2005 Favorite Pics

November 2005: by Becky & Bjorn

Dear Family,

Enoch said, “The lava doesn’t burn me because I’m a tall bid brudder!”  He (as well as all the rest of the kids) is very proud and happy to have a new little sister.  He tells everyone that he has another new baby sister, so now he has two.  And he says “Her name is Elena, but her real name is Ellie.”

We are all very grateful to have Ellie finally here.  She just seems like part of the family.  Mom (Grandma) also seems like part of our family.  We all loved the attention and service she provided for two whole weeks.  We all miss her now, Enoch and Miriam especially.  She was so great to read to them whenever they needed or wanted it.  They aren’t quite getting that kind of attention now, but everyone seems to be adjusting well.  

Auriana very excitedly volunteered to make lunch whenever she’s home at lunch time.  We had Macaroni and Cheese on Saturday and Ramen Noodles, Cheese, and Carrots on Sunday.   She seems to be growing up in leaps and bounds.  To lighten my load, I asked both her and Bjorn if they would each take one night every week to make dinner – they both agreed.  I figure with six kids and a husband, eventually I won’t have to make dinner at all.  Auriana’s been progressing on the piano and the Mandolin.   She is enjoying reading the Black Stallion series.  She still loves horses, but I’m starting to think she’s allergic to every animal there is.  Much to her dismay, horses, cats, and dogs all make her itch and even wheeze.  

Isaac’s been playing basketball twice a week, reading Encyclopedia Brown, and making progress on the piano (at least while Grandma was here).  He got 100% on his National assessment tests at school.

Natalie is loving Kindergarten.  She happily practices both the fiddle and the piano every morning and then happily plays with Enoch every afternoon.  She is often found making cards or pictures for people.  She loves to color and create things and then give them away.

Enoch is always moving and talking at full speed, except when he’s around the baby.  When he has Elena in his arms he’s very quiet and still.  He loves to hold her.  He’s been very sweet.

Miriam learned to say Baby today.  She’s making great verbal progress and loves to say her prayers.  She gets very alarmed when Ellie cries, making sure that I take care of it immediately.

Hi there, this is Bjorn. I guess Becky hit her limit, so I get the chance to add a few thoughts. You must realize by now that its a good thing we have had so many babies or you would never get a family letter from us! That’s really the only reason we have children so often is so that we can get in a family letter every 18 or 19 months :)

Ellie is wonderful. I just love it when she lays peacefully in my arms and stares up at me with those wondering eyes. I know that one of these times soon she is going to suddenly break into a smile and melt her daddy’s heart even more. She seems so perfect to me. Of course, we’re still working on the sleep thing. Each time we go through this with a child, my appreciation for Becky increases dramatically – she just keep on a’goin’, with a smile on her face.

We have been greatly blessed by the kindness of neighbors and the loving service Mom so tirelessly gave to us for two whole weeks. When we got home from Church and Grandma was gone, Enoch didn’t believe me and he wandered around the house for about 10 minutes calling “Gramma. Where are you Gramma?” Even a couple days after she had left, he woke up one morning and wondered where she was. A testament to the love these children have for someone that they know truly loves them.

Work is going well for me. I’m in the middle of some really fun projects. I’ll be starting tomorrow on a new website: TrumanMadsen.com. The Community Choir is gearing up for our annual Christmas concert on December 9th, and my next project on the Arts Council is to try and get a performing arts center built in Spanish Fork. Wish me luck :)

Well, life is good...even though BYU lost. Grumble, grumble. We enjoyed talking to most of you and seeing many of you after Ellie was born. Thanks again to each of you for your generosity. We love associating with you and feel uplifted by your presence, your phone calls, and your letters. We love reading Stuart’s letters and learning of his growth as a leader, his dedication as a servant of God, and feeling his personal strength of testimony. Its fun to hear the kids pray for him in their personal prayers.

We will be blessing Ellie on December 4th for any of you that can make it. We are moving to a new building that day so make sure and get directions from us if you decide to come.

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!

Love – Bjorn, Becky, Auriana, Isaac, Natalie, Enoch, Miriam, and Ellie – Wow, a family of 8! I gotta go get some sleep :)

Oct 2005: by Bjorn

What’s Happening/Achievements:

October 26, 2005 - We are currently in “get-ready” mode awaiting the arrival of our new little one. Becky has been deep-cleaning the house and methodically crossing things off her list. The list she has for me seems to be a bit more neglected for some reason. The kids are doing great in school and love spending time with each other and their friends. Auriana is continuing to improve on the mandolin and just brought home a perfect report card; Isaac just finished a fun soccer season and has become an excellent reader; Natalie also just finished her first soccer season and is amazing everyone with how smart she is. Enoch is becoming a great singer and is enjoying time at home with Mom, and Miriam is saying more words every day and continues to charm the socks off her dad. Work is going well for me – just finished another big issue of the Journal for FARMS. I’m relieved to have the Harvest Moon Hurrah over with and am now looking forward to the Christmas concert for the Spanish Fork Chorale on Friday, December 9. It starts at 7:30 if any of you are interested in attending.

Spiritual Thought

As I’ve been reading in the Book of Mormon each morning with the kids, it has been inspiring to me how interested and even excited they are with the things we read. We recently read about the two thousand sons of Helaman and also about one of my greatest heroes, Captain Moroni. “Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” Its thrilling for me to get caught up in a story or in teaching them a principle that can be learned from a story and have them asking questions and really internalizing the messages of the scriptures. Many times I have said, “Ok, lets stop there for now,” only to have them shout out, “No, keep reading!” I can think of few blessings greater than having my children develop an understanding of and love for the scriptures. The spirit that comes into our home each morning is such a blessing and I know it serves as a shield for them throughout the day. Along the same lines, Becky and I have rediscovered what a wonderful thing it is to read the Book of Mormon together each night. Often times, our personal scripture study takes place at different times and the companionship study is neglected. But on those nights when we read the scriptures together, there is a special spiritual bonding that occurs that just can’t be achieved any other way. I have a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon and its potential for power in our lives. I encourage each of you to continue developing that testimony individually and as a family.

March 2005: by Becky

3-3-05
Today Miriam fell down the stairs. Isaac had removed the gate to let Enoch through and then didn't get it put back on quite tight enough. So when Miriam stood up against it, she and the gate both went
tumbling. Natalie stopped her 3/4 of the way down, and she didn't even cry once I picked her up. Even though she was just fine, Isaac felt horrible about it and he didn't leave her side for the next ten minutes

Later this afternoon, I realized I hadn't heard Enoch's voice for at least a minute, which usually means he's into something. So I sent Isaac to check on him. Isaac couldn't find him, so I went looking. After searching the house for a few minutes and not finding him anywhere I looked out the back door and saw him in his sandbox playing very happily. He's never gone out there alone before, and I was surprised he even closed the door behind him. But it sure is great to have some warm weather and a fenced-in backyard. After about a half an hour he came back in, and I said "Hi Enoch. Where have you been?" and he said, "in my sandbox." I suspect that will be one of his favorite spots over the next 6 months.

3-6-05
It's been great weather this weekend. We spent Saturday outside working in the yard and going on a family bike ride. It's been a long time since we all went bike riding together. Last summer Miriam was too little to ride in the trailer, now she and Enoch can sit together great and really enjoy the ride. Natalie has even perfected riding on two wheels and she loves to go fast. She was right on Isaac's tail when he decided to stop. She slammed hard into him and flew off her bike onto the grass, but then  hopped right back on and wanted to keep going.

Today, Isaac gave a talk and I did sharing time in primary. We came home and watched some home videos, since I'm trying to label them all. It's amazing to see how much the kids have changed over the past year, especially Enoch.

Miriam stood alone for a few seconds today, and she'll often say "mama" when we ask her to. Auriana loves it when Miriam does something new.

3-8-05
Yesterday, Auriana woke up with a sore and swollen tooth and cheek, so she went to the dentist instead of school. Her tooth was infected, and since it was a baby tooth the dentist decided to pull it. Auriana was very brave, and even though it was, what she calls, a "Guyjantic" molar she has recovered just fine. The only problem is that she doesn't have very many teeth left, but I guess the less teeth you have the less chance you have of getting a cavity.  

We had planned on going to the Church History Museum for family home evening, and since Auriana was feeling fine we still made the trek up to Salt Lake. Brenda came along and it was really fun. We saw the Joseph Smith exhibit which was very exciting, but there was a family history exhibit for kids where we spent most of our time. We all really enjoyed the Book of Mormon paintings that were on display, although Enoch left there thinking everyone in the Book of Mormon

either died or was mean. (Brenda did her best to convince him otherwise.)

Today, Natalie started another session of preschool at the library, so I got to read to Enoch for a half an hour which was fun. He's finally grown up and quiet enough that we can actually be in the library for that long. The kids had fun watering our flowers when we got home 

Miriam likes to try to meow like a cat. And, Isaac is reading well enough now that he likes to read all the signs as we pass them in the car. He can't wait until he can be on a sports team again.  T-ball starts in the spring

3-10-05

This morning we woke up late. Miriam, Enoch, and Natalie were all up in the night with a cough and a wheeze, so we all slept in until 7:30.  They all seem to be fine today though.

Enoch falls and gets hurt at least once a day, but we rarely see blood and we hardly even see tears. But this morning he hit is face right on the edge of the lamp table in the living room and cut his lip and gums above his front teeth. He cried and cried and then just stood in front of the mirror looking at his lip and cried some more. I think he was more sad about the blood than he was about the pain. But all day long, he would say, "Mom, my face hurts."

We spent the rest of the day going to the library, buying Natalie some new sandals, bike riding (Natalie's new favorite activity), and reading all the new library books. After school the kids spent some time outside since it was so warm

3-13-05

Isaac had to write a poem for school. This is what he came up with...

When I go golfing I hit the ground

It makes a divet and a sound

I swing again and get a hit

My Dad's goes farther I must admit.

He came up with it and then asked, "What does admit mean?"

Isaac also had to build a leprechaun trap for school. He and Bjorn spent several hours building it on Saturday. If the leprechaun pulls the shiny coin, a trap door opens and he falls into a box

We went out twice over the weekend. Friday night we went to Wingers and to the temple. Saturday night we went to a BYU Jazz concert with Bjorn's parents.  Miriam seems to do fine with babysitters. She cries when we leave, but then once we're gone she's happy as can be. 

We spent some more time watching old home movies again today. We watched from June to December of 2002, so the kids enjoyed seeing our old house. Enoch was born during that time, so Isaac had a great time telling Enoch about his extra fingers and toes and about the doctor chopping them off.  Enoch was very eager to hear it all, but I still don't think he understands.  There was a few funny clips that the kids wanted to see over and over and over and over.  We all had fun laughing together. 

4-27-05

March 13 was the last email I sent, because that was just about the time I started to feel a bit morning sick and sluggish.  Yep, on November 8th, 2005 our 6th child is due for arrival.