Season’s Greetings from
John and Nancy Finlay
Dear Family and Friends:
We wish you a Merry Christmas; We wish you a Merry Christmas; We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We are doing well in Herriman, UT. We manage to keep ourselves busy. Everyone was home for Thanksgiving. It was good to have them here. They seemed to get along with each other. All the kids and the grandkids are doing well. John and I were blessed to have them here for Thanksgiving.
John Jr. and family are doing well here. They will be adding their last baby to the family at the beginning of February. This will be another girl. Melissa is having more difficulties with this pregnancy. She is having terrible back pains and some nerve complications. She is carrying the baby so low that it has just been very uncomfortable and debilitating. There is a medical name for it, but I have forgotten what it is called – maybe placenta previa. They are hoping that she won’t have to be bed-ridden.
Their kids are being home-schooled this year. They seem to be doing well at home. Melissa enjoys helping the kids at home and is doing very well with the children. The kids enjoy being taught at home. John spends some time teaching at his old job and is busy with his regular job. I don’t know what it is he is doing but it has something to do with programming.
Jake is still in Sparks, NV. The family is doing well. Jake is working with a security type of company as a purchasing agent. The family would like to move to another area, but jobs are really hard to find in NV. He doesn’t seem to be able to find anything else that is better than what he has right now. I think he would move to UT if he could find work here.
Joe is in Eagar; yes that is Eagar, AZ. He moved there this past summer and is working with the hospital in Round Valley. He really didn’t like the hospital in Whiteriver and made arrangements to get a transfer to Eagar. The kids are doing much better in school there and they are renting a bigger and nicer house. It is funny that he has ended up in the “little down- home town” of his boyhood. He was so excited to leave Eagar when he came home from his mission, but now enjoys being there again. It is funny how maturity changes your outlook.
Jane is in Riverton, about 10 minutes away from us. Now that she is married, we don’t see her that much. I get to see her at school during our lunches – they overlap for about 15 minutes. We don’t get to talk much though because we each eat with our own teams. She is enjoying being married and does get a few chances to have Zayden with them during longer break times during school. Ryan goes to Wyoming, which is about 1 ½ hours away, and brings him back for a weekend and then takes him back. Ryan is busy learning a new job. He is training to be an insurance salesman for All State insurance co. He works at another All State office on Friday’s and Monday’s and it is closer to Wyoming than at his other office. Jane is also expecting a baby boy in mid-February. They are excited.
John has been busy building a deck on the back of our house. The deck is finished but the railings are not up around it, so it is not something we like to have the little ones go out and play on. It’s about 4 feet from the bottom layer of the yard to the upper terrace of the yard. So he added a little bridge across a five foot section from the deck to the upper terrace. Most of our yard is in the upper terrace area. We will be adding the rails as time goes on or when the weather warms up.
We had a nice garden this year. With the lack of rain and the hot weather, the few vegetables we planted, didn’t start producing until August. We just finished using the fresh tomatoes a couple of weeks ago. The vines were so full when we harvested them during the latter part of October. We kept them in the garage while they ripened. The back yard is fenced so the deer didn’t eat everything. The neighbors lost most of their gardens to deer. We see several deer in the front yard nearly every morning since it has turned cold.
John is still working at the temple two days a week. We had a new presidency take over last month. He is also a counselor in the High Priest Group. He will probably be Jane’s babysitter in March and he won’t work at the temple anymore. She would like to quit, but will have to keep at it until Ryan gets into his job more. She is the one that has health insurance which they absolutely need.
I am still teaching. I would like to retire, but John says I should wait two more years, but if Heavenly Father wants me to retire, I will. I have a great class this year. I hope the principal leaves me in fourth grade and doesn’t move me to another grade again. I really like this grade for this time in my life. If any changes are forced upon me, I think I will retire for sure. However, I shouldn’t have to change, I am no longer the last one hired on my grade level at my school and I won’t be so willing to change like I was the last time.
We have made several trips to Round Valley since Joe moved there. It is hard to stay away from the grandkids. I usually get to visit with some of our friends, but don’t seem to have enough time for visits for everyone. I hope all of you living there can understand if we miss you on one of our visits. We usually have four or five days to be there and two of those days are used for travelling.
Right now, I have no calling in church except for being a visiting teacher. I know that will change. I really hope the Bishopric will be inspired as to my next calling. I have some things that would be more detrimental to me psychologically than I think I can handle, even with Heavenly Father’s help.
We hope you enjoy your Christmas with your family and friends. We send our love to you and our testimonies that our Savior, Jesus Christ lives, blesses our lives, and guides us during trying times and times of joy and happiness.
Love Nancy and John Finlay
Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Dear Family and Friends
I am sorry this letter has taken so long to get done. I hope you are doing well. All is well there. I have had the gardening fever lately. I have some seeds started in the house. The tomatoes, bell peppers and zucchini have all come up. Now, I have to wait until the weather is better. For example it is snowing today. We have had some nice warm weather, but I know it is too early to plant anything outside. We put out some bulbs and they are coming up. It is so nice to see color again.
We have some exciting events that will be happening around here. Jane is getting married on May 11 to Ryan Mills. We are very happy for her. He is 37 years old and has a 6 year old boy. He has joint custody of his son for six weeks in the summer. He would like to get custody of him, but his past girlfriend will probably not be in favor of this right now. He lives in Evanston, Wyo. Ryan goes every weekend to see him. Jane has gone several times and Zayden just loves her.
I will be getting out of school again for a three week break. We are heading up to Lakeside next week. Our son, Joe, is coming here for some business for a day and is flying in. So since it is Easter weekend and I am off track we are going to stay there for 4 days. It will be good to see his kids again. I sure miss having them here. We haven’t had many grandma sleep-overs since they moved.
I have been thinking of getting things ready for next year in school. I get to stay where I am in fourth grade. There was a little bit of anxiety a little. The district wanted to have related teachers not teach at the same school. However, there was a “grandfather” clause in it. So unless the policy changes again, I am ok for now.
John has to go in for a type of knee surgery. It isn’t a replacement, but fixing torn meniscus. He has had some problems that requires using his knee. I am going to go to an eye doctor and hopefully he can help me with my eye problems. I am experiencing, of course, aging eyes, and I can’t focus real well. I would like to check out the laser surgery and not have to wear glasses. I don’t know if this will work though.
The rest of the family is doing well. We had several birthdays last month. It makes me sad that they are growing up also. They are all growing and soon, Grandma won’t be as important as she is now. Emily turned 13, can you image that.
Well, I have papers to check, and have run out of things to say, so I will close for now. I hope you all stay healthy.
Love Nancy and John
I am sorry this letter has taken so long to get done. I hope you are doing well. All is well there. I have had the gardening fever lately. I have some seeds started in the house. The tomatoes, bell peppers and zucchini have all come up. Now, I have to wait until the weather is better. For example it is snowing today. We have had some nice warm weather, but I know it is too early to plant anything outside. We put out some bulbs and they are coming up. It is so nice to see color again.
We have some exciting events that will be happening around here. Jane is getting married on May 11 to Ryan Mills. We are very happy for her. He is 37 years old and has a 6 year old boy. He has joint custody of his son for six weeks in the summer. He would like to get custody of him, but his past girlfriend will probably not be in favor of this right now. He lives in Evanston, Wyo. Ryan goes every weekend to see him. Jane has gone several times and Zayden just loves her.
I will be getting out of school again for a three week break. We are heading up to Lakeside next week. Our son, Joe, is coming here for some business for a day and is flying in. So since it is Easter weekend and I am off track we are going to stay there for 4 days. It will be good to see his kids again. I sure miss having them here. We haven’t had many grandma sleep-overs since they moved.
I have been thinking of getting things ready for next year in school. I get to stay where I am in fourth grade. There was a little bit of anxiety a little. The district wanted to have related teachers not teach at the same school. However, there was a “grandfather” clause in it. So unless the policy changes again, I am ok for now.
John has to go in for a type of knee surgery. It isn’t a replacement, but fixing torn meniscus. He has had some problems that requires using his knee. I am going to go to an eye doctor and hopefully he can help me with my eye problems. I am experiencing, of course, aging eyes, and I can’t focus real well. I would like to check out the laser surgery and not have to wear glasses. I don’t know if this will work though.
The rest of the family is doing well. We had several birthdays last month. It makes me sad that they are growing up also. They are all growing and soon, Grandma won’t be as important as she is now. Emily turned 13, can you image that.
Well, I have papers to check, and have run out of things to say, so I will close for now. I hope you all stay healthy.
Love Nancy and John
Sunday, February 19, 2012
February
Hello Everyone:
I have just enough time to send a note. We just had Valentine's this week and only one and a half week left of February. I hope your Valentines Day was Happy.
I am back at school and getting ready for parent teacher conferences in about three weeks. I hope to work on those a little tomorrow. I also have a teacher evaluation sometime next week. That puts a little stress on me this week.
Then in the next month, I understand that we need to start preping for the High Stakes, end of the year tests. I am a little nervous about this. Being my first year in fourth grade I am not sure I have covered everything properly. I sure hope I have. My effectiveness as a teacher is judged by this test. A little unfair at times, but that is the way "administrators" and "board members" regard teachers. I could go on about this, but what good would it do.
I am glad we have President Day's off tomorrow. We woke up to about 3 inches of very wet new snow and it is very cold. I think we are supposed to be teased off and on this week with bad weather. I want to get started with getting some of my garden seeds planted this week. I would like to develop a little hot house to them along. I usually buy starter plants later in the season. This year I wanted to try my own luck at this time. I guess that if the seed do not come up well, I can purchase other starter plants.
I guess at Easter, we are going to Arizona to see the Grandkids. Joe is coming here for somethings and then we are travelling back with him to Lakeside. I am not sure we will be getting to Eagar or Greer. We are taking Joshua and maybe William with us. Josh and Simon are the cousins that have been best friends. They are missing each other. We will only be there for about three or four days. I will be off-track again at that time.
The temple is closed for two more weeks, so John has been planning out some ways to start on the basement a little at a time. However, during his exerciseing time, he hurt himself and has to see a physicsl thearapist for some treatments. So that will slow the project down.
The new ward is getting organized. I have not received a calling and John was called to the High Preist group leadership again. Melissa and Johnny haven't received callings yet either. Primary and Scouts have been almost filled and that gives me a sigh of relief. I really don't want to teach young children since I do it everyday. I think I have been classified as someone older who may just need to relax.
Well it is time to get ready to end the day.
So happy end of February.
Love Nancy and John
Sunday, February 5, 2012
NEW YEAR 2012
January 25, 2012
Happy New Year to all! For some of you, we know you are looking forward to much better New Year and we hope you recieve that blessing.
Right now I am off-track (break) and enjoying it. I haven't been back to school yet, but I know I will need to go back soon. I am supposed to be there next Friday for a teacher day, but we will be in Sparks, NV for Ethan's baptism. So I think I will have to go tomorrow to get ready for the first day back on April 6. Weather hasn't been that good again during off-track, so that has made it easy to snuggle-up at home.
We have been needing some moisture. We were well below the normal precip. level. I was getting worried about the new grass we planted last summer and thought I was going to have to get out the hose to water it. But snow has been on the ground for 11 days now with new snow falling on the past two weekends. I just hope it isn't going to be bad next weekend when we travel to NV. and back.
I have been trying to get more of our things unpacked from the move from AZ. Needless to say, most of it hasn't been used in 4 years, so the better things are getting taken to DI. Some of our old church novels and things are being given to Johnny's kids to read. If you know me, that is a big thing for me to get rid of. I am a hoarder, but I don't know what teacher isn't.
We have also been finishing up some little projects. We needed cabinets in the laundry and pantry rooms. So that is now completed. I also had a front loader washer and dryer and I hated bending down and almost kissing the ground to load and unload them. John made a step to put them on and it is so much easier to do laundry. (what little we have now) I still have a few more electrial projects, I would like to get completed. We have vaulted ceilings and I need to convert one to a lower-hanging fan-light in my piano room, so it is easier to see the music to play. Our little dog needs to have a bigger light shining out in the back yard. We have been talking about getting some of the basement finished as well. It is getting hard for John to do many major projects (aches and pains) anymore. I told him let's take it one wall at a time for framing. Labor will be high enough for the things he refuses to do anymore (dry-wall, painting and ceilings.)
John is only working at the temple now on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He has been attempting to play racket-ball with another Temple worker on Monday and Friday. Physically it is hard on him and taking a toll, but he is hoping that as he keeps at it, it will get easier. He has noticed his decline since he turned sixty. It would be nice to get some walking in myself, but I am adjusting to the new grade level and it seems that my time for school has increased since I have been working for the last three years. That really is an excuse, because we do have a treadmill I could walk on, but getting up at 5am or starting at 8pm isn't enough to entice me.
There seems to be some good things happening for Jane and her boy friend. Yes, she is calling him a boy friend in a "couple sense." He seems nice. We were supposed to visit with him last Saturday, but we had flooding in the house with the run off of rain that came before the snow. But Ryan jumped in and helped. Hopefully we can visit with him again and get to know him and his gospel feelings more. So again keep her in your prayers if you remember. John is having trouble with this a little bit, not because of anything specific, but because of "his practically perfect little girl".
We just got back from NV for Ethan's baptism. It was good to be with Jake and Family and Erica's family. Ethan had a great baptism. We are proud of his choice. He said he wanted to Choose the Right. Allison played the music on the piano during the time we waited for Ethan to return dressed in his church clothes. He was smiling from ear to ear. Allison did a great job playing the piano. Ashlyn is growing up and being a very good girl. While we were there, there wasn't much crying or temper tantrums. She played games with me and I was able to get some loves from her. We also had great travelling weather.
I start school tomorrow, not in a real hurry to return, but I will have another break in April at Easter. We have Valentine's day coming and President's Day coming so we have things to get ready for to keep us busy. We will have parent/teacher conferences in March so the testing and grades will need to be in soon.
At Church last week, the Stake changed Ward boundries and we were put into a newly formed ward. So there will be changes happening there. But I have found that changes are good in the long run. The area out here in Herrimann is growing. New housing developments and new people moving in so these types of changes are expected. We have two parts of two wards being put together. The Church will be building a new chapel for us this Spring, in the meantime, we were going to have to go to Church from 3-6pm; but there was another Stake that only had two wards meeting in it's building, so we get to go to church at 11:00 to 2pm instead. That is a much better time for most families.
All of us are doing well and we hope we continue to be healthy for awhile. We had a little type of flu hit John Jr.'s family and dad and I for a couple of days. I wanted to get some pictures posted, but think I should just get this posted and add pictures at a different time.
Love Nancy and John Finlay
Happy New Year to all! For some of you, we know you are looking forward to much better New Year and we hope you recieve that blessing.
Right now I am off-track (break) and enjoying it. I haven't been back to school yet, but I know I will need to go back soon. I am supposed to be there next Friday for a teacher day, but we will be in Sparks, NV for Ethan's baptism. So I think I will have to go tomorrow to get ready for the first day back on April 6. Weather hasn't been that good again during off-track, so that has made it easy to snuggle-up at home.
We have been needing some moisture. We were well below the normal precip. level. I was getting worried about the new grass we planted last summer and thought I was going to have to get out the hose to water it. But snow has been on the ground for 11 days now with new snow falling on the past two weekends. I just hope it isn't going to be bad next weekend when we travel to NV. and back.
I have been trying to get more of our things unpacked from the move from AZ. Needless to say, most of it hasn't been used in 4 years, so the better things are getting taken to DI. Some of our old church novels and things are being given to Johnny's kids to read. If you know me, that is a big thing for me to get rid of. I am a hoarder, but I don't know what teacher isn't.
We have also been finishing up some little projects. We needed cabinets in the laundry and pantry rooms. So that is now completed. I also had a front loader washer and dryer and I hated bending down and almost kissing the ground to load and unload them. John made a step to put them on and it is so much easier to do laundry. (what little we have now) I still have a few more electrial projects, I would like to get completed. We have vaulted ceilings and I need to convert one to a lower-hanging fan-light in my piano room, so it is easier to see the music to play. Our little dog needs to have a bigger light shining out in the back yard. We have been talking about getting some of the basement finished as well. It is getting hard for John to do many major projects (aches and pains) anymore. I told him let's take it one wall at a time for framing. Labor will be high enough for the things he refuses to do anymore (dry-wall, painting and ceilings.)
John is only working at the temple now on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He has been attempting to play racket-ball with another Temple worker on Monday and Friday. Physically it is hard on him and taking a toll, but he is hoping that as he keeps at it, it will get easier. He has noticed his decline since he turned sixty. It would be nice to get some walking in myself, but I am adjusting to the new grade level and it seems that my time for school has increased since I have been working for the last three years. That really is an excuse, because we do have a treadmill I could walk on, but getting up at 5am or starting at 8pm isn't enough to entice me.
There seems to be some good things happening for Jane and her boy friend. Yes, she is calling him a boy friend in a "couple sense." He seems nice. We were supposed to visit with him last Saturday, but we had flooding in the house with the run off of rain that came before the snow. But Ryan jumped in and helped. Hopefully we can visit with him again and get to know him and his gospel feelings more. So again keep her in your prayers if you remember. John is having trouble with this a little bit, not because of anything specific, but because of "his practically perfect little girl".
We just got back from NV for Ethan's baptism. It was good to be with Jake and Family and Erica's family. Ethan had a great baptism. We are proud of his choice. He said he wanted to Choose the Right. Allison played the music on the piano during the time we waited for Ethan to return dressed in his church clothes. He was smiling from ear to ear. Allison did a great job playing the piano. Ashlyn is growing up and being a very good girl. While we were there, there wasn't much crying or temper tantrums. She played games with me and I was able to get some loves from her. We also had great travelling weather.
I start school tomorrow, not in a real hurry to return, but I will have another break in April at Easter. We have Valentine's day coming and President's Day coming so we have things to get ready for to keep us busy. We will have parent/teacher conferences in March so the testing and grades will need to be in soon.
At Church last week, the Stake changed Ward boundries and we were put into a newly formed ward. So there will be changes happening there. But I have found that changes are good in the long run. The area out here in Herrimann is growing. New housing developments and new people moving in so these types of changes are expected. We have two parts of two wards being put together. The Church will be building a new chapel for us this Spring, in the meantime, we were going to have to go to Church from 3-6pm; but there was another Stake that only had two wards meeting in it's building, so we get to go to church at 11:00 to 2pm instead. That is a much better time for most families.
All of us are doing well and we hope we continue to be healthy for awhile. We had a little type of flu hit John Jr.'s family and dad and I for a couple of days. I wanted to get some pictures posted, but think I should just get this posted and add pictures at a different time.
Love Nancy and John Finlay
Monday, December 26, 2011
Christmas 2011
We have been fairly healthy here this year. The process of aging continues to happen. John and I have more creaks and aches but life goes on. The kids are doing well, and the grandkids make life happy for us.
John continues to serve the Lord in the temple three days a week. He really likes helping out there. He did take time to put down sod in the back yard, install some cabinets in the laundry room and the pantry. When helped move Joe and family to Lakeside AZ. We drove over to Round Valley and visited with friends for a couple of hours and then made our way to Greer to visit with Aunt Jody. Along the way we saw how bad the fire hit the area but the area was also coming back nicely. Our truck had to have some work completed on it so we would have visited more, but we were stuck in Lakeside. He also helped John and Melissa finish up their basement this past year. He has started playing racket ball with one of the temple workers on Monday and Friday. This man is in his 70's and continues to beat the socks off John. If you know John, he is very competitive and he has had to eat humble pie. The funny thing is that this man is partially deaf and doesn't see well either; so this is like adding salt to the sore. He is improving, but will have to build of his endurance.
I have been adjusting to a new grade level this year. I have found that fourth grade is a great grade for me to teach at this time of my life. I really like teaching fourth grade and the curriculum is fun. As I am get older, the little ones tire me out more and I don’t have as much patience as I used to. The older kids are more independent and can spend more time without as much teacher help. I don't have to be so much of the "mother" to them. They can think on their own and be creative. I have a nice class and they are great workers. I go back to school next week and then I have two weeks of teaching and I am off again for three weeks again. Mid-term grades are due when I come back from off track, so I will have to spend some off-track time working on those.
Because of this change I no longer work at the temple on Saturday mornings. Maybe I can start up again when I feel more comfortable with the 4th grade.
I am still teaching the grandkids here piano lessons on Thursdays after school. The little girls started this year. It has been hard to stick to a regular schedule. Hopefully the new year will be a little smoother. The kids are learning. Practicing during the week isn't a priority, so it is going slowly. Mom wants them to be able to play Church songs if they are needed to play in church. I can get them that far with my skills, but if they want to be better pianists they will have to get lessons from someone else.
In August, We helped Joe move to Lakeside, AZ where he is working in Whiteriver at the hospital. He is a Govt. employee now. He decided to take that route for some of the benefits that he can get in return for some of his time. He doesn’t like just doing x-rays or working with the Native Americans too much; but they will pay off his student loans. He is planning on giving the Govt. two to three years there and may come back here to work after that. We miss having them around but he is trying to get out of debt. He sometimes drives over to Round Valley to work at the hospital there also on his days off. He has two kids in school (a second graders and a kindergartener) and two at home with mom. Those are the three year old and the youngest who is 18 months. They couldn't sell their home, so they are trying a short sale, but basically had to walk away from the house. No help from the Govt. with that problem.
In late October, Halloween weekend, we went to NV to see Jake and his family. We had a great time with them. We helped carve pumpkins and enjoyed visiting and spoiling the grandkids. They finally gave up on keeping their house. A man up the road had a rental come available, and they moved in there. The bank just kept moving the foreclosure dates a month at a time, so it was always looming over them. The bank wouldn’t work with them, so now they have an overpriced home on their hands. Jake said he wasn’t going to pay any more on a house that isn’t worth what his mortgage is on their home. I am glad that they moved a little less stressful for them. Jake and Erica have two kids in school (a fifth and 1st grader) and a four-year-old at home. Erica works at a pre-school and she takes Ashlynn with her. Jake also has new job with a small company as an accounts receivable and payable person. He says it is much better than the manual labor he was doing.
As for Christmas, I now believe that if there aren’t any little ones here to watch open presents that it is not much fun anymore. John and family came over later in the day and had dinner with us and opened presents here. They have five in school now. (A seventh grader, fifth grader, second grader and two kindergartners). The baby, almost a year old, is home with mom for a half day. Can you believe our little twins who are doing well are in Kindergarten. Those two are doing much better now. They are small for their age but are growing. The baby almost weighs as much as they do now.
Jane also came over for Christmas. She is still busy working with first graders at school. Since she isn’t married yet, she has been doing some travelling with her friend Erica Ladewig from Eagar. They travelled to NV, then to Disneyland in CA and a trip to Washington is in the planning stages. She has been running in races lately. I think she wants to run in a half marathon this summer. She is dating a young man from Wyoming lately and maybe that will work out for her.
Joe and Jake’s family members stayed in AZ and NV this year for Christmas. We did speak with them on the phone, but definitely different not having them here.
We haven’t had much snow or moisture lately. Last year, John had snow plowed at least 6 times with heavy snows. This year, he hasn’t even had to use the snow plow. He has shoveled about 2 times. It is sad because it has been very cold. If you had some snow on the ground it would make it easier to understand why it is cold. Hopefully we will get some moisture soon in some form.
We have worked on a few projects around our home. The grass sod is now in and we put in a few more cabinets in the laundry room and pantry. We hope to work a little now and then on the basement. Hopefully, it will be a pay as you go project. We put up a few walls at a time as money permits.
Anyway that is about all that has or will happen here in Herriman, UT. We hope you all have a great 2012 New Year.
Love John and Nancy Finlay
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Summer's Gone
I have been in summer mode since school ended the first week of July. I changed tracks (start day, vacation times, etc) this year and I start up teaching in 4th grade on Monday, August 15. Because I had to change to the fourth grade hallway, I spent a lot of time at school trying to arrange things and get things in order. I would usually go in in the morning about 10 am and come home about 2pm. I really didn't get as much done as I wanted.
We took a little trip to Round Valley for a half day. Joe and family moved to the Lakeside area to work in the Whiteriver Hospital radiology department. We helped them move and clean up the rental place they are in. I generally watched the kids while Alisa worked. They had a nice porch deck in front of their rental. I gated the ends and Meghan was able to walk around and enjoy walking around everyday. He is considered to be a Government employee, and they were moving their things, but they took some things so they could live in the house --camp-out style. Hopefully their things will arrive this week.
On our way, while pulling out RV trailer with some of their things in it, the truck began to make noise and we had to check into it. We didn't want to travel back home and get stuck on the Indian Reservation without a way to get it fixed. So we ended up staying there the whole week. We had planned to stay for four days, but ended up staying 9 days. Joe went right to work, so Alisa had the chore of getting things liveable. We did get the truck fixed but had to wait for parts which extended the stay.
Greer was looking good. They had a lot of rain since the fire and you couldn't see a lot of the burn because it had greened up nicely. Nothing really happened from the bridge to Big Ten on West side of the river. Across the valley though, you could tell where the fire came over the mountain and see where some of the houses were lost. Most of the big damage happend across the river from Grandma's old cabins. It was interesting how the cabins that burned were so spotted. One burned and right next to it one was standing. East Fork (where dad and Smitty would go fishing) was hit the hardest.
We went to Eagar first to see the Post Office people, then to Shelley and LaVerls and Edna and Darvall Nelson. Edna had had knee surgery so she was on the men. We happened to see Linda Lund who lives by Edna and Darvall as well. We wanted to get over to Wayne and Justines, but we needed to get to Greer also. So we headed up and spent about and 1 1/2 to two hours there. We had some nice visits. Mary Jo, Ann, and Ruth have decided to sell Grandma's house. They are not going to be going to Greer much anymore and no one in the family really wants to buy it. So when Jody goes home this summer, I guess it is going up for sale. It is sad, but most of us are getting too old to get there and keep it up or it is just too hard to travel that way any more.
They have had to work on the house this summer because of the stability of the roof and some other things. It looks really nice the way it was fixed. At least we have our memories of things. It saddens me that only Susan and I will have "Wiltbank" property and we hardly know anyone up there anymore.
We are still trying to sell our land. But I am not going to give it away, so we have to wait until the economy gets better. It is ok for now, but if taxes go up too much then we will have to reconsidered that as well.
We took a little trip to Round Valley for a half day. Joe and family moved to the Lakeside area to work in the Whiteriver Hospital radiology department. We helped them move and clean up the rental place they are in. I generally watched the kids while Alisa worked. They had a nice porch deck in front of their rental. I gated the ends and Meghan was able to walk around and enjoy walking around everyday. He is considered to be a Government employee, and they were moving their things, but they took some things so they could live in the house --camp-out style. Hopefully their things will arrive this week.
On our way, while pulling out RV trailer with some of their things in it, the truck began to make noise and we had to check into it. We didn't want to travel back home and get stuck on the Indian Reservation without a way to get it fixed. So we ended up staying there the whole week. We had planned to stay for four days, but ended up staying 9 days. Joe went right to work, so Alisa had the chore of getting things liveable. We did get the truck fixed but had to wait for parts which extended the stay.
Greer was looking good. They had a lot of rain since the fire and you couldn't see a lot of the burn because it had greened up nicely. Nothing really happened from the bridge to Big Ten on West side of the river. Across the valley though, you could tell where the fire came over the mountain and see where some of the houses were lost. Most of the big damage happend across the river from Grandma's old cabins. It was interesting how the cabins that burned were so spotted. One burned and right next to it one was standing. East Fork (where dad and Smitty would go fishing) was hit the hardest.
We went to Eagar first to see the Post Office people, then to Shelley and LaVerls and Edna and Darvall Nelson. Edna had had knee surgery so she was on the men. We happened to see Linda Lund who lives by Edna and Darvall as well. We wanted to get over to Wayne and Justines, but we needed to get to Greer also. So we headed up and spent about and 1 1/2 to two hours there. We had some nice visits. Mary Jo, Ann, and Ruth have decided to sell Grandma's house. They are not going to be going to Greer much anymore and no one in the family really wants to buy it. So when Jody goes home this summer, I guess it is going up for sale. It is sad, but most of us are getting too old to get there and keep it up or it is just too hard to travel that way any more.
They have had to work on the house this summer because of the stability of the roof and some other things. It looks really nice the way it was fixed. At least we have our memories of things. It saddens me that only Susan and I will have "Wiltbank" property and we hardly know anyone up there anymore.
We are still trying to sell our land. But I am not going to give it away, so we have to wait until the economy gets better. It is ok for now, but if taxes go up too much then we will have to reconsidered that as well.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Today was conference on the television. We also had a sleepover with Simon, Spencer, and Logan last night. Johnny's family came over yesterday and played with their cousins. His family went home for the evening and then Joe, Alisa and Meaghan came over for the two o'clock conference session. Johnny and his family also came over to play some more. Jane was here this morning and afternoon. The kids all love they Aunt Janie. After conference we had dinner together. It was fun to have everyone together.
Joe and Alisa are heading to Eagar for 2 weeks. Joe is going to be putting in so me extra hours at the hospital and Alisa and the kids are also going. They are using our travel trailer to stay in. Because it's Spring Break for Simon and Spencer during that time, they will only be missing 4 days of school. The timeing on this turned out very well.
We had some very nice days lately. The trees have little buds on them and I am itching to get some plants out. But this morning we woke up to 4-6 inches of snow. Most of the snow melted today, but it has fallen off and on all day. It is supposed to be rainy and cloudy during the rest of the week.
Our visit with Jake and his Family was fun. Ethan is taking karate and seems to enjoy it. Allison was working on her piano and getting a book read so she could go to a pizza party at school for reading so many books. Erica and Jake were doing well. Ashlyn is going to have her tonsils out in two weeks. She has really large tonsils. So we are all hoping she will do well with the surgery.
We are cutting back at school. We started a Chinese Immersion program last year in first grade. So this coming year it will be second grades turn to get the new Chinese teacher and the English speaking teacher for a co-teaching experience. The teacher's have their own classes and then they switch classes at half day. I really want to do that part of the program and have talked to my principal about it about 2 months agao. However, the second grade team has to loose two or three teacher's on our team because our numbers are down this week as well. So I don't know right now if I will be in second grade or not. I have a job with my school--just don't know what grade yet. There are openings in 1st, 4th, and 6th grade. I really hope it is not in 6th grade. That would be very challenging to me. I am hoping we will know soon. We also had three teachers that have to look elsewhere in the district for openings. I can be thankful that that isn't me.
Not much else going on here. I hope you all are doing well.
Love Nancy.
Joe and Alisa are heading to Eagar for 2 weeks. Joe is going to be putting in so me extra hours at the hospital and Alisa and the kids are also going. They are using our travel trailer to stay in. Because it's Spring Break for Simon and Spencer during that time, they will only be missing 4 days of school. The timeing on this turned out very well.
We had some very nice days lately. The trees have little buds on them and I am itching to get some plants out. But this morning we woke up to 4-6 inches of snow. Most of the snow melted today, but it has fallen off and on all day. It is supposed to be rainy and cloudy during the rest of the week.
Our visit with Jake and his Family was fun. Ethan is taking karate and seems to enjoy it. Allison was working on her piano and getting a book read so she could go to a pizza party at school for reading so many books. Erica and Jake were doing well. Ashlyn is going to have her tonsils out in two weeks. She has really large tonsils. So we are all hoping she will do well with the surgery.
We are cutting back at school. We started a Chinese Immersion program last year in first grade. So this coming year it will be second grades turn to get the new Chinese teacher and the English speaking teacher for a co-teaching experience. The teacher's have their own classes and then they switch classes at half day. I really want to do that part of the program and have talked to my principal about it about 2 months agao. However, the second grade team has to loose two or three teacher's on our team because our numbers are down this week as well. So I don't know right now if I will be in second grade or not. I have a job with my school--just don't know what grade yet. There are openings in 1st, 4th, and 6th grade. I really hope it is not in 6th grade. That would be very challenging to me. I am hoping we will know soon. We also had three teachers that have to look elsewhere in the district for openings. I can be thankful that that isn't me.
Not much else going on here. I hope you all are doing well.
Love Nancy.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Wishing for Spring!!!
We started off Tues. of this week with the snow all melted in the yard. It was even started to dry out---but Friday another snow storm came in and we woke up to 4-6 inches of snow on the ground. John was outside snowblowing the sidewalks and drive and then worked his way up the road clearing the sidewalks on both sides of the road to get to Johnny's. He cleared off their drive to help them get to Josh's big day at the baptism.
Simon spent the night with us and played with Josh for about two hours yesterday. We all went to the church. Jane came too and after the baptism we went up to John Jr.'s for a get together for a lunch and to spend some time with the family.
Simon loves his cousin and they had fun playing together for awhile today. He even says he and Josh are the best friends and cousins. Most of the day it kept snowing, so we took Simon home about 3:30. The rest of the kids at Joe's were trying to get over some really bad coughs, colds, flu or something that takes about a week to get over.
I had lots of baby time with my two little grandkids today. They are sure happy good babies. They hardly cry but can have the biggest smiles. It is the best for me. It keeps me happy and renewed. I just love my little ones and the bigger grandkids.
Ben is doing real well. He is finally getting his double chin and filling out his newborn clothes. He sure is a pretty little boy. I was told that it is ok to use pretty for a boy until they turn 12 months or 18 months.
Meaghan who will turn one in April is still growing and getting some of her hair. She is a mommies little girl and knows when someone else has her now. Because of her cold, she wasn't as happy with anyone except mom. Grandma will have to get over to see her more often.
I hope to work on some projects while I am off track. I would like to get the rest of my books up from the basement and on the book shelves. There are some other things that need to be put up in the house. Not all my pictures and decorative things are unpacked. I also have some things that need to be done at school. I am not quite sure what will be happening at school. We do have to loose at least two teachers in second grade next year. I should be able to keep my job but in what grade I don't know. I would really like to stay in second grade and might have to push a little so I can stay in that grade.
The temple has been closed for cleaning for two weeks. It will open Tuesday, so John will be back working there again. So I will try to get my Utah license renewed and the other tasks done when he is working.
Well, I will be hoping that we will be getting spring weather soon. I am sure tired of the snow.
Love to all of you
Nancy and John
Simon spent the night with us and played with Josh for about two hours yesterday. We all went to the church. Jane came too and after the baptism we went up to John Jr.'s for a get together for a lunch and to spend some time with the family.
Simon loves his cousin and they had fun playing together for awhile today. He even says he and Josh are the best friends and cousins. Most of the day it kept snowing, so we took Simon home about 3:30. The rest of the kids at Joe's were trying to get over some really bad coughs, colds, flu or something that takes about a week to get over.
I had lots of baby time with my two little grandkids today. They are sure happy good babies. They hardly cry but can have the biggest smiles. It is the best for me. It keeps me happy and renewed. I just love my little ones and the bigger grandkids.
Ben is doing real well. He is finally getting his double chin and filling out his newborn clothes. He sure is a pretty little boy. I was told that it is ok to use pretty for a boy until they turn 12 months or 18 months.
Meaghan who will turn one in April is still growing and getting some of her hair. She is a mommies little girl and knows when someone else has her now. Because of her cold, she wasn't as happy with anyone except mom. Grandma will have to get over to see her more often.
I hope to work on some projects while I am off track. I would like to get the rest of my books up from the basement and on the book shelves. There are some other things that need to be put up in the house. Not all my pictures and decorative things are unpacked. I also have some things that need to be done at school. I am not quite sure what will be happening at school. We do have to loose at least two teachers in second grade next year. I should be able to keep my job but in what grade I don't know. I would really like to stay in second grade and might have to push a little so I can stay in that grade.
The temple has been closed for cleaning for two weeks. It will open Tuesday, so John will be back working there again. So I will try to get my Utah license renewed and the other tasks done when he is working.
Well, I will be hoping that we will be getting spring weather soon. I am sure tired of the snow.
Love to all of you
Nancy and John
Friday, January 28, 2011
Grandbaby #13 New Day at the Hospital
 NEW BABY AT THE HOSPITALHere is our 13th grandbaby. He looks a lot like his daddy did when he was a baby and his other sibling brothers. Mom and baby are doing well. Baby looks healthy and pink. Mom also looks good, She has a smile on her face and also her coloring looks good. His name is Benjamin Frank Finlay. He weighed 8 pounds not sure on the ounces and was 20 inches long. He was born Thursday January 27, 2011 |
Happy New Year to all our friends and family
Oh, the weather outside is frightful. Too much snow and wind. It hasn't been above 30 degrees since Christmas. Christmas was the only nice day. We have had some beautiful snowfalls this year, but lately they have been ugly. If it wasn't so windy, we probably would have had about 3-4 feet of snow. The drifts are pretty deep. We have had some beautiful snowfalls this year, but lately they have been ugly. If it wasn't so windy, we probably would have had about 3-4 feet of snow. The drifts are pretty deep. Our snow plow has been pretty busy lately.
We went to Sparks, NV over Thanksgiving to be with Jacob and his family. We were there for about three days and enjoyed everyone. The kids were great. They put up their Christmas tree and decorations while we were there. He is now working for Sherwin Williams, but he has a day job now. Now, his family will see more of him and not have to worry about waking him. Working at night is not good when you have a family.
I haven't up-dated this blog in awhile; so thought I would try to give you the latest news on the family.
We had a quiet Christmas and New Year's Eve. It was nice though. Jane came over for Christmas Eve and then stayed until Christmas evening. It was good to have someone here with us. Johnny and his family came over in the late evening and then went home in the evening. We played games with some of the kids toys they brought over.
Yesterday, John and I didn't even stay up to greet the new year. I was going to have a little party for the grandkids, but I didn't feel so well, so I cancelled the party and sleep over. I felt like I was going to get the shingles again and I decided to rest and relax and was trying to get my immune system built up with vitamins and herbs. Still working on this today.
I go back to school next week. I wish I had a few more days off, but that isn't happening. This new year starts off with half the year gone. I did an extra 8 days of subbing for another 2nd grade teacher who had her baby early. So I didn't get much of my scheduled time off.
With all the snow and rain our house flooded in the basement. The people who built the house had to come in and fix it up. Our neighbor's water drains into our yard, and it caused the south corner to settle about a foot and it leaked in under the foundation. That was one of the first things we discussed with the builder was the drainage problem into our yard. So we contacted them. He doesn't have any grass down to keep the erosion from happening. We need to get some sandbags in along the fence line to hopefully keep his drainage into his yard.
John has been busy helping Johnny with finishing his basement. He wants to get it done before the baby comes in February. John has been trying to get his shed finished, but the weather hasn't been cooperating. He needs to get the shed door in. It is like a garage door that slides up. Our neighbor was going to help, but he has also been extra busy with the snow plows in West Jordan. He works for that city. He has been helpful to John on some of the projects he has been doing.
Oh, the weather outside is frightful. Too much snow and wind. It hasn't been above 30 degrees since Christmas. Christmas was the only nice day. We have had some beautiful snowfalls this year, but lately they have been ugly. If it wasn't so windy, we probably would have had about 3-4 feet of snow. The drifts are pretty deep. We have had some beautiful snowfalls this year, but lately they have been ugly. If it wasn't so windy, we probably would have had about 3-4 feet of snow. The drifts are pretty deep. Our snow plow has been pretty busy lately.
We went to Sparks, NV over Thanksgiving to be with Jacob and his family. We were there for about three days and enjoyed everyone. The kids were great. They put up their Christmas tree and decorations while we were there. He is now working for Sherwin Williams, but he has a day job now. Now, his family will see more of him and not have to worry about waking him. Working at night is not good when you have a family.
I haven't up-dated this blog in awhile; so thought I would try to give you the latest news on the family.
We had a quiet Christmas and New Year's Eve. It was nice though. Jane came over for Christmas Eve and then stayed until Christmas evening. It was good to have someone here with us. Johnny and his family came over in the late evening and then went home in the evening. We played games with some of the kids toys they brought over.
Yesterday, John and I didn't even stay up to greet the new year. I was going to have a little party for the grandkids, but I didn't feel so well, so I cancelled the party and sleep over. I felt like I was going to get the shingles again and I decided to rest and relax and was trying to get my immune system built up with vitamins and herbs. Still working on this today.
I go back to school next week. I wish I had a few more days off, but that isn't happening. This new year starts off with half the year gone. I did an extra 8 days of subbing for another 2nd grade teacher who had her baby early. So I didn't get much of my scheduled time off.
With all the snow and rain our house flooded in the basement. The people who built the house had to come in and fix it up. Our neighbor's water drains into our yard, and it caused the south corner to settle about a foot and it leaked in under the foundation. That was one of the first things we discussed with the builder was the drainage problem into our yard. So we contacted them. He doesn't have any grass down to keep the erosion from happening. We need to get some sandbags in along the fence line to hopefully keep his drainage into his yard.
John has been busy helping Johnny with finishing his basement. He wants to get it done before the baby comes in February. John has been trying to get his shed finished, but the weather hasn't been cooperating. He needs to get the shed door in. It is like a garage door that slides up. Our neighbor was going to help, but he has also been extra busy with the snow plows in West Jordan. He works for that city. He has been helpful to John on some of the projects he has been doing.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Catching Up and Machine Gun Fire
Sept. 27
Dear Family and Friends,
Here I am again at the end of my three week off-track time. I have had a nice relaxing break--I am not sure if I really want to go back. Oh well, that is why we sign contracts. I have a great group of children in my classroom this year. They are very talkative during their work time but not behavior problems. Giving warnings to them, pretty much take care of the problems.
I guess the big news lately was that we were evacuated from our home for about 18 hours because of the "machine-gun" fire that was started last Sunday. We were very fortunate that all was well with our neighborhood. The fire started on the other side of the mountain that is next to us because the Guard was practicing their machine gun tactics on a very windy day and the sparks started the fire. We have had very little moisture around here and it was in an area where there was a lot of brush. It crested the top of the mountain and within 10 minute we were told to leave. Johnny lives up here also. So all of us invaded Jane's home for the night and went home about 2 pm the next day. You know brush fires burn hot and move fast especially with the wind. It was a little scary, but because the way the wind was blowing we didn't have any damage. The only smoke area was the garage and if you opened it up and aired it out for about 5 hours it was okay. It did come within 30 feet of some of the houses at the top of our neighborhood. We were certainly blessed. Two homes with a quarter of a mile of us to the east and the west were burnt to the group. I believe their were both log cabins with a lot of brush and debris around them. They were both older homes as well. In all there was a total of three lost homes. The mayor, governor and other town council members were expecting to have at least 50-100 homes gone because of the wind and intensity of the fire; but the firefighters and National Guard members did a great job fighting the fire. It was interesting to be evacuated. It reminded me of our fire when we had the evacuees come from Show Low. Out of the 2000 people that were evacuated here, there were only about 95 people that didn't have a place to go to. There weren't many businesses that were affected in this fire. Mostly new subdivisions that were built in the foothills. It will be interesting to see what happens when it rains. How much flooding will there be. They are supposedly working on that problem. Hopefully we will have a longer Fall and maybe they can get some of the re-seeding done and growing. I don't expect that to happen. Next week is conference week, and in the past there has always been snow on that weekend.
We have been busy around here. John has completed getting the fence in for the back yard. Now he is working on building a shed for most of the things in the garage--lawn mowers, snow blowers, shovels and other tools and other miscellaneous things. He will keep his hand tools at the work bench in the garage, but hopefully the garage can be organized better so you don't have to step around or over items. He still keeps busy three days at the temple. He has also put in ceiling fans, water softener any my pantry storage cabinets. The to do list has dwindled some, but there is still more he can do after he gets his shed finished.
He has also been helping Johnny get his basement finished for his mother-in-law. Oh, they are going to be having another baby boy in February. The twins are so excited, when they found out, it was much easier to potty train them, because they didn't want to wear diapers, they wanted to be big girls and help take care of the new baby.
I worked on unpacking about six more big boxes. Some stuff that came from AZ and was never unpacked. It could take me awhile to get everything unpacked, but that is ok. Most of the things down there are things that aren't essential and I am not going to stress out about it. The unfinished basement can be their home. Some things need to be in the basement once it is finished anyway. I am debating on how much I need to keep things especially things that came from my moms and dads. A lot of their things like pictures, books, don't really mean a lot to me. I have all the keepsakes that I wanted out or packed away, so I think this other stuff will be put in the recycle boxes.
We didn't even make it to Round Valley this year. Shelley and LaVerl are coming up this way to Utah and they are going to bring our travel trailer back to us then.
We are doing well here. I am getting some basic health tests done to see how much I need to work on. So far, I have a little bit of high cholesterol, had to tweak my thyroid medicine, overweight and need to start taking more vitamin D. We haven't been sick, but I thought I better get some baselines for my Dr. in case things change as I keep ageing. I am having some heart tests done with Life Line Screening co. to see how my ticker is doing. With mom and dad having heart issues, I thought I get checked and hopefully all is well in that area. The offer from this company was only $159. which most of these test done on Dr. orders would be in the range of $5,000. I have heard that the tests are good and not watered down versions. I would like for John to get them done as well. I guess on another occasion he might try.
Well I have gone on enough, so I hope you have a great Fall. It is beginning it get pretty around here now. The pictures that follow are about the fire that was just up the road from our house.
Love Nancy and John
Dear Family and Friends,
Here I am again at the end of my three week off-track time. I have had a nice relaxing break--I am not sure if I really want to go back. Oh well, that is why we sign contracts. I have a great group of children in my classroom this year. They are very talkative during their work time but not behavior problems. Giving warnings to them, pretty much take care of the problems.
I guess the big news lately was that we were evacuated from our home for about 18 hours because of the "machine-gun" fire that was started last Sunday. We were very fortunate that all was well with our neighborhood. The fire started on the other side of the mountain that is next to us because the Guard was practicing their machine gun tactics on a very windy day and the sparks started the fire. We have had very little moisture around here and it was in an area where there was a lot of brush. It crested the top of the mountain and within 10 minute we were told to leave. Johnny lives up here also. So all of us invaded Jane's home for the night and went home about 2 pm the next day. You know brush fires burn hot and move fast especially with the wind. It was a little scary, but because the way the wind was blowing we didn't have any damage. The only smoke area was the garage and if you opened it up and aired it out for about 5 hours it was okay. It did come within 30 feet of some of the houses at the top of our neighborhood. We were certainly blessed. Two homes with a quarter of a mile of us to the east and the west were burnt to the group. I believe their were both log cabins with a lot of brush and debris around them. They were both older homes as well. In all there was a total of three lost homes. The mayor, governor and other town council members were expecting to have at least 50-100 homes gone because of the wind and intensity of the fire; but the firefighters and National Guard members did a great job fighting the fire. It was interesting to be evacuated. It reminded me of our fire when we had the evacuees come from Show Low. Out of the 2000 people that were evacuated here, there were only about 95 people that didn't have a place to go to. There weren't many businesses that were affected in this fire. Mostly new subdivisions that were built in the foothills. It will be interesting to see what happens when it rains. How much flooding will there be. They are supposedly working on that problem. Hopefully we will have a longer Fall and maybe they can get some of the re-seeding done and growing. I don't expect that to happen. Next week is conference week, and in the past there has always been snow on that weekend.
We have been busy around here. John has completed getting the fence in for the back yard. Now he is working on building a shed for most of the things in the garage--lawn mowers, snow blowers, shovels and other tools and other miscellaneous things. He will keep his hand tools at the work bench in the garage, but hopefully the garage can be organized better so you don't have to step around or over items. He still keeps busy three days at the temple. He has also put in ceiling fans, water softener any my pantry storage cabinets. The to do list has dwindled some, but there is still more he can do after he gets his shed finished.
He has also been helping Johnny get his basement finished for his mother-in-law. Oh, they are going to be having another baby boy in February. The twins are so excited, when they found out, it was much easier to potty train them, because they didn't want to wear diapers, they wanted to be big girls and help take care of the new baby.
I worked on unpacking about six more big boxes. Some stuff that came from AZ and was never unpacked. It could take me awhile to get everything unpacked, but that is ok. Most of the things down there are things that aren't essential and I am not going to stress out about it. The unfinished basement can be their home. Some things need to be in the basement once it is finished anyway. I am debating on how much I need to keep things especially things that came from my moms and dads. A lot of their things like pictures, books, don't really mean a lot to me. I have all the keepsakes that I wanted out or packed away, so I think this other stuff will be put in the recycle boxes.
We didn't even make it to Round Valley this year. Shelley and LaVerl are coming up this way to Utah and they are going to bring our travel trailer back to us then.
We are doing well here. I am getting some basic health tests done to see how much I need to work on. So far, I have a little bit of high cholesterol, had to tweak my thyroid medicine, overweight and need to start taking more vitamin D. We haven't been sick, but I thought I better get some baselines for my Dr. in case things change as I keep ageing. I am having some heart tests done with Life Line Screening co. to see how my ticker is doing. With mom and dad having heart issues, I thought I get checked and hopefully all is well in that area. The offer from this company was only $159. which most of these test done on Dr. orders would be in the range of $5,000. I have heard that the tests are good and not watered down versions. I would like for John to get them done as well. I guess on another occasion he might try.
Well I have gone on enough, so I hope you have a great Fall. It is beginning it get pretty around here now. The pictures that follow are about the fire that was just up the road from our house.
Love Nancy and John
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Updated message
May 30, 2010
Hello:
I am sorry I haven’t replied in awhile. It was a whirl-wind around here for me the last three weeks. They had their new baby three weeks early. Of course, that was the week Joe was in Eagar, so he had to catch a flight home and try to make it for the birth. That didn't happen. So, I had to unexpectedly leave school and be with her until her mom and Joe made it there. Anyway, little Meghan has some lung issues because she was early. They are handling that by having her on oxygen at home. Since then, she was able to be taken off the oxygen during her scheduled work time. They were is in hospital about 4 days and then Joe was home for another 3 days and then back to Eagar again for 7 days. So we have been having to drive out there to help. They live in Eagle Mountain, UT about 30-40 minutes away from us.
I had to take off three days to watched Joe and Alisa’s kids. Her baby decided to come early. I didn't mind that so much, but Simon, their oldest had to have surgery at that time also, so I had to keep him quiet. That was hard to do because we still have Johnny and family living with us. Simon and Joshua are best buddies and like to be active; but everything worked out well. The little twins had a little trouble sharing grandma with Alisa and Joe's little 2 year old boy; and he was a momm'a boy and attached right to grandma and only wanted to have me around him. Too bad there wasn't more of me to hold them all; but like I said things worked out well.
After the baby came and during the time Alisa was in the hospital, we closed on our house in Riverton and we moved to our new home in Herriman, Utah which is only about 5 miles south of our Riverton home. I don't like moving and I don't want to do it again unless it is to home for the aged. I will not take much with me then. Downsize is the name of the game. I am off track now and hope to get things organized around our home some. I don’t seem to be able to find anything.
I also had two weeks of testing to give for the end of the year reports. I needed to get that accomplished before I was going off track. I have most of the tests done, but not recorded and handed in. So that will be something I will need to finish by Tuesday.
Jacob finally obtained a job. Actually he had one and then another came that he took in place. It was one that paid a little more that the first one. The job not what he wants to do, but it is at least a job. He is continuing to look and hopes he will find something that he is qualified for and take care of his family better. They still aren’t sure what will happen with their home. In any event, he is feeling better about himself because he is working and contributing something.
I think my son Joe is not going to be moving to Eagar after all. He thinks things aren't real stable at the hospital and they are having a hard time finding a place to rent. Alisa doesn't want to move anyway. They haven't had any luck selling their home either. I think he is only going to work until July there..
Jane wasn’t quite sure about what our district or school principal was going to do to make adjustment for the Chinese immersion class that is being implemented to a new grade each year. But she didn’t have to change to another grade. I was also able to keep my position in second grade.
John has been busy cleaning out the house and moving things over and then he has the temple work he volunteers for. He loves working at the temple on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. I have found that he is much happier during the rest of the week we he is there. I don't think we could ever move where there isn't a temple close. I enjoy working in the temple on Saturday mornings. Hopefully we will be able to serve in our new ward in some capacity.
I need to plant lots of things so our new house doesn’t look so barren. At least the builder landscaped and planted a couple of trees and some bushes in the front of the house. The back yard needs some help though. I would really like to get some type of garden in this summer, but I don't know if there is enough time now. I took some of the plants from the other house and moved them here; the rose bush and the three lavender bushes. We just planted them last year. I would like to dig up my fruit trees, but they were planted two years ago and I don’t know how well they would do being uprooted. We are thinking of renting or leasing our home and I don’t want to leave a lot of things that people won’t take care of. The home situation isn’t too good right now. We have had some showings but we know it is priced too high. So we also might reduce the price about $8,000 and I don’t want to buy things again that I already have over there.
My son, John and family are still living with us as well. They haven’t been able to sell their home either. They are supposed to sign on their new house in two weeks, but they don’t know what is going to happen because they needed to sell their home to make the down payment and so forth. They have taken the price down and won’t be making anything on the house. It is busy here with the 8 extra people, but we are glad to help them. I guess we will know more in two weeks.
Well, I better close for now. I will do my best to write more frequently.
Love Nancy and John
Here's our latest new one. We are so glad that she no longer has to wear those bandaids for the O2. Number 12 grandchild. Meghan Julia Finlay
Thursday, March 18, 2010
I am jumping the gun a little--but I am ready
Happy Spring to you all!!
I am off track again so maybe I'll have some time to update the blog.
I bet you are surprised to hear from me. Well we are alive and well here in Utah. I have another two weeks off from school. Maybe I can get somethings accomplished.
We have John and his family living with us now. Melissa was pregnant and keeping up with having the house clean all the time with the five children, they decided to come and live with us a little earlier than expected, so it wouldn't be so hard on her. We agreed. It is a little cozy here now, but we are managing. Their house hasn't sold yet, but they keep hoping and praying. The builders just started framing their house.
Our new home is supposed to close at the end of April. We just listed our home with an agent and hopefully it will sell soon also.
Jake's family is doing fine. They are planning on going to CA for Easter. He was talking about coming here for a week and visiting with the children, but he doesn't know if that will work out with his work.
Joe is also making another change. An opening came up in the hospital in Eagar again and they met all his criteria and there are more possibilities for advancement. They had a change in the radiology department and most of the people that were there are no longer working there. He is happy about that. So they are also trying to sell their home. He is commuting to Eagar every other week. He still has his job here as well. He works seven days here and then seven days there. Alisa is 8 months pregnant and shouldn't be travelling right now, so she stays here with the kids. It is hard on her. They plan on moving the family up to the area after the baby arrives. I don't think they will wait for their house to sell here. Who would have thought Joe would have done that?
We hope he decides this is his last move, but it probably isn't. He just needs to settle down. I don't think he will be living in Eagar though. He found a place west of Vernon just East of Show Low. I don't know the name of the place. That is just a silly place to move to. If he gets the house, he will never be able to sell it. Oh well it is their life. He likes to live in a secluded area. Right now, he is living in our travel trailer on a lot on School House Rd.
John has been busy overseeing the building of the houses--ours and Johnny's--when he isn't working at the temple. He works at the temple on Tues., Wed. and Thursdays. He really enjoys doing that. It is good he knows about building, because he has had to make sure some of the changes were made correctly. One problem we have had is that Richmond American has made about five changes in the construction supervisor. So there hasn't been any consistency. You never know who you will be working or complaining to. It is a little frustrating for him. Most people just let builders do their things, but John has the time and tries to keep up with the building. Our kitchen cabinetary is slated to go in soon. I hope John will get some more pictures on the block this week for me.
Jane is busy with school, and she works the temple on Saturdays. I have started working at the temple on Saturday mornings and I get to work with her as she trains me. I only work one shift though and she works two, but I think she is going to cut that down to only one on Saturday. It is a hard day for her.
School continues on for me. My class is doing well, I think. Their test show that as well. The last parent teacher conference was a couple of weeks ago and we will be getting ready for end of the year testing. I have one more short break before the end of the year. This year will be over in at the beginning of July. Then the new year will start in July. Our district is having some real money issues with education, but the legislature moved some building funds into the salary and general funds. They split the school district and our part of the district lost a lot of the funding and tax base. We are the part of the district that is growing more than the other district, but they have the tax base. So thank heavens the legislature came through for us. They were going to have to make 500 teacher cuts, raise class sizes etc. This is much better.
Well, in a nutshell that is what has been going on here with our family.
By the way, does anyone know if there is a Wiltbank reunion this year? and if so when it will be?
Love Nancy and John
Happy Spring to you all!!
I am off track again so maybe I'll have some time to update the blog.
I bet you are surprised to hear from me. Well we are alive and well here in Utah. I have another two weeks off from school. Maybe I can get somethings accomplished.
We have John and his family living with us now. Melissa was pregnant and keeping up with having the house clean all the time with the five children, they decided to come and live with us a little earlier than expected, so it wouldn't be so hard on her. We agreed. It is a little cozy here now, but we are managing. Their house hasn't sold yet, but they keep hoping and praying. The builders just started framing their house.
Our new home is supposed to close at the end of April. We just listed our home with an agent and hopefully it will sell soon also.
Jake's family is doing fine. They are planning on going to CA for Easter. He was talking about coming here for a week and visiting with the children, but he doesn't know if that will work out with his work.
Joe is also making another change. An opening came up in the hospital in Eagar again and they met all his criteria and there are more possibilities for advancement. They had a change in the radiology department and most of the people that were there are no longer working there. He is happy about that. So they are also trying to sell their home. He is commuting to Eagar every other week. He still has his job here as well. He works seven days here and then seven days there. Alisa is 8 months pregnant and shouldn't be travelling right now, so she stays here with the kids. It is hard on her. They plan on moving the family up to the area after the baby arrives. I don't think they will wait for their house to sell here. Who would have thought Joe would have done that?
We hope he decides this is his last move, but it probably isn't. He just needs to settle down. I don't think he will be living in Eagar though. He found a place west of Vernon just East of Show Low. I don't know the name of the place. That is just a silly place to move to. If he gets the house, he will never be able to sell it. Oh well it is their life. He likes to live in a secluded area. Right now, he is living in our travel trailer on a lot on School House Rd.
John has been busy overseeing the building of the houses--ours and Johnny's--when he isn't working at the temple. He works at the temple on Tues., Wed. and Thursdays. He really enjoys doing that. It is good he knows about building, because he has had to make sure some of the changes were made correctly. One problem we have had is that Richmond American has made about five changes in the construction supervisor. So there hasn't been any consistency. You never know who you will be working or complaining to. It is a little frustrating for him. Most people just let builders do their things, but John has the time and tries to keep up with the building. Our kitchen cabinetary is slated to go in soon. I hope John will get some more pictures on the block this week for me.
Jane is busy with school, and she works the temple on Saturdays. I have started working at the temple on Saturday mornings and I get to work with her as she trains me. I only work one shift though and she works two, but I think she is going to cut that down to only one on Saturday. It is a hard day for her.
School continues on for me. My class is doing well, I think. Their test show that as well. The last parent teacher conference was a couple of weeks ago and we will be getting ready for end of the year testing. I have one more short break before the end of the year. This year will be over in at the beginning of July. Then the new year will start in July. Our district is having some real money issues with education, but the legislature moved some building funds into the salary and general funds. They split the school district and our part of the district lost a lot of the funding and tax base. We are the part of the district that is growing more than the other district, but they have the tax base. So thank heavens the legislature came through for us. They were going to have to make 500 teacher cuts, raise class sizes etc. This is much better.
Well, in a nutshell that is what has been going on here with our family.
By the way, does anyone know if there is a Wiltbank reunion this year? and if so when it will be?
Love Nancy and John
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Happy New Years
2010 is here!!!
My school vacation is almost over--darn. As usual, this time seems to go by very fast. We had a very quiet Christmas. It was only John, me, and Jane. It was good to have her here. All the other kids stayed home with their families.
Jake and his family came the day after Christmas. It was good to have them here. We were able to spend some time together with everyone. Erica is a really good photographer and has a really nice camera, so we asked her to take family pictures of everyone. Hopefully some of those turned out well and I will be able to post some of those a little later. They left a day early due to weather forecasts of snowy, snowy day today, Wednesday Dec. 30. It was a good thing, because it has been snowing here all day off and on. There is another storm coming on Sunday.
Last night was New Year's Eve and we had a little get together to bring in the New Year. Jane came over for dinner, but is going out to a party. Joe and his family and Johnny and his family are coming. I decided it was a good time to have one of Grandma's "sleepovers" as well. We played games, ate, talked and most stayed awake until 12 pm. The grandkids had a fun time together.
I guess New Year's Resolutions are supposed to be made. I am not sure I am going to set the same ones that need to be worked on and fail at, but I might try some that have a more eternal perspective. I want to attend the temple more often, read the conference issue and participate in the RS discussions and get in tune with My Savior more.
Anyway, I hope you have great resolutions to set and are successful with them.
By the way, our house has been started. The foundation and stem walls have been poured and now we have five days before they can work on the next phase. All of this depends on the weather and temperatures. Anyway, the company Richmond America trys to have the house done in 90 days.Maybe we can get some pictures on the blog as it progresses.
My school vacation is almost over--darn. As usual, this time seems to go by very fast. We had a very quiet Christmas. It was only John, me, and Jane. It was good to have her here. All the other kids stayed home with their families.
Jake and his family came the day after Christmas. It was good to have them here. We were able to spend some time together with everyone. Erica is a really good photographer and has a really nice camera, so we asked her to take family pictures of everyone. Hopefully some of those turned out well and I will be able to post some of those a little later. They left a day early due to weather forecasts of snowy, snowy day today, Wednesday Dec. 30. It was a good thing, because it has been snowing here all day off and on. There is another storm coming on Sunday.
Last night was New Year's Eve and we had a little get together to bring in the New Year. Jane came over for dinner, but is going out to a party. Joe and his family and Johnny and his family are coming. I decided it was a good time to have one of Grandma's "sleepovers" as well. We played games, ate, talked and most stayed awake until 12 pm. The grandkids had a fun time together.
I guess New Year's Resolutions are supposed to be made. I am not sure I am going to set the same ones that need to be worked on and fail at, but I might try some that have a more eternal perspective. I want to attend the temple more often, read the conference issue and participate in the RS discussions and get in tune with My Savior more.
Anyway, I hope you have great resolutions to set and are successful with them.
By the way, our house has been started. The foundation and stem walls have been poured and now we have five days before they can work on the next phase. All of this depends on the weather and temperatures. Anyway, the company Richmond America trys to have the house done in 90 days.Maybe we can get some pictures on the blog as it progresses.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Merry Christmas
December 2009
Dear Family and Friends:
Here we are again with a New Year knocking at the door. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is almost here! As we review this year, we have definitely been blessed with good health, friendships and loving families. We have our home and a job to help keep things stable.
We have the Oquirrh Mountain temple close to our neighborhood. He has been called to work two days in the temple and he volunteers another day. He loves this. He loves working in the baptismal area. He also works in the other areas as well. He is also the High Priest group leader as well and is getting to know people in the ward better. There are times when he babysits the grandkids. He also keeps busy being the family handyman. With four households here in the area, this could be a full time job. It is good that he has experience in plumbing, electrical, and general knowledge of construction. Believe me; I have lists for him also. Since I fell last year, he has been helping me with the vacuuming and other household things anything that requires a lot of shoulder movement.
I am teaching second grade again. I enjoy doing this. It keeps me busy. It seems to take me longer to get things completed at school than it did in Eagar. Old age could be a reason for that. I have a great class this year. I have about ½ of Jane’s last year’s first graders. I have a little girl who calls herself the “Finlay’s girl.” Anyway, my hat goes off to her for teaching her children how to be good students. I like the year round school calendar. I am off track right now until after Christmas. The unfortunate thing is that the time seems to go by very fast.
With the economy the way it is, the way in which this job came about was definitely a blessing. Now if only I can pass the Praxis test for Utah state. I have been 10 points, 6 points and 1 point away from passing the test. I know one thing; it is not easy to remember things learned long ago. I will try again in March, so pray for me.
In church, I am playing the piano for Relief Society and have a real desire to play the organ in the new temple. I have conflicting reports about having to play the pedals on the organ. So I may be taking some lessons or learning on a self teaching course for the organ. Right now, though, I am practicing the piano and gaining more confidence. My voice is too unpredictable any more that singing in a choir is out. So this is one way I can still serve in a musical way.
John and I both keep busy with the family. We try to have one weekend a month for a “Grandma and Papa’s sleepover” at our home. It is fun, but as they grow, we may have to split the age groups up. We miss having Jake and family nearby. His family came for a while and all the grandkids seemed to have fun. Sometimes being able to get to know them is harder as they are all together. Their interests are on different levels. But we have exciting news!! We are having another baby girl added to the family. Joe and Alisa will be adding the new little one to their three boys. Alisa is very happy to be having a girl. This will be the grandchildren count to twelve.
John has helped John Jr. with his home and upgrading some of the parts of the house. They are trying to have a bigger home built, because they need more room as the children grow. They have also taken on one of her brothers until he goes on a mission. Her mother may also need to come and live with them. They need to sell their home before they can finalize everything. If they get it sold, they will come and live with us until the new home is finished.
The children: Emily now 10, William 9, Joshua 7, and the twins Kathryn and Rebekah 3 are very active children. Can you believe how old they are getting? Sometimes, I would like to turn back the hands of time for a little while. Emily, my oldest grandchild is the music girl, dancer, gymnast and a pre-teen; William is the science guy; Joshua is the sports kid; Rebekah the girly-girl and mommy type; and Kathryn is the active one who watches her little sister and is a daddy’s girl. The twins are doing well, still low on the growth charts. Our dog, Ginger, weighs more than each of them by 2 lbs. They know their ABC’s and letter recognition, colors and how to count to 12. They have come a long way since their struggles at the beginning of their lives. We thank Heavenly Father for these two special blessings.
John and I have decided to get a larger home. We need a bigger gathering place for our family. We get together every Sunday for dinner and fill up the whole dining and great room areas we have now. When the kids and their families come to visit with us; it becomes a tight living area. It is way too much house for us, but for re-sell purposes it is a good investment. We could be moving in April. We are going to be just down the street from Johnny and family. As we age, we thought it might be smarter to have one of the kids closer to us and hopefully not be a burden to them. It is going to be a brand new home and we aren’t building it. I think we are tired of that.
Jake and family are in Sparks, NV and they are healthy. He has been able to go to school and complete his bachelor’s degree. We are proud of him. Two of the kids are in school and they are doing well. Little Ashlyn (13 months old now, I think) is the happiest baby; the sunshine of their lives. It is so fun to be around her. She is like Miss Personality. Ethan is a lot like his dad and enjoys sports. Allison is in third grade, can you believe that, and she is a good reader, soccer player, and mom’s helper. They are good kids and keep busy as well
Jane is still teaching and loving her new home. She was also called to work in the temple on Saturday’s. She works a double shift on Saturday and enjoys it. We know she would rather be married and have a family, but that isn’t in the plan at the present time. Everyone she meets seems to be immature, jobless, or controlling. She has met a number of nice guys, but they don’t seem to be right. It is really funny, the older men at the temple, try to set her up. They tease her also, because most of the women are old that work there, and they say she adds color to the area—meaning color of her hair.
Joey works at the new hospital here in Riverton. They have a home in Eagle Mountain and enjoy being there. Alisa keeps busy with her little boys. Simon (6) is in first grade and played soccer. He is mom’s helper. Spencer (3) the active one that wants to be as big as Simon, and Logan 1 ½ years, has been a Mama’s boy, but is overcoming that—he wants to be like his brother Spencer, so there is a little rivalry amongst them sometimes. They are also good kids; they just live out in the mountains and it takes a half hour to 45 minutes to get there. We sure would like to see them a little more often.
We want to let you all know at this Christmas time that we know our Savior lives, he loves and us. We know that true happiness comes in honoring and following Him. Our desire is that all our friends and family know this and are blessed as well.
By the way, I have a Blog that gets updated about every 8 weeks, sometimes in between off track times. So if you are interested, look us up on Grandma and Papa Finlay. We would love to share our lives with you.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all,
John and Nancy Finlay
Dear Family and Friends:
Here we are again with a New Year knocking at the door. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is almost here! As we review this year, we have definitely been blessed with good health, friendships and loving families. We have our home and a job to help keep things stable.
We have the Oquirrh Mountain temple close to our neighborhood. He has been called to work two days in the temple and he volunteers another day. He loves this. He loves working in the baptismal area. He also works in the other areas as well. He is also the High Priest group leader as well and is getting to know people in the ward better. There are times when he babysits the grandkids. He also keeps busy being the family handyman. With four households here in the area, this could be a full time job. It is good that he has experience in plumbing, electrical, and general knowledge of construction. Believe me; I have lists for him also. Since I fell last year, he has been helping me with the vacuuming and other household things anything that requires a lot of shoulder movement.
I am teaching second grade again. I enjoy doing this. It keeps me busy. It seems to take me longer to get things completed at school than it did in Eagar. Old age could be a reason for that. I have a great class this year. I have about ½ of Jane’s last year’s first graders. I have a little girl who calls herself the “Finlay’s girl.” Anyway, my hat goes off to her for teaching her children how to be good students. I like the year round school calendar. I am off track right now until after Christmas. The unfortunate thing is that the time seems to go by very fast.
With the economy the way it is, the way in which this job came about was definitely a blessing. Now if only I can pass the Praxis test for Utah state. I have been 10 points, 6 points and 1 point away from passing the test. I know one thing; it is not easy to remember things learned long ago. I will try again in March, so pray for me.
In church, I am playing the piano for Relief Society and have a real desire to play the organ in the new temple. I have conflicting reports about having to play the pedals on the organ. So I may be taking some lessons or learning on a self teaching course for the organ. Right now, though, I am practicing the piano and gaining more confidence. My voice is too unpredictable any more that singing in a choir is out. So this is one way I can still serve in a musical way.
John and I both keep busy with the family. We try to have one weekend a month for a “Grandma and Papa’s sleepover” at our home. It is fun, but as they grow, we may have to split the age groups up. We miss having Jake and family nearby. His family came for a while and all the grandkids seemed to have fun. Sometimes being able to get to know them is harder as they are all together. Their interests are on different levels. But we have exciting news!! We are having another baby girl added to the family. Joe and Alisa will be adding the new little one to their three boys. Alisa is very happy to be having a girl. This will be the grandchildren count to twelve.
John has helped John Jr. with his home and upgrading some of the parts of the house. They are trying to have a bigger home built, because they need more room as the children grow. They have also taken on one of her brothers until he goes on a mission. Her mother may also need to come and live with them. They need to sell their home before they can finalize everything. If they get it sold, they will come and live with us until the new home is finished.
The children: Emily now 10, William 9, Joshua 7, and the twins Kathryn and Rebekah 3 are very active children. Can you believe how old they are getting? Sometimes, I would like to turn back the hands of time for a little while. Emily, my oldest grandchild is the music girl, dancer, gymnast and a pre-teen; William is the science guy; Joshua is the sports kid; Rebekah the girly-girl and mommy type; and Kathryn is the active one who watches her little sister and is a daddy’s girl. The twins are doing well, still low on the growth charts. Our dog, Ginger, weighs more than each of them by 2 lbs. They know their ABC’s and letter recognition, colors and how to count to 12. They have come a long way since their struggles at the beginning of their lives. We thank Heavenly Father for these two special blessings.
John and I have decided to get a larger home. We need a bigger gathering place for our family. We get together every Sunday for dinner and fill up the whole dining and great room areas we have now. When the kids and their families come to visit with us; it becomes a tight living area. It is way too much house for us, but for re-sell purposes it is a good investment. We could be moving in April. We are going to be just down the street from Johnny and family. As we age, we thought it might be smarter to have one of the kids closer to us and hopefully not be a burden to them. It is going to be a brand new home and we aren’t building it. I think we are tired of that.
Jake and family are in Sparks, NV and they are healthy. He has been able to go to school and complete his bachelor’s degree. We are proud of him. Two of the kids are in school and they are doing well. Little Ashlyn (13 months old now, I think) is the happiest baby; the sunshine of their lives. It is so fun to be around her. She is like Miss Personality. Ethan is a lot like his dad and enjoys sports. Allison is in third grade, can you believe that, and she is a good reader, soccer player, and mom’s helper. They are good kids and keep busy as well
Jane is still teaching and loving her new home. She was also called to work in the temple on Saturday’s. She works a double shift on Saturday and enjoys it. We know she would rather be married and have a family, but that isn’t in the plan at the present time. Everyone she meets seems to be immature, jobless, or controlling. She has met a number of nice guys, but they don’t seem to be right. It is really funny, the older men at the temple, try to set her up. They tease her also, because most of the women are old that work there, and they say she adds color to the area—meaning color of her hair.
Joey works at the new hospital here in Riverton. They have a home in Eagle Mountain and enjoy being there. Alisa keeps busy with her little boys. Simon (6) is in first grade and played soccer. He is mom’s helper. Spencer (3) the active one that wants to be as big as Simon, and Logan 1 ½ years, has been a Mama’s boy, but is overcoming that—he wants to be like his brother Spencer, so there is a little rivalry amongst them sometimes. They are also good kids; they just live out in the mountains and it takes a half hour to 45 minutes to get there. We sure would like to see them a little more often.
We want to let you all know at this Christmas time that we know our Savior lives, he loves and us. We know that true happiness comes in honoring and following Him. Our desire is that all our friends and family know this and are blessed as well.
By the way, I have a Blog that gets updated about every 8 weeks, sometimes in between off track times. So if you are interested, look us up on Grandma and Papa Finlay. We would love to share our lives with you.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all,
John and Nancy Finlay
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