Long time, no see.

I forgot that I had started this blog, and, since I need a place to put some pictures, I thought I would resurrect it. Here are some pictures that Grandma D took right before last Christmas. They were still in her camera when she passed. I think you all might like to see what was important to her to the end.

Allyson's Pictures

The Garzette

Javier has been busy with his 2 (or is it 3?) jobs. He’s enjoying doing programming for the Oregon Child Development Coalition (the agency that runs the Headstart pre-school program). It’s a little stressful at times because he’s still trying to figure things out. He’s taking a class at PCC which is helping. He’s also still doing real estate. He just got called to be the assistant ward clerk.

Austin is getting ready for middle school. He’s going to be a big 6th grader! He informed me the other day that math, reading, and science are boring because they’re too easy. He had his first court of honor as an 11 year old scout and earned his tenderfoot. He also broke out in hives for the first time after having a bad cough and being given Cherutussin. He ran in the school’s jog-a-thon and went 2.5 miles!

Marissa is ready for school to be out – counting down the days before she can sleep in. She’s taking a sewing class from a lady in McKay’s ward and has made a pillowcase, a pillow, and a quilt. She does a very good job! She ran 1.75 miles in the jog-a-thon. She’s also busy with girl scouts, activity days, a cartoon drawing class and she performed a piano duet with me in the school variety show.

Elise is a very busy 3 year old. She wants me to play with her all the time. We play tea party, monsters, and any other games that she comes up with. She loves music and likes to listen to the same thing over and over whenever we’re in the car (her current favorite is “The 12 Dogs of Christmas” – just as fun as it sounds!).

I also ran in the jog-a-thon. I ran with Marissa and then with Austin for a total of 3.5 miles (I couldn’t keep up with Austin). I just taught the last art lit class of the year – I volunteer in each of my kids’ classes doing this. I teach the Mia Maids and have 6 piano students. I’m also helping Javier with his real estate business, inputting listings and running errands.

We spent Memorial weekend in Lincoln City at the coast. The weather was nice so we spent one day at the beach then went swimming in the hotel pool. The next day we went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville. It would have been really fun and interesting, but the kids were very tired from not sleeping in the hotel the night before so we played at the playground and rode the little airplane ride 3 times and got a few pictures of all the really neat airplanes before Elise finally crashed from exhaustion. Then we went home. Oh, the fun family memories!

June 2010

On Friday my dad and I went on a short hike on the Ladybug Trail. It was short but fun. We packed our backpacks the night before and left as soon as I got out of school. The trail was beautiful. We saw lots of flowers and of course a ton of ladybugs. As we were hiking a dear came charging around the corner ahead of us and was running down the trail straight for us. At the last minute it darted of the trail and disappeared into the forest. It sure scared us both! When we finally got to what we guessed was the camp ground we found a tiny flat spot in the rocks to set up our tent. We ate chicken burritos, had a small fire, played a game, and went to bed. The next morning we made egg McMuffins and headed back to the truck. We had a wonderful time and we would love to plan a "Marshall Boys" hike sometime. See you all later!
Love,
Garrett

Motshiedler Madness

May was a fun-filled month. We hosted a german by the name of Andre who was my age. His 5 other close friends stayed with other Fresno host families. We dressed them in cowboy gear and took them to the Clovis Rodeo and on Saturday they rode in the parade on an old fire engine.They traveled all over California and to Vegas and finished up their stay back in Fresno. We took them to a Grizzly game and to (of course) Yosemite. We went to a bunch of dinners with all the host families and got to meet some neat people. They were a great bunch of guys, very fun and nice guys:
At work, I put together an art exhibit for my school. We held it at an art gallery located in the same shopping center as our school and displayed our student's art mixed in with a real artist's pieces. With instruction from our art teacher, the children created pieces inspired by Matise, Van Gogh, Monet, Polluck and other famous artists. The open house was a great success.

Ken and I begin taking dance lessons with Mom and Dad this month. We're learning a ballroom style of dance called the Night Club 2 step. It's been a lot of fun learning these cool moves and I think when our 5 weeks is up I'd like to do another round!

We're getting ready for a trip to Maryland in a couple of weeks with the Mott clan. We'll be staying in a house with the Mott parentals and Edoardo (Ken's Italian friend) along with his girlfriend and their 4 kids. We'll visit D.C. a couple of days, eat lots of crab, spend time on the lake and just relax. We even plan to meet up with Dad who will be working there!

Today Ken is preparing some delicious octopus that was purchased at the Fresno Fish Market last night after we went to an event at Chuckchansi stadium. Our house smells like fish. Not sure how I feel about this in my kitchen:

Editors note: They sent pictures but some may not be sutible for family viewing (or the squeemish)

May News

Great idea! here's ours:
McKandas
We've been enjoying a very soggy spring. Do you capitalize spring? I guess not when it's been super rainy. So a few weeks ago Amanda and I went to Disneyland for a few days. Amanda's sister Leanne came in from Maui with 2-year old son Isaac who is super adorable and has the energy of an olympic athlete. He was like the energizer bunny– just going and going and going. We decided that 2 years old may be a bit young for Disneyland as Isaac was as interested in the trash cans as he was the rides. We had tons of fun. So much in fact, that half way through the week, I got sick. But it was still fun. Ryan's family was there the Friday before we were, so we decided to test the Penny myth.
The Penny myth states that Disneyland is so well-maintained and thoroughly cleaned each night that if you hide a penny anywhere in the park, it will not be there the next day. So the Friday before Amanda and I got to the park, Ryan hid a small plastic fireman by Thunder Mountain Railroad. And guess what– when we got there 3 days later, it was still there! Myth busted. Well, for the most part– not sure if a plastic fireman counts as a penny. The best part about this story is that I re-hid the fireman. So the next people to go to Disneyland needs to let us know, so we can tell you where to find the penny– er, fireman.
Our house is moving along great with the exception of the builder installing the wrong color cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms. We were already right against the tax deadline with our closing date projected to be on 6/23– and this error may push us to 6/28, which really makes us nervous. We'll keep our fingers crossed. It is the builders fault, and they know it. We're just hoping it doesn't turn into a battle in the end for the $8K we could have gotten from the government. Other than that major setback, the house is going just fine– and we'd love to have everyone out sometime in the Summer or Fall to see our new digs! Dad is coming the weekend after July 4th to help with some honey-dos that are stacking up. Stuff like hanging the garage door opener, and doing the kitchen hardware etc. I'll be glad for the guidance as I've never been a home-owner before and could use plenty of instruction.
As far as work, Amanda has about 6 more weeks of being Maria Eitel's personal assistant. Maria Eitel is the President of the Nike Foundation, and she's extremely busy– and, consequently, Amanda is too. She (Amanda) will be glad when this assignment is over; having been working 50+ hour weeks and getting emails and text messages in the middle of the night. Ever seen The Devil Wears Prada? Something like that in terms of workload– not so much in terms of attitude. After that, Amanda plans to whip our new house into shape, work on some Photography, and perhaps take a few classes at PSU.
I'm busy at Clink– we got a new domain (clink.com) which is great. No more explaining "theclink.tv" to people. We're just finishing up some Soccer stuff for the world cup that was supposed to be projected onto the side of a building in Seoul Korea, but that may not happen anymore. We'll be starting another Nike gig in a week (of course), and I'm going after the Nike Foundation with a fun idea. I'll be making custom flip–books with both Clink's, and Nike Foundation's branding on it. I'm hoping to start a new relationship with them. Plus the flip-book idea will be a fun marketing tool for some other potential clients as well. I'll let you all know how it goes, and if it would be worth ordering some for your companies :) .
That's all for now!

Hello there, John Marshall Family.

This blog has laid dorment for too long, So I'm taking it over. How about using it just for our family? Send me your news or photos and I'll post them here, any time, any topic. But, mainly, just let the fam know whats going on. How about it?

John Marshall Noose.

I'm working in Rockville Maryland now. Helping Montgomery County get a grip on their pensions. What fun. Actually I'm enjoying working again. This Memorial Day weekend, Suzanne is flying here (Rockville) to spend a long weekend. We are going to hit as many tourist sites as we can.I'll have a great report after the weekend.

Dad

May 2009

Leavitt news

I guess we'll start with Art's news. He has been very busy planting a garden. He started by planting seeds (In our bathroom) , broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers. He has now (since the weather warmed) planted a lot of them in the garden area. Hopefully their are enough for the critters as well as for us. His beans and peas didn't do to well directly but now that it is warmer we replanted them. Also we have carrots and onions. In his newer plot he bought tomato plants and peppers. Only four gofers so far to deal with. And yesterday now that spring is really here he planted his corn, taa daa!!

Art is also attending a class with Kaiser and learning about nutrition and is getting some good recipes.. I guess I might go with him in a couple of weeks and learn how to cook them. I did make a great Necoise Salad with salmon not tuna. The vinaigrette was to die for!.

We had a great Mothers Day at Kari and Gary's with lots of yummy salads. I won't say what I got for mothers day but I am hording it in my bedroom and eating it all by myself.

Shauna is the enrichment leader in our ward and has been doing a great job. We had a fun Positively Pink Party in March for the RS birthday. She has done such a good job the stake asked her to help with the stake enrichment in May. She is doing a Trading Post (craigs list type booth) for the survival theme. Anything you want to donate let her know. She is still looking for a teaching job in California but might have to expand her search if things don't improve in this State.

I also got a Cricut for Mothers Day and we are having fun cutting out stuff for Shauna's booth. Leanne does a lot of scrap booking and so is showing me how to use. I might make some stencils to decorate my bathroom. Also you can cut out appliques for quilting. Exciting plaything.

I'm still busy with my cubs and we are going to set up tents tonight using our knots that we learned last week. Do I really think 10 year olds will remember them for a whole week? Tis to laugh.

That's about it for the leavitts..

John Marshall Noose - by Suzanne:
We are grateful that our life is fairly uneventful! We have loved visiting with different family members these past few weeks. We've enjoyed company from out of town, seeing family at Michael's funeral and attending different family events and parties. It has been great to see all of you.

John is still at home waiting for a work assignment. He is keeping busy with his woodworking, house painting and of course.... golf. Lots of golf. Lots. Suzanne is working (does that seem fair?!), redecorating, and not playing golf.

We were released from our team-teaching Primary calling, and called to be co-Activities Chairmen. Our first activity is this weekend. If it fails I'm thinking that we will only get a lecture from the Bishop and not get released. We are wondering if our marriage can survive working together on activities (parties) for the ward?!! Our marriage survived the primary team-teaching, but this?! What was the Bishop thinking?!

We love you all, and are looking forward to getting together this summer. Let's have a couple of family reunions!

Here's a thought from Ray and Kay in Orem, Utah. April news.

I was just thinking that it has been almost 63 years since the family (Mom and Dad, Judy and me) moved from our wartime home in Bellflower to the ranch at Hilmar. We moved there on September 10, 1946, my 10th birthday. We had a little red Ford pickup truck, with our basic necessities, a puppy and two ducks in the back. The humans rode in the cab. We left Bellflower at dusk and arrived in the middle of the night at our new home at Hilmar.

That was a real watershed time for the family. Dad, and Mom, had worked at Douglas Aircraft during the war, and Dad had just spent a year in the US Navy as the was was winding down. He had always wanted to have a dairy of his own, and this was his chance.

We had a great time. The place had not been occupied for several years, after the original owners, and builders, had died, so not only was the house in need of work, but the property needed lots of work too. Over the next couple of years Dad and Mom, with Judy and me as onlookers mostly, got things in shape. Cleaned up the house, added a butane system, a water heater, a gas heater, and a gas cooking range. Insulated the sealing, put on a new roof, and built me a room of my own in the attic. Judy got one a couple of years later, after Susan and John were born.

Dad cleared trees, Mom and Dad built fences, and built a new concrete milk barn. But the biggest change was Church activity. We started attending the just formed Turlock Sunday School. It was formally part of the Modesto Ward. Before long it became an independent Sunday School, then a branch, then a ward, with Tom Birchall as bishop. But the most important thing was that Dad took the family to church each Sunday, and we became active members of the Turlock LDS gang. That resulted in Mom's baptism, going to the Mesa temple to be sealed, my going on a mission, and so many material, social, and spiritual blessings that are almost overwhelming to me to comprehend. The family is what it is today as a result of that move to a small ranch in Hilmar.

April has been a fun Month. We have some new members of the family -- James married Christy in March, so now Christy and her two sons, Wesley age 16 and still in high school and Charlie, aged 19 and attending a local college. We welcome them to our family and hope we can all get acquainted with them over time.

We brought Mom home with us, and she enlightened our Orem family until we finally took her back to Clovis early in April. It was a lot of fun having her with us, and she helped usher in Spring, which was slow in coming. Lots of rain, some frost, and even some late snow. But we got the daffodils blooming, and the promise of trees blooming and leafing out and tulips on the way.

Kay and I are busy doing what we can to help wherever we can. Kay is a service missionary at the Orem LDS distribution center. She spends lots of time helping to take care of Tyler and Katelyn while their mom pursues her jobs at the Real Estate company, surprisingly busy considering the problems the industry has had, and while Ed pursues his post grad schooling (easy stuff like chemistry, physics, anatomy...) and works three days a week at the hospital as a surgical aid (orderly). We get lots of time with the grand kids.

I work two days at the Mt. Timpanogos temple, plus an occasional day as a substitute. Also am lead ward organist, an instructor for the High Priests' group, and ward statistical clerk. Kay and I are also still the stake blood drive coordinators, which hits us hard every six months when there is a blood drive.

Spring is finally here. We have planted tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, and have seeds for beans, squash, and basil to plant. We have been taking out some trees that have died or had trouble, and are in the process of replacing them. My task for today is to plant a new tri-color beech tree in the back where I took out an amur maple that wasn't doing well. We have the tree, the hole is dug, and all we have to do now is get it out of the tub and into the hole, without destroying anything. The problem is it weights a couple of hundred pounds and is beyond my capabilities. Took three guys to get it into the truck, and Uncle Bill Taylor and I managed to get it out of the truck onto a dolly and around to the back, but now I have to get it into the hold. Wish me luck.

So this is what us old people do. We are really enjoying the weather and like to sit out on our deck, in the shade, with a book and a glass of lemonade. I think I have done that twice. Need to to it more.

Love to all of you, and welcome to Christy Marshall and her sons Charlie and Wesley Peters. Ray and Kay, in Orem, family city USA.