February Frazzle

 First of all, I'd like you all to know that today was a Snow Day for the Soulsbyvillans!!  I'd also like you to know that this storm was completely unexpected, so unexpected in fact, that swim practice was held in the blizzard, which everyone expected to blow over.  As soon as school got out yesterday, it was a mad rush to the cars and buses, as students scrambled to get home in the slush that was quickly building into a couple of inches of snow.  Sonora cleared out fast, but some people were stuck on blocked or snow covered roads for hours.  Fortunately for Tess and I, we have some family friends who live about a mile away from the high school.  After fish-tailing while trying to get out of the parking lot, we opted to wait out the storm at their house and we were both very grateful for the warm house and food.  It was an adventure, and the best part of that adventure is that  today is a snow day!

 Now I am going to go back a few days and fill in some gaps in the calendar.  It has been crazy here!  A week-and-a-half ago, our family traveled to the Marin Headlands for a few days and enjoyed the beauty and sunshine of the beach and the bay.  We returned to school for a few days, during which I (Marta) discovered a serious poison oak rash (blisters and all), we celebrated Valentine's Day (notice the cleverly cut carrots below), swimming continued, and Marta and Tess went on "El World Tour" with the band and performed at all 6 of the elementary feeder schools in the county.  When the weekend hit Mom took a trip to San Francisco with her friend Jayna to see "Wicked" and visit the temple, Levi and Dad spent a night in the "snow" (there wasn't much left) at the Klondike Derby, and Marta and Tess held the fort down and made a very colorful cake (see pic. below) with the help of our friends Ariel and Brenna.  When everyone finally got back in the house Saturday night, we had a family meeting and Mom and Dad let us know that Dad was going to be released from his calling at church (2nd counselor in the bishopric).  We were all getting excited because after 6.3 years of him sitting on the stand, we'd finally get to sit with dear old Dad in church!  Of course, that's not what Heavenly Father had planned for us, and we found out that Dad had also been called to be the new Bishop of our ward.  Fortunately for Dad, I knew right away what he needed to be Bishop, so by Sunday morning we already had a nice stash of candy for his desk :)  On Sunday, Dad was sustained as Bishop Houghton and his two counselors were called as well.  Monday we spent the day cleaning out files and manuals in Dad's new office, and playing basketball at the church.  We also had the families of the 1st and 2nd counselors in the bishopric over, and enjoyed dinner and FHE with them.

 Anyway, I guess you could say that our family is embarking on a new chapter in life, and it's only getting more exciting.  We receive letters from Eliza and calls from an increasingly mission-anxious Luke all the time, and church, swimming, school, work, and retaining walls occupy the rest of our attention all too well.  

But it's days like these- when you're stuck at home for a while and Mother nature reminds you that she can control life more than any school project or swim practice- that time seems to hold still and give you a breather.  I love snow days!

Teasers #3-7

 &

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!!

Love,

Marta

Teaser #2

Sunglasses Unite!

TEASER!

Sorry, time is currently in short supply, so we will be posting one picture a day until we can do a real post and tell you all what we've been up to...

Lots of Love,

Marta

You Sneaky Luke...

My dear older brother is terribly sneaky.  Without telling us, he sent in his mission papers.  And then, to make it worse, he posted it on Facebook and blocked it from us.  I got home from a band shindig and Marta and I were told to call Luke.  So we did.  He tells us he needs to read something to us and to listen closely.  Sneaky Luke.  We had no idea.  Until he read something along the lines of "you have been called to serve a mission."  Then we freaked out!  Eventually he told us where he was going.  England Birmingham Mission.  It is there, but you cannot read it, because I have to draw this out somehow.  To be sneaky.  So here is a hint. First, he will go here:

Sneaky...  Second, the name of mission within the country on the sign above starts with:

and ends in ham.  I am so sneaky!

To make it easier, I guess I can tell you.  He is going to the England Birmingham Mission.  In fact, he is to report for service on May 2!  Basically, it was like, "I wonder why Luke wants to talk to Marta and I..." and then I said, "Whoa!  Luke is going to go to England for two years!"  We are all very excited to see him get to do something he has planned for for his whole life and to have two siblings (children for Mom and Dad) serving missions.

With Excitement,

Tess

December 2012

 Families can be together forever!

So below I am going to do a brief rundown of all the things we've been doing for the last month!  There's a lot, so be prepared!

We have had many parties, one of which was a farewell party for Eliza, where we had family and friends all come over! 

 We squeezed juice out of pomegranate seeds for 4 hours :)

 It was a long evening...

 We also did a lot of baking and making of Christmas ornament stars!  You can see some of the goodie baskets in production to the left here.

We cracked a bunch of walnuts!  This is one of our favorite family activities!  If you've never done it, I would highly recommend giving it a try!

And when Luke got home, we went as a family to see the much-awaited-for Hobbit!!!  Gollum is our favorite!

We also celebrated Christmas a week and a half early, while Eliza was still here!  Here are some "Christmas morning" pictures!

 yea... Tess was kind of out of it...

 And then there was the usual Christmas dinner

And we made Luke's favorite cookies- pfeffernodix (more commonly known as pfeffernusse) 

 Then we took a day off from school and work and spent it together in San Francisco!

 (because it was Eliza's last day in California, with her family!)

 Following tradition, we consumed an "Earthquake" at Ghiradelli Square, and then drove back to the Stake Center for Eliza's setting apart.

 And we said our final goodbyes for a year-and-a-half!  The four kids drove home and Mom and Dad stayed in the valley to drive Eliza to the airport in the morning

So we had a few more parties in between (1 teenage get-together with a lot of college freshmen from Luke's class, and 1 ward choir party) and then we launched off at 2 a.m. Christmas eve and got on a plane and...

... a few hours later we were in Wisconsin!!!  Grandma and Grandpa Kemper (on Mom's side) live in Wisconsin, and just down the street live Aunt Kristen and Uncle Chris, with their son Peter (all the rest of the kids have grown up and moved away!) 

So we thought...

 So we celebrated it again!  In Wisconsin!

 Santa Clause struck again!

 And we spent the rest of the day out on pond in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard!  The ice was great for skating or walking!

I decided that we need to have a gene-recount.  Luke seems to have stolen all of the "balance" genes while Levi, Tess, Eliza and I have been left without!  The ironic thing is that this was the only time Luke fell...

 We all had wonderful opportunities to hold adorable babies the entire week!  This is Lauren who is only a couple of months old, and her older brother Lincoln was there running around with our other cousin's children Wylie and Harlan.

 We even let Levi hold the baby!

 Aunt Kristen gave us opportunities to paint a little bit too

Luke (middle), Tess (below), and I (above) painted these for Aunt Kristen to "teenagerize" her basement. We had a grand time!  

(42 is the answer to life the universe and everything)

Each painting is an interpretation of "Man's inhumanity to Man"- Uncle Chris.

 AAAnnndd Tess and Luke decided to paint a tree too...

 In the mean time, Levi worked on his science fair project with Grandpa: Does adding oyster shell to Chicken feed strengthen the hardness of a chicken's egg?

 We left Wisconsin at around 4:00 New Year's eve, although it took some convincing to let the security guys let us through... Mom forgot to take her tablet out of her bag, Dad forgot his glasses in his shirt, so he had to be re-scanned, I forgot to take out the hand-blender in my bag, Tess got her scriptures searched, and Levi got in serious trouble for having his pvc pipe science experiment in his suitcase!  Needless to say, we all had to be recombobulated (except for Luke of course!).  We also almost missed our last connection flight from L.A. to Sacramento- we ran onto the plane with -5 minutes to spare. However, the plane pulled into the Sacramento airport as the clock struck midnight and the new year began!  We got home exhausted and... 

It's hitting now.

Other Notes:

• Luke took a train back to Provo yesterday, and is putting in his mission papers this next week.
• January should be exciting!
• Eliza's sending emails and letters all the time, if you would like to send her mail she would LOVE it! If you would like her address, or you would like keep up with how she's doing, then check out hermanahoughton.blogspot.com.
• I hope you've had a wonderful Holiday Season!!

Love,

Marta

Whipped Cream and December

You may have noticed that our last two posts have started with somewhat similar pictures.  Of me.  With whipped cream on my face.  First of all, I want to state that I am not the only person that eats whipped cream like that.  It's just that the people nearest me when I do it always have a camera on hand and catch me while I am still trying to hide it in my mouth.  I also catch the most explosive bit of every can of whipped cream because they are mostly empty.  Just so you know.


Also, a December update:

1. Finals are over.  Let the sleeping commence!
2. Luke is home after his first (successful) semester at BYU,
3. Eliza left on her mission on Wednesday and is currently in residence at the Provo M.T.C.,
4. Levi is playing basketball at school,
5. Marta is...I don't know what Marta is doing,
6. Mom and Dad are getting ready for a new year and a new wall in the back yard (they started Without ME!),
7. We had family Christmas last Sunday because Eliza was leaving,
8. We are going to Wisconsin for a week to spend time with family in the lovely, negative-degree weather there,
9. We are constantly singing/baking/making stuff for Christmas, and
10. We are all alive even though the world supposedly ended yesterday...!  :-)

Your Favorite Blogger,

Tess