2011 Christmas Letter

Guest Gazette, December 2011

Highlights from our year:
·
Bill IV accepted a job as an assistant
actuary with a Medicare health insurance plan and moved his family, wife
Rebekah, daughters Jessica(5), Bradlei (4), and Avery (2) to Salem, OR. We are
thrilled to have them much closer to us and they are enjoying the Salem area.
Jessica started kindergarten and loves it. Little William Charles Guest V is
due to arrive mid February. A special thanks to Bekah, Jessica and Bradlei for
helping me make our Christmas cards!
·
Jenny, her husband Tyler and their son
Xander (4), and daughter Ryan (2) have been in their home in the Portland
suburb of Troutdale for a little over a year and are happy there. Tyler is the
assistant controller for LaCrosse Footwear. Jenny will be having a little boy,
due to be delivered January 16. At this point we are all calling him baby Zach.
·
Josh and his wife Susan welcomed their
first child, Virginia Lin (Ginny) last July. They are having lots of fun
learning the ins and outs of parenthood. Susan recently finished her nursing
degree and currently is a stay at home RN. Josh is in his second year of a four
year program to get a combined JD/MBA at Brigham Young University. In the
spring he finished his first year of law school, this current year is all
business school. The next two years will be a combination of the two.
·
Andy is also at BYU and is majoring in
Economics, with long term plans for an MBA. He has another year left of his
undergraduate work. He strapped on his
running shoes again this fall to participate in the Red Rock Run in the Zion’s
National Park area. His team of 12 ran
187 miles in a little over 24 hours.
They came in 5th overall out of 300 teams.
·
Jake finished up a fun and successful
freshman year at BYU last spring. He is currently serving as a missionary for
the LDS church in the Brazil Goiania Mission. He says he loves everything about
Brazil and he is very happy.
·
For all the last school year, all four
of our sons were living in the Provo, UT area. They got together on a regular
basis for intramural sports and other activities, and Sunday dinner. They had a
lot of fun together, and I'm thankful for the chance they had to grow closer
and be supportive of each other.
·
Katie is a junior in high school. She
had a fun soccer season this past fall and is currently on the school swim
team, which she doesn't find fun, but she does it for the exercise. She was
recently inducted into the National Honor Society and is a photographer for the
school yearbook. One of the highlights of her year was in August when she
fulfilled a lifelong dream :) and got to go to a Josh Groban concert in
Portland.
·
Bill's big project for the year is to
become healthier and lose weight. He is doing well with this project and has
lost 41pounds since July, with a goal to lose 76 more. He is in his 7th year
serving in the stake presidency and sixteenth year as CEO of Cascade
Comprehensive Care. He was elected
Chairman of the Board of one health plan and is in his sixth (and last year)
serving on the Board of the local Senior Center and Area Agency on Aging. He's counting down the next ten years to
retirement.
·
Sue finished her year as a kindergarten
teacher, glad that she took that opportunity, but exhausted and happy to go
back to substitute teaching. She was also released from her calling as the
Relief Society president, and now is
working with the Young Women as secretary.
She is also working on the weight loss project with Bill, but won’t be
discussing numbers.

Most of the family got together for a vacation in
the Mount Hood area of Oregon in July.
It’s a beautiful area and we
had a great time. We also spent some
time at Lake Tahoe in the summer and Southern California for spring break.

We are grateful for our family and friends and hope
this finds you well and happy. All the best for a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous, happy
and healthy 2012!

Grown Man X: "I need to turn off the water for the winter."

Sweet Little Old Lady: "OK"

GMX now must put his arm down a hole in the yard and turn the water spigot.

a few minutes later.....

GMX: "I need help!"

SLOL: "What is it?"

GMX: "There are frogs in the hole!!" "Will you get them out?"

SLOL: "You're asking me, a sweet little old lady, to get the frogs out?"

GMX: "Yes!"

SLOL: "Why me?"

GMX: "I'm afraid (I'll kill them with my big grown man hands)."

SLOL....thinks to herself "right"

SLOL gloves up and pulls out a frog

GMX: "I think there are two down there."

SLOL pulls out another frog

GMX puts his arm in the hole to turn off the water: "EEK!! Another one!"

SLOL pulls out 3rd frog...and then #4

GMX can now turn off the water in peace.

GMX and the hole and the super scarey frogs

These pictures were in our local paper today, illustrating an article on volunteerism. The two little girls pictured are in my kindergarten class. I was so excited!




http://pioneer.olivesoftware.com/OLIVE/ODE/HERALDANDNEWS/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=UEtGLzIwMTAvMTEvMDc.&pageno=MjU.&entity=QXIwMjUwMw..&view=ZW50aXR5

Back to School Night

My first bulletin board.


Favorite of the day: The children were making self portraits and were supposed to color their paper doll with the clothes they were wearing today. I had to tell one little girl that she should just color the shirt, NOT what was *uh hum* under the shirt.

First Day As A Real Live Kindergarten Teacher

I texted to my family during first recess "I love them already....even the naughties :)"

Favorite of the Day
Me: "Jimmy (not his real name, and prone to physical "incidents") did you hit Johnny?" (also, not his real name)
Jimmy: "Yes, but it was a soft punch."

Oregon Coast Family Vacation 2009

More pictures from Utah trip

Bradlei, Mema, Avery and Jessica

Mema and Avery

Jessica and Bradlei

Bradlei and Avery

The 3 youngest Guest girls....Bradlei, Jessica and Avery

Decorating a gingerbread house with Mema

Bradlei sacked out with her dad.

New Guest Girl

I tried everything I knew how....

I can not figure out how to get the sound right on the previous clip. It's ok on my computer, but whenever I upload it the sound gets messed up. Any suggestions? Trust me, it is adorable! Here is another rendition, so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7J5TdvYFEk

Jessica's Cougar Fight Song

OK, for real this time. Here is my 3 year old granddaughter Jessica singing the Cougar Fight Song while we were on the BYU campus for her daddy's graduation.

I signed up to blog from my phone. I know what you're thinking, "she rarely posts anyway, it's not like she needs to have constant access!".

I had this link sent to me, and I like it quite a lot....it has BYU in the NCAA finals....no, not those finals, but perhaps even more impressive. Go Cougars!!



"Back by popular demand, Inside Higher Ed proudly presents its 4th Annual Academic Performance Tournament. As in years past, we have broken down the entire men’s tournament bracket and advanced those teams with the better performance in the classroom."

Oregon State Honor Band

Last weekend (Martin Luther King Jr. weekend) we took a whirlwind tour of the Pacific Northwest. The main reason we went up north, and our first stop on Friday evening, was in Eugene, Oregon to listen to Katie play in the middle school state honor band. She was the only student from our area to play in the middle school band, so it actually was quite an honor. She was one of 5 bass clarinet players. The guest conductor was Erik Morales, he is a composer and teacher from New Orleans. They got to perform a couple of pieces that he wrote. I really enjoyed the band concert as well as the middle school orchestra and choir concerts. All the kids did very well and it was a lot of fun. It was also a great experience for Katie to be able to get together with students from all over the state and work with such an accomplished conductor.

Katie playing her bass clarinet in the Oregon State Middle School Honor Band

Saturday we drove up to Seattle to visit with Bill's Uncle Johnny in a nursing home. We all enjoyed a visit with him, but then Bill spent a couple of hours taping him as he reminisced about his life. Jenny, Katie, Xander and I took that time to have a fun lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

Bill with his Uncle Johnny Fabela

Sunday we spent with Jenny and her family in Portland.

Xander sharing his animal crackers with Grandpa.

Monday, Katie and I spent the day in that great shopping Mecca of Roseburg, while Bill attended meetings there. On our way home we also stopped and shopped in Medford. So, to recap: Klamath Fall, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Roseburg, Medford and back to Klamath Falls! A lot of driving for the weekend, but also a lot of fun.

Happy New Year!!!

Guest Family Christmas Letter

This is the Christmas letter Bill wrote for our Christmas Cards (I know some people hate these, but they are the only communication we have with some of our long lost friends.)


December 2008 The Guest Gazette Issue #29
Christmas Greetings to all our dear friends and family,
We hope all is well with each and every one of you. We are well and enjoying our 13th year in Oregon. As we began to gather information for our annual Christmas letter, our son Jake told us that he thought listing only our annual successes & accomplishments was not entirely honest and that we should also include this year everybody's failures and shortcomings. So, each family member was asked to list theirs and you will find them (mostly unedited) in the second half of our newsletter this year.

Son Bill (26), his wife Bekah, and daughters Jessica (2 ½) and Bradlei (1) reside in Provo, Utah where Bill plans to graduate in April 2009 from Brigham Young University, with a degree in Statistics and Actuarial Science. He is currently serving as Elders Quorum President, after serving as a counselor in the bishopric of a college singles congregation. He has been a part-time student while working full time as a supervisor in the floor/carpeting maintenance staff. Bekah keeps busy as a mom and homemaker.

Daughter Jenny (24) lives just outside Portland and is a stay-at-home mom while running her internet based business from home. Her husband Tyler works as an accountant & had the highest CPA exam score in Oregon in 2007. Grandpa Bill gets to visit monthly on business trips where he gets to see grandson Xander (16 mos.) and play with him as much as possible.

Josh (22) is a junior at Brigham Young University where he has been accepted into the Broadcast Journalism program within the Communications Department. He remains determined to become the next Matt Lauer. He worked this summer as a clerk at a law firm.

Andy (20) is halfway through his two years of missionary service in Asuncion, Paraguay North. He has eaten snake, been drenched in rain storms and walked many a dirt road. He is currently serving as the mission Finance Secretary, responsible for a variety of issues (i.e. rent, food money, etc.) for some 140 missionaries.

Jake (16) got his license in June. He earned varsity letters in football and swimming and a JV letter in baseball. He faithfully attends his early morning seminary class.

Katie (13) became a teenager. She enjoys music, listening to Josh Groban, playing piano, bass clarinet, and baritone sax. She was selected as a member of the state honor band. She played soccer this year with no wins in the Spring season and no losses in the Fall season. She read (and then re-read twice again) all four volumes of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series this month.

Bill is doing fine (except for the realization that his hope of retiring by age 60 has disappeared along with about 40% of the value of his 401K savings). His work and church responsibilities keep him busy. He is in his 13th year as President/CEO of his managed care company and beginning his 4th year as a counselor in the stake (diocese) presidency.

Sue is serving as the ward (congregation) Relief Society President. She still substitute teaches on a regular basis. She has just started a web log or “blog” .

Sue, Bill, Jake and Katie enjoyed a Spring Break trip to New York City for a week, as well as a couple of days in Washington DC. In July, we enjoyed a couple of weeks in Park City, Utah for Sue's family reunion. In August we had our first "Guest Family Reunion" in Lake Tahoe. Thanksgiving was spent in Sacramento and Stockton with Bill's mom and sister's family. Bill’s mom is with us for the holidays.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The Guests.

2008 Failures and Shortcomings in our own words (well, except for Tyler and Xander)...
Josh : a) Lost his job at Subway, then lost his job as a security guard, then lost his job as a newspaper production assistant, then as an insurance telemarketer, then lost his job as a law clerk, and will likely lose his current job as a peer advisor in the Pre-Law office. (editor's note....he wasn't fired from any of the jobs) b) Went to New York, was gypped into buying fake cologne...twice. c) Can't act, film, or write, so he entered into the broadcast journalism major. d) He and the campus cops know each other on a first name basis.

Andy: a) Recently failed to get rent payments out to all 70 missionary apartments/houses in the mission for a week. b) I failed at GETTING down the huge piece of fat that was fed to me at a house c) I failed at KEEPING down my first natural Paraguayan mango. d) Failed to get 5 boxes full of medicines to a bunch of natives in the small community of Chaco f) failed at having my clothes really clean since January 2008.

Jake: a) At last February's district swim meet, Jake beat two swimmers: one was disqualified, the other didnt show up b) flouts society’s conventions c) has a practicing piano average of 1.25 times a week d) Is constantly being lured by street vendors and gypsies and falls victim to their mazes of circular logic e) inherited and used poor cologne products e) Discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down.

Katie: a) Isn't good at playing XBOX 360 video games b) Can't yet write a novel c) Can't make Tiramisu.

Jenny: a) Sings in the shower b) Sometimes spends too much time volunteering. c) Her hilarity often causes stomach cramps as a result of a profusion of laughter. d) Wears contacts e) Once went over her allotted cell phone minutes. f) Oh yeah, and she's coarse, uncouth and boorish.

Tyler: a) abusive b) racist c) hypocritical d) bulimic e) lewd f) childish (not in a good way) g) Dyslexic h) Believes in hope and change i) pathological liar.

Xander Grandson 16 mos : a) Can't get himself dressed b) Doesn't change his own diapers. c) Rarely cooks his own meals. d) Not very good at driving. e) Leaves streaks when he cleans the windows. f) His drawings have zero semblance of anything that could be considered a person, place or thing. f) Can't do the Macarena.

Billy and Bekah " Our family is quite perfect. Our voices are never raised and we never argue, bicker or tease. Jessica never takes her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sticks it to Bradlei's back. Bradlei would never retaliate by biting Jessica as hard as she can. Bill and I always agree on everything and our voices are never raised. The house is always spotless, the girls are always bathed and the television is never used so that Mom and Dad might have a break."

Sue confesses “Hello, my name is Sue (little voices in my head "Hello Sue") and I'm a pack rat. Because of this affliction my house has much more clutter than my family and I are comfortable with, and still I am unable to alleviate the problem. To make matters worse, I am also an enabler. I enable everyone else in the family to use my home as a big storage unit, whether they still live here or not, and I enable the other pack rats in the family (poor Bill, his affliction is apparently genetic, mine seems to be a learned behavior) by allowing them to continue to add to their collections unimpeded. HELP ME!! I am also incapable of getting our Christmas cards out in a timely manner.....Happy New Year!

Bill: a) Doesn’t exercise daily (or even weekly or monthly) b) doesn’t change his share of grandkids diapers c) still leaves the seat up d) watches too much TV e) Doesn’t tell his wife he loves her enough (although he thinks about it) f) doesn’t weed enough g) buys DVDs that he doesn’t have time to watch h) still hates cats.

Merry Christmas from the Guest Family!

Our warmest wishes to you as we celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ. May you feel His love and guidance in your life and rejoice in this great gift to all mankind.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

We are grateful for the babe born in manger, and for the gospel of Jesus Christ that blesses our lives daily and gives us hope to live together, as a family, forever.

Happy Birthday!!

It was Bradlei's first birthday yesterday.

It appears she enjoyed herself immensely!!

Jessica wanted in on the messiness.

Xander's first birthday was in August (pre blog),

so we'll get his shot in here too.

National Honor Society and Football Awards Night

Wednesday November 19, 2008 Jake was the fifth Guest kid to be inducted into the National Honor Society. Congratulations Jake!! The ceremony was held in the Henley High School library and immediately following the induction we made haste to the Henley High School cafeteria where the football awards were taking place. Jake got a varsity letter, he got a scholar athlete award (HHS had the 5th highest GPA for football teams in the state). He got two "Hit Man" awards for the biggest hits in a varsity game and the plaque he's holding is the special coaches award he got from the JV coaches.

My Adorable Little Spooksters

The Guest grandbabies were as cute as can be for Halloween this year. Jessica loves to watch Star Wars, so she got to be a beautiful Princess Leia, and Bradlei was an adorable little Ewok. Xander charmed Tyler's co-workers as a handsome kangaroo.....

The Ghosts of Halloweens Past....Part 1

Since I posted my cute little goblins from Halloween 2008, I decided it would be fun to take a stroll down memory lane, and make a post about Halloweens from the past. I had a little bit of a hard time placing the pictures. Hopefully I'll get this figured out in the near future, but for now you'll have to look past that and just enjoy the pictures of the Guest children through the years. I also made this in two parts because it was becoming a beast of a project. I love you guys....enjoy!










Halloween 2008...Josh and his friend Nat...which one is the real Waldo, and where are they? Jake and Katie didn't get to dress up this year because Halloween was on a Friday and Jake had a football game, and the middle school band got to play at the high school football game that night....so we were all at the game and our next door neighbors, the Swans, passed out our candy for us.






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2007....Jessica as a cute little skunk, and Xander's first Halloween in two different costumes, as a pirate and as a Tootsie Roll
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2006.....Jessica's first Halloween, our little angel.




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2005....Tyler as Gene Simmons and Katie wanted to be a soccer ball. This was probably the most challenging costume I ever made.

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2003...Katie as a cute little witch and Jake as a baby holding onto the neck of an old lady.

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2002....Katie as some sort of princess and Jake and Andy with their haul














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1999....Billy and his buddy Jeremy....Jenny, too cool for a costume but is OK with the spooky earrings...Josh as a monk....Andy, a clown that will golf for food....Jake with the snake and ballerina Katie.

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This is the only picture I could find from 1998...the actual Halloween pictures are probably on some disc somewhere.
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1997....Andy as the explorer with snake, Jake as the mummy and Katie as a ballerina (you will see that all of these costumes have been well used through the years)