Happy New Year - 1-6-09

Hello William,

Today, I am just going to tell you about what has been going on with us over the last couple of weeks. No lecture, no spiritual message, no deep thoughts about the gospel.

Well, Benson bought a nerf sniper rifle with the money that Grandma Boy Sent him. Anneke got a sock Monkey and a blanket that she really liked. Mary Ann got a new vaccum, and lunch with her children in Cedar City. It's not what I would have asked for but she did, so that's what she got. I also got her a sweater (all my own idea). I got the Harry Potter book "The Tales of Beadle the Bard", and a new DVD player with a HDMI cable. The DVD player has a USB port and will rip your CD to mp3's and store them on your jump drive, how that for cool?

We had a big storm and got about 12 inches of snow last week, and this week we are in the middle of a bigger storm and have already got about 20 inches in the last day and a half, and it is supposed to snow all night. I called into work and told them that I was snowed in, so I just logged into my computer at work while I watched Oprah.

Mary Ann got Christmas all cleaned up, We had blue and clear lights outlining the house this year, tt looked really nice. I hope that the pictures that I included in your letter are the kind of pictures that you were looking for.

I saw Sister McCalister at church on Sunday. She asked how you were doing, I told her that you were doing fine, and about you knowing Elder Davis from scout camp. She told me that Br & Sis Johnson (Ryan and Cameron's parents) lived in Newport News last year and were there for a couple of years. You should ask around at church to see anyone knew them.

Benson got contacts a couple of weeks ago and he really likes them. I also am trying to wear contacts, but it isn't going so well. I got contacts that focus at a distance and found that 90% of my world exists within 3 feet of my face. So I am going to try a set of bifocal contact lenses. They may take a month to get here from the optical center so I have some time before I get them.
We went to see "The day the earth stood still" and actually paid full price and the theater. It stunk! I may never go to a full price theater again. We saw Eagle Eye, and City of Ember at the $1 Ttheater and enjoyed them both. We may get Eagle Eye on DVD, it was that good. Mary Ann, Benson and I cleaned out the fish tank yesterday, We did a water change and cleaned out the gravel and glass.

So, how did you like your Christmas Box from us. I really thought about what you could use for Christmas and decided that some comfort food and spiceswould be appreciated. I hope that you get a chance to experiment with the spices and stuff that we chose. I thought that they would help you to develop your own tastes in foods while you are out there. I didn't really start to experiment with cooking until my first year of college, and you know how much I have enjoyed cooking ever since then, Hopefully you can find some level of enjoyment while you are growing in Virginia.

I was excited to hear about Amoni getting baptized. I hope that you are having some success with the other families that you talked about. Either way, just remember to pray often and to follow the spirit in all things.

I love you son and I am very proud of the choices that you have made in your life so far. I look forward to your next letter, and until then, take good care of yourself.

Love Mary Ann, Benson, and Dad