Michael: Son, Brother, Father, Uncle

Michael passed away on February 5, 2009

His funeral services were held on Thursday, February 12th, 2009.

His son, Jamin shared some thoughts at the funeral.*


Thank you all for coming today. Your support in being here means the world to us, and we look forward to swapping stories and memories with you after the service.

Today I would like to share with you the most important thing my father ever taught me. But before we dive into that story let me preface my thoughts by saying this. My father and I often did not see eye to eye, nor did we always understand each other, but we loved each other. I know this is true because he is the only person who ever broke my heart. Now with that said I will return to my story.

I am not going to tell you some quaint anecdote given to me on the end of a pier fishing at dawn, or a stoic statement muttered with his last breath. Instead I offer you a worldview I know to be true. My dad was cursed, cursed to die! You may ask, how can man who spent his life being a missionary, a pastor, and a defender of defenseless children be cursed? Surly a man of so many good works hangs in the positive of universal justice. What could he possibly do to get cursed? His curse is not the result of some horrible crime done in the dark of night, in fact his curse is the result of something outside his control...he was born. Now before you think too ill of me let me say I am cursed just as my father, and so are you. This should not strike us as scandalous, we all know that some day we too will die, and someone else will have to suffer our loss as we suffer dad's today... and why you ask, SIN.

In Romans 5:12, we read;
“sin entered the world through one man, and through sin - death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned.”

What hope is there for us cursed sinners, for all of us who are promised death? Simply Christ Jesus alone. Just as God has promised death for all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, He has promised eternal life for all whom, by grace through faith, repent and believe that Christ death propitiates for our sin. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23
The good news is, all that Gods law requires is given by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says,
"For by GRACE you have been saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as result of WORKS, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for GOOD WORKS, which God PREPARED BEFOREHAND so that we would WALK IN THEM."

Christ offers you eternal life. When one has eternal life, that Christian will live forever, and because of the gift of faith he or she will never die.

In (John 8:51) we read .
Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."

(John11:26)and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Eternal death has no hold or authority over such a Christian

(Rev. 20:6) tells us.
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Death has been forever conquered by Christ's death and resurrection

(Is. 25:8)
He will swallow up death forever;
 and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
 and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
 for the LORD has spoken.

1 Cor. 15:53-57;
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

 "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory?
 O death, where is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(2 Tim. 1:9-10).
God who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, Death can now no more touch the believer in Christ than it could touch the exalted Lord Christ in all His heavenly glory.

(Heb. 2:14-15)
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

(Heb. 9:26-28).
For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Eternal life now envelops the follower of Christ forever.

Romans 8:38,39
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is my heritage. This is the legacy that my father has left me, this is the legacy I hope to pass on to my children. Christ was crucified for sinners like me and the promise of eternal life in Christ. And I hope that some day at my funeral my children will stand in front of a room full of people who took the time to come and remember the man who took time from his life to make theirs better, for Christ sake. And they will say come join us in eternity, please come join us in Christ, I want you to see my father and to meet his father.

The greatest thing my father ever taught me was beautifully summed up by our church fathers like this: I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen

In closing I would like to paraphrase a prayer for us that a friend offered up for me. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Lord, comfort us right now. We see and feel the effects of the Fall even now. I thank You that Jesus, our Man of Sorrows, familiar with death and suffering, knows how we feel. I pray that You would grant comfort to us, and to our families. May the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His conquering of death cause us to look forward to that Great Day of our Lord's Return, when death, the ugly intruder that it is, will be swallowed up by life. Amen.


*If anyone would like to share another story or memory of Michael please feel free to leave it here in the comments or send an email to Jennifer to share with the family.

Michael's Funeral Slideshow

OTHERS March 2009

============NEWSLETTERS==========

FRESNO BOGGS - 2^nd month in a row!

JONATHAN has been working, hiking, working, walking on the treadmill, working, doing church work, working and working some more. He needs to get a life. We spent 3 wonderful days in Monterey celebrating our 21^st anniversary. It was great and relaxing (and I did not work). Thank goodness for free hotel nights from traveling for work.

CLAUDIA: Maybe if I start backwards this month I can remember what I’ve done. Jonathan and I had a very nice stay in Monterey this weekend. We walked around all the shops and enjoy the beautiful bay. We went to the Monarch Butterfly Grove and saw reindeer instead of butterflies. We enjoyed the rain. Went to church-it was amazing the ward members were all on time. As we drove out after Sacrament meeting the cars were parked along the long drive way, double parked in the parking lot and lining the street which was on a steep grade—good reason to be on time. 21 years together and still having a “wonderful” time. I was asked to speak at Enrichment on my relationship with Jonathan and specifically our communication skills; which was nice, reflecting and evaluating our relationship. Seminary and work are going well. I’m glad we had the chance to attend Michael’s funeral and to visit with family. Three stages of his life joined as one. We will miss him.

CHELSY: Well lets see.....Not much has changed since last month. I've been working more hours (thankfully) at work do to the unfortunate loss of our copy and print manager....I think I have done more copy jobs in the last week then I did in all of Jan. and the first half of Feb. I'm sooooo happy now that I can have texting (its coming soon). Other than that everything else is the same. According to my bishopric I have become a little social butterfly. I am spending almost more time out of the house than in it. I spend most of my time with 3 of my best girlfriends watching movies, going to the mall, having hot tub parties, going to dances, and staying out late....expect on Sunday-Thurs. (mom and dad re-instated my curfew :,( i guess i stayed out too late a few too many times). Oh and one last and final thing. I am soooooooooo looking forward to my b-day in just a couple weeks cause i will finally be out of the -teens....Im turning 20!!!!!!!!!! :P

ASHLEY is now especially excited for life. I have it all planned out… well, sorta… at least now I have goals. Well, starting with what’s happening now, I am in a musical for my stake! I am one of four dancers, (two of which have been dancing sense almost diapers, YIKES) and im lovin it! I can now officially drop flat into a perfect split (that’s hard) I am now confident enough to throw my body into the air at crazy speeds (UH OH) I can easily do the vertical splits (takes a lot of balance) and do all that while smiling =) whew… so you should all come to the musical to watch me and david! The performances are on: Saturday March 14, at 5:30 and 7:00 and again on Sunday March 15 at 6:30. so be there! (perfect chance to laugh at me if you want)

So as for my school life, its going pretty cool. And I have officially decided that I want to get my Ph. D. in Nutrition by the time im 32. I think that’s a pretty good goal. One that im going to have to work hard for. So that’s me in a nutshell (literally) Oh, and Caralee, thanks for the FUN day. It definitely was exciting!

DAVID: So... like ashley i'm in the stake musical except i'm not one of the dancers. i'm a premortal. yep a premortal. i'm going to be above stage level with three other people... =D School is ok. today the freshmen at edison registered for their classes and my electives were (in order from most wanted to less wanted) AP Music Theory, French 1 (i'm switching from German), and theater 1. i only get one elective unless i take marching band which takes place of p.e. band is a seventh period so i figured i'd have two elective classes. o boy i'm stuck. c u soon =D *_~


SNOW FLURRY

Things have been absolutely crazy this month. Rabilin is 8 weeks from delivering our third child. It's a girl. We are thinking we are going to name her Elodie, like melody without the m, but can't decide how to spell it AND haven't been able to come up with a middle name yet. She took two trips to Nevada this month. The first one was with Quinten and Charly to Mesquite for Mike's cousin's wedding. Mike came down after a couple of days. Then this last weekend Rabilin and Charly flew to Vegas for Sage's baby blessing. Rabilin is very glad to be home for a while. Now she can get her house cleaned up and ready for another baby.

Mike is loving his job as a Saralee bread vendor. He likes the fact that he can do his job and just go home when he is done. He was just called to be the Sunday School President this month and he is waiting for them to call his counselors, hopefully this Sunday. He and Quinten got to spend a very fun weekend together while Rabilin and Charly were in Vegas. They went to the Dinosaur Museum and to the ice cream parlor and to see "Bolt". Busy busy boys...

Quinten is three and full of energy. His favorite teddybear's head started to come off so he had to go to the doctor to be fixed. He was a brave bear and got a small baseball glove, ball and bat for being to good at the doctor. Quinten loved to spend time with his dad. He kept commenting on the size of the dinosaurs that they saw, whether they were bigger or smaller than he was. He loves being a Sunbeam and going to Primary now and his teachers are really good.

Charly is 19 months and talking up a storm. Rabilin decided that she talks too much after spending 5 days in a car and hotel with her. She is stubborn and knows exactly what she wants and she give up until she gets it. She loves to go to nursery and is content to just sit and sing songs the whole time. All the other mothers who stay in nursery with their children want to know what we have done so she is just fine with us leaving her. Charly loves her brother and wants to do everything that he does. It's kinda fun to watch that bond grow between them.




MERCED BUTLERS

We had made a bet on how long it would be till Jackson (the accident prone one) would wind up in the ER this year. Much to our surprise, it was Jacob who stepped up to the plate and took one for his little brother in a big way. While attending the Merced Criterium (Timmy’s bike race) a cyclist went out of control and plowed through Jacob going about 30 mph. Jacob sustained a broken collar bone, split chin and an assortment of road rash. Mental note; get rid of the sign that says “Don’t Crash”. He will be in a sling for about a month and isn’t allowed to run around or use his arm. Luckily, Jacob is still the smartest kid in his class, but is going to have to write with his left hand until his right arm heals. Maybe we’ll get a south paw out of this. The following is a link to his injury pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbutler01/JacobSBikeRace?authkey=Gv1sRgCO2Jvfr42ZHvYw#

Jackson is as cute as ever. People who are not in our family are finally becoming able to understand him. Jackson has somehow managed to stay out of the hospital this year and for that we are grateful. Hopefully he is not saving up for something big. Otherwise Jackson is enjoying playing at home with Mama while Jacob is at school.

Emily is super busy with her calling in Young Women’s. Emily, as many of you know, has discovered Facebook. She picked it up to be able to get in touch with the young women in the ward, and is now the coolest leader they have ever had. Emily is still tutoring almost every day and is looking forward to the end of the school year.

Chris says that he is getting close to finishing his Thesis on rivers and groundwater and chemical something or other. He is planning on graduating in May and is beginning his job search. We are all excited to see Chris finally be done with school, but not sure what he has been doing or what he will be doing after he is done. Chris is also super excited to be able to use his new sewing machine and tailor some of Jacob’s clothes to make them more functional while he has his collar bone injury.




WARD WIDE WEB

JEREMY had a super busy month at work, but that is for another time. Here's what Jeremy did for fun this month: he took the scouts up to the snow for their annual snow/cabin overnighter and brought home a truck bed full of snow that provided hours of fun for the kids. He also took Jennifer out on Valentine's Day for a fun-filled evening of food, friends and laser tag!

JENNIFER has been happily busy with her new calling in Young Women's. She is the secretary to a busy group of girls! She started up a new blog (click here to check it out) to keep the parents connected with a calendar of planned activities and to record all of the events that take place. She also got to teach the first Sunday lesson to the whole group of girls and leaders. She does a new bulletin board, scrapbook page for the 2 spotlights, puts out a newsletter and sends out letters to less active girls each month all the while attending the weekly activites.

TREVOR just finished his Blue and Gold dinner for cub scouts. It was an All American themed night. The boys planned a potluck pasta meal that was so yummy. Each boy made a cake for dessert and was given a participation award. Trevor got the "Liberty Licious" award for his most awesome cake.

LOGAN is always up for a good time. He tagged along with Jeremy's scout troop on their snow adventure and had a blast rolling around in all that fresh snow. He came home and played for hours in that snow pile in the front yard. Logan lost another tooth this month - he's lookin' a little jack-o-lanternish these days. He has 3 empty spots where he just recently lost teeth and one permanent tooth halfway grown in. Check out his smile if you get a chance - it will make YOU smile.

LIZZIE broke her pinky toe! Can you believe it? The first person in our family to break a bone was our little girl. She was at a birthday party at Pump it Up (a bounce house facility), was coming down a slide, and caught her toe just right to break the bone clean in half. Long story short we ended up at Valley Children's where they put her in a full walking cast for 4 weeks.


JACKSON is a big boy now! He finally climbed out of his crib and into his new big boy bed. This new sleep location has caused a rift in all of our sleep habits. Lizzie now shares a room with him, Jackson refuses to stay in bed, Trevor and Logan get "body slammed" while they are sleeping, and mommy and daddy don't get to go to sleep until Jackson finally passes out. Jackson is no longer allowed to nap during the day, but consistently falls asleep at about 6PM because he is so worn out and then stays up late into the night due to this evening nap.

OTHERS Februrary 2009

Say hello to our newest family member!! Sage! Email Lloyd for details...

============NEWSLETTERS==========

McCrary News,

We have had a good month and took MLK Day off and went to a place here called Fat Cat’s. We rode the bumper cars twice and bought a bunch of tokens to play the arcade games. Then we went upstairs and they have a place called I-Fly and we watched people put on their suits and fly in the wind tunnel. Katelin has decided she wants to do this someday very soon. Say it with a whine: “It’s only Fifty Bucks for two minutes mom.” Like that’s going to happen anytime soon. On Friday nights we have a tradition to have Friday Night Movie Night at the McCrary’s. Sometimes we Redbox a movie and other times we check one out from a friendly neighbor. This month we found a new one at Redbox called City of Ember that the kids liked a lot.

John has had a particularly busy month and with his work he has traveled to Boise, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Rexburg, Twin Falls, Meridian, Nampa, Coeur d’Alene, Spokane, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Kalispell, Butte, Bozeman, Billings, Logan, Layton, Ogden and Bountiful. Actually, this is all his new territory and he just needed to see every part of it in the month of January to then decide what is most important to work in the future. Every time he came home the kids would rush him with the “I love you daddy” hugs and kisses. Thank goodness for cell phones. We talk to him morning and night and sometimes in between.

Carolyn was the family planner, homework helper, go getter and would plan a date every time John got home. We discovered a really nice Japanese restaurant this month that is really small and only open certain hours with reservations. So when you come to visit we will take you there. Then other nights we would either watch a movie after the kids went to bed or hit other restaurants. John and Carolyn went out and bought a Bosch Mixer (such a good idea) a couple of weeks ago and she has made a bunch of stuff. The Kitchen Aids gears were getting stripped trying to knead the dough. (Not a good idea.) The Bosch is mostly for breadmaking and she is quickly gathering bread recipes to try. Everything she has made so far has turned out exceptionally delicious. Katelin even told her one day that that was the best bread she had ever eaten. Next week she is going to try a multigrain bread recipe she just acquired over the weekend. Ella keeps telling her that she is AMAZING this month. What a good daughter.

Katelin did a cool book report this month on a non-fiction book and she had to make a pamphlet. The book she read was on Cheetah’s. So she got to use the internet to get pictures and made the pamphlet on Microsoft word. It turned out really professional looking. She enjoys riding her scooter to school on good days, but doesn’t like “Killer Hill.” It is a steep hill that goes straight up (10 times the height of Heart Attack Hill) and it is so tall that they have to stop and rest halfway up at the designated rest stop tree. The best part is riding home because she gets to ride down Killer Hill. Katelin went on a field trip to a local ski resort and took lessons and then when skiing all afternoon. She had a blast and is determined to make sure the family goes together before the snow melts. Like that’s going to happen anytime soon. She said she went down like 25 times and loves the ski lift.

Jacob is doing really good in school and is one of the best readers in his class. He also really likes math and loves science. He wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. He also loves riding his scooter to school and his favorite part is also going DOWN killer hill. Jacob is our families official mail getter after school and loves to have snowball fights with his sister and friends. He also enjoys shoveling snow piles and making huge footprints all around the yard with his snow boots on. Jacob started piano lessons this month. He is very excited about it because if he takes piano lessons for a year then he will be able to take violin/fiddle lessons next year a get a pair of cowboy boots. Then after he learns the violin he wants to learn how to play the banjo like his Grandpa Scott. Then he wants to learn how to play the drums. He likes any song that has a cool new beat that incorporates the fiddle played fast.

Ella oh Ella. We pray for our little Ella daily just so she won’t kill herself. One day she was wearing her socks around the house (it’s cold here) and did a cartwheel off one of our bar stools on accident. She also slipped and fell on the hardwood floor twice and landed flat on her back and head. A few days later she decided to take the office chair on wheels over to the pantry to sneak the chocolate chips and eat them before mommy found out. While she was on her tippy toes the chair moved and down she went. And this was only in a span of three days. This is what we deal with every day every week. it’s scary! The first Sunday of going into Primary she was walking down the hall to go to Primary and she was telling all her friends at the top of her voice that they better be going to Primary because it was time for Primary and they need to go to class so she can see them in Primary. No crying went on there. She was EXCITED and wanted the world to know it. She still thinks the music director is her teacher and her favorite time is singing time. She comes home and stands up on the bench seat we have at the base of our fireplace and wants everyone to listen to her sing. This is what she has started doing now since they won’t let her sing in front of everyone at church. She tried that twice in the last couple of months. No fear, loves to sing and talk, a social butterfly and loves chocolate. What a girl!

Waddell's

Really, another month has gone by?! We are down to about 2 1/2 months remaining until Eric comes home now. YEAH! Eric is super busy with Top Secret missions right now. We can't talk about it, so DON'T ASK!! :) Lucas gave me a scare by choking on a piece of a chicken nugget last month. I gave him the Heilmlich and he survived only to spend 16 hours total in the ER following the incident. Poor guy. No lasting damage done though, except for his newfound hate for nuggets. Hmm... Lucas is now in Nursery officially, thank goodness. I can actually myself as well as the teachers talk in church now. Yippee!!

The Fresno Boggs: We found something to do for Family Home Evening – Write our newsletter!

Jonathan started the year by going to Ft Lauderdale , Florida for a couple of days for a meeting in the 83 degree weather. I arrived at my hotel at 5 pm and went to my room on the 11^th floor. Then I went down to the 5^th floor for a meeting until 11 pm. Then back up to my room on the 11^th floor. The next morning I went back down to the 5^th floor for another day of meetings and then went back up to the 11^th floor. Then finally I was able to go outside to walk the block to the required group dinner. Finally about 9 pm that night, my boss and I slipped out and went for a walk down to the beach two miles away. I stuck my hand in the Atlantic Ocean and we turned around and walked the two miles back to the hotel. The next day at lunch, a group of us scarfed down lunch and went for a walk outside just to get some air. That night the same group went to dinner real far away from the hotel – just outside the door on the patio. The following day after meetings till noon, I flew home. Great trip but don’t ask me anything about Ft Lauderdale.

This is the year that every student from grades 1-8 is supposed to be getting a new Language Arts textbook. Of course I want to sell all the ESL students my book. So, I am swamped contacting all the schools from Stockton to Bakersfield saying “Do you want to buy my book?” Now all we have to do is see if the state is going to have any $$ to pay for all my books.

Claudia: This past year (2008) seems to be a big blur, maybe posting monthly would help. After 4 ½ years serving as the Stake Young Women President I was released. I don’t cry often when I’m released from a call but I did this time; it was difficult leaving the young women and my great counselors. I now teach seminary which is my new love and refiner. I work part time at Cottage Quilts in sales, shipping and receiving; our store is online. I also teach beginning quilt classes. I designed a pattern, a simple receiving blanket using a self mitering technique. Two more new pattern designs are almost completed. My company name: Seamingly Easy Designs, clever-don’t you think? I’m currently designing the floor plan and displays for our booth in 3 quilt shows coming up this spring. I also do most of the displays in the store. My father past away in August, it was a very sad time for me. The joyful part of the loss was the opportunity to have my immediate family in town; it was the first time we were together in many years. (I do have a brother with MS who could not attend.) Over all, the year has been pretty good to us. We have had some challenges (Jonathan getting mugged, Ashley stopped breathing); we have also had very joyful moments. The best was a visit from an unexpected loved one. We have great kids; we love to have them around and do many things with them. One of our trips took us up to Yosemite to go ice skating, the trip was just breath taking; it was so beautifully white, crystal like. Truly a winter wonderland! Pismo was great too! Well many things are coming back to mind...but I’ll stop... I don’t want to be long winded or boring. This year we’ll check in more often with new update and news.

Chelsy: Well lets see if I can sum up what I have been doing this month....Driving my parents crazy and up the wall...Yep that should do it. I have been having a blast hanging out with a group of people from my ward. We do something every weekend. It ranges from girls nights to midnight movie nights to hot tub parties, and not getting home till the wee hours of the morning (5 am i think was the latest i stayed out). I have re-joined choir and am in charge of the music for Relief Society. I help out with Break the Fast and Linger Longer. I do the ward bulletins. I have just joined the Temple prep class. I am currently not in school, so I am just working now. Speaking of which, I am looking for a part time job on tues and thurs mornings, preferably secretarial work. If you know of any can you give me a call? Pls? Other than that I am loving my life and having a blast with my best friends...Peace Out :P

Ashley is up to her usual no good, but then again, what else is new? Other than chasing boys, runnin up the phone bills, not to mention the medical bills, and dancing till I drop (literally), there’s not much to report! =) so that was a lie… my life has been pretty fun! I was doing Color Guard, and had a great time with that, but the drama got a little to crazy, so now im gonna try some new stuff… I did manage to land my self in the hospital (at least I didn’t break any bones this time) because my genius self decided to stop breathing… (actually, it was my revenge at mom for making me turn off my movie and go back to bed =) so that was exciting. I managed to hide my boyfriend from my parents for eight months… but they found out ( of course) and now im grounded till im 85 =)… Im going to be in our stake musical, ONE of FOUR dancers, so im a little nervous, i have never danced ballet, but here I am, doing advanced jumps… YIKES! You should come and watch! Its gonna be on March 14 at 5:30 and 7:00 and again on March 15 at I think 6:30, but we’ll have to check on that. Im loving my foods and nutrition class, and Ive finally decided that that’s what I want to do with my life… so… I don’t know what else to say… but that’s me! oh ya, im looking for a job starting this summer, so if you know any, let me know!

David went to pismo, the channel islands, music camp at lake sequoia, and practically everywhere else this past summer jk jk. Now all I get to do is go to school. BORING!! Any way I did turn 15 last month and woo hoo!!!!! Just a question; any body have a horse I can have because I don’t want to be my own pack mule at philmont in new mexico this summer...??? I do also want to go to music camp again but the first time I asked I was told I had to pay my own way. Anybody need their lawn mowed or windows washed? no wait I still have to get parental permission about that... I’m coming up blank on anything else...

WARD WIDE WEB

JEREMY has been super busy with work. "What does a principal do to keep so busy?" you ask. Well...he's been busy putting together a training meeting for his staff, a presentation for the district's principals, and working on an application for the National Blue Ribbon Award. He's also been coordinating all the scouting activities for the ward - overnighters, court of honor, calendar, and regular activities. He also took Jennifer to the high school musical - Titanic. He loved seeing his nephew star on stage.

JENNIFER hosted a lovely baby shower for Amy. All the Fresno Boggs Girls were there. It was so nice to see everyone, eat yummy food (there will be another post with those salad recipes very soon so stay tuned!), and watch Amy open girly gift after girly gift. That girl, her name is Bella, will the the cutest thing around.

TREVOR was a wrestling fool in January. He did not get to wrestle at one of the matches - an oversight by someone in charge - and that was made up to him at the next match. He wrestled THREE times! Jeremy got to be there to see it and Samuel and Gramma Elizabeth and his other gramma. He did so good - especially when Uncle Samuel yelled out the moves to help him do better. Trevor also did the pine wood derby this month. The best part was choosing a design and making the car.

LOGAN did the Polar Bear Plunge on January 1st. This little tradition began 2 years ago. All the kids jump in the pool on the first day of the year - no matter how cold it is outside. Logan loved it! He did the whole thing with a smile on his face. He also made his first pine wood derby car - he won't officially be a scout until May, but they let him compete this year anyway.

LIZZIE turned 5 years old in January and asked if she could go to kindergarten the next day. She was so disappointed when she found out that she'd have to wait until after the summer before she got to start school! She also started taking gymnastics at the same place that does the dance lessons. No more dance - just gymnastics. She's getting better at that cartwheel every week.

JACKSON is learning how to climb out of his crib. Finally! He's almost 3 years old! We took a family train ride to Hanford inspired by Jackson's love of trains. This boy was in hog heaven the entire ride!

The Boggs Girls Baby Shower for Amy & Baby Bella

The Boggs girls got together at to shower Amy before little baby Bella arrives. She's due in 2 weeks!!

All the ladies helped out with dinner - we dined on delicious salads, bread, and pink punch! Pink for baby girls!! Amy scored with all kinds of hand made baby blankets, cute bows, diapers galore and cute cute clothes. Now we just need a baby to put all these items to good use.

Here are all the ladies that were there.

Melody & Amy/guest of honor

Ashley & Claudia

Elizabeth & Mica

Suzanne, Caralee & Allyson

Chelsy & Gma Boggs

Lori & Byron

Jenn and her 2 girls Lydia & Cambria

Jennifer with Jackson and Lizzie

The whole group.

It was a great night of family and fun. Thanks everyone for coming and making it such a special time for Amy.

Recipe-of-the-Month

Artichoke Dip

1 15 oz. can un-marinated artichoke hearts
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
1 4 oz. can chopped green chilis or 1 Tbs. canned chopped jalapenos
½ c. mayonnaise
4 oz. shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all ingredients together except 1 oz. of parmesan cheese. Heat in oven for 25 minutes or until warm. Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese evenly over warm dip and cook 5 more minutes. Serve warm with pita chips.

OTHERS January 2009

Put these Boggs Family Dates on your new 2009 calendar:

May 10th: Mother's Day Desserts at Gramma Boggs's
6:00 PM Gramma's house. Bring a dessert and sit and visit for awhile.

July 4th: Fireworks at Durans
Bring a chair and some food to share. We start when it starts to get dark or when they just can't wait any longer to blow something up!

July 17th- 24th: Pismo
Crowd in with the Durans in their two campsites if you want to come but didn't make a reservation. We have room for you. (We will expect delicious food items to be paid in exchange for rent.)

July 24th: Gramma Boggs Birthday Dinner
Dinner out with gramma after we all get back from Pismo. Gramma, start thinking of where you want to eat.

November 26th: Turkey Bowl
Same place as usual - on Armstrong between Shaw and Gettysburg Ave. Treats at Marshalls after someone else wins the Trophy. (Not sure how this happened but right now the trophy is at the Duran's !%#)

November 26th: Thanksgiving Dinner
This is the Boggs's ON YEAR. Everyone and their gramma is invited. We will be having dinner at one of the church buildings and will be playing games in the cultural hall (right Jonathan?).

December 19th: Boggs Christmas Breakfast
9:00 AM at Gramma Boggs's Clubhouse. What assignment do you want this year?

Any questions about these calendar items can be emailed to ELIZABETH.

BCB 2008 Slideshow

For those of you that were not able to attend our Boggs Family Christmas Breakfast - we missed you! And for everyone that was there - thanks for making it such a nice time. The food was tasty, the crafts and games fun for the kids (and adults), centerpieces and table decor were perfect, gift exchange story new and also quite fun, singing time was rousing, nativity was pulled of nicely - with only 2 angels this year and one Mary, and my favorite, the dancing Marshall boys were a hit! Special thanks to ELIZABETH for organzing and coordinating the whole thing.

(**Do not forget! Mica opened the Turkey Bowl trophy during the gift exchange! Then there won't be any unnecessary searching for the trophy come Thanksgiving next year.**)



Thank you to Stephanie for these 2 excellent videos from our BCB 2008. Enjoy!

The Nativity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG7IsjJzk54


The Marshall's Sleigh Ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Clcs0RqWYc



============NEWSLETTERS==========

WARD WIDE WEB
Holiday traditions take over our lives during the month of December - decorating, school events, shopping, parties and everything else that comes with the season. Here are a few highlights from our busiest month of the year!

We did the BCB.

We did a long overdue 10th anniversary photo shoot.

Trevor started wrestling. Check out that singlet!

Logan lost his 2 front teeth! Just in time for Christmas!

Lizzie performed in her first dance recital.

Jackson continued his obsession with trains until he fell asleep mid-play. (He also got his first black eye that week - look closely and you can see a little purple around his eye.)

Three days before Christmas we went up to the Tenaya Lodge for a quick one night trip. The kids love to swim in their heated pool, go ice skating and play in the snow. We woke up in the morning to a beautiful white scene out our window. The snow was coming down as we were all still warm and toasty in our beds. It's a fun tradition we do each year that relaxes us before all the craziness begins.


Happy New Year!!




Waddell's
Lucas is now 17 months old and December was exciting for him in many realms, one of which was decorating and undecorating any Christmas Tree he came across. There were just too many ornaments that looked like his favorite toy, the "ball." He got a DVD player for those long car rides to Clovis and loves his new magnet farm toy as well. He's easy to please!!

Eric has 3 1/2 months to go. He spent his Christmas at their office/shop/bomb storage, where they had a Pizza party with his men, but unfortunately the pizza was terrible tasting. He is super busy as always, and counting down the days until his return.

Caralee is also counting down the days until her babysitter, I mean Eric returns. She is ever so busy with her calling and is sewing, sewing, sewing up a storm. Spring classes start soon and she's excited about her new classes!

La Familia Duran

We were expecting a somewhat quiet holiday season since our family has dwindled in size, but to our surprise this was one of the most busy and fun Christmas's we have ever had. In two weeks time we attended and participated in 18 extra events, shows, and parties - taking food to each one of course - and when that was all over it was time for a mad wrapping of presents to be ready in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Now, with an additional 5 lbs around the waist, we sit as zombies. Well, only because we are finally out of chocolate - the one item which has sustained us due to its constant supply throughout the past 30 days.

Jordan & Stephanie had a good Christmas and made it to every party that they needed to. As well as working like dogs and trying not to go crazy while doing so. Jordan was expecting to have tons of hours but was glad to see he didn't have as many as he thought he would. Stephanie picked up as many as she could so she wouldn't be bored this holiday time. They are both glad to have the business slow down so they can take it easy for a bit. But that wont last for long.

Mica has discovered life with an ipod. Now that she is connnected she surfaces only for food and water.