2006 Annual Bowling extravaganza

We held our annual bowling extravaganza with Brian the overall winner and men's high score and Mindy capturing the women's high score. Mindy and Coray won the couple's competition. Grandma Roylance rolled a '70' - not quite her age. Paula was scorekeeper since her injured knees wouldn't allow bowling.

2006-12-24 Michelle's update

It's Christmas Eve! It's hard to believe. We've had a great day. I love this time of year. We even had a blizzard to go with it. Enclosed are some pictures. Hans got stuck at work on Wednesday and EVERYTHING was shut down...airports, the freeways, etc. Hans had to buy chains for the trusty civic and made it to the major intersection next to our development. Then he had to find a way home. Then he walked back in all his snow gear and shoveled his car enough to pull it to the side of the road and then walked home. This whole process took about 4 hours. I was grateful he made it home safely and with no harm to the civic:) The intersection turned into a parking lot for cars. Many people had to stay in hotels and at others homes. We were lucky to be safe and warm in our home. Our furnace stopped working twice that night and Hans had to get up to shovel off the vent outside and restart it. It made for an exciting time. This blizzard by far tops anything I've ever seen. The snow drifts were crazy. Our neighborhood is still just a maze of tunnels. If we take the civic to drive around (since it's got chains) all we see looking out the windows is snow. Ashley and Hans got some good sledding in. By far the best part of the blizzard was that Hans got Thursday and Friday off as well, which he didn't have originally. It was so nice to just spend time in our home as a family. We've had great fun.

There are also some pictures of the girls making gingerbread houses. It was very exciting. I was ambitious and made the gingerbread and frosting and such and was nervous, but it all turned out really well. They love their houses.

What else? There's also a picture of Katelyn and I riding in her blanket rocket. She makes rockets for me everyday and we sit in them and zoom to the moon. It's fun. I'm learning to be a better creative player. I love to see how creative the girls are.

Today I had to play the piano in church again. Twice, actually. I feel like at any moment I will be exposed as the musical fraud that I am. For some reason everyone thinks I am musical. It's quite funny. I'm struggling at the piano, but enjoy the forced practice. It's nice to have a reason.

We are doing our own re-enactment of the first Christmas this evening. We read the Christmas story with the girls earlier and let them each open a present. Katelyn had a hard time stopping at just one. It's fun.

Hope all is well there,

Love, Michelle

Bill has surgery

Bill had femoral bypass surgery on December 14, 2006 to improve the circulation in his legs and prevent an amputation or two. He got a blood clot in his left leg which slowed down his recovery. He hopes to be home by Christmas Eve.

2006 Christmas greetings

Merry Christmas from Paula and Tom!

Can you believe another year has passed? We enjoy rich blessings with two new grandchildren added to our posterity during 2006. Here is a brief summary of our family:
Melissa and Michael Ford live in Salt Lake City with Thomas (12), Joshua (8), Benjamin (6) and Jack (4). Michael moved to a new law firm and continues his legal work. Melissa is a full time caregiver and Primary president.
Mindy and Coray Christensen welcomed Sarah into our family in April and moved into a new home in Highland, Utah with Jonathan (8), Abby (6), and Will (3). Coray now works full-time in his start-up software company enjoying entrepreneurial life. Mindy is chief decorator and chauffeur.
Brian and Natalie live in Indianapolis with Elsa (4) and Ava (2) where Brian works for Lilly and serves as Elder’s Quorum President. Natalie is working as a full-time mom and friend.
Melanie and Jeff Conley live in Kaysville, UT with Andrew (5), Elizabeth (3) and Anna (1). Jeff works in Ogden for Flying J. Melanie ran her second half and first full marathons this year. We cheered her on!
Michelle and Hans Egbert welcomed Justin in March. He joins Ashley (4) and Katelyn (2). They moved to Colorado Springs following Hans’s graduation from dental school. Michelle is busy with her larger family getting settled in Colorado.
Paula and Tom continue to work and to serve our family of 16 grandchildren. We have been enjoying more time together since Tom left his job in New Jersey in June.
We wish you all a joyous Christmas season!

Retirement is a thing of the past

Supervisor Gladys Schiele, 93, inspects the work of data-entry clerk Jack Vandenbogen, 87.

More Companies Phasing Out Retirement Option

NEW YORK—With pension funds dwindling as retirees enjoy longer, more capable lives, many businesses have opted to freeze their workers' employment status and keep them on the job through their sunset years.

"Under the new approach, our employees gain the advantage of lifelong job security," Hewlett-Packard CEO and president Mark Hurd said. "Even though our workers will no longer be able to collect a pension, they will receive checks as long as they are able to be wheeled into work and punch the clock."
Hewlett-Packard, Verizon, and IBM are just a few of the Fortune 500 companies that are phasing out the retirement option in favor of "indefinite-employment" plans, under which thousands of qualified workers will continue to earn yearly stipends in exchange for work.
"To the list of outmoded and costly business practices such as health insurance, overtime pay, and lunch breaks, add age-based quitting," corporate management consultant Robert Hopgood said. "Post-retirement-age labor is great for companies, and it's a great way for seniors to stay active."
American companies are following the model set by General Electric, which in the 1970s began requiring departing employees to give 45 years' notice.
Although the paradigm shift is highly admired among cost-conscious managers in the business world, employees question its practicality.
"I don't need to support my family anymore," said 93-year-old Alfred Nuzzo, who has worked as a products inspector for GE's small-appliance division for 68 years. "I have a dead wife and three dead kids."
Multitasking while dying on the job can take its toll. GE customer-service representative Esther Fischbeck, 88, is juggling career, widowhood, and early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
"What is this?" said Fischbeck, clawing at her phone headset. "When do I go home?"
Responding to critics who say that phasing out retirement shows a lack of concern for workers, IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano argued that if companies didn't care about their elderly employees, they would not keep them on the payroll.
"We frequently honor their birthdays with celebrations, and our going-away parties are always respectful and appropriately somber affairs," Palmisano said. "IBM is like a family—you don't leave a family."
Lawrence Babbio Jr., president of Verizon, defended his company's newly enstated non-retirement plan.
"We believe in our workers," Babbio said. "Everyone is valuable and has something to offer, and we're not going to phase them out just because they only have a few years left to live. Even vegetative employees can serve the company by donating valuable, hard-to-find organs to our younger executives. And our comatose employees are very useful as product testers."
Saying that an older person in a wheelchair "shouldn't be pushed into a corner, but in front of a desk," Hewlett-Packard's Hurd said lifetime employment will make his company more inclusive.
"There's a place at our organization for everyone—the young, the old, the mentally incapacitated, the moribund," Hurd said. "All we ask of them is to work a regular 40-hour shift and honor our 'no mercy killing' policy."
He added, "We pride ourselves on the fact that, even after death, our employees can continue to contribute to the company's growth. In an uncertain world, we offer real job security—from training to the grave."

2006-12-17 Michelle's update

HI Everyone,

Things here are well. We were thinking of mom and dad yesterday celebrating their 35th anniversary. Congratulations.

It's been a fun week of holiday festivities. It's hard to believe that Christmas Eve is next Sunday. We went to the mall to see Santa. Ashley is slightly disillusioned about Santas at malls and such. She knows they are all different so doesn't really think she should tell them what she wants since she's not sure it'll get back to the real one. She is still asking for the baby alive doll, so with some coaxing and financial help with mom (THANK YOU) we bought one for her. She will be really excited. She tells me that this doll is only good for her, not Katelyn, since you have to treat it like a real baby. Christmas morning will be complete with that:) We are prepared and done with shopping. It'll be a small Christmas, but as the girls are happy playing with aluminum foil and some foam Hans brought home from work, we know they will appreciate what we do give them.

Hans had a fun birthday party, although he keeps telling me it wasn't a birthday party, with 16 of his friends here playing x-box. We were both feeling the sleep deprivation since he played late and I couldn't sleep with all of them yelling down there. They had a good time. I'm grateful he has friends and even more grateful he plays video games in moderation. Thanks to those of you who gave Hans a phone call.

I finally found a running friend. She wants to run every Saturday so that's nice and she lives about a 5 minute run from my house. It's very convenient. It has been wonderful to run outside again. We've only gone twice so I'm hoping she actually wants to continue going.

These next two weeks are a nice break from ballet, preschool, and other scheduled stuff. The girls are excited to spend time here. We've baked treats for neighbors and have had a few chances to talk about Church with them. It's nice to be able to do that.

What else? Justin is great. He can stand alone, unsupported for a really long time now. He's great with balancing. He falls hard though. He was standing in the middle of the tub, just standing there, and then fell right onto a purple plastic cup. He has a nice round purple bruise on his bum. Poor guy.

Attached are some pictures of him eating food. He still hates it. I actually got this baby yogurt stuff into his mouth, but he spit most of it out. Usually he doesn't let me get anything into his mouth. We are improving.

We are well and thinking of all of you!

Love, Michelle

2006-12-17 Natalie's update - a broken nose

Hello All,I am sending a quick update to say hello. We've been enjoying the holidayseason. It has been especially fun with Elsa and Ava. They bring suchwonder and excitement to Christmas activities. We went to the mall to visitSanta. Elsa had a great time and sat next to him for a while just chatting.As soon as Ava saw Santa, she turned to me and said, "I need to go home,Mommy. Now!" Elsa convinced Ava that Santa was nice and would bring herpresents if she told him what she wanted. Ava reluctantly approached theold man and seem paralized the whole time she was near him. Oh, well. Some of my Christmas activities have back-fired on me. I had a few of theneighbors kids over to make corn flake wreaths (like rice krispie treats butwith corn flakes), which was something I did with my siblings as a child.The kids were excited once they saw the marshmellows melting, but once I putgreen food coloring in, they wouldn't have anything to do with it. Only onechild, a seven-year old, enjoyed making the edible wreaths. Elsa musteredsome courage and would at least touch her wreath to decorate with candyhots. Once again, oh, well.And the biggest oh, well...I broke my nose yesterday. Yes, I know it isperfect timing to see family and friends with a gash between my eyes,black-eyes, and a swollen nose. It is almost too embarressing to tell howit happened. Maybe in a another week or so, when the pain and swelling goesdown, I'll find the humor in all of this. I was unloading groceries fromthe trunk of the mini-van. I had my arms full of groceries and slammed downthe back door. I was either too strong or too slow since the edge of thedoor hit the bridge of my nose. I nearly passed out from the force andpain. Once I got inside, I saw blood gushing from my nose and between myeyes. After spending about 3 hours at the ER, x-rays confirmed a brokennose. There isn't anything they can do until the swelling goes down to seeif the alignment is off. I got liquid stitches (dermabond) placed over thecut and am now icing my wounds. So there. I bet you never heard that onebefore. Afterwards, we picked up the girls and still went to our wardChristmas party. We are die-hards. Brian was kind enough to take picturesfor posterity. One is included. My vanity is slightly suffering, buthonestly, it could be a lot worse. We are now feeling the rush of getting ready for our trip to Utah.Yesterday wasn't very productive, so I am even more behind with my long listof things to do. Maybe in the new year I'll get on top of responsibilities,the newsletter, bills, cleaning my house, etc., etc. I hope you're alldoing well. I am thinking of all of you. I have enjoyed seeing pictures andgetting updates from you in the mail. My cards will be a little later thisyear. Hopefully, this will suffice for now.Love,Natalie

Natalie's update

Hello All,We are counting down days until we come to Utah. Everyday Elsa or Ava asks me if we are going to the airport. We have been having a good time withChristmas activities. Elsa is a little disappointed that we didn't put up aChristmas tree this year. We should buy a fake one, so decorating it wouldbe easier. Maybe next year. Brian did compromise by putting up a fewlights outside. This has sufficed for now. We've told Elsa that Grandma andGrandpa will have a big Christmas tree with lots of lights waiting for her.Elsa has been so helpful and obedient. From watching "Mickey Saves Santa"from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she has learned that you have to be good to getpresents. Now whenever Ava fusses or is grumpy, Elsa says, "Ava you won'tget presents if you're not nice." The other day driving in the car, Ava wascomplaining and when Elsa gave her usual "be nice" lecture, Ava said, "Nopresents." Elsa then followed up by saying, "Well Ava, you need to say noTHANK YOU. I don't want presents." Later that night when Brian asked Ava ifshe was excited for Santa to bring her presents, she said, "I just say nothank you Santa." Brian was confused as to why Ava wouldn't want presents.He started to wonder what I was threatening at home. :) The girls have not had any specific requests for Christmas presents. Idon't know if this makes it easy or more difficult in the case that theyreally are expecting one thing and don't get it. It could be worse, Isuppose. I've heard of friends calling at 5:00am to find out when the UPStrucks arrive at Toys 'R Us for the tickle me Elmo. I was told that Avawould love it, but I have no desire to join the chaos. So far, this seasonhasn't been too hectic. Elsa and I enjoyed Christmas shopping for a familythat lives downtown. Elsa picked a five year-old girl named Myesha to buyclothes and toys for. She wrapped the presents at school yesterday and hadso much fun doing it. However, she was a little nervous that Santa wouldn'tfind Myesha's house. I told her not to worry. Elsa is so tender-heartedand caring. It has really made it fun to talk to her about Jesus' birth,giving, and the idea of Santa giving to those in need. Last week we made and decorated graham cracker houses. The girls lovedhaving their own house to decorate almost as much as having free reign onthe candy bowls. Today we went to a gingerbread house display/competition.Ava was interested in looking at each of the details. It was prettyremarkable. I've attached a few pictures to show you that these are noamateaurs. Of course, there were the many girl scout troops thatcontributed their similar graham cracker houses, which were also fun to see.Maybe next year, we'll submit an entry. That is if I can get a tree up anddecorated, get out Christmas cards before the new year, and clean my house.I guess it is wishful thinking!Ava is still in the process of potty-training. Ava does great if she isnaked--no accidents. Once she has underwear, diapers, or pants on, sheconsiders it equal to a toilet. During the day, I let her go around thehouse with a only a top on. Unfortunately, for mine and Ava's sake, sheneeds to learn to wear underwear. Ava is just so cute about it. She tellsme that she gets m&m's. Elsa added in cookies. So now Ava says, "I getm&m's and tookies." Hearing her say it is about the cutest thing. When Ilaugh and tell her she is a piece of work, she says, "NO, I ampotty-trained," or "No, I am Aba Heath." She cannot stop talking about"mickey mouse and minnie mouse and goofy and donald duck and daisy duck anddoggie [Pluto]." Hop hop has been replaced for the time being. She carriesaround all five stuffed animals (the one yellow duck is Donald.) It is achallenge for Ava to get out of bed, get into the car, etc. because you haveher and her entourage. I even found all five animals lined up against thewall in the bathroom. I guess they were lending their support to Ava'spotty-training endeavours. The Disney Cruise defintely has made its mark onAva. Both her preschool and nursery teachers have told me that Ava hasemerged from her usual reserve. She talks non-stop to them about MickeyMouse and the Disney cruise. I guess she just didn't have many interestingthings to say before now. She tells me almost daily, "Mom, I need to go onthe Disney Cruise. Right now!" If only life were that easy.Elsa just seems to be growing in leaps and bounds. She is finally embracingbeing a big 4 year-old. She likes having her own things that Ava can't doand takes pride in being responsible like putting her shoes on, bucklingherself in her carseat, getting her own drinks, cleaning her room (myproudest task) etc. Even though she likes have special privileges apartfrom Ava, she is Ava's biggest supporter. They play so well together. Ienjoy watching them interact. Lately, they have been playing Ursula andAriel. Ava has the plight of being Ursula (younger sisters just get pickedon---Sabrina in Charlie's Angel ring a bell?) Often I hear Ava say, "Keepsinging!" followed by Elsa saying "Aaahhh---AaaHHH---AAAHHH" in crescendo.Sometimes, Elsa is generous and lets Ava be Ariel. Isn't she nice??? Elsais doing really well in her speech classes. She is more deliberate with hersounds. Her teacher told me that Elsa is very teachable and that she willwork on the sound until she gets it right. She said that most kids won'tcontinue when they get stuck on a sound. It made me proud of Elsa. I dofind it to be true at home too. Elsa so badly wants to do the right thingsand likes to help. She is also only 4 and knows when to displace blame.She told Brian last night, "Sometimes I lie to Mommy and tell her Ava did itso she won't be mad at me." Kids are smart. I don't think I am muchfurther ahead in strategy, especially when it is two-to-one. It is goodthat I have a sense of humor when intelligence is lacking. Brian is still in the negotiating process with AIGB in Texas. I am notthinking about it for the moment because there is really nothing I can dountil we have a more concrete offer. It makes me a little nervous, but Ialso realize that change is a good thing--after a year or so! We areblessed to have opportunities, as well as fun children, good health, and ahouse over our heads. (The siding is now repaired, so it is an even saferhouse. It made Elsa a little nervous to realize that a little wind could dothat to our house. She equates it to the Big Bad Wolf. She was thinkingour house of brick could withstand the wind. With it being repaired, wehave secured her confidence once again in the protection of our house.) :)We love you and wish you well. We only have a week to go to see you.Love,Natalie

Michelle's update

December 12, 2006

Hi Everyone,

I am finally writing an update. I have been meaning to since Sunday, but things are busy:)

There are a lot of pictures. I feel like I have to send all the cute ones. Feel free to skim over them...

There are pictures of the girls in their ballet outfits. They were mice and lambs for the recital on Saturday afternoon. I was very impressed with them. They performed beautifully. They were not afraid at all. Katelyn was by far the smallest ballerina there so she got lots of laughs. She did her part wonderfully. We had two dress rehearsels for it and then the recital so we did lots of ballet this past week. We are not doing any until January now so they get a short break. They love it.

There are also pictures of them frosting sugar cookies for the ward Christmas party. They love baking with me. They have also done lots of crafts. I ordered a bunch from Oriental trading company and they have kept them very occupied. We have a few hanging on our tree. I've made sure to date them and have them sign them so we can see their artistic talents over the years. It should be fun.

There are pictures of Justin standing at his new favorite toy that I borrowed from a friend. Katelyn loves the new toy too. She carries it around to wherever Justin is. He is a great stander. He can stand without holding on to things now for a few seconds before falling. He climbs right back up to standing and tries again. He likes to try to balance. It's fun to watch. Luckily he hasn't had any success on the stairs yet although he tries everyday. He loves to climb under chairs and under the girls' craft table. He knows he can always find something small to eat under these places. I have pulled many beads, strings, marker lids, etc. out of his mouth. He wants to eat these things, but has NO interest in eating baby food still. He just spits at me and looks at me like I've got to be kidding when I offer him baby food. I think he just wants a big peice of pizza or a hamburger or something. It's funny. He is nursing like crazy still as this is his only source of nourishment. I'm struggling to keep up with him. He is 9 months old next week. Time is flying with him. I love him. I am still struggling to get him to sleep, although I'm not really struggling as I don't do anything about it. He figured out how to get around his bumper pads so he can stand in his crib and throw his binky out. He seems too young to be doing this and I thought it was just by accident until I saw that EVERY time I go in there after trying to put him down he is standing there looking pathetic (he holds on just with one hand) and has thrown his binky out. He has a good arm. He is still the favorite at the YMCA. They love him there. It makes it so easy to drop him off while I work out.

Katelyn is into "totally." Everything is totally. "Mom, I'm totally hungry, huh, mom." Makes me smile. She is still my artist. All day long.

Ashley is wonderful, as always. She is Justin's favorite and is so great to him. She plays with him and helps him and is just overall wonderful with him:) She loves pre-school and was SO excited to give her teachers presents today. She told them multiple times that they needed to wait until Christmas to open them. She is opening up at school, although she is still pretty quiet while she is there. She loves to be the helper and do the show and tell bag.

Hans and I are well. We bought a tree and have our house decorated and I'm pretty much done with Christmas preparations. It's been fun this year. Hans has been busy planning his X-box party for Thursday, which is his birthday. He turns 30. It sounds kind of old to me. He is keeping his youth by playing video games for his party. I bought a lot of junk food for them. He thinks there will be a lot of people coming. Should be interesting.

We're thinking of all of you!

Love, Michelle

Michelle's update

December 3, 2006

Hi Everyone,

It feels like it has been awhile since I have "updated." I think it is because we have done SO much. The Disney cruise was fabulous. It was wonderful to fly on Thanksgiving day to Florida and show up in the humidity. I loved being able to take a deep breath in and not feel lightheaded. I realized how cumbersome (how do you spell that?) the altitude can be. It made me want to move down south or at least closer to sea level. Anyway, Florida was wonderful. It was fun to be with all 28 of the Heath family and to reconnect. I love seeing Ashley play with her cousins. She had a great time. I asked her if she was happy to be back in Colorado and she said "No, I want to go back to America." She is slightly confused on the whole different states in America thing. She loved the waterslide, the swimming, and of course all the disney princesses walking around on the boat. Disneyworld was a hit as well and our favorites were dumbo, the carousel, and the tea cups. It's fun to see the kids having so much fun. Justin did great despite his illnesses. He liked getting his sunscreen on and then rolling around in the sand until he was totally covered. He did crawl right into the ocean. The Bahamas were beautiful and the Disney island was even better. It was overall a wonderful trip. I definately recommend it and plan on going again sometime in the future when Justin can enjoy it. Today is the first day that I am not really rocking anymore. I feel more seasick on land then I did when I got on the boat. It is a very strange sensation.

We came home to freezing cold Colorado. It is 7 today. It was -1 when we got home. We did have a fun snowstorm yesterday and got about 6 inches. I like the seasons, but now Hans and I are reconsidering moving closer to the beach.

We are busy trying to set up for the Holidays, which shouldn't take too long since I only have 5-6 decorations. We are planning on going to cut down a tree this week sometime. I am excited to have a small Christmas here and focus on what it is supposed to be all about. I will miss seeing family and friends, but I'm going to drive out to Utah in January for Joshua's baptism and to see everyone. It has been so nice to see family more often. That is a definate bonus to having moved west.

I hope all is well with you!
Love, Michelle

Thanksgiving at Disney

We had a great time at Disney World and on the Disney Cruise, but 10 or so of our 28 were ill at some point. Some of the illness we brought with us. (How do you answer the question about recent vomiting or diarrhea?) Some of the illness we acquired by sharing close quarters with 4,000 of our closest friends for 4 days.

Grandma wished we could have had a few really good group photos, but with so many young ones this is a challenge.

I enjoyed the whole experience. A memory maker!