Jordan Goes to Italy

Jordan's group went to Italy today!

2009 - THE BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE

What would you do if you decided to make 2009 the best year of your life? It must be things within your own control…..so while winning the lottery or hitting the jackpot at the casino would be nice it is not in my control. Besides, you can’t win if you don’t play! It is starting out to be a good year. The Cardinals are going to the Superbowl, (huh???) my son is on a mission, my family is healthy, I have a job, a great family, a home, and interest rates are down. Most of these previously mentioned things I have little control over, but none of them are exclusively in my control. So….what will I do to make 2009 the best year of my life. Here are a few thoughts.

• Go to the temple each week
• Read my scriptures every day
• Spend more time with my children
• Spend more time with Marci
• Put more energy into my church calling
• Give up the bad habits that have been hanging on too long

I was able to go to the Supercross races with my 2 younger kids, McKayla and David. The high flying, bar banging, dirt digging, mud, mud, mud was fun and we got to see some good racing courtesy of Josh Grant, Chad Reed and James Stewart.

With all the focus on the economy and watching my 401k become a 201k our family has a renewed interest in becoming more self reliant. A garden, chickens, and trees and bushes that bear fruit have become frequent topics of conversation and are all in the planning stages.

Jordan reports that his Italian is coming along well. You can read his letters through a link on this page. We are blessed that he is serving and are looking forward to taking with him when he leaves for Italy on the 27th of January. He had the opportunity to meet and shake hands with Elder David A. Bednar at a conference on Christmas Eve and was pretty excited about that. Then on Christmas Elder Holland spoke with them also. What an experience that was for him, to be in the same room and taught by 2 Apostles of the Lord.

Jakob was asked to speak in Stake Conference today, a surprise to us all. He was called up out of the audience to bear his testimony. You should have seen the look on his face. He was terrified. He did a great job speaking about prayer and the importance of good friends. He was able to sit on the stand with Elder David A. Bednar and also speak with him afterwards.

McKayla continues to be cute and great. She has enjoyed the patch of puppies at our house. She is so cute with them and she loves being the other mom to them. She is also selling "goodies" to earn money to go to EFY this summer. So give us a call if you need some treats for......well, just about anything.

David rode the XR100 (motorcycle) for the first time. Dad wasn’t even on the back. He did great and is looking forward to more rides. Next time we will get out of first gear. He ALSO got to meet and speak with Elder Bednar after Stake conference. So all three of my boys met Elder Bednar in the last Month....what a great experience it was for each of them.

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all throughout Shillville,
All the creatures were stirring, even Joe, Grant and Jill Shill.
The Roberts were hosting the whole family herd.
With the Elders there also to give the good word

Jakob and Tyler, will each eat their weight,
And Mitchell will too, but mostly in cake.
David, McKayla, and Morgan will all dig in quick,
And Grant will entertain with his latest new trick

We’ll eat yummy stuff and then talk for a while,
Sing a few songs and do it with style
Flip through the channels and then walk the looong way,
Back to the homestead to await Santa’s Sleigh,

The cousins will soon be all huddled in bed.
And they’ll sleep for awhile, at least that's what they said.
“Dad, Mom, Santa Claus came” They’ll say.
When 30 minutes earlier we’d just hit the hay.

Jordan is in training and will sorely be missed.
But he’s been a good boy and is on Santa’s list.
No phone call to the family is a small price to pay,
For the honor of serving Him whom we honor this day.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

AN “AWFUL” BEGINNING TO THE WEEK

This week was an awesome Lehi Tradition that we all love. The Connolly Awful Waffle Eat and Run. The Connolly Family has been doing this for over 30 years. Anybody who shows up at the Connolly’s house gets Green and Red waffles and sausage. We love going and seeing old friends and neighbors that we don’t see often enough. The line stretched out their front door and down the walkway and into the street. This is one of the reasons that Lehi Living is the best.

For mutual this week the youth went around singing to elderly, widow and homebound people in our ward. McKayla and the younger kids went on a hay ride and stopped at several places in the ward where they sang carols and gave out cinnamon rolls. The Priests and Laurels went to some other homes in cars doing the same thing. They had a little smaller group and were able to go inside most of the homes and spend a little time there. Jake played his guitar for the group. It was wonderful to see the happiness that the Young Men and Women brought into the homes of the people they visited. Afterwards we hung out around the fire and had hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls.

Jake was also in Westwood High Schools Christmas program and did a great job. He played the guitar for one song, the drum on a second and the cymbals on a third. He has a great talent for music. You can see the choir perform on Christmas morning on channel 10.

Jordan reports that he is working hard to learn Italian and loves being at the MTC. We miss him, especially at this time of year, but know the gifts he will be giving over the next two years are the most important. His letters and pictures can be found at http://www.missionsite.net/elderjordanshill/letters

David was able to go Christmas Caroling with the youth and then again with the Cub Scouts the next night. He is growing like a weed and eating like a horse. He had his Birthday this week and is now a Weblo. He got a compound bow for his birthday and has been getting to be a pretty good shot. (I am not ready to stand in front of him with an apple on my head, but he can hit the target).

Of course McKayla and David had Christmas concerts too and at the same time. I am sure that it takes careful planning to get all the concerts on the same night!

My brother Joe has decorated a large mesquite tree in the field in green and red lights. From the Mesa drive it looks like a lone tree in all lit up with nothing around it. The strand of lights leading down the fence line toward the tree makes the scene reminiscent of Lehi’s Dream in the Book of Mormon.

Merrrrrry Christmas, Ro Ro Ro

DAVE “THE INTIMIDATOR” AND COUSINS ROCK!!!

Thanksgiving was great. We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for the great blessings of life, liberty, religion, home, family, and friends and on and on and on.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and spent time with family. Dana’s family came to Shillville for the weekend and the kids had a blast just playing with their cousins. We took them all to the go kart track on Friday. David, who is 9, was “racing” solo for the first time. He did great and was quite an aggressive driver. Dale Earnhardt would have been proud. Perhaps the reason for his aggressive driving style was that he didn’t know where the brake was!! When the officials stopped the race midway, Dave looked like a renegade pinball bouncing off cars. He was therefore banned from the track for the remainder of the day. Dad was so proud!! His Uncle Rich took the gang back the next day for more racing action. In the meantime we had taught David where the brake was. He did great and wasn’t banned!

We received our first couple of letters from Jordan. He sounds like they are being immersed in Italian and reports that he can pray and bear his testimony in his new language. His letters have been short, but at least we know he is alive and well and enjoying himself.

Jake has been engineering a toothpick bridge for his Physics class and getting ready for Westwood Choir’s annual Canticle of Carols. We always look forward to this performance.

McKayla loves spending time with her cousins. They drove go karts, rode her motorcycle, went to the movies, and even made a movie. The movie was pretty funny.

David also enjoyed spending time with cousins. When they are here they are constantly going and running and playing. The minute they leave Shillville is back to dulls-villle. (well… according to the kids)

SHILLVILLE SENDS OFF A SOLDIER

All is well in Shillville and Jordan has entered the Army of the Lord as a infantryman to bring souls to Christ.

The family is adjusting to the absence of one of us. Jordan left for the MTC earlier this week where he will spend 9-10 weeks learning Italian and studying the gospel. He will then depart for Milan Italy. He gave his talk in sacrament meeting on Sunday and did a great job discussing “Why we should have Standards in our lives”. He also sang with his Aunt Shana, Brother Jakob and mother Marci. The talk was great and the song was wonderful.

Our Stake President gave him a wonderful blessing when he was set apart on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, my sister Brenda picked him up at the Salt Lake Airport, took him to lunch and then to the MTC where they had a short meeting and said goodbye. We very much appreciated Jordan being able to be looked after by his Aunt for those several hours. Cousin Clay also spent some time with Jordan before he had to leave. I am sure that snow, slopes and Clay nearby would be a temptation for a snowboard or snowmobile excursion if Jordan was not totally committed to his new job.

It is clear to me that Jordan knows what he is doing and has some fear of the unknown and some fear of the known too! He is very conscious of the sacrifices he is making and still willing to do so. It is wonderful to see him challenged by leaving his home, family and friends.
We all miss Jordan. Even Jake has said how much he misses his older brother.

Jake, McKayla and David are looking forward to playing musical rooms. We have been cleaning out Jordan’s room for the anticipated moves and finding many treasures and surprises. The next few weeks should be full of kids moving rooms and dividing up Jordan’s clothes and other treasures that he left behind. Saturday while doing some of the laundry Jordan left behind, Marci discovered a treasure trove stash of socks. We are now set for the next several decades in the sock department! All these years we thought that we had a whole family of the sock eating monsters that most families only have one of.

As the Father of this gang I am feeling extremely blessed to have a family who loves the Lord.

CHANGE IS COMING . . . .

The time seems to be flying by and it is now less than 2 weeks until Jordan leaves for the MTC. The instant change will be strange for us especially right before the holidays. We are grateful for the blessings that are coming to him through his choices and are all excited for the growth and evolution that will occur over the next two years…..and that is CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN!

Marci is finding many old friends and some new on Facebook. She loves catching up. Many conversations these days start out. ”Oh, guess who I found today…..!”

Rolland had surgery on his knee a few weeks ago and has recovered quickly.

Jordan is in the final two weeks of carefree, civilian life. He has quit his job so he has time to get everything ready and have plenty of time to hang out with friends. He has enjoyed his friends getting their mission calls too. Kind of reminds me of Alma the younger and the Sons of Mosiah when they were going off to serve missions to the Lamanites. It will be a great reunion coming home in two years and seeing the growth and strength of your buddies and knowing that they love the work and the Lord just as you do. He has been able to go to the Temple with his friends too.

Jakob is recovering from his Football injury. His clavicle is healed enough to begin Physical Therapy next week. Oh fun!!!! Last week was Homecoming for Westwood. Jake was the protector extraordinaire as he and his buddies sacrificed life, limb, cell phone and driving privileges to protect all their hard work and sweat from the evil Sophomore and Junior classes. He came home very late each night with stories of defense and conquest that scared his old folks into less hair or gray hair. (less for Ro, gray for Marci). Thankfully no one was permanently injured and those incarcerated have now been set at liberty. As a side note…if you are trying to reach Jake please call his home phone and if you own a car he could always use a ride!


McKayla is like, doing great in school. She like, loves being with her friends, they like, hang out and like, totally paint their toenails and do hair and stuff. She like, totally has the best friends evvvver and like, Poston Panthers are the best! Totally!!!


David continues to astound us with his love of science and space. He shows us a diagrams of the generator he is building. Apparently Jordan has been showing him the workings of a car alternator and so he is ready to build one. He loves the Discovery Channel and especially Mythbusters, Planet Earth and Time Warp TV shows. David is playing the Violin in orchestra and doing very well learning to play the Piano.