Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Merry Christmas !

A Season of Growth

December 12, 2009

Dearest Friends,

Hi! It’s me, Jeff and it’s looking like Christmas. As I peer out my kitchen window in Orem, Utah there are light snow flurries. Everything is white! The Christmas tree is up in the living room and Tammy has filled our home with Christmas decorations. I especially enjoy the mistletoe and try to catch Tammy there! The mailbox fills up daily with Christmas cards and messages from friends and loved ones. We appreciate these. This year it is my turn to share our message with you about this year—a season of growth!

This is our fourth Christmas as a blended family, and has been the best ever. Right now we have five children living at home, five married children, one on a mission, and one at BYU. I must tell you that it hasn’t been all smooth sailing. In fact, it has been very difficult to blend two families with so many children and grandchildren with different backgrounds, different temperaments, and different ways of seeing things. When we get frustrated we remember T.T.T. (Things Take Time). That said, as we have trusted in the Lord and pled for His help, He has blessed us with much growth and much joy. We are grateful to Him.

Speaking of growth and joy, our Emily married her Mr. Right (Benjamin Wright) in the Mt. Timpanogos temple in April. We love him and we love his family. He is very good for Emily. The wedding was amazing! Tammy worked with Emily and had every detail taken care of ahead of time, so we could relax and enjoy. Wow! We also welcomed two new grandchildren into the family. Jeff and Jenny had their fourth boy, Isaac. And Abby and James had their second boy, Peter. We now have ten grandchildren and nine of them are boys! We are so grateful that our children are choosing to have children. Maddy turned eight this year as was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by her brother, Ryan, and confirmed a member of the Church by Jordan. She was gorgeous in her white dress. In all of these experiences we felt the ministering of angels, and at times felt the veil parted and that Juanita and Mark were there with our children. Tammy and I were blessed to travel to the Netherlands where we rented a tandem and rode through countless fields of tulips. We also treasured an Alaskan cruise with the extended Ray Family, a West Coast cruise with the extended Hill Family, a family reunion with the extended Mulford family, and Aspen Grove and Thanksgiving with the extended Snell family. We are blessed to have four major families who all love and support us. That has helped us so much!

May the true Spirit of Christmas fill you lives with joy! We love you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! THE HILL-MULFORD FAMILY
Jeff & Tammy, Juanita (in heaven), Mark (in heaven); Sarah (31) Eva (6), Nathan (4); Jeffrey (30) & Jenny, Jeffrey Jr (6), Jonny (5), Benjamin (3), Isaac (0) Aaron (27) & Jenny, Spencer (2), Joshua (1), Abby (25) & James, Andrew (2), Peter (0), Jordan (23), Hannah (22), Heidi (in heaven), Emily (20) & Ben, Amanda (17), Ryan (16), Seth (12), Cam (10), and Maddy (8).
YEARLY UPDATE:

The Jeff and Tammy Hill/Mulford family now numbers 29 mortal souls including: 2 parents, 12 children, 5 sons/daughters in-law, and 10 grandchildren. We are blessed!

Sarah (31), Eva (6), & Nathan (4) Sarah’s highlight is that she got a real job! She is a tenure-track assistant professor in neuroscience at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Sarah has gotten in very good shape, and has run a sub 22 minute 5k. Eva is in First Grade and she and Nathan are incredibly curious about everything. http//plainsenseofthings.blogspot.com srallred@gmail.com

Jeffrey (30), Jenny, Jeffrey Jr. (6), Jonathan (5), Benjamin (3), & Isaac (0). Jeff and Jenny welcomed their fourth boy, Isaac, into their family. Jeff is completing his PhD in mechanical engineering from Penn State, but they are living in Ann Arbor, MI and working at the University of Michigan. Their blog is: http://thehappyhillfamily.blogspot.com/ jeffrayhill@gmail.com

Aaron (27) Jenny, Spencer (2), & Joshua (1) Aaron continues his Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois in Mathematics and has decided to become a high school math teacher. Jenny does an incredible job at home with the kids and as primary president. You should take a peek at their blog. http://hillography.blogspot.com/ aaronthill@gmail.com

Abby (25) James, Andrew (2), & Peter (0) welcomed an adorable boy into their Omaha home in February. James is finishing a doctorate in physical therapy at Creighton University and is on the job market. They spent the Fall in Grangeville, ID for their rotation where they participated in a bear hunt and were warned to keep an eye on their boys because of cougars on their property. Their blog: www.thebooners.blogspot.com abbyh@gmail.com

Jordan (23) is a sophomore at Brigham Young University majoring in athletic training. He has been exercising a LOT and is majorly buff. He is very fun to be around and serves as the activities chairman in his ward. Jordan and his Mom flew to Green Bay this Fall and toured his mission areas in Wisconsin. Many still remember him with fondness there. Big news: he is doing semester abroad at the BYU Jerusalem Center from January through April, 2010. http://www.mulford12.blogspot.com/ / mulford12@gmail.com

Sestra Hannah Hill (22) is serving the Lord in the LDS Czech mission headquartered in Prague. We delight reading her e-mails each week as she shares with us the influence of the Spirit in her life and the excitement of missionary life.Though learning the language was challenging at first, she is much more comfortable with it now. http://www.czechcougar.blogspot.com/ sestrahill@gmail.com

Emily (20) and Ben were married for time and all eternity in the Mt. Timpanogos temple in April. Ben is the perfect mate for Emily and her complement in many ways. Emily will graduate in neuroscience from BYU next year. She is one of the leading scorers on the BYU Lacrosse team. Ben graduated last year and is teaching mathematics at a charter school while he applies to law schools. Check out their blog: bloggingthewrightway.blogspot.com lacrossechic@comcast.net

Amanda (17) started working at Kneaders, a local bakery, and learned to make a sandwich in 20 seconds. Already she has saved more than $3000 for college and perhaps a mission. Last year she played on the girls basketball team, but her real interest is in lacrosse where she started as a freshman. She loves learning and likes school. She is also dating. manarayhill@gmail.com.

Ryan (16) has his drivers’ license, and just went on his first date. Amidst intense competition he made the Timpanogos High School sophomore basketball team and has been a starter for them. Finally, he spearheaded an impressive Eagle service project at Cascade Elementary with more than 100 service hours. He is receiving his Eagle scouting award in Jan. Mulfy800@hotmail.com.

Seth (12) made the switch from football to soccer this year and enjoyed it greatly. He is a true blue Cougar football fan and went to all the BYU home games this year. He often cheered himself hoarse. Seth continues to progress in the piano and recently said he really likes it. He can play several hymns now. He is in Spanish Immersion in 6th grade. sethjoshuahill@yahoo.com.

Cam (10) is a star athlete. He played running back and linebacker on his tackle football team that scratched its way to second place in the league tournament. Though only in 4th grade, he starts on the Timberwolves 5th grade basketball team. Cam has been serving as Dad’s personal trainer and has motivated him to get into really good shape. Finally, Cam has learned that if he is reading the Book of Mormon, Dad doesn’t ask him to go to bed. He has been reading a lot!

Maddy (8) is also reading up a storm. It is not unusual for her to read two, three, even four hours a day. She also loves playing the piano and playing on her soccer team. Her dream is to become a school teacher and so sets up her classroom downstairs and teaches rows of stuffed animals how to read. She is a sweet angel in our home.

Jeff (56) and Tammy. Jeff continues at the BYU School of Family Life and Tammy continues to be a world-class homemaker. But what we love best is being together, especially when we can be alone. We like to ride our tandem up Provo Canyon, go out for a movie, go for walks, work out at the gym, and go to the temple. In 2009 we visited five new temples (The Hague, Draper, Oakland, Seattle, & Las Vegas), now our total is 24. We are in love! hill-mulford.blogspot.com/ jeff_hill@byu.edu tummarooni@gmail.com

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving


We've had a great week. It was our best Hill-Mulford Thanksgiving ever. We had Tammy's family here and she had everything planned perfectly (of course). It was fun for everyone! Those who came include Grandma and Grandpa Snell, Grandma and Grandpa Hill, Deb and Blair and family, Matt and Camille and family, Bev and her family (Ryan stayed home with Davis), Chris and Shauna and family, Steph and Reed and family. Altogether we had about 45 people. The menu included turkey, stuffing, potatoes, yams, green bean casarole, Dixie salad, and Kneaders rolls. Amanda worked on Thanksgiving Eve at Kneaders and about 50 people didn't show up to pick up their pre-paid pies. The management gave them out to the employees so we ended up with 3 Kneaders pies to go with the 5 or 6 others. We had our Church reserved from 11 to 2 and played BB, fat Albert, prison, and flag football. Before eating we sang Thanksgiving hymns and Grandpa Snell read from the scriptures.

We sang enthusiastically while Chris played the piano.


Everyone had name plates made with cookie dough, that was fun. We had five tables set up on the main room, and we even ate in the dining room. Each table went one-by-one for food without a lot of chaos. The meal was the delicious. I sat by Mom and my parents. What joy! The couples played the newlywed game and the single teenagers were the judges. We laughed a lot. Then we ate the pies.
Even Maddy and Jacque ate their fill. A day always to remember.



Sunday, November 22, 2009

Happy Birthday, Jeffrey, Ben, Hannah, Heidi


This has been a big few days for birthdays. Ben and Jeff's birthdays are on November 20 and Hannah and Heidi's birthdays are on November 21. The only one we got to see in person was Ben. He and Emily came over for his birthday dinner of chicken alfredo, spinach artichoke dip on baguettes, salad, squash, and peanut butter brownies with Reese's Pieces ice cream for dessert. We are so blessed Tammy is such a great cook. We are grateful that so many wonderful people were born this week. Jeff celebrated by going to Maryland for Thanksgiving. Hannah has patiently waited to open her birthday package for several weeks in the Czech Republic. And I am sure that Heidi is celebrating with Juanita and Mark and Grandpa Ray in the Spirit world.



Here Ben is struggling to blow out the three candles representing 3 to the 3rd power years of life. He eventually, with Emily's help, got them all out!


Seth has been practicing the Spanish immersion dance and singing program for the past several weeks. Here he is with his partner. He is grateful that the program is over.


Here is Seth's class singing Vive Espana!
Life is wonderful,
Dad

Thursday, November 19, 2009

California Dreamin

Tammy and I had a "dreamy" weekend getaway at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz, California. I had to go to NCFR and so afterwards we headed down to Monterey Bay and my old home town.



The day was absolutely beautiful, 65 degrees and sunny. We walked the whole length of the beach and had lots of good talks and pure joy!


After seeing this memorial bench we decided not to take surfing lessons!



We even got to attend Church at the old Santa Cruz ward where I went as a boy.




We really enjoyed doing a session in the Oakland, California temple. It is our fifth new temple of the year and our 24 temple since we got married.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Fall Break

For Fall Break (aka UEA) we decided to get out of the house and do something. We piled in the mini-van and drove to Salt Lake where Seth did baptisms for the dead for the first time. Amanda, Ryan, and Mom went with him. Dad had to stay with Cam and Maddy because he lost his temple recommend. After the baptisms we all went to a Tabernacle organ concert and then to the Gateway to do mostly window shopping. We finished out the day watching the Joseph Smith movie and then went to dinner at the Olde Spaghetti Factory. Delicious!


The colors were beautiful so we went for a good Fall hike on the Bonneville Shoreline trail. Everyone enjoyed themselves, especially Cam!


Here is handsome Dad with the family!

October 2009






The Hill-Mulford family is back! We took a little moratorium on blogging for a few months because we believed that we had lost our camera. However, the camera was preserved and we began taking pictures again. We'll bring you up to date ever so gently ...





Amanda went on her first big dance at Timpanogos High School with Sean.





Ryan completed his Eagle Scout project. He master-minded a brilliant community service endeavor where in 181 volunteer hours contributed by more than 40 people spruced up Cascade Elementary school. The parking lot was re-striped, the lines were re-painted on the basketball hoops, the curbs were re-painted, and the basketball standards got a fresh coat.


Cam was the star artist at the project. He single-handedly repainted the handicap parking stalls. Amazing!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Omaha

Our summer travels continued with a trip to Omaha last week to visit Abby and James and Andrew and Peter. Ryan is just getting his license and so needed the driving hours. He drove about 14 hours during the trip. Amanda, Ryan, Seth, Cam and I made the trip. Tammy and Maddy had a fun (and quiet) time at home and also visited in Kaysville. This picture is of Amanda, Ryan, and I after we went with James to do baptisms in the Winter Quarters temple.
We had a real fun time ice blocking for family home evening down the hill across from Abby and James house. This is an ice train with James, Ryan, Seth, and Cam, right before it fell apart. Abby won the contest for the longest ride.

We visited the children's museum and had loads of fun. Here Cam is making up Abby with fancy costume make up. He is very creative!


Peter REALLY enjoyed being in the museum with his grandpa, ME!


Believe it or not, this is Amanda posing as Hans Solo and promoting BYU!

A highlight of the trip was visiting the Henry Dorley zoo. We got a family membership so we went three times. The zoo is fantastic and sometimes its hard to tell whether the people are observing the animals or perhaps the animals are observing the people. Here Cam, Seth, Amanda, and Ryan traverse the rope bridge teeming with monkeys and other jungle animals.

We went to an all-you-can-eat pizza place for dinner and managed to down 107 pieces of pizze among all of us. Here Andrew is proud of his contribution! Actually he only ate three pieces. James was the champion with 22 pieces and everyone else managed to eat at least 10.

Since we were only 500 miles away from them, we figured out a way to see Aaron, Jenny, Spencer and Joshua. We each drove halfway and met in Iowa City, Iowa. We met at the Olive Garden and had a delicious lunch. Then we spent the afternoon together in a beautiful park.

Joshua and his beautiful blue eyes seemed happy to see grandpa.

Spencer was excited to pilot the space shuttle to a very wet landing in the park.


Maddy didn't go to Omaha, but she had a great time at home learning to sew with grandma and going to the Wizard of Oz with Tammy and Jackie. Here she is, all made up and beautiful. Check out those eye lashes!

I couldn't resist putting in this picture of Moroni (Jordan). Tammy had sharing time about the scriptures and he was very impressive as he enlightened the primary children. He is one handsome Nephite! Live is wonderful, Jeff











Sunday, June 28, 2009

Backpacking and a Birthday

Ryan celebrated the BIG birthday! He turned 16 which means that he can date and get his license. He is currently taking drivers' ed and could have his license in just a few weeks. There are MANY girls hoping that he will ask them out!
Seth, Cam, Maddy, and I backpacked to a camping spot about a mile from our house, overlooking Orem. It was beautiful! On the way up a thunderstorm was blowing in and nearly blew us off the mountain. However, it calmed down enough for Cam and Seth to track down and catch exotic insects (like grasshoppers).

Maddy set up some sticks to hold her pot over the fire. We decided, however, to use the camp stove to make our macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, and hot chocolate.

Cam brought his football on the trip and we played catch.


A highlight of the trip was being able to build a fire, which we enjoyed late into the night, before the big rains came.




We were treated to a beautiful sunset (sailor's delight) right before a torrential thunderstorm pelted us through several hours during the night.





Sunday, June 21, 2009

Birthdays Galore, Scout Camp

June is the month of Birthdays in the Hill-Mulford Family! It gives us pause to be grateful for every single one. Our first birthday was Emily's on June 7. We really celebrated that she is no longer a teenager! She and Ben are very VERY happy as a married couple. She is attending summer term at BYU and he is studying for the LSAT.

Cam got his favorite breakfast in bed for his 10th birthday on June 10. He enjoyed his turnovers immensely. Cam enjoying life and has decided to take brake dancing lessons. He is amazing!


We really whooped it up at his birthday party. All of the Utah County siblings were there along with two of his best friends, Joseph and Max. We celebrated by going to UP as a first run feature. We took the whole row in the movie theater!



I am now deacons quorum advisor. As a perk I got to take Seth to Scout camp this week at Scofield Resevoir.



We loved our experience but the weater was raining and cold a lot of the time. Our tent, however, kept us dry and as long as we wore three layers of clothing it kept us warm too.




The sun finally came out on Friday and were happy about it. Seth is also smiling because he earned six merit badges and one partial. He now has 12 merit badges and doesn't turn 12 for another three months.




Here is a group shot with all the boys, excited






Our farewell dinnner was of dutch oven ribs, and Seth loved every bite.






Sunday, June 7, 2009

Alaska: Some Like it Hot

Tammy and I just returned from an unforgettable cruise with the Ray family. We sailed from Seattle and spent the week in the Inside Passage exploring Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Prince Rupert CA. We appreciate Grandma Ray who provided the resources for us all to make many memories, especially with Mike and Ruth Ann Petramalo. Ruth Ann has recently been diagnosed with cancer.

Our first stop was Ketchikan, Alaska. The normal weather for this time of year is about 55 degrees and raining. Our day was 75 degrees and sunshine. We met Craig and Juaneta Cannon, a friend from high school who joined the church and married Juaneta, who was a year younger than me. They were gracious and exciting hosts and took us out on their boat for fishing and crabbing.


Tammy got a goot bite but the hundred pound halibut just got away. We did have good fun setting a crab cage, catching a nice sized crab, and then cooking it on a deserted beach. Thanks again to Craig and Juaneta for their hospitality.

Tammy really enjoyed getting to know the Rays much better. Here she is visiting with Marlene Hinton as we wait for the bus to take us to Mildenhaul Glacier in Juneau in the crisp morning. The temperature was more than 80 degrees later in the afternoon. We had the best fish and chips on the planet for lunch.



Here are Mike and Ruth Ann Petramalo posing in front of the Mildenhaul Glacier. This is a river of ice that flows 12 miles from the eternal snowfields above.



The scenery in Alaska took my breath away over and over again. This is a typical scene. So much beauty! God knew what he was doing when he created Alaska!




We sailed right into a bay full of ice bergs and were able to get quite close to a large glacier. Enroute we were tickled to see one ice berg with 5-6 seals sunning themselves. There were also bald eagles galore, everywhere. Alaska is a very patriotic state.


In Skagway our excursion cancelled out and we we rented a tandem in town and rode about 20 miles along the most beautiful scenery. In truth we enjoyed being together, alone, better than any of the excursions (and it was much less expensive).



In Prince Rupert we found a nearly empty golf course and played a round. Actually Jeff played a round and Tammy played around, drive the golf cart. It was so fun!


On the last day we posed on the grand staircase on the cruise ship. What a fun group! These are all of Juanita's siblings, their spouses, Grandma Ray, and Gretchen Petramalo, Mike's Mom.



After a week in heaven (Alaska) we returned home renewed, ready to move forward. Thanks, again, to Grandma Ray for putting this together. We all bring with us many memories that we will always treasure.