Feb 11, 2018
Dear Family,
February 10 was definitely a great day in our family. We are thrilled to finally have it be official that Auriana and Taylon are engaged! It was killing me to not be able to tell anyone, seeing as they’ve had their temple date reserved for a few weeks now. Thank you all for your kind words throughout the day after we shared our news. We think the world of Taylon Mann and are so excited to welcome him into our family. I’m thrilled to gain another son! It has been great getting to know him and wonderful to see the happiness in Auriana’s eyes as she has fallen in love and come to know that he is the one for her. What a blessing to know with whom you’ll be spending eternity. Now if we can just get everything planned in two short months! Auriana will graduate on Friday, April 27th and get married on Saturday, April 28th. How’s that for two major life events crammed into one weekend!? Hopefully that makes it easier for family wishing to attend.
And we’re so happy for the news of Teresa’s engagement on the very same day! How cool is that? Can’t wait to meet Brendon and Broc and Adi – and to see that same happiness in Teresa’s eyes as well.
We feel so blessed as a family to have so many good things happening in each of our children’s lives. Natalie is happy to have her application to BYU done and now is just waiting, though she’s certainly not bored as she fills her time with basketball and so many other things. We were proud of her for being the only girl on her team and one of the few athletes from her school to be awarded academic all-state. She has officially entered the “big decisions” phase of life and is looking forward to moving on to college and mission, though all the little decisions that are part of the big decisions are sometimes angst-inducing. We are confident in her ability to make good choices and follow the Spirit in the process.
Isaac has had to deal with some decisions lately as well, as we have had to secure housing for him at BYU (yay, he’s rooming with Scott!) and other things. We hate distracting him from missionary work, but hopefully the distraction is minimal. He is doing really well and is buckling down for his final 6 months. He was very kind and understanding with Auriana’s situation and is ok missing her wedding. I missed my oldest brother’s wedding while I was on a mission, so I told him I understand how he feels. Life goes on. We’re so pleased with the work he is doing in Russia!
Enoch’s basketball team finished the season in second place in District and only had 2 losses the entire season – both to the same team that took first place. He improved a lot as a player over the course of the season and it sure is fun to watch him play. He recently purchased a bass guitar and has been brushing up on his skills with that instrument. He’s also amazing on the piano and can play the guitar. For Christmas Auriana’s gift to him was a recording session in the studio of her band director. So he and his friends have been practicing a bunch of songs to get ready for that professional recording session.
Miriam made a grand discovery this past month. Chords! For the longest time she has lamented that she doesn’t feel like she’s as good at learning songs on the piano as quickly as her siblings. Then she implemented the chord system that she had learned from some DVDs she watched a while back and discovered a whole new world of piano playing. Now we can’t get her off the piano and she totally loves playing. She’s also keeping busy with babysitting, basketball, tennis and soccer. We’re headed down to St. George for a soccer tournament next weekend. Both her team and Enoch’s team will be competing.
Ellie and I have fun singing in the car together, and I think we sound pretty darn good harmonizing to songs from “The Greatest Show.” The other day when I was taking her to school the song wasn’t quite done, so I drove around in circles in the parking lot until it was and then let her get out and go to school. ☺ She has amazing musical talent and I can’t wait to see what else she does with it throughout her life. She continues to enjoy volleyball and dance, and both she and Miriam started back up with an Irish dance class. Becky is definitely happy about that. We may get them both to start taking clogging classes from Taylon, since he teaches that as part of his mother’s touring company. Maybe they’ll get to go on a fun international tour with that group in the future.
Becky and I have enjoyed doing some simple remodels in our home recently. Maybe she’ll include a photo or two of our mudroom and missing walls. It’s always a work in progress. Becky and I are about as pleased and happy as any parents could be. We are so excited for April 28th! We’re also excited for August 7th when Isaac gets home. We love being parents and being involved in our children’s lives. We love serving in the Church and are so grateful for the blessings of the gospel. We are grateful for each other. We are grateful for each one of you and the good lives you are living.
Happy Valentines Day! And have a great month.
Bjorn, Becky, and family
Dear Family,
February 10 was definitely a great day in our family. We are thrilled to finally have it be official that Auriana and Taylon are engaged! It was killing me to not be able to tell anyone, seeing as they’ve had their temple date reserved for a few weeks now. Thank you all for your kind words throughout the day after we shared our news. We think the world of Taylon Mann and are so excited to welcome him into our family. I’m thrilled to gain another son! It has been great getting to know him and wonderful to see the happiness in Auriana’s eyes as she has fallen in love and come to know that he is the one for her. What a blessing to know with whom you’ll be spending eternity. Now if we can just get everything planned in two short months! Auriana will graduate on Friday, April 27th and get married on Saturday, April 28th. How’s that for two major life events crammed into one weekend!? Hopefully that makes it easier for family wishing to attend.
And we’re so happy for the news of Teresa’s engagement on the very same day! How cool is that? Can’t wait to meet Brendon and Broc and Adi – and to see that same happiness in Teresa’s eyes as well.
We feel so blessed as a family to have so many good things happening in each of our children’s lives. Natalie is happy to have her application to BYU done and now is just waiting, though she’s certainly not bored as she fills her time with basketball and so many other things. We were proud of her for being the only girl on her team and one of the few athletes from her school to be awarded academic all-state. She has officially entered the “big decisions” phase of life and is looking forward to moving on to college and mission, though all the little decisions that are part of the big decisions are sometimes angst-inducing. We are confident in her ability to make good choices and follow the Spirit in the process.
Isaac has had to deal with some decisions lately as well, as we have had to secure housing for him at BYU (yay, he’s rooming with Scott!) and other things. We hate distracting him from missionary work, but hopefully the distraction is minimal. He is doing really well and is buckling down for his final 6 months. He was very kind and understanding with Auriana’s situation and is ok missing her wedding. I missed my oldest brother’s wedding while I was on a mission, so I told him I understand how he feels. Life goes on. We’re so pleased with the work he is doing in Russia!
Enoch’s basketball team finished the season in second place in District and only had 2 losses the entire season – both to the same team that took first place. He improved a lot as a player over the course of the season and it sure is fun to watch him play. He recently purchased a bass guitar and has been brushing up on his skills with that instrument. He’s also amazing on the piano and can play the guitar. For Christmas Auriana’s gift to him was a recording session in the studio of her band director. So he and his friends have been practicing a bunch of songs to get ready for that professional recording session.
Miriam made a grand discovery this past month. Chords! For the longest time she has lamented that she doesn’t feel like she’s as good at learning songs on the piano as quickly as her siblings. Then she implemented the chord system that she had learned from some DVDs she watched a while back and discovered a whole new world of piano playing. Now we can’t get her off the piano and she totally loves playing. She’s also keeping busy with babysitting, basketball, tennis and soccer. We’re headed down to St. George for a soccer tournament next weekend. Both her team and Enoch’s team will be competing.
Ellie and I have fun singing in the car together, and I think we sound pretty darn good harmonizing to songs from “The Greatest Show.” The other day when I was taking her to school the song wasn’t quite done, so I drove around in circles in the parking lot until it was and then let her get out and go to school. ☺ She has amazing musical talent and I can’t wait to see what else she does with it throughout her life. She continues to enjoy volleyball and dance, and both she and Miriam started back up with an Irish dance class. Becky is definitely happy about that. We may get them both to start taking clogging classes from Taylon, since he teaches that as part of his mother’s touring company. Maybe they’ll get to go on a fun international tour with that group in the future.
Becky and I have enjoyed doing some simple remodels in our home recently. Maybe she’ll include a photo or two of our mudroom and missing walls. It’s always a work in progress. Becky and I are about as pleased and happy as any parents could be. We are so excited for April 28th! We’re also excited for August 7th when Isaac gets home. We love being parents and being involved in our children’s lives. We love serving in the Church and are so grateful for the blessings of the gospel. We are grateful for each other. We are grateful for each one of you and the good lives you are living.
Happy Valentines Day! And have a great month.
Bjorn, Becky, and family
