I thought that some of you may not know why we call our newsletter OTHERS. This will show you something about the humor that was always present in the family.
Greetings from MERCED.
We have been very busy as school is starting for many of us. CHRIS is in his final year (thank goodness) of his Masters program at UC Merced, and will graduate this May. He is taking a light load so he can focus on his thesis, which has something to do with groundwater moving into the Merced River, and chemistry. Other than that it all comes out as “blah blah blah…”.Chris assures us that it should be able to bring about world peace. Chris has enjoyed walking the town for Prop 8 on the weekends, and unlike many other people in our ward has not been yelled at once.
EMILY is busy as ever getting the boys ready for school, working out, keeping the house, tutoring math in the evening, and doing her calling as first counselor in Young Womens. Emily has joined a “boot camp” class at the gym that works her over three times a week. Make sure you buy your tickets to her “gun show”; it is impressive.
JACOB has started kindergarten and loves it. Jacob is a standout student and going to be the first kid to earn a reward by knowing his letters, counting and behaving kindly to others. Thanks to Emily, Jacob will be able to pass off his kindergarten requirements in about a month and will begin his 1st grade curriculum. Jacob has also been working on his bike riding in the afternoon, and can’t wait to ride to school with daddy.
JACKSON is as cute/bruised as ever. He has a new found hobby; potty training. Jackson is well on his way to becoming an official “big boy”. We are proud to announce that Jackson has made it through all of summer vacation free of any major accidents or trips to the hospital.
Motschiedler Madness
WADDELL'S
LUCAS is the man of many tricks. He's trying to whistle, can throw kisses, play peek-a-boo and loves to wave at oncoming strangers in the store. He's still not walking, but perhaps that's a good thing now that I recognize what exactly he could be getting into if he were.
ERIC is busy busy in Kuwait. There was a humorous incident on their base with a suspicious box locked inside a bathroom stall which they had to disarm a few weeks ago... X-raying it was a challenge from most angles, so they just disrupted it's circuits. Turns out it was two oscillating fans in a giant cardboard box. He was called all day from Generals on the base wondering why he blew up the bathrooms stall.
CARALEE got a day off on Labor Day! YEAH! Marcy was kind enough to babysit while she, Timmy and Emily Butler went to Timmy's race in San Francisco for the day. They enjoyed the weather, the race, the food and the shopping all in 12 hours. It's nice to get out! She is learning to sew from patterns lately, making baby items for her pregnant friends.
WARD WIDE WEB
JEREMY began his new job at Computech and is surviving the first month quite well. He is getting to know the staff and enjoys spending more time with his dad, who is the librarian at his school, every day. He alternates between driving his "new principal truck" and his eco-friendly motorcycle to school each day. Did your principal ride a motorcycle to school?
JENNIFER has been busy reading some good books this month. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleed Hosseni was splendid reading. She also managed to read 3 of the 4 Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer. Did the house stay clean, you ask? Why of course, but the kids may have been a little stinky...
TREVOR is the big 4th grader on campus. He loves school! This year has started off better than any other year for our Trevor. He has a great teacher, a solid group of friends and he chose to do Cross Country for his extra-curricular activity. He has the best attitude for homework and reading - he even picked up a book just for fun!
LOGAN has Mrs. Logan for his 2nd grade teacher. Homework and reading time are not as easy as Trevor's, but he does have a good attitude about it all. The little incentive program we came up with is working wonders! He is all signed up for soccer and has all his gear. Practice starts next week.
LIZZIE is the lone cousin around our compound. All the cousins her age have started school and she no longer has a built in playmate every second of the day. She and Mommy have been playing school, dress up, games, reading, watching Super Why! and doing chores together all day long.
JACKSON (A.K.A bruiser) got a couple of good ones this week. He got slammed in the face with a door and fell off the golf cart smack onto his forehead - all within a day of the other. He looked like "camouflage kid" the way the bruises turned black, purple and green. He also had his first visit to the dentist. He was not a happy camper until the dentist declared, "All Done!" He was quite proud of his super clean teeth.
DAILY DURAN:
THOMAS has been very busy with his new calling and working on getting a new business started. Our current business will be feeding into the new one, which will be along the same lines as what he used to do with air conditioners and duct systems. He just got his H-vac contractor’s license which was the first and biggest hurdle. He had been studying hard and passed on the first try! This is a difficult test that many guys have trouble passing after taking months of classes. Thomas is also getting ready to start his 2 masters programs at Fresno State . Last Sunday the Lundines (Amy's Sister and Family) stopped by for a quick visit and Thomas made a really yummy Mediterranean chicken lunch for them.
The last couple of weeks I have been preparing for and starting my first week of school as a Kindergarten teacher. I decided to take the job in San Joaquin . It’s a 45 minute commute but it has been fun so far, and interesting. I have a class FULL of ELL (English language learners) students and quite a few of my students don’t speak any English at all. It’s a good thing Kindergarteners are fast learners. The school is the only elementary in a very small town surrounded by fields. 100% of the school is on free lunch. Most of the poorest schools I've seen in Fresno have high percentages of free OR reduced lunch but this is the first I have seen where the entire school is on the FREE lunch program (not even reduced). Very different but they are good kids. I had a blast at the Whiting Reunion last month! It was fun to have all sorts of activities and sporting events to choose from all day long. My favorite were the dances, going out to the cave, seeing all the kids rolll down the hill in the pipe and swinging on the rope swing, and just being with everyone.
Amy
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