Marlowe Family - January 4th ,2008

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season…the new year has begun and there are 346 days until next Christmas, but who’s counting? Christmas evening Mark told the kids that the next Christmas day was only 356 days away. The last couple of days Kellen has asked when Santa is coming again…to him it will seem forever a way, but the past year seemed to go pretty fast. …Thanks for the family cards/pictures and phone calls. Although we had a nice holiday there is something missing when you don’t spend some of the holiday with family. We missed you. …We had a nice New Year’s eve with a family from the ward (Greg and Jill Hauck…she is from IF and her sister used to be in the Hansen’s old ward…Jennifer Landeen). We played games, we ate food, we watched fireworks over the lake in the back yard. It was nice…and then Mikayli called Grandma Kunz on the way home and heard that they were having a big party with grandkids and riding the snowmachine in the backyard. You could tell she wasn’t too sure about that…perhaps she had missed out!…but, the kids have been understanding and know that our time will come.

I heard from dad that each of you toured the Rexburg temple on the 1st. What an amazing way to begin the new year. I think your all very lucky to have two temples so close…even if one is “more beautiful”. Haha

Over Christmas we were asked by the elders to help decorate an investigators Christmas tree…she is in a wheel chair. We went one evening thinking it would be a small, humble tree. It was huge and she had hundreds of fragile ornaments. Her house was not child proof as well (4 feet tall Lladros and glass vegetables and glass flowers on the tables and shelves). …it all worked out and we put her tree together (she hasn’t had it up for 5 years) and it was beautiful. She then had pizza delivered. The kids were hungry until the box was opened to see pizza covered with peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, … kind of funny. We have had the chance to drop by her house a couple of times. She is very kind and very alone. She is getting baptized on Sunday. She will be baptized at the mission home because it has a heated swim pool. She let me know this morning that she will be attending church with a different ward from know on because she has
found free transportation through Broward county that is not offered in Dade County. I talked to the other wards Bishop this morning and he said that several ward members will be in attendance at the Baptism on Sunday. The sister missionaries will meet her at the new
church building on Sunday…I hope she is loved. I told the Bishop that she would be a wonderful service project for the YW…visits, cleaning, etc. We have really come to love Katherine and admire her strength. Our family will be greatly blessed by continuing our friendship.

We have several neighbors that we enjoy as well. Nichole and Paul a family from Haiti with an 11 year old and 5 year old boys, Dee…a single and retired school teacher whose daughter lives in New York, Archie and Nita who take care of her 100 year old mom, Cliff and Evelyn who are in their mid 80’s, Gloria and Brock…he is a busy pilot, and Alice and Jon Johan (from Holland) whose daughters (Elina and Laura) are adored by Anna and Mikayli. We spent Christmas Eve at a family members (the Inza’s) house that cooked up a ton of Cuban food. It was very good…since several mormon families with lots of kids came the Inza’s rented a bounce house and
put it in the back yard. The kids jumped until they couldn’t move… and at about 9:00 it started to rain and Anna was drenched…it was a perfect time to get home and have a Christmas Eve “Devotional”. Mark read the Nativity Scriptures and then we watched Joy to the World. The kids opened their Christmas Eve present (p.j.’s) and went right to bed. They were all excited to leave oats and water out for the reindeer and cookies and milk out for Santa. Santa did find our kids here… He brought Mikayli rollerblades, and i-pod shuffle, and a Leap Frog Globe.
Anna got a Doll House/Book Case…she still loves her Barbies, she got a Princess Ceramic Tea Set, and a Leapster… He brought Kellen a pirate ship, some Llincoln Logs, and a Leapster
as well. And Max got an A-Z Fisher Price Zoo and a Geo Trax train set with the Conductors hat.
After a nice and relaxed Christmas morning we did make it to the beach…we only lasted an hour (Mark and Mikayli swam the whole time, while the rest of us hung out in the sand).

That is our Christmas run down…it comes and goes so quickly… Just wanted to write a few things down before I begin wondering what we did …


Hope you are all doing great.
We love all our family.
Mark, Michelle, Mikayli, Anna, Kellen and Max