birthdays

It has come to my attention that I forgot the November and December birthdays, so here they are, with apologies to you November folks!

November
15 Art N
21 Erica B
25 Emily B

December
18 Aaron Y
22 Taylor B
25 Carol C
29 Nathaniel C

Happy Birthday everyone!

Elder Marble-ous

Oh wow!

Merry Christmas everyone!!! I cannot believe that the time of year is come once again for me to talk to you. I am so excited to let you know of all the changes going on. I can't believe it is that time of year. I am way excited. Only two more weeks and I get to be spiritually pumped up by my family. Thanks for being so cool. I hope that I can sleep at night....;).

Well, the week is going great, it has been really eventful, and it is going by way way too fast. This transfer is already half over almost. I don't know what to do. Right now we have four people in the baptisimal pool that can be baptized this transfer. Not only do they have goals, but these are some of the most amazing people that I have ever taught on my mission. We have one who is the most humble man in the whole entire world. He sells tea leaves for a living, so that is obviously a problem, but he loves church, I mean loves church. We met with him right after last week and taught one of the most amazing lessons of my whole mission. It was actually our member that did most of the teaching, but this man has been a chain smoker since he was about twelve years old, meaning that he has smoked tons in these 15 years. But the spirit was strong in the lesson, and he commited to going cold turkey. I was in shock. He gave them up right on the spot because Elder Tarver and I asked him too. How amazing is that? Heavenly Father has really prepared this man to be a leader and a wonderful member of this church. Can you imagine when other investigators have smoking problems, they could talk to him and he will just tell them how its done. What an amazing guy.

Another one is a member referral. He uses his Book of Mormon with his friends testimony in it and everything. He is amazing and is almost done being taught. His biggest challenge so far is getting to church.

The third is having his baptisimal interview this week. I have watched an internal battle with him. He really is changing his mind set and watching his thoughts so that he can join this church. I have faith that he can do it as well. Keep praying for him.

The last is probably the hardest one right now, but he is great. It is a blessing to have so many wonderful people to work with. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father and for His love for me and Elder Tarver and the Taipei 3rd ward. I really have never seen so many miracles, and I love it so much.

We sang in a nativity that the English ward put on, and it was really fun. It is so weird that last time I went I was still with Elder Miles, but this time, I was the one in charge. Oh man, how times have changed.

We also had a zone leader district leader training, and I learned a ton. I really learned about loving my Taiwanese brothers and sisters, and I will keep you updated on how that goes.

Anyways, time is almost up. I love you all thanks so much for all of your hard work and your prayers in my behalf. Have a good one, and talk to you soon!!! Love, Elder John Marble Shilin

From John in Taiwan

John in Taiwan sends the following:

Thanks so much for always taking the time out of your busy schedule to write to me and let me read of your love. It really means a lot to me, and the fact that I have such a good support system back home really makes me a better missionary everyday. Thanks so much! Wow. I cannot believe that it is already Thanksgiving. Time is flying. I remember when I had Thanksgiving dinner last year with Elder Miles and I had chicken nuggets from McDonalds. That was the closest thing that they had available for us. However, this year our ward is having a Thanksgiving party and because me and Elder Sewell make everyone laugh, they have asked us to take a part in it. I think we are gonna act out turkey hunting....haha. I love being able to serve close to Elder Sewell, he still cracks me up so much. Anyways, tonight in our English class we are going to be having a cooking competition. It will also be a Thanksgiving party. Everyone will be introducing their food and sharing how they made it using English, and than the missionaries get to test it all;) I love English class!!

*If you would like to read the rest of his letter, and receive them regularly, contact Aunt Helen. She is the best at missionary communication. I know this from personal experience and testify of its truth.

Mission Call!

Aunt Helen sends the following splendid news:

James received his mission call to Slovenia/Croatia. He will teach the gospel in Serbian. Who even knew that was a language?! He is really excited. He enters the MTC on his birthdate, Jan. 23.

Also, here are excerpts from a letter from John, followed by an excerpt from Jesse's last letter.

This week is going awesome, I am getting along with Elder Zhao, we have looked past our differences and are working harder than either of us have on our missions. Even though the area that we are serving in is not the most prepared area to boom with the gospel, we are seeing a ton of miracles and blessings.

I cannot believe that Christmas time is just right around the corner. Oh man. I remember that day like it was just yesterday. So we are receiving a lot of blessings, and not to mention the fact that I will be able to go to the temple today. James, I hope you know that I will be praying for you. Also, dear family, I appreciate all of your help and support, and especially your sacrifices. Thanks so much for all that you do!!! It is going to be a great week this week! Take care! Love, Elder John Marble ShiLin

And Jesse says:

We have a lot of hills here, which is another thing I'm not excited about for the winter. This week we had a twenty minute up hill bike ride to get home to have someone pick us up for dinner. There's not a whole lot of flatness in our area, and it's a pretty big area. I'm glad I did have Rathdrum, so I got a bit better at biking where it was flat before I had this challenge placed before me. Elder Morrison is a basketball player (meaning that he played everyday before his mission) and so he's in great shape. I guess I'll just blow someone's house down instead of knocking on their door, with all the huffing and puffing I'll be doing :)

I have to meet with a member of the Stake Presidency and High Council on Saturday Morning to coorelate how the work is going in my district. The Spanish District Leader comes too, and we have breakfast. You can imagine how ill-prepared I was this week, having only been here a few days. Well, guess who came along? First off, the High Council representative was Brother Neuenschwander, who's the son of Elder Neuenschwander, of the first Quorum of the Seventy. Well, guess who brought Dad along? Yep. So, the Spanish District Leader gave a pretty thorough report of his district, and I just gave him the few things that I knew of, which wasn't much. I guess the point is that I felt kinda stupid. I guess I better learn a lesson from it or something, or else it's likely to happen again.

I really liked the reference in Jesse's letter to the big bad wolf.

News from the North

Aunt Helen sends the following news:

James is waiting for his mission call. The status on his call is: "ready for assignment." He is excited about getting the call.

I hope you are all doing well. We have been busy at our house. We especially enjoyed the Fall Break on Monday and Tuesday of this week. We got a lot done in getting the yard ready for winter and getting rid of junk!

Liz has only two more months until she graduates from BYU with her BSN and will take her state test next year to be a full Registered Nurse.

Gordon is in his seventh year as the Bishop and continues to be a great Bishop. I am teaching the Marriage and Family Relations class in Sunday School. The past two months I've also been able to teach the Teachings for Our Time Relief Society Lesson.

At this time of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to say thanks for being such wonderful friends and family. You help make life great! Thanks for all your prayers for our family and especially for our missionary and soon-to-be missionary.

Batch two of surprise party

Sara & her hubby Ryan. They were our partners in crime planning the whole surprise party.

Aunt Jane, looking sophisticated and sipping her homemade rootbeer.

Nancy, with her beautiful blonde hair and sparking smile.

Sammy, singing a special song that she wrote for the occasion.


There are still lots more pictures where these came from, but I'm working on several projects right now, so I'm not sure when I'll get to posting them.

Please leave comments for me if you have anything you would like to see on the blog, or email me if you have news or just something to say!

batch one of surprise party

Hello everyone! Here are the first batch of pictures from Mom and Dad's surprise party:

Here is sweetie pie nephew Brycen, wondering how he can get Uncle Alex to let him touch all of those interesting buttons.

Left to right: Dad, Pam & Lee Aston, Hugh Bangerter, who came all the way from Texas!

James and Dan Cook

Hugh, Dad, and Grandma Grace. Lee is giving dirt on Dad, hence the serious look on Grandma's face.

Kimmie, Spencer, Aaron, Samuel
James, Erica.

I'll be posting more pictures as soon as I can.

Happy October Birthdays

The following people will be celebrating their own birth in addition to Halloween this month:

11 Gordon M.
12 Connie B.
15 John B.
19 "Mack" (Mackay) B.
20 Miss Monica Y.
29 Melissa H. W.

Hope you all have a happy one!

Hot Dang!

Mike and Melissa have blog. Did anyone else know that? I am so excited. I would like you to check it out. See sidebar list of family blogs today. Then you can go and start your own!

Miss Liz says. . .

"I went to San Francisco at the end of August. My friend's mission doctor and his wife live there in an RV, along with their dog, Tater (shown here with my friend Betsy and I). They took us sailing. This is Tater in all of his glory. Life jacket, and yes indeed, dog sunglasses. The brand is doggles. Doggles. Yes indeed. Have you ever seen something so cute in your life?Never fear, I did not throw up over the side of the boat, thanks to a lovely drug we like to call non-drowsy dramamine..."

Thanks for keeping us posted Liz. That is one pampered pooch!

Jesse Wayne

My baby brother is getting transferred, and he is going to be a Junior Zone Leader. How exciting!

And if you want to know another scoop, check the Sept. 25th entry on my blog. (See sidebar, family member blogs.) And if you have a blog, tell me and I'll link to it also!

John out of Hospital, Happy B-day Ryan

Elder M. has been in the hospital a few times with kidney stones and then an allergic reaction to the treatment, so he could use our prayers as he recuperates. He still has an upbeat attitude, and he is feeling good about the work. They have several friends they are working with right now.


Happy Birthday today Ryan D. Nay!!

How to Make a Comment

Below this entry, the word "Comment" appears. If you want to leave a comment at this site, you should click "Comment" and then type your comment in the box on the right side of your screen beneath where it says: "Leave your Comment." Then you click the button at the bottom that says, "Publish your comment." Just thought I'd clear that up, since comments are scarce on this blog.

Also, if you have a blog, please let me know the address so we can put a link to it on this page. You could put your blog address in a comment! Or you could email the address to me. Thanks.

Love you all!

Jenny

As only Elder Marble could put this. . .

So last Wednesday night, I woke up at about 11:30 with an amazing pain in my side. It killed. So I was just like, come on, go back to sleep, you just rolled over wrong, dont worry, but it would not go away. Basically sucked. So I finally woke Elder Miles up at midnight and he gave me a blessing and I felt a little relief, but not enough to sleep, so we called the mission nurse, and she told me that I had to go over to the hospital.

So we headed out of the house and took a taxi to the hospital. It was so weird being outside of the house at night. The whole ride over I was just laying in the back seat groaning. No matter what position that I got in, the pain would just not go away. We get to the emergency room, and it is pretty painful. I really let them know it hurt. So we waited for about half an hour before the doctor gave me an iv, but during that time the pain got so bad that I actually threw up. Gross, but true. I figure you all want to know the whole story. So the doctor checked me out, got an xray, and they hooked me up to the iv and gave me some awesome pain medicine. About that time sister nielson and the mission nurse sister groberg were there by my side.

Poor Elder Miles, he was running around all over the place trying to help me out. Sister Nielson said that I am going to be an awesome husband because I will know somewhat of the pain of childbirth. It felt so good to get that pain medicine in there, and like five minutes after it was injected, I was out. Then I got an ultrasound and they saw the stones. It was crazy, they hooked me up with a ton of medicine and sent me home and said to come back in a few days for a checkup. All of this work only cost me $15. How cool is that?

Basically, not too much pain after that, the medicine works good so when I went back for the checkup, I didnt hurt at all unless they poked my kidney. Got another ultrasound and it turns out that I am pregant with a boy on the way. Haha, not really, but it turns out the stones are gone. Yes! Today is my final checkup and I pray that everything goes well. So it is a miracle and I really appreciate the Atonement and the pain that my savior suffered for me.

Anyways, I am so happy to be with Elder Miles again. My area, ShiLin, would still count as part of the taipei city. It is only about a thirty minute subway ride there. We had zone conference and it was awesome. I played a big role in it, taught a lot of things and it was so great to see so many people. Elder Anderson is a zone leader, everyone is growing up. Ilove youall, time is up. Elder John Marble ShiLin

September Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the following this month:

19th Ryan N.
25th Dan C.
30th Seth C., who might just be having a soiree de fromage with his family in France right now if he is very lucky!

HHS Homecoming Pageant and Elders

I am not ashamed to admit that my baby sister has just won the title of Homecoming Queen at Hurricane High School after singing a stellar rendition of Shania's It only hurts when I breathe. Congratulations Sammy girl!This picture turned out fun with the motion blur.

This is a picture of the Royalty. . .

Sammy and Mom, who is absolutely pleased as punch and proud of our girl.

Sammy and her best friend Charlie Ann Olson.

Sammy with another girl and Alex's sister Clarissa, who won best talent, with The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

The Elders are doing well, from all I gather. They have been very blessed with teaching opportunities and finding new people to teach. We are continually proud of them. John was apparently missed by a tree that fell down in a major storm to hit right next to his apartment. We're glad you're safe, John.

Annettey's Fam!

Annette sent me the following news from her family down in Arizona:

Cook Family Highlights (August 25, 2007)

Dan has successfully and officially completed the first
year of the three year Pharmacy Program at Midwestern
University in Glendale, AZ.  He is now enjoying the last
break of classes which lasts a total of 5 weeks before he
starts a rotation at a Pharmacy site in AZ.  After two
rotations this fall/winter he will endure more class work.
And then five more rotations in which he can request through
application as to where he would like to go to gain
experience. He has already requested two rotations in
Independence, Kansas where his sister's family lives. He is
interested in applying for a rotation in Maryland where
another of his sister's family lives.

As for me, Annette, I am willing to try different places to
see where we eventually will want to live in the long run.
"Somewhere not as hot as here!", I always add.  Dan
currently works at Walgreens in Avondale, AZ as an intern
where he has had some interesting things happen with
customers.

Annette has had an adventurous summer that isn't over
yet.  The temperatures have exceeded 117 degrees here on
occasion.  I often make my opinion quite clear that I
would never live here by choice due to the blasted heat. 
Our A/C unit doesn't keep up during the more part of the
day and so all I have to do is just sit there and sweat. 
The inside temp. reads 85 degrees and I'm sure you all feel
sorry for me now.  So Dan up and bought an A/C window unit
which will be installed soon.

I taught my first sewing lesson a few weeks ago.  I
showed my student how to make pillowcases and her next
project is making pj shorts.  Yea!

We just returned from a visit to Provo where we bought
peaches and pears.  So like Jenny, I took on the task
of canning peaches.  The next day I got really excited
when I realized I was capable of making Strawberry
Freezer Jam like Grandma Grace has served me for years. 
I was very happy when it turned out.  Today Dan helped
me can half of the pears.  We will attack the rest when
they are ripe enough.

While we were in Utah we visited the Museum of Ancient
Life at Thanksgiving Point.  Tira was scared of all the
dinosaur statues.  James loved flipping sand and water
everywhere in the Erosion Pond.  Dan was the photographer
of the event.  I was fascinated by the 16 foot wide turtle
that was completely preserved when they found it.  I
would really recommend going to the Museum if you haven't
been yet because it was tons of fun not only for the kids,
but for the adults as well.  The money we paid to go was
well worth it.

James Caden is now 3 years old and is learning the art 
of potty training.  He is preparing to start preschool 
at a local elementary school on Sept. 4th.  He must be 
potty trained to go so wish us luck!

James is into trains, cars, and trucks.  He absolutely 
loves Nursery and takes care of Tira while they are there.  
James is a great help to Mommy around the house, 
especially when it comes to mixing food together.  James 
knows all his letters and their sounds, which makes his 
parents proud.

Thanks Annette:  I'll be glad to hear your future updates!

Jesse quote

I know I already posted about the mish's today, but this quote I just received from Jesse is priceless. I'm so proud of how he is learning and growing. He is talking about a service project where they cleaned a new member's garage for her. "The talents of organizing and cleaning that I've been blessed with (not that I actually use them to bless me or my family--sorry 'bout that) came in handy."

missionary update

Jesse and John are doing great. John says it takes him maybe 5 seconds to fall asleep at night. It sounds like he has a ton to do, being districk leader and all. I spell it that way because that's how we pronounced it in Hawaii. I remember on my mission I would fall asleep just before my head hit the pillow.

Jesse is doing well also. He has several people he is working with, and he just barely got a new companion unexpectedly. We hope they are getting along well.

Both elders are doing great and grateful for everyone's prayers.

Party Party Party It's the weekend.

My innocent husband went out to mow our lawn yesterday morning, and he discovered a very big problem. The front half of our lawn was converted to a swimming pool full of rocks and grass without our knowing about it. So we started digging around and about 4 hours later discovered a leak in the main water line to our house. After consulting a plumber, we will be replacing the entire line. This means we get to call blue stakes, bring in a backhoe, and the whole nine yards. So the lesson in gratitude I am gaining is that it is a privilege to be able to wash one's hands in one's own sink. And I really like brushing my teeth with running water. I told my friend about it at church today, and she said the main water line is much better than losing a sewer line. A root grew into one at her house, and their sewer backed up into their basement. I am even more grateful now!

Happy August Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the following people this month, especially my hubby:

3 Alex C.
4 Spencer Y.
17 Meagan C.
22 Samuel N., Chris Y., Micheal C.
29 Wally C.

Boy, we have a lot of different C last names in the Bramall clan!

John & Jesse, the beloveds

So, this blog is becoming the John and Jesse show. This is wonderful. I'm not complaining, but if anyone has other exciting news, please email me or make comments. Anyhow, John is doing great. He gets to hear the good experiences of other missionaries every night as a district leader. And he has had some miracles of his own, also. Jesse explained this week that the guy in the orange shirt was his ward mission leader. They were correlating at his apartment.

Maybe I'm just going to have to do some research on my own into what is going on in the fambly.

By the way, Brycen, Sara's baby boy, turned 1 last week and had a swingin' party. He is so cute and held his chocolate cake up very triumphantly once he realized his mommy didn't care if he got it all over the place. Congrats on your little cutie, Sara & Ryan.

the little cutie

Is it just me, or does her Grace look exceptionally cute today? It must be the piggy tails. . . I remember when Grandma Grace used to curl our pigtails in ringlets with her finger and pin them in place. Those were the good old days.

da eldahs

Elders Jesse & John are doing well this week also. Jesse sent picture above, though he didn't say who the guy in the orange shirt is.

John had some amazing news, he went from being junior companion to being senior companion, training, and serving as the district leader. He said he could tell who from the new group was going to be his companion by the love he already felt for him. I thought that was pretty groovy.

If anyone wants to email one of the elders, Aunt Helen has John's email address, and I have Jesse's so just let us know.

Harry Potter

I just thought I'd post in honor of the fact that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is finally out. Please see my personal blog for a picture of the fun Amazon box in which our book arrived. Alex and I share in the delight of all those of you who will finally be reading the much-anticipated book this weekend.

one year mark

John in Taiwan and Jesse in Idaho have reached their one year marks, and letters from both express their delight and surprise at how fast the time has flown. John has now learned 3000 characters in Mandarin, 1800 of which were acquired in the last six weeks, and it sounds like his sense of humor is as much of a boon to those around him as ever. Way to go!!

a world of hurt

Sammy Grace got her wisdom teeth out today, so this picture is not really an accurate representation of her current status. We went to see her and she was perfectly miserable. So if you were thinking of sending cards, flowers, or chocolates, maybe don't send the chocolates. We hope you get feeling better soon, Sammy, and may your face remain un-chipmunkish. Much love, over and out.


PS: Thanks Ryan. I'll keep it up then.

just wondering

Does anyone in the family read this? I've had limited information, zero feedback and the same amount of comments.

Jesse Wayne

My little baby brother is doing well. I got an email from him today, and he is teaching several people. He sounds very happy. He currently resides in Rathdrum, ID so if anyone is passing through, think of him fondly. This picture is from an earlier area when he was able to fit 26 grapes into his mouth at once. We're very proud.

Maggie

My friend Maggie from Hawaii came to visit this weekend. She was a ward missionary in my last area on Oahu. She came to church and had lunch with us. Left to right it is her friend Phyllis, Maggie, Alex, and me. We had a good visit, and I loved hearing their Hawaiian accents again and feeling their Aloha spirit.

Also, check out the new link to Dad's friend Hugh's family pictures. You can see his daughter's wedding. Hugh lives in Texas now.

Pictures

See here Elizabeth's group that was with her down in Argentina. My thoughts on study abroad: If humanly possible, everyone should do it.



And this is Brycen and Grace in the back of Sara and Ryan's old Jeep. We were going out to feed Mom and Dad's dogs while they were in England in April.

July Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the following family members this month:

4 Candace C.
11 Adam C.
14 John M. Sean C.
15 Jane T., Annette C.
21 Tony T.
23 Laura Y.
27 Brycen N.

And welcome back to Matt H, who has moved back to northern Utah. We are glad to have you around.

Chit Chat, etc.

I spoke on the phone with one of my dear aunties this afternoon, and she filled me in on several other interesting tidbits of who's up to what.

Ben C will be going to Iraq very soon. I personally am extremely grateful for the work our servicemen are doing over there. Ben is going as a civilian. Good luck to him, and wishes of better luck to his wife, who will not be joining him. Your whole family will be in our prayers.

As a graduate of "the zoo," I must express my pride and pleasure at the announcement that James M. and Candice C. will be attending in there in the fall. Congratulations on matriculation, kids.

Speaking of my fellow cougars, you can read more about the group that went with our cousin to Argentina at the new link on the side of this blog. Her initials are beneath her comments on one of the posts.

Congrats to the Nauvoo newlyweds, by the way. We hope you have a wonderful happily ever after, and remember what cousin Samuel advised at Sara & Ryan's wedding: "You should take her out to dinner."

Welcome Home, Liz!

Elizabeth has recently returned from Argentina on study abroad. We hope to hear a report soon...

Happy June Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the following family members this month:

10 Susannah B. & Garrison N., and Happy Anniversary to all who got married this date
19 Matt H.
20 Helen M. & Elizabeth M.
24 Sara N.
30 Amy H.

Hello Family!

Recently I discovered that Aunt Larisa is going to be living in France for a couple of years. I was surprised, and I decided it would behoove us as a family to have a central location online where we can pick up bits of news about one another. I propose a blog. You can email me and I will post interesting information, missionary letters, etc. online, and we can make comments, etc. Please pass the word along, and start emailing news and pictures to me. Thanks everyone!

*Remember, don't send anything you don't want on the world wide web.