January 14, 2018
Dear Family,
We had a wonderful Christmas! So great to have everyone home for the holiday break and to be able to spend time with extended family as well. Thank you all for your well wishes on my birthday. I’m to the point where I think that when people ask me how old I am I’m just going to stick with 45 from now on.
Enoch has been working on a school assignment to write about parents, grandparents and great-grandparents and it has been fun to see him become so interested in the lives of his family and pull us all in as Becky and I share stories and accounts of our own lives from years past. I’m grateful his teacher gave this assignment. There are few things I enjoy more than sitting with my family and talking and laughing and feeling that wonderful spirit of unity and love. Those are times you never want to end.
Auriana is doing well and excited to be on her last semester of school. She will graduate in April and hopefully begin work in one of the local school districts shortly after that. She is dating a great young guy named Taylon Mann and seems very happy. We loved being able to spend time with her while she was home for the holiday break.
It was wonderful to talk to Isaac on Facetime for about an hour and a half late Christmas Eve (Christmas morning for him). We actually talked until after midnight, so we were able to wish each other Merry Christmas when it was Christmas day for both of us. He looks great and sounds great and just seems to be in a really great place right now – in the home stretch of his mission and focused and effective and full of the Spirit.
Natalie is beginning her own home stretch as she too is a semester away from graduation. She is enjoying playing on the high school basketball team, singing in the choirs and getting ready for tour, finishing up applications for college (she already received the Presidential scholarship to USU), and participating on seminary council. Since being awarded the World Languages Sterling Scholar she has increased her interest in the Spanish language and is looking for additional opportunities to learn and use the language by attending the Spanish branch sacrament meeting (with Enoch) each week and trying to line up tutoring sessions with some young children that recently came from Mexico that live in our ward boundaries. Her plan for now is to attend a semester of college (at either BYU or USU) and then go on a mission – where she can hopefully use that Spanish language even more.
Enoch’s basketball team is undefeated and they’re a blast to watch. He’s really enjoying it. Hard to believe another soccer season is right around the corner. Enoch continues to amaze us with his ability to figure out songs by ear on the piano. He also loves the Spanish language, and I sometimes wonder if these are actually my children that are asking to go to a second sacrament on Sunday. He gave a great lesson as we went home teaching today. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have him as my companion.
Miriam is enjoying playing basketball on a city team and a club team, playing tennis, and fitting in soccer when possible. Some days she collapses into bed pretty exhausted. But of course, she’s Miriam, so through it all, she’s happy and laughing. She and Ellie (and Natalie and Auriana when they’re around) enjoy singing and harmonizing together pretty much all the time (much to Enoch’s dismay). They really do sound great. Every once in a while I wonder what if we had made a YouTube channel of them singing close harmony songs… would we be YouTube millionaires by now? ☺
Ellie – the other singer – has been enjoying tennis as well, but also recently started volleyball, and though she was initially hesitant to go, she comes home and says stuff like, “Can we all go over to the church and play volleyball?” She (under Becky’s guidance) has been repainting her room and having a lot of fun with it all. Miriam and Ellie are like their mother and enjoy having a little variety and changing things up now and then.
Speaking of changing things up – Becky and I (with Enoch’s help) have been working on finishing up our mudroom in the back of the garage. Step by step we’re getting there. We just knocked out the wall between the laundry room and the mudroom yesterday. We have an electrician coming tomorrow morning to take care of the first phase of electrical work that is needed. When you take things slow its better both on your bank account and you body. When we tell Isaac about some of the changes we’ve made he says, “I’m going to come home to a completely different house!” Obviously not true, but it’s fun to make a few changes here and there.
Life continues to move along swiftly. We love seeing our children learn and grow and develop their talents and deepen their testimonies of the gospel. We are excited about the new opportunities for service that the youth now have in the temple. Being able to work in the baptistry on the first day after that change took effect, I saw 4 priest-age young men perform baptisms. The excitement and wonder and humility in their faces, not to mention the powerful Spirit, were more than enough to confirm to me that this is from the Lord and the right decision at the right time. We also look forward to President Nelson’s announcement Tuesday morning. So exciting to see the Lord’s Church continue to move forward under his direction. We know he is preparing his people for great things to come!
We love each of you!
Bjorn, Becky & Family
