordan High. She is now taking classes at SLCC, and is thinking of transferring to either SUU or Dixie. She left Little Caesars and got a job at JC Penneys. This could be dangerous because she likes to buy clothes.

Kristine is in the 10th grade and loving high school. With mom working she gets herself up and to the bus with no problem. This past summer she and Erica went on the Pioneer Trek in Wyoming. It was a wonderful experience for them both. She also painted her room blue with stars. Blue is her favorite color.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Mark and Jane Dame

The Mark Dame family is doing well, we are very busy and it doesn't seem to slow down.

Mark is still at OWATC teaching and loves it.

Jane ran "Dame Good Cleaning" for another year, manages a tri-plex in Logan, and tries to keep up on everything at home. She started running this year and have run at least 10 5K's.

Zjani moved out in May to a home in Ogden with 5 other girls and loves being out of the house. She moved out long enough to get engaged! She is marrying Jared Arnold on January 4, 2006 in the Bountiful Temple.

Zach is the proud owner of 6 cows. He showed his show steer "George" at the Weber County Fair in August. He learned a lot, and made some good money. He made enough to buy 4 more cows. 3 steers and 1 heifer. He already had a cow and heifer, so now we are over our limit for our land. SHHH, don't tell. He is working with the 3 steers and then will decide which 2 will be ready to show at the fair in August. The other one will be beef! He loves this farming stuff. We love having the animals and love the whole farm thing also.

Coleton is in 8th grade and has played competitive soccer for the last couple of years. He went to Cedar City and played in the Summer Games and enjoyed it.

Marijka is 9 and in 4th grade. She is our sweet girl that is stuck between 4 boys. She is learning how to defend herself well.

Levi started first grade and thinks it is just ok. He would rather not go. Dawson is 3 and we have tried potty training, but he has won so far. I am sure he won't go to kindergarten in diapers! We hope this Holiday Season finds you all well.

Jack and Oeke Beuk

The Beuks are doing fine and we do keep busy. Jack is still involved with all the welfare assignments in the ward and Oeke is still in charge of the stake blood drives. She is also very much involved with the St. Josephhe enjoys very much.

This year we never used our fifth wheel and so we have decided to sell it. If anyone knows of someone who would be interested, please let us know!

We still love to travel though and this year we have made three trips, one to Danny and Linda in Rancho Bernardo near San Diego. Another time we flew to L.A. and then traveled with a close friend of ours for four weeks through Oregon and California. In the fall we went to Wyoming and visited MartinOeke-grandparents this last year, a little boy named Thomas and a little girl named Rebecca.

Life is good and we want to wish all of you a very pleasant Holiday Season. Let us share our bounty with those who are less fortunate than we are, there are so many who need a helping hand.

Brenda Rodgers

Brenda continues to do what she has always done for the past 30 years... work and travel. She still manages two companies for two brothers and is grateful for Brittany who keeps all the finances and accounting straight. This year included a week in Phoenix, a week in Puerto Vallarta, a long weekend in Portland and a long weekend in Jackson Hole. She's leaving the day after Christmas to spend three weeks in Brazil. The more Brenda travels, the happier she is.

Brittany and Matt Carlson

Brittany still works with Brenda and her husband Matt is thriving in his construction business. Matt builds huge multi-million dollar homes is Park City and is in high demand by many of the builders. They still have their two "puppies" Taz (the Rotweiler) and Tasha (the German Shepard). They are enjoying life, love to travel, have become certified scuba divers and take dive vacations and cruises whenever they can.

Tyson Rodgers

Tyson has been working in sales for Verizon Wireless for over a year now. He loves his job and always has the latest and greatest telephone in his pocket. He lives at South Mountain with his very best friend, Mosey (his chocolate lab). He loves his solitary bachelor life and enjoys just hanging with his friends. He loves to travel too, but usually likes to go for three and four months at a time. His dream is to get back to Hawaii to live.

Raymond and Ramona Beuk

Ray and Ramona love living in Heber, they have lots of room there. Ramona is still much involved with the pet adoption grogram and is now officially a farm girl since they purchased a donkey named Christmas.

Ray is still designing alarm and fire systems and has been commissioned to design the system for the new restructured tabernacle. They became grandparents this year and traveled to Denmark to see their new grand daughter.

Crystal is in her last year of High School. She decided she wanted to finish here in Salt Lake so she's living with Grandma Nielson and visits her folks during the weekend.

Merry Christmas to all!

Linda and Danny Edwards

Not much has happened at the Edwards household this year. Danny still works for Hunter Douglas and Linda still works for SAIC. We went to Salt Lake in February to celebrate Grandma Rijnsburger's 100th birthday. We did take a vacation enjoying the beauty of Zions, Bryce and Great Basin National Parks in September. Caleb, Jennifer, Dylan, Jaime and Thomas all joined us at Great Basin for some camping. Dylan, Jaime and Thomas came down for Thanksgiving this year (and Thomas' 1st birthday). We enjoyed having a little Grandparent time with Thomas and loved having Dylan and Jaime with us for Thanksgiving.

We hope everyone has a great Christmas and that 2006 bring health, happiness and prosperity.

Caleb and Jennifer Edwards

Caleb and Jennifer have been plugging along, working and going to school. Caleb has started a graphic design business doing Artwork, Websites, logo creation etc.

Dylan and Jaime Edwards

Dylan and Jaime's lives have changed a bit since having Thomas. Dylan still works for Grant Mackay Demolition Company and Jaime has taken on the challenge of babysitting a couple extra children during the week.

Nellie and Maurice Bowman

Merry Christmas to all, and a happy 2006!

We just completed our second year of our temple calling here in Oaxaca, one more to go. It was so neat to have Bruce, Lastenia and family come and visit us last January. It was great fun to see these Book of Mormon lands with them, go to the ancient ruins of Monte Alban and Mitla, see the famous 2000 year old "Tule" tree, and also spend a few days at the beaches of Puerta Escondido. It was a must to swim in the Pacific ocean and build sand forts on the beach! To get there we had to travel on very windy roads and drive through "the wilderness" of the Book of Mornon lands! We had a great time, and it was sad to have them go back to cold Utah! Other visitors have included Maurice's brother Donn and wife, and also some of our friends from Utah.

The rest of the year has been filled with challenging, stretching, but fulfilling experiences as we serve in this beautiful small temple, speak at every stake conference, entertain General Authorities, and mingle with these faithful descendents of Father Lehi.

We are looking forward with excitement toward our trip to Salt Lake this December for a very special occasion: the marriage of our grandson Aaron (Bybee) and Mary on the 15th. He has asked his grandpa Bowman to perform the sealing in the Salt Lake Temple. Most of our family will be present for that blessed event, and what a joy that will be!

It has been quite the experience, living here in this land of the eternal spring, with beautiful flowering trees, fruits of every kind, (some you've never heard of) and many more delights and delicacies such as fried grasshoppers! We love the people and their diligence in serving in the temple. And we're even going to have a new home to live in soon, as the church is building a home for the temple president and three apartments for temple missionaries. They poured the concrete floor today, and it should be finished in the middle of February.

May we all enjoy the wonder of Christmas, as we remember our Saviour's birth so long ago. May we all be preparing for his Second coming, because it is getting closer you know!

Maurice and Rosanne Bowman

The Maurice Bowman, Jr. family wishes you joy during the Christmas season, and love and peace throughout the coming year. We're filled with gratitude for a multitude of blessings. We have wonderful, challenging work at MCI and in the Davis School District. We love our church and community involvement that busies us with many service projects, primary children and lots of music. Our children are a constant source of pride and joy. Last spring, we traveled to Vermont to watch Matt deliver a scholarly paper to Mormon historians. He continues to enjoy his doctoral work in history at Georgetown University. Happily, he will be home for the holidays! Fortunately for us, Amy and husband John, live close by. However, being very talented, they are frantically busy with thriving business ventures, demanding church jobs, and fulltime employment, and we donnough. So, we settle for watching Amy do design spots on Comcast TV for her scrapbooking company! John is a dynamic entrepeneur and makes Amy very happy. We're enormously proud parents. We hope to see more of our Dutch family this Christmas, and throughout the coming year. Love to all of you!

Patricia and Stephen Taylor

Howdy from Texas! The Taylors are still here in El Paso - going on 19 years! We are grateful to be part of such a great family. Life marches on and the kids are all growing up.

Jesse is in Austin, Texas going to school. He got out of the Marine Corps in February this year after spending a year and a half in Copenhagen, Denmark and a year and a half in the Congo in Africa guarding the Embassies. He can't seem to get the military out of his blood and is training to do recon in San Antonio on weekends.

Megan is in college, too, attending New Mexico State University. Her mom likes the fact that she is less than an hour away. She is in a sorority, ZTA, and is the Director of Governmental Affairs for Student Government at NMSU. She plans to go on to law school after she graduates.

Stephen graduated from High School this year and is now attending BYU. He seems to really be enjoying it. Bruce has been great to him - inviting him to visit on weekends - so he hasn't gotten homesick at all. He plans to put in his papers to go on a mission when the spring semester ends.

Jordan is a sophomore at Franklin High School and is the only one home with mom and dad. He is on the Varsity Wrestling team and doing really well. (He has big muscles.) He plays the guitar beautifully. He plays all styles of music and we love listening to him. The girls love him.

Steve is continuing with his consulting projects. Tricia is partner in a marketing firm, which is very fun, interesting work.

We wish you a joyful holiday season and prospero ano nuevo.

Terry and Jack Bybee

As we prepare to celebrate again together... and we all sit down to write what news we may have to share... and stare at this blank page. Ya'all are probably like me, it is more fun to read everyone else's than to write... but I really am grateful for this year for so many tender mercies and miracles.

Our family is well and happy. Aaron is getting married on December 15th, and we are busy with wedding plans. His fiancée is Mary Schafer and we love her. They are so cute together. Our Rachel has been gone one year now on her mission to Ft. Worth, Texas. She is doing great, and we miss her sooo much, and we love to hear all her stories. Elena is almost finished with Cosmetology school and has really done well and developed some great "skills." Amber is turning 18 on December 1st and is preparing to tackle life, and wants to help her Aunt in Cabo San Lucas with her business. Tessa is going to Brighton High, and just beat the Seniors in Powder Puff football (in overtime) and is playing Lacrosse and working at Papa Murphy's Pizza, and she is having FUN. Bo is in 8th at Churchill Jr. High. He is in Wrestling and has grown a ton. He is our beloved "Baby" and has passed up all his sisters. Jack and I are busy with all that life brings, and with church callings, too. We look forward to seeing ya'all (learnin' Texacan) and spending some time with you. May your lives be blessed this year with peace, and happiness, and prosperity.

Love from: Terry, Jack, Aaron and Mary, Sister Rachel Sunshine , Elena, Tessa, and Bo

Stephen and Amy Bowman

As we celebrate Christ's birth, our genuine desire is to remember his teachings and to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. During the sixteenth century, Teresa de Avila said:

Christ has no body now on earth but yours, No hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ is to look out on a hurting world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he is to bless now.

We invite you to be swift to love and make haste to show kindness.

Our family has had many joys, but also a number of difficult opportunities for growth this year. As we journey along a path that is sometimes arduous but at other times joyous, we are grateful that God loves us and guides our lives. We are also grateful for an extended family whose loving arms encircle us even though we live half a hemisphere away.

Our two boys (Michael aged 7 and Benjamin aged 4) and our two girls (Lauren aged 11 and Hanna aged 6) continue to do well at Colegio Panamericano. Completing homework assignments in Spanish is second nature to them now, and being bilingual is almost required to understand many of the conversations we have with each other at home. Amy continues to love and gracefully serve our little family, as well as find time to further develop some of her many talents. She enjoys filling our home with harmonies both swift and soothing as she masters Sonatas, Fugues, Inventions, Mazurkas and other compositions that are legacies of noted composers from centuries past. When Steve is not catapulted to far-flung locations in Latin America, the children enjoy his company at home, especially at bedtime when Daddy reads classics and popular literature to them aloud (complete with foreign accents where appropriate). Despite occasional discord, our home is full of love.

As a family we explored new beaches in Costa Rica and enjoyed one another's company. This year at Playa Conchal, we zip-lined through the rainforest, mounted horses along the beach, and snorkeled and kayaked in the warm waters of the Pacific ocean. Steve became scuba certified and marveled during his underwater flights at colorful marine life along the coral reef of Roatán Island off the coast of Honduras.

We miss you and we send you our love. Our Christmas wish for you this year is happiness and fulfillment as you are surrounded by those you love.

Bruce and Lastenia Bowman

The time has come again to give you a glimpse into our lives. The year started out with a wonderful trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, to visit Dad and Mom last January. Although it was pretty crazy to travel with five children all 10 years old and younger to the depths of southern Mexico, it was well worth it! It was also great to see my parents in their element, interacting with people at the temple there. We could tell by talking to those we met that Dad and Mom are doing a great work as they serve. We visited some pretty cool ruins and even drove down to "Puerto Escondido" a small beach town touted as one of the top 10 surfing places in the world. We didn't surf, but had some fun swimming in the calmer bay area. And except for the 49 bed bug bites our son, Daniel sustained one night, we had loads of fun.

Other highlights of the year revolved around music (strings and piano), sports (soccer and base ball) and a couple short trips to Kanab to visit Jonni, Donna, their kids, and Apache, a buckskin mare. In May, Lastenia's grandpa, who lives on the Olympic peninsula in Washington State, gave us his 18 ft. aluminum boat--- perfect for fishing the great lakes of Utah. We had some fun this year in the boat, except for the time when I smashed my right pinkie between the boat and the trailer, which resulted in 11 stitches. I was so close to becoming a part of the elite group of Bowman uncles and cousins who have lost fingers in various accidents (including my Dad, who lost part of his forefinger roping a calf, years ago--on Christmas Eve-day I might add). Alas, it's probably better that I kept my digit rather than being counted as part of this group.

Lastenia continues to deal wonderfully with the rigors of being a mom to our five children and I continue financing all the above mentioned activities by keeping the books at American Express.

It is fantastic to be part of this great family. I was just reading my mom's history and it is amazing to see the faith and strength her family had as they suffered through World War II and the fact that they ultimately gave up everything to start a new life here. When I think times are tough for me, I just need to think of Oma and Opa trying to feed their family when food was so scarce during the war. I am thankful to have the Beuk blood run through my veins. We wish you the best during this Christmas Season and throughout the next year.

Troy and Anne Bowman

We started working on our yard this year. We laid sod (with help from some of you!) and planted trees and a vegetable garden. We also put some rocks in our landscaping. I say "we," but it was really Troy! :)

We celebrated our 10th anniversary in June. The time has passed by quickly, especially since we have had children. We made the occasion eventful.

This summer, Troy quit his job at ArosNet after 5-1/2 years and now works for SOS Staffing Services as a developer. He is enjoying the change of pace and his new responsibilities.

I (Anne is writing this) stay busy as usual. Taking care of our family and home is more than a full-time job! I also work on my two Primary callings and volunteer in Rebekah's class every week. Life is certainly not boring!

Rebekah is five and started Kindergarten this year! She loves her teacher and everything about school. She is doing very well. It has helped our family to be on a little schedule.

Lindsay is four and is learning so much at home with Mom. She is excited about reading. In fact, Lindsay gets excited about most things! She is a very loving little girl.

Eden is two and is interested in potty training! I am excited about that. :) She talks non-stop and is our little flirt.

We are all happy and doing well. We feel very blessed in our lives.

Tina and Ralph Telford

What is happening to these years that fly by so fast? It seems the older we get the faster the days fly by! Ralph and I have been together 12 years already. What great years they have been! We still count the blessing of having found one another as one of the greatest gifts the Lord has given us. We so enjoy our life together here in Florida and still serve as temple workers in the Orlando Temple and particularly enjoy our new assignment to team teach the Gospel Doctrine class in our ward. That really is about the best calling you can have in the ward and the hours we spend studying and preparing for the class together are so satisfying.

Travel wise it has been a quiet years for us. We did have our family reunion at Lake Anna in Virginia and it was absolutely wonderful to have the whole family together. The grandkids thoroughly enjoyed each other and it was a joy for me to have my whole family gathered! I was granted my wish to have pictures of the whole family together as well as some of each family separately. I looked at my adult children and wistfully thought back of the years when they were small and all mine. How fast they all grew up--- Enjoy your little ones! Savor those special moments together because all too soon they will be grown and on their own. (Oh my, such nostalgia!)

Our major recent excitement was experiencing hurricane Wilma first hand. It was an awesome experience. This was our first hurricane we went through since we were in Kosrae for the ones that passed through last year! Our damage was limited to our pool enclosure with screens slapping in the wind, our satellite dish was blown away and we had some trees down and lots of debris in the pool, hot tub and yard but the house was totally in tact but, oh, the damage was so bad for so many others who lost their roofs.

It was amazing to experience a storm that went so directly over us and the eye of it which was so huge and took about 90 minutes to pass, the eerie quiet through that period of time and then the sudden backlash of the storm when the other side came through. That was really bad! It was much fiercer than the first part and the one that caused most of the damage. They figured the backside of the storm was a high category 2 or low 3 with sustained winds of 110 miles an hour and gusts higher than that. We really don't want to go through that again although at all times we felt quite comfortable about the safety of our home and felt protected with strong hurricane shutters in place on all the windows.

A new development was the total power outage that was caused by the storm throughout the 6 counties affected by the storm. Our power was restored 3 days later but many are still in the dark. We were so glad we had bought a generator earlier in the summer so we at least had lights and could keep the fridge going. It breaks your heart to see the mounds of spoiled food that had to be thrown away by the supermarkets. Another bad thing was that you couldn't find gas because the gas stations did not have power to pump the gas and they had people sit and wait in lines for up to 6 or 7 hours to get gas at the few stations that did have power. Thankfully we had the foresight to have both cars filled so we were fine but the poor souls that had to commute to work were having a time of it all. Right now the weather is beautiful, nice and cool with temps in the 70's and cool night time temps. Thank heaven for that because so many people are still without power. As I am writing this we have just been advised another tropical depression is heading our way! Unbelievable! At least this one is not a hurricane as yet so maybe we'll get off a little easier. I guess this is the price we pay for living in paradise.

We wish each and everyone a wonderful Holiday season and the no storms in your life during 2006!

Art and Carolee Brothers

This summer we all went to Virginia for a family reunion. Ken, my brother, rented a lake house about two hours south of DC at Lake Anna and invited the family to come down. Lake Anna is a man-made lake that has a constant water temperature of between 73 and 100 degrees. It is heated by a nuclear reactor. It was kind of weird to hop out of the boat and feel like you'd gotten into a hot tub. The three-eyed fish were not too frequent and all our warts fell off within 24 hours. The water skiing was fantastic. It is amazing how easily the kids got up on skis when we told them about the alligators.

Josh, Jessica, Art and Andrew all went skiing on the fourth of July at Snowbird this year. Here we are at the top of the tram before heading down to the Little Cloud lift. Art went with his brother Ken the last time the resort was open (on July fourth, in 1995). The skiing wasn't bad, but the lines were horrendous. We only got two runs (and a tee-shirt). Later in the day we went to Ogden to meet with Carolee's family and go swimming.

Andrew was already in DC, having attended the Scout Jamboree at Fort AP Hill. He got in at the last minute when one of the young men in one of his cousin's troop dropped out and Carolee's sister called to see if Andrew wanted to fill in the slot. Andrew and his cousin David had a blast together and everyone came home with virtually everything complete to get his Eagle.

Jessica finished her first year of college. She has made plans to go to Ukraine and teach English to children between 3 and 7 years old. Her friend Abby told her about it. She looked into it and thought it would be fun. She had saved enough money because of her scholarship at Weber that she could write the check to go. So, she decided to go. Later she asked her parents if they thought it was a good idea. We talked about it, did a little research and felt it was probably a good decision. She still works at the hospital. They like her there and say her position will be there when she gets back. Earlier this summer she ran a relay half-marathon from East Canyon Reservoir to Hogle Zoo and the U of U with two of her friends from college.

Joshua earned his eagle this year. He is a senior was recently awarded Sterling Scholar in English and runner up for Sterling Scholar in music at Park City High. A few months ago he was nominated as "Mr. Miner." Once nominated you go through a kind of strange-beauty-contest with several different short sketches. He is did a stand-up comedy sketch as his talent (and helped another competitor and good friend do a song). When he was asked to dress up as a jungle creature, he came out on stage dressed in a very tight (as in, "I have not worn this since sixth grade," tight) Winnie the Pooh costume. And he won! Recently he went to the Homecoming dance with a cute girl from orchestra named Alysa Patterson. The theme was "Through the Decades." He rented a disco suit and a wig and she bought a 70's style dress. He looked like John Travolta's half-black-brother. His seminar teacher told a story to us about how on the first day of school some girl in the class asked Josh if he had a pencil. He dug around in his backpack and drug out this pencil that was about a foot long. His teacher sighed and told her she could use it if it wrote. It did. Then she asked Josh for an eraser. He drug a matching eraser out of his backpack that was about 6" long and 3" wide. Everyone started laughing.

Sarah made a move to a new school again. This year the Park City district put all the 6th and 7th graders together in one school. (We think it is a good idea. There is such a huge difference between 6th and 9th grades.) Now, all the 9th and 8th graders are together in another school. So there is less friction between grades and less pressure to act older than they really are. She spent some time at Girl's Camp and hung out with her cousins in Ogden. She got to be pretty good at knee boarding at Lake Anna. Her viola and piano skills continue to improve. She loves to read and is a good thinker.

Rachel is on track to be baptized next April. She is in second grade and loves her new teacher. We recently found a large Wolf spider on the back deck (it was a little larger than a man's palm). Some still think it was a Tarantula. She took it to school in a plastic container. Her teacher was horrified--- then she grinned and said, "show it to the teacher in the next room. She hates spiders." We did. She said, "Oh sure, I'm not fooled. That's a fake." We took the lid off and it moved. She seemed a little less sure "oh sure--- battery powered, or something." It started to crawl out of the box and she screamed, "it's is real, get it out of here." Rachel grinned widely and was content. She loves being obedient at times like these.

Art was recently called as second councilor in the Bishopric of the Canyons ward. (He has asked Carolee to send him pictures of his children from time to time.) A few weeks later he was cleaning leaves from a second story gutter and fell about twenty-five feet to the ground. He came away with five broken ribs, a gash in the head and a cracked lumbar. They kept him in the hospital for three days. Carolee saw the whole thing and was sure he was falling to his death. Given the length of the fall, all the medical personnel agreed with her. She could easily have been right. We feel blessed that it was not worse. One of Art's less active friends quipped, "Rather than jumping off the roof, wouldn't it have been easier to say no to that new calling in the bishopric?"

Carolee was recently called to teach Relief Society. She is sad to leave her Primary calling. She loved teaching Matthew's age group. She is an amazingly well prepared teacher, a great mom and even though she feels a little anxious about Relief Society, Art feels sure she will be great at her new calling.

Over the summer, a friend of hers at work got married in the temple. Her family was not LDS and had practically disowned her for joining the church. Care helped her by listening and offering advice on how to get through it all with her heart in one piece. She got to practice what it was like being the mother of the bride when her friend asked her to help her through the endowment and stand in for her mother as she prepared to be sealed. It was a sweet experience that she hopes to do again with all of her daughters.

Ken and Jennifer Brothers

Holiday Greetings from Great Falls, Virginia!

GARRETT will be 8 in January, and all he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth. He's in second grade and enjoys reading, playing soccer, irritating his siblings, and swimming like a fish. He wishes every day was Saturday and Cartoon Network was the only channel on TV.

KIRSTEN will be 11 in February. She's in fifth grade, and has a wide circle of friends. She continues with piano, tennis, cello and caring for the new family dog, a black standard poodle we named Nephi (although sometimes he acts more like Laman.)

SPENCER, who will be 15 in January, is a high school freshman. He completed his football season as a linebacker and guard by having the team-high tackles, an interception and touchdown. Next sport: wrestling. He's decided that girls are good and homework, chores and most conversation with parents is bad.

CHELSEA, 17 1/2, is a high school senior who is juggling early morning seminary, 4 AP classes, two rock & roll bands, a senior thesis, varsity sports, college applications and the hearts of a dozen boys. She's rarely at home during waking hours, so we may not notice when she leaves for college at (choose one) Stanford, USC, William & Mary or BYU.

JENNIFER does early-morning exercise workouts after she gets up at o'dark-thirty to see our teenagers off to early-morning seminary. She's brushing the dust off her painting skills at a weekly watercolor class, and attends a scripture study class and the temple weekly. Despite having one teenage driver, Jennifer is still in the "taxi years" with the rest of the kids, but is grateful for time in the car as a way to avoid all things domestic. She chairs the Ward Activities Committee, so it's always party time at our house!

KEN is still doing patent litigation at his D.C. law firm. Sometimes he travels for work, but it pays the rent. He traded roles again at church, switching from the seniles (the High Priests' Group leadership) to the juveniles (young men's presidency, where his main job is to help Spencer get his Eagle Scout award.) Ken continues to enjoy dunking Oreos in milk and has recently discovered the joys of on-line bargain shopping on craigslist.org to furnish the lake house.

This past year we enjoyed our traditional spring break getaway to Florida, gathered Ken's family for a reunion, and bought a little vacation house at Lake Anna, Virginia, where we hope to host extended family and friends (especially Tina and Ralph when they are escaping hurricanes, high taxes or during the summer).

We wish you a holy holiday season and pray for peace in the New Year.

Ravonne and Ian Ross

We have had another wonderful year in Florida. This is our second year in our new home and we have enjoyed the wildlife in our backyard. This year, a family of red crested cranes, (about four feet tall), have been walking through the yard. We live in a bird watchers paradise. We also have deer, armadillos and raccoons. A baby alligator has also decided to visit. He (she?) is about three feet long and quickly disappears if we try to get a picture. This is a good thing. We enjoy being able to walk out into our yard, get on the boat and head out to the ocean to do some snorkeling. We have yet to learn to fish, but our neighbor keeps us supplied with fresh fish when he goes out.

We were lucky to have Ken organize a family reunion last August. He rented a beautiful home in Lake Anna, Virginia. Everyone was able to come. It was great to get together with all of the nieces and nephews. What a great group of kids. We had a great time boating and jet skiing on this really warm lake. It was fun for us to get to know the younger children, then in the evenings, the adults and older children visited. We hope to be able to do something similar again in the future.

We had a bit of excitement here when Katrina blew through south Florida. We were lucky that she veered a bit south and didn't touch us. We watched with horror as she exited the state and grew to a monster storm that devastated Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Then Wilma decided to make a visit here. After being hit directly by two hurricanes last year, and the Katrina scare this year. We were prepared. We have a storm shutters that pull across the windows easily and a generator connected to whole house. We only lost power for five days! The weather was cool, which means in the 70's for all you northerners. It was spooky to see stuff flying over the skylights. During the eye of the storm, we surveyed the damage. It wasn't too bad. But, no one expected the amount of damage the second half of the storm caused. It was very windy, and with a little battery operated radio, we sat it out. Once again, we were lucky to have minimal damage. We keep thinking hurricane season is over, but as we write this, tropical storm Delta is just about to hurricane strength. Wow, what a season.

Ravonne is still working as a Nurse Anesthetist. She still loves her work and the group she is working for.

Ian is busy setting up a new computer system for a doctor's office. He is also working two days a week for a Veterinarian. He really enjoys working with animals and due to his years of medical experience, he is able to work with the vet in surgery.

We wish all of you good health and happiness this coming year.

Ansje and DeMoyne Oliver

This year has been an eventful year. I have officially retired as of this summer and am now enjoying being home and spending time with my husband and with my children and grandchildren.

I went to Tina and Ralph's during the summer and spent a week swimming in their pool and just enjoying the beautiful weather. This was while DeMoyne went to Holland, Belgium and Germany to the different pigeon lofts to see if there were any birds that he would be interested in importing for himself. We hope to go to Holland together next year!

We have been called as ordinance workers in the Jordan River Temple. We started in September and are really enjoying the experience of working in the Lord's House and doing His work. DeMoyne is also on the High Council and sometimes feels that all he does is sit in meetings on Sunday! I am serving as a Relief Society teacher.

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mike and Jennifer Blanchard

Well, it's "Another Day in Paradise" for us here in Las Vegas! We do love living here and not having to put up with the cold weather in Salt Lake!! I am working out of the house and still keeping the car washes running for Royce Industries. I take my two youngest children with me and they sit in the car and watch movies or sometimes sleep while I do what needs to be done. We bought another miniature dobbie this year. She is a red and we named her Bell. Bear, the other miniature dobbie that we have, is very protective of her and they play and "fight" with each other all day. We are going to breed them, so if anyone is interested in having a wonderful pet, let us know and we'll let you know when "it" all happens! I am still working as the Executive Secretary to the Bishop and feel lucky that I am not called "the Bishop".... We have four + two (dogs) kids! The dogs are almost as much work as the kids!

Jen is working with a real-estate investment firm and loves her job. She has also been certified as a yoga instructor and wakes up every morning at 4:30a.m. to go to her yoga class to teach. I personally think that it is crazy for anyone to get up at that time of the night, oh I mean morning. Jen was in the Primary Presidency in our ward, but our youngest, Alexandra, has a habit of biting children that are "littler" than her and so she is now the assistant nursery leader!

Aaron is 9 years old now and is becoming very tall. I have a feeling that he might be taller than I am when he gets his full growth. He loves to play soccer and has a big foot and makes many of the teams goals. He is a really good student, learning comes very easy to him, which is a plus because studying doesn't come as easy! The thing that he loves to do most is play on his gameboy!

Samantha is 7 years old and in the first grade. She is all girl and loves to play with her dolls and to read. She is just learning how, but loves to get books that she can read and read them over and over again. She also likes it when you sit down with her and read her a story. She is a good student and is now in the first grade and loves school. Sam also plays soccer and has been asked to play on a competition team. She is very aggressive on the field and if a 'boy' pushes or kicks her (even accidentally) she attacks! We have to remind her that it is a game and that he didn't 'mean' to push her!! She loves the puppies and they love her. She is the one that they come to when they need loves.

Shawn is 3 years old and is like the energizer bunny and goes and goes and goes and goes! He never runs out of energy, but when the 'battery' finally gives out, he sleeps very soundly (YEAH!). He loves his "gampa" and always either wants to stay at his house or for him to stay at his house when Mom and DeMoyne come to visit. It really upsets him when they leave. His favorite things to do is to play with swords and trucks, that is when he isn't getting into things that he isn't supposed to! He is faster than a speeding bullet in getting into the things that he shouldn't.

Alexandra is one and a half and wants to do everything that her brother is doing. He has taught her many things: dancing on the table, taking all your clothes off and then dancing on the table, climbing and how to get chairs to the right spot so you can climb to get the candy up high, coloring on walls and furniture while dad is in the bathroom, etc, etc. She is a REALLY quick learner! She has one other gift and that is ruling the roost... Can you see how talented she is? And she is only one and a half, just think what she will be able to accomplish when she gets older!

We want to wish everyone a Very Happy Holiday Season and a Wonderful New Year.

Matt and Natalie Blanchard

Well, we have left the cold of Salt Lake and have moved, permanently, to St. George! I didn't think that my wife would like it here away from family, but as it turns out, she loves it here and wouldn't even consider going back to the cold. We have found a home in a wonderful neighborhood and our neighbors are great. We have felt very welcome here. The reason that we moved here is because our electrical company was doing very well in Salt Lake and I wanted to spread out and so we picked St. George. We are doing great here as a company also and feel very blessed to be able to have all the work we have in both Salt Lake and in St. George. I am a den leader in the ward and work with the Bears. Natalie goes running on a daily basis with a friend, she gets up very early in the morning and runs before the kids are even thinking about getting up.

Jayden is 9 years old and doing very well in school. He is playing soccer and loves getting out and playing with his team. He has a 'big' foot and is really good at defense. He has a lot of new friends and they live right in the neighborhood. We have kids over all day long when they are out of school.

Brooklyn is 7 years old and also really likes school. She has made a lot of new little friends and we have a lot of little girls her age that live in our neighborhood. She wanted to model and this summer she was invited to come to a modeling seminar in Las Vegas. There were 500+ kids there trying out for modeling and TV advertisements. When it was all over there were 5 awards given out to those that had excelled in a certain category. Brook got the award for the Best Overall. She is very proud of that and at this time we are working with an agent to see if she will be offered any jobs. This has been a very interesting experience for us as parents.

Brendan is 5 years old and stays home with mom all day. He has a lot of new little friends in the neighborhood too and loves to go out and play with them. He is very smart and is taking swimming lessons right now and loves it.

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Kim and Jeremiah Bailey

Another year has already come and gone! We are doing great. Jeremiah is working in the office for Coates Bros. and bidding plumbing jobs for them. I am still able to stay home, I am watching just one little boy now instead of a house full of children, it's very nice! We went to Colorado during the summer for a soccer tournament for Colton and it was fun to be able to spend time as a family there. I am a "Soccer Mom", we have at least 2 to 4 games a week and that doesn't include practices! Jeremiah is coaching Braxton and Jordan's team and they travel from Orem to Logan. Colton's team is in first place in his age group and we are going to Orlando, Florida for a Championship play-off in January. We are going to be there a week and will be able to go to Disneyworld and some of the other parks in the area, as well as going to the games, it should really be fun!

Braxton is in 6th grade this year and is doing really well. His first love is playing soccer and he is a really good player. If you ask him what his favorite subject in school is he will tell you that it is 'recess'!

Jordan is also in the same grade and the same teacher as Braxton. He plays soccer and is the goalie on the team. He is really good in the goalie box and is upset when he misses the ball! He does well in school and is getting really good grades.

Colton is in the 2nd grade this year and he works hard to always do his best. He also plays soccer and his team took 1st place in his age group. They have been invited to go to the play-offs in Orlando and play against some of the best teams in the Nation. He is really excited to go and see how well they can do. Of course, he feels that they will win the whole thing!

Tierney is 20 months old and she rules the roost at our house! She talks very clearly and can tell you exactly what she wants. The boys love her and are at her 'beck and call' whenever she wants anything. She loves her brothers very much...

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ben and Jill Blanchard

We have had a great year this year! I am going to school and will be through with the classes that I need to take at the Community College in the Spring and will have an Associates Degree in the Sciences. I am then going to apply for Pharmacy School and hope that I am accepted and will then have 5 more years ahead of me and will have a Pharm D degree. It is still a long five years but will be worth it in the end.

Jill and I had our first baby this last October. He was born on October 28th and we have named him William Parker Blanchard. We feel so blessed to have a beautiful, healthy little boy and that everything went so well with the pregnancy and the delivery. He is beautiful and we are enjoying being parents (even the 3:00 a.m. feedings!)

We want to wish everyone a Wonderful Christmas Season and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!





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