Sorry the Tuckers are late this month!
Happy Mother's Day!!
The big news is that I got a super Mother's Day present. Jeff has worked feverishly to finish making our new dining room table and chairs, and they are gorgeous!! It's so fun to actually have something new and fancy!! It makes the rest of our apartment look great! All my family will be able to see them today when they come over for lunch, but everyone else watch for pictures on our blog. I'm so proud of Jeff. He did a great job.
Well, Brooke, if you don't mind, we're not going to share boys' names. Since they're so hard to think of in the first place, I think it might be a good idea if we reserve the ones we like for when we have kids. :O) I'm sure you understand though and that you'll think of the perfect name. I thought his name was going to be Junior??
However, in the spirit of cousinly kindness, here's a little help from my library's website: http://www.slco.lib.ut.us/names.htm I especially recommend "Babynamer." This one has a perceptions area where people comment about the name--possible nicknames etc. Also, do you have an animal shelter near you? Our local pound has a huge electronic billboard that can be seen from I-15. In an effort to adopt out all the animals, they flash newly arrived pets' pictures on the screen along with their names. Jeff and I have taken to looking for good names on that.
Jeff and I have been asked to be a Ma and a Pa for our stake's pioneer trek this summer, so we've been busy preparing. All participants have to complete requirements to earn an award called "The Trail of Faith." Sometimes we get confused and call it "The Trial of Faith." We get to do things like start a new exercise program, go on hikes to historical mountains, write in our journals, research pioneer ancestors, perform a dance about pioneer heritage etc. Jeff did an impromptu interpretive dance to the music of Norah Jones in our living room the other day. Who knew that jazz music could be tied into the pioneers! It was pretty funny.
I also thought it would be a great idea to make a chart of our first ancestors who joined the church (where, when, who, missionaries etc.) This was a good idea in theory, but it was seriously complicated and confusing. I didn't realize we had so many "first" converts, but you have to consider each and every branch. I kind of gave up for the time being, but I may look at it a little later. It's interesting. When you do family history research yourself, it's really easy to remember all the details. I can tell you dates, places, minute details etc. etc. for almost all of Jeff's ancestors, and keep them all straight, but after reading a few of our family histories, my mind gets all jumbled, and in the end I'm thinking something like, "So our first ancestor came from Siberia?" Jeff's mom's side is easy, since his mom was the first convert!!
On Friday we took a tour of the Beehive House, looked at an exhibit at the church art museum about the Willie and Martin Handcart companies, and then had a private showing of the video about the history of the church in Wales (in anticipation of Bryn Terfel being in SLC). We also have to make a family flag and write a family song. Of course, we wanted the song to be rousing and energetic, so my first thought was, "We've got to take the tune from one of the old English or Irish drinking songs. That's the ticket!" This may sound strange, but consider our beloved hymn "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?" There's no question in my mind that this hymn was once a drinking song, especially the "Well waaaaaake UP!" part. You can just imagine some water-weary sailor with a mug in his hand and swinging his arm back and forth to the words. We finally found the perfect song called "The Holy Ground." We've been able to change the words to match the pioneer theme. Instead of shouting, "Fine girl you are!" at the end of each verse, we'll should "Hallelujah!" The only snag we've run into is the last verse where they talk about finally reaching shore and going into a public house (pub) and drinking like heck (edited). Jeff seems to think it would be funny to include the line, "We will drink mild herbs and postum--And we'll make the rafters roar." We might be able to make it work if we say "The Lion House" instead of "A Public House," but I'm a stickler for historical accuracy, and I'm positive there was no public house or even the Lion House when the pioneers arrived in the valley. Do you see our dilemma here?
Sorry my post is so long. I got on a serious tangent there.
Love you all!! Good luck, Brooke and Q. Thanks for being our most faitful blogger, Dani!
Mel (and Jeff)
The big news is that I got a super Mother's Day present. Jeff has worked feverishly to finish making our new dining room table and chairs, and they are gorgeous!! It's so fun to actually have something new and fancy!! It makes the rest of our apartment look great! All my family will be able to see them today when they come over for lunch, but everyone else watch for pictures on our blog. I'm so proud of Jeff. He did a great job.
Well, Brooke, if you don't mind, we're not going to share boys' names. Since they're so hard to think of in the first place, I think it might be a good idea if we reserve the ones we like for when we have kids. :O) I'm sure you understand though and that you'll think of the perfect name. I thought his name was going to be Junior??
However, in the spirit of cousinly kindness, here's a little help from my library's website: http://www.slco.lib.ut.us/names.htm I especially recommend "Babynamer." This one has a perceptions area where people comment about the name--possible nicknames etc. Also, do you have an animal shelter near you? Our local pound has a huge electronic billboard that can be seen from I-15. In an effort to adopt out all the animals, they flash newly arrived pets' pictures on the screen along with their names. Jeff and I have taken to looking for good names on that.
Jeff and I have been asked to be a Ma and a Pa for our stake's pioneer trek this summer, so we've been busy preparing. All participants have to complete requirements to earn an award called "The Trail of Faith." Sometimes we get confused and call it "The Trial of Faith." We get to do things like start a new exercise program, go on hikes to historical mountains, write in our journals, research pioneer ancestors, perform a dance about pioneer heritage etc. Jeff did an impromptu interpretive dance to the music of Norah Jones in our living room the other day. Who knew that jazz music could be tied into the pioneers! It was pretty funny.
I also thought it would be a great idea to make a chart of our first ancestors who joined the church (where, when, who, missionaries etc.) This was a good idea in theory, but it was seriously complicated and confusing. I didn't realize we had so many "first" converts, but you have to consider each and every branch. I kind of gave up for the time being, but I may look at it a little later. It's interesting. When you do family history research yourself, it's really easy to remember all the details. I can tell you dates, places, minute details etc. etc. for almost all of Jeff's ancestors, and keep them all straight, but after reading a few of our family histories, my mind gets all jumbled, and in the end I'm thinking something like, "So our first ancestor came from Siberia?" Jeff's mom's side is easy, since his mom was the first convert!!
On Friday we took a tour of the Beehive House, looked at an exhibit at the church art museum about the Willie and Martin Handcart companies, and then had a private showing of the video about the history of the church in Wales (in anticipation of Bryn Terfel being in SLC). We also have to make a family flag and write a family song. Of course, we wanted the song to be rousing and energetic, so my first thought was, "We've got to take the tune from one of the old English or Irish drinking songs. That's the ticket!" This may sound strange, but consider our beloved hymn "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?" There's no question in my mind that this hymn was once a drinking song, especially the "Well waaaaaake UP!" part. You can just imagine some water-weary sailor with a mug in his hand and swinging his arm back and forth to the words. We finally found the perfect song called "The Holy Ground." We've been able to change the words to match the pioneer theme. Instead of shouting, "Fine girl you are!" at the end of each verse, we'll should "Hallelujah!" The only snag we've run into is the last verse where they talk about finally reaching shore and going into a public house (pub) and drinking like heck (edited). Jeff seems to think it would be funny to include the line, "We will drink mild herbs and postum--And we'll make the rafters roar." We might be able to make it work if we say "The Lion House" instead of "A Public House," but I'm a stickler for historical accuracy, and I'm positive there was no public house or even the Lion House when the pioneers arrived in the valley. Do you see our dilemma here?
Sorry my post is so long. I got on a serious tangent there.
Love you all!! Good luck, Brooke and Q. Thanks for being our most faitful blogger, Dani!
Mel (and Jeff)
posted by Ms. Muppettt at
7:28 AM
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