May/June

Where has May and June Gone. July is almost here and our summer is almost over. The kids start school on Aug 12. I wasn’t sure where to start since we missed last months newsletter so I had to go through my pictures to remember everything that happened.

Sarah had a fun first grade music program and parent day. For parent day we got to learn some math games they were using in class.

We had nice Mother’s day.

At the end of the year each class gets to have a field day. The tug a war is the big event and the kids really get into it.

 

Greg and Adam got to spend an evening at the Omaha symphony.

Adam wrapped up his first flag football season. Even though his team didn’t win any games, he had fun is going to play again in the fall.

 

As an early Father’s Day gift Greg decided to get a State Park pass and a fishing license.

Isaac Graduated from preschool, it’s hard to for us to believe that he will be in kindergarten this fall.

Sarah finished 1st grade and Adam finished 3rd grade. Both of their teachers had great things to say about them.

Taking Isaac to the Zoo, one last day with just Mommy.

Another day at the zoo, celebrating the end of the school year.

Playing in the crazy sprinkler that Isaac got for Graduation.

Sarah caught a toad while watching the boys fish and it became a family pet for a few weeks, before we released him back into the wild since he wasn’t eating well.

 

More fishing outings.

Southern California Trip with Mom and Dad Cottrell. Legoland, California Adventure, Mission Beach, Disneyland, and a 12 hour delay in our flight getting home. I didn’t bring my camera because I didn’t want to haul it around and fear it would be stolen. I knew mom would bring her camera, hopefully she will include some pictures.

Here are some pictures that I do have from the trip.

Legoland, Highlights-Beetle Bounce, Driving School, Skipper School, Getting Soaked on the Pirate Battle Ride, Fairytale Brook, Power Towers, Wave Racers, Sky Portal, Hideaway Playground, Royal Joust, Miniland, Pizza, Ice Cream, and Granny Apple Fries.

Caricatures done at Legoland.

California Adventure park. Fun but crowded. Highlights-Animation Academy;learning to draw Tigger and Piglet, Aladdin Musical, Pixar Parade, Bugs Land, Cars Land, Radiator Springs Racers, Standing in line for nearly an hour for Toy Story Midway Mania and Soarin, Turtle Talk with Crush, and  Lindsey getting lost at the end of the day.

San Diego Temple.

Mission Beach. Highlights-Adam, Sarah and Isaac seeing the ocean for the first time; Greg, Lindsey and Adam playing in the waves, Isaac running in and out with the current, Sarah digging in the sand and building sand castles.

Disneyland highlights:  Alice in Wonderland, Autopia, Astro Obiter, Buzz lightyears Astro Blasters, Chip N Dales Tree House, Disneyland Railroad,  Donald’s Boat, Gadget’s Go Coaster, Goofy’s Playhouse, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones Adventures, Jungle Cruise, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, It’s A Small World, King Author Carousel, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Matterhorn, Mickey House,  Minnie's House, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Peter Pan’s Flight, Grandma and Grandpa chasing the kids around Tom Sawyer’s Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Star Tours (yuck), Storybook Cannel, Tarzan's Treehouse, fireworks, parade, Mickey’s Magical map show,  yummy ice cream and Hats from Grandma and Grandpa.

 

Stuck in the LAX airport trying to sleep.

Finally getting home. Having a wonderful trip with Grandma and Grandpa Cottrell. THANK YOU for the great time and awesome memories.

We’ve also been been busy visiting the library a few times and have been to the pool once.

Heidi Springtime

Things around here are rushing, rushing, rushing.  3 weeks and 2 1/2 days left as a 2nd grade teacher.  I don't think the reality has really set in.  I've been trying to haul boxes home.  Where, oh where, will I put this stuff??  I've already decided that if I can't use it for preschool I won't bring it, but that's still a lot of stuff!  And a few thousand books!  I'm trying to part with a few, but it's hard. 

Still teaching Sunbeams.  We've started doing it more preschool-style.  Short lesson and then let the kids work on related activities.  The Sunbeam topics are birds, fish, 5 senses, etc. so it's easy to make it work and it's made Sundays so much easier! 

Trying to get everything together for the preschool.  Everything takes longer than you think it should.  For example, getting everything lined up for the website shouldn't have been the ordeal it was!  But thanks for Emily's design know-how and Dad's technical prowess, I have a website!  www.yellowkitelearningcenter.com  (Yes, I know it's a mouthful, but it's terribly hard to find shorter domain names.  What will people do for their businesses in 10 years??)
Still not 100% set up with the city, but it should be okay.  Trying to rearrange rooms and get some painting done.  I keep buying things: $80 worth of Dr. Seuss books, a ton of flowers for a pretend flower shop, math toys, bean bags...Good thing the other business is doing well!  In fact it's doing well enough that taxes were PAINFUL!!!!  Ouch!  I knew I would have to pay, but for what I sent the IRS I could have bought a car (a used car, but still!). 

Second Story Window is going great.  Who could have guessed this a year ago?  Everyday we have people begging for new products.  But who has the time to get any work done??

My hands were hurting bad enough that I went back to the doctor at the end of March.  I don't usually cry, but the second the doctor pushed on the joint I burst into tears.  Poor hands.  :(  This time I saw the real doc instead of the PA.  Makes a big difference.  For example, the doctor knew not to stick large needles into the most inflamed part of the joint.  So the shots this time were just unpleasant as opposed to excruciating. 

I had a lovely birthday.  My 2 requests were North and South and chocolate cake.  I have some lovely friends who helped take care of both!  The day after I met up with Mom to go see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Hale Center.  Always so fun! 

Now if I can just make it through end-of-year testing, things will be great!

Love to all!!  Heidi

Moulton Mar/April

Dear Family,

Time flies! March is a distant memory! We did end up going to Stephanie's and ordered Cafe Rio for everyone for my bday which was fun! Later in the month, we celebrated back at Stephanie's for the triplet's bday: Stephanie, Bryce and Rob. I made  shredded bbq chicken sandwiches, beans, mac/cheese and Bryce's favorite: Fudge pudding cake. Are you noticing a trend? It's been so hard with little Miss Pipsqueak to go elsewhere so we just gathered at Packer's! Jess and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary! I'm so lucky to have him!
  I've watched Avery a few times recently. Wedding plans are moving along! Can't believe it's only a month away! I'm having a ball with 'the details!' Can't wait to get all my kids at home.
Bryce is busy with all the wedding details and finishing up another semester of school! He's so good with Avery and will be a great 'dad'. It's fun to hear her call him Daddy already! Amy has been suffering quite a bit with some type of intestinal problem! She's been to the hospital for tests but so far, everything checks out.  She went to a GI doc yesterday and will go back next week after she returns from Kansas. I think it's the Moulton curse! Look at Rob, Nic and now Amy! The Moulton in law Curse!!!
Stephanie is up to her eyeballs with kids! She has the patience of Job and I've been so impressed with her! She just goes with the flow. And I do mean flow! Sophie has flooded a bathroom recently and Stephanie just takes it in stride! She's earned her Motherhood award!!!! They actually came over on Sunday: the first time since New Year's Eve! The kids had a ball in the basement! It had been a long time!
Scott just called us with the news that Gallup shut down his office in Houston and is moving him back to Omaha. He's sad to leave Houston. Really grew to love it there! Guess they wanted everything centrally located and his was the last office outside of Nebraska. We're sad to see him leave since he and Marianne lived so close to each other but that's life! He'll be in Nebraska within a few weeks and will be over the language department. Sebastian will have to get used to Nebraska winters!!! Might not be too good for the old man!
Marianne finally shared the happy news with everyone that she is expecting in October. We couldn't be happier! She's been feeling great and often wonders if she's really pregnant! Don't tell her sister! She hopes to find out if it's a 'he' or a 'she' before the wedding! Grandchildren are such a blessing!

Till next time,

Jess and Annette

April - Ian

I went to Yellowstone for a short trip last weekend. These are some photos I took

Elk along the Madison River

Excelsior Geyser

 This is what it looked like when the wind wasn't blowing. You can almost see the walkway.

Icicles at Excelsior Geyser

Frozen geyser vapour on the pine trees.

Old Faithful

Old Faithful actually erupting

Warning signs that I may have ignored.

Bison

Norris Geyser Basin

Norris Geyser Basin again

Headed down the road towards Mammoth Hot Springs

Elk and mountains at Mammoth Hot Springs. I didn't see any squeakies

Mound Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mountain Bluebird

Mammoth Hot Springs

Liberty Cap at Mammoth Hot Springs

Bison

Undine Falls

Undine Falls again with slow shutter

Bison herd. You can also see a bison carcass that was killed by a wolf pack in the middle left. There's a golden eagle on the carcass.

 

You can see more of the photos at:

http://instagram.com/ianvannatter

Or on my FaceBook:
www.facebook.com/ianvannatter
Or on my blog when I get it updated, finally:

www.ianvannatter.com/blog/

Van Natter March-April

Guess it's time to catch up!!

March had two major events for us: Jacob matched with the University of Utah Psychiatry residency so Emily and family will be returning to Utah, years earlier than anticipated. We are over the moon about having them living so close. If only the timing weren't so complicated! Jacob starts in Utah on July 1st and their baby is due the middle of July. Who knows where they'll be living??!! We are trusting that things will all work out.

The other major event: John and I were called to be youth Sunday School teachers! I knew immediately that this was inspired. I had been drawn to the new curriculum as soon as I learned of it late in 2012. I had been organizing my own scripture study around the topics of the youth curriculum, and had even set up a notebook so I could collect things that would help teach the topics, should it ever be necessary! I had loved teaching the General Conference talks in RS for over 4 years, but I had felt a change was coming. John is still serving as the Finance Clerk. He's in his 25th year!

We are teaching the 14-15 year old class. Typically we have 4 boys and 1-2 girls. I taught most of them back in our Primary days, so it's like meeting old friends. Except last time I taught them in a Sharing Time I was taller than all of them. Now I'm the shortest!! John and I alternate teaching but participate in the lesson discussions every week. The kids are really smart and really good to participate in the lessons. We are loving this calling!! We just finished "Apostasy and Restoration" and look forward to "Prophets and Revelation" in May.

In early April we headed to Fresno for our first and only trip to see Emily, Jacob, and Addie. We wanted to be there for Addie's 3rd birthday. She loved opening 'pessents' far more than whatever the present actually was! She was uninterested in the little cupcakes: "messy." While there we made a day trip to Yosemite, which is only 2 hours away. We had to take 2 cars, which made it possible for Emily and family to head back sooner than John was ready to. As we came through the tunnel and saw the iconic view of the Yosemite Valley ahead with Bridal Veil Falls, Half Dome, and El Capitan , John was like a little kid on Christmas morning!!! [I had been there several times as a kid, even camped for days with my friend Annie and her family. But it was more than 40 years since I visited last.] John was SO excited. We all enjoyed lunch in Yosemite Village, then went our separate ways. John was able to shoot all the landmarks in the Valley: Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, and more. He had a ball! We met up with the kids for ice cream that evening, then the next morning made the 12+ hour trip in only 11.5 hours! (John was so proud!)

For my birthday, Heidi gave me tickets to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which we saw the day after her birthday at the Hale Theater. What a delightful, cute, whimsical, funny musical!! We had such fun!

Emily and Addie have been here for the past week. Emily came house-hunting. Currently, that is all up in the air. I'll let her try to decipher all the complications! It has been such fun having them here. Addie just makes everyone happy.

John and Ian have done a lot of work out in the yard, so it's a little tamer and less jungle-y! [Our front yard is xeriscaped with native plants.] Our backyard is still covered with flattened boxes, a strange sight! They will be tilled into the soil soon, then the grass replanted.

And that leaves us up to date for the moment!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring!

Claire & Calvin

It's about time I posted something about my family.
March was a loooooooooong month. Cold, snowy, rainy, miserable. We were glad to be done with it. We started attending the Pioneer Trek meetings for the adults involved. Calvin is the Trail Boss, I'm going as his wife! We have lots of wonderful things planned for the kids but it will be a difficult trail to walk and push/pull a real handcart. We have to wear pioneer clothing too. Hopefully it won't rain cuz we're sleeping out under the stars.

 We had the missionaries over for Easter dinner. We rarely have the missionaries here because of Calvin's schedule. It's never the same from week to week. I was happy to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and celebrate my Irish-ness. I even decorated a little for it.

  I was so glad to see April come, though it was still cold, snowy and REALLY rainy. Thankfully for all the rain we've gotten this month, our basement has stayed dry. Unlike poor Castros. 2 weeks ago Indiana had a HUGE rainstorm, both up here in the north and central where the Castros are. I was down visiting for a few days because it was Grandparent's Day at Joseph's pre-school. The next day I took the kids to where they've been looking at moving to, west side of Indy. And once we got home the rains began. It was like Noah's rain. Calvin was in Indy that day and came by late that afternoon and took us to dinner. I went back to the hotel with him that night and little did we know, that the kids would spend all night long moving all their storage from their basement to the main floor of the house because they ended up with 2 feet of water down there!!!! What a mess! Poor kids. Thankfully, because they had flooded before 2 years earlier and had lost some things in the basement, they had bought lots and lots of plastic tubs to put their things in and then they put them on pallets, up off the floor. So though they had the tubs and ended up carrying them upstairs, they didn't lose anything. They had to wait for the water to recede and then they can scrub the cement with bleach.

  Earlier Emmanuel had been told by his doctor that the reason Emm has been sick so many times this past year was because of mold. They have seen mold growing around the tub and can smell if in the basement and especially now, there's a really strong smell. So that's why they are getting out of the house and finding something better. Whether they stay in Lebanon or move completely they don't know yet.

  Calvin brought his motorcycle out of storage and has enjoyed getting on it. Finally the weather has been so good that he can ride his bike.

 I went to the Dear Jane retreat for 4 days this month. Then we went back down to Lebanon to go with the kids to the Children's Museum in Indy. It's a great place and Joseph loves it there. He's so adorable. So I was out of town alot this month. That's normal for Calvin.

  Jacob finished his final semester of teaching at BYU. He has to find a full time job now as he works on his dissertation and prepares for his qualifying exams in Sept. Ethan has a problem with his heels and the doctor said it's Sever's Disease. It's common for kids that age and it affects the growth plate in the feet. He has to wear special fitted forms in his shoes and hopefully that will take care of the problem. He loves sports and is getting ready to play soccer. If the forms don't work, then his feet will be casted, so pray for Ethan!

  Emm starts his new job at IUPUI (Indiana U, Purdue U at Indy) tomorrow. He'll be a research assistant for a business professor. We're very excited for him as this can open up all sorts of doors for him, and especially the help to get back into school. He just turned 32 this month. Kelli had just gotten released from the Primary Presidency and put back into her old calling cuz the branch pres can't find someone to replace her! Her problem is that she can't always stay for church after Sac Mtg cuz of having worked the night before. She's ok with it.

  Holly is finishing up her semester at SDU. She'll have another class this summer as well as working for SAT down in Louisville KY like she did last year. She had to buy another car as her poor Hyundai died. She found a 10 year old Mercedes that's in great shape. Snazzy!

  Colin wasn't happy with his job for a time, once the morning anchors were fired, there's a whole new feeling to the job now, and not just for him. So it's better now. He takes dancing lessons on Tues night with a bunch of other people from his ward and surrounding wards.He's been able to get out on to the golf range to hit a few balls.

  Sam finished up his semester well and starts Spring Term this Friday. And he has a girlfriend! She's from TX. They have fun together. I suppose we'll meet her soon.

  I'm starting to sew the little dresses for Sophie and Avery for Bryce and Amy's wedding. It's a beautiful purple crepe back satin. We're so happy for Bryce and Amy. On our way out to UT at the end of May, we'll pick up grammy and head west. We can't wait to see the grandkids and all the boys.

  I've also been asked to be a level leader at girl's camp in late June. I was excited at first but now I'm not so sure. I have my first mtg tomorrow night so we'll see.

  I planted alot of spring bulbs in the Fall and it's so nice to see them blooming this spring. that's a first for this house. We have plans for the backyard and possible side yard so I hope we can make it all happen.
  Happy May!

April Happenings

Warm enough one day for the shaved ice truck to make neighborhood rounds. YUMMY!

Daddy and Daughter Date to McDonalds and the Omaha Symphony.

April Snow Showers-Every Thursday when Adam is suppose to have flag Football practice

Adam’s flag football practices(when there’s no snow) and games.

Taking Sarah to the school fundraiser: Dance, Raffle, and Silent Auction.

Cherishing Isaac being home.

Lindsey’s weekend in Kansas City for Time Out for Women. Every speaker and performer was amazing.

Trip to the Zoo!

Finally being able to enjoy some warmer weather.

Sarah going to a friends b-day party at CREATE.