29 January 2017

 Hi all,

   Well, the first month of 2017 is almost over...where is the time going?! I know we feel that we are busy, but we don't have kids and their activities keeping us busy, the way you all do. We really enjoy hearing all about what you are up to and the pictures make it even better. Thank you for taking time to keep us in your loops! 

   On Monday, Sam texted me with a link to a story about a guy who had recently joined our Church. He was someone pretty special to Sam (back in the day), so I'm going to let him tell you all about that.

   Then the next day, Dixie sent me a text with a picture of Cal, working on an old digital adding machine. She explained that they had found it for him at DI for $2 and he said, "This is the greatest day of my life!"

   Then yesterday, I got a text from Ben with the picture below. Evidently we had an adding machine like the one Cal has and Ben had asked me a question that we tried to figure out on it. Ben was just shy of 7 years old at the time. So now, I'm wondering what kinds of things Cal will be calculating. I'd forgotten that we even had an adding machine back then. But I'm glad we put it to good use.

Then Ben sent me the note from back in the days at Parker-Egin Elementary about a book Sam had checked out and not returned. It was nice to think of Wana Bloom; she was a good lady.   

   Ben and Lynsey, I'm sorry for all the car trouble you've been having recently. But they make for good stories that you'll enjoy telling years from now...even though now they are kind of painful, I'm sure.

   It's late and I still haven't gotten this sent. And now I see that Sam has sent us all an email. I'm going to send this out and then read his letter. I love you all and hope you will have a great week. Mom/Johanna/Nana

Hi to all of you!

Mom, Ben, and Sam, I really enjoyed your emails!  A lot!!  Ben, I remember going to see Phantom then, and I know that is my handwriting, but I have no memory of writing that.  Do you know why I did?  And I LOVE the kiss calculations!!!  That is just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen!  Sam, I did hear about Daniel Ruettiger joining the church.  Stephen really likes the movie too.  It is a great story! 

Our snow is still going strong!  Most of the roads had finally cleared off, and the snow in the yard had sunk down to probably just over a foot.  But we woke up to 2 inches of new snow and it's been snowing most of the day today.  More snow coming later this week.  The kids are about done with it though.  It still feels like a normal winter to me.  The city is finally cleaning up our street!  It has been pretty awful, but there have been three different plows here today!  Woohoo!!!  I can't wait to try it out!  James has been loving the snow.  He tries to go cross country skiing once or twice a week and really enjoys it. 

We have some friends who live up on Moscow Mountain and on Sunday at church they told Stephen that there was a dying porcupine in their front yard.  He asked if he could have it, and they said, "sure".  It had a large wound in its side and hadn't moved in several hours.  So Stephen went to their house, shot it, and brought it home.  He got it all skinned and fleshed and only got one quill stuck in his finger.  Now he's going to tan it.  It seems a little crazy to me, but not many people can say they have tanned a porcupine hide before!  He is hoping to get a "high school internship" this summer in the SEL flight department.  They aren't sure they will need one, but told him to apply as they will be making that decision in the next couple of months.  He was also set apart as the 1st Assistant in the Priest's Quorum last Sunday. 

Annie is applying to be a junior volunteer at Gritman Hospital here in Moscow.  She is really excited about it!  This week is the beginning of the new semester for school.  Annie had been in choir but switched to drama this semester.  She is also very excited about that.

Ellen has been doing a lot of babysitting lately.  She's enjoying the income!

Naomi and Noah both start their favorite sports tonight.  Noah is playing basketball and Naomi is starting swimming lessons.  They both have an exciting day tomorrow as well.  Noah is in the school spelling bee at 9:20 and Naomi is in the school geography bee at 11.  They've both been studying! 

When James' grandma died we got a clock that James' great grandpa made.  James refinished the wood and replaced the clock works and we have really enjoyed having it on our wall.  About a month ago, it started loosing time.  James thought it was strange that the battery would go dead so fast, but replaced it and it seemed fine.  But then after just a couple of weeks it was suddenly fast.  James was thinking he would have to put in a new clock module and was not very happy about that.  Then a few days ago, I heard Noah say, "Spencer, don't do that!"  Spencer was standing on top of the couch moving the hands of the clock!  And had done it a few times!  The clock is working great now.  Ha!

A few days after I told you all about my shin splints, a friend of mine told me about another friend's husband doing a study on shin splints at the UofI.  I met with him and fit the criteria of the study quite well so I get to be part of it.  Their theory is that our body makes little compensations in movement as we go through life, especially after an injury or childbirth, and that those little differences make us more prone to other injuries.  They have developed a treatment that is supposed to help your body move more like it is supposed to and that should make shin splints go away.  I've been in the control group for the last week and a half, which meant no running, but I could use the elliptical and do other exercises that didn't make my shin splints worse.  If I'm healed by Thursday, then I'll be done with the study, but if I'm not, I get to start the treatment.  It is only supposed to take two weeks and I can run during that time.  We'll see! 

Today I cleaned out the dryer and vent.  Blech!  Hopefully our laundry will dry a little quicker now. 

I took Spencer on a bowling date a couple weeks ago and will attach a little video of him getting a spare.  And we have recently discovered Pete the Cat books and songs and really love them.  http://www.petethecatbooks.com/

I think that's everything I wanted to tell you about!

Love you!

Aimee

Hello family! 

Things are going well here. We're all settled in our house in Meridian. We love it! We got a pretty great deal on our house and we're slowly making it our own. Zach added blinds last week. So nice to have those up! He has plans to add a wall of built-in bookshelves in the family room, and replace the hardwood floors this summer. We've got our guest bedroom all set up for anyone wanting to come visit (all of you are invited any time!). Our road is a cul-de-sac and Zach and our kids have been having fun with the snow. They went out one day to play (Zach would pull them on sleds with the 4 wheeler). Next time I looked out, there were an additional 8 neighborhood kids waiting their turn for a ride! Several times since then we've had neighbor kids come by to ask if Zach can get out the 4 wheeler again. Ha! Melanie has had 5 snow days since January. Now the snow is all hard and crunchy. Not much fun to play with. So there hasn't been much 4 wheeling lately.

Melanie likes her new school, but is having some emotional mornings. She does fine once she's there, but the drop-off is always hard. I'm sure it will just take time. She's in 1st grade and this is her 3rd elementary school! 

Calvin has started at a new preschool and thinks it is great! A lady in our ward runs it out of our house. He is also very interested in science lately. I think his favorite experiment we've done so far was the bouncy egg. You just soak a raw egg in vinegar for 24 hours and the shell dissolves. It leaves the membrane so the egg is squishy and bouncy. There's a little video clip of it on instagram. And mom mentioned the adding machine. It's definitely a big hit! Ha!

Stella is so funny! And so feisty! If you ask what her name is, she says, "2 baby". Must be easier to say than Stella. She knows she's 2 and is also the baby of the family. Even though she calls herself the baby, she really likes to be doing whatever the big kids are doing. She's also a bit delayed with her speech. She only says a few things and some of them are her own invention. Took a while to figure them out, but she's consistent. Water= Lo  candy=fifi  Strange, but funny.

Our new ward is great! Very welcoming! We're one of the younger families. Not a huge primary. In our ward boundaries there are 3 gated communities for people 55 and older. Everyone has been so nice! When Zach and I met, we were in one of the BSU singles wards. Our bishop from that ward is in our stake presidency here! 

Oh, and the Meridian temple is being dedicated November 19th! The open house will be from October 21st- November 11th. You can see the Meridian temple from our house! If any of you would like to come for the open house or dedication, you can stay with us! Takes about 5 minutes to drive there if there's traffic. 

Biggest news around here is that we're expecting a baby August 6th! Calvin is hoping (and actually praying) for a boy. I'm on the last week of the first trimester, so I'm looking forward to feeling better very soon! Baby is currently the size of a jalapeño. Our ultrasound a couple weeks ago went very well! Melanie was at school, but Cal and Stella came. Cal's reaction was sweet and hillarious. With that due date, we definitely won't be at the Haeberle reunion. We'll also miss the 24th of July campout. Too close to the due date to be traveling. So we won't see any of you at those times, but hope to see you some other time this year!

Work is going really well for Zach! He's still working in Star and still on swing shift. 4pm -3:15 am. I think this Thursday, Zach and Kevin will be at the same training. Pretty cool! 

Melanie is starting a gymnastics class at the Meridian rec center next month. Cal is doing tball again, starting in April. Oh, and Zach's mom got married on Saturday! We're so happy for Sharon and Tom! Tom was baptized last month. They are very happy together! 

That's all I can think of for now. We love reading everyone's emails! I'll add some recent pictures. Love you all!

Dixie