Miami Bliss!

Wow, what a fun day. Michele and I slept in until 10:00 AM. We went down for breakfast and came back up and got ready for the day. We picked our car up at 1:30PM. We went up to Fort Lauderdale and walked the beach while waiting for dinner at Mai Kai. It was a polynesian dance show with a Chinese/Japanese food selection. It was a delightful and enjoyable experience. We can see why Tahiti was so much fun for Derek. We are setting our sights on going toTahiti very soon. We drove down the main drag where everyone was hanging out. Amazing and crazy people. We drove down to Miami beach to check out our hotel for Sunday to Tuesday night. It is an amazing hotel. We can't wait to go there. We will check in as soon as we can tomorrow. The weather is suppose to be bad tomorrow. It was a balmy 81 today. Tomorrow, there could be thunderstorms. It is suppose to clear for the rest of the week. We are keeping our fingers crossed. Or I guess I should say Michele is as I will be in classes most of the days. I will try to upload some of the pictures but I first must charge the batteries.

Thanks mom and dad for watching the kids.

We love all of you! sweet dreams.

Bryan and Michele

Job Hunt Over!

Hello Family!

Just wanted to tell you that I think the job hunting is officially done! I now am a full time student with 3 part time jobs :) I am working at the pool still once a week, took on a cheerleading coach job for little girls and FINALLY got into a salon up in Orem for a couple days a week! I am very excited! This will improve my organization skills I think! I love you all and hope things are going well!

~Josalyn

An update on the stress and relief

My mom went in for surgery, ended up staying in the hospital for 9 days, and then finally getting to go home. She has definately had some ups and downs during it all as was expected. She was extremely exhausted when she got home, and was just trying to eat anything that she could. Pretty much the only things she can eat without getting sick to her stomache is chicken broth, nuts, and juice. She is sooo tiny. She officially weighs less than me. I feel so bad for her. She says that when she weighs herself it makes her nervous because of how much weight she has dropped so quickly. So she no longer weighs herself, which makes me nervous to not know where she's at.She had a scare last week that sent her to the hospital. The surgery didn't fix her problems at all which is really frustrating. She still can't hardly swallow or digest her food. It's like her asophogus is paralyzed. How scary would that be to not be able to get your food down?! She ate something and wasn't able to get it to go down and felt like she was choking. She said that the pain in her chest kept getting more intense as the seconds went by. The checked her out and did some tests and sent her home. The food ended up moving after they gave her some muscle relaxers. As for now she is just taking it slow and easy. She said that she is healing really well from the surgery but is just frustrated that the surgery did nothing for her. Her doctor is counseling with some specialists to see what they can figure out. Hopefully they can do something for her sooner or later.The results from removing the lower half of the pancreus came back clean. YAY! So one positive to focus on so that we don't go crazy.She did receive a blessing from my uncle the sunday before surgery and in it she was told that she would have a long road to recovery but that she would make it through this trial. That through the trial it would strengthen her family and that our testimonies would grow. I can tell you that i have felt my testimony grow through prayer and from feeling the comforter come to me and hold me during my darkest hours. After my mom first told me what was going on, I really began to panic. I decided that I need to be more specific with asking my Heavenly Father for what I needed. I began asking him for comfort and strength to get me through whatever this situation would lead us to. That I would be able to understand and know that whatever the outcome would be that it was the plan and we would be together in the eternities if we live worthy. Almost immediately I felt a huge sense of relief and comfort. From that night on I continued to pray for this feeling. After a week or so of realizing that I wasn't freaking out in a time that I normally would and taking that feeling for granted, I stopped praying for that comfort. What seems like the next day, I started to panic again and lose my trust and comfort in the plan. So I started to pray for the strength and understanding again. And since I have felt really good about it all. No matter what the outcome, I feel I have a good understanding of the Atonement and the Plan to be able to deal with what will be...good or bad. I also have built my testimony in prayer to truelly know that my Heavenly Father will be there for me if I but ask.
We miss you all and our prayer are with you Bryan and Michelle regarding your sister. We wish you the best. We miss you all!

PS Chase and I found the cutest little girl to babysit the boys for us and they LOVE her. So last tuesday he took me on a date (on the Harley, of course:) and he took me on the ride he takes and then to Wendy's for a hamburger and frosty! The best date ever! Really! Considering we haven't had a real one in over a year:) YIPEEE!

Thanks for all the nice Birthday wishes and calls

Thanks to all of you for remembering my birthday. Dad thanks for the new Mercedez. I thought you were going to wait until I turned 50 but I guess you were just wanting me to enjoy it for this next year! Now that I have everyone's attention, I just wanted to let you know how much I love you. I am looking forward to a fun filled week with my beautiful wife in Miami. It will be a lot of fun.

Bryan

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Bryan
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYAN! WE JUST WANTED TO WISH YOU A HAPPY 49TH BIRTHDAY. WE HOPE YOU HAVE FUN ON YOUR SPECIAL DAY!

WE LOVE YOU!
The Packard's

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

I love you and I hope you have a great day!!! As they would say in Tahitian IaOraNa it te mahana Faanauraa!!!

Game On Bryan....

First of all.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! You don't look a day older then last time I saw you! ") I would LOVE to come over for the party. You work it out with Keith and we'll be there. Are you doing anything fun tonight? Hey....you're not the big "50" today are you? I can never remember how much older you are then me. I just know that it's not too long after you hit a landmark that I hit one too. Hope you're just 49.......forever! Love you tons!!!! Have a happy day!
K

Chocolate Dipping Party

Karen, careful what you wish for. I might have Keith schedule his games next year to leave a Friday in February open so you can all come over to the big chocolate dipping party. I will try to load the pictures. It was a lot of fun.

Talk to you soon.

Bryan

Don't know how that happened?????

Do you want to know why your so creative Michele??? (stinkin computer!!) Bryan sent me your invitations for your chocolate dipping party and I have to say...."Well Done!" (I'm standing and clapping by the way) I don't think those could have been any more darling. That party gets bigger and better every year. I think that sometime when Keith isn't in the middle of basketball we...meaning Keith, Rob, Laree, Gary, Shawn, Karen, Mom and Dad....need to convoy to Meridian and get in on some of the fun. How's that for a self invitation? Really....you guys are amazing!
Got to run....I have something melting too but it's not chocolate....just wax. Love to all of you....
K

Michele...you are soooo creative!!!!!

How is everyone doing?

It is Sunday February 22nd and I have 10 minutes before I need to leave to do some home teaching. Hopefully, I will be able to give a run down of the past week It shouldn't be too hard. We had our big chocolate dipping party last night. We had 66 in attendance. The house was busting at the seems. We had a great time. We dipped a lot of chocolate. We made some really yummy pretzels with peanuts and caramels. Plus I learned how to make white chocolate oreo truffles. They were yummy. If was fun to see so many friends and ward members and even our non member friend enjoy an evening of socializing and dipping chocolates.

Our dog keeps jumping the fence and getting out. We are going to have to do something as our neighbors are getting tired of bringing her back. She is a cute dog but very much a pain at the moment. Any suggestions besides increase the height of the fence.

We are getting excited for our trip to Miami this week. We are hoping for a wonderful time and wonderful weather.

I love all of you. It is fun reading what is be written on the blog. Hopefully, we can all continue to write on the blog. Micron is having its hard times right now. All our competitors are receiving goverment bail outs so that does not bode well for us as cash is king and our cash is dwindling. We just have to hope for something positive to happen.

Well, need to run to home teaching.

Love Bryan

Pictures

I finally downloaded the pictures from Daniel's party.

Sorry

Kaitlyn,

Sorry for spelling your name wrong. For some reason I had a brain lapse. I must be getting old.

Laree

Hi!

Hey Family! We had a good Valentine weekend! We enjoyed seeing Bryan, Michele, Katelyn and Brielle. Emmalynn thinks we need to do it more often. Mom & Day thanks for the great meal. Sandra and I went to do our taxes for our company and realized that we were very blessed last year. The Lord has really had is hand in this new experience and we feel very indebted to him.

We hope that all of you have a great week! We don't have a lot that has happened.

We LOVE YOU!

The Packard's

Becoming Tech Saavy

Bryan and Dad have been working this morning to help Dad with some of the fun technical things that are out there. Dad is now has his own facebook account and has pictures so add him to your friend list so that you can see his facebook.

Here is a picture we found that everyone might like to have. This is a picture of most the grandchildren. We will have to plan a time when we can get all of us together to take another picture.

Well, we need to go play some games before we leave for Boise.

We love you!

Dad and Bryan

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

We love all of you! Thanks for all of you making the blog a prettier place to be. Now we are all starting to be creative. It is so good to hear about all the experiences. It is fun to hear about the ups and downs, the spiritual experiences, the family stories.

I think we should figure out how we can put these easily in a family journal. I know you can cut and paste any of the entries by highlighting them and pressing the control and c button at the same time and then going to a Word document and pressing control and v button at the same time. So if you want to keep the fun stories that is all you have to do.

It was fun to come to the blog tonight and see several entries. Way to go family! We are getting ready to go on a family trip to Preston and Thomas these next four days. It should be a lot of fun. We will be in Preston on Friday and Saturday and Thomas on Sunday and Monday.

We have some new fun card games to teach everyone when we are together again. We learned one of the games from Charlie and Chelsea at Christmas time. I have the instructions typed up if anyone wants to learn. Also we just learned a new rummy game that is a lot of fun from our friends Cliff and Lynne Barnum. We will teach you next time we are together.

Sorry to hear about the loss Keith and Brant. I know that has to be disappointing. Well, go start a 3 game winning streak and see if that puts you where you want to be.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

Love always,

Bryan

I LOVE YOU ALL

I am trying to figure out this whole Blog design stuff. I traced my steps carefully so that it looked like the Stucki blog. I think I have figured it out. I just wanted to wish you all a

And a "Happy Valentines" back to all of you.....

Laree....are you kidding? That was the funniest poem I've ever read. Maybe because it's so true. I for sure would go for the new red sports model with the non leaking radiator. Aaahhh....that was the cutest.
I went in this morning to be a fantasy model for Makenz. I know....but no one else was available. Anyway...this was a makeup class and she had to have a picture for inspiration so she picked a gold fish. Actually....I looked really cool when she got done. After she was done it was conveniently lunch time so she wanted to go to Wingers and get some lunch with her mom. (my treat of course) I didn't know what to say...not about the lunch....about the fish scales drawn all over my face. So I kindly just said Kenz...I love this look...and if I were going to an aquarium I would totally wear this but I think for wingers I'd rather just look like me. She started laughing because she was so proud of herself she didn't even think about taking it off. Needless to say we had a nice lunch....without the scales.
Hope all of you are doing well....we love and miss each of you! And I hope you can forgive my spelling. I know it's bad....is there a spell check on this thing???
K

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, the Bees had a bad loss last night! But our family was on a like a 12-0 run with all of the games so I guess we are still doing alright. Annie has her last game this Saturday. She has loved basketball! Kyler is heading to Portland for the Nike tournament for the long weekend. We really wish we could go with him! On Monday we are going to the Draper Temple open house and finding something else fun to do in Salt Lake until Kyler's plane comes in that night. It has been so great to hear from all of you! What a great way to keep everyone connected. Mostly we really wanted to wish all of you a ........

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hi from the Packard's

Hey family,

I just wanted check in and give you an update about the family. Gary & I are doing good. Our jobs are going good and are grateful to have them. Emmalynn is looking foward to her Valentine's party at school on Friday. She wishes all of you a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! She is making Valentine cookies today. She loves to frost & decorate the sugar cookies. Daniel is starting to stand on his own. He walks holding onto our hands but hasn't ventured out on his own yet. He loves to help me with the laundry (pulling clothes out of the dryer). Last week he decided it would be funner to climb into the dryer instead but didn't get all the way in. He is a climber and loves to try to climb onto everything. He is definetly a boy! I don't remember Emmalynn climbing onto everything at this age.

My mother-in-law gave me this poem. Grandma & Grandpa may appreciate it more than the nieces & nephews but I found it funny as some of this is starting to happen with me.

"If my body were a CAR, I would be thinking about trading it in for a newer model. I've got bumps, dents, scratches in my finish and my paint job is getting a little dull...BUt that's not the worst of it. my headlights are out of focus and it's hard to see things up close. My traction is not as graceful as it once was. I slip, slide, skid and bump into things even in the best of weather. My whitewalls are stained with varicose veins. It takes me hours to reach my maximum speed. My fule rate burns inefficiently. But here's the worst of it...Almost every time I sneeze, cough or laugh...either my radiator leaks or my exhaust backfires!

Anyway I hope you get a good laugh if nothing else. We hope all of you have a great, wonderful and maybe even romantic Valentine's Day.

We LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!!

The Packard's

O.K. Keith, so a little warning that we should have a box of kleenexes (spelling???---what's the rule now when you make a word that ends with x a plural all you school children?? Aunt Michele has been out for a while!!!) I wonder how my keyboard will stand up against flowing tears? That was an exceptionally tender BLOG (that seems a dumb word for such a significant story) It is certainly a reminder of how each of us are loved and cared for by our Heavenly Father and all His angel children here on earth. Thanks Robyn for your sweet telephone message the other day. It came on a particular hard day and it was definately an upper!!!!
I want to ride on the Harley Chase!!! That has always been a fantasy!!!

Chels, I'm so happy you got to go see Lion King!!! (that's also a fantasy wish)

To all you b-ball players -----go to town and tear up the courts!!!!

Keith, you keep "BEEING" good!!! tee hee
Karen you keep cheering for all of us who wish they could be there too!

Love you all, Michele

Well, I have enjoyed reading the posts but haven't posted lately. I should let you know that Brant and a couple of his teammates went to the USU basketball game on Thursday night. He didn't have to drive and thank goodness. When they were just a few blocks away from the spectrum, the driver was looking out his rear view mirror when the car in front of them stopped. Collision!!! Nobody was hurt but they were late for the game. :)

So I had a very neat spiritual experience last Sunday that I wanted to tell you all about. It was fast Sunday. Church started at 9am. At about 7:30am, we got word that one of our members had passed away. He was an older gentlemen who had previously had his wife pass away in December. The sad thing was that they have a son who is in his early 40's that is somewhat disabled and has relied on his parents to take care of him. Anyway, the bishop went to make a visit around 8:00am and the son (Bryce) wouldn't come out of his room to talk to him. The other siblings (who are married) said that Bryce was taking it really hard.

So, that is the background to my experience. As Church started, shortly after the meeting had started I had this impression that I was going to have to stand during Fast and Testimony meeting and put my arm around someone to comfort them. I must admit in all my years, I have never had that strong of an impression. I thought it was really odd to have such a thought since I don't recall ever seeing someone need comfort during a testimony meeting before. Being the first counselor, I have the responsibility to raise the microphone up and down and to get the stool out for the primary age children. I was going about my duties thinking and watching who would come to the pulpit next and would need me. The clock kept ticking and the meeting was drawing near the end, when Bishop noticed that Bryce had showed up to the meeting late. Within just a few minutes of closing the meeting, Bryce walked up to the stand and waited to bear his testimony. When it was his turn to stand, the congregation became very quiet and attentive. Let me say at this point that Bryce doesn't speak much. If you can get a "hi" and a "good" out of him, you are doing well. As he started to speak he started sobbing. Like heart wrenching sobbing out loud. I knew that this was my opportunity. I stood up immediately and started to rub his back and whispered that he was going to be OK. It took a second, but as I continued to rub his back, he calmed down to where he was in complete control of his emotions. He then proceeded to bear a 5 minute testimony about his love for his parents and how they have taken care of him. He bore testimony that he know he would see them again. As he spoke, it was a miracle how clear his language was. In 12 years, I had never heard him speak so eloquently. As I continued to rub his back, ( I know this is going to sound weird) but felt the impression that someone else was rubbing his back with me. I even looked to see but nobody was there. I had the spirit bear testimony to me that God lives and is very aware of Bryce and to each one of us. It will be an experience that I will cherish my whole life and hope that I can stay close to the spirit so that I can follow it's promptings again in the future.

Hope all is well with each of you. Our prayers are with you.

Love,

Keith

Reunion Pictures

Derek and Daniel our oldest and youngest grandchildren. A game at the reunion.

I decided to read directions to see if I could learn how to do this.

I am pretty proud of myself.

Love Ya!

Grandpa

Grandma & Grandpa are learning to blog.

We had a great weekend. Saturday evening we had our scout banquet. It wasn't as well attended as we would have liked but the roast beef and dutch oven potatoes were great. We also enjoyed a tossed green salad. For desert we had brownies and ice cream. Tom Moss was our guest speaker. He talked on service and told us of one of his assignments as a U.S. Attorney which was to visit 10 areas in the USA that had the most crime. One of those areas is in Watts in Los Angeles. He said the people have iron bars on doors and windows and locked fences to keep people out of their homes. He said you can go for miles with out seeing a business because the business people don't feel safe. I think he said there was one Mc Donalds. He told of a black minister who looked like a Pro line backer who volunteered to follow the children to and from school each day so they would be safe. The people bought him a golf cart so he could follow them. He said he filled up the whole seat. Someone asked, is he afraid, and they responded- look at him. They leave him alone. His service allows children to go and from their homes safely. Amazing service in tough times.



Chase the Motor Cycle looks awesome. Your conservative grandparents admonish you to please be careful and enjoy.



We will give you a call in the morning about the watch.



We enjoyed all of the blogs. We will try to do better. Our next goal is to learn how to add a picture. If you want to send us a how to we would appreciate it.



Love,

Mom and Dad--Grandma and Grandpa

HELLOOOOO!

So Karen, my most favoratist mother-in-law:) told me that you all had a blog! This is seriously the greatest idea and invention since toilet paper! Well as for the boys and I, well lets see....we don't see Chase much since he bought the Harley, but Shawn and Max are busy as ever. Shawn has learned to pretty much sell us on anything he feels like he needs or even remotely wants! Max is repeating words that we say to him, which is way exciting and scary at the same time. Chase is doing awesome in his store, they made plan today at like 2:00pm! So yay for him! We are still working on our home, well planning on working on it;) It's been really hard to be motivated since the weather is so crummy. But I can't imagine how much harder it will be when it is nice outside! Wish us luck!

Shawner's is hanging out on the bike, hoping he will get to ride it soon! Not for another couple years;)

It feels like we got lots of time in with Grandpa Pretty and Pappy this week. Well, not so much Pappy as much, but we did get to play with Kayden and Kenz! We went up on Wednesday so I could go to Karen's AWESOME enrichment activity. The counselor I went to was speeking and of course I couldn't miss that! We decided to spend the night and leave in the morning at 6:30 to make the hour and a half drive home so Chase could go to work. As always, we had tons of fun just hanging out and chatting and dreaded going home:( Thanks for putting up with our craziness Grandma Pretty!

Thought I throw in a pict of Chasie on his toy! Just look at his HUGE grin:) He has taken me on 2 rides, and I have to admit, it's super fun!

Well my mom goes in for surgery on Monday, and I am just way anxious to see what is going on. For those of you who haven't heard, she has been sick for about a year straight now, and the doctors have not been able to pin it down to one thing. It started out like a flu that just didn't want to go away and since she has had a really hard time eating and drinking. She has lost about 12lbs in the last two weeks alone. They have done one surgery a few months back thinking that it was her gall blatter that was the issue. So they removed that and nothing changed. She improved for about a week and then the same simptoms started occurring. The last cast scan they did showed that she had tumors in her intestine and that there were dark spots on her pancreous. So on Monday they will be doing exploratory surgery to remove the tumors and make sure they aren't cancerous and to see what the dark spots are as well. We are doing a fast for her tomorrow and if anyone would like to join, you are welcome to. I just pray every night that everything will be fine. I know that it may or may not go the way I want it to, but I trust my Heavenly Father to take care of her.

Thanks momma K for letting me know about this great way to keep in touch! Love you all!

Love~Chase, Steph, Shawn & Max

Hi Family,

Thanks aunt K for the friendly reminder to send things. Charlie and I are doing pretty good. Last night I was treated to tickets to go see The Broadway version of The Lion King. It was soooooo amazing. You all have to make it a goal in life to see that play. I want to see it again. The music and costumes are amazing. Although I did almost hyperventilate since our seats were so high and on a very steep slope. It gave us a birds eye view of the play. I loved seeing the animal costumes my favorite was this huge elephant. If you can imagine each there was a person in each leg and one manuevering the trunk. You will have to go to the web page to get a better understanding. This website lets you view the beginning Circle of Life act.
http://www.entertainment-link.com/broadway/musicals/the-lion-king.asp?gclid=CLOkubbQy5gCFQwxawodBUE9zw

Macy continues to make us laugh. I love watching her explore. Yesterday she wanted to give her baby a bath, except she used the mud hole outside our apartment for the water and one of my nice dishtowels for the washcloth. But I didn't stop her because she was just too darn cute.

You missed the game of your life.....

Wow....what an awesome win for Purple & Black. Brant was on fire. I thought I was going to come out of the stands a few times. I have to admit that it's so weird to see my nieces and nephews grow up (and for Brant and Kyler...it's really up) I'll let Keith tell the details but it was an amazing game and we were so proud to be BEE'S fans. Keep it up......(even Keith was on good behavior last night...he,he,he)
love to all....
K

Growth on Hand

I had a growth removed from my hand and had to get four stitches. I just heard back that it was not cancerous so that is good news.

Our friends the Barnums are coming to see us tomorrow from St. George. They used to live in San Diego. We are going to go to McCall to the ice festival on Saturday. It will be alot of fun.

We had a stray puppy come to our house the other night. It is a german short hair pointer. It is a cute dog. We will have to take pictures and show you. We have called the humane society to let them know that we found a lost dog. No one has called. We decided to be foster parents for a while until the owner shows up. We are having fun. It is a well mannered dog and is having fun getting to know Dakota. Dakota isn't sure about this new pup. She get's a little fiesty. It should be fun to see what happens. The dog is an inside dog and is pretty potty trained so we just have to keep taking her out when she gets up from her naps.

Emmalynn, Thanks for the notes. We love you and are glad you are thinking of us. We have a busy February. I have a campout next Thursday night and then we are going to Preston on Friday and Saturday and to Mom and Dad's on Sunday and Monday. The following week is our chocolate dipping party and the following week we leave for Miami for a fun getaway. Okay, I have to attend a conference but I am going to take Michele with me. It should be a lot of fun. Hopefully, work will not interupt it.

We have a wedding to attend in Rexburg the first weekend in March. Lindsey Kaiser, Chelsea's friend that has come with us on some family outings is getting married. We are helping out with the cost of the wedding since she doesn't have a lot of help from her family.

Chelsea and Charlie and Macy will be there too. It will be fun to see them again. We are looking forward to next August when they come to live with us for 5 months while Charlie does a residency here in Meridian.

Okay, I think it is time for bed now. I have the 6:00 AM temple session in the morning.

Bryan

I went to the temple tonight and went through two sessions. The world is a small place in the church. After the first session I went down to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite to eat on the way back up to the session, one of my zone leaders from my mission came walking down the stairs. I haven't seen him since my mission. I knew he lived in the valley but never ran into him. It is cool to have these experiences happen.When I left work today to go to the temple, I discovered that I had left my lights on. A co-worker came to my rescue. I was really bummed because I didn't think I would make it in time to go to 2 sessions. Some how I made it to the temple with a few seconds to spare. It was awesome to be able to do 2 sessions. Last night I spent 3 hours at scout headquarters representing our district in the selection process of the new silver beavers and hall of fame recipients for 2009. It was a pleasure doing it and seeing how the selection process works.I am glad that I am through that process. I guess if I stick around Boise long enough and serve for 10 years for the council, I could become a hall of fame member. When I see the people that were up for the award this year, I realize the committment that some of these people really make to scouting.

I hope all of you are doing great! I sure love all of you!

Bryan

I am Alive

I just got home from the temple and I figured I would take a little time to fill you in on life here in Provo. We are having stake conference this weekend and the stake president asked us to go to the temple this week to prepare for this weekend. It is always so nice to go to the temple and to be able to forget everything that is going on and just be able to relax in his presence of peace. I think I am going to have to make this a weekly habit for the next few weeks so I do not go insane with all of the stuff I have to do for school and preparation for my internship.


Besides being swamped with hours of homework I have managed to enjoy a couple of evenings and had some fun doing it.

Here are a couple pictures from a black and white party My friend had. It was a night of elegant h'ordeorves, jazz standards,and mingling. (I thought this photo was a good representation of our ward ratio. (3 to 1)

This was a picture with every girl we could find at the party!

This week for FHE one of our sisters, who is a ceramist, brought clay and let us have a sculpting compition. With insperation from my dads klondike, and the summer cruise plans I created this peace called Alaskan Paradise

As far as dating goes, since I know you are all waiting for that part. I am still on the market. I went to Mary Ann's symphony and listed to a steering renditions of Beethoven's 5th. Other then that I have decided that Brigham City girls are.... I actually don't know. I have not given up yet. For our next activity she said she wanted to have a sushi party. I just wish Boise was 5 hours closer. It would make it that much easier.

It is about time for bed so I will have to fill you in on the rest later.

This is soooo much better!!!!

Where to go guys! That's how we blog!!! Ok...Keith and Rob and fam...Charlie & Chelsea...Derek...Grandma & Grandpa (we know you know how to do this now) Lets hear what you've got to say. This is a great way to keep in touch. I love hearing what my nieces and nephews (and their darling kids) are up to. Thanks again Bryan for making us computer (blog) knowledgeable. You're awesome!
K

Job Hunt

I wish I had better news to tell everyone. I did not get the job at the BYU Barbershop and Salon :( I won't lie, I am pretty bummed out! I suppose the worst part is that I turned down some interviews becuase I was investing so much time with the BYU salon, and now, the other salons have filled their positions too. Not to worry though, something will come up soon I hope! I am still cutting and styling out of my apartment and school keeps me busy enough! Things really are going well and I can't wait to go to San Fran a week from today to visit my best friend over the long weekend! I love you all! Thanks Emmalynn for the note :) Keith and Brant, keep up the good work! Let me know if you have anymore games this way! Kenzie-How is school going? I will keep you all posted if things change with the job situation!

Love,
Josalyn

Emmalynn wanted to write her Aunts & Uncles a letter on the blog.

Aunts & Uncles,

I love all of you! I hope to see you all soon.
Bryan & Michele, How is your sister Laurie doing? I am praying for her.
Keith & Robin, How is your basketball team doing? I hope to come down and watch them play. Let me know when they have a home game and I will try to talk my parents into coming down.
Karen & Shawn, How is the candle business going? Did you sell any purses yet? You will have to show me the purses when I come down.

Love
EMMALYNN

Emmalynn thought it would be neat to write a letter to her cousins on our family blog!

Cousins!
I love you all! I am hoping to see some of you in the near future!. I hope that school, work, and basketball is going well for all or you! I really like going to preschool. I love playing princess games and puzzles. I love to read books. Right now I have a cough but I am doing okay. I love having grandma & grandpa watch me and Daniel while my mom has meetings. I keep you in my prayers!.

Love,
EMMALYNN

Hey Family....

I'm so excited to look on this everyday when I check my quilted bear numbers and most the time it's just a post from 5 days ago.....lets get this thing going!!!! First of all....Bryan, this is Chase and Steph's email address so you can add them onto the blog. scjorgen12@hotmail.com She was really excited and thinking we are a pritty "hip" for having our own family blog spot.
Keith....I heard Brant played out of his head last night. What a fun win. I think this little team may just surprise us all. Can't wait till tomorrow night to watch them again.
Laree....I owe you a phone call. I was crazy busy yesterday with a home enrichment night (that was sooooo fun by the way) and didn't get home till way after 10. Keep seeing those deer in the back yard. We're going to just concentrate on seeing them there instead of seeing them close up with our car. It should be repaired by Friday.")
Mom and Dad....Chase got your watch done. Call him with your cc # and then he can get it to me and I'll have it here for you next time you are up.
Josalyn....what's up with the job hunt? Hope things are going well and you're styling in no time.
To the rest of you.....we think of you often and wish you would write more so we know what's going on in your lives.
Last but not least....Michele....I'm so glad Laurie is responding to treatment. We pray for her every day and hope for the miracle of time.
Love you all so much.....now lets get blogging!!!!
XOXOX
The Jorgs

Update on Laurie

Here is an update from Gary from today. Things are looking good. What a testimony of faith and hope. Thanks for fasting on her behalf and keeping her in your prayers. Her headaches are gone and she is holding things down. Little miracles are occuring each day.

Keep sharing your stories and experiences. Karen, do you have Chase and Stephanie's e-mail so I can invite them to the blog? What about MacKenzie or Kayden.

Keith and Robyn, we can add Brant and Kyler too if they have their own e-mail addresses.

Love you all!

Bryan


Your fasting and prayers had a huge effect!
We were up and going early yesterday so that Laurie could get her blood drawn, see the oncologist at 9am and get her radiation treatment at 1030am. As the day unfolded it became very obvious that the faith and prayers of so many were being answered upon Laurie in great degree.As we parked to go into the hospital, and we were parked in the boonies, Laurie did not want to be dropped off or have a wheel chair. She wanted to walk in and walk in she did. She got her labs drawn and we even had a few minutes to have a yummy breakfast in the dining facility before Laurie’s oncology appointment. She ate well and felt well. Our meeting with Laurie’s oncologist went very well. The plan was laid out and there was plenty of time for questions. Laurie will start on her chemotherapy on Thursday, which will consist of a pill twice a day and a bone strengthening infusion every three weeks. She will have two weeks on the meds and one week off. She will meet with the oncologist at the end of the third week to get her labs done and to check to be sure that she is ready for the next round. Although this medicine does have side effects, they are much milder than many other breast cancer chemotherapy regimens. Even the amount of bone marrow suppression is less. Laurie’s doctor was fine with the idea of taking a short break in May to allow her to be strong for Nathaniel’s graduation and wedding. She will be on this medicine for as long as it continues to work. We will begin tapering her steroid medicine tomorrow.Next we were off to Laurie’s 9th radiation treatment. She hopped right up on the table, got her radiation and was ready to go again. She walked right out of the hospital and to the car without a problem. When we got home we were delighted to see that Abe was home! How wonderful to have him with us. Thank you, to those who helped him with transportation, storing his stuff and getting him to the airport.Laurie was doing so well and was going to nap a while, so I headed back to work. When I returned 5 hours later, Laurie had been up for two hours, was clearing paperwork off the bureau and getting things done. She was more alive and more animated that I have seen her in 3 weeks time. After dinner, as we were cleaning up, she took on the fridge and began throwing out food that she thought was past its prime. Wow, Laurie was back!!! Walking to the mailbox has become a goal for her each day. Last night, she wanted to see how far past the mailbox she could go. We went at least twice the distance and back again and Laurie was commenting on what a lovely evening it was. I better wear a coat tonight when we make that walk!She kept right on perking through scriptures and on to bed!It is hard to describe the joy that fills my heart as I seen her abilities returning! We watched and then discussed Elder Uchdorf’s conference talk about Hope last night for Family Home Evening. Hope is both a gift of the spirit and a commandment. His message increased our hope and helped us to realize the importance of maintaining hope and forcing doubt and discouragement from our minds. It seems that each time my faith and hope are dwindling, we get an email from Ben or Zach or a blog from Bryan or I just feel the Spirit come over me and my hope and faith are restored. The Lord is working in and through each of you in so many ways to bless and strengthen us.Today is 10 of 10 radiation treatments! What a milestone to reach for Laurie. The radiation oncologist was so happy with Laurie’s progress yesterday. Today we will celebrate the end of radiation at East-West Café for Lunch.Thank you, for your fasting and prayers this weekend and every day. Your faithful efforts are infusing Laurie with strength and all of us with hope, faith and courage. I am sure that there is yet an effectual fight to be fought as we close the page on radiation and open the book of chemotherapy. We deeply appreciate your continued support as the miracles continue and the angels do their work!Love, Gary, Laurie, Abe, Spencer, Grandma and Grandpa