Saturday, February 11, 2012

Sean's Mission Call


We were pretty sure that it would take Sean's mission call about 10 to 14 days to arrive.  Sean took the mailbox key and put it on his key chain, and checked the mail daily.  Little did he know that I had an extra one :) I checked the mail a few times to see if the large white envelope was in the box.  When it wasn't, I just left the mail there for Sean to find.  One day Sean was late getting home from work.  I checked the mailbox and imagine my excitement when I spotted a large white envelope titled "Elder Sean Christian Horst" in the box.......I thought about leaving it there for him to find but what if he didn't come straight home?  It would just sit there.....what to do, what to do? There was only one choice.......grab the envelope, and run jumping and screaming to the house to tell Ricky the news!!!!  That's right, I skipped and jumped back to the house, singing and singing and singing.  I didn't care who saw me.  That is my story, our last missionary, a ton of excitement!
Please excuse my silly gasps and oohs and aahs as I film Sean opening his call.  Enjoy!




We had a guessing game within our family, and our police chief who really wanted to be included.  Everyone guessed where Sean would be called.  Seven people guessed Brazil, including the police chief!  I promised a little prize to all those who guessed the right country.  Here is what I came up with..
A gift bag with the Brazilian flag, filled with.....
A box of white chocolate covered oreo cookies, some Brazil nuts, a bottle of acai water, and a page of interesting facts about Brazil.
Only Ricky and I were there when Sean opened his call, but he called his grandparents and brothers and sisters afterwards.


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Our Family

Ricky and I were married in  1980.  We had 6 children, there were 8 of us.  One by one, our children were married.  Now, there are 19 of us!  We have received countless blessings over the years, with a few trials thrown in.... Life wouldn't be life without some trials, they help refine us and hopefully develop us into better, more wise and insightful and thoughtful people.  
Lindsay's friend, Jennifer Gray, took our family photo, the day before Thanksgiving.  I absolutely love them!  Here they are in order..
Ricky and I
Our children, (left to right)  Addison, Vanessa, Jordan, Rebecca, Sean, Lindsay
Rebecca, David and Maisie
Lindsay, Jeremy, Bridger, Kennedy and Charlotte
Jordan, Kimalee and Reagan
Addison, Mabulane and Neo
Vanessa and Mike
Sean with us.  Sean has been called to serve in the Brazil Porto Allegre south mission for 2 years.  He will be leaving April 24, and he will be speaking Portugese.



All 19 of us!
Ricky and I with our six wonderful and adorable and sweet grandchildren ♥

Now let me introduce you to them...
Bridger is 6 l/2 years old, and is in Grade one.  He is in the Chinese immersion program at school.  In the morning he learns math and spelling from his English teacher and in the afternoon he learns everything else in Chinese.  Since the first day of school, Bridger's Chinese teacher has never spoken English, only Chinese.  It is incredible how fast Bridger is learning, he is like a sponge.  Bridger is a Lego enthusiast and constructor, and he takes private gymnastics classes.  He is so flexible, and can arch his back so that when he lies on his stomach, his feet go way past his head! 
Kennedy is 4 l/2 years old and will be starting Kindergarten in July. She goes to preschool and takes dance class.  She had her first recital in December, and her second one will be in June.  Kennedy is a silent observer and knows a lot of reading and spelling words just from watching Bridger do his homework.  Kennedy loves dressup and tea partie, playing with dolls, and everything homemaking.  Her most favorite thing in the world is her baby sister, Charlotte.
Charlotte will be 2 in April.  Charlotte has the "Horst brute strength", and has loads of confidence.  She loves soft things, sleeping and sucking her thumb (which she only does in her crib).  Charlotte is a leader, all the other babies want to do what Charlotte does.  She adores babies, and plays the mother role really well.
Maisie is 19 months old and full of emotion!!! In one minute she can go from laughing to crying to laughing again.  She is so animated, she talks non stop, although we aren't quite sure what she is saying most of the time.  Maisie loves to clap and clap and clap and she loves talking on the phone.  She has called me quite a few times, and we have a great chat together.  
Neo is 16 months old.  She was born 8 weeks early at 3 pounds.  She has caught up, and was walking by her first birthday.  Neo is shy, but will warm up to you when she gets to know you.  When Neo is around people, she will just stare and observe.  She is very curious about what people do and say.  She may even stand like a statue, just watching....Neo has started talking a lot, although no one is really sure what she is saying.  Neo is really ticklish and loves other children.
Reagan is 15 months old.  Her whole face lights up when she smiles.  Reagan loves to carry a baby doll around with her, especially naked ones.  She loves undressing them. Reagan is easy going, and not shy at all.  She seems very mature for her age, and she can do cute little tricks.  Her two older sisters are big dogs and sometimes she thinks she is one of them.  She can dance and wiggle her hips like an expert :)
Photos are like memories, they can recall experiences you may have otherwise forgotten.

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Temple Square

Lindsay plays her flute in the South Jordan community orchestra. We all went to the Assembly Hall on temple square to watch her perform.  The Christmas music filled us with the Christmas spirit.

You don't notice the cold too much, maybe because you are surrounded by the warmth of millions of lights.  Ricky took our photo.



The Salt Lake temple is so beautiful, all of our children were married there.

Ricky and Bridger

Maisie and Sean

Maisie and Rebecca, Dave was on duty.

We walked two block to Olive Garden, and it was COLD!!!
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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Thanksgiving Day


This is the first Thanksgiving that we have spent together since before Addison went on his mission.  We had a great day.
Bridger, Kennedy and Vanessa made pilgrim hats that were good enough to eat!  A lot of concentration going on....




While we were making last minute touches on the dinner, decorations and having fun with the children, the men were outside keeping watch over the turkey.  Jordan brought over his deep fryer, and expertly seasoned the turkey.  He does have a specific method!  Sean was with them, I don't know where he is at the moment.


We had dinner at Lindsay's house and the tablesettings looked like a magazine spread. She transformed a paper grocery bag into a turkey filled with popcorn.  Bridger loved eating the insides of the paper turkey.
The dinner was delicious!  We always have pretty much the same foods, our Thanksgiving favorites.  Doesn't that turkey look delicious?  Good job Jordan :)  The skin is crispy and the inside is so moist.  Lindsay made homemade rolls, homemade cranberry sauce, and stuffing.  I made mushroom turnovers and green beans with toasted almonds.  Vanessa made sweet potato mallow, and Mabulane made mashed potatoes.
Rebecca made 2 vegetable dishes, mashed parsnips and I forget what the other one was.....

We have a Thanksgiving tradition that everyone says what they are most thankful for, I almost enjoy that more than the food.  Our family is growing!


We were all so stuffed, just like the turkey!! We played Thanksgiving Bingo.  I made too many pictures on the Bingo card, making  the game  quite lengthy.  After that, the men played football to burn off some of the calories.  Dave was on duty after dinner so he didn't get to play.  
The girls looked after the babies, and watched the football game.
Maisie is in the stroller behind Charlotte and Kennedy.
There she is!  I think Kim must have been changing Reagan.


Bridger took our picture so we could all be in the group together.
Ha ha ha!!! He cut off our heads, I told him to try again.  Good thing Lindsay bent over!!!
After that fun outing, it was time to eat dessert.  Jordan made a pecan pie in a tart shell with crushed pecans.  The filling was really good too, there was a hint of cumin.  He also made a sweet potato pie with meringue.  Lindsay made a pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  The crust was really different.  She rolled it up and cut slices like cinnamon rolls and then layered the pie plate with the rolls.  Vanessa made her first pie ever, Harvest Fruit and Nut pie. She made the crust from scratch and put a little heart on top.


The guys played Risk and Lindsay, Mabulane, Vanessa and I played Ticket to Ride.  I'm pretty sure that Mabulane won, and Addison won Risk.  
Do you notice a camera hog?
Neo was so exhausted, she fell asleep in Sean's arms, oblivious to the hoots and hollers from the Risk game.
Good night :)
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