this week in review (honor choir, Klondike)

Alex had his Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner on Tuesday night. He and Glen made a lovely 2 layer pink cake with an Eagle on it made with sprinkles. I, of course, forgot my camera (I do that a lot...or bring it and never wind up taking photos), so sorry, no photos to post. But Glen and Alex seemed to have a great time working together in the kitchen, and that's what it's all about.


Eric and Hannah were involved in the High School and Middle School Honor Choirs concert in Lovelock this week (Lovelock is about an hour from Fallon). They practiced all day Tuesday and Wednesday and then the concert was Wednesday evening, which Glen and I attended. No camera once again, but since you really shouldn't take photos during a performance, I guess it doesn't matter.

First the Honors Jazz Band performed. Try as I might, I just don't seem to enjoy jazz music. I would have much preferred a marching band, but the kids were definitely talented. The song they did that I kind of liked was The Haitian Fight Song (click on the link to watch a youtube video of the Wakefield MA High School Jazz Band performing it).

Then Hannah sang with the Middle School choir. Most of the numbers were just gorgeous. They had just the girls do Loch Lommond and just the boys do Tutira Mai (a traditional Maori song) and they were both great.

And then the High School choir with Eric in it finished the program. They started off with the students surrounding the audience for 2 pieces (Statsis --click on the link and then listen starting from about 5:22 to 6: 40 to get an idea of this unusual piece --and MLK by U2). It sounded fabulous...only Eric was behind us, so I was glad when they moved to the stage and I could watch him...he's fun to watch as he really enunciates and gets into it.

Last night was the boy scout Klondike Derby where they camp in the snow. Does it need to be said that I think they are insane? I'm so glad I don't have to participate in this. This year they went to Carroll Summit, which is east of Fallon. There was a storm coming in from the west, but they didn't see any flakes until they said their closing prayer today. After many years of worrying about them being warm and dry, I have finally stopped concerning myself as they have always survived. Seems like they had a good time. Eric didn't go (wise move in my opinion), but Glen and Ryan did. I watched some TV and got some projects done while Glen was gone. It was nice. But it's also nice to have him home.

Tonight is a church dance which involves everyone but Alex and me (so much for Glen being home ;). I guess I'll try and get some more things done.

Thursday I went to the temple alone and used it as a way to try and get my rear in gear. I'm trying to do more of what I should. I'm using the treadmill, reading my Conference issue of the Ensign, trying to have better prayers, and trying to take care of things around the house instead of letting them bother me. Three days down and so far, I'm still motivated.

The high school's competition and performance swing dance team has been in Idaho for a competition...and they took first place! Here is a link from a performance last year: Footloose

misc. (my dad, my son, my husband, and the Lorentzens)

1. My dad is still walking dogs even though he adopted Cricket at the beginning of December. It turns out he is the only volunteer the shelter has ever had that has continued to work after adopting. Way to go Dad!!!

2. Found out that Eric is a 1/2 credit short in Math. Don't know how it escaped all of us (well, I know how it probably escaped me...I thought he got a 1/2 credit for the 1/2 year of Integrated One that he passed in 8th grade--but he failed the 2nd semester--and it turns out they don't give partial credit for the year). Luckily they have an online credit retrieval class, so he is currently enrolled in it.

I understand the need to jump through the hoops, but part of me thinks it's ridiculous since he passed Integrated 2 & 3, made a 23 in math on his ACTs, and scored a 73% in his pretest. I guess I'll quit my beefing already and be happy that the problem was so easy to fix.

3. Glen started practicing today for his upcoming "Dancing with the Stars" competition in March. Can't wait to see him dance!

and finally

4. A Lorentzen Family update. Last March I posted about the Lorentzen family from Sparks that was going to be in the CBS Family Sing Off. The mom of the family, Laura, was a roommate of mine for one semester while we were at BYU. Anyway, they did not win the sing off, but I guess their music career is now progressing...they have a song their dad, John, wrote ("On the Shelf") available on iTunes now! I had Hannah download it to my MP3 player. I really like the song. A slightly shorter version was used for their audition tape to CBS and you can see it on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA2F0AdZBXM

Here is the link to their page on iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/on-the-shelf/id352880003?i=352880007&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

So if you are inclined and have 99¢ to spare, download it and help them become successful!

Wow, that was fast!!!

Hard to believe, but just last Thursday I mailed off a request to Long Island, New York for my great-great grandmother Sarah Ann Newman Miller's death certificate...and it came today! Thank you Carol Quirk, Babylon Town Clerk (and postal workers). You are efficient! (and it was free!)

So, it was a mixed review...the name of Sarah's father, unfortunately is "? Newman." So, I don't know if it's Thomas, like the newspaper clipping said or if it's William, like I hope it is.

The good news is that I now know her mother's maiden name!!! (which really is probably worth more than knowing the father's first name) She is Hannah Westover. The joy of filling in a blank on a pedigree chart! Can't wait to see if this leads anywhere (Hannah was born in England, but I don't know where).

Which, now that I think about it, explains why I have a 1st cousin once removed with the middle name of Westover...

OK, I'm off to hunt for more info on Hannah.

Iowa Des Moines mission changes update

First of all, Andrew's email today says that his new companion is Elder Andrew Wing from Centerville Utah. Teresa, after reading the email, replied that Amanda used to clog with a Hannah Wing from Centerville (who is a red-head, just like my Hannah). Elder Wing is a red-head, so if Hannah isn't his sister, she's probably his cousin. I just love these "small world" incidents.

Anyway, according to an email from Andrew's mission president the consolidation is among the Peoria, St. Louis, and Des Moines missions. He doesn't mention Omaha like the Church News mentioned. And someone on my missionary mom's email list had this to say about the changes:

The new boundaries will be that the Peoria, Nauvoo, and Davenport stakes will go into the Iowa DesMoines mission.  The Champaign and Springfield stakes will join the Missouri St. Louis mission.  The area that the missionaries are in at the time of the consolidation will decide which mission they are in.  The consolidation will take place July 1st.

So the Peoria mission is being dissolved and part of it will become the Des Moines mission and part will go to St. Louis. Not that it really matters, but the exciting thing is that the Nauvoo temple will then be in Andrew's mission boundaries.

 
Andrew is enjoying training a new missionary more than he thought he would...the new Elder speaks up and helps, which is more than Andrew said he did when he was a greenie.

Mission boundaries will change for Andrew (and others) this summer

In today's Church News there was an announcement about changes to be made this summer in some missions. Some missions are being combined and others are being created. One of the changes affects Andrew's mission (Iowa Des Moines). Specifically:

North America Central Area
Combine the Illinois Peoria Mission with the Iowa Des Moines, Missouri St. Louis and Nebraska Omaha missions.

So it sounds like Andrew will now be serving in what will be called the Illinois Peoria Mission??? Which is funny because our ward just ordered plaques for the missionaries we had serving and Andrew's just came in last Sunday...and now it has the "wrong" mission listed. He was due to get a new mission president in July anyway as President Talbot will be finishing his 3 years of service. I just looked and Illinois and Missouri are also scheduled for a new mission president in July. But it looks like Nebraska isn't since they just got one last July...they currently have President Milan Foster Kunz. Can't wait to see how this all shakes out.

Hmm. I just found out that a new mission president for Iowa was also printed in today's Church News--Dirk O. Jergensen. Hmm. Like I said. Can't wait to see how this all shakes out.

New mission presidents:

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58784/Mission-president-assignments-for-2010.html

To see the article about the mission changes, go to:

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58775/New-missions-10-announced-in-seven-areas.html

Andrew said in his email on Wednesday that he was getting a new companion...straight from the MTC. So, Andrew is now a trainer! Can't wait to get his email on Monday (or since it's a holiday, I'll probably have to wait until Tuesday). He picked his companion up from the mission home on Thursday. Hope all is going well for him and his companion.

Family History Frustrations, the mini-book

Not really wanting to complain as I am so thrilled with the beauty and ease of working on genealogy these days (I first started collecting names around 1976-77 when I never even thought of using a computer much less ever owning one), but I've just spent a frustrating few hours this morning.

Before Thanksgiving I looked into what it would take to order the death certificate of my great-great grandmother, Sarah Ann Newman Miller (who, so the story goes, died at the age of 92 because she fell and broke her hip after tripping on the rug because she was doing the can-can!). However, with the holidays approaching, I never acted on the address I found.

Now, according to a newspaper clipping my Grandpa Jervis had in one of his scrapbooks, her parents names were Thomas and Hannah. Since she married in 1852, I had tried to find her with her parents in the 1850 census.

I found a family with the father being named William and mother Anna that had a Sarah my Sarah's age.  One of the children's names was Thomas. So maybe the newspaper listed the brother instead of the dad (or maybe the dad's name is William Thomas or Thomas William). And Anna in later censuses was listed as Hannah. So I have been delving into tracking this family through census records to see if I can find a more solid connection.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure this family is mine...Sarah married John Henry Miller and named one of their children Charles Latimer Miller. Since one of the girls in William and Anna's family later married a Latimer, I'm thinking it's a good bet they are the same family. But how to prove it.

So, I want to order the death certificate (why didn't I do this years ago when I ordered her husbands? I'm afraid I might have and that they couldn't find the certificate? I really should keep better records of what I do).

I go to NY's site and they say it costs $22 and takes on average 5 months to receive your copy; however, if you know the municipality, you can submit a request directly to the clerk.

Great, I know she died in Copiague...but turns out that finding her municipality proved to be quite challenging. I google Copiague NY death records...and can't find it. I tried calling Amityville twice as they were listed and are right next door to Copiague but only got voice mail. But I was excited because I thought I was getting close and their certificates were only $10 instead of $22.

Being impatient, I then emailed a Suffolk County NY genealogy email list I'm on. I know there is one person (Walter Greenspan, may the Lord bless him) on there with a wealth of info about the townships. Long Island has very confusing boundaries...their postal zones, cities, towns, hamlets have weird overlapping boundaries and you don't always look for a record where it might logically seem to be.

Anyway, first, one man answers and says that maybe I should just start with the Suffolk county office. So, though I was hoping Walter would tell me right where to go, I try to go to the Suffolk county website. Not only do they not have Copiague, they don't even have Amityville listed.

So, I send an email to someone who is listed on the website. Thankfully it doesn't take her long to email me back and say that I have the wrong office. She gives me a link. I'm thrilled, thinking I'm finally getting somewhere. Wrong.

I go to the link and my town isn't listed. I'm ready to pull out my hair. So I click on all the choices that are there...and some do say that their records include such and such towns and hamlets...but some don't say what area they include and I don't see Amityville or Copiague any where.

So I pull up a map and try to see what is close by (why didn't I do that sooner?). Huntington is (and I have plenty of family history there) but they list towns and the one I'm looking for isn't there. So I try Bablyon. I call. She transfers my call and FINALLY I am in the right place. (and silly enough the mailing address for the clerk of the Town of Babylon is in Lindenhurst).

After maybe 1 1/2 hours of hunting for the address and info I need so I can send off for this death certificate that may or may not exist and that may or may not have the name of Sarah's parents on it, I finally find the right clerk.

It's easy. Send them the name, death date, my relation to the deceased, my phone number, and a photocopy of my drivers license (scanning and printing my driver's license took quite a while too). I ask how much it will be. Guess what? It's free! Was my time worth $22? I'm guessing it shouldn't take too long for them to respond. At the very least, it won't take them 5 months. Sigh.

So, I'm feeling much better now. Though still a bit frustrated. After all this, Walter comes through and emails me that I should go to Babylon to order what I need. Thanks Walter!

Another family history thrill. A few weeks ago I got an email from someone who had contacted me maybe a year and a half ago saying she had some info on the Jarvis line and would send it to me...and she hadn't. She had just come across an old email and realized she had forgotten to send the packet. So, she mailed it and I now have it. It doesn't go any further back, but it does give me more cousins. I'm preparing a gedcom for her with my branch of the family on it. It's so exciting to share!

Biggest Loser update for Glen--down another 2 pounds, bringing the total to 14 pounds lost in the past 5 weeks!

Field Trip: Santa Barbara (alternate title: I Need a Nap)

Eric and I went with the high school's reading club down to Santa Barbara on Wednesday in order to attend a lecture by the author Neil Gaiman. We had read his book "The Graveyard Book" earlier in the school year.

After 3-3 1/2 hours of sleep, we got up at 3 am and were on the road at about 4 am. We drove through Bishop, California (I had never been there before) and stopped at the famous Erik Schat's Bakkery. Eric bought a loaf of sheepherder's bread. I bought some sea salt. Can't wait to try it and see if I can tell the difference.

We arrived in Santa Barbara around 2 pm and so we had a little time to play at the beach before getting ready for our big evening.

 

  

Eric, Grace, Gary, Meghan, Eco, Tyler

Aaron, Esther

We ate dinner at a nice seafood restaurant before the lecture. I know it looks like Eric is kissing his shrimp, but he really was eating it.

  

Then we went to the campus of UCSB where the lecture was to be held. Neil was very funny...except I was so tired that I napped a bit here and there. He talked a bit and he read us 2 stories he had written...one of them he was presenting to an audience for the first time...and I'm still not sure about how it ended since I was half-asleep. We then stood in line for 2 1/2 hours so he could autograph our books. Insanity.

Jason, Tyler, Eco, Gary, Meghan, Eric, Beth, Grace,

Aaron, Nicole, Esther, Neil Gaiman, and Lisa at about 12:30 am. 

We were all so tired that it's amazing we all look so good. (I need to say here that all by myself --the kids weren't even here to help me-- I saved this photo Nicole had posted on facebook, copied it to my picture files and was able to find it to post it here...sometimes I just amaze myself because this old dog is learning new tricks)

So, we got to bed just after 1 am...and had to get up at 6 am to get ready to leave. We ate breakfast and got on the road about 8 am. We drove up to Pismo Beach (I napped much of the 2 hours it took to get there). We walked around on the beach and ate lunch.

OK, Hannah thinks this photo is fake, but it's not. Eric is standing next to a real, live pelican.

 

 Underneath the pier.

We got back on the road. Drove past the monument to James Dean on highway 41 at the spot where he died. Didn't take the time to get out and look so there aren't any photos to prove it, but I saw it. 

We ran into rain and traffic in Sacramento and it really slowed us down. By the time we got near Donner it was snowing and that slowed us down, too. Luckily we didn't have to use our chains. 

Nicole, Grace, Jason, and I had a great time in our car (discussing movies, books, music, solving the world's problems, etc)...Aaron was with all the students in the school van. Don't know if he had as much fun as we did. 

It was a long day. Finally arrived at my house just after 11 pm and didn't make it to bed until midnight. Got up at 6. Needless to say that I am dragging...glad I can sleep in tomorrow.

It really was a neat trip.

p.s. Glen had his Biggest Loser weigh-in while I was gone...he lost another 2 lbs... :)