Happy New Year and a late Merry Christmas!

December, 2013

Merry Christmas everyone.  All is well in the Vernon home, and we hope all is well with you.

Arlee had a big year this year.  He student taught in Las Vegas, Nevada which completed his requirements for graduating in History Education from BYU-Idaho with a minor in Speaking English as a Second Language.  He also met his sweetheart Tuawana in Las Vegas, and got married in July in the Las Vegas, Nevada Temple.  The wedding ceremony was wonderful and everything went well for the most part.  There was a big thunderstorm which knocked out power at the restaurant where we had the wedding dinner.  We were pretty much done before the lights went out.  Arlee and Tuawana had an Open House a few weeks later in Fort Collins.  Their plane was delayed and their luggage with the wedding dress and tuxedo got lost.  There was also a tornado warning on the interstate.  Consequently, they made it to the reception late and without the desired apparel, but the evening still turned out all right.  Arlee then tried to get a teaching job in Las Vegas, but was not having any success.  Finally, a week or two before school started he got offered a job at the High School where he student taught.  He is grateful to have a job in his desired field, and loves teaching.  Now he just needs to get his immune system built up, since he is around kids all the time.  He caught mononucleosis which he had to deal with while teaching.  As a new teacher he doesn’t get much sick leave and had to work sick to keep his job.

Aaron graduated from BYU-Idaho with an associate’s degree, but has decided to continue on and get a bachelor’s degree with the ultimate goal of becoming a Physical Therapist.  He has a job working with handicapped people and loves it.  His wife, Emily, is going to beauty school and will finish up in January.

Chad is finishing up his mission in Atlanta, Georgia and will return home in January.  He must be well liked among the missionaries.  In the pictures he sends home another missionary always has an arm around him.

Cory graduated from High School.  He shared Valedictorian honors with another boy.  We can’t figure out where he got all of his “smarts” from.  For his family vacation before leaving on his mission he picked to visit Washington, DC.  We had a great trip there over Spring Break.  Some of the highlights were seeing green water in a fountain by the white house, and a St. Patrick’s Day Parade that would never end.  Other highlights included seeing the Holocaust Museum, and visiting Mount Vernon.  Cory spent a lot of time doing service waiting to start his mission.  He helped his Dad with his church calling moving and visiting a lot of people.  He also volunteered in the Denver, Temple once a week throughout the summer. Cory, Arlee and Brent went on a High Adventure outing with the young men in the ward.  They camped near Pingree Park and went on a grueling 16 mile hike to the top of a peak.  They also went on a river raft trip down the Poudre Canyon.  The trip was cut short as a severe thunderstorm brought down mud and soot from the fire ravaged mountain side into the river.  The river dammed up, so they had to climb up to the road.  The road was blocked as well, but fortunately the bus was able to find an alternate route to get out of the mountains.  Cory got his mission call to serve in Santa Maria, Brazil.  He entered the Missionary Training Center in September.  His visa has not come through so he is serving in the St. George, Utah mission, and is working in Salina, Utah.  When his visa comes through he will be sent to Santa Maria.

Ellaina just turned 15.  She finally got her braces off after three years.  She has a beautiful smile and is a pretty young woman.  Ellaina is a freshman at Rocky Mountain High School, and is a straight “A” student.  She also goes to early morning Seminary.  She still loves to swim, sing, act and play musical instruments.  She recently finished playing Beth in the play “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.”  Ellaina just got her driver’s learner permit, and had her first lesson driving with Mom and Dad.

Tina and Brent ran the St. George Marathon this year with Brent’s sisters.  The weather was moderate which helped with the race.  Training for the marathon gives us time to talk which has been great. Brent and Tina enjoy hiking with the family.  The family went on a real pretty hike to Chasm Lake which ends at the bottom of Long’s Peak.  It was so pretty at the lake that the family got a late start heading back down and got caught in a thunderstorm.  One lightning strike was a little too close for comfort, but other than getting real wet it was a great outing.

Our dog, Gidgidaniah (Gid for short), will be 10 years old this year.  He still runs with us regularly and can run up to about 8 or 9 miles but we no longer take him any longer than that.  We sure are grateful to have him in our family, and wish he had the same life span we do.  He has added much joy to our lives. 

We are very grateful for our lives and for family and friends like you.  We send our love to you and hope you will write and tell us about your families.  We are also grateful especially for our Savior, and the great gift He has given us by coming to this earth to be an example and to atone for us.  He made it possible for us to return to Our Father in Heaven and be resurrected.   He understands everything we go through, and if we will turn to our Father in Heaven and keep the commandments we will be able to make it back to Him.  May Christ’s love and charity be in your lives throughout this coming year. 

Love Brent, Tina and Ellaina Vernon (everyone else is all grown up and either serving missions or married)

Merry Christmas!

Brent has been off on Furlough with the government making it so he can't work.  I have been keeping him busy.  He shampooed the carpets for me and has been fixing things with my music programs on the computer. We also had a nice hike and bike ride.  We like Just Serve as it has helped us get involved in service for the community. 

Saturday was a fun day, I love working together with my family anytime but it was especially neat as we got to help at the disaster relief center.  I’m glad that Brent got to have the experience too. It is amazing how many people have lost so much.   Afterwards we were very hungry so we went to Golden Corral. I really ate too much!.  It had been forever since we had been there since we now have to go to Loveland to go there.  They now have Chinese that was very good.  They had Sesame Chicken that was almost as good or better than my other favorite thing that I get there.  It worked out good to go to the swim pool in Loveland too as Ellaina had wanted to go swimming there anyway.  We had a day in Loveland as that is where the disaster relief center is too.

Visit to see family & do the St. George Marathon Written by Brent

Monday at work as the day went on it became clear the government was going to shut down over the Republicans linking the funding of Obamacare with passing the spending bill for the new fiscal year.  We had a meeting in the afternoon and were told to pack up and take our stuff home.  We were scheduled to have our office remodeled starting next week and were going to work from home during the remodel.  The thought was if the government didn’t shut down we would just start working from home a few days earlier.  If the government did shut down, we would be set to work from home when the situation was resolved.  Consequently, I stayed late at work and packed up.  As expected the government shut down, so I am now on furlough.  We are forbidden from doing any work until the shutdown ends.

I kept busy the rest of the week even though I wasn’t working.  Tuesday I set up Cory’s room to be my work office.  Wednesday I cleaned the pond and worked on setting up our new computer.  Thursday I did the bills and packed for our weekend marathon trip.

We have had a great marathon trip.  We flew to St. George on Friday.  A storm came through Thursday night and Friday morning, but it was mostly rain and we made it to the airport without incident.  Our plane needed to be de-iced which took a little time but we made it to St. George safely.  My sister Diane and her husband Scott picked us up at the airport and we went out to eat at Red Lobster.  We had a real good visit.  Then we met up with my sister, Jan, and we picked up our race packets and shopped at the runner’s fair.  After that we went to the St. George temple.  The St. George temple is beautiful.  It is bigger than I thought it would be.  It is incredibly white which enhances its beauty.

We (Jan, Diane, Tina and I) got up at 4:00 AM Saturday morning and headed to the bus pick-up to take us to the St. George Marathon start. It was cold and windy waiting for the marathon to start.  I had to keep going to the bathroom.  The porta potty lines were long, but fortunately there were trees strategically placed which helped relieve the situation.  The race started at 6:45 AM, but there were so many people that we didn’t actually start until 7:00 AM.  The cooler weather really helped me to stay hydrated and not cramp up during the race.  I felt like I managed the race well.  Jan and her friend left us around six miles into the race.  Diane, Tina and I stayed together until mile 21.  At that point I slowed down a bit to keep from cramping up.  I was able to run the whole way and finish strong.  Jan finished around 4 hours 50 minutes.  Diane and Tina finished together around 5 hours 7 minutes.  I finished just under 5 hours 15 minutes.  That was the fastest time Jan had finished in years.  Diane and Tina set Personal Records (PR’s).  I also set a PR by about 12 minutes I think.

After the race Tina and I took a shuttle to Las Vegas.  We had a nice visit with the shuttle driver and the other passenger.  Arlee and Tuawana picked us up at the airport and we went out to dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory.  It was really good.  When we got to their apartment we got in the hot tub.  I was really stiff, but the hot tub loosened me up, and I feel pretty good now.  I do have a bit of sore throat and some tender toes, but otherwise am in good shape.  Today we are going to watch General Conference with Arlee and Tuawana and then fly home to Colorado.

Have to enjoy the JOURNEY!

Wow, it is crazy.  I have a week left before Cory leaves for his mission for 2 years.  He has grown up so very fast.  It has been amazing how when President Monson changed the age for missionaries to now go at 18 how it brought into action Cory serving a mission at 18.  All the other boys were 19 when they left for their missions.  Cory is ready and waiting to go.  We will SO miss him especially as we will only have one child left at home until Chad gets back in January.  It is what is right for him and the spirit has borne witness to me of this.  I am grateful for the spiritual feelings that help us know what the Lord wants.

As Cory has been getting ready to go he was given the opportunity to go to his oldest Brother Arlee's wedding in the Las Vegas, NV temple.  If the mission age hadn't been lowered Cory would not have been able to attend so this was extra special.  He has also been able to go once a week starting sometime in July until the day before he leaves to work as an ordinance worker.  What a wonderful place to learn and grow and to prepare one for life.  I have been able to go with Cory to the temple for the past 3 weeks.  It has been an awesome time to spend with him as we serve in the temple together and as we drive through some of the horrendous Denver traffic.  Actually since we are both going it hasn't been as bad as some of the times since the High Occupancy Vehicle lane is open for us going both directions.  This really helps with the traffic. The drives have been a special one on one time.

Ellaina is adjusting to High School and Early morning seminary.  She likes having open campus as she can go to Qdoba for lunch.  She has finished taking flute lessons and can play beautifully.  Now she is going to focus on violin.  Ellaina also has become quite an accomplished pianist and can sight read fairly hard songs.  It is awesome.  She has been playing Les Miserable songs that are so beautiful.

Chad is doing well on his mission and we have received the word that he will be released and home on January 9th.  So he only has 4 months to go.  He is doing well in Georgia.  We are grateful for his letters every week.

Aaron and Emily just moved to a new apartment in Rexburg as they found a place with lower rent that wouldn't give them a hard time about Snuggles.  They just went to their new ward this past week.  Aaron has finished his Associates at BYUI and is currently getting hours of Physical Therapy observation, working as a custodian in the wee hours of the morning and working as much as possible with people with mental disabilities.  Emily is continueing with her Beauty School and will be done sometime around the beginning of the new year.

Arlee and Tuawana have now been married since July 20th and are doing well.  Arlee got a job with Las Vegas High School teaching English as a Second Language, History and a class that is goal oriented.  He seems to be enjoying it.  Tuawana is taking care of him and writing poems.   She wrote me a really sweet one thanking me for raising Arlee.

Our Dog Gid is getting bigger and bigger lumps on him but he seems healthy and happy. He is a joy to our family.  He still runs 9 miles a week most weeks.  Cory gets him to "speak" which is really jumping up before he gets a treat.  It just cracks us all up when he tells him to speak and Gid jumps up instead.

Brent and I are keeping busy trying to keep up with everything.  We are so grateful for our lives and for the Gospel that helps us know our Savior better.  We are also trying to train for a marathon.  Fun, fun, fun!

We are missing the boys!

Hi, I am trying out my blog.  Arlee, Cory and Brent are all at a high adventure.  Ellaina and I are home alone. We had some girl time and watched "Sense and Sensibility" and stayed up late.  It was fun.  The next day Ellaina had to have gum removal surgery because her gums did some weird stuff from her braces.  It was quite the procedure but they are looking pretty good this morning.  It is quiet around here with the boys gone!