29 November 2009 - Sterling Heights, Michigan

Sunday 29th – Sterling Heights, Michigan

Dear Family,

Our journey home from Denver went smoothly. We already miss Ryan, Rachel, Mia and little Lydia, but we enjoy being home and reunited with family back in Michigan.

We baked 18 pies, roasted a 20 pound turkey complete with stuffing and gravy for the Thanksgiving Day feast for 20 people at Jim & Vanessa's home. Besides the families of Jim & Vanessa and Ryan & Maureen, the Stebar and Reihl families joined the celebrations. We called Michael, who was in Idaho, to participate in the “What are you thankful for” session before dinner. It was a great joy for all to be together for the feast, and later play games and just share time with one another.

“Let the spirit of thanksgiving guide and bless your days and nights.” Gordon B. Hinckley (2Nephi 9:52)

The day after - it was difficult to face all the preparatory work and effort ahead of us to get ready for Christmas, but we got started and things will be ready. We are so looking forward to all the children and grandchildren coming to our home to celebrate Christmas with us. We are sure it will be a grand celebration because He, whose birth we celebrate, is great beyond measure. Whatever our celebrations seem to be, he seeks above all, our sincere, thoughtful love for Him and those He came to redeem.

We love y'all,

Mom & Dad

Latest Grandchild - Lydia Hreinson

Lydia Hreinson born 5 Nov 2009

Our 19th Grandchild & 8th Granddaughter

Parents (Exec. Producers): Ryan & Rachel Hreinson

Condition: Celestial

Designed by: Heavenly Father

Family: Filled with Joy

Sunday 22nd November – Denver, Colorado

Dear Family,

More fun in “Adventure Land” this week. Mia took Papa and Nona for adventures to the Children's Museum on Thursday, and to the Aquarium on Friday. She had a great time showing Papa & Nona her favorite things and reminding us how quickly a two year old's attention can change.

Papa took Mia in the backpack for a long walk along “Cherry Creek”, where we saw ducks, crows, a rabbit and prairie dog field. Mia was chattering or singing the whole time. We have been busy with shopping trips, cooking Brazilian Black Beans, a Saturday morning apartment cleaning session and Nona reading books to Mia.

We have enjoyed our time being with Rachel and Ryan and are forward to being home Monday evening.

We love you all,

Mom & Dad

Mia at Children's Museum - Denver Colorado - 19 November 2009

15 November 2009 - Denver, Colorado

Sunday 15th – Dear Family,
The snow gently fell through the night and to our delight all is covered in pure white this Sabbath morning.
Another successful journey! After all of the preparation for and anticipation to our flight to Denver, we were rewarded to see Rachel and her daughters greet us at the airport and shuttle us to the “Hreinson Hacienda”. Our hearts are completely enthralled with our beautiful, sweet and newest grandchild, Lydia. What a great blessing it is to have these precious little ones come into our lives. The very active and cute elder sister, Mia, is the one to enthrall most our time. Before Papa got into the apartment, Mia and him went on an adventure down by the river. For reasons unknown, the water needed a good thrashing with a stick and as a result, Mia immediately got herself wet . Luckily, the day was warm and mostly sunny with a soft breeze and the “Moisten Mia” was soon mostly dry and very late for her nap. Oh well, what are Papas for, anyway?
Rachel and Ryan have a beautiful little family and a nice home, both of which are a great joy for us to visit. Rachel is doing very well. Lydia has been sleeping about 5 hours between the need to be loaded and unloaded. Like her sister Lara, Rachel has her “mommy hands” completely full with these two little girls. There is great divine wisdom in having children while you are young. Ryan's schedule is full of classes, studying for tests, working part time in a pharmacy, being Mia's & Lydia's Daddy Rachel's husband and short sleep nights.
We have been busy shopping, preparing meals and helping with other little jobs like hanging pictures, getting the oil changed in the vehicles, and being a Papa and Nona to Mia. Ryan's Mom left the refrigerator full of things to warm up to eat, which we enjoyed and appreciated very much. Yesterday, we made a batch of Peasant Pasta and two Pumpkin pies for dinner. They turned out great!
We are anticipating another week full of fun & frolic at the “Hreinson Hacienda” and hope all is well with you.
We love y'all, Mom & Dad

8 November 2009 - Sterling Heights. Michigan

Sunday 8th -
Dear Family,
Another eventful week for these two not so “empty nesters”.
Congratulations to Ryan & Rachel for their latest little addition named Lydia. This little baby girl born on Thursday the 5th weighed in at 6 pounds 13 oz. They sent out a pictures via the phone, which captured our hearts. What joy it is to have a beautiful brand-new baby in the family to love. We are excited to go to Denver on Thursday, to greet this new arrival and to help out for a week or so.
Party time – Monday: we celebrated Maureen's birthday at their home. Thursday: Michael came home for the weekend; lunch with Stebar's at Culver's in Birch Run. Saturday: dinner at Olive Garden.
Business Transactions – Michael returned his out-dated laptop computer to Costco and purchased a more portable and later generation one at Best Buy. We went shopping with the Stebar's to Birch Run. We always enjoy being with them.
Service with a smile. We watched Preston, Jacob (who didn't have school) and Sophia while Maureen went to a Doctor's appointment. She has one month to her due date. Friday we went to the temple. Mom did a sealing session to finish the work for her aunt, Amalia Sanchez Christensen, and Dad did several baptisms, mostly for people from Mexico with long and very Spanish names, which he was mostly able to pronounce due to years of tutoring from Mom. Today, Dad substitute taught the Gospel Doctrine Class “Every Member a Missionary”. Everyone seemed to enjoy the class a lot.
Sports - We survived the cold wind as we watched Tyler play his last of the season football games. Dad survived another hour of Racquetball on Thursday morning. Dad went with Michael to watch and get some action photographs of the Stake Flag football tournament at Boulan Park in Troy. It was a pleasure to watch Jim throw passes to Ryan & Michael as they went undefeated in four games to win the championship. Damage report - Michael got a nasty cut inside his lip from a swinging elbow and Ryan got stepped on in a critical location, but there seems to be no permanent damage.
Blessing – We have truly been blessed with everything we need. Michael, being inspired by the words of Elder Russell M. Ballard in the last General Priesthood Meeting, sought counsel and blessing from his father. Therefore, Dad, assisted by Ryan & Jim,gave Michael a blessing. Go Michael your are awesome!
Love y'all, Mom & Dad

1st November 2009 - Sterling Heights, Michigan

Sunday 1st
Dear Family,
We have enjoyed another week of service and eating.
Missionary Lunch - Mom and her crew of sisters successfully planned and executed an excellent Lasagna lunch for a multi-zone missionary conference held at the Stake Center on Friday. Mom served them salad, found out where each missionary was from and convinced each one of how good the salad was for them. Remembering how special the members in Corpus Christi made us feel at the zone conference lunches, Mom really wanted to make it nice for them. A senior couple indicated this was the best lunch they ever had at a zone conference, which made Mom's day because she really wanted it to be something special for these servants of the Lord. It was good for us to be with and feel the spirit the missionaries again, even for these few minutes.
Breakfast and Brunch – Monday Mom went to a brunch at Vanessa's celebrating Maureen's birthday, and Dad went to breakfast at Big Boy with four friends from Ford. Good food and good people. Thursday, Dad played racquetball with a couple friends from Ford. The exercise was exhausting but they enjoy getting together for a good workout and a good breakfast.
Pizza Party at Stebar's – We have not been home for Halloween for three years now, but we know how to have fun with friends regardless of where we are. Mom phoned (“we are invited to a Halloween Party at your/Stebar's home and are calling to RSVP”) and so invited ourselves to Stebar's for a little Halloween pizza party. We and they had a good time eating and sharing a couple of hours together.
Temple - We went to the Temple for an Endowment session on Tuesday evening. Mom was proxy for her mother's sister Amalia (we finally got the record straight with a pink/female slip) and Dad was proxy for an ancestor of Sister Barlow. It was good to be in the House of the Lord, even for just couple of hours.
Love y'all, Mom & Dad