Category: Family

Family news, announcements, etc.

Now I Need Counseling

So, if you haven’t already heard by talking to Mom or whatever, our bishopric got changed, and I was called to be Bishop Hall’s 2nd Counselor. No, it’s not April fools or anything.

Needless to say, it’s a pretty daunting task, but I’m excited for the opportunity to serve and improve, as President Monson talked about in last week’s Priesthood session. And we could definitely use the blessings that will come as we dedicate ourselves to this new calling.

So, I’d appreciate any prayers you could send our way, on my behalf, Andrea’s, and the members of our ward.

I love you all, and thank you for your good examples and your positive influence in helping me become someone the Lord can trust with this calling.

Cheers!

Um, yeah…so we had a baby…

She’s here. Born on a Saturday, like all our other kids. Born on a football rivalry game day where the good guys lose, like her brother Elijah. (Though technically, since we live in the future, they didn’t actually lose until the next day. It was tied at half when we stopped watching.) 6 lbs. 7 oz. 19 inches. Final verdict on the name is Coralie Xiuqin. Still not EXACTLY sure where “Coralie” came from (the girls have been vague on the actual source), but Xiuqin was Grandma Judy’s given name. (“Judy” wasn’t all the rage in the 20’s in Chinese baby name circles as it is now–or isn’t.)

If you want to see pictures, look at Chris and Leah’s pictures of Oliver. She kind of looks like that. But different. And she’s a girl.

***UPDATE***
Laurie has posted some pics on the facebook.

***UPDATED UPDATE***
She posted stuff on her blog too.

Family Reunion 2014?

So, we’re putting it out there and would like to hear thoughts from everyone on a family reunion in the next couple of years. Maybe summer of 2014? We suggest letting only a couple or three siblings plan each reunion to keep from having too many cooks in the kitchen (till the actual reunion at least). Maybe we could create planning-groups by region? For example, Jere and Justin’s families can plan a reunion in their neck of the woods one time and then say, Melissa, Will and Chris the next; then Cass and Josh’s family can plan one together, and Steve, Matt and Ti another (assuming they’ll still be neighbors when that time comes around). It’s just an idea, peeps. This would let us share our regions with the family and keep travel costs down at least once every few reunions for those close(r) to home that year.

Mom has suggested we gather in DC for the first one since America Sings will be celebrating their 25th.  She thought it would be neat for the grand kids to participate. Sounds like a great idea, but only if they’ll be performing in the summer since most of our kids will have different schedules/obligations in the spring. (Coming from CA with a tribe of our own we might need another year to budget for that trip!)  Could we make it work though??

Does anyone have any thoughts and feelings about planning and/or a location for the first one? Any “rules” we should institute? Like length of reunion or reasonable cost limits? (We’re obviously talking to you dear in-laws since we Freemans are kinda new at this.)

Do Mom and Dad want to start us off?? Just sayin’. . .y’know. . .since you’re super great at planning trips for super large parties, and since you kinda started this super family way back when, and ’cause we think you’re super great and want you to want to attend the first one.  Actually, we think Mom and Dad should always be involved in the planning, somehow, so maybe we just decide who will head up this first one and then counsel with Mom and Dad.

It doesn’t really matter. Let’s hear what everyone’s thinking and let’s get this party started!

Christmas 2012 Draw

It’s that time of year again, to announce the results of the 2012 Christmas gift draw amongst the siblings and spouses. An overwhelming majority of you said they wanted to keep spouses included in the draw, so here are the results of this year’s draw. I’ll also email this list out to you all. (If you get this email from a different email address than your preferred email, please let me know what your preferred email address is. Or if you don’t get the email, please let me know as well.)

So without further ado, here’s the list:
Jere has Josh
Becky has Tianna
Melissa has Andrea
Joe has Jere
Justin has Chris
Laurie has Trish
Will has Lindsey
Trish has Becky
Catherine has Will
Chris has Catherine
Leah has Amy
Josh has Justin
Andrea has Stephen
Stephen has Laurie
Amy has Matt
Matt has Melissa
Lindsey has Joe
Tianna has Leah

I made sure no one drew the same name as the last two years, but if I missed something, please let me know. (Welcome to the Christmas draw Lindsey!) And if anyone needs to pull out of the draw please let me know and I’ll re-shuffle names.

Please remember the limit is $20, and please try and put some thought into the gift (which MAY eliminate gift cards). And if anyone has a wish list already on a website, please feel free to share (I’ve got a wish list going on Amazon I’m happy to give details for). Happy shopping – only 134 days until Christmas!

Milayna’s blessing

We know we have told at least some of you, but we know that probably not all of you have heard. . .

We will be blessing Milayna this Sunday, August 5th here in Camp Verde. You are all invited to come, and if anyone can come, we’d be thrilled to have you along. But we also do understand how difficult it can be to get to everything and we know that most of you won’t be able to be here–and that is okay, too.

My parents will be in town to visit with us for about 10 days and that is why we are doing the blessing so soon. It was the only time they could come, and since I don’t get to see them very often, we wanted to cater to their schedule. My dad has been able to come for all our kids’ blessings before, but my mom has never been able to be at any of her grandkids’ blessings ever, so this is a pretty big deal for my parents to both be able to be in attendance.

If you can come and are planning to attend, let us know–we’d love to include you.

We hope all of you are doing well and that your ceilings have not collapsed recently!

Love and blessings to you and your families,
Andrea