Daron, Melanie, Stephen, Kassie, and Kenny

Saturday, February 6, 2021

Moving back to Texas!!

And we’re officially Texans again!! Loved every moment of our Utah experience, but ready to get back into the swing of life back in the South. Covid made things tricky out west - hard to do jobs, no youth activities, dating -- we wanted the kids to get back into more social experiences. So we bought a house for Christmas- we drove into town and surprised the family - so fun! So now we’ll have a place to welcome our cute missionary when he returns in just a few MONTHS!






And Steevie's doing great! Loving playing in the Boston snow, enjoying his companions, and getting to participate in baptisms. Here's one of Stephen’s incredible stories... Week 80: It was the end of the day, just around 10:20pm, and Elder Biesinger was going to get this laundry from the basement. I watched him leave the room with his laundry basket, and then descend down the stairs. I went straight to work, creating the perfect atmosphere for a jump scare. I turned off all the lights, and dashed room to room, plunging the whole house into darkness. I could hear him humming down from underneath the floorboards, unaware that he was going to get the scare of his life haha. You see, sometimes you gotta just play with your companion a lil' bit. Once the whole house was dark, I slipped behind the door to the basement. I heard him humming some music by Madilyn Paige as he started coming up the stairs. Each plank creaking beneath his step as he approached, and I waited quietly, ready to pounce.
Once he cleared the landing, he turned off the cellar light and entered the kitchen, expecting there to be lights all around him. He was wrong. Everything was pitch black, yet I could see him stop in his tracks. I heard him say "Oh gosh no".... It was at this time that I silently stole up behind him. With a holler I jumped out and pounced on him from behind. I've never seen Biesinger scared before, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I will say though, his reaction was priceless haha. With a high pitched screech he cried out, his soul assuredly leaving his body, and jumped so high I thought he would go through the ceiling haha. I started laughing, my trickery a success, and turned on the lights. He was gasping, trying to catch his breath, a little white in the face haha. I let his heart calm down a bit, which took around 25 minutes, and asked him what was going through his mind when he entered the dark kitchen, after climbing the stairs. Elder Biesinger responded, "I knew it was over. I knew I was toast. You could've been anywhere. It was scary enough to make a grown man cry" haha.












Flew to Arizona with cute Shannon to visit her daddy Jack.




Happy new year! How exhilarating to welcome 2021 while bidding farewell to one of the most unique years we’ve all ever experienced! So excited for the many good things to come. We began our New Year’s Day this morning listening to this incredibly inspiring talk… How can one person fit so many things into their life and still be so committed to the most important goal: Gaining a testimony of our Savior and discovering how to hear Him speak to us! I am so thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to know that God lives! I look forward to getting to know Him better this year🙏❤️ https://video.byui.edu/media/Clayton+M.+Christensen+%22Decisions+For+Which+I%27ve+Been+Grateful%22/0_tdb0a80p

 

Kenny is ordained a priest and doing great things! Tried a harp lesson, loving Concordia Lutheran private school as a freshman - and Kas is rocking her new Panera job, and always making the most of online classes... making funny Star Wars tik toks and messing around making us laugh! Aunt Kas kidnapped little Kas to go to the beach, and Daron had his toe surgery, and MONSTER JAM!!
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Mom is the funniest thing in the world - decided to give us all the 'gift of goodbye' during a family dinner to make a phone call...


Monday, February 1, 2021

Thanksgiving and Christmas in Utah!

Memories we'll never forget... celebrating the last big holidays with Chalks while still living in Utah! Going out to our first public movie theater (social distanced) in MONTHS since Covid started, touring Temple Square, ice-skating party, and Steve's solemn farewell as we drove out of town...

















Best hosts ever... one of the hardest things we've ever done was to drive away from Steve and Marla's not knowing the future! They made everyday SO MUCH FUN -- movies, games, eating together, what incredible people. We learned so much from them!!