From Mom (October 2009)

October 14, 2009

Happy 7th Birthday to Janelle! We hope you have a great day!

Sunday evening we went to a family history meeting. Monday we took the grandparents to Manti for the funeral and the luncheon. It was nice to see lots of the relatives. We got home about 5:30. Merrill and Nelva and Arnold drove to Manti the night before just for the viewing. We were sure tired--though all we did was sit all day! We have Ensign Club tonight. Shane is coming to lunch today, which will be nice. Tomorrow we'll plan on going downtown after our weekly Area Adviser conference call. It will be a long day since we have to be at the Pioneer stake at 7 p.m. to present a training meeting for their consultants and priesthood leaders. Saturday we have the Granger West/Tongan Stake family history fair.

Next week will be busy. Tues. we are doing a training meeting in Holladay stake. Wed. we have a large priesthood meeting held by the Area Seventy for the entire Murray Council (11 stakes), where a couple of the managers from downtown will come and present. We don't have to do anything. They want to do these big priesthood meetings all around the valley for our 16 coordinating councils. We will attend as many as we can. Lane's brother, Brent Summerhays (he is one of the top managers in new FamilySearch), will be one of the presenters. And Lance McIntosh, manager of worldwide support for North America and Canada (he is also over the Area Advisers in N.A. and Canada, so we work closely with him). Then Lance, Brent, and we will meet with some stake leaders after for a short meeting about some future plans for the valley. Thurs. we are presenting a big training meeting for Murray South and Murray North stakes for an hour and a half. This will be with powerpoint, and using new FamilySearch live with their wireless, so that is always scary that your equipment or the internet won't work well. Plus we haven't got it all put together yet. We aren't really adept at creating powerpoint slides. We mainly take from many powerpoint presentations we have that others have given us, but I would like to learn more how to do it. They don't want us to repeat from the meeting the night before for the priesthood, so we have to come up with some new material. I'll be glad when that meeting is over. Sunday, the 25th, we have two meetings scheduled to do. At 2:15 in the Bonneville Stake and at 6 p.m. in the Tongan South stake.

We just heard this morning that there's been a change in high councilor in the Bonneville stake, so he might want to postpone. I hope so. We had a combined RS/priesthood group to do in the Yalecrest ward on Sun. Nov. 1, but he called this morning and said they'd decided to postpone until the first of the year, so that they would have new FamilySearch rolled out. We're glad. That gives us 2 in Jan. so far, but now is busier. The third and last group of Mt. Timpanogos stakes received their 1-week go-live notice this past Mon. the 12th and the first group of Bountiful stakes received their notice. Shane said he registered for new FamilySearch and had some questions for us today. Nelva's stake went live on Monday, so they will have to go in and register and give it a test-drive. new.familysearch.org So they will probably start one of our 4 temple districts getting their go-live notice this coming Monday. We know which, but can't say. Exciting times! We've working towards this for years. We'll all be on before Christmas (except the 5 Asian temples). But it is sure keeping us busy! You can follow the rollout at: http://75.101.166.20/utahidaho/news_updates.html by clicking on the temple districts in the lower group. Announcements are made on Mondays and usually updated then. Once in awhile it takes them till Tues. to update the lists of stakes being announced.

Grandpa just called and said Nelva and Arnold are coming up today and taking them to lunch, so that's nice. We can't join them this time. We'll be visiting with Shane and I can't handle two big meals in one day or two shots that close together. So we'll join them next time. Have a great day! love, Mom

October 20, 2009

Wendy, thanks for your letter and I loved reading your fun blog. Thanks for sending some of your news so that grandparents (without internet) can read some and then included your updated blog link, which is a reminder to me and easy to click on. www.wendyjensen.blogspot.com

I've been under the weather with a bad cough for several days. First my head hurt bad from coughing and now my ribs hurt from coughing. So we probably will not go downtown tomorrow and just work from home.

We have a training to do tonight at the Holladay Stake, so I hope my voice holds out and I don't cough too much. It is also our Terrific Tuesday in R.S. I may go just for the dinner--it depends on how I feel by then. I forgot about Terrific Tuesday when I accepted the training request.

Tomorrow night we have a big priesthood meeting with the Elder Curtis and the Murray Coordinating Council. So I will probably be the only female with 11 stakes of priesthood leaders!

Thursday night we have a big training meeting for two of the Murray stakes Consultants and Priesthood Leaders. So I have been busy working up a powerpoint presentation. Other leaders downtown have been good to give us their powerpoint presentations, so I have at least learned how to modify their slides and create some of our own to add. We may use the powerpoint tonight also, as a practice for the larger meeting on Thursday. They won't have internet tonight. Thursday we will try using their wireless internet to demonstrate new FamilySearch after the powerpoint. They want us to take an hour and a half, so we hope it isn't too long and too big of a dose!

Our last Thursday night training at Pioneer stake went well. We just talked and didn't use a powerpoint. Powerpoint just kind of reminds you what to say and when to say it.

The rollout has started in our 4 temple districts. Most of the Draper stakes received their 1-week go-live notice on Monday. "news and updates" you can click on Draper temple district for a list of stakes--Scott's is one that received notice. Next Monday they should send out the rest of the Draper notices and start on another temple district at the same time.

We're glad Wendy's family is feeling better. Corin has been sick.

The big expensive house across the street is for sale------any takers? It's only a million + $dollars and has a swimming pool---I would love that!

love, Mom/Margie

October 23, 2009
Hi kids,

We got a new bishopric today: Craig Anderson, Bishop. Wilford Cannon, 1st Counselor. Kelly Nash, 2nd Counselor. Tom and Kathy Kelly announced that he'd been called to be a mission present--to be announced later. (He served his mission in Italy.)

Sandy dropped off Conner and Kadan Friday about dinner time and Jen and Gray brought their 4 youngest for us to tend while they went to Desert Star Theater. We and the 6 boys had a nice roast beef dinner, played "Wii Outdoors" that Jen brought (and left with me for awhile) and all the boys but Cooper and Colton watched "The Last Mimzy." Landon was off with the scouts overnight.

Saturday we worked hard with Conner and Kadan--worked them for 7 hours, so they could earn money. We got a great deal done to winterize our yard and then they cleaned the garage when it started raining. Then Sandy picked them up around 5:30 p.m. She had an overnight Mother's retreat in Park City.

Cayson fell off the bathroom counter and broke his arm Sat. Sunday, after the Primary program, Conner drove Chris and Cayson to Springville to the nearest Instacare for x-rays. It is broken near the shoulder.  They had to wait 2 hours the waiting room was so full. Hope they didn't pick up the flu while there!

We presented a training meeting at the Tongan stake tonight to about 40 people. I'm still coughing and not quite as hoarse. It went well. 4th meeting this week! I'm ready to collapse for a few days---but need to get my newsletter ready to mail out Sat.

Merrill and Lorrie played games with the grandparents on Friday and brought them a pumpkin pie. We played games with them on Saturday. Nelva and Arnold came up Wed. and I went to lunch with them and thegrandparents. LaMar had already eaten lunch right before they called, so he didn't come with us. Shane came for lunch on Thursday. Chris moved back home Thursday afternoon.

love, Mom

October 31, 2009 ~ Halloween Memories?

From Jen: Remember the "Great Pumpkin"? Putting a walkie talkie in it and "talking" to the kids while watching from across the street .... The clown costumes (handed down year after year). Scott making a coffin and laying in it, jumping out and scaring the trick-or-treaters ... I posted some of our photos from this year on my Facebook account - this is a public link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28736&id=1640778867&l=e0512942fc  Hope you all have a fun Halloween. 

Yes, and the tall wooden strobe light case that had all the lights of different colors and was voice activated. When people talked, different color lights would flash.

And one warm year, I sat on the porch on a chair, dressed as a witch, with the container of candy-------some of the kids were to scared to even approach me! Their loss!

Any other memories from the rest of you? We ought to all create a "memories" file on the computer and save all of these for writing histories one day.

While we were at grandma's last night, Jason and Kiki brought their kids in costume. The grandparents only had them and one other group the entire night.

We will be going downtown Wed. this week----lunch at 11:30, Derek?

Thursday morning we have our regular Area Adviser rollout conference call at 10 and then our first Thurs. of the month conference call with all the Area Advisers in North America and Canada, so we would be tied up until about noon. Shane, you could come to lunch any day, but Wed. Scott & anyone else too.

Thursday night my friends Betty Smith and Joen Humphreys are having a birthday dinner for me. How sweet of them.

Friday night we are the speakers at Sandy Granite View stake at a social for their indexers and family history people.

Sunday morning we are the speakers at the Murray Meadows ward. Our 2:15 training at Bonneville stake got postponed. Good!

love, Mom

From Derek:  Those are some great memories! I can remember all of them. I seem to also remember a house that gave out pencils instead of candy...I can't remember whose house that was though... ;)

From Wendy: I was just thinking about the big paper mache pumpkin and the coffin last night too as we were out trick-or-treating! One family here has one of those fake heads that talk in a crystal ball (you have probably seen them). Someone can hide and talk into a microphone and it changes their voice and looks like the head is talking. So we walk up and the floating head says in a creepy voice, “hello, Jensens, give us some signs!” All of the scary stuff terrifies Janelle and she won’t even go up to houses with things like that.