What a derelict I have been for not posting to the blog in several months. A few events have occurred in our family since the new year, so let's get into it.

McKenzie's dance team did well again this year. She had a little extra pressure on her as Captain and wanted to do as well as the team did last year. As they went through the competitions, the team wasn't looking as strong as it normally does: plus, you know how high school girls can be - creating lots of drama for their mama! Well, here she is with her team at the end of their final competition in Yakima. Notice how everyone is sticking up a finger - no, there was plenty of Klenex in the house - they are making an editorial comment about the superiority of the Beamer Titans. For the 4th year in the 5-year history of the school, the dance team won the State Championship. All the mom's were extatic, the dads were proud and the girls were relieved that they didn't have to spend so much time together any longer.


Here is a shot of Kenzie during their routine.


















Brandon took an internship in San Diego beginning in January because he was too woosie to enjoy another Rexburg Winter. When his job ended, we took the family down to spend a week with him.

Her is a picture of the kids at Sea World getting on a roller coaster. The two chicks in the front didn't want to get wet so we naturally put them where the water would never flood over the nose of the boat. Oh well, I didn't engineer the thing.











We rented a house on Mission Beach and had the best of the ocean on one side and Mission Bay on the other. We had fun sailing (well, I had fun sailing), watching Flipper, visiting Uninversal Studios and going to the Mormon Batallion Visitor's Center in Old Town.


We got a little sun while we were sailing

One day I had seafood for lunch.








A few weeks ago we sent out an e-mail announcing that Whitney is getting married to one of Brandon's roommates. We took him to San Diego with us too. Actually, he was in Los Angeles for an intership the same time as Brandon so he just came down with us and spent the week. His name is Curt Gillis and is from Houston, majoring in Business Management. This is how they will look when they get married.

This is how they will look next year.

Be sure to put their wedding date on your calendar and make the trip to Seattle - August 15th is the wedding in the Seattle Temple and August 16th will be the reception in our backyard. We promise to have excellent Seattle weather for the events. The wedding dinner will be at Marggiano's Restaurant in Bellevue - a nice place for a meal.

By the way, Mckenzie graduated from high school the other day. Here she is with her proud mother. She graduated 7th in her calss with High Honors, so we are rightly pleased with her hard work and dedication. We never had to ask her to do her homework or assignments. Once in a while we had to ask her to start earlier on Sunday night, but she always got her work done without stressing her father. Mic is working the summer before leaving for BYU in the Fall.











Brandon is playing baseball at BYU-I this summer and Whitney is getting ready for her wedding so we took a short trip to visit them. While Melanie and McKenzie were looking for wedding junk with Whitney and Brandon was in class, I took a little hike along the rim of the Snake River just north of Swan Falls. The hike was terrific - and quiet. The only people I saw were fishermen in drift boats down on the river.

Like I said, Brandon is playing ball, and is the coach of his team as well. This was the first time we have seen him play since high school and it brought back those glory days. Here is a picture of Brandon at bat. It was a funny shot because in this shot he blasted the ball into the scoreboard for a 3-run homer. His team ended up losing, but only after both teams generated a lot of offense. Pitching is the key talent for this kind of league and the talent pool gets spread thin. Brandon hadn't pitched since about 6th grade but he figured he couldn't do any worse that his number three pitcher. He started throwing some pitches in practise a few weeks ago. His No. 1 pitcher taught him how to throw a curve ball. Evidently Brans thought he had the stuff that day so he put himself in and threw a couple innings. I couldn't stop giggling even though he did pretty well. One guy did tagged him for a trip around the bases but Brans just hung in until the game was over.

Since we were in Rexburg for the 22nd reunion of the Teton Dang collapse, we decided to take a trip to the old dang and see what was left. Here is a shot of everyone (but me) at the look-out point above the dang. That's the river on the far side of the canyon making its way past the earthen dang. Sorry you can't see the whole dang, but you need a bigger camera - or better yet, next time you are visiting BYU-I, go by and see it yourself. It's still quite amazing after all these years.

Well, better go - be sure to click on the link to McKenzie's blog where you can look at some of her photographs.

We continue to keep you in our prayers, especially those who need a little extra, speaking broadly - you know who you are. Let us know how you are all doing. We look forward to seeing your blogs as well. - Love, Melanie, Steve and the kids.

Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas to you and we hope you also have a happy new year. This blog entry will substitute for our Christmas Card this year since this is easier than printing all those envelopes and sticking stamps on them. I will miss the peppermint gum on the back of the stamps though. That was always good for a few days of fresh breath.

Here is what was printed on the back of the card:

Merry Christmas! We hope this greeting finds you well and happy. It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone, but we have been blessed in many ways and have much to be grateful for.

This picture was taken in November in Island Park, Idaho where we all gathered for Thanksgiving. We rented a cabin there and were able to enjoy the clean, crisp air and the first snowfall of the season. We had a wonderful time and the trip was one of the high-lights of our year.

Our children are doing well. Brandon, 24, is entering his Senior year at BYU-I, majoring in Construction Management. Whitney, 21, is also attending college there and is majoring in Communications. McKenzie, 17, is a Senior at Todd Beamer High School and will spend the next 4 months preparing for state dance competition. Last March, her team took 1st at State and they are hoping for a repeat again this year. She was recently accepted into BYU-Utah where she plans to major in Photography. She will fly the coupe in the Fall of 2008 and Steve and I will officially be “Empty Nesters.”

Steve is in his 6th year working for the Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company and is a Seminary teacher for our church, instructing McKenzie’s age group of youth at 5:45am each week day! Melanie is in her 18th year of working 2 days a week in the Birth Center at St. Francis Hospital. At the moment, she is serving as the Enrichment Counselor in the women’s organization of our church. On December 19th we will celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Well, that’s a quick synopsis of our year. Many behind the scenes events have influenced our lives and strengthened our relationships, and as we ponder the birth of our Savior, we realize that our most precious gifts in life are dear friends and family. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Love,
Steve, Melanie,
Brandon, Whitney & McKenzie
2007

November 2007

Hello family. We hope you are all well and had a good Thanksgiving. Thanks especially for those of you who updated your blogs the past few weeks. It was good to see what is going on in your lives.
Plus, you all really made this Family Newsletter a lot easier to publish. And don't you like the freedom and control you have over your own content. I always hated when the editor would mess with the copy, twisting it into HER own distorted mindset. Disturbing.

Our Thanksgiving took us to Island Park to meet up with Brandon and Whitney.
Henry's fork is beautiful this time of year. We pulled into IP on Monday evening. It snowed that night and never melted, staying in the -2 to 15 degree range all week. It didn't start to thaw until we got back to Boise.

Here is a shot of us at the top of Coffee Pot Rapids. After the river silently flows through the valley, it suddenly changes characteristics and rushes through a cut in the rocks, creating a plunging rapid. Evidently, a hundred and fifty years ago, a trapper was placidly paddling his canoe down the river looking for a pelt palace to set his traps. When he was unexpectedly sucked into the rapids, he lost all his equipage, except.....yes, you guessed it, his coffee pot.


After hiking in 2 miles, we came to the rapids and took this photo. You can see Whitney's pants are wet up to her knees. It didn't take her long to jump into the river. We keep her around for comic relief. She has been working at it long enough now that she is quite good at it.
Whitney and Brandon are still going to school at BYU-I. Brandon is looking for an internship for January through April of next year and will graduate in December 2008. Whitney is planning on a 2009 graduation. I think they are both getting tired of school. They love the social life, but not the studying and not having any money. Little do they know what "real life" is like or they wouldn't be so anxious to meet it.

AKG and A Come Calling

Somehow we conned Alecia and her girls into spending a few days with us in Island Park. Here they are on one of our day-trips to Mesa Falls. This picture was taken just a few minutes before they held a contest to see who could spit out to the water from the observation deck. Kayla won, by the way. She had been practicing in her Health Sciences class at Utah State University. State schools, pschdt!

Anyway, we had a great time with them and enjoyed their company. And, they aren't lacking in the personality department either. They will be fine and I have a lot of confidence in Alecia. Thanks to them for making a couple good memories.

The Clock Has Expired

As a senior, McKenzie played here last volleyball game. Their team wasn't that strong this year but she had a good time.
At the end of each season, all the coaches in the league get together and nominate players for awards. McKenzie was voted (by the 10 coaches)an All-League Honorable Mention for her competitiveness and level of play. That was quite rewarding to be recognized for her contribution, especially since her team was at the bottom of the stack.

Aberdeen and Lorenzo

While we were in Eastern Idaho, we drove through Melanie's hometown of Aberdeen. We went by her house, which looks much smaller now than it did when we were younger. We went to the "beach" not far from her house where she swam in the American Falls Reservoir as a kid. Melanie entered nostalgiaville when we drove by her high school - her glory days returned. McKenzie drew the line though, when Melanie wanted to walk through the hallways.
Coming back from Island Park, we stopped in Lorenzo to get a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Goff' s place, the house where dad grew up. It looks a lot smaller now too.
This photo was taken over the 8 foot fence which garrisons the property. Several years ago it was purchased by an artisan of some sort who promptly built a castle behind the house and to the west. Dad's house was turned into a studio. You can see how much has changed. There is a sun room added to the living room. A metal roof was put on and the driveway was plowed under and planted with grass and a row of trees. Being here brought back good memories. One of these days Melanie and I will have to take a trip to take pictures of all the places our families have lived. It will have to be when all our kids are gone because they wouldn't see the point - until much later in their lives.

A Little Family History

While looking around on the internet, I randomly (yea...) stumbled across a few pictures. Here is one from a hundred years ago. Anyone care to guess where is was taken?

This is an unknown street in a place called Long Whatton, England. Then, I came across these next 2 photos...

Isaac Goff and his wife...

...Mary Naylor.

These two people lived in Long Whatton in the early 1800's. At the ages of 35 and 32 respectively, this young couple heard the message of the Mormon missionaries and were baptized. Over the next several years they saved up and immigrated to America, crossed the plains to Utah and joined Zion.

Look at a picture of Grandpa Goff. Do you see any similarities? Notice the lips and cheeks, especially between Grandpa Goff and Mary. Since Mary is his grandmother, there would naturally be some resemblance. Never again should we wonder where our hair line came from - look at Mary's.

And look at dad. The noses on everyone are almost identical.

I haven't found a picture of Grandpa Goff's father and mother but will keep looking.