The Peck's back from Vienna

Sunday

2012-02-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to a text. Got a picture of my granddaughter to wake up too. She is such a doll. I am so grateful for all the pictures I get of her!!!

Also Jaron came home this weekend. I love it when he comes home and I can fill him up with food.

Christopher, Lesa and the kids came over for dinner. Maddox and Asher love hanging out with "Pa".

More pics. of Darci

2012-02-10T19:06:00.001-08:00

It seems like with each picture of Darci she is constantly changing. She is such a beautiful little girl.

I appreciate all the pics. Jessica sends us!! I can't wait to see her!!

And this is what I've been doing the last couple of day. :)

Starts

2012-02-08T18:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I started my greenhouse class. We are learning how to grow flowers and vegetables from seeds. Listening to the lecture I can tell there is an art to this. I know why most of my starts end up dying. After the lecture we went into the greenhouse, which is huge and got started. We got our soil (dirt) and started planting seeds. I mainly planted yellow onion. They're pretty hardy and I'm hoping that I won't kill them off very easily.
Today I turned in our papers to refinance our house. We got a 15yr. mortgage at 3.5%....with no money down or costs. I'm still just so shocked that we got it fixed at such a low percent.

Grandkids

2012-02-07T05:57:00.000-08:00

Jess got some great pictures of Darci with her eyes open. She's such a pretty girl!!

Kingston is trying out Darci's seat.....fits!! :)

These are some of the pics. Emily took while we watched the super bowl. Asher with Lesa and Emily.

And Maddox with his mom. :)

Nathan's email

2012-02-06T05:36:00.000-08:00

Hey Mommers!
Wow, that's soo nuts that Darci has been born already! That's pretty crazy! You'll have to send me some more pictures as you get them!!! Thanks fore the money. Last month while in Savonlinna we had to buy bus tickets and it was at the end of the month so we didn't have any MSF (the money the church gives us) so we had to buy the tickets with our own money which kinda sucks but hopefully here soon I'll be able to get that money back. SO it sounds like everything there is going good. It sounds like dads book signing went really good. That's so crazy that all of this stuff has happened sense I've been gone. Dad's becoming a pretty big celebrity. Things here are going pretty good. Last week was really cold it got down to about -30 outside and I honestly thought I was going to freeze to death.. haha. It was pretty cold and riding our bikes in it really didn't help. Today however has been in the low teens. like right now i think its about -12 so that's super nice!! I may not even need thermals today :) But other than that things here are going pretty good. We've got a good amount of investigators however I honestly haven't seen half of them so they'll probably get dropped here soon if we cant get in touch with them soon. Other than that though not too much is really going on here. But thanks for everything! I love and miss you a ton!
Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Nate Peck

Hey Pops,

Sounds like you had a fun week. That's too bad that there weren't any good commercials this year. Hopefully next year we'll get some good ones. It seems however that the commercial quality has been decaying lately so hopefully in the next year or so we'll be able to get some good ones.

Things up in the freezing cold north are going pretty well. This last week was pretty cold, it got down to about -30 and it got pretty cold while we were riding our bikes around. Luckily today is in the low teens. The last time that I checked it, it was about -12 and it was -19 this morning, so it's really just warming up today, so I'm really excited about that.

I don't know if I've ever told you but you're basically a celebrity here in Finland. Tons of people have listened to your pod casts and you're changing a lot of peoples views on evolution. It's pretty funny almost every missionary here has heard about Steve, the Evolutionary Biologist. So your pretty well known now.

The missionary work here in Rovaniemi is going pretty good. We've got a good amount of investigators, however I haven't meet a lot of them, so we could be dropping a lot of them here soon. However the work is really going pretty well. The ward here is really cool, we don't get a lot of D.A.'s but they are all really cool. It's a good place and I think that I'm really going to enjoy it here.

Well that's really about all for now but I hope you have a great week and I love and miss you! Take care!

Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Nate Peck

Book reading and signing

2012-02-04T07:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Steve did a book reading and signing at BYU for his book,"Scholar of Moab."

Steve did a great job and seemed like a natural up there talking. It was a lot of fun to listen to. A lot of people showed up and there were lots of great questions asked afterwards.

I took a lot of pictures which I guess I wasn't suppose to do. Oops. :)

Darrell and Dyann, their friends the West's and Christopher came.

Afterwards we all went out to lunch at a cafe at the art museum. The whole event was just a lot of fun!!!

Day 2

2012-02-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

Jess sent me a picture of Darci......day 2. I miss her!! I can't wait to see her and hold her. I think about her a lot! She has such great parents and a wonderful big brother. She is a beautiful little girl!!!

Jess is going to have so much fun dressing up Darci. Girls are a lot of fun. :)
I tried to take a picture of my face with all the many sores on it from the pre-skin caner treatment. But the picture really doesn't show much. But there are sores under my eyes, nose and upper lip. I'm not much of a whiner but I have to say that they really hurt....kinda like road rash on the face. If this medicine has done anything for me (beside searing away the bad spots) is to use sunblock and wish I didn't lay out in the sun so much when I was younger.

Darci

2012-02-02T06:33:00.000-08:00

Darci Avenlea born at 10:32pm weighing 6 lb 3 oz and 18 .5" long. We are so happy she's here and she's beautiful!!! There will be more pictures to come soon. Welcome to our family Darci.....so glad you're here! :)

Janurary coupon total

2012-02-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

January had some really good coupons come out in the paper and also there were some really great deals at the stores. One of the great deals that I happened upon was yesterday. The store I went to had Tide detergent (liquid) for $2.99 regularly $5.99 each. Then I had a coupon for $2 off of 3. So $2.32 for each one. Yeah......I stocked up. I don't think I have to buy any for a few months. Also with the Super Bowl coming up there's been lots of sales and coupons to match. But the total amount of coupons I use for January is $108.19 plus all the incredible sales on top of that. Pretty good month. :)

On our fridge

2012-01-31T12:33:00.000-08:00

Yep.....here's Emily's report card for the semester. I'm taking her to Krispy Kreme soon cuz with every "A" she gets she gets a free donut. She works hard for her good grades and I'm very proud of her!!!!

Nathan's email

2012-01-30T05:20:00.000-08:00

Hey mommers,
hey so the new area is pretty good. However I did not get to see the norther lights. We heard about them, however they were usually happening while we were sleeping so we weren't able to see them :( Oh well hopefully I'll be able to see them before I leave here. Rovaniemi is a pretty good place however its really cold. And biking in that weather is really not very fun at all. but I'm starting to get used to the cold so its really not too bad and I think I'll live, but I guess we'll see. I'm not too sure what all they have up there up pretty much anything that you can think of they'll probably have so, just let me know what you want.. or what you think you might want, and I'll look for it. So I'm not sure if i know a Megan xxxx... I'm racking my brain to think of anyone with that name and I cant think of anyone... Anyway, the ward here is a pretty good size, roughly 35-40 people, which is way better than the 10 in Savonlinna, haha. But yeah that's really all that's going on here but I hope that you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!!
Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Nate Peck

Hei Pops,

I did not get to see the northern lights this last week. We were told they they usually came out at 2 or 3 in the morning and it had to be clear sky's so we just never got to see them. Hopefully before I leave I'll be able to see them though.

Rovaniemi is a pretty good city and is really cold, haha. We have to bike everywhere we go and it really gets pretty cold sometimes. I'm sure I look pretty funny when I'm biking with my huge hat on under my helmet, but who cares it keeps me warm! Rovaniemi is actually a pretty populated area and there is even a university here, The University of Lapland. So its pretty nice and there are a lot of young people running around so that's way nice. The ward here is a pretty good size, there are about 35-40 members. So for Finland its pretty good. And as far as a dialect, there is one but its really not too bad or noticeable, so its not too hard to understand people.

Well that's really about all but thanks for everything, and yes I did get the 20€ Thanks a TON!! I hope you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!1
Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Nate Peck

Sunday paper

2012-01-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

Look at what we found today in the Deseret News!!!! A book review on Steve's book, "Scholar of Moab".
I could have scanned it but I wanted to take a picture of it so it looks more like it's from the paper....with other headlines peeking in. It's a great article. And a great picture of Steve. :)

Treatment

2012-01-26T07:11:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the month I went to the "skin" Dr for my 6 month check up. He cut out a couple of spots on my arms and then told me to get these 2 creams for my face. He said I had a lot of pre-cancer on my face and these creams would take care of them. I use them at night for 4 weeks. I've been using them for just over 3 weeks and my face is red and sore. That's what it's suppose to do but I have sore red blotches on my face.....especially my nose. A couple of my friends have the same pre-cancer and are doing the same treatment and we all look pretty pathetic. No pictures for a while. I only have 5 more applications on my very tender face and then I'm done!!!

Blog Books

2012-01-25T09:05:00.000-08:00

Look what we got in the mail?
Steve put our blog together and made it into 2 books for last year....January-June and July-December. We now have a total of 6 of them and they are so fun to look through. It's like a family journal and photo album all in one. I highly recommend everyone doing this. :)

Rough-house

2012-01-24T06:02:00.000-08:00

I copied these cute pictures from Jessica's blog.....Timothy rough-housing with Kingston. I remember when the boys were little and Steve rough-housing with them. Great memories!!!

Nathan's email...transfered!!!

2012-01-23T05:36:00.000-08:00

Hey Mommers,

Well we got change calls and I'm leaving Savonlinna and am going to Rovaniemi!!!!!! (That's where Santa lives) I'm not going to lie I'm pretty excited to got there. However it is going to be RIDICULOUSLY COLD. Haha. So we'll see if I live through the next 3 months ;) I was also thinking if anyone wants any Finland souvenirs that would be the place to get them, so if anyone wants anything they can let me know what they want and then give me the money (or you the money and you could throw it in my account) for it and I can get it for them... so if you want you can spread the word about that! Oh and I'll also try to remember to get you my new address next week so that you can start sending letters and things there. Well other than that not too much is going on here. Things have been going good, and its been a little bit colder however I haven't gotten into the thermal stage yet so that's good. However I'm sure that once I go to Roi (as it is called by missionaries) I'll be using them a lot more. haha.. Well thats really about all for right now but thanks for everything and I love and miss you a ton!!!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

P.S. I'm going to be serving with an Elder Dastrup. He is actually from Linden and when to PG high school... so that's pretty cool :)

Hey Pops,

Sounds like you had a good trip to Africa. And I hope that you are recovering from the long flight alright. However it sounds like the flight really wasn't too bad and was actually rather enjoyable!

Things here are going pretty good. We got our change calls the other day and I going to be leaving Savonlinna and going to Rovaniemi! I'm pretty excited about that, and if I'm going to be able to see the Northern Lights during my mission it'll be while I'm there. So that's pretty exciting.

Other than that not too much has been going one here in Savonlinna. We had a pretty average week, however it was probably one of our better weeks. We were able to teach more people than we usually do. So that was really nice.

Well that's really about all for now but I hope you have a great week and I love and miss you!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

The Last Show

2012-01-21T21:31:00.001-08:00

Tonight was the last performance of the Labyrinth. Emily did an incredible job!! And the dreaded mask in the ballroom scene that I was soooo worried about......went perfectly!! It stayed on and in place!

It was a great show and all the dancers and performers did an amazing job!!!!

Doors

2012-01-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

This is the door dance they do for the Labyrinth. I call it the "Red Bull Energy Dance". The girls just go and go and go. :)

Ballroom

2012-01-18T19:28:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics. I took of the ballroom dance in the dress rehearsal today. I have seen this dance so much and I never grow tired of it. I love it!!!

King

2012-01-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

I look at this picture of Kingston and I see Timothy at this age. They look so much a like. Such a cute little guy!!!

Pics. of Asher's Party

2012-01-17T07:01:00.000-08:00

We all had a great time celebrating Asher's Birthday!!!!

Nathan's email and pictures

2012-01-16T06:47:00.000-08:00

Hey mommers,
Wow that's funny that you sent another one... haha... I guess now I'll just have two. haha. So things here are going pretty good. Yesterday morning when we were studying we got a phone call from the first councillor in the ward and he informed us that none of the priesthood leaders would be able to come to church, so one of us had to conduct sacrament meeting. So Yesterday in our small little branch I got to conduct SM. I honestly had NOOOO idea what the heck I was doing but it went okay and I didn't screw up too bad. I did accidentally have one member excommunicated but.... we're not working on getting that fixed. Just kidding but it was a pretty cool experience. Other than that tho not too much is going on here. That's way cool that, that guy is going to Finland! Finland is an awesome place and he's going to love it! Oh so random fact... you should probably be getting my flight plans here in the next 4-5 weeks... maybe 6 I don't really know. I just know that you get them in my second to last change (which starts next week). So you should be getting those soon and you'll have give me all that info cuz i don't get them till my last change.... So that's pretty exciting. Anyway that's really about everything... But I hope you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!!
Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Nate Peck

Timothy went sky diving

2012-01-15T15:21:00.001-08:00

Jessica bought Timothy a sky diving package for Christmas. Yesterday was the day to jump!!!

He did it!! Timothy also got a dvd of his jump. Just watching it made me so nervous! But he really had fun and so much of an adrenalin rush.

Way to go T!!!!!

And Jess is 35 weeks!! Way to go! And thank you for the pictures!!

Asher is 1!!!

2012-01-14T15:31:00.000-08:00

Happy First Birthday Asher!!!!

Here are a few pictures of his first year. He seems to have grown so fast and this year has gone by so fast too.

He is such a sweet little guys, very happy and so full of hugs!!!

We love you baby Ash!!!

Orem Library

2012-01-13T21:10:00.000-08:00

This is one of the pictures that was in the Daily Herald New paper. This is the Orem Library performance. Emily is in the back in black....4th from the right.

Two Quilts

2012-01-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

While Steve is gone I got two quilts done. One for Asher and one for Darci. They're rag quilts that I got off of pineterest. I think they turned out really cute and wasn't that hard to do. I had to make them while Steve is gone cuz he hates the sound of the sewing machine. :)
Steve is still hanging in there in Africa. He's still not sleeping very good. Jet lag can really suck!! They went out into the field today. The guy he works with told him to watch out for vipers. Steve didn't know what that meant. Come to find out they are wasps nests. So he was on the look out. Also I made sure he packed a epi-pen just in case so he had that with him too.....Good man!!!
Emily had another performance this afternoon at the PG Library. I'm going to try and get some video of her dances.

The lost package

2012-01-11T05:38:00.000-08:00

Nathan has only recieved 3 of the 4 packages I sent him. Of course the one he's missing is the photo album I made him. I wanted him to get the one soooooo bad. As of a couple of days ago he still hadn't received it. I mailed all the packages Dec. 1. So yesterday I remade him the same photo album and stuck it in the mail. He should get it in about 10 days. This is the email I got from Nathan this morning.

Hey Mom,

I thought I'd send you a quick email and let you know that I just got the package today! Thank you so much! That was an awesome present!!! Thanks again and I'll email you again on Monday!!! Thanks and I love and miss you a ton!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Oh well.....I guess he'll have 2 of them now. :)

Outreach.....and Steve :)

2012-01-10T05:45:00.000-08:00

Emily had 2 outreach performances yesterday. Sunday evening she came down with the stomach flu. She was up most of the night with it. Monday morning she was still feeling pretty icky and I told her she could miss it but she wanted to go. She knew there wouldn't be very many girls and they needed her so she went. She did a great job but went home right afterwards. She rested a little and then went to school to take 2 finals. By the time she got home she said she was feeling a lot better. The evening performance was at the AF library. The stage was really, really small but all the girls did really good. Tonight they perform at the Orem Library.
I got a email from Steve and he's doing good. The electricity went out in his hotel. Hopefully they'll get that back on soon but he said he slept really good last night. He needed it. Yesterday he had a diet coke with ice cubes in it and without thinking drank it. That's a big no-no in Africa. Ice is made out of their tap water. So he was worried that he would get sick but so far he's ok. I think he dodged the bullet on that one. He also said that they were going to go out in the field (not sure what days) and are going to try and get a paper ready to send out while he's there. That would be cool....and a lot of work. I will keep everyone updated on how he's doing as I hear from him. :)

Nathan's email

2012-01-09T06:45:00.000-08:00

Hey Mommers,

So no Package yet, however it did get to the office last Tuesday or Wednesday and they said that they would be forwarding it here. So I'm hoping that it'll come today, but either way it should be here soon. So things here are going pretty good. Yesterday we found 2 new investigators which was really nice because we really haven't found anyone in a really long time so that was super sweet! They are an African couple and we're not really sure how much Finnish they speak or if they speak any English... but we'll see what happens with them. They seem really good though so I'm pretty excited. Besides that I was pretty much sick all week long which was no fun. We had to stay in one day and just kinda rest on a bunch of other days so that was no fun. But I got some meds and am feeling better now so things should be getting back to normal here soon! Welp that's really about it but I hope that you have a great week and I love and miss you!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Arrived

2012-01-08T07:50:00.001-08:00

Steve got to Dakar safely. He arrived around 8am Dakar time which is around midnight here. He traveled first class the whole way there. I don't think he'll go back to coach when flies again. He will come home from Dakar first class also. This is what he said,"First class is great! And I mean great! I could lean back as far as I can with my lazy boy and I actually slept a couple of hours which is rare for me. We had a three course dinner served on plates! The appetizer was Duck Breast and Coos Coos, then a fillet mignion, and wasabe potatoes and green beans, Oh and a salad. Very good. Too." No......It will be hard for him to travel coach again. :)
Update on Emily......she has 4 outreach dance performances this week, PG, Orem, AF library and an elementary school. She and all the girls have been putting so many hours into this production. The Labyrinth will be performed the following week. They're going to do great!!
And Jaron starts school tomorrow. He'll do great this semester and I think he's on the mend from his bronchitis.

Dakar

2012-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Well......Steve just left for Dakar. He'll get to NY about 3:30 pm our time. Then from NY to Dakar. I will keep an update as to how and what Steve is doing and any pictures he send my way. He'll be coming home Sunday the 15th.

Quilts

2012-01-05T13:24:00.000-08:00

It is really busy around here with Emily's dance, Steve's trip coming up and getting Jaron ready and healthy to get back to school but I really want to try and make some rag quilts. I found out how to make them on pinterest, which will be the death of me with all the ideas of things I HAVE to do on there! The list is growing longer and longer. Next week I'm going to start sewing them now that they are cut and ready to go. I'll put up the finished product. :)

Hort. class

2012-01-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

I sign up for a Horticulture class at Thanksgiving Point for February. I would have for January too but it was a landscape class and I already took one. The class I'm taking is a greenhouse class. Learning how to do starts, pruning, etc. I feel like I really need a greenhouse now but I don't see one in my near future. I really want to take a Master Gardner class but that's not offered til the fall. I think I can wait. It has been extra warm out. In the 50's in January. So crazy!!! It's so crazy that my butterfly bush is starting to blossom again. I really want to get some pruning done but I don't dare in this warm weather. If there is a sudden freeze I know it will do a lot of damage to the plants or kill them.
Emily is dancing almost everyday for the next few weeks getting ready for the Labyrinth. They will be doing some short performances at the Orem, PG and AF libraries before their big performances at the Scera. I will take lots of pictures. Jaron is slowly getting over bronchitis. Fortunately he doesn't start school til next Monday.......more time to recover. And Steve will be off to Africa Saturday for a little over a week. It will be nice when he's back!! :)

Nathan's email

2012-01-02T06:55:00.000-08:00

Hey Mommers,

Hey so i did get 3 of the 4 packages. I got both birthdays and a Christmas. I'm figuring that the last package was the one that you mentioned got held up in SLC... so hopefully they'll come soon. However thank you so much for all the stuff!! I got a ton of food and made the cake and I've been wearing the pajama bottoms/t-shirt almost every night. They were surprisingly comfortable! Thanks a ton, and hopefully this last one will come today or at least sometime this week. So other than that things here are going pretty good. I've been sick the last couple of days so that's been no fun at all. Right now i don't even have a voice so I cant really talk to well. Luckily it happened after Christmas thought so that I was still able to talk to all of you :) Welp other than that not too much is really going on but things are good and I'm happy, no worries.... Oh yeah I did get ring... its pretty cool i think :) but yeah Thanks for everything and I love and miss you a ton!!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Hey Pa,

Things here are a little less dramatic than they were in Vienna. There were some fireworks but not a ton. I went to bed at the traditional 10:30 time and didn't get disturbed at all when 12 came around so I'm figuring it wasn't too bad.

It's been going pretty good here, however the last couple of days I've been kinda sick with a sore throat, and as of right now I've lost my voice so that's really no fun. but hopefully I start to feel better her soon. It's honestly pretty annoying trying to do missionary work with no voice.. haha. However we've been taking it easy so hopefully I start to improve here soon.

I have gotten 3 of the 4 packages now... I honestly have no Idea where the 4th is though. Last Tuesday right before we left for a district meeting your package and the other 3 all came, so that was really nice but I still haven't seen the 4th. Hopefully it'll come today, but I guess we'll see.

Well that's really about everything, but I hope you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!! Thanks for everything!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

The Grand total

2012-01-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

I've been keeping track of coupons this year and how much I've been saving with them. I am missing one month (January) but I do have an 11 month total. December I saved $159.30. It was a great month for coupons but my total for 11 months is.......$1039.72. Pretty amazing huh? I think I'm going to keep track of them again this year and see how I do.
Also I want to wish everyone a happy New Year. One of my resolutions this year is to take 5000 steps a day.....except for Sunday. So six days a week. I was watching a show that said that we should all be taking at least 5000 a day so I've been wearing a pedometer to keep track. Some days are easy ( the ones where I go to the gym) but my non-gym days are harder to do. I'm also going to try and eat better too. We've also been drinking lots more herb tea.
Jaron has been really sick. He started feeling bad on Christmas Eve. A couple of days later he went to the Dr. and he said it was a virus. He was getting worse and went in again 2 days later. Still a virus. Then he started sounding horrible. Went in again 2 days after that and had bronchitis and a sinus infection. In fact, the Dr. said he has never seen bronchitis so bad in his career as a doctor. So he's on some major drugs. I think he's starting to feel better but still can't talk. Poor guy. I'm soooooo.....glad he's on the mend!!!

Another year down

2011-12-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

Today I did my last workout for the year. I workout 3 times a week consistently unless I'm sick or on vacation. A lot of times when I'm sick I'll still workout. I can't say that it's easy cuz it's so much easier to just quit. My legs ache like crazy all the time. I keep thinking that at some point it has to ease up but it really doesn't. I think they will ache whether I work out or not so I'll work out anyways. I like having the energy to do things. I like being able to go on long hikes and not wearing out. This year I switched back and forth with biking and running. I'm going to keep it the same for 2012 and maybe throw in a little weight training. My upper body strength really sucks so I may work on that a little this coming year. March 2012 will be my 3 year mark of constant exercise. :)

It's down

2011-12-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

Today I took the Christmas decorations down and it left me in a great mood. I do love Christmas decorations, lights, and all that comes with it but Christmas seems like a double edge sword to me. I love the giving stuff but it stresses me out soooooo much. I've been thinking about it a lot and I think the problem is that I'm a people pleaser and I worry if I bought the right thing for each person, if they'll like it, if I bought enough, did I remember everyone and if everything is even and fair. Oh....and paying for it. So I end up being really stress for a month+ while trying to keep Christ in Christmas. I still haven't figured out how to combine both. I honestly don't think I will in my life time be able to combine Christ and Santa in one holiday. Too hard or my mind just has a hard time doing both at once. And it seems like when Christmas is over I feel like I've been hit by a truck. Last night it hit me. Totally exhausted, I just couldn't stand one more day with the tree. It was so dead and needles were everywhere. If you brush up against it small branches would break off.....even with vacuuming every day. While I was upstairs lying in bed watching a movie, Steve, Jaron and Emily took down the tree for me as a surprise. And boy was it an awesome surprise!!!! I don't hate Christmas. I really do like it. I just wish it was more Christ-centered.

A short email from Nathan

2011-12-27T07:45:00.000-08:00

Hey mommers,

It was really great to talk to you all!!! that was a ton of fun!! So I did get the one package that dad sent with the socks and cd's that was GREAT!!! Thanks a ton!!! Well I'll be calling the office today to see if they can send the packages so we'll see when I get them!! Welp... thats really about it but I hope you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Nathan didn't get any of his packages for Christmas. I am quite mad about this. Steve sent the socks DHL thats only suppose to take 3 day (paid $45) and took 2 weeks......after Christmas. I mailed 4 envelopes to Nathan the 1st of December and he still doesn't have them. I'm hoping that they're at the mission home. It just really angers me and we put out over $100 in shipping and got promises that they would be there and they weren't. Erg!!!......It just makes me so, so mad!!! Ok, I feel a little better now letting that out. I hope everyone has a good day. :)

King-man

2011-12-26T15:24:00.001-08:00

We didn't get to spend Christmas with Timothy, Jessica and Kingston. Distance is hard. But we gave Kingston a cement truck for Christmas. I think he likes it. He does love his cars and trucks!! :)

Christmas Eve night

2011-12-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

To start off.....Steve hasn't shaved since the semester ended at BYU. Going radical. I like it. :)

For Christmas Eve dinner we had salmon, sausage, rye bread, green beans, clams, potatoes and sparkling cider. All of it was so delicious. Some major overeating went on.

I wanted to take a picture of everyone at the table but they wanted to hurry and pray so everyone could dig in.

We did our program and then off to the presents!!!

Maddox wasn't sure how the present thing worked so Lesa open her present first. Maddox watched and then it was like a light bulb went off and it was his turn. He grabbed his present and started ripping it open. He saw that he got Elmo pajamas and started tearing his clothes off to get them on. It was funny watching him.

In this pic. it looks like angry Elmo.

It's been a fun night. Though we miss Timothy, Jessica, Kingston and Nathan terribly!!!!!

Christmas Eve...thus far.

2011-12-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to Steve making Swedish pancakes. A tradition in our home. They were so, so good!!! He also cleaned up the kitchen afterwards.....I love it!!!! Thanks Sweetie!!

This is what's happening to our live Christmas tree. It's drying out badly. I did keep up with the watering but I think with the heater on all the time there was no hope. When we take it down after Christmas were going to burn it in the fire pit. I love hearing the crackling noise.
We also did our test call to Nathan a couple of nights ago. We only talked for about 3 or 4 minutes but he sounded so good. So far none of the package got to him yet but I'm hoping they do by today (fingers crossed). Also no Christmas dinner appointments but I gave him some extra money and he's going to make a ham for him and his companion. We'll be calling him tomorrow at 10am and will let everyone know how it goes. I'm sure it will be amazing!!!!

Hugo

2011-12-22T16:52:00.000-08:00

This has never happened to us before or very rarely.....to see 2 movies in one week. This afternoon we saw Hugo...in 3D. I didn't know it was in 3D. I think if I did I may not have gone. It gives me bad headaches sometimes so I kinda stay away from them. After we got seated I popped 2 advil to get me through it. It was a really good movie and the 3D didn't kill my head too much. Plus Steve bought me a diet coke to help also so maybe the combination of both.....no headache.
Tonight we are doing our "test" call to Nathan. It should be fun!!!! :)

Nathan's email

2011-12-21T06:39:00.000-08:00

Hey mommers,

So the Phone number is, xxxxxx.. thus you'll need to do the whole exit/enter thing and it'll look like ###. And if you could call here on Christmas at 10 in the morning your time, which should be 7 at night for me. So if you could do that it would be GREAT!!! THANKS!!!

Thanks for the Recipes!!! I let you know how it turned out on Christmas! ;) I don't think it'll cost more than 30€... hopefully! So our little adventure to Santa land was pretty sweet! (I sent a pic in another email) IT was way awesome to get to see the actual Santa! I got a couple other pics but nothing too great. We weren't aloud to take pictures of a lot of stuff, because they want you to buy their pictures haha. but it was way fun!

So I'm pretty excited for Christmas. (except for the fact that I have to give a talk) I don't know what we're going to do the whole day but I'm sure it'll be fun and I'm really excited to talk to all of you!!

Hm... sorry i don't really now what to say :S Not too much has really happened in the last couple of weeks so there's not really too much so say.. haha. but things here are going good and I'm really excited to talk with you all but I hope you have a great week and I'll Talk to you soon!!!! I love and miss you a ton!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Hey Pa!

So I haven't gotten the socks yet. It'll probably be really hard for them to find us at home because we are at home so little. Do you know if there is a phone number that i could call and try to set up a time/go and pick it up. If there is that would probably be the easiest was for me to get them.

Things here are going really good. Santa Land was a lot of fun. I sent a picture to mom of our whole zone with Santa.

Sorry I don't really have a ton of time to write today :( but I hope that all is well we you and I am super excited to talk to you on Sunday!!!

I love and miss you a ton!! Take care!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Santa picture

2011-12-20T08:48:00.001-08:00

I got this picture from a missionary mom of the zone Nathan's in. It's their trip to Santa town they took yesterday. Nathan is in the back row, 3rd from the right. So cool!!!!

Sherly

2011-12-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

Last night we went and saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie. The theater was packed and every seat taken. Good thing we got there a half hour early. I loved it and so did everyone in my family. I got quite a few good laughs out of it.....and a great storyline. We will definitely be buying this when it comes out on DVD.

Jazz parent show

2011-12-16T08:21:00.001-08:00

Last Wednesday night was the Jazz parent show. Emily did a great job!! She has dance Saturday (5 hours) and then she gets a 2 week break for Christmas. After the break they will be performing the Labyrinth at the Scera.

Happy 21st Birthday Nathan

2011-12-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Nathan's 21st birthday. I feel kinda bad cuz none of his packages I sent will get there on time. Maybe not even on time for Christmas.....but hoping they will. He knows they'll be late and tells me not to worry about it cuz he's fine. I still worry though. :)

I had to put these cute pics. of Nathan when he was little. I can't believe how blond his hair was.......more like white.

I miss him so much but he will be home in 4 months!!!

Happy Birthday Nathan!!! I hope you have a wonderful day and I can't wait to see you!!!!

Dance parent show #3 :)

2011-12-14T05:48:00.000-08:00

Here are more pics. from another parent show I went to last night. All the girls are such beautiful dancers. I have one more to go tonight.....jazz.

Locked out

2011-12-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago our front door knob broke. We bought a new one and replaced it. Two keys came with it. We haven't made copies of the keys yet cuz.....it's the Christmas season, life is a little crazy and so who has time? The new door knob can stay locked and still be able to go out. So that is the setting it's at. This morning I wanted to make a bunch of banana bread to take to Emily's dance teacher tonight. I got all the mini loaves in the oven and set it for 20 mins. After I got it in the mail came. I slid on Steve's big church shoes and ran out to get it. As the storm door closed the suction closed the front door also. I'm thinking...Oh crap!!! With the front door locked I run around the house checking all the windows, back doors and everything is locked up tight. I run over to Heather's and call Steve at work to get Christopher's phone number. My cell phone is in the house so I have no numbers. I finally get a hold of Lesa and Heather drives me to get the key from Lesa for the back door. We get back and try back doors but the key doesn't work. We go back to Heather's and decide to call Jay Marquiss. He has a tall ladder and find out that Emily's window is unlocked. He breaks in through Emily's window, that is lined with about 10 cups of water that she hasn't brought down, and opens the front door. An hour from when I was locked out....I am in. The banana bread is little black bricks but the house didn't burn down!! :)

Nathan's email

2011-12-12T05:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Mommers,

So I'm not moving. So you can send the socks here if you want :D And before I forget I was wondering if you could send me a couple recipes in your next email. I want to know how to bake a ham.. So if you can send a good ham recipe that would be awesome. we probably wont have a DA on Christmas so it would be good if you could send one of those through email. and also I was thinking of making potato salad. So if you could also send your recipe for that, that would be AWESOME!!! And if you've got any other ideas of things we could make for Christmas dinner that would be GREAT!! That's WAY super cool to hear what Behnke said! I would definitely say that he was my Fav. comp as well!!! those were 3 EPIC changes! So things here are going good. we don't have too much going on right now, however, things are looking up! we we're pretty excited about that. Oh so next Monday we get to go up to Rovaniemi (the northest city missionaries can serve in, as well its where Santa [the real Santa] lives) for a Zone conference, and we'll also be going up to see Santa!! So I'm super excited!!!!!!!!!!! SANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I'll take pics! But yeah, so that means i probably wont get to email until Wednesday. hopefully.... but we'll see what happens. Welp that's really about it but i hope you have a great week and I love and miss you!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Hey Pa,

How is all of your book stuff going? It sounds like you've been pretty busy with all of that stuff. I'm pretty excited about it, I want to read it when I get home!

So things here are going pretty good. Not too much is going on right now, but things here are starting to pick up as of last week so that's super great! We were actually able to find a couple of people who want to meet and so we've got several teaches set up for this week so I'm pretty excited about that.

Oh, I was wondering if you were ever able to send that other pod cast? I'd be super interested to listen to it and I know several other missionaries who would want to listen to it as well. So I'd love to hear it!

Well that's really about all for now but I hope you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton! Good luck with all of your school stuff!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Peck

Book signing

2011-12-11T06:58:00.001-08:00

Yesterday afternoon Steve and I went to Salt Lake for his book signing at the Kings English. That is the coolest bookstore I've been to in a long time. Not to get off track but the store has lots of little rooms lined with shelf of books. And there are different levels of the store. They have lots of unique books. You could spend hours in there just looking around. I love the atmosphere in there!! But before we got to the bookstore we stopped at his mom and dad's place and visited for a while. Maureen, Alexie and Josh came from CA to go to Steve's book signing. That really meant a lot to Steve and it was so sweet of them!!! We arrived at the bookstore and Steve got all set up. There was a constant flow of people there. It was nice to see......lots of family and friends. After the hour of signing we went to dinner at his publishers house with one other couple. It was so fun!! The food was great and the conversation was wonderful!! Thanks for everyone that came. It was a fun day!!!
ps. Sorry the picture is so bad. I forgot to bring my camera and had to use my phone. :(

Tree shopping

2011-12-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went and bought our tree. We saw several trees we liked but upon closer examination they either had a bald spot, too flat on one side or too dry. Finally we found one that we all agreed on.

We got it roped onto the car. Man, our car is sure dirty!!!

Then decorated it. I forgot to take a pic. of it done. There will be plenty of more pics. taken with the tree done. It was fun going out as a family and picking a tree. We haven't done that in a while since we have an artificial one......went live this year. :)

Choir concert

2011-12-09T05:57:00.000-08:00

Last night was Emily's choir concert. Steve and I got there 15 minutes early so we could get a seat. When we got there every seat was taken, people were lined up against the walls and kids were all sitting on the floor and steps in front of the stage. We found a little spot on the floor to sit by the stage. It was packed!!!! The choirs sounded really good and did a great job!!!

Stolen pictures. :)

2011-12-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

I took these pics. off of Jessica's blog. Kingston loves his lunch meat and a good read!! :)

And I took these pics. from Lesa's blog. Maddox and Asher having a good sword fight with rubber spatulas. :)

Hip hop parent show

2011-12-07T05:43:00.000-08:00

Last night was Emily's hip hop parent show. Taking pictures of hip hop is harder than ballet but here are a few of the millions Steve took. Steve was able to come to this was one cuz it was later in the evening. Emily did a great job and it was fun watching all the girls dance.

So far I've been to 2 parent shows and next week Emily has 2 more. I really like going to these. It's fun watching her dance!!

Ballet 6 parent show

2011-12-06T05:47:00.000-08:00

Last night was Emily's ballet 6 parent show. They show us (family) everything they've been learning in class. These girls are strong!! And very graceful! Emily is a very beautiful dancer!!!

This is the first parent show I've gone to this week. I have one more tonight and two more next week. So lots of pictures. Oh.....and a choir concert this week too!! Always lots of stuff before the Christmas break. :)

Nathan's email

2011-12-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

Hey Mommers,

Hey so I did get your first package last Monday. I think it just came late because Savonlinna is in such a really weird place and it's pretty small so everything probably just takes a little longer to get here. Oh and I can buy wool socks here so that wouldn't be a problem at all. Thanks for sending the other packages too. I'll let you know when they get to the mission office however I don't know when I'll get them because they cant forward them from the office for some reason. However, we will be having a Zone conference on the 19th or 20th and if they are there by then I'll probably get them... so I guess we'll see what happens! :) But if I don't get them before Christmas DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!!! You can not worry about it at all!!!! Promise?? okay good!!! I'll be totally fine if they come a little late so DON'T WORRY!!! I have to say that several times cuz i know that you'll worry but DON'T WORRY!!! So we got info about calls home today... it's pretty much the same as usual, however if i were in a bigger ward they said we could use Skpye, however... I honestly don't think that we'll get invited to any Christmas dinners or anything like that so we probably wont be able to :( Oh well. Which kinda brings me to my next... thing... I was wondering if I could get a little bit of extra money cuz... As stated above we may not get Christmas with members (oh btw this week we get our change calls, so one of us could possibly move... FYI. So it actually is a really good thing that you sent the packages to the mission office, cuz if I leave... I would probably never get them.) anyway, we may not have any DA's for Christmas, so I was thinking it would be really fun to do a big dinner with me and my companion. I don't know how much it would cost, but we just wanted to get a ham, and we'll probably do Christmas eve like how we do it. But I don't know yet. cuz you never know I could leave and got to some big ward in which we would get a DA, and possibly be able to skype. but that was just my crazy idea... so yeah.. I'll let you know what is up with that next week after we know more. However I doubt we'll be moving. but yeah... I hope I confused you. But so that I don't forget if I do stay here our number is:0000000... however you need to put in some other numbers in the front that are int he other email... so I'll look for that and then send you the number you need to call in another email in a sec. Welp, that's really about all. Sorry it was kinda confusing, but Thanks for EVERYTHING!!!! I love and miss you a ton!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

P.S. DON'T WORRY!!!!!

P.P.S Hey i may not have time to email everyone else so if you could let them know... I'll try to get some off but i don't know if I'll have time! Thanks!!!

Mommy, Daughter Date

2011-12-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

Steve left for Moab today for his book signing so Emily and I decided that we would go out to dinner and do some shopping. She picked dinner.....Chick Fillet at the mall and did some shopping.

On the way home we stopped at Riverwoods to see all the lights and look in the stores. We got hot chocolate and took lots of pictures. It was a fun night with my daughter. :)

Coupons

2011-12-01T10:47:00.000-08:00

November I didn't save as much in coupons as usual. I think cuz of the craziness of the month but I still did pretty good. I saved $84.33. I did do lots of stocking up with all the sales that were going on. I bought an extra turkey for us for when Nathan gets home....for $7 ( a 20 pounder) and I bought a small one for Lesa for $2. I still have enough food from all the sales to feed a small army. I'm just hoping that a lot of it will get me through the next year when it all goes on sale again. One of the great deals I did get was a Oral B rechargeable toothbrush for $2.97. I had a $10 off coupon so I was super charged on that one!! We'll see what December brings but I'm thinking a little on the low side since I will be buy gifts more than food.

There hhheeeerrrreee!!!

2011-11-30T09:47:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-11-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-28T05:32:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-11-25T10:12:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

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!!

2011-11-22T12:07:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-21T05:41:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

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!!

2011-11-15T15:12:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-14T05:40:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-10T10:15:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-07T05:36:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-11-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

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

Trick or Treating pictures

2011-11-04T14:27:00.001-07:00

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

2011-11-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

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

2011-11-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

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

2011-11-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

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

Nathan's email

2011-10-31T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Mommers!!

Thanks for the pictures!!! Yeah you're right they look exactly the same... haha... but that's probably a good thing. So things here are going good. I did get a a change and I'll be going to Savonlinna! So that's pretty cool. I'm pretty excited to go there it will be good to finally go to another city! This will be my 4 and probably last city, so that'll be pretty cool, I guess. it would have been nice to visit some other places but what can you do? I'm excited thou, cuz ill finally be in the North Zone so I will get to travel a lot more.. so I'm pretty excited about that. President Rawlings also told me some stuff about the area, .Anyway, I'm pretty excited to go up there and I think that it will be a grand ol' adventure.. Oh and my new companion will be Elder Pope... so I guess we'll see how everything goes... Welp that's about all that I've got for today but I hope that you have a great day/week and I love and miss you a ton!!! Thanks for everything!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Hey Dad!

Hey things here are going pretty good. I got a change call this last week and will be going to Savonlinna with an Elder Pope. So that's pretty cool. I'm pretty excited to leave Jyväkylä, however it was kinda sad leaving cuz the ward here is really good, and I've been here for such a long time. but oh well it will be nice to finally get another city to serve in! Well tell everyone 'hi' from me and I love and miss you a ton!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Kingston and pumpkin carving

2011-10-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

I love these sequences of pictures!! I love Kingston's facial expressions!! Thanks Jess for putting them up. :)

Science experiment....honey comb

2011-10-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

When we took the honey from the hives we saved the comb and stuck it in the freezer. Last night I took one of the bags out to see what I could do with it. When I melted it, it was muck. As it cooled off, a layer of wax was on top. I scooped it off and put it in a candle mold. The candle looks pretty cool but we still have a pot of honey and goo. So we're going to get a screen and see if we can filter the honey out. It's kinda a lot of work for all of this but it's interesting. :)

Kevin and Reid are back from their missions. It seems like the 2 years few by fast and I really don't think they aged much at all.

Dishwasher

2011-10-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

Our dishwasher died a few weeks ago. So we were doing dishes by hand. I didn't mind it that much. But Emily and especially Steve did not like it at all. So last Saturday we went to Home Depot to buy a new one.......after I did a lot of research on the internet. HD had the model I wanted but it was a little over $100 than what I found it for. So I told the sales guy and he matched the price. Wahoo!!! So we bought it and told him we needed it installed and the old one taken out. Yesterday it was delivered. I asked the guys if they were going to install it. They said it wasn't on their order to install it but just to drop it off. What???? The HD guy forgot to add it on. It was an additional $100 which I would pay to have it installed and the old one out but he forgot to put it on. Well.....the guys installed it for me, for free, and I gave them each a huge Costco muffin. Great deal and they were really nice guys!

Emily is making her halloween costume. She wants to be a cow so we are coloring black spots on her white hoodie with sharpy markers. We're all feeling a little dizzy.

Pole Beans

2011-10-27T06:03:00.001-07:00

This year we grew some pole beans. I'm not sure what they really are but I opened some of the pods yesterday and this is what they look like. The picture doesn't do it justice to the color. The pink ones are a very bright pink and then they are a very dark blue, almost black color. Really pretty. Does anyone know what you do with these? I was thinking of drying them out a little longer and then boiling them. Should be interesting.
I am done with apples. I have been drying apples for days and days. If I see another apple I may scream!!! We still have tons but I'm on major apple burnout. I think my harvesting time is done for the year. On to other things.

Facebook

2011-10-25T05:50:00.000-07:00

The last few days I have been more or less staying away from facebook. I lurk every once in a while but that's it. And I've hidden a few people. The reason is I'm really tired of the hate. I know with the elections getting closer it's only going to get worse. A lot of the horrible things people say there are hateful and not even true. I think the comments are even worse. It's kinda funny......I tell my Sunday school class (14 yr olds) that I really don't like the word "hate" and I told them why......how it's such a strong word. They can say GREATLY dislike. That's fine but not hate. So they are really good and not saying it and if someone does, one of the other kids will catch them. When I read so much of this hate garbage on facebook it really puts me in a bad mood. So I did some major hiding and staying off except for comments here and there. And I have to say, it hasn't been that bad. I'm getting a lot of stuff done. :)

Nathan's email

2011-10-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

Hey Mommers,

Hey so things here are going good. We've got change calls this week so we'll see if I get to leave here or if I'm going to be staying here for another 6 weeks... I guess we'll see. So things here are going pretty good. Last week was probably one of the best weeks that we've had in a really long time so that was really nice! we were able to find some new people to teach and so that was really good! We've now got some stuff to do other than tract! That's crazy that Kevin and Reid are home... you need to send me a picture of them! So with the package you could probably just wait until i know whats going on and where I'm going. well things here are going really well. OI ISO JUTTU, This morning i finished the Old Testament!! WOOOT... its so good to be over with... but I now officially feel legit that I've read it. so yeah... that's my life... haha.. welp 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

Hey Pops,

So how are things going back at home? Sounds like things are going
pretty well. Thats cool you'll be learning french. I bet you'll be
able to pick it up really quick. You've already learned German and
learning a second languange is always easier! Just be thankful you
dont have to learn Finnish! haha... I would be worried about learning
that ahah... but you'll do great and i bet you'll be surprised how
quick you pick it up.

Things here are going pretty well. This morning I finally finished the
Old Testament. Which was super cool, its now the longest book that
I've ever read. Pretty crazy. haha.. I'm actually going to try and read
through all of the standard works once before the end of the year so
we'll see how that goes. I figure I read the Old Testament in 2 months
so i think I'll be able to read everything else in the next 2 if I
read 20 pages a day. So I guess we'll see what happens.

Welp that's really about everything I hope all is well and I hope you
have a great week. I love and miss you! Take care!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Marilynne

2011-10-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

Last night Steve and I were invited to Charlotte Enland's (wife of Eugene England) home for dinner with author Marilynne Robinson. There were probably around 12 people there total. Marilynne is such a nice lady and very easy to talk to. There was lots of conversations about her books and a little bit about future books she's writing. Charlotte England was the perfect hostess and so very nice and down to earth. Her home is beautiful and relaxing. I enjoyed so much listening to all the conversations. What a great experience!!

blanket/quilt

2011-10-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished a 9 squared quilt for our bed to replace the one I made over 10 years ago.....material ripped and batting falling out onto the floor. I made it with some thin batting so it would be more like a blanket than a quilt since I already have a quilt for the bed. I haven't sewn in a while and it was a lot of fun making this. But I think I've had my fill of sewing for now.

The Grandkids

2011-10-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

Timothy and Jessica took Kingston to the pumpkin patch.

I love this picture of Jessica's little tummy. :)

Christopher and Lesa took pictures in their back yard of Maddox and Asher.

I have the most wonderful grandson!! They are smart and they make me laugh. I love them all so much!!! And my kids (and kids in law) rock too!!

Luke's Farewell

2011-10-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

First off I have to say that Luke did an amazing job on his talk. It was so good!! He's going to be a great missionary!!!

We left for St. Georg Saturday afternoon after Emily's dance. That evening we hung out with all the family. Russ and Cristy have a such a nice house and the view from their deck is incredible!!! It was so fun staying with them!!!

Steve and I went around taking pictures. It was good to see Mike again. It's been awhile. We had to leave later that afternoon cuz Steve had to teach today and Em had school. It was so fun seeing family again. We need to get together more often.

Nathan's email

2011-10-17T05:42:00.000-07:00

hey Mommers,

hey so things here are going good. We had a pretty low week for numbers but we ended up finding a dump load of potentials and have teaches set up for everyday this week so that's pretty rad. Wow... that's really all that happened..haha... but it was a good week. Oh so sorry I wasn't able to get a letter out to you guys last week... we had a really busy pday but i should be able to get one out to you all this week. However so you know I sent a B.O.M. home that I had out here that I marked up and I don't really need it anymore out here but I wanted to keep it... so hopefully that should be coming in the mail. But yeah... That's really about all that happened but I hope that you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!!! Thanks for everything!!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Peck

Hey Pa!

So how are things going back home? Thats cool to hear about your poems!! thats awesome that you got 4 in there! Hows the Pinecone book coming along? when is that supposed to come out?

So things here are going good. not really too much going on right now. but things are going good. The language is coming along nicely, its still super hard but its really fun and it gets better everyday. There are still times thought when I just have no idea what people are talking about. But that's just the way it goes. Some days I feel like I'm doing really well but others not really, but I just keep learning and keep coming little by little. But I'm enjoying it so that's good!!

Well I hope all is well with you and that you didn't get sick. I hope you have a great week! I love and miss you!!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Apples

2011-10-13T18:17:00.001-07:00

Aren't they pretty? I did 13 pints and 1 quart of applesauce today. Which entailed climbing into the trees (really 1 tree. We have that many apples) and picking them, getting hit in the eye by a falling apple, peeling, coring and making it into applesauce. It's kinda a long sticky process but glad I did it and I'm done for now. I still have 4 trees overflowing with apples. Also a second batch of apples are in the food dryer. Why am I doing this? I think cuz I just feel guilty letting them rot on the tree. Guilt does motivate me.

end of season

2011-10-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

This is basically how most of my garden looks now. I have to say though it's been a pretty good year. Next week I will probably be cleaning most of the stuff out for the season. I have a few tomatoes still and a few green beans are still growing but it's basically done. I will be drying the last of the cherry tomatoes too. It kinda sad seeing it be over but I guess I will start making plans for next year. :)

picture update

2011-10-11T08:15:00.001-07:00

I wanted to get these pictures I copied off of Jessica's blog onto mine. I'm really good at copying but not so good at reposting. Kingston loves his new backyard. Many hours are spent back there.

I'm also really good at taking pictures and also good at leaving them on the camera and not downloading them. So here's a small taste of the ones I've taken. Maddox and Asher are really growing fast!! So is Kingston! It's amazing how fast they are growing!

Nathan's email

2011-10-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

Hey mommers!

So how are things going back at the home? things are going alright here. We don't really have too much going on but hopefully that will all change this next week... I hope. We've been doing more of our tracking in the college areas which usually have better success, so hopefully we will be able to find some more investigators. But other than that things are good. The weather here is getting pretty cold... yesterday it was 5 degrees as we walked to church. so it was pretty cold... today's been around 7 or 8 so not too cold. but I'm sure its going to just start to drop from here on out... but that's fine. I really liked last winter so I'm looking forward to this one. should be fun! welp that's really about all for right now but I hope that you have a great week and I love and miss you a ton!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Nate Peck

Hey Pa!

it sounds like your trip to France went pretty good. It sounds like a
pretty cool place!

So things here are going pretty good. not too much has really gone on
this last week to be honest. It was a pretty slow week with a lot of
canceled appointments and people dropping us, but oh well they've got
their agency and they can do what ever thy want with it. But hopefully
we'll be able to find a couple of people who want to really learn this
week. We've got a couple of investigators, including set of twins
that's seem to be doing really good. And hopefully we'll be able to
teach them some more this next week.

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

Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Nate Peck

Preserve

2011-10-07T20:30:00.001-07:00

I preserved ( canned ) 4 things this year. Our little apricot tree produced lots of fruit so I got lots of jam out of it. It doesn't look like a whole lot but knowing that we've eaten half of it already we did get quite a bit. We're slowing down now with eating it now that the jam has honey to compete with. It doesn't look like we got a lot of honey by looking at the shelf but there's another shelf with lots of honey on it too. I just haven't organized it very well yet. But I have to say that it is the most delicious honey and the most expensive there is......if you include the hospital bill and ambulance ride. :)
Then I made lots of salsa. There's an additional shelf of that too....just not organized. I made enough so there would be enough for when Nathan got home.

Then with the left over tomatoes from the garden I canned them to go in chili. Nothing better!! I was thinking about doing apple sauce cuz we still have tons of apples on the trees but I have a hard time getting motivated to pick apples when it's raining and snowing outside.

Snow?

2011-10-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yep, it snowed today. I'm not very happy with it cuz I'm still working on the garden and I really like fall. This is just too winter looking for me. I did rush outside this morning to the garden to get the green tomatoes before they froze to death. There are tons of green little ones so I hope there are a few more warm days so they have a chance to grow.
Also I'm making a quilt for our bed. The one we're using now I made in Hawaii (11+ years ago) and it's look really shabby. I'm just doing a 9 square block so it's shouldn't be too hard and hopefully will be done before winter is over.
BTW.....Steve is on his way home!! :)

Update

2011-10-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

Steve's talk went good. He said better than he thought it would. I've been praying really hard for him...broken ribs, lack of sleep from broken ribs and talk. So it must have worked. :) But he said his ribs didn't hurt during his whole talk. He will be coming home tomorrow. We also got the ambulance bill today for his trip to the hospital......$1500 before insurance. Just the mileage to the hospital was $200. What kind of gas do they use? I was amazed and shocked. I know insurance will cover a chunk of it but still.....that's a lot!!