Man of the House

So Big Brian went to Florida for business this weekend. I tried to tell Cameron he was at work, but Cameron just said, "no, OCEAN!" Little Bri stepped up to be the man of the house. I asked him to shovel the walk and he did a fantastic job. He even sprinkled salt on the steps without me having to ask - "cuz that's what dad always does." After he was done shoveling, he told me that he'd have to sleep in my bed now. That didn't happen, but I found myself wide awake at 1 in the morning, clutching my cell phone and scared to death that my alarm would go off any minute, so I put Cameron on the floor and took his bed so I could be protected by all 4 of my little men.

In the third picture, Cam's giving the thumbs up because he's awesome at bowling (gotta love those ramps and bumpers!). The last picture of Adam was my feable attempt to avoid going to Kiddie Kandids. Adam is sitting on my shoulders right now because he won't leave the mouse and keyboard alone. Ouch, that's my hair. Anyway, love you all.

New Baby Bo

As you all know, baby Bo came on Wednesday. Mommy and baby are both doing well. Right now Bo is at his first check up with the doctor. He has been eating like a horse and he has been very happy and sweet. I think that Ben is adjusting well to the new baby, especially considering that his time with mommy just got cut in half. here are some pictures of the sweet boy.

Greetings From Warm-Land

I first must apologize for not being as diligent as I should be when it comes to the Blog. So to recap from Christmas to the present: We spent the holidays in Seattle. It rained the whole time, except for on Christmas day it snowed for like an hour… but it didn’t stick. Christmas was really fun for Ben. He got his blue bike and didn’t care to open any other presents after that.

A few days after Christmas we left Washington to come to our new home in AZ… and wow, I never knew that winter could be such a pleasant time of year. It has been in the sixties since we got here. So I really can’t complain…yet, or at least until the summer comes. I guess the hot summers are the price we pay for such beautiful winters. So if any of you need a break from the nasty winter weather, we have a bed all ready for you and we would love to see you.

Right now I am doing what I do best, sell alarms. It is very fun some of the time and very frustrating most of the time. Good news though, my company said that they will probably need me to move into the accounting position of the company in May. So let’s cross our fingers because remember the summers are the price we pay for the winters.

Last but certainly not least, my sweet wife is due in two weeks, one more baby boy for the Baker clan. And its official his name is Bowen… at least for now J. Steph has been such a wonderful mother and wife the past few months. I am such a lucky man to have married her. Boy I sure sold her.

Well, we love you all and Bethanne is in our prayers… and so is Rickchard.

Grumpy BethAnne :)

Dear Family,

I thought you'd like this cute picture of BethAnne. Her face is clear of tubes now as of today, but this is what she looked like a couple days ago. She is still wearing that same expression most of the time even though the tubes are gone. She has been more awake today. We colored pictures and did other art projects. She was awake and fairly comfortable all afternoon today. Now she's whining at the nurse about her tube care, which is a bit uncomfortable. She's trying to dictate the rules of tube care now that she's lost the fight about having tube care. She's saying "how about just doing 3 swabs" (instead of the 8 or 9 usually needed to clean the incisions around the tubes). She's strong willed, which is good, funny, and aggravating all at the same time. We hope for a speedy recovery now. We're excited to see Mom and Grace on Wednesday. Time is going quickly for us, most days. BethAnne said the sweetest prayer the other day, she said "please help life to go quickly" . She understands it's just a matter of time before things get better and she wants time to go faster. We look forward to the Spring and the daffodils and tulips that Mark planted. Spring has a whole new meaning for us this year. We hope the rest of the winter goes well for everyone. Best wishes to Carl and Steph as they prepare for their new arrival. We love you all.

Love,
Aubrey

First Christmas in the Mission Field

Just wanted to update everyone on Rick. He was transferred last week and his new address is:

2002 Ridgewood Apt A
Harrisonville, MO 64071

He got to spend Christmas in Kansas City. Here is a picture of their Christmas tree (which looks a lot like the one I had in Japan 31 years ago).

He enjoyed the Christmas stocking that Mom made for him. (She made one for his companion too.) In one of his last letters he shared his thoughts on Ether 12:27 "...I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." He said "if it weren't for my weaknesses, I'd be a lot less dependent on the Lord than I am now and I wouldn't be turning to him so much. I think that is why we have so many weaknesses in our lives. The grace of the atonement can make up for those weakness and we can make them strengths if we do our part."

Don't think he's gone totally serious on us though. One recent observation of his was:
"its funny how used to the Missouri atmosphere I've gotten. You know, it kinda a Redneck place. Now when I see two guys with no teeth screamin' "GO CHIEFS" I don't look twice."
Back to serious, he said that they were able to watch the movie "Between Heaven and Earth" and it made him really miss the temple. It said that would be one of the first things he would do when he got home.

As you can see, Rick got to go sledding on Christmas Eve. He said he had a lot of fun, but found out later it was wasn't on the list of "approved mission activities". They must have taken 20 video clips of each other "biffing" and getting "big air". They seemed to get a little bolder on every run. Makes you wonder why the mission didn't have a list of "specifically unapproved mission activities".

In a later letter he said "it's hard to know what to do with missionaries who think of the rules more as guidelines than rules. It's really hard to have the courage to know when to put your foot down, and when not to, because if you say "no" too much, they stop taking you seriously. But if you don't say "no" enough, then you are just falling in line with them." He's quick to point out that he's not perfect, but it was heartwarming to see that obeying the rules was important to him and that he was trying to figure out how to be a good example.

Well, Rick's not in Kansas (City) anymore. Mom asked if he was in a rural area and he said "if rural is what I think it means, we are out in the middle of nowhere, with mobile home parks everywhere." Rick and his companion have a baptism set up for the 23rd. He said they just started teaching a new investigator. I don't think he was trying to be funny, but he mentioned there was another investigator that couldn't be baptized until May because that's when he gets off parole. Rick just got a new pair of shoes after 4 months. As you can see his old one's were in his words "thrashed".

Well, we miss Rick and hope him the best. He has had some rough patches, but that's just part of a mission. Maybe I'm just a proud Dad but it seems likes he grows more spiritual and conscientious about the work with each letter. He said that he was able to watch the movie "Between Heaven and Earth" and it made him really miss the temple. It said that would be one of the first things he would do when he got home. He loves letters, so write him when you can.

Laundry Day With Grandma!

 
 

Update from the Hastings

Hello dear family! I thought I'd write a quick note to report that we have survived our first week of the semester--me with student teaching and Jon with a new, tough schedule. What an adventure seventh grade is! I forget how awkward and painful that age is, what with trying to figure out who you are and who you want to become. I'm just grateful that I'm an observer this time and not a participant! You guys will remember that my experiences in seventh grade greatly contributed to me skipping eighth grade and trying to escape junior high as soon as possible. Well, now I'm back! The kids are so sweet though most of the time, and I have a lot of empathy for the hard stage they are in. They're squirrly that's for sure, but absolutely hilarious at the same time. I'm finally getting used to the schedule of a teacher--waking up at 5:45 and going to sleep early. Last Friday it was actually easy to wake up when my alarm rang! Progress! My relationship with my mentor teacher has been so good, and she's really supportive of all of my ideas. I think we're both praying for this experience to be a positive one, and so far the Lord has answered our prayers. One perk of the school I'm teaching at is that they open the student weight room to teachers after school, and Sue and I have started working out together. It's a fun time to get out of the classroom and just chat, whether about the students or just about life.
Jon finished his first week of classes and has a tough semester ahead of him, but nothing he can't handle. :) This semester he started a TA job for a drafting class, and every Wednesday night he teaches a lab. It was so funny to hear how college students and seventh graders aren't all that different in their classroom behavior! Jon commented on how many times he would have to explain something, both to the class and to individual students, and all I could think was "welcome to my world." He's been super busy as he and his team finish up their project to send off to the judges next week, and I'm so proud of the hard work he's been putting in. He's been so supportive of my student teaching, but we're both so busy that we don't see each other much during the week. I was telling Dad today that we treasure our Sundays where neither of us have to be at school or work and we can just spend time together. We miss Carl and Steph a lot and have been pretty reclusive socially since they and Steven and Lauren moved away.... :) But we understand the need to grow up and get out into the "real world" and can't wait until its our turn. We love you so much and keep you all in our prayers, especially the Rogers at this time.

Cincinnati Address

I emailed this address to everyone, but here it is again.

BethAnne Rogers
Ronald McDonald House
Room 39
350 Erkenbrecher Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45229

We really appreciate all your love and prayers. It's been a hard few days but we feel a lot of strength from the Spirit. Gotta Go.

Love,
Aubrey

Happy New Year! We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent New Year's Eve with Mark's parents and sister Lisa, which was really nice, and then had a sweet, quiet Christmas day at home. Mom and dad came to visit us a couple days after Christmas and it was so wonderful to see them. The first night after they arrived we went on a tour of the White House. Mom got us the tour reservations, and in the confirmation email she received, they said to make sure we told the person at the gate that we were with the "Freeman Group." When we got to the White House, we were surprised to see a big line to get in, but we thought, "No problem, we're with the Freeman Group; we'll get right in." We told the guard at the gate and he was unimpressed; he just told us to get in the line. Apparently, everyone in the line was part of a group. It was kind of funny, and it became our joke for the night. (You probably had to be there :) ). The White House was decorated beautifully for Christmas and it really was impressive. The next day dad and Jeff had the flu and I had laryngitis. We decided to go to the Baltimore Aquarium as planned anyway (except for Jeff, who we left deathly ill in bed, but at least he got some peace and quiet for a few hours). When we got to the aquarium, there was a huge line (an hour and a half wait) just to get tickets ($25 a pop), and it would have closed an hour after we got in, so we just got ice cream sundaes instead, and then drove back bome, where we visited a pet store so Eva could see some fish like we promised (luckily, she's never been to an aquarium before, so she doesn't know the difference between the aquarium and a pet store :) ). So that was an adventure. During mom and dad's visit, we also went to the park, played pinochle, and just relaxed. It was so nice. We took mom and dad to the aiport Monday afternoon, and then celebrated New Year's Eve by going to bed at 9:00 like the party animals we are :).

What a FUN Christmas season!

Hi Loved Ones!

All the pictures below are a testament to the wonderful time we had the past few weeks! I don't know why I couldn't add text right by the pictures - but Oh Well - gotta love "techno limited" Mom!

First - we had a blast with the Llewellyns the weekend before Christmas. You can tell from Tyler's face that Christmas Eve Eve morning was a hit! We also really enjoyed the Discovery Center the day before. And that's Adam and Grace on Sunday Favorites Brunch really enjoying the pizza! Thank you to Brian for helping Dad put together the entertainment center in the media room! Next time we have company we can use the room for a toy room - yeah!

Christmas Eve was lots of fun with the Rogers bunch! They stayed overnight here - and BethAnne made sure that we put out fudge and milk for Santa! She even wrote him a note! Christmas morning was a blast with two sweet excited children.

Of course, for Mom, Christmas day was the highlight because we got to talk to Rick! What Fun! I was on Cloud Nine afterward!....he sounded SOooo good, and to hear all of my children at once was delightful! Stay tuned for Mother's Day - we will definitely do it again!

Then it was out to Virginia to see the Bousquets! Another fun weekend - the White House, a wonderful dinner at a historic restaurant nearby, a visit to the Baltimore aquarium (it was too long of a wait, but we got a yummy sundae at Hard Rock Cafe and some nice pictures!). Suzie and Jeff's home is so nice! - What a wonderful home to grow in and raise a family! And right down the street - within walking distance - a wooded path to a beautiful lake with paddleboats, carousel, and playground! That's Suzie and the kids on the path. We even saw a red crested woodpecker - Fun.

Now it's more fun as Mom gets to be Grace's mom for a few days. What a blessing this little one is! She gives really good kisses, and plays so well. A little homesick I think when she's tired, but we will get along just fine!

Well - love to you all! Happy winter! Mom