Memorial Day Weekend

For not having much planned for this weekend......we kept pretty busy but also had time to lay around and relax too.
See Lesa in the hammock? :)



Emily spent a lot of time with Maddox. She is the MOST entertaining of all of us!!!



Steve and Jaron built a mulch thingy cuz our other one that Steve built last summer tipped over with all the "stuff" in it......pretty grose!



Maddox got worn out from all the running around.



And Steve got his time in the hammock.



Me and Emily did cartwheels. I think I impressed the kids that their 48 yr. old mom could still do a cartwheel. I know Steve was amazed.



Christopher tried to do one but "epic fail". Ha ha!! But he did awesome doing handstands!






We built a fire in the fire pit and cooked hot dogs and smores. It was pretty smokey and I'm sure we smoked out the neighbors.






Emily got her turn in the hammock.....



And I thought this was a really cute picture of Lesa and Maddox.



BTW....Jaron can do a really good cartwheel. I'm sure he'll show you if you ask him.








Then everyone left and we are all tired.....very tired. And we all smell like smoke.

Pics. and letter from Burger

The Finns















So this was last week on nerd Monday....it was pretty funny.











Me and Matt. This was last week but yeah, it's was cool having him here.















Me looking freaking sweet.



Dear Family,
Hey so how are things going at home? Things here are going grand here at the MTC. Not too much really happened though.....so I'm not sure how long this letter will be.
So things are going rather grand. The lesson on Thursday went pretty well. A lot better than the last one :) So that was super good. And we are going to be teaching the second lesson again on Thursday (tomorrow). So we shall see how that goes.
So Mother "I need chocolate" is "Mina Tarvitsen suklaa.
So yeah now you can say I need chocolate...ha ha. Anyway I do believe that's everything. Take care and I love and miss you all.
Vanhin Peck

ps. Can you send some hair putty stuff. I'm out and they don't sell anything but gel here. So if you could send some of that Axe stuff that would be awesome.

Update on Emily

I have been waiting and waiting for Emily to come to me and say.......I'm burned out!!! But so far it hasn't happened. She has been putting in hours and hours of dance. She comes home tired but excited to learn more of the part she plays at "Alice". For the last few Saturday's she has had dance for 6 hours and then at least 6+ hours during the week. Yesterday I went and watched her as she and another dancer were learning their parts and I couldn't believe how much it's coming together but also I was in awe at how beautiful she danced........the dancing and acting was so fun to watch. It was all I could do to hold back the tears while watching her. The recital is in 2 weeks and they will be ready to perform.
I'm proud of Em and for her hard work and dedication not only to dance but in so many aspects of her life. She's also a straight A student and is also in the 2nd highest choir at school. I think the hardest part is that I have to put limits on her to what she can do cuz she will do it all!! There were other things she wanted to sign up to do but I had to remind her that she can't do EVERYTHING so for now it's dance, flute and choir.

Change of Attitude

For over a year I have been basically working out and I have to say that for over a year I have been complaining about it. I pretty much dread Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings cuz I know I have to go to the gym. But today I have changed my attitude from an experience I had there. When I arrived I went directly to the bikes. I passed a man on the treadmill walking on it very slowly with his oxygen tank. He was very overweight but I thought......I'm glad he's here.......and then went to the bike and thought about how much I'm going to dread this. Half way through the workout he moved over to the bikes and was next to me. He struggled to get his feet on the peddles and then went for about a minute and got off. In these situations I'm not sure if I should ask someone if they would like some help or if I should stay back. I stayed back and just smiled. When I got done I headed out and he was sitting down at the table and I looked at him and he couldn't be more than 5 or 6 years older than me. And he says to me, "You sure look a lot better than I do." All I could do is smile cuz I felt bad and didn't know what to say. I'm not sure how he got to this point or what his situation is but I felt very grateful that I could work out even though I feel tired and like crap afterwards. I would rather have this pain than to be in his situation.
So if anyone hears me complain about workout.....just give me a swift kick in the butt!!!

spittin' bullets

Yes......this is snow at the end of May. Steve and I early this morning ran out in our pajamas and flipflops to cover as many plants as we could. I have pampered these plants. I even sing to them......with my ipod to try and help them grow and this attack on them is not right. So yep.....this morning I was very mad!!!

Saturday

Last Friday Jess has surgery on her finger. She sliced it open and cut through 2 nerves and a tendon and had to get it repaired. T said she's doing good and has a cast on her arm and hand now. Tomorrow it will be replaced by a brace of some kind. I'm grateful she's getting lots of help from her family cuz it's tough to take care of a almost 1 yr. old with one arm. Hang in there Jess and we're thinking about you. We can't wait to come out there in June and see you all!!!

Also yesterday we got a letter from Nathan.....as you can tell from the blog before. But I have one question......he mails a letter from the MTC on Wednesday and it takes till Saturday to get here. Where does it go between Wednesday and Saturday? hummm.
Christopher, Lesa and Maddox came by yesterday too.




Maddox has discovered how to get on his head and look between his legs or under things this way.


Steve also has some hexbugs and let them free on the kitchen floor. Maddox was trying to pick them up while they were zipping around on the floor. Fun to watch!!

ps. Emily has been putting in 6 hours of dance every Saturday to get ready for her dance recital ( plus 7-8 hours during the week) Emily rocks!!

Nathan's letter

Dear Family,
Hey, so how is everyone doing? Things here are going well. It is pretty much the same.....very busy...haha. But yeah, things are going good.
So yeah, the language is coming. It's tough but I just keep working at it and I know that I'll get it.
So tomorrow I'm going to be teaching the Second Lesson. And that is going to be crazy. I am more confident this time though because I think I know the vocab. and what-not better. So I think that it will go much better.
So I don't think that I have mentioned it but this last week I've seen Matt like a billion times....ha ha. So that's really cool. The first time I saw him we talked for quite a while. So that was really awesome.
So that is way super awesome to hear about Chris and Lesa. That's super exciting. You will have to keep me updated on the matter.
So it is weird to think that I only have 4 weeks left in the MTC (oh I forgot that I never mentioned this but I leave on the 14th of June). So that is pretty cool.
So last week we got the new Finns. One Elder and 3 sisters. The Elder is actually a recent convert so it is really cool to talk to him about stuff.
So I do believe that is everything. I love and miss you all.
Love,
Vanhin Nate Peck


This is for you dad: Every time I get a postcard I stick it on my wall. There are obviously more cuz this is about 1 1/2 weeks old but there are a lot.



Me with a lightsaber.


Vanhin Mortensen, Cassity, Wiklof and me.








This was taken the first weekend here.

Band Concert

Usually the band concerts for the junior high are divided up into two nights. Because there are so many kids in band and there's not enough room for everyone to sit. This time the band director thought it would be fun to have it all in one night. You can imagine the crowd......parents sitting on the isle floors or standing around wherever they could find a spot. Then it was about 2 hours long and the heat in the room was getting somewhat unbearable. I thought the beginning band did great (the one Emily's in) and I think all of them did.


Steve and decided though that since Emily was one of the first to play that we would wait outside till the rest of the bands were done. I gave our seats to an elderly couple who were pretty happy to be able to sit down. So we hung out outside and took pics. I was bored but Steve wasn't cuz he had his ipad with him.....he was prepared.
Another thing I can now check off my list of things that needed to get done by the end of school.....yeah!!

Another Nathan Sighting!

Yep......another of Nathan's friends saw him coming back from the temple. This time it was Sam and she got a picture. She was at the MTC dropping off her cousin who was going in. Nathan's companion is Elder Cassidy.....and they both tower over her :) .....poor Sam.

Things keep breaking

Don't things come in groups of three?....like when things break or having bad luck? It seems like everything is breaking and falling apart. First thing was just an outlet in the garage dies....not that big of a deal. I can fix that. It's just something to put on my mental list and I just haven't had the time yet. Then last month the basement flooded. It took days to dry that out and we thought the water well thingy just leaked ......til last Saturday when I went to water some plants and Jaron came running outside telling his rug was soaked. Crap!! So Steve messed around with the faucet while I used the steam cleaner to soak up water.....again. He discovers that there is a leak or crack in the faucet behind the wall. He shows me by turning the water on high and shows me how little water is really coming out. You can guess where all that water went....downstairs. So back down I go sucking up more water. Now I need a plumber!!
Yesterday I go and turn on the sprinklers to see if they all work. The first cycle goes on and there isn't much pressure coming out. I'm checking the sprinkler heads all out and then I see it......water saturating the sidewalk and flowing down the street. I reach in the hole to see what's going on and the pipe is torn apart. When the city redid our sidewalk....they also mutilated a pipe doing it.
Ok....that's three things so I should be in the free and clear. But nope......today Jaron was mowing the lawn. Lesa, Maddox and I were in the front yard while Jaron was mowing the back and there was this huge and horrible noise in the back. I yelled to see if Jaron was ok and he was but a huge piece of the metal from the mower broke off somehow and wrapped itself around the blades....go figure. I think it's dead but Steve thinks he might be able to fix it......hummm. I'll believe it when I see it cuz it is soooo bad.
I'm glad everyone is ok and I can kinda laugh at some of this....sorta...when I'm not crying. Just kidding. And I know it could be worse....right? I really don't want to jinx myself!

Pics. from Maddox's B-day dinner

I really tried to put these pictures into order but it's not working. This picture of Maddox should be one of the last but we get to see the end result first. You can tell he loved his birthday cake.

Maddox wasn't sure about blowing out a candle. He seemed more interested in touching it. Lesa was quick with the hands.

The yummy cake!!!

Emily bought him a toy cell phone and he loved it. Maddox carried it around everywhere.

Cute picture of Steve and Maddox....I had to put this one on.

Maddox also got an "old fashion" toy phone. He wasn't quite sure what to do with it or what it really was but it did make weird noises.

We had a great time and great food. Thanks Christopher and Lesa!!....and Maddox!! Can't wait till the birthday bar-b-q today!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Maddox

One year ago today I became a "Nana". I kinda thought I knew what it would be like but I was pretty off. When I had my own children there was an instant bond.....even before they were born. I didn't expect the bond to my grandchild to be that strong......but it was!!!
I learned something the day Maddox was born. And I learned that I will have that strong of a bond with each one of my grandchildren.
Maddox is a fun little guy who can melt your heart with just his smile. I love you Maddox and Happy Birthday. I'm so glad you are a part of my life!!!

Vanhin Peck's letter

A got a sense of relief today when I got Nathan's letter. Maybe cuz he was so stressed out the last letter that it's nice to know they made it through a tough week and everything is back to "normal". So here it goes....

Dear Family,
Hey, how are things going back home? Things here are going pretty well. Matt got here today but I have yet to see him. However I think I know where his room is so I'm going to try and find him later. Also the new Finns got here today. So that is pretty awesome. There are 3 sisters and 1 Elder so the Elder is comps with Mortensen and Wildof in our district. But he is technically a solo Elder. So this will probably be interesting...ha ha.
So this week went pretty well. Teaching the first lesson was good but definitely could have been better. However, we are going to be teaching it again tomorrow and I'm actually pretty excited because I think it'll go much better.
So last night we had Elder Holland come and talk to us. So that was amazing. His talk was so good and I got a lot out of it so it was freaking sweet.
Well other than that, not much is happening. The language is coming......slowly but ti's coming. Wellp, I love you and miss you all. Take care.

-Vanhin Nate Peck

Pins are out!

If you get a little bit or a lot queasy about things being pulled out of your body....don't read on.
This morning I got the pins taken out of my foot. I wanted to watch the whole thing and Steve was curious how this was done too so he came to watch. The doctor first numbed the top of my foot where the ends of the pins were located. After it was numb he cut about a 1/2 inch opening. He then started rubbing or scraping the bone to find the pin. I watched most of this but a few times I had to turn my head. Not cuz it hurt but the sound of the tweezers rubbing on my bone. He found the first pin and slowly wiggled it out. I knew it was long but I was more amazed at how thick it was. Then the process started again to find the second one. When that one was found it was wiggled and pulled out. It was weird and interesting to watch. Then it was sewed up with a couple of stitches.
Watching him put stitches in wasn't that big of a deal......unlike watching my kids get them. All 4 of the boys have gone to the ER when they were younger at least once (some more than once) and watching them get stitches made me nauseous.
It's great having them out but even better walking and running without pain!! Thanks doctor!!

Mother's Days

I had a few days of Mother's Days this year. It started on Saturday when Christopher and Lesa came over. Christopher and Lesa needed to run to the mall so I got to watch Maddox. It was so much fun. Jaron and Emily played chase with him all around the back yard. Then we came in and ate goldfish. Went over and saw Marjorie and saw her new couch. Came back in and ate some cupcakes. We pulled up a chair next to the fence to stand on and talked to Heather next door. Maddox was in" Ah" of their big dogs. Then Christopher and Lesa were back. Not sure how time went by so fast.
Yesterday we went to Nathan's friend, Matt, farewell. He did great. When we got home Jaron make Gandolpho breakfast sandwiches. OMG.....they were so good!!! I think I inhaled it. Jaron bought me a CD and some of those yummy oreo mint cookies. Emily made me a card and a coupon book. One of the coupons were for her to "poopper scoop" the back yard for me. Love it!!
I also got a note from Nathan since they can't call from the MTC (bummer) on Mother's Day or Christmas.....but loved the note......and a card from Christopher and Lesa too.
Steve got home last night from Toronto. So he's taking me out for Mother's Day today.....after I get the pins out of my foot.
So....3 days of Mother's Day isn't too bad :) It's been great thanks to Steve and the kids!!! Thank you!!

Write Nathan.....please :)

I finally got a letter from Nathan. It's amazing how slow the mail can be just from the MTC to here. But he wants everyone to write him if you can. His address is on his facebook page under his name. If you don't have fb here it is:
MTC Mailbox #87
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604

Dear Family,
How is everything going? Things here are going good. It's kinda stressful though with everything going on.
So yeah, as you know and when you get this but you probably have already heard but on Thursday I'm going to be teaching the first lesson in Finnish. So I'm kinda stressing out about that but when it's over I that everything will be good. So other than that the language is coming alright. I think I need to work on more vocab. though. But thanks dad...the cards really help.
So I can't really think of what exactly I learned this week but I did learn stuff. So don't worry much about that....ha ha.
Oh so the older Finns left on Monday so right now we are pretty much the older Finns. However next week we are getting 4 new Finns, 1 Elder and 3 Sisters, which is pretty unheard of, so that's kinda weird. The Elder will probably be companions with Elder Mortensen and Elder Wiklof.
Yup, so Matt is coming in next week and I am way super excited for that. I'm actually hoping that he will be in my zone because that would be super awesome. Yeah but the chances of that are slim but still would be awesome.
Welp, I do believe that's everything. But things are going good so don't worry. I love and miss you all.
Love,
Elder Nate Peck

Update

I was hoping, hoping, hoping that I would be able to put up a letter from Nathan today. But when I ran to the mailbox to get the mail......none was there. I guess if he gets it out late it comes a day later. So anyone who reads this......gets a boring, but very busy, update.
First-Steve left today for some meeting in Toronto, Canada. It's some philosophy stuff and he's giving a talk on Saturday and then some panel discussions on Sunday. He'll be home Sunday night so Mother's day celebration is being postponed till Monday. Which, BTW, is totally fine with me. I'm also getting the pins out of my foot on Monday too. The DR. said that once they're out I'll be able to run a little easier. That's good cuz I'm not running very good now. I have to stick to elliptical since my foot doesn't bend a ton yet.
Second-Emily is practicing her dances like crazy. She goes every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Her Saturday practices are for 5 1/2 hours. The others days are for 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours. I'm waiting for her to say that she's burned out but so far she is loving every minute of it. An indication that she is happy about dance is her constant dancing throughout the house and how loud she sings in the shower. Her performance is June 11th and 12th.
Third-Jaron just got done with his last final. So now he's hitting the pavement looking for a job. I do not envy him but he's all sign up for classes at the UofU for this fall.
And then Nathan......I have no idea cuz I didn't get a letter today. I did get an email yesterday though and he is loving the language even though it's tough. He seems to be so happy where he's at right now.
As for me....I'm fine as long as I'm fed. Doing lots of yard work and what's fun is seeing some of the plants I planted last year every week for Kingston starting to come back. Bigger than they were before. So that's it. Congrats on making it through this if you did :)

ps. My in-laws are in Panama right now and will soon be in Costa Rica. They are with a tour group. They are doing great!

The Cats Out Of The Bag

I think a lot of people already know but I thought that anyone who doesn't will now.........Emily is going to be "Alice" in her dance studios recital of "Alice in Wonderland" in June. Emily is ecstatic about this and all the dances she has been learning she has been dancing through the house. There are several main characters and Emily is one of them. She has to put in extra hours of dancing but she is excited to do that. It should be an awesome production and I know she'll do great!!!!