Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Memoir from Marci

Merry Christmas 2015

2015 has been a great year! GW was released from the Lakeside 6th ward bishopric last month and was called to serve in the Provo West Stake High Council. He has been assigned to work with the Stake RS Presidency. That will be is exciting for me since I'm still serving as the 1st counselor. GW went to his first meeting last Sunday and is feeling a bit over whelmed, which is putting it mildly, so we will continue to pray for him!!

Jacob is dating a really nice young woman named Brittany. We really like her and I think Jacob does too.  He continues to go to UVU studying computers and works at one of my favorite stores. (Costco!) I'm glad he still comes home to eat and do his laundry or else I would really miss him.



GW and I took Jen and Jewels on the FrontRunner Train last week so we could visit one of Jessie's former companions who served in San Diego.  Her name is Sister Weidman and she is from Switzerland. She is now serving back at Temple Square and was a delight to visit!
Before meeting Sister Wiedman we had dinner at the Lion House and took Jewels around to see some of the lights since she has never seen them before during Christmas. It was a very cold and windy night!!

On the way home one of the FrontRunner trains south of us had hit a deer near Lehi Utah. We waited a loooooong time to get going again. In fact we were asked to get off our original train and wait for the UTA bus to come pick us up.  It was a very cold hour waiting outside in the dark. One baby wouldn't stop crying and an elderly man was struggling to keep warm. We all tried to huddle around one of the rest stops that weren't designed very well to keep the wind away. GW was a good sport even though he had wished he brought his thick winter coat!

When the bus finally arrived there were too many people to accommodate, so a new train arrived and couldn't continue. We quickly got on #2 train and even though it wasn't moving we enjoyed the warm heater!! Jewels had her Ipod so we played fun games with it and made fools of our self. Nobody really paid attention to us since they were listening to their own electric devices and it helped the time pass a way. Finally we were on our way back home and the time was around 9:00 pm when we arrived in Provo. We left Salt Lake City at 6:30 pm so it was quite the adventure for FHE.



Jen finished another semester at UVU in Biology Education. She seemed very happy once it was over and has really enjoyed the Christmas Break.. Right now as I write this post she is with the rest of the family watching the new Star Wars movie. Jacob bought tickets last Friday and reserved the seats. All last week Jen, Jewels, and Dad watched all six former Star Wars movies so Jewels would be prepared for the new Star Wars today. I've had a cold all week so I will see the movie another time.

Jen quit her janitor job at the end of August and started a new job at UVU as a tutor for one of the Biology classes on campus. She was a janitor for almost four years before she left on her mission and then she got hired back with Provo School District last year. I think she is glad for a change and it will probably be a good experience for her to help teach Biology since she starts her student teaching next year.


Jewels is wearing the new San Diego hat Jess bought for her birthday. Sister Weidman had it in her locker at Temple Square so she could give it to Jewels when we showed up. Jewels has had quite the year starting with a fun summer trip to Washington D.C.. She went with some of the Dixon Middle School students and teachers. She was gone for five days and had a great experience. Then she participated in Provo High's Summer Marching Band. During the fall the band took 2nd place in most of their competitions. The end of October the band got on two buses and traveled to California. Jewels has been very busy with Band, BYU Dance, piano, and homework!!



The highlight for me this month was talking to our Jess on skype for Christmas. It was so nice to hear her voice and feel her love. One of the hardest things for me as a mother has been letting go of our children as they have grown older. If the gospel wasn't true I think I would be a basket case sending our missionaries to different places in the world. My testimony has grown so much and I'm thankful for the Holy Ghost who has comforted me. I am truly blessed!



Tonight GW and I get to tour our new Provo City Center Temple. I'm really excited since it is only eight minutes away from our home. Jen has been a Temple worker this last year up on the hill. She hopes to be serving in the new temple after it is dedicated.

               
                                                          Families are Forever!