December 12, 2002

Thank you for all of your feedback on last month's newsletter. I am glad that you got a laugh out of our Oklahoma adventures. Don't worry, I will keep you updated on all of them. I know there will be many more in these next three years!
Thanksgiving was wonderful!! We had a fabulous day filled with food, laughter, and fun! We celebrated with Sterling and Tara Bone and his side of the family from Utah. His dad made a mean turkey with stuffing that melted in our mouths. YUM!! It makes my teeth sweat just thinking about it! I slaved away all day on my contribution of jello salad and drinks. I felt like the family member that always gets assigned the jello or fruit salad because nobody trust her to make anything that might no turn out!! After we filled our tummies and took our naps we got together again to play UNO ATTACK! Highly recommend that game to any of you who have not played it, especially if you have a big family. It's no Chutes and Ladders, but it's right up there!
I found out why everyone in Oklahoma has bad teeth...it is because there is TOO MUCH fluoride in the water along with large amounts of iron and calcium. In this case, more isn't better. My teeth are totally feeling the effects and I was teasing with Daniel about how we are going to end up with teeth like everybody else out here because we can't afford to go to the dentist. I was nursing Jaxton at the time and jokingly said, "And I am going to have to nurse Jaxton until he is three because we won't be able to afford milk!" The second I said that he pulled off and looked at Daniel like, "Dad, don't you dare let her even thing about it." I swear, he knew exactly what we were talking about and he wasn't about to let that happen! Daniel and I just started laughing hysterically but eventually our laughter turned into tears. Not tears of sadness or feeling sorry for ourselves, but tears of joy because we have so much to be thankful for at this time in our lives. We have each other, we have a sweet, healthy little boy, we have the gospel, and we have LOVE. Who could ask for more? My mom always told Daniel and me, "enjoy being poor while you have every reason to be," that's exactly what we are doing. Plus, we have something money can't buy....POVERTY!!!!!
We recently experienced our first ICE STORM. "What in the heck is that?" you ask. It is when something resembling rain falls from the sky; it is a lot heavier than rain and it hurts when it hits you but it is nothing like hail. Anyway, eventually it becomes ice that thickly wraps itself around everything. It is beautiful but very dangerous because the roads get slick and big tree branches snap off, power goes out for days in some places and it causes havoc. It the trees don't break from the weight of the ice they are bent over touching the ground. Daniel and I drove around taking pictures because we had never seen anything like that before.
Daniel and I are also in the process of our first missionary experience here in the mission field of Oklahoma. One day Daniel left an LDS pass along card that read, "Family happiness can last forever" on our neighbors door. Our neighbors decided to call the number on the back to get the free video about loving family relationships. when people make that call the MTC immediately gets a hold of the missionaries in that area and give them the media referral. Anyway, in church the other week our missionaries asked if there was anyone that would like to come with them to teach a discussion in Chapel Ridge Apartments (that is where we live). Daniel volunteered and after church when he was getting the details he asked what apartment number it was. They said, #1217..."wait a minute," he thought to himself, "those are our neighbors." On the way home he put two and two together and became very excited. We went with the missionaries last Friday for the 2nd discussion but since they weren't able to read the Book of Mormon as much as they would have liked, it was more a question and answer time and we read 3 Nephi 11 together. After the missionaries left we had an unexpected knock on our door. It was our neighbors with a few things about the gospel they were curious about. They asked about Joseph Smith, the Latter-day Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, the priesthood, etc. I busted out my Gospel Principles book because as an EFY counselor I found that it explains difficult things very plainly. Daniel stressed the importance of reading the Book of Mormon because if you know the Book of Mormon is true you know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that the Church is true. We both got a chance to share a portion of our testimonies and it was a very special experience. I think they are struggling with the whole concept of FAITH and the Holy Ghost being a still, small voice instead of a loud, booming yell. Daniel invited them to come to church with us this past Sunday but they couldn't make it because their little son had the flu. We will leave it to the missionaries for now because the holidays are going to be a busy time for everyone, but when we get back from Utah after Christmas we will extend the invitation again and hopefully they will be able to make it.
Now about our cute, little boy--Jaxton is officially a TOE MUNCHER!! HE found his toes and he knows what to do with them. It is so funny to watch him pull his legs up and munch on his toes for 15-20 minutes at a time. His toes are so big that he gets more toe jam caught in them than Daniel gets lint caught in his belly button! I try to clean that out for him before he gets too carried away because toe jam probably isn't the most nutritious treat he could have, but he sure hasn't seemed to mind so far. He rolled over for the first time last week and it is fun to see his facial expression when he is on his stomach rather than his back, it's like he found a whole new world. He has a favorite toy. A little blue dog that I call "Toofer" I named him that because Jaxton is trying to get some toofs (teeth) right now so he just growls and chews on toofer to make his gums feel better. Jaxton's personality is starting to show and along with being very happy I think that he is going to be very competitive. I say this because he runs races against himself already, it is a joy to watch his legs go crazy and then see him squeal with delight when he crosses his imaginary finish line. He eats more than Daniel already and I think we are in the process of creating a huge monster child. He is seriously bigger )not fatter, just taller) than the 10 and 11 month old babies in the ward and he is just 5 months. He is holding his head up on his own now but reminds me of a bobble head doll! He also has a new favorite activity called Lazy Boy Riding; I sit him up in the lazy boy recliner and then rock it back and forth yelling cowboy slang such as, "YEEEEHAWWWW!!" and "Whoot Doggie!" He giggles and then slobbers all over the place. Jaxton wears a permanent smile on his face and brings so much joy to our lives!
We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Our love is with you this holiday season.