The Davises of Newbury Park, The Barkers of Salt Lake City, The Kenningtons of Ontario, Oregon,
The Robinsons of Roseville, The Pimentels of Bakersfield, The Feddocks of San Carlos,
and the Kurts of Canyon Country, CA

The Davis Family Letter

Dearest Family,

 

I finally got around to making Laurel's fabulous Galette de Rois (you should hear Blair pronounce it!) and really enjoyed it.  Of course, I like anything almond-flavored, especially if it's in puff pastry.  Blair had his fill of almond-flavored things in France, so he didn’t eat much of it.  Nevertheless, it was wonderful!  Many thanks, Laurel.  I have a very good excuse to avoid making anything in the kitchen, but this recipe I'll make again.

 

We just sent Kathy and little 22-month-old Jane off this morning to go back to San Diego.  Kathy and her family were visiting her in-laws there while her husband, a high school teacher, has his spring break, and she drove up to see Dianne for a day and then us.  We took Kathy and Jane to an air show by the USAF Thunderbirds at Point Mugu, a naval base about 30 minutes away.  Although it was loud and we had to keep little Jane's ears covered, we enjoyed the outing.  

 

We look forward to attending two April graduations: one in Rexburg, where Stephanie will graduate in art education, and one three weeks later in Provo, where Mark will graduate in industrial design.  Now they just need to find jobs!  On the way up and back we'll visit Mom, LaMar, and Grandma, as well as Blair's family, so it should be a delightful trip.  We'll stay a couple of extra days at Mom's on the way home, during my spring break, so Stephanie can paint a leafy vine on Mom's wall.  I look forward to watching Steph do this!

 

Christine's oldest, Matthew, just turned eight and was baptized by his father.  We're envious of the other grandparents, who got to be there in the Netherlands, but we're glad at least one set of grandparents could attend!  We talked to Matthew the next day, and he was very excited about it.  I'm sending a nice CTR ring and a "Future Missionary" badge to him.  Also, Matthew and I have been sending a few email notes back and forth in Spanish and Catalan--that is, I write in my fractured Spanish (with a translation), and he writes back in Catalan (wth a translation, fortunately).  Both are spoken in Barcelona, where their family hopes to be by late summer.       

 

We have arranged to have new double-paned, gas-filled, specially-coated replacement windows installed throughout our house.  That should save us money with our heating and cooling, since all we have now are 40-year-old windows of 1/16"-thick glass.  We're amazed with all the special features built into windows these days.       

 

We are waiting daily now to hear from Tim and Jayma about the birth of little Ansel Grey Davis.  Jayma's actually due in mid-April, but we know that babies pay little attention to the calendar.  We'll visit them in early summer when I'm out of school.  Jayma and Tim plan to move into their new house in Naples, Florida (where they already are), a week or so before the baby's expected birth.  They decided to buy rather than build, and we hope they'll have enough help with the move from their friends in the ward, since Jayma will be in no shape to do much.

 

Dianne's 6-year-old Ethan is starting his season as a player for the Dodgers, one of the Shetland League teams named after professional teams.  His uniform is the familiar Dodger blue and white, and he is so excited he can hardly stand it.  We plan to drive down and cheer for him at some of his games, as we did a few times last year. 

 

Natalie, whose term at BYU will finish in late April, plans to go directly from Provo to Nauvoo for a friend's wedding and a week of sight-seeing.  Doesn't that sound like fun?  Lucky girl!  Then it's back home to work all summer.

 

We expect to have all three of our unmarried children home for the summer, and we look forward to it.  They are such fun to have around, especially now that they're grown. 

 

I love my calling as Gospel Doctrine teacher.  It came as a bit of a shock to realize that I wouldn't be preparing a lesson for Conference Sunday, or for the Sundays I'll miss for the graduations.  But I'll be back!

 

The school year can't end soon enough to suit me.  I just got through a major College Board Advanced Placement audit--something all AP teachers have to undergo this semester to ensure that classes labeled as AP actually meet AP standards.  I'm waiting to hear if I pass or will have to amend my syllabus.  I've also gone through the time-consuming operation of selecting students who meet eligibility requirements for the course.  These, and the pressure to prepare my AP students for the test in May, have me counting the days until school's out.  No one, not even the students, is more eager for school to end than the teachers!

 

We are delighted about Bret Pimentel's engagement.  Congratulations!

 

Love to all forever,

the Davis family

The Barker Family Letter

Dear Family,     

Time does fly!!  Things just keep happening and I can't keep up very well.  I haven't gotten much past Christmas yet.  I love Family Letters!  We have had a cold winter, but today, it is wonderfully warm.  It was almost 50.  What a change.  We still need more snow.      

Hopefully, the snow for this weekend won't cause problems for Brigham and Kristi.  They will be moving into their Condo.  It is in Saratoga Springs and they are VERY excited to have their own place.  they have been living here since they moved from her Aunt's basement apt.  It has been fun having Audry here.  She is 4 and as four year old(girls) go - never stops talking.  We will miss her.  Hopefully, all will go well.     

Wiley will graduate in the spring.  Kate will only have to do her student teaching.  Then off to Law School for Wiley.  We will keep you posted.  They are doing well and will be here this weekend to help Brigham move.  Mike, Becky and boys will be here to help too.  Becky does Spanish Insurance translation work from home and needs to come down this weekend for some training.  Perfect timing.  She won't be much help with the moving.  Their newest baby boy is  due in April.  That is three.  We will have fun here.  Mike is very busy with work and church.      

Jonathan has a new JOB!!  He is SOOO excited!  He will be one of the assistant Prosecutors for Green county(Springfield, Missouri.)  That is just what he wanted to do.  Springfield is a beautiful city about 3 hours south(east) of Kansas City.  They have been down to look at houses and love the area.   A friend of JD's has a sister who lives there now and will help them where she can.  They have two stakes there.  Madi will start school there in the Fall.  She will be 6 in August.  How exciting!!     

Andy and Chrystie have a new baby girl.  She is 3 months old.  We went down to see them in December and really had fun with them.  We left Salt Lake in a snow storm and when we got to Florida, they were wearing parkas and mittens.  They were COLD.  We were wearing shirt sleeves.  It was in the 50's.  Isabel is 4, Kevin is 2 and little Elizabeth is as sweet as can be.  She has wonderful cheeks.  Chrystie enjoys being at home with them.  Andy loves his work as the Area Defense Council.  He loves the Air Force.  If he signs up again, he will probably have to go to Iraq or Afghanistan.  We will see what happens.  He has been in the AF for almost 4 years.      

Jenny and Greg are still plugging along.  Jason is learning to read and loves it.  He has lots of fun in First Grade.  Sydnee is 3 and would be in charge of the world if you let her.  She is the crabbiest one, ever.  We tell Jenny, JUST WAIT.  I am sure Mom said that lots of times.  If Sydnee wasn't so cute, we would have left her on the corner long ago.        

David has been quite busy at work, lately, and adding that to his calling, he doesn't have much time for much else.  He still takes good care of me.      

I have been changed from my old job to a new position.  Did I tell you?  I am the Secretary of the Tech squad.  It is NOT the most exciting job there ever was.  Quite the opposite.   A lot of the support was moved around and I was moved to the squad that would not be 'too much' for me.  NOW, instead of having LOTS of work to do each and every day,  I have a thing or two to do almost every day.  The day I do the agent's time(payroll) is the busiest day i have.  On my squad I have Tech agents, ET's and computer people.  Exciting.  Nice guys.  One of the computer guys told me that when I come to the squad, I had better bring my knitting.  Even they know how unexciting that squad is.  I am doing OK, so far.  There is lots of construction going on and I have moved  to a different floor for now and then I will move again.  Now, my squad is not even in the same building.  Every day is an adventure.      

I am looking forward to the spring weather.  It will be nice to be able to be outside.  We miss you all.  We love to hear about what is going on.  We are the luckiest people because we have each other in our family.  That is the greatest thing ever.                                       

Love to all of you  Karen and David    XXXOOO

The Kennington Family Letter

Dear Family,

It's been a normal spring, i.e. up to 80 one day and raining and cloudy the next. Clint and I were able to take a few days off to drive along the Columbia River Gorge to Portland to an Oregon Dairy Farmer's Association meeting. Altho the meeting was rather discouraging, since the Oregon legislature and governor are not very rational when it comes to farm policy, we went to the beautiful Portland temple for a session and it improved everything. It reminds us however of why we like living in a rural area.

We appreciate hearing Mom's updates about Grandma H. and LaMar. It is hard to go through things like this. We are experiencing watching Clint's father's life change when his wife died and helping him cope with things she used to do for him that he took for granted. It reminds us to appreciate each other while we are here. It also reminds me to throw out all the stuff in my house I don't want my children to have to deal with when I die, and to make things easy for my heirs the way Mom and Dad have done.

Vanessa and Mark are going to town redoing their yard. All my children seem to be natural farmers and can't wait to get their gardens into shape. The same with the Sniders in Yakima, and Conrad and Sarah who have a gigantic yard in Boise. Casey and Katie have started making shipments of belongings to Ontario from Provo for their eventual move after they graduate, and Jeff got an internship at the Idaho National Engineering Lab in Idaho Falls. This is a great job for BYU-I engineers.

It's been a year since I was called to be Relief Society president and I'm quite enjoying it. I have great counselors, our ward ladies are wonderfully compassionate, and because I'm the RS president I can't be asked to go to girls' camp! I'm just getting too old to sleep on air mattresses. We had a terrific Mother-Daughter Around the World enrichment, and of course I was part of Japan. We did origami, I made fortune cookies (even if they are Chinese) and I finally wore the kimono Casey sent me from his mission. It's very pretty but I don't look nearly as striking as Christine Kurt wearing her vintage kimono. Plus the big bow on the back makes it hard to sit anywhere, and it kept catching on things. We even made passports in neon colors with little photos of each girl & mother, with a colored stamp for each country (Japan, Hawaii, Mexico and Holland.)

Clint is trying to keep the farm together for another year, until Casey & Katie graduate in December. Tyson is taking care of all the animals with Onorio, our hired man, while Clint does the irrigation, a big job. They plan to double the size of the milk tank, build some new calf pens and a new dry cow shed. Fortunately we are doing pretty well in spite of two very bad years in a row! Mostly because we raise our own feed and have no debt.

I have been substituting quite a bit lately since it is the end of the school year and teachers are taking their personal leave days while they can. I'm getting to know a lot of the Special Ed. students since I am one of the "approved" subs for them. (Some subs are upsetting to them!) It is really rather fun to spend time with those kids.

We finally replaced our 30-year-old self-stick tile and shabby carpeting downstairs with some gorgeous Italian porcelain tile. We had it installed and it looks so nice, and should last forever or longer. Plus I repainted and put new molding around. It's almost too nice for us! But we like it!

Love forever,
The Kenningtons

The Robinson Family Letter

Dear Family,

How can time be going so fast?  My biggest news is that I have given notice at work.  My part time job comes complete with a full time workload and I can’t keep up anymore.  I have been thinking about this for months and finally talked to my boss about it at my year-end review.  I did get a promotion and a raise, but won’t enjoy it for long.  A lady that used to work for Health Net, but was laid off nearly 3 years ago, has interviewed and accepted the position.  We will overlap for a week.  If it were someone unfamiliar with the company, it would take longer.  I have no regrets, at least until my checkbook realizes something is different.  I have plans to attend the temple on a weekly basis, look into some volunteer work, and of course see Clementine whenever possible.

Speaking of the temple, Craig and I had the opportunity to clean the temple one night.  Twelve people are asked to sign up, but only eight showed up.  You wear work clothes (!) and must have your recommend to get in.  They give you white scrubs and socks you can put over your clothes.  It starts when the last session is almost done and takes about an hour and a half.  The deep cleaning is done on Monday mornings, but it is cleaned six days a week.  I cleaned bathrooms.  They have a list of exactly what to do and in what order.  Craig vacuumed, mopped and dusted in the baptistery, laundry, lobby area and some hallways.  The vacuum strapped on to his back and one man thought he looked like he was wearing a jet pack and would take off any minute.  It was a very nice experience, although a late night when you have work the next day.  We would like to do it again.

In the meantime we are planning some trips.  After our annual trip to Washington DC in April, we are going to spend a few days in Boston.  Craig Jr and Rachel got married there, but we really didn’t see much besides the temple as we left after the sealing to upstate New York for the reception.  This time we can do some of the Boston stuff. 

In May we’ll spend a few days in Japan as Craig has another meeting with the NEC officials there.  I think I will be the only spouse this time and so I wish we would be there the same time as the Kenningtons as I recall not all of the subway stations have English directions and I seem to have a problem knowing which direction is which when I come out of any subway, anywhere.  Hmmmm Also in May, we will visit Craig and Rachel in Arkansas for the long weekend over Memorial Day.

Then in July for pure fun and not affiliated with work at all, we are going on our second cruise!  We will be cruising the Baltic Sea and stopping at many capitals, starting and ending in Copenhagen.  We are quite excited, and if we ever need an excitement boost, we can take another look at the Davis’ DVD from their trip to Denmark.  Fabulous!  I need to order some different currencies from the bank before we go so we can have some in hand when we arrive.

We are lucky to see Genna and Jeff often and they come to Sunday dinner a time or two a month.  They are now the proud owners of a very cute Bassett Hound puppy.  He has LONG ears and sometimes steps on them or bites them.  He has a deep bark and can bay like hounds are supposed to.  You would not believe how soft he is.

Craig and Rachel are busy and doing well.  Rachel had a girl’s weekend in February with her mom, sister and sister-in-law in Chicago where a conference was that her mom was attending.  Doesn’t that sound fun?  Too bad Rachel’s flight home was cancelled.  She stayed an extra night all alone in a very nice hotel.  Last week Craig was at a college in Rhode Island for a job fair.  His flight was cancelled as the plane was damaged somehow.  It was going to take 2 days to get him out.  Instead of staying in an airport hotel, he rented a car and drove 3 ½ hours to Rachel’s hometown and stayed with her sister’s family until he could get home.  Thankfully, he had a suit with him so he could attend church in church attire.  I say they should not be flying without each other any more.

We visited with the Myers in Truckee and got our Clementine fix.  It had been about a month since we had seen her and, although they are very good about sending pictures, we needed to see her in person and get kisses.  She can stand on her own for a short period of time and is cruising around all of the furniture.  She’ll be walking soon.  She is very busy.  She knows where the Tupperware cupboard is and loves to play with all of the pieces.

Heather got a new company car and was a bit dismayed when someone hit her and the plastic fender actually shattered.  Now it is in the shop for a month.  Meanwhile she is driving a rental that she likes better than the car she has.  They had a chance to stay in Napa for the mustard festival (no mustard ice cream or fried mustard, thankfully) and brought their bikes.  She was amazed how much easier it was to ride bikes as it was all flat!  They rode 30 miles one afternoon, with Clementine being pulled along in one of those enclosed baby carriers.  She took a nice nap.

The Saturday afternoon of General Conference weekend, the Pimentels visited the Feddocks, so I invited myself over, too.  That was a very fun time.  The men went to Priesthood and the women talked non-stop and had a shoe fashion show since Sarah and Andrea had very good luck at their favorite shoe store in San Francisco earlier that day.  Laurel made a delicious dinner, including dessert.  Yum.  I do wish we could all live closer.

We love you!
The Robinsons

The Pimentel Family Letter

Dear Family,

 

Our most exciting news, by far, is that Bret is engaged to Leslie Green!  She is a first year Ph.D student in Consumer Finance at Universtiy of Georgia.  Bret met her at the singles branch and she is from Logan, Utah.  They are getting married on August 9 in the Logan temple.  This is all new for me!  I did call her Mom yesterday and we had a nice conversation.  I have spoken briefly to Leslie, and got some email from her.  Ron met her when he was in GA on business, but I haven't, and don't know how easy it will be to meet her before the week of the wedding.  Ron thinks she is a good match for Bret.  I do trust Bret to find a good wife for himself!

 

We went up to the Bay Area for conference weekend to visit Andrea.  It was a wonderful trip!  We also got to see assorted Pimentel relatives and on Saturday after the 2nd session of conference we drove down to Laurel's house and met Linda there.  We had dinner and the men went to Priesthood meeting while we chat, chat, chatted away.  Always fun to meet up with some sisters! 

 

We are headed up to BYU graduation at the end of the month.  Roger will do an internship at one of the edgiest, hippest ad agencies in the country in Boulder, CO.  It doesn't start until the first week of June so he will go to San Francisco for a month and see if he can find some free lance work while living at Andrea's place.  She moved from Alameda to San Francisco in January and now has room for guests.  He will probably job hunt in San Francisco when the internship is over, but will also check out ad agencies in New York and Miami.  We'll have to wait and see where he ends up!  (I am hoping for San Francisco--way closer!!

 

Ron is into a new quarter at school now.  The dental practice where I am working is growing and Dr. White is now at the Bakersfield office 3 days a week rather than 2 (he has another practice in Mojave).  May marks our three year anniversary in the singles branch.  Our RS pres just got married last week so we are on RS Pres #6! 

 

Love you all!  -sarah

 

 

The Feddock Family Letter

Dear Family,

I have been or-EE-blay (that's "horrible" in Spanish) about staying in touch with my family, especially family letters. So, here's the latest . . .

The four of us celebrated the bliss of our 20th wedding anniversary together. Two weekends ago we went on an overnighter up the coast to a small town called Fort Bragg. Four hours away. Two things we wanted to see/do were the Skunk Train and Glass Beach. So we left home early Friday morning and arrived in time to get deli sandwiches and hop on the Skunk Train. It's a 4-hour, old fashioned train ride through the forest. It was very beautiful, green, and shady. After that we went to nearby Glass Beach. Apparently, it used to be a dump where people would toss their junk (in the 40's) right on the coast. After many years of the ocean pounding the broken glass the shore is now covered with polished glass pieces instead of sand. Well, the sand is underneath. For dinner we went to Denny's and ate as much breakfast as we could. We love having breakfast for dinner. We ate so much that we actually didn't want ice cream afterward. Now that is something. We stayed at a motel that night, right on the beach (not Glass Beach). It was great fun. We woke up to rain in the morning. Lots of it. It rained all the way home. It was great to have our two darlings along. They are very fun companions. We are happy they both seem to like us, too.

On our actual wedding anniversary night Michael and I went out to a nice dinner. When he wants to say that we're splurging he says we can each get our OWN taco at Taco Bell instead of us sharing one. What a sil-head. We did NOT go to Taco Bell. It was a real restaurant. In fact, when they learned it was our anniversary they insisted dessert was on them. Taco Bell wouldn't have cared.

Breanne has had her driving permit since November. She is getting better all the time and is pretty natural at it. Like anything, driving is not as easy as it looks. She hopes to fulfil her 50 hours of practice driving soon so she can get her license. When it's only 10 minutes to seminary and church and school, the hours don't add up very quickly.

Little Michael has always had trouble breathing quietly while sleeping (much to his sister's chagrin). He does have some mild asthma which makes him cough when he runs a lot, so he uses an inhaler daily. Anyway, with that and a daily prescription nose spray his sleeping was a little quieter but still a lot of mouth breathing. He is VERY highly allergic to dust mites, dogs and cats. They make him cough and his nose runny and sneezy. Poor little guy. We finally took him to an ENT and she recommended to get his tonsils and adenoids out. This is the big news around here. That will happen in June after school gets out and Bree and I return from Girls Camp. Kaiser tries to not take out tonsils like doctors used to all the time. (They yanked mine at age 4). Anyway, that should help his night breathing and quality of life. When he first heard the diagnosis in the doctor's office he teared up and was so worried. We talked and talked about it. I was glad I could remember a few things about my experience to share with him. He just wanted me to keep talking. By the end of the day he seemed disappointed that he has to wait two months. He is most excited about being in a hospital bed for the 4-hour recovery time afterward (it's outpatient!) and eating at the hospital. Hmm! I remember them putting a black rubber thing over my mouth and nose and I fell right to sleep. I didn't like that Mom couldn't spend the night with me at the hospital. I also wasn't thrilled that the nurse took away my tray of food because I wasn't able to say I wasn't done yet because I couldn't talk yet. I remember a neat little wooden puzzle Grandma Redd gave me when I came home from the hospital, and milk coming out my nose. That's about it. Well, it was 40 years ago! Gosh, I never thought I'd be throwing big numbers like that around. June 27th is the date.

He is very popular with the mothers of his classmates because he is such a thoughtful, well-mannered boy. One mother recently told me that he is BY FAR her favorite boy to come for a play date. That is very heartwarming. Although I realize our children are not the challenge some others are. We just adore them both!

We (and Grandma and Grandpa Feddock) recently went to see the little Bubster receive a Student of the Month award at school for Outstanding Achievement in Reading. He is quite the amazing little reader. He even has no problem reading the scriptures. It looks like he will probably excel in language arts like his sister does. He has a great vocabulary, too. That probably comes from living with three adults. He often asks what words mean, then he starts using them.

I'm relieved our annual Stake Women's Conference is over. That was my biggest worry this year, planning and executing it. It was simpler and shorter than past ones. We had a keynote speaker talk about the concepts in the book "A Heart Like His" by Virginia Hinckley Pearce. What an excellent, very readable book. Then we divided into discussion groups to delve a little deeper into it, then a Costco luncheon afterward. We also recently had our semi-annual stake leadership meeting where we have all the ward Relief Society presidencies come to hopefully be uplifted and go home with new, helpful ideas. We centered this one on the Worldwide Training Broadcast which was all about teaching. They seemed to enjoy and appreciate it. I absolutely love and appreciate my counselors and secretary SO much (and they know it). They are the BEST. I couldn't survive without them! Heavenly Father lead me to each one of them. There is a story behind calling each one. Wow. My testimony really grew just choosing a presidency.\

Michael-the-hubby is thinking about preparing to begin training for the St. George Marathon again this year. He's looking for motivation somewhere. Anywhere. Yes, Mom, if he is able to do the training we would like to come visit you two over October conference weekend (if not before!). Don't worry about it right now. We'll touch base about that after the current health issues settle down. I just spoke in another ward's ward conference on Sunday. It seemed to go just fine. It was on the 3-fold mission of the church. I recently realized that the 3-fold mission is really just 1-fold broken down into three more manageable parts. It really is to bring the gospel (more specifically ordinances and covenants) to all. To those who have died, those who are still living, and those who are already members. Was I the last one to figure that out? I especially enjoy going to each ward council before their ward conference. Are all stakes as wonderful as ours? I hope so.

Michael is very much enjoying his early Saturday morning walks and bike rides with his high school buddy, Jeff. Last Saturday they rode 24 miles in the beautiful hills. They are hoping to do a really long ride (24 miles is not long) for their 50th birthdays next year. It would be a multi-day ride. He and Jeff go to the gym twice a week and talk like Arnold Schwarzeneggar to each other.

He spends a much of his free time helping others, often his parents. He and two of his sisters have been working on clearing out the garage, and also preparing the downstairs for the next renters.

It looks as if the Carol and Mike Feddock family Alaska cruise will not be happening after all. It turns out one of them is not excited about being on a ship. I know it's not for everyone. Instead, we plan to congregate at Karen and Kurt Wiest's home in Seattle where they just moved after Christmas. They have a nice, spacious home next to a forest. We can do day trips or just "hang." They are a fun group to hang, chat and do jigsaw puzzles with.

The Michaels and I went to the stake center to hear a man in our ward give a presentation about designing and building the new Stanford football stadium. He was the head architect on it. He showed us some slides of the old stadium (it was 84 years old and not so safe anymore) and the new one being built and finished. In fact, they started on the old one the minute the last home game of the season was finished. They started digging up the field right after the game ended while the fans were still in their seats, and finished the day before the first home game of the following season. It took a record 42 weeks to complete it. Wow! It's always so wonderful to see my sisters. Michael is so dreamy, never wanting to miss out on a visit either. Sigh!

On Saturday of General Conference weekend, Sarah and Ron came to San Francisco to visit Andrea. While they were nearby the three of them came to visit us. We are about 25 minutes from SF. And as you probably know the gravitational pull of two Redd Sisters together is too great to resist for any other Redd Sister within 200 miles, so Linda came to join us. She had a terrible drive. It should have taken her a little over 2 hours to get here but the traffic was so bad, for some reason, that it took her FOUR hours to get here! What a trooper. We ate and gabbed, two things we are good at. Then Ron and Michael went to the Priesthood session. They wanted to go but didn’t want to miss anything at home. Michael felt rewarded for going when at the end of their meeting he heard his favorite rendition of “Be Still My Soul.” It was all men, of course, and a capella. It is really a goose-bumpy song! Wow.
I have decided to learn to read notes playing the guitar. I can read the chords that are written on a grid that tell you where to put your fingers, but I have wanted to learn to read notes. I bought a book at the music store which is actually used at the college level. It has been fun and not difficult doing this. I'm not that far but I can open the Primary Songbook and play the melody and a few chords of just about any song. Breanne and her Dad have borrowed a violin to teach themselves to play that. They haven't gotten far on that because the violin is much louder than a guitar and we are having noise issues with our upstairs neighbors. When (and if )that's ever settled they'll get started.

That's about it for now, kids!

We love and miss you all, the Feddocks

The Kurt Family Letter

Dear Family,

Peter is very busy as Scoutmaster; gearing up for Scout Camp this summer.  He is chairing the Silent Auction / Boy Scout Fundraiser next month.  It will be a spaghetti dinner, silent auction, with Scouts providing entertainment.  They will be performing a few SELECT camp songs and skits.  He hopes to bring in as much or more than last year.  He has been training new employees, training community members and law enforcement, and being trained to be a Tazer trainer for his entire department. 

Jennifer has been keeping busy on the Activities Committee and has decided to go back to school.  Her work will pay for tuition, but we will have to pay for books.  She will graduate as a Civil Engineer in 6 years or so, from CSUN (starting with as many College of the Canyons online classes as possible); starting in June 07.

This last January, Christine turned the mighty 16.  She is taking her driving lessons and is racking up the minutes behind the wheel… 50 hrs (10 at night) needed, including her 6 hrs of lessons, sounds like a lot, but we are doing our best to get as much practice in as possible.  She is looking forward to dating, but the guys in the ward are more of the buddy category, and Stake dances are good enough for now.  As parents, we are good with that.  She has invited several of her school gal pals to the LDS Prom in May… but first she will model some modest dresses at the Stake fashion show… who knew?  She’s not the girly type, but seems to be slowly sucked in to the whole thing.  She received a drawing tablet from her Uncle (Peters brother) for Christmas and has been putting it through it’s paces… she is very good at drawing on the computer (she is a pixel artist) and in her sketch book.  Christine is currently a Mia Maid counselor.  She has applied to Academy of the Canyons – a “Middle College High School” which is located on the campus of our community college “College of the Canyons”.  She hopes to attend in the fall for her Junior and senior years.  The classes that she takes will be counted as College and HS credits, as well as any electives that she takes will be college level in her choice of subjects… it’s a safe bet that she will look into the animation / art programs.  The whole things is run by the regular HS district, so it doesn’t cost us anything, other than college text book for the classes she takes opts for – ouch.

Nick recently turned 14 and was ordained to the office of Teacher shortly there after.  He was hoping that the Fast Offering rounds were a thing of the past, but not so… As all the children are expected to, he attended one Stake Dance, and that seems to have been enough for him.  The music was too loud and not to his liking, so I think that he will be home more than his older sister.  He loves to read and devours books at every possible minute – he has even borrowed several of Peters books.  We have applied for him to attend an “Early College HS” next year, much like Christine… but it is on a different campus.  It, too, is college geared, but is not on a college campus.  The idea is the same – that the HS credits will translate easier to college and will have credits ahead of time.  We hope that the condensed, intensified curriculum will be of more interest for him, and that he will blossom there.  He is SO intelligent, but gets bored in regular classes.  He and his dad are talking about his upcoming Eagle project.  We are excited to have this move forward and he seems pleased at his own progress.  He has a few more merit badges to complete; Scout camp should help with that.  He really likes to cook and is quite good at it.

Jake is 10 and is excelling in school.  He is taking more care in his work, and is doing better all around.  He is very smart, too, but seemed to be rushing through his work… his teacher loves him – he is helpful to her and other students around him.  Jake builds the most intricate and complicated creations out of Legos – moving parts, secret compartments and unique configurations.  He takes good care of his little sister when he is asked to.  They fight quite a bit, but a moment later, he is helping her do something beyond her capacity and then they go back to fighting…

Katie is 6 and turning into quite the grown up girl… Although, her “little sisterness” shines through often enough.  She can scream louder than anyone I know!  She makes friends so easily, and is as smart as her older siblings.  She befriended a 7-yr-old boy down the street, and now he spends every afternoon at our house, playing with her and Jake.  She also spends time with a classmate around the corner (named Kristine).  She is her daddy’s girl.

Peter and Jennifer spent a childless weekend in Palm Springs for our 20th Wedding Anniversary – we didn’t want to go home, but missed our children.  We are thinking that a yearly trip away might not be so bad…

We are all reasonably healthy and happy.  Love, The Kurt Family

 

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Sept. 2006 Letters
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