AHHHHHHH!

Hi Family,
Yesterday while taking Chloe to the bathroom and in the process of ending a phone call my phone got bumped and fell right into the toilet... AHHHHHHHHHH!  First I tell you this so you don't wonder why I don't call you back for a few days... second is to let Swen know that I never understood how he lost his phone to the pot before, but now I understand.   ARGHHH!
So, if you can find the heart to pray that my phone won't be broken, please do so.  I'm letting it sit for few days and periodically blowing air in and around it to "hopefully" get it dried.  I'll let you know the outcome then.

~allie

Much Thanks!

I wanted to say thank you to everyone and your families that have had me in your thoughts and prayers while I have been preparing for and taking my comprehensive exam last Tuesday. I apologize that I have not been more forthright in expressing my gratitude and reporting on how it went.
As a little background, we are given 9 hours to complete the exam. There is one question that is required and 4-5 questions from which I choose 2. So basically I spend 9 hours answering 3 questions that are general debates within an area of Political Science (some of you have already fallen asleep so just know I'm grateful and close the blog). You might find this horrifying, but I actually enjoyed the experience. I will find out my official results on Nov. 20th, and I feel much more confident than I did last year.
The next step will be an oral exam with my PhD committee, probably the first week in December. This will consist of many questions from my professors about the multiple weaknesses in my exam that I passed last year. Basically, it is a good exercise to help me see that I don't really know very much. Although it is very unlikely for me to fail this exam, I am focusing significant attention on preparing, because I have been out of formal classes for over a year now. I would still appreciate your thoughts and prayers on my behalf.
If all goes well (meaning I pass both exams), then I will have the title of ABD-All But Dissertation :). My goal (which is seen as very aggressive) is to have my dissertation completed by the end of 2010. (Please pause to shed your tears of sympathy for Angela and the children).
I don't think many people (including myself) fully realize the level of sacrifice that Angela and the children have given to help me get to this point. I could not have made it this far without them. In addition, and most importantly, I could not have done this without the Lord's help.
Siya bonga gakulu! (Thank you all very much!)

An Update From Swen & Bex + 5

Hello everyone!

In compliance with Mom's request, here is what's going on for us! We are doing great, but very busy.
-Swen has started his sales position at Fisher, a long awaited triumph. He will be doing some traveling around the states immediately surrounding UT, doing what he does best. He's serving in the Young Men's organization as the teachers quorum adviser and some kind of scout coach. Venture, maybe? Anyhoo, YM is his favorite place to serve, so I'm happy to part with him on Wednesday nights.
-I'm getting a little tired of going to school everyday and I'm counting down the weeks til the semester is over. The kids look forward to the break too. I try not to study when they're awake, but I think they can sense my general stress level (high, in case you were wondering :). I'm enjoying serving as the wolf/bear den leader. The pregnancy is going really well. I feel great besides some really ugly varicose veins. Swen wants to decorate them with leaves and flowers, so they'll look like a lovely vine tattoo instead of a blight on my person. I'm considering his proposal. We will find out the gender on December 1.
-Ike is playing the cello in orchestra, and the family really enjoys hearing him practice. He's doing great in school, as usual. He earned his Arrow of Light a few months ago, and is now an 11 year old scout. His goal is to pass me by the end of 6th grade. He's already passed 5', so he's well on his way. He also just broke 100 lbs.
-Joe is still trying to grow out his hair, and I'm trying not to say too much. I think he said that he might let me trim it this weekend, so I'm going to seize that opportunity before he changes his mind. He's getting pretty shaggy. He's also getting really tall. He's only 1.5 inches behind Ike, and we're wondering when the fateful day will come when he'll pass Ike. Older brother will not be pleased! Joe has assumed Ike's place as the family tease. Actually, that's not true. They equally share the position, much to my chagrin. Joe is SUPER excited about the baby's arrival. He's a baby whisperer like his dad.
-Alyssa is a dramatic princess cutie, like always. She's obsessed with long hair. She has started wearing hooded jackets wherever she goes, and she calls it her hair. She really thinks that people will think the jacket is her hair. She's such a silly-head! She enjoys her 2 preschools and any chance she is able to spend with friends.
-Link's little language is finally blossoming. He substitutes -oy- or -iy- for the -r- sound, and -t- for -c-. So "car" is "tiiy", "star" is "stoy", "more" is "moy". He melts my heart, he's so cute. His favorite thing is being thrown up in the air by his dad. He doesn't give Swen any breaks from his request, "up in aiy (air)!" He spreads his arms and legs out wide and goes way up in the air. He has even hit his head on our 9 foot ceilings before. He still eats everything he can get his hands on, but he's starting to thin out a bit. He has grown over 5 inches since January, and Swen is excited to be able to live his football dreams through Link.

We love you all so much and look forward to reading your updates.

Good Luck Mike

Hey my dear brother Michael,
Just so you know, we're all praying for ya and hoping all goes well.
You're such an example of hard work and enduring to the end, Thank you.
Love you tons and bunches!

~Butterfield home

My titles aren't good...

My dearest family, I would first like to open this thread by apologizing for not commenting on anything…ever. With that said, I cannot go on to say what I actually want to. So here is an update on each passing day of Chris Howard.

School: Honestly, I *could* be doing everything perfectly in all of my classes. They aren’t that hard of classes, ya know. But I am keeping up in all of my homework and getting good grades. It’s a little late for me to be kicking it in gear now, but better late than never. Right now I think I want to go into the medical field; whether that includes pre-med or pre-health remains to be seen. I have been participating in a health professions class that has been useless except for the interviews that we get to have with people in medical careers. From these interviews I have been able to determine a general direction I would like to head into. Oh and just as a no big, small, meaningless, unimportant, and otherwise useless piece of information, I am planning on applying to Utah University…..no big right?

Sports: Any words that I even tried to explain how this is going down would just be down right ugly. SO! I got a picture instead….(The one at the top in case you were wondering)

Anyways…..

Church: My calling as the second assistant in the preiest quorum seems to drag on. Doesn’t help much that the 1^st assistant of the quorum is never “available” so I end up taking on his responsibility and calls while lacking his authority. This continues even now, and incase you haven’t magically deduced from above, its not making me happy. >:( This has not helped at all with my relationship with my bishop because through obvious logical thought, I blame almost everything on him that goes wrong in the quorum. Gee…. sounds worse when I say it out loud…. *cough*… Other than that church is going well. I am enjoying discovering new things about the church and searching for more answers and cures to my inquisitive mind. I often feel the love of my friends and family and am reminded of how happy it feels to be with people who you love and love you back.

I want to sound deep and thoughtful by telling you something else about my life, but I will be honest is saying that I am just out of things to say and am partially bored of writing/looking down my own life. Therefore, I send my love to you all along with a good hug/punch with my thanks for helping me through what many call the most important years of my life..… Ha, Good one.

Loves,

Chris

The right hand knoweth not...

I find it increasingly challenging to stay in the loop and keep everyone connected with our spread-out family. Perhaps each person (or family) could post an update every couple weeks or monthly?

We had a great week with our Japanese student, Hideaki. He is a fine young man, and I believe he had a good time while in Utah. He ate everything I fixed, but I think the Howard pancakes were his favorite. Chris and Destin made our field trip to Temple Square fun and memorable.

I will be flying to Iowa on Monday, Nov. 9 to visit Allie & Ted and Alexis & Paul and will return Wednesday, the 18th. This time I will take my warmest coat! For those in Utah, we'll plan to have a birthday dinner on Sunday, Nov. 8, for Devin and Caleb.

I've been going to some wonderful organization classes, and I really think they could make a difference--if I could just get a couple of days without interruptions! Which reminds me---Christmas is coming soon, so families: Please be thinking of what kind of gift would be the best for your family this year? Clothes, Bedding, Bath Towels, Camping Stuff, Tools, etc.? And while we're on the holiday topic, does anyone have plans for Thanksgiving?

Love you All!!!!

The Straight facts

Hey y'all, I've got some good news. Please excuse the much detail, but it's quite fascinating.

Yesterday Mom took me to a chiropractor name Dr. Jack Stockwell. He uses a technique of correcting the top cervical bone in the neck to align the rest of the spine. So they took several supper accurate x-rays of my neck and head using a large contraption that would put me in certain poses and use a soft vice to keep me still. Then Dr. Stockwell made very acute adjustments on the top bone in the neck called "c1". It is not connected to the rest of the spine with a disk which gives the neck its wide range of motion. The adjustmets sounded like little pops and cracks as he had me lay on my side and he pressed that bone with the small pointy bone of his wrist. I got up and walked around and immediately felt a difference. My range of motion was improved, my neck movements felt light and fluid. Mom looked at me and dropped her jaw as she could see the great improvement in the straightness of my shoulders. Now she herself is quite anxious to try it out. After that I became quite tired and could feel a warm sensation in my neck because blood and oxygen was now circulating better. The doctor said my body would be in a healing cycle for about 6 weeks. My body feels like it's recovering from having a big huge sumo wrestler massage, and with small amounts of pain as the rest of my back readjusts. SO then, how cool is that! With just the smallest of adjustments by back is starting to be realigned. It goes to show you how important that upper cervical position is. So far we suppose I was put of of alignment by either birth, hitting my head on the play ground as a kid (and getting a slight concussion), hitting my head going down the stairs, and/or hitting my head in that doorway on the mission I had to get stitches for. I just gotta quit hittin' ma head! Anyway, special thanks to Mom and Dad who are funding this for me, I fell much better already.

--Devin

if you're interested in more of what Dr. Stockwell does, click here