There hhheeeerrrreee!!!

Steve's books came yesterday. We heard all about the book from friends and family who already got them but we haven't been able to hold or read one til yesterday. It's just very exciting!! Steve is heading to Moab Friday for a book signing and then both of us will go up to Salt Lake to next weekend for his book signing there.
Yipeee!!

Caved in...

Well......we are going to buy a live tree this year to decorate. I am very scroog-ish when it comes to live trees. For one, needles everywhere! It's a daily vacuum job. And having to keep it watered. Towards the end of the season it's really hard to water especially if there are presents under the tree. Lots of digging them out and hoping and praying that you don't accidentally pour water on the presents instead of the tree. But Steve said that a live tree will bring in more of the Christmas spirit because they smell so good. I have to agree with him that they do smell great!! And he doesn't want to go get it until we can all go together. So this is going to be a family event. That won't happen til way into December but that's ok. I am warming up to it more and more. Jaron also volunteered to do the vacuuming for me around the tree. Christopher and Lesa borrowed our artificial tree so it's official....we will be getting a live one.

Nathan's email

Hey Mommers!!!!
Sounds like you had a great thanksgiving! We didn't really do too much for it. At one point we tried to buy some ice cream... however my comp. left the keys in the apartment so... yeah.. that's pretty much what we did for thanksgiving..hahah.. the life of a missionary... haha.. but things here are going pretty well. I've been going nuts because the package hasn't come yet... knowing my luck it'll probably come today while I'm emailing you so I wont be able to get it till tomorrow. haha... but I'll let you know if it comes in my letter. So it really hasn't been too cold here. we finally got some snow last night, however we only got about an inch or so. So not too much. It's pretty weird because this time last year we had a TON of snow already.. but it hasn't been as cold or snowy.. so that's pretty weird. But yes we do bike in the snow, and I've already fallen over once..haha.. it was pretty funny.. I totally biffed it in the middle of the road right in front of our apartment. It's was quite hilarious.. Welp that's really all that's going on here right now but i hope you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!!!
Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Nate Peck
Oh yeah... for package ideas... Socks... ALL of my socks have holes in them... so if you could send me some normal missionary socks and a couple pairs of wool socks that would be sweet!!!! Thanks!!!

Hey Pa,

So things here are going pretty good. Thanksgiving here was a pretty average day. We didn't really do anything special or out of the ordinary, however we did get locked out of our apartment when my comp forgot the keys. It was pretty funny to be honest. So we had to call up this guy and he had to come over and unlock our apartment. It was pretty fun. haha.

So the branch here is pretty... okay. There are only two priesthood holders and the branch president leaves right after sacrament meeting every week. So its not a very strong branch to be honest. And now we found out that the branch pres, and the other guy will both be working on Sundays sometimes so well see what happens then.

Well other than that not too much is really going on. We've got a couple of investigators but no one super great. We've got one guy who wants to be baptized but we cant baptize him yet because he leaves right after Christmas for break. so we want to wait until he gets back before he's baptised.

Well that's about it but I hope that you have a great week and I love and miss you!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Thanksgiving...another year done.

A great beginning to Thanksgiving.....a Lord of the Rings card game. And who won? Steve did!! Jaron usually win even though he says he doesn't. Ooops, Steve didn't win....Christopher did. Sorry Christopher. I guess too much turkey in the brain. :)













It was kinda a small group of us this year but we had a great time and had an over abundance of food.






























































So much food that we couldn't get it all on the table. We ate and ate and ate.













Christopher with turkey overdose!!!













Later that evening we skyped Timothy. They're celebrating Thanksgiving today since Jess worked yesterday. I'm constantly amazed at how many days it takes to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner and how fast it is over with.

The closet

So Emily asked me this morning if it was ok if she could organize and clean the closet. Uh.....yeah!!! Like I'm going to say....no Em, no cleaning or organizing. You're not allowed to.
So she took everything out, got rid of old stuff, hung everything up and vacuumed it out. Now we can hang more things up in it. And the door actually closes now. :)

Let the feast begin!!

Today I wrapped up all the food shopping. Costco was insane and the lines were forever long but I'm done!! We are ready for a feast plus more. There will be total pigging out broken up with naps in between for the next few days. I bought sooooo much food but there were some really incredible deals that I couldn't pass up. I ended up buying 3 turkeys. Two of them were $7 each ( 20 lbs each) and the smaller one (13 lbs) was $2. I'm giving the smaller bird to Lesa to cook up whenever she wants. But I bought an extra one to cook up when Nathan gets home. I've been taking full advantage of the sales and layering them with coupons. But I have to write down a couple of great deals I got today that had nothing to do with Thanksgiving that really got my adrenalin going. The first is a rechargeable Oral B toothbrush for $2.98. Also some Blistex and Carmax lip stuff for only $.07 each!!!! There shouldn't be much of an excuse for us to have chapped lips this winter or clean teeth! :)
Jess texted me this cute picture of Kingston yesterday......what a doll!!!

Nathan's email

Hey Mommers,

So things here are going good. Thanks for the package and I'll definitely let you know when I get it in the mail. :) Hey I have one question, would it be possible to get updates on my bank account. I just never have any idea how much money is in there, because of the conversions and everything, I cant keep track of it while I'm here, cuz i cant really check what the conversion rates are and everything. So i never know how much money I've actually got. So if you could email me about that every once in a while that would be great. Just because sometimes I just don't have enough money for food or something so I have to my card, but then I don't know how much money I actually have... so yeah... That would be great if you could do that 8D Thanks! So things here are going good. Not too much has been going on though. we do a ton of biking which is really great. Its super cold but it nice, cuz now I actually do a little bit of working out... so that's great! This last week has been pretty cold and it finally snowed for the first time on Saturday. So that's was really cool. Nothing has really stuck yet but It's been hanging around 0 for that last couple of days so I'm sure we'll be getting a lot more here in the next couple of weeks. Oh, so I was wondering, could you send me some recipes for some things, such as cookies (several different kinds) muffins, brownies, and other things like that... I really miss those kinds of things and it would be super awesome if I could make them sometimes 8D So if you could do that, that would be AWESOME!!! Thanks!!!! Well that's really about it for now but I hope that you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Hey Pops,

Sounds like you had a pretty busy week battling the anti-evolution demons of cyberspace, and bringing the world to a knowledge of facts, as they are called in the English tongue. It's pretty crazy how so many people can disagree with facts, thing that are proven to be right. It's very apparent in this world that people like to close their minds after they have found something that suits them. Their may be something better our there, more answers to questions, more knowledge, but people don't care, nor want it. In Finnish they say, "Se Riittää" It suffices, or its enough. People don't ever want more knowledge. I don't get it. There is always more to learn, but I think people in the church, and outside the church don't always understand that. People find what they like and they stick to it. It doesn't matter if there is something better, or more to learn. They have found, enough. Se Riittää heille. I'm actually really glad that we have this gospel in which we can always grow and learn new things that will help us understand God and how he works to help us. Evolution I feel, is one way that we really come to know God, and how he works.

Well, that's my 2 cents, but I hope that you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Savory & Sweet

One of my adopted boys (Kevin) works at a crepe restaurant called "Savory & Sweet. They also serve herb tea. Since it was cold out and snow on the ground we thought we'd give it a try. We ordered a strawberry crepe with whipped cream to share and a pot of mint herb tea. Unfortunately they were out of mint tea and said they give us 2 pots of tea and we could pick any other teas they had on their menu. So I got a raspberry and Steve got a chocolate herb tea. We sat by the window and ate our crepe and sipped tea for about an hour. It was so nice to just sit and talk and drink tea. It was relaxing and felt very European. :) We are definitely going back!!!

Band Concert

Emily had a band concert tonight. She had to be there an hour early. So Steve and I waited out in the hall til it was her turn to perform. They sold suckers by the entrance so we each bought one to entertain ourselves......and waited. Wow...I look angry.















Then she made an appearance!! Ready.....
















Set.....















Go! They did a great job and sounded awesome!!

Hear ye!! Hear ye!!

Yep.......Steve's book is out!! You can order off of Amazon too! He will be doing some book signings and I'm going to go with him to at least one of them.....that I know of and maybe even more. It should be fun!! Congrats Sweetie!!

Nathan's email and pictures

Ok Mommers,
Here is my list of answers for you....
1. For my Birthday... I dont really know... Money? or anything, I think I'm pretty easy to please. So whatever.
2. " " Christmas " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "
3.Linnankatu 24 B 14 if this one is different than the last one, I'd wait untill next week to send it.
57130 Savonlinna
Finland
4. Well the branch is small. Not a lot of people come to church, and starting next month the Branch Pres. starts work on sundays so... we really wont have any priesthood in the branch... so we'll see what happens then.
5. 7ish
6. We've got 5 investigators right now but none are really solid.. So we're looking... hopfully soon we find some more... cuz I really want to find some good ones!! haha... but we just keep looking.
7. We use bikes.
8. IDK how much money I have... the convertion rate stuff throws me off so bad... I've just come to the conclusion that I just dont use my home card. I only use it right after you tell me you put money in, and then I stop cuz i've got no idea how much I have. But I think im fine for right now.
9. I'm good on vit. D
10. ... castle/me and Elder Orr
11. Im doing good and im quite happy! no worries ;)

Welp, I hope I got all your questions. Everything here is going good. I dont really know what else to say but I hope you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!!!

Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Peck

KIITOS KAIKESTA!!!!!!

Sorry I dont have more pictures, Im a terrible picture taker :S Im trying to repent but... I guess we'll see what happens. But his is what I've got right now! I LOVE YOU!!! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!!!
Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Peck

Hey Pops!

Hey so thats super cool about your book!!! Thats super exciting. Thats also super cool about the Evolution blog, you'll deffenently have to send that to me too. The last one was super cool!!!

Things here are going good! Not too much happened this last week but we got to teach this less active here who is an alcoholic. That was pretty fun. Honestly some of the best teaches I've had are with drunks and addicts... they for some reason are so much easier to teach! we also tracted into this J-dub family this a couple of days ago and all they wanted to do was bash (obviously) so that was pretty fun. My newly obtained Old Testament knowledge came in handy, haha.

Welp, thats really about all, but I hope you have a great week and good luck with all your book stuff! I love and miss you a ton!!!

Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Peck

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day!! We have a lot of veterans in the family......my dad, Steve's dad, Steve, my brother Greg, Steve's brothers Klint and Zach and nephew Mike plus lots more. This is a picture of my dad and Greg when he was a helicopter pilot for the army.













Jess put this picture of a very tired Timothy and a creative Kingston putting Darci's shoes on his dad's legs on her blog today. I thought it was really funny!!

Books

Lately I've been doing quite a bit of reading. One book I finish is called, "Gilead." Steve and I got to meet the author so I wanted to have it at least started so I could say something a little intellectual when I met her. I got up to page 60 so I could say something but the meat of the book was later on. I highly recommend it. It made me step back a little and remember the important things of this life. Also it made me think about grace, forgiveness and not to judge others so harshly. It left me thinking for days after I finished reading it.
The book I just finish is, "Flunking Sainthood" by Jana Riess. There were some lol moments but there were some really great messages. Some of the things that stuck out were, The Lord's Prayer. I remember as a kid, we were members of the Lutheran church and the Lord's Prayer was said every week. So I tested myself to see if I still knew it by heart......and I did!! I wish we said it more. I also liked the part about being hospitable to others when they come to our home and being kind. Also keeping the Sabbath day more holy. There were funny parts in that chapter too. One thing I'm not going to try is fasting every day from sunrise to sunset. I also recommend this book too.....fun reading!!

Aching

Today my heart just aches. Last night on the news they told about 2 missionaries who were killed in Texas while they were biking. All day today I keep thinking about it and their families and how they are coping with this. It's those left here behind that I hurt for.....and everyone, I guess. Then I worry about Nathan. Just because they are on a mission doesn't mean nothing will happen to them but you hope and pray they will be safe. . I pray (and cry) for the families and all that they are going through. It's just too close to home. I pray for Nathan that he'll be safe.......and all the missionaries out there. I could really use a "Nathan" hug right now.

Tadpoles

In 1988 we moved to a house in Durham, NC. Down the street from where we lived was a huge pond.....or small lake. But in it were lots of tadpoles. Steve thought it would be a fun idea to buy a little wading pool and fill it with water from the pond and then put tadpoles in it. A great science experiment for the boys to see them grow and change. Steve, Timothy and Christopher would go back and forth to the pond with buckets getting these little critters. All summer they would watch them. Then they turned into frogs and started their escape til there were non left. One day Steve was talking to our neighbor over the fence and asked him.......have you noticed an increase in the frog population around here? Ha ha!!!

Nathan's email

hey Mommers!
So things here are going pretty good. Savonlinna is a really cool place. Its basically on these three islands and so we have to travel between them all the time, so that's pretty cool. There aren't really all lot of people who live here tho. while we really don't see that many people while we're walking around from place to place... so its pretty hard to find people to talk to.. but hey what can you do. Also the ward.. branch here is really small. Yesterday there were probably 13ish people in church. There aren't a whole lot of people here. So that's pretty nuts. But things here are going pretty good. We've got one guy with a baptismal date. Other than that not really too much is going on here in Savonlinna, but it seems to be a pretty sweet place.. I guess we'll see what happens in the future. So my comp. is Elder Pope. We get along really well. But yeah things here are going good. I hope that you have a great week and i Love and miss you a ton!!!
Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Nate Peck

Oh and I also got the 10 Euro's this week!! Thanks ton!!!!

Hey Pops,

Halloween in Finland is pretty much non-existent, I honestly forgot that is was Halloween on Monday. haha. We honestly do the same thing here that we would be doing back home, Knocking on Doors. haha. but I guess its a lot funner in the states, you get candy there. haha.

Random fact, So I've been in Finland for about 1½ now, almost, and I've still not been to the temple. Not only have I not been to it I haven't even seen it. I'm probably the only missionary in Finland who hasn't seen it. There is a good amount who've never been in, but I think that everyone has seen it, except me... haha.. its just a kinda funny coincidence.

Things here are going pretty good, and the city is pretty sweet. Its really beautiful, and is set on three different islands so its pretty cool. However there really aren't too many people around. its a pretty small city. definitely the smallest that I've been in this far. but its still pretty cool. I like it.

We that's really about all but I hope you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!!

Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Nate Peck

Canal

This is what the canal looks like as of today. There is pipe for as far as you can see. There must have been over 2 dozen cement trucks pass our house today. It looks like they are putting cement over the pipes.....not sure why. At the end our street the whole bridge is taken out. But the canal will be totally covered and it will be a walking/running/biking trail. It's suppose to go from Lehi to Utah lake. That's what I hear.

One of my favorite pictures of dad with Emily.
Just thinking about my dad.

Trick or Treating pictures

Maddox and Asher ready for trick or treating. Maddox is Robin Hood and Asher is a dinosaur. In fact, Maddox's costume is one that I made for Timothy and Christopher when they were little.












Kingston was a monkey. He really enjoyed the concept of people giving him candy.













Cute, cute grandkids!!!

Grandkids wall

I've been looking for something fun to put pictures of the grandkids in. My friend Verna works at Rod Works and I've been promising her forever that I'd come and visit her at work. So a couple of days ago I finally went. I found one of these flower picture holders. It only holds 4 pictures. But I bought it anyway. That night I decided that I needed another one. I know that I'll have more than 4 grandkids.....I think. Verna said there was one more at the store and that was it. So the next day I went and picked it up. Now I have room for 8 pictures. :) I love flowers!!

Oct. coupons

For the month of October I saved $97.42. Wahoo!! I'm going to be really curious how much I saved for the year. Can I just say that I'm thankful for coupons? It gets me on a high when I save lots of money. The coupon savings are also on things that are already on sale so it's a double savings. :)

The Writer

Here are a few of the pictures taken of Steve for his book.