von Niederhausern Family

Heaven on earth is a sunny Saturday that includes work and then a family date. It is so satisfying to me to have our family work and play on Saturdays. After our work and a nap we headed to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. We saw the largest lobster I have ever seen. I had to keep going to back to look at it because I was so amazed. It weighed approx. 40 pounds. I won’t lie, I was probably so enthralled with it because I was dreaming about eating the poor thing. YUMMY! They had stingrays and jellyfish you could touch, and an octopus that didn’t do much. Afterwards we ate at the Olive Garden. What a heavenly day!

Somehow Easter slipped by without me posting any photos! We had a wonderful Easter with two easter egg hunts, one in Provo with the primary and the annual Morris Easter Egg Hunt (this is our favorite because there is always money). Ava and Lauren were in Heaven with all the loot they collected. Little do they know we throw half of the loot away the next day, but ssshhhh, it’s my secret!

The first half of Lauren’s loot.

Ava eyes hers hungrily.

Lauren looks a little ill from too much of a good thing. Ava is still going strong!

I had to post this one of Lauren and her best buddy Claire at the egg hunt in Provo. Whenever they saw each other they would always hug.

I am on a quest to get other people’s feedback about the book “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck. I finished it Friday night and I am still not over it. I don’t know why it affected me like it did. Am I alone in this? I guess it is because Steinbeck’s writing is so vivid, and the story-line was so sad, and a couple of times I wanted to stop reading it, but I couldn’t. I was sucked in and I had to know what happened to the characters in the end. It was such a powerful story to me because it is the ageless story of Cain and Able, all about human nature and our ability to choose between good and evil. One of my favorite parts is when Lee explains the Hebrew word ‘timshel’, which means ‘thou mayest choose’. Lee says: “That is the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws is right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’ it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.’ Now, there are many in their sects and churches who feel the order, ‘Do thou,’ and throw their weight into obedience And there are millions more who feel predestination in ‘Thou shalt.’ Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But ‘Thou mayest!’ Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win…It is out of laziness, out of weakness, to throw oneself into the lap of deity, saying, ‘I couldn’t help it; the way was set.’ But think of the glory of the choice! That makes a man a man.”He goes on to say about Genesis 4:1-16, “These sixteen versus are a history of humankind in any age or culture or race…I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed–because ‘Thou mayest.’”So if anyone has even read this far (sorry for the long rambling!) read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:1-16 and give me your feedback on verse seven. In the King James version it reads “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Replace ‘thou shalt’ with the correct Hebrew translation of timshel which is ‘thou mayest’. This implies that Cain still has the choice whether to choose good or evil in the story. We always have our agency, our ability to choose. That is so beautiful to me. 

 We went to Logan for the past few days to attend the funeral of our beloved grandmother and great-grandmother, Dottie F. Whitney. We lovingly call her “GG” because she is such a Great Grandma. The service was so inspiring because my grandmother was such a true lady. I can’t think of a time when I would see her that she wouldn’t tell me over and over how much she loved me. I am thankful for her extraordinary example to me and my family. Funerals have a way of making me reflect on the circle of life, and what it means to really live. I hope I can follow GG’s example and “live until I die.”

To quote the book East of Eden…

“…A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well–or ill?…It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of tho
ught of action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.”

Our very fist blog post happens to be on Steve’s 30th birthday! So Happy birthday to the best father and husband around, and happy Earth Day to everyone else (as Steve would say). We celebrated today by going on a family birthday date to Chadders. The best thing was the purple warthog Ava drew on Steve’s birthday card. She said she wanted to draw an animal for him and then she had me spell warthog underneath it so he would know what is was. On Saturday we threw a suprise party for Steve at a gymnastics place near our house. It was so satisfying for me to see the shock on his face when we walked in and he saw Matt Croshaw jumping toward him yelling “Suprise!” I chose this venue because Steve is a big kid at heart and loves nothing more than to jump, twist, and flip. I know he will still love doing that in another 30 years. Happy Birthday Steve! We love you!

We can’t believe Ava already turned four! This has been an emotional milestone for Ava. Having the flu along with the stress of a big day created many ups and downs, so there were many tears mingled with the smiles today. While I was combing her hair to get her ready for her big family party she was crying away and I asked her what was wrong. She cried, “I just want to be three again.” After a waffle breakfast, Ava and Steve went skiing. Then we had a big party with the whole gang. One of the highlights of the party was Tim playing his guitar while Ava, Lauren, and Ellie danced around the room. After everyone went home, Steve built a huge blanket tent in the family room and we watched a movie and slept in it. Both Ava and Lauren fell asleep in the blanket tent with new bracelets on because Ava is such a kind and considerate sister. She is also our artist with Steve’s creative genes. We love her and can’t wait to see what this next year has in store.

Lauren thinks she is Dora. She has a bracelet from Grandma Morris that spells “Lauren” but when you ask Lauren what it spells she says “Dora.” So, for her birthday cake my amazing friend Amy helped me decorate a Dora cake for the occasion. Everything Dora stands for sums up the past year for Lauren: a very adventurous, loud, friendly, learning, exploring year. Lauren enjoyed all of the attention she got on her birthday, with all our extended family and some friends coming to celebrate with us. We love our Dora wannabe and can’t wait to see how she learns and grows this year.

Merry Christmas once again from the vons! We are in shock over how fast time flies. A year goes by in the blink of an eye; actually it seems shorter than the blink of an eye, if that’s possible. We are grateful to receive your updates and letters so we can know about what is going on in your lives. Here is what is going on in our neck of the woods:

Just last week Steve finished his graduate degree coursework in Instructional Technology and continues to work at Utah State. You might not have any clue what Instructional Technology is. To sum it up, it gives Steve motivation and skills to program our Christmas card rather than send it by mail. He will now begin looking for work, and we are excited to see where the next season of our lives will lead.

Rachel has been busy keeping the emotions of four women in check (Ava, Lauren, herself, and Grandma Morris). If our next child is not a boy (this is NOT an announcement), Steve would like to get a dog… someone who won’t get emotional while wrestling with him. In her spare time Rachel enjoys coordinating the rental and development properties we are working on. She has also thoroughly enjoyed teaching her niece and nephew piano lessons for the past four months.

Ava is going to be four in February. She began preschool this summer at Utah State University and loves seeing Steve on campus. She also recently fell in love with High School Musical and frequently invites Gabriella to have dinner with us. Some other things Ava loves: cooking, drawing, writing, painting, singing, reading, and being Lauren’s second mommy.

Lauren is our thrill seeker and we call her our sugar and spice girl. She continues to be so friendly and cuddly yet stubborn and opinionated all rolled into one. She keeps us laughing with all of her charm. Things Lauren loves: singing, reading, swimming, being tossed or thrown high in the air, taking care of her baby dolls, and pretty much anything Ava loves.

Due to popular demand from last year’s Christmas video jingle, we decided to make it an annual tradition. This year’s duet jingle will give you a few good laughs as you get a taste of the girl’s personalities.

We feel truly blessed beyond what words can express. Thank you for enriching our lives with your friendship and support. We are so grateful for Jesus Christ our Savior. May you have a wonderful upcoming year filled with the Spirit of Christ each day.