Here's the Houghton Family Memorial Day Tribute whipped together by the young 4 youngest Houghtons out here in Soulsbyville. Don't stop after the first verse as we've sung all three verses of the Star Spangled Banner. We love music. Thank you to all who have sacrificed for our wonderful country!

You can Listen here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxXmEMTuNLJcVG9WZVdkWmozTFk/view?usp=sharing

#werooc

In preparation for our Oregon to San Francisco Biking Adventure, we're going to be creating and using the hashtag #werooc

For those who may not know, werooc stands for:
WE aRe Out Of Control

It's been a family thing for a long time. Enjoy and look forward to future posts regarding the biking adventure.

Spring Break So Far

For Spring Break this year, we decided to go to the beach- a warm beach. So we did. In fact, we went to two! Huntington Beach got two days (but no pictures) and Laguna Beach got one day (with a few pictures). I got to go boogie boarding for the first time and had a blast! Levi wasn't as excited because he had done it before, but he still went with me a few times. Even without boogie boards the ocean was awesome! Despite getting pummeled a few times before learning how to dive under the waves, I still spent at least 4 hours frolicking in the perfect-temperature water.

Laguna Beach on a lovely Monday afternoon.

 However, Houghtons never go on vacation and do only one thing! We also played tennis a few times and attempted a few bike rides (Dad and Levi did manage to get in a couple of rides and even tried to drag me through one of them- much to my chagrin. Mom was much more willing.) Of course, we got in some good naps, a March Madness basketball game or two, and even some shopping and food!

On Wednesday, Dad hopped on a plane to go to work and the rest of us packed up the van and headed home. In an effort to teach us some culture, Mom took Levi and I to the J. Paul Getty Museum. It was huge, and we all wished we had more time to explore- it was interesting enough that we even remembered to take some pictures!

Levi and I were tired, but we had a blast anyway!

There were these huge tree structures made of rebar- and I just couldn't help myself, because, to me,
it looked like they were preparing to build a huge, concrete tree!

Like I said, we all had fun, so we all had enough smiles for the camera.

 Although you can't see him in any of the pictures, Dad did come with us and really loved not being bombarded by allergies while we were away- that was probably the highlight of his trip. Anyway- I hope your Spring Break is as great as ours has been!

Tess

Houghton Adventures 2013-14

20451 Charlotte Court, Soulsbyville, CA  95372 * (209) 536-9231 * werooc@gmail.com

We’re hoping to get this “Christmas Letter” wrapped up before Valentines. . .as we missed the 2013 edition.  It’s been an exciting couple of years since our last update, filled with comings and goings amid droughts and wildfires:

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Levi (14½), is in high school!  He looks the part, as he’s been racing to catch up in height to his brother.  He has survived the transition to 5:55 a.m. seminary and he revels in vigorous gym/water polo/swim/bicycle workouts.  Levi is our only child who has ever conscientiously put himself to bed every night—guess he needs the sleep to keep up with all that growing and exercising.  He’s doing a great job in academics, plays the trumpet in the Golden Regiment band, and is Mark’s most diligent hiking and biking buddy. Levi dreads being the only child at home next year, and is looking to adopt a brother.  Please call with prospects. 

Tess (17) completed an independent study AP Calculus course last year as a junior, which attracted attention from a number of colleges.  After graduation this year, she plans to join her siblings at BYU, but much to her father’s chagrin, is not committing to a math-oriented major.  Since our last report, Tess has conquered her fear of slipping off Half Dome, worked as a lifeguard for two summers, played her first professional violin gig, served as student body Treasurer, and won the family mile swim.  She is our most faithful contributor to the Houghton family blog, for which we owe much thanks, as we wouldn’t be able to remember what happened without her posts.

Marta (19) is a sophomore majoring in Recreation Management at BYU.  Always a mother hen, she’s found the perfect way to acquire experience in her major by nurturing and guiding 48 freshmen as a Resident Assistant at school.  She also relishes beating the boys in her racquetball class and baking cookies often.  Marta’s big news is that she will be serving an eighteen month mission for our church in Mexico City, beginning in June.  She’s thinking it might be a good idea to start brushing up on her Spanish!

Luke (almost 21) is serving in the England Birmingham mission.  He currently lives in Wales and loves the foreign-ness and beauty of that area.  He has enjoyed interactions with people from all over the world and the opportunity to share his belief in Christ and His gospel.  He’ll be returning home in April to sunny days (quite a contrast between drought stricken California and England!) reconnecting with family, and hopefully a job. He will attend BYU in the fall, and we’re interested to see if he continues in  the Chemical Engineering studies he began before his mission. 

Eliza (23) completed her mission working with Spanish-speaking people in the Florida Fort Lauderdale area, in May.  After attending a cross-country family reunion and joining Team Houghton for the  Trans-Tahoe Relay swim in July, she spent the last half of the summer working for (and charming) Denise’s parents in Wisconsin and taking pre-requisites for her studies in Business Management.  She returned to BYU in September, and has been polishing her language skills by living in the “Spanish House.”  She might finally have found the right major, as she loves accounting and finance and she’s already secured a summer internship.

Mark (getting gray) is closing in on his second year as Bishop of our LDS congregation, which (much to the kids’ relief) has slowed the rate of retaining wall construction at home.  Despite his grueling commute to the valley for work, he is committed to fitting in several (short) swim sessions a week and he’s taken up bike riding again (though he can’t quite keep up with Levi on the up-hills). Mark lives to plan and execute adventures, and this was a Tahoe year, with our family swim across the lake and a week-long bike and hike around it with the teenage boys from church

Denise (young as ever) teaches early morning seminary classes, has discovered that serving as home-base support for missionaries and college students is as involved as having them at home, and somehow is still surprised that people want to be fed almost every night!  This Christmas she ran a “heritage sewing and candy-making school” for the kids, hoping to make up for previous years’ negligence in teaching vital homemaking skills. Denise swims most days of the week but still comes in dead last in family aquatic events.

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As we head into this new year, we are grateful for God’s blessings, for opportunities to learn and to serve, and for friendship with good people, near and far, who share their love and example and support.    

Love,  The Houghtons               

For updates on Luke and his mission in England visit: elderlukehoughton.blogspot.com

Excuses, Excuses.

I won't make any right now, because I think it wise to save my creativity for a later date. Besides, I recently had to read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and it was full of pitiful, pathetic, pansies for characters- making constant excuses for bad choices is all that Dr. Frankenstein and his monster did. Let's just say that I have been audibly growling in English lately.

October and November were full of school and water polo. Thanksgiving was a party in Utah with family and friends all around, but we failed to take any pictures- whoops! December was...not that long ago. We kept up family traditions and even made sure Luke got into some of the pictures- matching shirt and all!

Not really, but we were pretty sneaky, don't ya' think? We did get to Skype with him, however, and hear all about Wales (his latest area) and missionary work. Mom's parents (my grandparents) came, and between the eight of us, we had a jolly holiday season. In fact, we even fit in a round of disk golf (Dad's new favorite family activity/sport since we found a course ten minutes away).

As far as January has gone, Levi is doing his utmost to avoid swimming- except, instead of breaking a leg, he broke his wrist. To be honest, Levi has been very sad that I am having an opportunity to catch up to him before he does the mile swim and can't wait to get back in the water. Luckily, it was just a "green break," so he only had to wear a cast for 3 weeks. The bad news is that he managed to tweak a muscle in his shoulder just a few days before he got his wrist back, so he is still stuck on dry land while I get faster by the day.

Eliza likes her new major and might actually stick with it this time!

Mom is working on this crazy intense quilt and obviously enjoys having a project to work on, even if it is tedious to cut and sew and iron and trim and rip and re-sew and re-iron and re-trim.

Marta is waiting on her mission call, which was supposed to come today, but didn't. All I can say is that if she is called state-side, then she will most likely be in Minnesota.

I don't like writing essays- especially research papers. Luckily, everybody else in my family is really good at putting ideas into normal, cohesive, comprehensible sentences while I thoroughly beat around the bush to get my idea across. I just did it again. Anyway, they are lifesavers (especially Marta and Mom) for the math-oriented senior who is just trying to make it through January.

That's really all I have to say right now. Life is good.

- Tess

Sunbeam Wrangling, Water Polo, School's In, and a Long, Dry, Summer

Just a quick post to let you know we're still alive in Soulsbyville (and elsewhere)!

School has begun

Water Polo has begun

I'm teaching seminary again and trying to figure out what to do in an empty house all day.  I've also been assigned to be a helper for the spirited 3 year-old class at church, The kids promptly dubbed me the "Sunbeam Wrangler."

Mark is still commuting and Bishoping.  His big project for the summer,the High Adventure to bike/hike around most of the Tahoe Rim Trail with 14-18 year-old boys from church, was a success.  He knows he is not 25 anymore.

Levi is wondering what he's going to do about his crazy new life as a high schooler, attending seminary and playing water polo.  His muscles and stature continue to grow.

We demonstrated our faith in our 1997 van, "Babe"
by dumping almost $3000 into her, then 
promptly sending her on the road to Utah without us.

Eliza completed a spectacularly enjoyable and successful summer "job" as she spent the last six weeks before school helping out my parents in Wisconsin.  We missed her, but it was a lifetime experience.  She successfully completed one, and is working on the second prerequisite to embarking on a major in Business Management at the Y, and she's enjoying living in Spanish Language Housing.








Luke is learning important lessons on his mission in England, and enjoying the culture there. Go to his blog for more details.

 

Marta left mid-August to train as a Resident Assistant at BYU as she works on her Sophomore year as a Recreation Management major.  She is mother-hen to at least 47 Freshman girls (and two or three more if you count Eliza and cousins).

Tess is getting all kinds of college recruiting mail (passing the AP Calculus exam as a Junior has gotten her quite a bit of attention), but is resolutely looking toward joining at least two siblings at BYU next year.  We just scheduled her wisdom tooth removal appointment, but it looks like she'll escape a tonsillectomy!

Alright, not really Levi, but his slender frame makes his
physique a lesson in musculoskeletal anatomy.

Levi is adjusting to the sleep deprivation of high school with sports and seminary.  His sisters awakened him to the need to earn money for high school expenses, so he's been doing some hard labor for a neighbor.  That and his water polo workouts are adding muscles to his already elevating stature.

A reservoir a a couple of hours from us.  Ours look similar!

Even the "Live Oaks" in the yard are demonstrating their thirst with the continued drought and unusually warm weather of this extended summer.  We are hoping for rain!

And despite hundreds of blog posts, I still can't figure out how to get rid of text that shows up on the preview but not in my post screen.  So if you notice two comments on Levi, just chalk it up to old brains trying new technology!

Denise