Thursday, April 25, 2013

Kate Kicked It at the Hershey Track Meet Today!

Kate competed with all of the 5th grades in the area and won 1st place in the 100 meter, 2nd place in the 200 meter.  She went on to semi finals but another 5th grade girl beat her by a mili second (or something like that) for the finals!  Good Job Kate!



Friday, April 5, 2013

April 2013 News

Mom and Dad strong on Geneology
Just a brief comment before I write mine epistle. I have two treatises that I have acquired recently that may be of interest to you: One entitled "Called and Chosen and Faithful'' The second, entitled The Spirit World and The Resurrection of the Dead by Robert J.  Matthews BYU Education week, 21 August 2007.

Yesterday a good friend of mine, Ron Cook went to the Church Family History Research Library in SLC. Was my first visit there, but Ron has been there many times  and certainly seems to know his way around. We are looking for more information on great Grand Father William Jackson, the missing link for many of us so far in our search.We went to the small office and room called "Special Collections" and found a catalogue film # 1149514 (new). This film revealed that William Jackson was born 19th August 1832 and Ann Wooley was born14th February1830. Great Grand Father Jackson was born in Patter Pembrook So. Wales. Great Grandmother was born in Burton on Trent, England. They were Sealed in the Endowment House in S.L.C. 9th of August 1861 by Brigham Young, and W.W. Phelps and S.L. Spragues were the witnesses. The reason  I am sending this is to give you the more sure word, since the information came directly from them and there are many discrepancies in the other information we have received. The reference is film # 1, 149,514, Book C pp,542.   I also found in the records that Ralph Moss Jackson my Father, was ordained a Seventy by J. Golden Kimball, on the 8th of Jan1929. Church  Membership West Bountiful Ward, SLC Family Hy . #0,027,425.. Thanks for looking and if any one finds information that would help with the finding of more information on William Jackson and Ann Wooley Jackson regarding their voyage from England and trip across the plains, marriage etc. please be the good Samaritan that I have been looking for. You can let me know through the spirit  or in person. Sure hope you will find this request honorable and that it does not drive more of you away.

Dad sporting a pair of sunglasses Cierra brought back from her trip to California.  Looking good!


Kate loves life!
Hi this is Kate, I have just finished basketball season. (0 wins) I’m now on to volleyball. Which I do not know how I will play with a jammed finger. This year I have gotten a main part in my school play! This one is “The Emperor`s New Clothes.”  I`m a court herald (I yell at the towns people because they are wondering where the emperor is.)  Also this year we got a new car called the Kia Soul it’s the coolest car ever!! Sometimes we call it the swag wagon or the hamster invasion. Jake and dad are having a bad year of fishing mostly because all of the places have been closed.   Let`s hope it will be better later in the spring and summer than right now. Next Saturday I will have a piano festival. There is this new movie at the movie theaters that is called the “Croods” we all should see it some time! Love you.

Michelle and family tripping to Salt Lake for fun This month, we were able to enjoy TWO trips out to Salt Lake.  The first was planned.  I had workshop and Sarah had an eye appointment.  The doc says her eyes look great and to come back in June.  Sadly, it will be our last visit with him.  He's moving to Boston to teach at a university.  The receptionist didn't know which one.  We were told that the new ophthalmologist that will take his place has also specialized in pediatrics, so even though we're sad to see him go, the new doc will good, too.  While there, I also had the opportunity to visit a Reggio Emilia school.  It's the only one in Utah.  While it was a good experience, they only had preschoolers there.  I'd like to visit another school that has students with elementary aged children.  And, last but not least, Sarah and I were privileged to attend Nate's performance of Joseph.  It was awesome!  Nate, you and the cast did a fabulous jo and I'm so glad we could see it!  Sarah loved it!  She was especially fascinated by all the glitter on Pharaoh's face. His makeup was top notch.  I strategically left David with my grandma Goff.

The second visit was quick, and came as a surprise!  Stephen was asked to come to Salt Lake to interview for a job. When we realized that Sarah did not have school that day, we decided to all go and make a day of it.  The interview went well and we will discover if the job is his in the next week! 

We celebrated Easter today.  I'm still working on my Betty skills, so we didn't have all of the traditional stuff for Easter dinner.  But I'm getting pretty good at following those Pinterest crock pot recipes.  I made Sweet and Sour Chicken and white rice with asparagus.  For desert, we got out our chocolate fountain and served it with strawberries, fresh pineapple, marshmallows and crackers.  It was delicious!

We hope everyone had a great Easter!  Also, I'm including a couple of pictures of the kids.  Sarah loves to draw on her Magnadoodle and is getting pretty good! David loves his cars and they keep him busy.

--Editor's note...good luck on the possible job Stephen!























Connie and the gang need a nice long nap!
We are tired...Joseph is finished now. We will rest this week which is Spring break. Then we will
move on to the next thing. Cierra has been triumphant in her first two soccer games. She has
been goalie and has made wonderful saves. She has not been scored on yet. It makes me
nervous...and more tired. Nate has a lead in the Springville Playhouse production of The
Importance of Being Earnest. I am producing.  I will get some rest before I get tired again. Good
thing we really like all the things we are doing!  Mikaila was promoted at work and has been
playing at the sand dunes. She is now tired. I promise to be more sparky next month...Love to
all.  Connie

Mik and friends at the Southern Utah sand dunes 
during Spring break. 


Here is a look at the review Joseph received from a  premier group in Utah that support theater.  


Enjoy Seven Years of Plenty with Merit Academy’s Joseph

Utah has no shortage of talented youth, and that definitely shows in Merit Academy’s finely-tuned production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Judging by the performance I saw tonight, I expect to see many of these cast and crew members continue to shine in both community and professional theater.

I was impressed by the singing and acting talent of the entire cast, but a few particularly stood out. Ethan Edwards (Ruben) seems to really have fun with his role, and that sense of fun is infectious. Josh Brown (Benjamin) develops his character even when out of the spotlight, through little silent backstories that he 
plays out with the character’s brothers. Nathan Agle shows great versatility in his very distinct portrayals of Potipher and then, after a quick costume change, the Baker. Masha Taggart (Potipher’s Wife) is hilarious as Joseph’s unwanted seductress. Kristian Huff radiates charisma as the Pharaoh, who is an Elvis-like heartthrob to his followers. The Narrators (Marcella Shipley and Allison Boone), apart from having beautiful singing voices, become characters themselves as they interact playfully with the characters onstage. 

And then of course there’s Nate Warenski, who plays Joseph as the well-intentioned but obliviously self-centered git he is at the beginning of the play, growing to the more mature, compassionate man he is at the end. Warenski’s emotional range comes through especially when (spoiler alert!) Joseph is finally reunited with his brothers and father.

It’s not only in acting and singing that the students of Merit Academy shine. The program includes an extensive list of students who contributed as choreographers, costumers, hair stylists and makeup artists, stage crew, prop designers, and set constructors. All of these elements were professionally done, but what stood out to me most were the costumes. I enjoyed the little touches, like Potipher’s argyle socks and the poodle skirts with cats instead of poodles, worn by Pharaoh’s servants. I was also impressed by the titular dreamcoat, which was large enough to be a parachute and could easily have contained every color named in the song about it. Also deserving of a special mention is Pharaoh’s gold and blue makeup, which has exactly the right mix of “ancient Egypt” and “rock star.”

In tonight’s performance there were a few technical glitches here and there—mics that didn’t come on when they were supposed to—but not more than you’d see in a well-done community theater performance, and nothing so bad as to detract from my enjoyment. Similarly, a few actors missed a note now and then, 
but overall the performances were quite impressive. I was not surprised to see my nine-year-old daughter enjoy the show, as she is a theater enthusiast herself, but I took it as a good sign that my six-year-old son was just as captivated from start to finish. Be sure to catch this play while you can—it would be 
well worth the price of admission even if you had to sell your brother into slavery to buy a ticket.




 



Holtrys celebrate 20 years!
Hi everyone-
We hope you are all doing great. It was really fun to hear from some of you last month. I hope everyone has time to participate. It’s great to keep in touch! Here’s what happened in our family this month: 


Josh was in our Stake Production of “Savior of the World” – He played a disciple of Christ named Andrew. It was a very spiritual experience for him and you could tell during his performances that he was touched by the spirit many times. In complete contrast to that – he was nominated to go a High School Drama Competition at a local college and perform a monologue that he had performed in class from “The Walking Dead” TV show called “I see Red”. He did such a great job that he and a few of his classmates are going to the regional competition. Over Spring Break he spent his week off from school in class taking Lifeguard Classes. He is now an official Lifeguard and hopes to get a job this summer. He had his first swim meet a few weeks ago and did a great job. He has such long arms that his strokes look effortless in the pool. He’s also on a spring Water Polo league and having a lot of fun doing that. What he is really looking forward to though is next month when he turns 16 and can get his driver’s license and DATE!


Hannah is doing a great job in school. She just finished her 5th grade State Report and float. She got assigned the state of Nevada……needless to say not a lot of great things about that state. Her “famous person” report was on Tennis Player Andre Agassi - who back in the day people used to compare Brent to. ;) . She also recently held the school record for the flex arm hand. She held it for 81 seconds. She held the record for 1 day until an 8th grade girl beat her by one second! She still holds the elementary school record though. She is a little monkey. I often catch her 30 feet up in some tree while we are watching Jackson’s baseball game or swinging on the bars at school.


Jackson decide to try baseball out this spring. We have been a soccer family and so baseball is a totally different experience. Those parents are crazy! He had a little meltdown the first game because he wasn’t sure what to do with the ball when he got it, but once Brent went out on the field and helped him he’s been a pro ever since. He’s actually one of the better hitters on the team (in my opinion of course) He’s getting ready to go on his school overnighter to Westminster Woods in a few weeks. It’s on the coast and the kids get to stay for 3 days. They do lots of nature hikes, tide pooling and just have a GREAT time.




Brent and I just celebrated our 20th anniversary on Tuesday, April 2nd. It was quite a milestone! We celebrated by Brent going to school and I had a parent meeting at the kids school.  Fun! Hannah and I did decorate Brent’s car though so he could drive around the next day feeling loved. Coincidentally a guy on a bike ran right into his car that day and broke his mirror off. Maybe he was blinded by all the hearts….or maybe he was drunk. I’m pretty sure it was one of those things.

We hope you all have a GREAT month!! Have you subscribed to the Jackson girls  “Chocolates for Breakfast” blog yet? If not, hurry over to http://www.chocolatesforbreakfast.blogspot.com/ and enter your e-mail in the follow by e-mail box. We would love to have all the families support to get our numbers up! ;) – Tell your friends too!
Love you all,
The Holtry’s


Spring Break = Nice Break for Chatfields 
It’s Spring Break!...and it really does feel like a nice break. 
Just a few highlights from March

Jake’s 14th birthday
Jake turned 14 on March 25th.  We celebrated on Sunday, March 24th because the next day was full of baseball and volleyball games.  We had friends and family over for dinner and party fun.  Jake requested Tri-tip, parmesan cheese toast, cheesecake, chocolate covered strawberries and whatever else would make for a balanced meal.  I didn’t see anything green on Jake’s plate except for the strawberry stems!  He was given a lot of nice gifts—a two year subscription to The Drake (a fly fishing magazine), Sportsmans Warehouse gift certificates, CASH, a baseball T (for practice hitting), a very expensive baseball glove (says the mom who thinks the seasonal sports equipment is getting very expensive!), a Duck Dynasty shirt (don’t ask!), The Hobbit DVD…am I missing anything else!  He was quite happy with the haul.


Art City Elementary Book Fair
We had another great book fair!  Kate loves everything about the book fairs and was even asked to help this year.  It’s great to be a 5th grader!




Kate’s 5th Grade Wax Museum
Every 5th grader at Art City Elementary is given the opportunity to become a “famous person” in U.S. history.  Kate signed up to be Queen Liliuokalani, the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Islands.  We learned alot about the queen and can now finally prounounce her name correctly!  All of the students are encouraged to research their person, create a costume and a speech.  When someone presses the “play button” their wax figure comes to life and they begin to tell in first person who they are and why they are important. Kate was a brilliant Queen Lilioukalani!  She even learned a little of Aloha ‘Oe (written by the queen) on the ukulele.




 Kate’s Volleyball Team
Volleyball was only 4 weeks long this year.  As coach I appreciated the short season.  Kate started out a bit shaky and not sure if she liked the sport but by the end of the season she was hitting the ball over the net and thinking she might sign up again next year.  I’ve decided that the best part about being involved in youth sports is the friendships they make and the feeling of being a part of something good. 
  

Nate (nephew)  was Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Another great activity to be involved in at least for Nate is the theater!  Nate and
Connie played a huge role in this Merit Academy production.  Nate was an awesome Joseph and Connie was Asst. Director of the show.  Connie reported that there were important theater people in the audience and Nate now needs a casting agent!  We loved it twice!

A Good Friend’s Funeral
Last week I attended a funeral for a beautiful 18 year old girl.  This young woman was an All-State track star from Rocklin, CA.  We knew her family when we all lived in Antelope.  She died unexpectedly and tragically from a blot clot to the lungs.  Her sister Amy gave her eulolgy and she started off by saying that Heidi (Greenwood) knew she was a daughter of a Heavenly Father that loved her, and she loved Him.  Amy went on to share a few stories of how Heidi stood as a witness of God at all times and in all places and in all things.  There were over 1500 young friends there to honor Heidi.  Many of them non-members.  My heart was touched as I witnessed this immense group of reverant youth.  I listened and learned and felt comforted by the thought that Heavenly Father does indeed have an eternal plan for each of us and as we diligently strive to be follow that plan we will be blessed. 
As I drove home from the funeral I passed by the Timpanogas Temple where Dad was working that morning, sealing families together forever.  That also brought me great peace.   

A family friend painted this beautiful portrait of Heidi and the Savior  





It’s Easter!
We went to church, then served dinner at the Food and Care Coalition to many well deserving people.  It was a good day!
We love you all.
Kellie, Kels and the kids